Recommends – “Small Is Sweet” – Weekend Short Shouts – Friday 22nd to Sunday 24th February – Newsletter Part Two

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With most of the big brands missing, it seems that small is sweet this weekend, we speeding through a string of soirees both home & away that deserve our Short Shouts mini mentions, while we deliver some disco dance dates for your diaries, as well as a cataclysmic change to the capitals clubbing circuit announcement teaser

 

 

Despite a boost in the early part of this month with a brace of new brands, it seems the bigger players that used to be around but are no more, having left a gaping hole in the weekly clubbing circuit schedule, this last weekend in February, which should be a brimming with bash one, actually evidence of the lack big player choice. So, it seems it’s down to the “Small Is Sweet” soirees to shine in the spotlight, a string getting our Short Shouts mini mentions, while that very gap in the schedule also gets our teaser announcement attention.

 

So, let’s head into Soho first and to the Edge, which is always a good bet on Saturday’s, not least that our soon to be released from his Premier Protégé Player title, Zach Burns, sorts the superb sounds, the night kicking off from 10 p.m. with uplifting & chart tunes house, then heading into more dynamic disco & energetic house hits through till 3 a.m., while with three others floors to spread into, The Edge gets our vote every time, more info up at http://edgesoho.co.uk &/or https://facebook.com/groups/edgebarsoho/.

 

Just a hop, skip & jump away the compact yet charming Circa, a heavenly hangout that attracted one of the most stylish crowds in town, not least that it sports the pre-party for Room Service on Thursday’s, while Munroe Bergdorf’s “Discipline” night on Friday’s is a popular party. However, its Saturday’s that gets our attention here, as our resident Adam Turner’s sets are simply not to be missed, part of the reason why he will be ascending to our Premier Protégé Player position pretty soon, more details on Circa & its happenings out at http://circasoho.com &/or https://facebook.com/pages/Circa/183683868348892.

 

So one more Soho Short Shout, this going to Manbar, this new(ish) bar situated on the site of the infamous CXR79, while having gone a lot more upmarket with its offer, not least that its attracting some of the top D.J.’s on the London scene, including, Hifi Sean, Severiono, Pier Morrocco, Paul Heron, Brent Nicholls, & Phil Marriott among others, while with event brands “Beartrap”, “Hombre” & “Rednecks”, ex Rupert St manager Cathy Taylor & her team are making their mark, this definitely the up & coming place to be & be seen on the Soho scene, more info up at http://manbarsoho.com &/or https://facebook.com/manbarsoho.

 

Skirting Vauxhall for now, we head out east and firstly to The Joiners Arms, a venue very much in the ascendency, a string of nights including “Yes” on Friday’s & “SPQR” on Sunday’s, while “Pantastic” on Saturday’s draws in some big stars of the London & international scene, Pagano having played just last weekend, while Paul Heron is also a roving regular, this weekend seeing Julian De Apostate holding the reigns, while with much more going on, take a trip to Shoreditch to see, but have a peek at their page first, by clicking on https://facebook.com/joiners.arms.9.

 

 

Just round the corner on Kingsland Road, is a new night “Handsome” at Visions Video Bar, one definitely for officinal’s of deep soulful NYC style house & retro disco, a wonderful whirlwind trip down sound memory lane back to the 80’s, through the 90’s and then right up to date from two true D.J. & scene icons who happen to be best pals too, Guy Williams & Justin Ballard, this Saturday (23rd Feb) the day & 10 p.m. till 5 a.m. the time, entry a mere £5 before midnight, more detail up at http://visionsvideobar.com/.

 

Swinging further around the Shoreditch Dalston border, we come to The Dalston Superstore (DSS), very much a hip & happening hangout for the trendy east end set, a score of parties have played out there including Paradise 45, & Tramp, while the big news is that Jim Warboy’s SOS makes the switch from East Bloc to DSS from the beginning of next month. As for this weekend, Friday sees the return of “Banjee Boy Realness” , while the ever popular “Hot Boy Dancing Spot” shines on Saturday & “Tutti Frutti” is your Sunday serving, more detail on these & other offerings out at https://facebook.com/groups/dalstonsuperstore/.

 

So that’s east but before we head south to Vauxhall lets hop over onto the continent, head to Belgium, Antwerp in fact, as this Saturday (24th Feb), it’s quite a special Red & Blue, as our brilliant beatmaster, Elof de Neve, celebrates five years drawing capacity crowds to this amazing jewel in the Belgian clubbing crown, his popularity as strong today as it was when he started out, evidence of this that when Elof is missing, the place just isn’t the same, while it is a club you simply have to visit before your dancing days are over, more detail out at http://redandblue.eu &/or https://facebook.com/redandblue.eu.

 

Now to Vauxhall and with us struggling to find the positives with the schedule of a certain group that has dominated the scene for so long, we rather head to The Eagle first, home to the legendary “Horse Meat Disco” & manly meat “Tonker”, while this Saturday (23rd Feb) sees special guest D.J. Jack Chang make a welcome return for their night “Club R18”, very much one for the men rather than the boys, but well worth a trip, while for details of the whole Eagle eventing, check out http://eaglelondon.com &/or https://facebook.com/Eagle.London.

 

Swinging just up Kennington Lane, we find venerable institution venue The Royal Vauxhall Tavern (RVT), which always packs them in, this weekend sure to be no different as “Push The Button” does just that tomorrow night (Fri 22nd Feb), while on Saturday it’s the delightful “Duckie”, Sunday simply not being Sunday without a significant slice of “S.L.A.G.S./Chill-out”, more detail on this and the whole seven days shenanigans out at http://thervt.org.uk &/or https://facebook.com/groups/thervt/.

 

To a former favourite now that may just be swinging back into our favour, Barcode Vauxhall having gone through the mill since the days of “Industri” when not a week would go by without us being there, although a dim & dark period that has seen, particularly on Friday’s, it head in a direction not to our liking, this Saturday (23rd Feb) has actually caught our eye, “Club Tin Tin” sporting terrific Latino talents Borja Pena & Eduardo Herrera in the front room, while Micky Galliano & Kris Di Angelis head up the back club space. So, while Friday’s still don’t sit with us, we reckon BCV is worth a peek, as is their website at http://bar-code.co.uk/.

 

So, as we get ever closer to that cataclysmic clubbing circuit wind of change announcement teaser, we give that is actually a worthy mention for Sunday daytime disco soiree Later, one now under the green promotional hands of D.J./producer Marco Gee who is clearly keen to follow in some of his peer’s footsteps, while the newsworthy mention is the return this Sunday (24th Feb) or original Later resident Terry Bryan, who, along with other changes Marco has made, is certainly shifting the music policy significantly, while with just two D.J.’s on duty (one of which is Mr Gee), the signs are that Later, like many of its sister brands, continues to struggle, although Terry’s return is some very much to shout about, more event detail out at https://facebook.com/events/523502471026098/.

 

 

Right that’s our Short Shouts done, so what of this clubbing change announcement?. Well, as we said at the top of this newsletter, it’s just a teaser for now, although with a venue right in the thick of the Vauxhall circuit driving the changes, its aims & ambitions to restore the London scene to the dynamically diverse yet intrinsically inclusive one that was the solid foundation for its reputation as being one of the best in the world, there are definitely exciting times ahead for capital wide club promoters, owners, venues, D.J.’s and, of course, YOU the clubber. But with competition crushing very much a ghost of clubbing past, the present & the future is looking very bright, the colour certainly not Orange, further detail to come in our next Seventh Day Sermon, “Winds Of Clubbing Change” and a subsequent special feature focus on that Vauxhall venue.

 

Well, with “Small Is Sweet” very much the way to go this weekend, we hope we have given you (along with our Best Bites) plenty to choose from, while for us, it’s a relatively quiet one, a birthday bash up in Ku Bar followed by a late night meeting of minds to talk turkey on these wind changes, but whatever you get up to and wherever it finds you, have an amazing one and remember, to “Be There!” you need to “Go There!”. (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.