While we may not have had our usual Friday feeling, with another pulsating & pumping Play>Time in prospect a dream worthy D.J. duo on duty, a trip into town too tempting to resist, Jay Roberts propelling the pumping pecs of porn star Paddy O’Brien, while Steve Pitron & Nathan Six pumped out the towering tunes, our belated bite size review the rewarding reflection.
At the expense of sounding like a long playing & repeating record, 2012 has been a year, at least so far, that we could quite happily forget, much of the enthusiasm we had for reporting on, recommending & reviewing one of the world’s most colourful clubbing circuits, drastically diminished, due in no part to a number of personal & family health setbacks. Indeed, having gone to the lengths of announcing a summer sabbatical a few weeks ago, the plan being to step out of the scene completely, there have been a few flies in the ointment, one club in particular still drawing us out of the sabbatical shell, a Friday frolic especially hard to resist when certain key D.J. players are involved. Add to that one of the warmest welcomes from a team of staff & management we could wish for along with lubrication of our loins on more than one front, as well as a promoter that is right there in the thick of the action (as all promoters should be), not to mention plenty of pumping pecs from a plethora of porn stars and you can see why we find Play>Time at Lo-Profile hard to resist. Indeed, of the few occasions we have stepped out on the scene, this pulsating Friday frolic of a place has accounted for a good 40%, those players in question being Steve Pitron & Zach Burns, while promoter Jay Roberts never fails to welcome us with open arms & plenty of lubrication on tap to quench our thirst.
And so it was that we found ourselves being drawn away from the comfort of a stress busting extended sofa snooze, our working week having gone from bad to worse and the usual Friday feeling we are full of, running on empty, although have cried considerable wolf on a tube journey in, our steed came to the rescue, making a much appreciated detour to deliver us to Lo-Profile’s door, well apart from the usual Steve sprint across Soho. And with the expectation of a flock of familiar faces pitching up too, our mood soon lifted, it further helped along the way with not one or two, but three shots of Sambuca which went straight to our head, we starting to spin on our select spot right from the start. But while the music Mr Pitron was picking proved pretty phenomenal, with much of them hot off the press releases, the now infamous gagging order was slammed tightly back on, we having to deploy serupticious tactics to keep our nibble size tweeting public in the loop, although were careful enough to avoid those new tracks, rather throw up some safe selections, one tweet a perfect example when we said , “…it’s a miracle we made it to Play>Time after the week we had, although Steve Pitron said, you better…”, the hidden tracks meaning in there for all to see.
But Play>Time it certainly was and with the witching hour fast approaching a slow start soon turned into a packed out place, the absence of Dilmar on the lights neatly filled by an arriving Nick Evans who was as pleased to see us as we him, although it was Steve that was demanding our attention and was very much in DM destruction mode, a sequence of selections aiming, firing and hitting their target. That said, due to the gagging order, we are unable to share the majority with you, although of the ones we can, we were feeling the “Pressure” in the “Heat Of The Night” left wondering of many months missed, “Where Have You Been All My Life”, Play>Time certainly living up to the superb sound “Show Me Love”, Mr Pitron is a classics phase of his performance by now, “Shine On Me” followed by one of our all-time favourites, “Bitch Lady” certainly selected with us in mind, while the newbie “Right Before My Eyes” also hit the heavenly mark. And just when we thought the night couldn’t get any better, not only did Minty appear, but Mark Thyme too, whom together with Steve made it feel like a mini Crash reunion, while to further add to our excitement, beautiful Brazilian Bel, always the live wire of any party, made her entrance, quickly living up to her name by clutching this piece of wood & banging it on the walls, floor & ceiling like she was playing a carnival drum. But it was the music that continued to enthral us the most, we sinking into the swooning Toni Braxton song, “I Heart You”, neatly followed by what can only be described as the most delightfully destructive dance delectation of 2012 so far, although like a handful of others, is still caught up in our gagging order, we simply itching to spill the beans so good is the track.
With Steve’s set almost at an end, it was Jay’s turn to enter the limelight for a while, bringing out his own ace in the Play>Time stack of cards, mind you all this was after the false podium alarm, Nick Evans supplying one of the moments of the night, mistaking a cavorting customer as one of Jay’s porn stars, his exclamation “…is that one of the dancer’s…” leaving us in stitches. But it would be the arrival of Paddy O’Brien & his podium party piece that was to excite the crowd considerably, he teasing those close with a huge flag draped around his naked torso, bouncing to the beats of Steve’s selections, although with real party piece for us was Mr Pitron’s final pick, the infamous “new track 3”, one that has been under review wraps for so long, but following the release of his latest podcast, Nero’s “Must Be The Feeling” in Funkagenda remix form, the crowning glory of yet another stunning set. But the night was far from over, as Nathan Six assumed the decks and rather than making our usual escape with Steve, we stayed put and gladly so, as Nathan set about serving up an equally superb set, we simply loving the energy he was building with his brilliant beats, yet more podium prancing porn stars adding to the amazing atmosphere and Nick Evans providing enthusiastic entertainment of his own. So, with pace & energy of Nathan’s set injecting some much missing bounce in our “Doing The Disco Matt” moves, we danced the night away on our spot like as good’un, only deciding to call it a day about a hour before closing, waving our farewells to Nathan & Nick and sinking into the Soho surroundings to wend our way home & ponder our return to review mode, such was the push perfectly provided by Play>Time.
In Play>Time the team behind Lo-Profile have certainly found a winner on a number of fronts, it having established itself as a Friday night market leader, even knocking the might of Onyx off its pedestal, promoter Jay Roberts having developed a brand that neatly balances socialising, dancing, music & men in the most marvellous way and like lots of long running clubs on the capitals circuit, it seems this magnificent weekly meet has lengthy legs in it for sure. And such has been the success of Play>Time here in London, that the club has extended its welcoming arms across Europe, Paris’s Spyce having entertained Jay & his team on a couple of occasions this year already, while with the might of worldwide organisation Gaydar behind it, a little birdie tells us that there are bigger & better plans ahead to achieve the clubs aspirations abroad. As for our Play>Time experience, in the hands of both Steve Pitron & Nathan Six, we were in musical seventh heaven, Mr Pitron’s picks particularly pulsating & mesmerising although, to be fair to Nathan, despite having a hard act to follow, he more than held his own, in fact serving up a simply spectacular set to shadow his senior at this superb soiree which proved to be another night full of marvellous memories made by our main man & his mark. And roving residencies in PLAY>TIME & Profile that sees Steve play once a month in the former & Nathan in the latter, you can bet your bottom dollar we will be back for more in September, although with countless other Friday’s enjoyed there, our return will surely be sooner rather than later. (DISCO MATT)