Reviews/Reports – “The Good, The Bad & The Ugly” – That Was The Weekend That Was” – Friday 15th to Sunday 17th February

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With much happening on the scene this last weekend, the timing of the return of our “That Was The Weekend That Was” review & report couldn’t have been better, we looking at the good, the bad & the ugly new ventures to hit the capitals clubbing circuit, while reporting on other highlight happenings and forthcoming frolics

 

What a funny old year 2012 was for us, not least the spluttering start on a special weekly feature originally called “That Was the Week That Was”, the intention to report back on events of the day and look forward to ones coming up. But as we struggled to even keep our review head above water, we decided to peg this new features back to just the weekend gone rather than the whole week, although even this proved a tough old task, as did much of our writing if we are honest. However, with the distractions that thwarted our publication progress at least parked and with 2013 very much our year of positivity, we are back with the new look  “That Was The Weekend That Was” a punchy post that will pick on highlight happenings, good bad or otherwise from past weekend just while also looking forward to the next.

 

 

Right,  let’s get on and did right into the detail of what very much proved to be a weekend of new club launches, great news on the surface, but scratching beneath it proving that there was elements of god, bad and (in our view) downright ugly. So to the good first and Saturday (16th Feb) and This Is Prohibition, a new clubbing concept that combined brands Lovechild, Bear Necessity, Queer Nation & Butch, a collaboration of like minded promotional minds similar to the halcyon days of As One, & Famous Five, bringing together a wealth of D.J. talent from both London & internationally and stamping its mark on the scene from The Sidings in Southwark, a venue formerly known as The Arches but now under new management & ownership. And, while we were laid up with a nasty virus, the feedback we got on this “Love Resurrection” first party & launch was extremely positive, the numbers buoyant, well over 100o through the door, while the brands worked together brilliantly, Lovechild the main focus & drive, not least with a prolific performance from P.A. Abigail Bailey, while with a string of superb sets from Oliver M, Tony English & Alan K, as well as pulsating performances in the other rooms, promoters Alex Erfan, Patrick Lilley & Manu Cartagenero were pleased as punch with the result. And while there is still work to do both on the venue & the format, This Is Prohibition will be back, no specific date yet set, but the likelihood is a May or June return, we bringing you news as soon as we get it.

 

 

Now to the bad and the ugly and if you saw our preview “Dad’s Army Antics”, you will quickly guess that we are talking about Manic Panic! And District XXX, the latest Friday night frolic twosome to come out of the Orange Nation creative stable. But creative they are not, particularly the latter, a whole host of people both within & outside of these two clubs, feeding back and concurring with our views on these fault filled ventures. You only have to read some of the event detail, a line which never fails to leave us aghast being “…a team of the craziest, limit pushing, disco pumped club kids will be rolling around the club each Friday night to ensure no one leaves without returning hot sweat flashbacks of their time at MANIC. These will be named The Panics…”, it speaking volumes for a club concept which, in the eyes of many is just a complete laughing stock. Yet, with international heavyweight Pagano headlining the vent each week, there is a glimmer of hope within the Manic Panic part of proceedings, while we cannot help but look upon it as a bad bash that puts all the good work of Onyx to shame. And it seems that clubbers agreed, as reports came in that numbers for Friday’s (15th Feb) launch, were not as expected, a figure of 600 being bandied around, this across three rooms, that second space sporting our ugly element as, again in our view, District XXX is a rip-off of the truly terrific PLAY>TIME, which fell afoul of the sudden closure of Lo-Profile in January. However, with hardly a care or a blink of the eye, a number of team members & D.J.’s previously part of the PLAY>TIME package have simply jumped ships and are now imitating this brilliant brand, from what we can see, trying to build a club within a club which is flawed for all sorts of reasons. So, with these reported numbers not good, the Manic Panic concept bad & the District XXX imitating downright ugly, time will tell whether this already maligned meet while last.

 

 

 

To other happenings over the weekend and to Friday again first, out east proving the place to be, as Larry Tee’s Super Electro Party machine not only celebrated London fashion week, but welcoming special guest D.J./Producer, D Ramirez to the decks, they coming back for more on Sunday (17th Feb) with their “Fashion Disaster” party, Jodie Harsh the guest this time. And sticking with East Bloc, the superb SOS was back on Saturday, Jim Warboy and his terrific team proving, yet again, how popular this party is, while with new Thursday edition Butch on the weekly schedule and next Saturday seeing the return of Gutterslut, Wayne Shires’ Shoreditch spot is certainly cooking on gas at the moment. As for Soho, while it is still clearly missing Profile & Lo-Profile, The Edge, Circa, Ku-Bar and new(ish) macho hangout, Manbar are taking the strain and all reported good numbers & atmospheres across the weekend, while Suzie Kruger’s Hard On!, currently based out of Union in Vauxhall, recorded one of their biggest turnouts in well over twelve months on Saturday, giving rise to the fact that the diversity within the scene that has been sadly lacking of late, is beginning to turn around for the good, rather than the bad that a certain group have been driving & diving the capitals clubbing circuit into. That said, Beyond, thank heavens, returned to its age-old format of a Sunday morning start, although while labelled as a “Temptation” event, it didn’t quite tempt enough to make it a roadblock event, despite the flock of frolics feeding it, but, disrobing developments aside, there is no doubt it remains a clubbing & clubber favourite.

 

 

Well, that was the weekend just gone, but what about the one coming up? Well, we have already mentioned Gutterslut, which is back to East Bloc with a bang this Saturday (23rd Feb), special guest D.J.’s Femi B & Bryony Masters heading up the rave room, while Princess Julia & Thirsty Kirsty take charge of the tunes in the DiscoSlut space, while alternative antics out east included “Pantastic” at The Joiners Arms and “Handsome” at The Visions Video Bar, both also on Saturday, while another shindig of the same day worth a shout is “Club R18” at the Eagle in Vauxhall, special guest Jack Chang on deck duty. AS for other choices, Soho’s The Edge with Zach Burns and Circa with Adam Turner are always good bets, while if you want bad & ugly, then its Manic Panic & District XXX again this Friday (22nd Feb). And talking of bad, at least creative bad, Beyond goes “Midnight” on us again this week, that’s now a total of five out of the last eight, vindicating our view that the promoter is attempting or at least sending a message that this once brilliant brand is now no longer just an afterhours amazement, but is trying to be a club for all Saturday & Sunday seasons, something it really doesn’t need to or should be. On the Orange Nation positive, Later welcomes back original Terry Bryan, a set you should definitely not miss, while before all that, something you also shouldn’t miss is this Thursday’s (21st Feb) Room Service, Jodie Harsh & co welcoming both Hifi Sean & Pagano to the decks, details of all of these upcoming events (excepting Manic Panic & District XXX) available a banner click away right here at http://discomatt.com/web, while you can also head to the online versions of both Boyz & Q.X. at http://boyz.co.uk & http://qxmagazine.com respectively.

 

So, that’s our “That Was The Weekend That Was”, good, bad and ugly as it proved for us, while we hope, wherever you had been & seen, it was a good one for you and with a selection of superb soiree’s coming up, that this next weekend is packed with positively pumping parties And, while clubbing is not specifically on our weekend agenda, with a birthday bash & them a meeting of minds, we will have much to share about a more diverse yet inclusive scene that London always used to be famed for, so here’s to a wonderful weekend that will be . (DISCO MATT)

 


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About discomatt

The History........................................................Created in 2008 after a short period of blogging under his real name, the pseudonym, “Disco Matt”, was born on the back of a reputation for being London’s original party boy having partied and clubbed across the London gay scene since in mid 1990’s.........................................................Through his series of blogs via individual blogging pages which soon morphed into a full blown website (http://discomatt.com), Disco Matt established himself as an independent journalist come columnist who quickly gained a reputation for supporting & promoting one of the world’s most prolific clubbing scenes. He previewed, reviewed & recommended London gay clubs, as well as the diverse gay/metrosexual London club/bar culture, linking to & reviewing the scene top D.J.’s and generally covering the gay scene including international gay events....................................................Regularly reporting on the top events across the scene, Disco Matt’s reviews, over the years, developed a strong following, not just by clubbers, D.J’s, promoters, music producers & scene faces, but people far and wide that were looking for an insight to the incredible scene that was London. He also previewed upcoming events that signalled, either a major change or update of existing clubs, new ventures on the gAylist/metrosexual scene, or where he considered events that deserved more comprehensive coverage to that provided in other posts.............................................However, having pretty much reached the top of his game in his chosen specific field, due to a number of personal predicaments, challenges & changes in his life priorities, Disco Matt parked his writing and operation in February 2014. While the burning desire to continue remained, what this much needed period of inactivity did provide was the time & space to re-think & re-focus his activities on a broader spectrum of media and entertainment............................................................So, following this long two year lay-off, he built up the foundations for this diversification into the areas of film, theatre, radio & television where his reviewing, recommending & reporting was to be replicated & resurrected, also pointing his promotions through more visuals & video's linked to all these areas along with his core activities and passions ................................................................................The Present....................................After another (shorter) period of lay-off from mid 2016, a life changing event reignited his passion and early into 2017, Disco Matt has delivered on his promise for a new, more modern look to his website, shedding the old & tired skin in favour of something far more in keeping with the times and with his blogging roots. And he has waived a fond farewell to his clubbing days, this having also been ditched from his site & activity, rather now just focussing on the genres of film, theatre, radio, television, video and of course, music, in so doing, aiming to broaden his appeal to a much wider audience interested in the latest most cutting edge areas of media & entertainment.............................................................................His aim is to be highly regarded across the industry for his writing in these fields and ultimately become a full time critic in film &/or theatre.