There can be no other brand in our lifetime that has received quite so much accolade as Beyond has, this truly colossal club having dominated our lives for all but one year this century, that because it simply wasn’t around in the year 2000. However, from the early captivating days of Colosseum, through to the more recent amazing times at Area, Beyond has not only been a cornerstone in our clubbing, but has consistently been an intrinsic ingredient in our New Year celebrations. Memories of queuing in the rain by Nine Elms, braving the chilling cold on Albert Embankment, but then being blown away by its sheer brilliance, has meant that Beyond holds higher regard than any other club we know and as much of the whole essence of Beyond is the audaciousness of its afterhours qualities, it is also about the music & moreover the music makers that have forged this unrepentant love affair we have with the brand.
So, as we feel in Love with Beyond back in 2001, mourned what was a temporary passing in 2006, then heralded its return in 2008, two years on the brand not only survived in a tough old world, but seemingly went from strength to strength, building on its solid foundations in the capital, with forays to Brighton & Manchester, to Amsterdam & Paris and even as far as Mykonos, sharing with our international clubbing compatriots, the magic that beyond seems to posses in endless amounts. And this uncompromising ability to showcase some of the best parties the scene had seen this last year, it was inevitable that it would not only play host to our birthday bash but would also scoop a whole series of our own awards, not least best club of 2010. Yet as 2011 dawned we found ourselves somewhat absent & missing out on Beyond’s first outing of the year, a packed to the rafters affair which would surely be a hard act to follow, but as second so often proves to be sweetest, 2nd January was our moment to let Beyond leave us breathless.
Arriving at a chilly Area entrance at not long before 7 a.m., a little late for us, although with As One having tucked at our heart strings for longer than expected, we were greeted by the ever present Tom, who clearly had his hands full managing the door in a way that only he knows best, although even this master of entrance ceremonies was clearly being kept very busy, such was the popularity & penchant for this, the second Beyond in two days. So, with our smooth entry sorted & a quick hello to hostess Chrissy Darling over, we were in the club and in the massive queue to put our coats in, the lack of organisation of late evidenced by the long wait we had to endure. However, with the main room doors swung open, we took the option of choosing the front coatcheck as our drop off point, a further wait ensuing, bit with the patience & virtue of a king, we were soon released into the action, heading straight for our spot and a liaison with Steve Pitron who had just started & playing our track of the moment, the fabulously funky “Now Or Never”.
With our embarrassment of two days previously at his party over & done with, Mr Pitron returned to the decks to send us into a dancing dream with yet another truly spectacular showing, the Beyond main room erupting before our eyes , the podiums quickly filing and our spot swelling too, so much so, that we traded spaces with a whole host of party heads intent to soaking up their own slice of Steve, a veritable feast of familiar faces, as always, passing us by, including our beauty of a Brazilian Celso Moura (Steve’s other half), female friend Sophie Perrson, a nonchalant Nick Evans, the full of beans Clington Forbes, our Barcode boy Eduardo, the ever present Lee Harris, as well as another off-duty D.J. the hunky Jamie Hammond, plus a whole raft of others that added up to a space staked with Beyond supporters ready to paint the club red right through till Sunday afternoon. And Steve was really giving it gusto behind the decks, serving up one terrific track after the next, from the classic (and his anthem it has to be said), “Here Comes The Rain”, through to the more modern “Commander”, & “Show Me Your Love”, along with yet another “Addicted” re-work and the mother of them all, “Release Me”, which clearly sent into a dancing dervish, although our spot, like back in May the previous year, had been virtually totally infiltrated, resigning us to the corridor behind to share our “Doing The Disco Matt” moves with pal Stephen who had joined us for a moment or two.
Such was the extend of this perfect Pitron performance, we only glanced at the time on our phone as Gonzalo Rivas walked past, clearly he arriving to take over where Steve was about to leave off, the line-up being a main room mirror of that we had enjoyed back on our birthday bash, our Spanish star, assuming the decks and immediately giving us a second turn of “Now Or Never”, this tracks starting 2011 top of our pile & looking being, like “Release me” had been for such a long time, the Disco Matt anthem. But, having dancing like crazy for the whole of Steve’s wet, it was time for a short respite, we taking our usual course round the rear of the main space & then up through the Chapel room, our advance towards the outside space stopped in its tracks by a packed & pulsating space, that had Hifi Sean at the helm, we weaving through the cavorting crowd to pop up by the booth & wave a New year hi to our jovial jock, our diversion delighting even more, as we stumbled on friends Michele Thornber, Rob Ferguson, & Lee Yeomans, we suddenly turning as a tap on our shoulder revealed the man that always leads us astray, Nick Tcherniak beaming a welcoming smile in our direction, while partner Tom Marchant also turned to say hello.
So, it was here that we laid our hat for a while, slowly shaking off the exhausting heat of the main room and moving & grooving to Sean’s deep house sounds that soon had us ducking & diving in manic moves with Nick, a further shoulder tap resulting, this time, in a glorious greeting from incumbent D.J. & brilliant Bello, Alessandro Londra, this saucy Sicilian making his Chapel room debut, the excitement clearly showing on his face, although a fair amount of nerves running through his veins. However, for us, it was the need for some t=fresh air that was consuming our minds & souls, so went in search of just that, weaving our way through a packed Sunrise Terrace room banging to the beats of Fat Tony, we rather sliding outside to savour some of that cooling climate that quickly turned to freezing fathoms, just enough time to catch a sneaky ciggie (yes we’re giving up on 4th Jan) & a catch up with Chrissy, our hostess with the mostest (or is that moistest?!), before braving it back indoors.
Finding a now relaxing Tom Fuller, we offered up a New Year drink with him, attemting to select a spot where we were not crushed from the rush and also had the chance for a chat, choosing the bar at the head of the main room as our landing spot, Gonzalo clearly still in full control & fusing funky, chunky, uplifting & downright delicious dance tracks together tremendously, Tom grateful for this moment away from the action, he remarking that it had been a good 30 or so days since he had taken a proper break away from work, although with a holiday in the sun looming, this was the time to relax. But our relaxing was far from over, as further dips into the Chapel room for Sean & then Alessandro were in order, along with re-assuming our spot in the main space, Mr Rivas reaping rapturous renditions of superb sounds on a room that just kept craving for more, the continual stage appearances by Elektra Paris, Shaun Capewell & co, adding spice to proceedings, while the amazing area lighting & lasers, along with pyrotechnic explosions elevated an already amazing atmosphere to even dizzier heights. But as good as this second Beyond bash of 2011 had become, the heat from the main room, added to by the exhaustion of As one before it, resigned us to an early bath, the noted absence of Alan K sealing the fate on our foray, rather we heading out into the Vauxhall morning light and wending our way home to take stock of a splendid start to the year, not just from a NYE party at Pitron’s, a superlative stint at Salvation & the awesome affair that was As One, but the icing on the brilliant cake that was this breathtaking Beyond.
In summing up we have pretty much done soalready in these words, “breathtaking” & “brilliant”, two adjectives that we often use in describing our most favourite of afterhours, Beyond having climbed to the top of our all time greatest pile and in both our birthday bash back in December and this latest & first of our outings in its hands in 2011, combined with scooping our best club of 2010 award for the towering “Tokyo” triumph back in October, looks set to continue this year where it left off last, as the biggest draw in our week and the one club where we can say with conviction, that we are right at home with, especially in our spot. As for this second is sweetest shindig, there were myriads of magical moments to add to the memory banks, Hifi Sean’s set, Gonzalo Rivas’ showing, the host of familiar & friendly faces, our time with Tom and our chat with Chrissy all examples, but towering above them all, was that precision perfect performance from Mr Pitron, Steve once again setting the scene & selecting the sounds that spun us the most, making us smile from ear to ear in ecstasy and something that you simply cannot beat. (DISCO MATT)