Recommends – “Wind In The March Scene Sails” – Weekend Best Bites Newsletter – Friday 9th to Sunday 11th March

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With a sturdy spring back in his step following a couple of weeks of unsteady uncertainty, Disco matt is back with a bang, taking you through his Best Bite choices of were to be & be seen on the scene in Soho Vauxhall & Shoreditch, the cream from a crop of contenders being scooped up & spotlighted in this first part of his weekend roundup newsletter.

 

 

There’s a little ditty that starts, “…March wind is a jolly fellow, he likes to joke and play, he turns umbrellas inside out and blows men’s hats away…” while it goes on “…he calls the pussy willows and whispers in each ear, wake up you lazy little seeds, don’t you know that spring is here…”, this very much marking the month of March, meteorologically wise, as one known for both for its winds as well as the coming of spring. And my have the winds been blowing us around this week, although it seems that, with today at least, spring is on our doorsteps, this wind seemingly also fuelling a scene that looks set to sail with a real spring in its own steps, some sensational shindigs on the schedule as the month continues to unfold. So, with this weekend being no exception and with an eye on Soho, Vauxhall & Shoreditch, we draw on some analogies from that March ditty as we choose our best bites of where to be & be seen on the scene.

 

Bar Beauts

To Soho first and top of our tree (surprise, surprise) is the Wardour Street wonder that is the dynamic duo of Profile & Lo-Profile, a combo which, for us, cannot be beat, both having soared skyward in our ratings since they came together just about eighteen months ago, Profile having previously been over the other side of Soho & seemingly quite separate to its bigger brand of a sister. And while we never really took to the Frith Street operation, Profile in its new situ is a completely different story, we warming to American diner come bar sophisticate virtually from the off, while the hot bar team are just one of many reasons why we continue to get drawn back to its charms time after time. With a heady concoction of taste tingling cocktails, a mouth watering food menu and, of course, marvellous men (well women too), Profile also serves up magnificent music from Thursday’s through Saturday’s to get you in the mood for the clubbing experience down below, this weekend being no exception as the team have pulled in two of their most popular roving residents, the natty Nathan Six getting you into a very playful mood tomorrow night (Fri 9th) while it’s a Jamie jam on Saturday, of the Head variety, as our podcast producer pick of the week, Jamie Head, steers you towards Sunday with a truck load of terrific tech & chunky tunes. Add to that the bar’s special happy hour which includes cocktail pitchers for just £15 & 2 for 1 spirits, that along with lunchtime & week night food offers & Profile is definitely right up there in the ranks of where to be & be seen, further details available at http://profilesoho.com.

 

Playful Porn

So, moving downstairs and Lo-Profile has very much captured the imagination of late with the family of home grown branded nights that are attracting considerable following & favour, their week always starting off with “Beartrap” on Monday’s which, according to independent reports received to DM HQ, is pretty populous each & every week with the likes of Phil Marriott & Ben Jamin on the decks, while the major focus is still on the weekends, which always now kicks off with “Society” on Thursday’s, a neat alternative to Room Service while the big players are naturally Friday’s & Saturday’s, this weekend looking like a bit of a corker in both respects. So to tonight (Fri 9th) first and it’s time for “Playtime” again, your host Jay Roberts bringing you the best in raunchy porn-tastic action along with magnificent music, although it completely mystifies (nay annoys us) why Mr Roberts continually insists on not only ignoring us in the club, but repeatedly fails include the D.J.’s in both his advertisements & his PR and while we can see the attraction of the two porn stars in Samuel Colt & Chris Porter, the temptations of Jay’s backroom boudoir for the few & fortunate who’s faces fit (it yours will have to believe us!!), the plain fact of the matter is that it is the music that does most of the “Playtime” talking, this week seeing Mikey D take the Pitron reigns from 10 till 1, this while Steve is sunning himself across in Asia, with our premier protégé player, Zach Burns following Mikey from 1 till 4 a.m., Zach celebrating his first year anniversary in residency at Lo-Profile, so will definitely be in party mood. But the weekend continues in style on Saturday with “ClubNation”, a collaboration between Lo-Profile & it’s major sponsor Gaydar, the radio station variety now beaming their Saturday night show of the same name direct from the club, this week Lee Harris taking up the reigns for a specially extended set from 10 p.m. till 3 a.m. (wow!!!), this cheeky chappy currently resident at House Nation UK, Gaydar Radio’s  monthly podcast series that is recognised in the top 10 music podcasts on i-tunes and downloaded from all corners of the world, lee using this medium to  showcase his uplifting house & electro sound that will surely feature this Saturday. With entry to both nights priced at just £8 before midnight & then £10 thereafter, Lo-Profile is certainly the Soho place to be, more info up at http://loprofile.com. 

 

Daytime Disco

Onto Vauxhall now and the spotlight is very much on the Orange Group this weekend, particularly on their flagship venue Fire, which takes up the strain of Area’s refurbishment closure and in so doing housing the whole gambit from Thursday through Sunday, that’s Gravity, Onyx, A:M, Beyond, Later & Orange (in amongst other parties), meaning the management team have their work cut out in jockeying clubbers from one event to the next. With Beyond  having already received extended exposure in our special feature “Brilliant Brand’s Backyard On A Break” and topping our tree of choices of where to be & be seen on Saturday night into Sunday morning, we thought we would give all the others a even amount of coverage this weekend, starting with Gravity which tonight (Thurs 8th) goes “Underground” with special guest D’Johnny flying in direct from his Berlin base to turn up the tech volume with regular resident Alan K, while the team take a breather before the virtually back-to-back onslaught which starts of Friday with Onyx, which moves from Area of its three week “Adventures In Clubland” residency in The Lightbox, where it will be hailing the launch of its spring season with Jodie Harsh charging the tunes, while the second pop space will be found in Protocol (the club space next to the Lightbox) with Lady Lloyd & Tasty Tim, more info a click away at http://facebook.com/events/195707633867182/. Then it becomes a bit of a Steven Sharp resplendent roadshow as our promoter of 2011 (more on that in our awards feature “I Would Like To Thank…” coming up) takes charge of three of the next four clubs on the Orange Group weekend calendar, that on top  of being in birthday celebration mode & mood. So, before we concentrate, deservedly so on him, A:M, Beyond & Orange, let’s give a quick mention for Later which starts a short “Spring Break” season “…on the move around Vauxhall…” although isn’t moving far as its simply switches from the mirrorarch to the main room in Fire, this together with a new host & D.J.’s that include Jamie Head, Paul Heron & D’Johnny, means we will be bringing you an Extra Bites post on this, coming up on Saturday.

 

Away From Area

Now back to the Steven Sharp show, which starts with A:M on Saturday morning (10th March) with special guest Paul Christian as the clubs “Headliner”, while he will be joined by a team that includes Fat Tony, D’Johnny & Guy Williams in the main room, while in the “A:M 2 Lounge” there is a special b2b set from Amir Groove & Sam Sierra, the club opening its doors (Fire entrance) at 3 a.m. & the club running through till 11 a.m. (oh my word!!), host Danny Boyce inside & the marvellous Minty on the door. Then, as we hinted earlier, Beyond comes at you with a “Midnight” twelve hour event, although with Area closed for refurbishment, it takes up residence at Fire for the very first time (well apart from Ultimate of course). Now we have covered much of the detail in our special feature, “Brilliant Brand’s Backyard On A Break” (direct short link http://discomatt.com/web/?p=4864), but suffice to say, while it will be very strange to see our favourite afterhours in Fire, we will be there to witness it all, even without our indelible influence who is currently a few thousand miles away, we possibly also carrying on into Later which we believe Beyond will roll straight into. However, looking a little further forward than that, to Sunday night in fact (well more Monday Morning really) we find the third brilliant brand our prolific promoter is putting out there, Orange having firmly established itself as the only place to party deep into the start of the working week, many trading the office for the dancefloor and with a resident D.J. line up that includes The Oli Fat Tony, the Sharp Boys, David Jimenez & Hifi Sean, a main room with upfront house & the infamous RAW room going deep, it is no surprise. Plus, with special guest this weekend, D’Johnny, squeezing the best beats out of this citric splendour, Orange is definitely the place to be & be seen rounding off your weekend, more info on latest events & happenings available at http://facebook.com/groups/128096257227348/.

 

Three Course Clubbing

So to Shoreditch for our final Best Bite choice of where to be & be seen this weekend and the DM red carpet is rolled out for East Bloc, the uber trendsetting underground venue that has very much shaken up the whole Shoreditch scene with so way-out & whacky wonders, brilliant & out there brands that grace its doors including “Gutterslut”, “SOS” “The MenWhoFellToEarth” & “Paradise 45”, while it was probably “Meat” that really put this hip & happening hangout firmly on the clubbing circuit map. And while “Meat” may have passed on, Tom has tidily taken the capitvating concept that made ”Meat” our alternative club night of 2011 (more on that in our awards feature coming up) & transformed it into prolific party “Dish”, the similarity in the name style also harping towards the music & party politics, Tom & his terrific team serving up a sumptuous start, main & dessert packed powerhouse of pumping beats, from pure tech & underground sounds in the “main course” room served silver style by Mr Stephan & co “Dish” promoter Borja Pena, while in the second space, aptly called “the larder”, it more about old skool house, RnB & classic house from young blood Kartel Brown alongside Scott Webster. But there is a surprise third “Pudding” place, a micro (wave) size space that is pure pop with the equally aptly named Miss Cupcake selecting the sweetest beats, that on top of “maitre d” hosts Kane Luke, La Pequeria & Melvin making sure to get to wade through all three musical courses from the clubs start at 11 p.m. leaving satisfied with the whole service by the 6 a.m. finish, entry a mere £7 before midnight or £10 thereafter, side dishes of yummy go-go’s Fer & Claudio & a magnificent menu of “Dishy” visuals to complete the prolific party package meaning that you won’t need a doggy bag after devouring the delightful dance dinner that is “Dish”, more info, should you need it, out at http://www.facebook.com/events/101830959937889/. However, just a quick mention for East Bloc’s Friday frolic, “Super Electro Party Machine” with Larry Tee & guests, while Sunday sees the continuance of “The Bloc Party”, showcasing the best in RnB, hip hop, & funky house  from 10 p.m. through till 5 a.m., further details of these & other happenings available via http://eastbloc.co.uk.

 

Dancing In Disguise

Now just a couple of quick dates for your dance diaries, the first being The Wig Party Masked Ball which storms your Sunday next weekend (18th March) all the detail coming up in our special feature “Dancing In Disguise” which includes an exclusive interview with PA Peyton, while the following weekend Matinee returns to London for a special “Midnight” extended event on Saturday 24th March, general event details for both a banner click away right here at http://discomatt.com/web.

 

Well, that’s it for our Best Bites for another weekend and one that will see us in playful mood at “Playtime” tomorrow night, while on Saturday we will be burning the midnight oil before heading out to Beyond and, if our legs will carry us on enough, will see how the transition to Later works out. So, if you see us, come say hi, don’t forget you can keep an eye on all the action via our live nibble size tweets at http://twitter.com/discomatt, but remember that to “Be There!” you need to “Go There!” (DISCO MATT)

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.