Discomatt is an independent club reviewer who has his own web site discomatt.com . He generously allows SeenQueen.com to copy portions of his work to present to you here. His opinions are his own and do not necessarily reflect that of seenqueen.com.

"Gay City Rollers (GCR) was launched by club promoter Alex Erfan & his team with the aim to fill a gap in the fun side of clubbing, choosing a midweek slot to host the event and at its venue home, The Renaissance Rooms in Vauxhall. Now, roller skating disco was not a new phenomenon, indeed folk have been gyrating to music on this form of frantic four wheeled footwear for many years, but adding an event to the gAylist calendar was a real breath of fresh air and something entirely different to anything else on offer across the scene. And, since its launch, GCR has attracted a niche & mixed crowd of experienced roller skaters & novices alike, all with the desire to have a fun filled frolic on, you guessed it, four wheels. A year on and we simply couldn’t resist celebrating GCR’s 1st birthday with the team, even if we had never been on roller skates before, saying to ourselves “it can’t be that difficult surely, four wheels per foot, easy peasy”. So was it? Well, not quite!....

..... Skates on, we attempted to stand up, a feat in itself and then once on our feet, attempted to move forward in a gliding motion as though we knew exactly what we were doing, but far from it as our skates seemed to have a life of their own and careered into the nearby, fortunate, soft seating, whilst many around us seemed to be coping much more admirably. Fortunately, Jerry Boston came to our rescue and guided us safely to the bar where some liquid refreshment was just the ticket and allowed us to take stock and find our bearings as well as our new style feet. And this was the place to be for a while as a whole host of familiar faces appeared coming up to say hello, first Industri pal Chris, armed with his camera and immediately clicking us in delicate pose, then scene face Graham & pals, all who had gone the whole hog, dressed in tight lycra shorts, bright pink leg warmers & sporting a huge afro style wigs, very much the roller disco look. Then there was D.J. pal JC Christopher, another one looking comfortable on his rollers, as was Simon Patrick, who took to his skates and rolled across to give us encouraging support, we then being joined by the man himself, Alex Erfan, who had been looking forward to Disco Matt doing roller disco for some time, greeting us in usual friendly fashion, the look on his face hinting it was time we braved it & threw ourselves into the action.

And that was just what happened, as tip top vocalist Tonnic appeared, embracing us and then grabbing our hand, guiding us slowly onto the main ring, which was now filled with a whole host of gyrating skaters, some hugely confident, others gingerly making their way around, but all savouring the poptatic disco tunes D.J. star taking the first turn on the decks, The Very Miss Dusty O, selecting some spot on sounds to serenade the skaters. With both us & Tonnic far from secure on our feet, we both helped each other around the ring, part in concentration part in hilarious laughter, part in fear of falling but nevertheless entering the spirit as best we could. Adding to the already incredible atmosphere were Chris Geary’s boys including the boisterous Bam Bam, dressed appropriately in bright blue hot pants & sporting massive 70’s Elton John style specs with outrageous wigs, just the picture for this roller skating frolic into the world of classic disco, all the boys looking very proficient at the art, Chris whirling around a breakneck speed in breathtaking fashion.....

....So what did we think of our first skating stint at Gay City Rollers? and would we recommend it to others? Well, having never tried out roller skating before, it would be fair to say that we were pretty hideous at the skill, but for us it didn’t matter as we were surrounded by some impeccable company and had an absolute hoot from start to finish, laughing our way through the carnage we caused, delighting in the camp, kitsch & crazy fun filled frivolity of this monthly midweek frolic into the depths of disco madness on those slippery skates. Having not known what to expect, we came away wanting more and despite having fallen over, we reckon at least eight times, still days later suffering from a really sore back, we would do it all again in an instant. From accomplished skaters, to others that were delightfully dressed, from gorgeous hunks of guys to those throwing themselves into the occasion with gusto, Gay City Rollers had them all (even novices like us) and for that alone we would thoroughly recommend a visit. For us, it was a most pleasurable experience from start to finish, so we will be investing in some knee & elbow pads for the next one, which is already pencilled into our diary. (DISCO MATT)

This review contains excerpts from the original which can be viewed in full at www.discomatt.com.

According to the Telegraph..."Massage parlours and escort agencies will be banned from advertising their services in newspapers under Government plans to stifle the sex industry.

Publications carrying advertisements for prostitution could be fined £10,000 under the new law, which will be put forward in Labour’s election manifesto.

The assault on the sex industry is being led Harriet Harman, the women’s minister, and Vera Baird, the solicitor general, amid concerns that many of the advertisements are offering women who have been forced into prostitution by criminal gangs.

A request by the Newspaper Society to remove the adverts in 2008 has had only partial success, with many publications continuing to print them.

The Crown Prosecution Service has already studied a similar law in Ireland and concluded that it could work in the UK.

Mrs Baird said: “It is now appropriate to move against people who make money from advertising prostitutes. The Newspaper Society tightened its guidance on taking such ads but there is still a market that we now have to look to legislation to disrupt.”

A survey of London’s sex industry commissioned in 2008 by Poppy Project, a government-funded group that helps trafficked women, estimated that the 921 brothels it examined made at least £86m a year through their newspaper advertisements alone...."

Read the full report here....Brothels and prostitutes to be banned from advertising

[BassBoi] is an anonymous independent reviewer delivering reviews from a clubbers perspective. His views and opinions are his own and do not necessarily reflect that of SeenQueen.com

I was very excited to write my first SuperMartXe review for Seen Queen, until I actually experienced it.

Don't get me wrong. The boys were hot, the stage amazing and the production was, as usual, world class. However, when you spend nearly half your time waiting in a coat check queue; the excitement of being there starts to wane.

After what must have been the biggest coat check disaster of all time at Matinee, Logan's debut of this Spanish club previously promoted by Oliver M, we would have thought all 'those' other coat check dramas would have been given consideration when organizing the party. As 'not' expected the queue snaked throughout the whole building and it took hours to get things in and out. To make things worse the coat check people allegedly 'lost' items.

The day after Logan was on FaceBook apologizing and saying it wasn't his fault (again!!!!) and he would work to rectify the issue.

So what happened at SuperMartXe then?

Organizing a coat check isn't rocket science...Logan may be good at making a venue that is basically a dump look fabulous beyond belief, but when it comes to the logistics such as the coatcheck...well this review and the many numerous complaints will speak for itself.

Here is a sugestion...put more than one person in the coatcheck...if the venue doesn't want to, then hire some staff yourself...or get behind there and lend a hand. If the venue screws up, and according to Logan it is always their fault, it only reflects badly on the promoter.

Do you know how many of my friends will into NOT go to Matinee or SuperMartxe again...!!

Second suggestion...know your maths..one follows two follows three, hand out tickets that are numerical, and place the coats and jackets in that order. How simple. And efficient. Suggestion three, if there isn't enough space, make it. Have several coat checks, take a note of of Andrew Harris book and hire a tent and set a temporary one to relieve congestion and overflow. Haven't got enough space... create the space, otherwise falling numbers will not be a problem.

On the positive note, Super MartXe was rocking. The crowd was simply stunning, and yes, I scored a hot Latino who had to endure the loooooong coat check queue with me to leave. That was an hour of sex time I will never get back! Can I sue for that?

So next time I see a Logan Presents... logo on a club advert I an going to really need to consider how much time I am going to allow another one of these events to steal time from my life.

LOVE & HATE: Love the boys, the shows, the production and the glamour. Hate the the venue (yes it is a good ampi-theatre style venue, but in essence it's a decaying old building), the coatcheck, the coatcheck, the coatcheck, the coatcheck, the coatcheck, the coatcheck, the coatcheck, the coatcheck, the coatcheck, the coatcheck, the coatcheck, the coatcheck, the coatcheck, the coatcheck, the coatcheck, the coatcheck, the coatcheck, the coatcheck, the coatcheck, the coatcheck...did I mention the coatcheck? Rating 5/10.

Feel the bass....[BassBoi]

Discomatt is an independent club reviewer who has his own web site discomatt.com . He generously allows SeenQueen.com to copy portions of his work to present to you here. His opinions are his own and do not necessarily reflect that of seenqueen.com.

Sunday nights used to be a hot bed of activity across gAylist land London, with not just the early evenings attracting out the glitterati to party the night away, but with the slot proving so popular, a whole load of options were available to take you into Monday morning, often meaning that either a weary day lay ahead in the office or a rain check was taken on the day, one club being more responsible than any others for laying to waste the start of the working week. But as late Sunday clubbing began to tumble off the edge of the popularity stakes, it was going to take only the toughest to survive the drought of activity, while many new ventures simply floundered barely weeks into trying out the timing. But one club did survive and seems to be re-kindling desires to delve deep into the devilish decadence that is afterhours on a Monday morning.

Orange, since its inception at the turn of the century has really stamped its mark on the afterhour’s market, being the first club to take over the then named “Viaduct” venue in Vauxhall, which we all now know as Fire, adding another dimension to an already spurning clubbing village. And as the years have rolled by, it has made an immense impact on the scene, sparking one of the most successful, if sometimes controversial promotions group that now has an incredible hold on this market south of the river. Taking its name from the club itself, The Orange group has become very influential, although its perceived cut throat activity has definitely attracted adverse publicity, but in reality the team of today is very much about creating superb events attracting a like minded crowd with music & dance central to the theme, although some would argue that was always the case.

Now, not having been to Orange for quite a while, we were very much taken aback by the quality of the crowd, none of your drunken G head queens that seem to have plagued the clubs reputation, but a responsible crowd of hard core hedonists that were definitely up for some audacious action, savouring the superb sounds on offer and with the relative low key production, but with vivacious citric visuals on the screens, it was clear the music was doing the talking and it was definitely gabbling at a gorgeous pace, with one floor filling sound after the next adding to the already incredible atmosphere. Having sampled some of The Oli’s magic a while ago, when Sunday afternoon outings Later formed a major part of our clubbing landscape, we always enjoyed his musical mixes and he once again proved to us that he definitely hadn’t lost his touch, although his set was over all too soon, handing over the reins to one half of The Sharp Boys, George, who set about laying down a tougher edged style string of sounds, but with plenty of oomph in them to keep the party pace at fever pitch, before being joined to Steven to continue the revelry.

Well, how did our trip to Orange for its special Valentines “Citric Seduction” party go? and what are our thoughts on the club having been away for so long? Well, it is probably evident that we had a brilliant time. Not only was the music mesmerically great, with exceptional performances from both Paul Heron & Gonzalo Rivas, but the company we held was fabulous too, friends Joel & Julian helping to make it a night/morning to remember, the presence of Nick Tcherniak & Tom a real bonus. And the crowd in general seemed a much more mature lot, yes there was a smattering of klub kids, but none of the reckless & trashy bunch that seemed to plague Orange parties of old. It definitely seems that the club has really made massive improvements, in the music, in the people, in the atmosphere, well in truth in virtually every respect and we can easily see ourselves returning for more afterhours action in the hands of Steven Sharp & his team very soon. (DISCO MATT)

This review contains excerpts from the original which can be viewed in full at www.discomatt.com.

Discomatt is an independent club reviewer who has his own web site discomatt.com . He generously allows SeenQueen.com to copy portions of his work to present to you here. His opinions are his own and do not necessarily reflect that of seenqueen.com.

"There are only few clubs that have graced the gAylist scene in London that command the kind of attention that turns them from popular to iconic then to legendary, in fact for all the years we have been frolicking around the countless clubs that have made it big in a vibrant cosmopolitan capital city, we can count on just one hand, those club events/brands that hold this very special distinction. Yes, there have been plenty of protagonists to the legendary crown, but in truth, it takes an exceptional string of experiences, that indescribably brilliant feel of anticipation, excitement & fulfilment and the kind of respect that truly sets it aside from the mass of other offerings, for a club to reach the dizzy heights of this sought after status.

But in amongst this elite list shines one such club brand which, after being put into early retirement by its promoter, decided to come back in true style, not just making waves, but causing the kind of stir virtually unprecedented, so much so that the first event was a sell-out within days of the ticket release and was followed by a similar reaction to its NYD party. Yes, DTPM was back and seemingly riding on the crest of a tsunami style wave, hitting the headlines and brushing away the competition like houses in the path of a tornado. So, it seemed that with the build up for their Valentine’s Day outing “From DTPM With Love” suitably poised, another repeat was on the cards, or was it? As news of the latest instalment was released, which was followed by furious sale of early bird tickets, all seem set fair, although there was something holding back our pledge to making it down to host venue Jalouse, with reviews talking of heavy handed security & drinks prices to match.

But with plenty of prodding & cajoling, not least from our clubbing pal Joel, a last minute decision was made to add it to an already hectic “love” weekend schedule and, still reeling from another brilliant Beyond party in the superb hands of Steve Pitron & co, we refreshed ourselves and made our delicate way into central London and the glamorous venue to the stars, arriving at a fashionable 6.30 p.m. With little or no queue to negotiate and being treated perfectly by a very friendly door host and security, our start couldn’t have been better and as we descended into the basement space, all things seemed well, although with the controversial fingerprinting coatcheck system in place, we reluctantly gave our details, allowing us to deposit our belongs and begin this latest DTPM extravaganza.

Entering the space, which very much had the feel of a classy bar & members club, rather than the all out & overt venues that have been home to DTPM’s of old, there was a definite sedate feel to proceedings, although the myriad of circular lights spread across the ceiling made an impact and the multi levelled seating areas, all pointing towards the compact dancefloor, leant to an altogether intimate feel. The sweeping bar was our first port of call, where some familiar faces had gathered, including promoter Lee Freeman, who greeted us warmly before going about his duties. We paused for refreshments and whilst we were expecting the prices to be somewhat exaggerated, were slightly taken aback by the £5 charge for a energy drink, but then if the place entertains the likes of Maria Carey, Leonardo Di Caprio & Pixie Geldof, who were we to argue.

....Now, what did we think of “From DTPM With Love”? and how do we see future parties panning out? Well, if we are honest, this event wasn’t a patch on the October outing, virtually in every respect. Yes the crowd was as friendly as before and the music in the hands of Nick & Steve was superb, but there was something that was missing. The venue was glamorous enough, don’t get us wrong, but it just didn’t seem to suit the style of DTPM. The overriding feel that you were being watched by the overpowering numbers of security present, in many ways held the party back from being the downright debaucherous & decadent affairs DT have been known for. So despite the efforts of the D.J’s and the lovely people in our presence, we were far from in love with Jalouse and what could have been another delectable DTPM.

So, what of future parties? Well, there is no doubt there is still passion for DTPM as a brand, evidenced by the rocketing ticket sales of the first two “come-back” events, but perhaps people are actually looking for that big party feel, which promoter Lee & his team always seemed to pull off perfectly at Fabric. In our view some of the old resident D.J’s were definitely missing and having got the formula so right at Paramount, we are not sure why this was changed. Planning the next party for Easter Sunday should ensure a return to success, so we hope that the team choose a suitable venue that allows the capacity to match the demand, although if exclusivity is what the new DTPM is about, then we regret to say that many look like being disappointed. We have no doubt the demand is there, but if people don’t get a look in, then they are likely to turn their backs on this undoubted legend of a club brand. (DISCO MATT)

This review contains excerpts from the original which can be viewed in full at www.discomatt.com.

Discomatt is an independent club reviewer who has his own web site discomatt.com . He generously allows SeenQueen.com to copy portions of his work to present to you here. His opinions are his own and do not necessarily reflect that of seenqueen.com.

We definitely like a good old fashioned knees up, you know the sort of thing, a collection of people either wanting to end their week of work, winding down in the company of good friends, holding something cold in their hands at their favourite bar, or those looking to kick start a weekend of activity, maybe some non-stop clubbing with all sorts of different ingredients mixed in, music being central to the theme. Well, in truth we often fall into both camps, with virtually every weekend heralding at least one club event, but always feeling the need to wave goodbye to a week of work at a selection of our favourite Soho bar haunts. But, when we heard that one of those bars was not just holding a pre-party but also had some saucy sexy awards show on, adding to the emerging Valentines feel in the air, Friday 12th Feb became a firm date in our diary.

For as long as we can remember, Rupert Street has been part of our socialising splendour, from the times when we popped in virtually every day, working just around the corner, to the part of our life when London was lengthy train journey away and daily became weekly, sometimes less often, seeing plenty of changes, not just in the style of the clientele, but in the staff & management. But through it all & through the myriad of bars that have come & gone, it’s popularity continues and has gained a reputation for hosting some spectacular pre-club parties, the marriage with Matinee, followed by some special SuperMartXe showings and now the linking with Lovechild keeping the good times going. However, joining forces with one of the world’s biggest online escort agencies was to prove a resounding success and provide just the kind of oomph to the forthcoming weekend.

Looking around, it seemed that the glitterati of the social scene was out for the dual events, our corner being occupied by the Q.X. magazine top brass, we being pleased to see Tony Claffey in fine fettle and Stephen Vowles very much in party mood, but turning towards the elevated seating area, we were immensely impressed by the transformation into a perfectly formed stage space, glamorous red drapes framing the area perfectly, with a similar backdrop hiding an exclusive area where the incumbent escorts could change into something saucy. Then, out from the space appeared Lovechild promoter Alex Erfan, weaving past the crowd, then coming up and saying a hearty hello, immediately offering to re-charge our glass and eager to introduce us to Rentboy.com & Hustlaball principal Jeffrey Davids, although our tracks halted first by Alex’s business partner, the enigmatic Roni Inan who was really pleased to see us. Then,  Chris Geary and his team of gorgeous muscled go-go’s, dressed in luscious Lovechild gear including fetching caps to really please the eye, appeared, having completed their run-around the rest of Soho, now ensconced in Rupert St for the rest of the evening, very much up for some raunchy action & party frolicking. Chris was definitely in the mood to get our party going, lining up a series of Sambuca shots for us and his band of beefy boys, although Roni also had kick start partying in mind as he grabbed us, heading to the stage along with Alex, to introduce us to Jeffrey & his crew, host for the evening Jasper Emerald and then backstage to some of the sexy contestants gearing up for the awards ceremony to come.

Now, it seems appropriate at this stage to mention co-promoters for this eventful evening, http://rentboy.com  which has a brilliant tagline that states, “money can’t buy you love, but the rest is negotiable” and the site gets straight to the point, delivering a fantastic array of escorts on offer across the whole globe. And it couldn’t be easier to register to tap into the bevy of beauties (if that is your thang) and it took us less than a minute, the registration being free but obviously the escort services carrying a cost. But with a whole load of interesting links, fabulous photo’s, and specialist sections including blogs, events, a cinema page & “rentboycam”, you will definitely not get bored and budding escorts can advertise and start earning. The site is masterminded by probably the biggest cyber pimp around, the handsome & friendly Jeffrey Davids, who, as we have already mentioned also heads up one of the world’s most sexy & seductive club brands, Hustlaball, which has taken London by storm in the last two years and will be back in May for more audacious action.

But returning to the action, and having indulged in a bit of naughtiness, we were back in our spot and ready for the show as Alessandro’s superb sounds were halted and all eyes were stage bound as Jasper counted the crowd down to the start. Standing in the company of Alex, Roni and cutie Danny Shubert and with the Sambuca working far too well, our minds drifted (but only momentarily) from the hunky men on the stage, showing their wares and answering some saucy questions as well as revealing some sexy secrets, before the winning escort was crowned, a muscled bound & experienced looking man (if you know what we mean!!) who’s art at escorting was clearly evident, pipping a very steamily gorgeous looking brunette hunk to the prize of a trip to New York to enter the world pageant in March.

So, what did we think of our evening at Rupert Street? and did the combo of Escort Of The Year & Lovechild work well? The simple answer to both questions is yes, yes, yes! We haven’t seen the bar so packed in ages, everyone clearly drawn by the prospect of a bit of sexy fun & entertainment. And they weren’t to be disappointed as the collision of party’s couldn’t have turned out better, Lovechild’s new saucy style sitting perfectly with the escort theme and with a healthy hint of Hustlaball about proceedings, it was a thrilling night that definitely did it for us. Not only were we in impeccable company, Alex, Roni, Danny, Jerry, Chris & all the Lovechild boys, but meeting Jeffrey was a delight and it was all topped by Rupert Street as a perfect host for the evening, Cathy & her team treating us superbly. Add to that Alessandro’s amazing sounds, serving up a scintillating selection of magical music and we couldn’t have asked for anything else from an evening. Well done, Lovechild, Rentboy.com & Rupert St, what a way to start a weekend! (DISCO MATT)

This review contains excerpts from the original which can be viewed in full at www.discomatt.com.

Discomatt is an independent club reviewer who has his own web site discomatt.com . He generously allows SeenQueen.com to copy portions of his work to present to you here. His opinions are his own and do not necessarily reflect that of seenqueen.com.

"There is something about Valentines that always seems to bring the best out of a healthy gAylist scene in London, although with much of the big guns showing their cards on other weekends, it was down to one club event to steal the show on Valentines Saturday, actually running into the day itself. What’s more, with the name evoking the theme of the love saint’s anniversary and the added bonus of celebrating its first birthday, plus on the back of an amazing time in their nominated room at the massive New Year’s Day party, “As One”, added to the ever increasing list of accomplished & scene favourite D.J.’s, there was hardly going to be anything to stop us from attending, warming everything up with a brilliant pre-party at Rupert Street the night before.

The party? the celebration? the outing? Well Lovechild of course, the brand that looked to change & re-invigorate the Sunday clubbing scene, but instead found its niche on a Saturday, really hitting the good times securing a residency at Fire in Vauxhall, adding a healthy dose of raunch, sex & seductiveness to the glamour it quickly became famous for in its original London home Pacha. Choosing the second Saturday of the month to host it’s events in the capital, the move was a very tactical one, yet very astute, meaning it didn’t face the prospect of clashing with the other big gAylisting gatherings, although with the team that promoter Alex Erfan has developed & nurtured, there is no surprising that the brand has become the success it is and that the best decisions are being made.....

......So what did we think of the “Love 2 Love – Lovechild 1st Birthday”? and what were the real highlights? Well, despite the party taking a little while to get going, once it did, this latest instalment at their new home Fire, really did set alight. There is little doubt that the contact room is the space where most of the action happens & certainly Pagano had the crowd eating out of his hands with some magical music, although Brent Nicholls really pulled a special set out of the bag, seemingly revelling in the intimate “love lounge” space and raised the thermometer of action to melting point with some spectacular selections But that takes nothing away from the other D.J.’s who all performed  really well and made for a truly fantastic party that Alex & his team should be really proud of.

There is no doubt that Lovechild has really found its feet in its new home and choosing the second weekend of the month to host its events has not detracted from the numbers, rather has added to its popularity. There was definitely no shortage of the new style of sex & seductiveness and these new dimensions have really seen the brand strike its own identity, yet still having the capacity to draw a varied crowd. Add to that one of the strongest line up of resident D.J.’s that would make anyone envious, coupled with some of the horniest dancers around and this club looks like celebrating many more birthdays to come. We certainly cannot wait for the next party in March and recommend you make it a date too. (DISCO MATT)

This review contains excerpts from the original which can be viewed in full at www.discomatt.com.

Discomatt is an independent club reviewer who has his own web site discomatt.com . He generously allows SeenQueen.com to copy portions of his work to present to you here. His opinions are his own and do not necessarily reflect that of seenqueen.com.

"Of all the clubs we visit (and there are a lot!) there always seems to be one that rises to the surface, like the cream in a milk bottle, one that keeps us wanting more, like the most gorgeous of chocolate cakes, and one that we love to play in over & over again, like our most favourite movie. This club, like just a few others that we can count on one hand, has most definitely formed a major part of our life and it is only one of two that we hold closest to our heart & soul, its image being in our minds eye each & every day and the thought of its demise, again, most definitely be a feeling far too much to bear (it was bad enough the first time). To have & to hold such a significant grip on our existence shows how much it has an influence on us and just the mere mention of the name creates excitement short of stopping a heart beat or two, even 7 years after it all started. What club is it? well we thought that was obvious!!

Beyond hardly has any equals, and you will just have to guess the other four that we count on our one hand (we have two but you know what we mean!), but not one of them comes close to this mammoth afterhours weekly party, which since re-launching at Area in Vauxhall back in 2008, has literally gone from strength to strength, securing a reputation for being the leader it its field, not only just as an afterhours event but the best club in its class of any. Scooping the club award in the prestigious Seenqueen.com 2009 poll, there is no better way of confirming its status as tip top choice of the masses, but to claim not just best club, but top slot in the whole poll, is pure vindication of it also being our top club for the year and an indication of its immense popularity. So, it comes as no surprise that Beyond is probably the singular choice to follow up any Saturday clubbing event, some choosing even to rest easy and get up in time for it all starting at Area on Sunday morning.

So, in recognition of its award winning status, we really wanted to celebrate with the team....

.....Arriving at Area’s doors later than planned, we were grateful for the guestlist inclusion as we passed the till, although the security team had indicated that the list had closed, deterring a handful of people in front of us, although nothing was going to stop our advance into the club......

......But in reality there only one thing, the music and one person, Steve Pitron, that was grabbing our full attention, we hardly needing to glance at our watch & not wanting to, in case of reminding ourselves of the disappointment that would signal the end of his set. But even when that fateful moment came, we were far from ravaged with sadness & deflation, as Alan K assumed the decks and not just took over in style from where Steve had left of, but grabbed hold of a main room crowd that had pure energy seeping out of their pores, his brilliant mixing of not one, not two but three & sometimes four tracks keeping our toes on tips and our minds dazzled by the perfect blend of tunes. Retreats back to the Terrace bar, where Jamie Head was now holding court only served to re-ignite our enthusiasm for this brilliant Beyond party, Nick Tcherniak still in close quarters, allowing us a little breather to catch up on news, chat about the forthcoming DTPM event and trade moves on the dancefloor with Tom. Whilst Jamie’s music machinations were hitting the spot, we just couldn’t resist the draw of the main room, as morning changed to afternoon and we spent the remainder of our visit to Area, soaking up Alan’s remarkable set, the man being right in the zone and every bit the perfect end to our stay, the lengthiest in a long time and worth every second of it.....

....Words simply cannot describe how good this Beyond party was, but there is something about the club that is truly amazing, the energy that emanates from the crowd, the performances it pulls out of the D.J.’s and the atmosphere that it creates cannot be compared. Yes the parties at Colloseum were wonderful, holding some really special memories for us, but Area has really taken Beyond to new heights and to say that the club improves with every visit could not be more true. The formula hasn’t changed that much, but the crowd has got better, the music quality just keeps improving and its popularity increases unabated. Quite what the exact formula is, we cannot pinpoint, it probably being a delightful combination & collision of every element which ends up working in pure harmony and we just don’t want it to stop.

With news that the team are considering a special “classic” party, with the series of “belief” events growing every time they are held, but with the regular weekly outings showing no sign of slowing down, quite the opposite in fact, we truly salute a club that looks destined to be the best of all time in our books. If you haven’t yet visited Beyond at Area, where have you been? We cannot begin to describe what you have been missing and what a brilliant time you are likely to have. Yes, it is true that that the phrases “each to his own” or “one man’s meat is another’s poison” have some meaning, but in the case of Beyond we challenge anybody to apply these words. Winning the 2009 club poll speaks for itself & may Beyond continue to reign supreme, as we know for sure, it will be very soon indeed when we grace its doors again. (DISCO MATT)"

This review contains excerpts from the original which can be viewed in full at www.discomatt.com.

Discomatt is an independent club reviewer who has his own web site discomatt.com . He generously allows SeenQueen.com to copy portions of his work to present to you here. His opinions are his own and do not necessarily reflect that of seenqueen.com.

"If there has been one club that has dramatically changed the gAylist clubbing landscape, creating immeasurable interest and then spurning a whole wave of other clubs to follow its lead in delivering dynamic production, spectacular shows & groundbreaking music, there can be little doubt which club we are talking about. Ever since its arrival in London back in 2006, the brand which is known the world over, and one that has laid siege to its dominance of the gAylist scene in the capital until recent times, is a genuine measure of its success & popularity. But the scene can be a cruel & ruthless place sometimes, with promoters fighting tooth & nail for the lion’s share of the market, some employing devious tactics in pursuit of the dominance goal, often overlooking the desires of the clubber in just wanting to have a great time and with some huge parties going head to head in 2009, some would say, promoters ganging up to see their rivals downfall, as 2010 dawned, we were faced with dramatic news, as the club responsible for the so called “Spanish Armada” in London was changing hands.

Matinee, for virtually all of its history in the capital had been in the hands of promotions team Evolved Events, headed up by Oliver Mohns, who had steered the brand in the capital through a series of homes & incarnations, although the splitting of company with his then fellow business partner was set to be the catalyst to the change that this New Year revealed just hours into 1st January. But with heads in a spin over the news of the Logan Presents outfit claiming the Matinee prize, this team already responsible for hosting competitor brand SuperMartXe’s London parties, it would be fair to say that feelings were divided as to what lay ahead for Matinee and who the potential conflict of interests would be handled by Mr Schmitz & his team. But in typical Logan style, the calm & collected professional approach was quickly adopted and the theme of “Under Construction” was broadcast to an expectant public, in an instant creating the kind of curiosity that, as the going says, killed the cat.

So, with Saturday 6th February a date in our diaries and The Fridge named as the host venue for the new look Matinee (haven’t we been there before with the brand?), our Soho jaunt the night before included popping into a packed The Box, host bar for the pre-party & perhaps an indication of things to come, as we had never seen the place so busy, asking ourselves whether it was the Logan magical wand being waved or just coincidence. Nevertheless, The Box was well & truly pumping, the lovely duo of Mauricio & Lunarde flying the new Matinee flag, with long time resident Paul Heron spinning the discs and our trip to the event real was set fair with the gift of the latest Matinee t-shirt version. And it was this that found its way onto our back, as we headed to Brixton, a little later than planned after a disco nap (well we are getting on a bit!), to be greeted at the busy entrance to the fridge Logan’s partner Michael, looking very healthy & relaxed after his Caribbean cruise.

With our ticket in hand we were keen to get amongst the action and nearly missed the gorgeous & glamorous Naomi Cuiz on the door, hosting alongside Michael, remarking it had been literally hours since we had seen each other at A.M.’s birthday bash. But, the Matinee party was calling & after the usual search we were in, interrupted by a phone call from clubbing pal Joel as well as being spotted by Rupert Street’s G.M. Cathy, before heading to a frustratingly long queue for the coatcheck, discussing the issue with scene face & new found friend Dorin, who was just as disappointed at this start as we were, memories of SuperMartXe’s launch flashing through our minds.....

.....With the coatcheck frustration over, we headed down into the main room and ignoring the four deep crowd at the bar, aimed straight into the thick of the action, struggling to weave around the packed out dancefloor in search of friends Stephen & Stefan who had arrived not long before us. And we connected soon after, just shy of one of the two massive podiums in the middle of the dancefloor, both topped by muscle hunks in revealing construction gear, strutting their stuff to the euro style sounds of J Louis, who had taken over centre stage from Paul Heron. And with two other podiums each side of the D.J. booth, it became clear to us that Logan’s Matinee was going to be much more about the music, yes with some eye candy, but what we can best describe as a “stripped down and raw look”, much more akin to the style of parties seen in Spain and definitely taking Matinee London back to its roots in 2006, the music speaking the volumes & setting the tones......

.....So, what was our verdict on the new look Matinee? did we enjoy the experience? and what, if anything, could be improved? Well, we had thought the party would be busy, but could never have imagined to kind of numbers we saw in the Fridge, without doubt one of the busiest Matinee’s in its London history. It is clear that the Logan promotions machine must being doing something right, even taking into consideration that the curiosity card must have played a part. Without question the big theatre style feel seemed to suit the event and yet the temptation of a laying of a swashbuckling show was sensibly avoided, as in our view Matinee should always be about the music & there was no doubt this party very much was. Yes, the dancers were delectable & the P.A. was prolific, but the performances of Paul Heron, J Louis & Pagano truly made this a night to remember.

So, it goes without saying that we enjoyed our experience very much, even overlooking the somewhat tired feel The Fridge has. But that didn’t seem to affect the party in anyway & there is no mistaking that the sound quality and the laser lighting & effects were top notch. So what can be improved? Well without doubt, if it is to host future Matinee parties, The Fridge has to address the appalling coatcheck issues as well as the lack of staff & stock behind the bar (no Red Bull for the first few hours?! – a full 80 minutes to get our bag out at the end?! – ridiculous!!!) but it is these very things that affect a club night’s reputation and we would be doing an injustice not to mention them, no one more frustrated than Logan himself, whom we spoke to after the event, the man vowing to get the issues sorted. As for some other ingredients, well we did miss the option of a second room, but in reality this party didn’t really need it, although we will be one of many people pleased to see this addition next time. The rest of the absent elements can only be down to Logan and his team, but without doubt the “construction” continues and we were made truly welcome by each & every one of them, just like Matinee parties of old. So for that alone we are extremely grateful and we look forward to the next Matinee event with interest. (DISCO MATT)

This review contains excerpts from the original which can be viewed in full at www.discomatt.com.

Discomatt is an independent club reviewer who has his own web site discomatt.com . He generously allows SeenQueen.com to copy portions of his work to present to you here. His opinions are his own and do not necessarily reflect that of seenqueen.com.

"Now, there is something about afterhours clubbing that really appeals to us and we are privileged to have witnessed some brilliant parties stretching well into Sunday mornings (sometimes afternoon) regularly, as well as the occasional Bank Holiday specials that stretch well into Monday morning, the main protagonists having been Trade, Orange and of course Beyond. But, there is another club which does the afterhours experience just as well, but in recent times has been completely overlooked by us, despite having been in the thick of it when it all started back at the turn of the millennium. But, when we heard of a special birthday celebration party, we simply couldn’t resist returning, as we are real suckers for a birthday bash.

So, whose birthday was it? Well A.M. of course and what better a way to start our weekend of fun than taking a trip down to Fire and changing our Saturday morning landscape normality for just one weekend. With the promise of some great music across two rooms of fun & with plenty of the trademark Fire production, lighting et all, we were in for a bit of a treat and were not to be disappointed, arriving at the clubs doors slightly later than planned at 5 a.m. but just in time to catch the start of D’Johnny’s set, who had taken over the D.J. reigns from A.M. stalwart David Jiminez, a talent we came to love & adore back in the heady days of “Crash” and “Beyond” at Colloseum. So, having been treated like royalty by the fabulous & gorge Naomi Cuiz, resplendent in a white fur number, leading us past the lengthy queue and straight into the club, we grabbed refreshments & headed for our now favourite dancing spot, just left  (looking at it) of the D.J. booth.

Having been absent from A.M. for quite a few years & many a party, we didn’t quite know what to expect and looking at the crowd, which was an eclectic collection of klub kids, off duty scene workers, Vauxhall waifs & strays & everything in-between, you could be forgiven for thinking that this was a collective collision from hell. But far from it, as it was clear everyone was into the music & wanted to party away, D’Johnny providing a perfect musical back drop to fulfil our desires. Knowing this talent as we do, but not having seen him perform at A.M. before, we absolutely marvelled in his stupendous set that had us dancing merrily on our spot on the main floor, trading moves with plenty around us who were also clearly into the Johnny vibes....

....But, let’s not forget the entertainment, the collection of delectable dancers, two muscle hunks, followed by more feminine versions, all strutting their stuff on the podiums in front of us. Mind you, with one cross dressing guy wearing heels, we, together with Johnny, looked on hilariously as the poor girl in the middle was dwarfed by the guy next to her, although she also saw the funny side of it all, looking over with a massive laughing grin on her face. With the whole club adorned with appropriate production, the main room “A.M.....azing” and the “Vinyl Lounge” decked in dozens of disc’s hanging from the ceiling & a glorious gold encrusted “Funk” sign at the end, you simply couldn’t mistake what party you were at. Add to that, the superb backdrop of lighting behind the main room podiums, a huge neon “A.M.” sign & a flashing number 9, it was clear the team had spared no expense to celebrate the birthday bash in style, which, together with regular CO2 bursts & pyrotechnic ticker tape explosions, made for an altogether fever pitch atmosphere, Gonzalo’s scintillating track selections providing the perfect antidote to our increasing fatigue.....

.....So, what was our take on our first A.M. visit for many a year? And did the birthday live up to our expectations? Well, there is no doubt that the club continues to draw in the sort of crowd that don’t want their Friday night to end and from our memories of a few years ago, A.M. has retained that unique vibe that makes any visit feel hedonistic & decadent, very much the ethos of an afterhours party in our books. What we did notice that was different however, was the quality of the music, which was absolutely amazing, simply scintillating & truly terrific. Each & every D.J. across both rooms played their part, individually & collectively taking us on a progressive journey through a whole host of house music genres that never left us feeling wanting. The entertainment from the dancers was pitched perfectly and the usual Fire high quality production truly complimented the event & it definitely had a real birthday feel to it. Special mentions have to go to Naomi, for looking after us so much and to Jay Sharp Vokins for making us so welcome,

But, with that said, A.M.’s 9th birthday (and we suspect every A.M. party) was all about the music, so each and every D.J. on duty needs to be congratulated for delivering exactly what it say’s on the “A.M. box”, “it’s all about the music baby – we rock & we won’t stop”. And that really sums it all up as the 9th birthday bash was very much about the music, it definitely rocked & we didn’t stop dancing for virtually the whole time we were there, so the outing without doubt fulfilled all our expectations. What more can we say, apart from happy birthday A.M. and it will definitely be a long time before your next one that we will head back to Fire on a Saturday morning. (DISCO MATT)...."  

This review contains excerpts from the original which can be viewed in full at www.discomatt.com.

We received this from the owner of Billy Club in Milan...we will miss you Billy, but at the same time look forward to your rebirth in a year!

Hello to all!

I just wanted to update You with some information regarding Billy Club in Milano.

For those of You who are unaware, other than being part of Gruppo Billy, I was also the owner (85%) of the club Amnesia Milano, where the event Billy Club was held every Saturday night.

Last summer 009 when we were once again, ready to open the Billy Club season, I received a very important offer to sell the club Amnesia Milano.

It was an offer that for economical reasons, was to good to refuse!!! ;)

For this reason, we very quickly moved the Billy night venue, to Magazzini Generali, another club here Milano.

Unfortunately this year All the Saturday nights have not managed to live up to the level and expectations that the Billy brand has stood for many years, not only in the national scene but also in the International scene.

Therefor we will be taking a year off...

But don't worry! Very soon I will be updating You on my future nocturnal activities.

I send You all my warmest regards!

MAURO GALLIGARI
mauro@billyclub.it

ps. Of course for all this season, the club Amnesia Milano, will remain closed :)

[BassBoi] is an anonymous independent reviewer delivering reviews from a clubbers perspective. His views and opinions are his own and do not necessarily reflect that of SeenQueen.com

Something is going on in my beloved Soho at Lo Profile. Over the last month I have dropped in twice and the place has not only been packed but it has been rocking. The crowd is always a gorgeous mix of hotties, latinos, straight girls (more stylish then the type that gets to Vauxhall) and Abercrombie type lads with the occasional bears, skins and the sort.

One's journey starts in the rather brightly lit and somewhat eye attacking 'circle and stars' tunnel that leads you into the basement part of Profile (hence Lo-Profile, geedit?)

You can always guarantee great music due to what must be the most impressive line up of DJs in any club...Paul Heron, Brent Nichols, Jamie Head, Steve Pitron, Guy Williams, Alessandro ...the list is endless and on the two Saturdays I dropped in I was treated to club styled house from Mister Nichols , Williams, Alessandro and a DJ i did not recognize. The best about these DJs is that they do not reflect Gaydar Radios rather commercial palylist. Sure, we hear a few of the commercial tunes, after all who doesn't like a sing along...I think it was Mr Nichols who dropped a wicked remix of Lady GaGa's 'Bad Romance' which not only packed the floor, but had everyone one 'ga ga rama ga ga' singing along. You also hear some great underground tunes, different remixes and lots of new tracks which one of the DJs confided that they use Lo Profile as a testing ground before playing the tracks in the big clubs, I assume like SuperMartxe.

Lo Profile on these two nights was particularly busy with what I would call a hot looking crowd. No G-heads here...this is a more coke and champagne crowd (or wine at best but make mine a vodka & red bull). Can we talk about drugs in a review?

With the crowd comes a long wait for the coat check which turned into a more 'meet and greet' the boys, and then the following wait at the bar a chance to cruise some more. It seems everyone has come to Lo Profile to have a night out without committing to a all night bender ending up at some after hours in Vauxhall, although on both those nights that is exactly what happened to most of my friends. Take a dip into the Kat/Miaow/Mehtadrone bag my friends and it's Beyond After hours for you!

Not being one to indulge, much, on these nights and enjoying a few good hours socialising, dancing and crusing Italian tourists I joined what seems a noticeable drain on the venues clubbers about 3.15am. This must be the 'decision making time'...either you've pulled and it is time for sex, you are at that 'take more drugs and party on' crossroad or it's time for bed ... With Lo Profile being my local, more or less, for me it is but a stumble to my bed. Did I go home alone I hear you say? Tourists are easy hunting and an Italian boy with tatts, six pack and broad shoulders kindly accepted my offer of a tour of Soho...the path from Lo Profile to my flat has many interesting 'points of interests'.

LOVE & HATE: Love the location of the venue, the boys, the men, the security (one of the friendliest on the gay scene...firm but fair), the music, the DJs, that woman in the girls toilets (love ya!) and that horny blonde barman who always takes his shirt off, let me show you the sceneic route of Soho hottie! Hate the lighting and decor (a bit simple and basic for a club, plus all those stars and circles, we know it's Gaydar!), the smoke machine (over used at the best of times...take it outside!) and sometimes there's is a rather 'strange smell'....Rating for those two nights out 8/10.

Feel the bass...[BassBoi]

Discomatt is an independent club reviewer who has his own web site discomatt.com . He generously allows SeenQueen.com to copy portions of his work to present to you here. His opinions are his own and do not necessarily reflect that of seenqueen.com. 

With the Latin influence in gAylist clubbing in London being very much Spanish, “Matinee” & “SuperMartXe” making the biggest splashes, it is refreshing to see other countries give it a go, the Italian’s staging a mini invasion with well known & sexy brand “Billy” and the carnival feel that Rio is famed for also giving it a crack with “Go-Go Brazil”, but it seems that the Espaniol grip on the foreign feel to the capital’s club scene has been hard to loosen, Ibiza’s “Space” another example swinging the pendulum towards Spain. But there is something about Italy & Italians that really excite us, turning our minds to the words passion, emotion, beauty & style, so when we heard that a clubbing product of Milan was going to hit our shores our ears pricked up like an excited horse in anticipation.

So, who are we talking about? Well, “Pervert”, a brand that is no stranger to London, but on previous visits has merely imported their renowned stage shows, with the sense of style, opulence & panache, mixed in with a strong doze of sexual intrigue that have seen performances go down well, especially at Trade. The club’s origins are very much Italian, its creators Christian & Ivan really emulating the ethos of the brand, being larger than life characters who’s skill in laying on lavish parties with a unique flavour have definitely set “Pervert” aside from many other clubs in Italy, often attracting a very mixed crowd who have come to love the flamboyant shows & the monstrous music. However, if when drawing comparisons with ventures we have seen in London, “Hustlaball” & “Lovechild” spring to mind, so it came as no surprise that “Pervert’s” creators decided to join forces with Alex Erfan in bringing this Italian spectacle to the capital as a full-on club event.

With plenty of anticipation & excitement surrounding “Pervert Gold”, even a nasty chest infection wasn’t going to stop us from attending, although, fortunately, we had all but fully recovered by the Saturday evening and, following a brief call into Barcode, sped the short distance across Vauxhall, arriving at the entrance to Fire, “Pervert’s” host venue for the evening. With only a small queue to negotiate & then with our name neatly checked off the guestlist & all other formalities efficiently handled, greetings from both door host Marky B & then chief behind the scenes organiser Simon Patrick made us immediately feel at home, Alex Erfan also in attendance to complete the perfect arrival. So, into the club we were and a brief wiz around, checking out the main space and then sliding back into the VIP area was in order, grabbing refreshments and then catching up with friends Jeremy & Andy who were waiting expectantly for our appearance. It was great to see the m both, having been weeks rather than the usual days, so plenty of news catch up was required before heading back into the main room to savour the building atmosphere.

With Italian new name to the scene Gepy behind the decks, the music was funky, chunky & electro infused, very much the ticket for getting the party going and whilst the crowd was slow to build, it was clear that the Latin trait for partying late coming to bear as it was a good two hours into the nights events before the main room was packed and the third space was fired up, the mirror arch in the hands of Gonzalo Rivas trading tech & progressive infused blows with the main room where Obi Baby (aka Christian) had taken charge of the D.J. decks, cutting a much more deep & dark journey of sound in anticipation of the stage show to come. But with Jc Christopher firing up next door in the VIP room we wanted to disappear to say hello, but were stopped in our tracks by Simon Patrick, warning us that the show was pending, so finding a spot, we waited patiently while three muscle-bound dancers frolicked around the makeshift stage, the only indication of a show being one outrageously dressed tall model weaving in & out of the expectant crowd & visuals of previous “Pervert” parties & shows flashing up in the trio of screens across the stage front.

With no sign of the full show starting, we retreated to the VIP room, first catching up with Fire owner Craig Elder, who was entertaining a business colleague but seemed pleased to see us, charging our empty glass & briefly filling us in on plans for the refurbishment of the main room. Then, we headed across to the D.J. booth, where Jc was in control, delivering a hard & funky filled set to a select gathering and scene favourite Brent Nicholls had arrived in good time to click his camera before starting his D.J. duty. Pleased to see us, yet contemptuous of our presence given our recent ill health, he joined us in a return to the main room as yet more prompts of the imminent start of the show were coming our way. So, squeezing through the now jam packed area, halted in our advance to the front by off duty D.J. Phil Hewson & long standing friend Toby, we said our hearty hello’s, then bee-lined for the stage, rubbing shoulders with photographer Chris Jepson, Brent, Craig, Jeremy & Andy, then waiting, waiting and waiting.

In what seemed like an age, the curtains were drawn back on the stage, but the screen stayed put, although the dancers & artists seemed ready to start the spectacle of a show, although by now our anticipation was turning to frustration at the wait. But then, as the music pace changed followed by the screen firing up with a vocal intro & then raised to reveal a sequence of elaborate dressed dancers & entertainers, not your average go-go’s or performers, but a an interesting collection ranging from a dwarf with a devils mask on, through muscled men with ostentatious feathered headgear & necks weighted in jewellery to the centre-piece of the dazzling display, a tall sylph like female dressed from shoulder to toe in generous folds of sparkling gold material, encrusted with bands of bright gold lights, off-setting her starkling face make-up which reminded us of a slightly gory version of opera singing diva Plava Laguna from the film The Fifth Element. She certainly made a statement, swaying back & forth in time to the music while the bevy of beauties around her continued to dazzle the excited crowd, but as the music pace increased, most of the dancers retreated, leaving just a couple of performers to keep to overt display going.

With that & in following Brent’s lead we headed back to the VIP room where Jc was still in full swing, coming across more familiar faces, including Lee Yeomans & D.J’s Alessandro & the Pagano, both like Brent, were due on disc spinning duty shortly, although not before more camera clicking and a catch up on news with all four, a busy looking Alex Erfan joining us momentarily before dashing off into the crowd. We too decided to venture fourth, passing through the main room which had thinned somewhat, curious to see what was happening in the mirror arch & found the space rammed solid with revellers & the podiums filled with a collection of dancers from the previous show & an interesting hoop hanging as if ready for some audacious action. And we weren’t to be disappointed, as once again, the music pace changed, Gonzalo’s hard hitting tech house being replaced by a classic Marlene Dietrich style tune and a bowler hat topped female rose atop the plinth, stripped down to virtual nakedness & then performed an acrobatic display, swinging through & round the hoop to jaw dropping applause.

By now the pace and the atmosphere of the party was simply electric and in full swing, we attempting to decide on which room would grab our alliance and as we made our choice, heading for the VIP room, the music suddenly stopped in all three rooms, an eerie silence falling over Fire for a moment, then with the status quo resumed in two of the rooms, lots of hurried activity ensued in the remaining space which was void of music while we looked on in amazement, standing with Craig who seemed shocked & embarrassed by the incident. But with the culprit faulty amp fixed, Brent was back to duty in a jiffy, the huge hit & guaranteed dancefloor filler Toca’s Miracle drawing the crowd back in an instant, his characteristic Latin infused electro beats then seeing the VIP room full for most of the rest of the “Pervert” party. It was then a case of cat & mouse for us, as we chased around the club, bumping into more familiar faces including Chris Geary in fine fettle & a wavering Julian who seemed a little partied out, as well as being introduced to Obi Baby who seemed thrilled with the eventual outcome of his creation. However, we were keen to make the most of the threesome that was Pagano in the main room, Alessandro in the mirror arch & Brent in the VIP room, who each were casting their own inimitable musical spell on the “Pervert Gold” party, which for us, had entered its purple patch, each space & each D.J. fulfilling their audiences desires brilliantly, the crowd hardly thinning until close on the 7 a.m. closing.

With Craig Elder & Alex Erfan’s business partner, Roni Inan tempting us to Beyond, we gave it some thought although not wishing to push our healing body too far, held back a little before grabbing our coat and then saying our goodbye’s to Alessandro who still had the mirror arch pumping, to Pagano who had delighted us with yet another scintillating set and finally to Brent, who despite the drama’s with the sound issues, had entertained impeccably together with the other two disc meisters, making for a superb final three hours of pure perfection perverted partying. Heading best advice from our learned friend that we should do what was right for us, the right choice albeit a hard one, was restrain from continual partying in favour of a sensible journey home to rest our by now weary legs & tightening chest.

So, what was our verdict on “Pervert Gold” and did it live up to expectations? Well, there was no doubt that the team had gone to great effort in staging the party and considering it was the third weekend of January, the turnout was sizeable, even if it felt that the party took a while to really take off. This wasn’t really helped by the show which seemed to take an age to start and whist it was a an eye pleasing performance, we felt it was not quite the stunning theatrical spectacle we were expecting, the long wait resulting in a bit of an anti-climax rather than the impressive impact. With all the ostentation that comes with a “Pervert” show, it surely deserves a much bigger stage presence, allowing the drama of the outrageous yet glamorous costumes & the statement making dancers the chance to be seen at their best.

However, there was no doubt that the party did find its legs, hitting a real groove, not least for the amazing music served up by the succession of D.J’s in each room and despite the technical hiccup which halted proceedings, we have to say that Messrs, Londra, Pagano & Nicholls did us proud all being part of the “purple patch” we talked about. “Pervert Gold” definitely had a unique feel, the crowd being very much that and we think with a bit of tinkering & tweaking it could make a great occasional event in London and the scene is certainly craving for something a little different, a little quirky & a little avante garde, so the ingredients are definitely there, the team may just need to change the recipe slightly. That said, we had a great time & if/when it is back, we will be too. (DISCO MATT)

[BassBoi] is a new independent reviewer who has been going out for ages but is influenced by the reviews of Disco Matt, Chris Jepson and Scene B.itch. Thinking he would give it a go, he submitted this by email after attending Minty's birthday at Industri. [BassBoi] is a pseudonym, of course, this reviewer saying "Hi my name is (name withheld) and I want to try my hand at writing a few club reviews for your website. I want to remain anonymous so I can deliver the best reviews from a normal clubbers point of view so please don't print my name. You can use [BassBoi] with the brackets in tact. I want to remain unknown, it easier that way...and I don't want this to be a career change but maybe a way to get into clubs for free (LOL). Will you print my review?"

So we did. Here it is and let us know what you think of his style.

It has been a long time since I have been down to Vauxhall often opting for the more Latin flavours of Matinee and SuperMartxe, but seeing that Minty was having a birthday at Industri, I had to go. Usually I work on Fridays, so I wasn't going to waste my night.

I got there at about 10pm as DJ Brent Nichols was starting behind the decks. Minty was obviously in full party mode, she having already consumed a large amount of shots. The crowd at Industri was really mixed, more so than I remember it at my last visit last year in October. Saying that, it was also busy and i had my eye on that cute chav that may have been G'd up or on Kat by the expression on his face...easy prey!

I have always liked the venue (Barcode Vauxhall), it doings it's best not to look like another railway arch. I gave Minty a kiss hello before going to say hi to Brent who I first met at Matinee's Red Party last year in December. As the night wore on people seemed to get more and more drunk and more and more chatty. The crowd was full of scene shakers...you know promoters, managers, DJs, a few drag queens and the like and one scary guy that looked like he had just been dug up. In fact, there were a lot of strange people there intermingled with the few hotties and the scene shakers. Brent was banging out some top tunes, and a few off the wall ones like Tainted Love by Soft Cell that got Minty excited as she started to do a 'drag' act miming to the record. You got to love that gal.

My G'd up chav was getting busy with the hands that I could not ignore, so a lot of my time was consumed with his attention. As for the rest of the night, Industri was a great place to go on a Thursday, and although away from my beloved Soho, it certainly had a certain social aspect that was inline with the eflyers I get from them. The music was great, and special thanks to Brent for playing that new Rino Cabrera tune and giving me the name of quite a few tunes I did not know

LOVE & HATE: Loved the venue, Minty, the door guy (really friendly), the music and my g'd up chav. Hate that Industri is on a Thursday and not on a Friday or weekend. Also to the crazy dancer who knocked my drink out of my hand, 'sorry' is not a hard word plus a few of the freaks that were in attendance, scary! Rating 7/10.

Feel the bass...[BassBoi]

As much as we love our clubbing and everything that goes with it, following routine can sometimes be difficult, especially when it comes to being out there swinging our pants in what would be considered by most as “the time to club”, we cannot deny that this has always been a little alien to us. Yes, we do it, well if we didn’t there wouldn’t be much for us to report on, would there, but, sorry folks, we just love the decadent feel that clubbing deep into a morning (with any luck an afternoon) gives us. Trade started it all off and since those heady days of the nineties, we have adored being out in a club when the sun comes up, our love of this pseudo nocturnal activity (a dark club on a bright day) being our highlight of any weekend out. Since its demise at Turnmills, Trade’s boots have been filled by the brilliant Beyond, first at Coliseum & now at Area, although, when we heard that Onyx, the new conqueror of Friday nights, was going all afterhours on us, we simply couldn’t resist. Now, with much prodding & poking from many around us, we have been aiming to get down to the new Friday fancy, Onyx, for some time, being apparently slack, considering it launched back in July last year, although our excuse is that Friday clubbing presents lots of difficulties for us (where do we start), well that’s our excuse anyway and we are sticking to it!! But having failed to hit Area on 18th December, as planned, missing out (supposedly) on a brilliant set by guest Paul Heron, we would have be ashamed to show our face if we missed the “Afterhours” event the promoter Steven Gellar had lined up to follow on from “As One” the massive collaboration event at Fire on NYD, even a badly twisted ankle not sufficient to be the blame on the shame of our absence.

Add to that, Onyx’s morning affair was to be held at Area, the mecca of Beyond, which grabbed our favourite club of 2009 award, so with that said, it was a foregone conclusion we would be there. So, dragging ourselves away from a stupendous set by Alan K in the (you guessed it) Beyond room at “As One”, we hit the doors of Area just before 9 a.m., finding only a small queue to negotiate, but having found the guestlist girl (or was she a boy?!) who couldn’t find us, on the list we mean, a mere £6 entry seemed the bargain of the new decade and when the man himself, Steven, forced himself through the bamboo netting separating the entrance from the outside terrace, thrusting plenty of drinkies vouchers in our hands, we were hardly going to complain.

Entering what is probably the most familiar of club foyers (five times in December!!) we floated through and depositing our bits in the upstairs coatcheck, were into the club before you could say Onyx Afterhours, first sampling the Terrace Bar to see what was going down, we finding a smatter of socialites grabbing drinks & sorting themselves for a morning of audacious action. Wandering into the (can they find a better name, pleeaase?!) Black room, Jamie Hammond, or was it Tuomo Fox (confused!) was commanding the musical attention behind the decks, a healthy crowd boogying to what we can only describe as retro pop meets handbag house, nice if you like that sort of thing, but not our thang.

Gratefully, the main room opened and like many, we burst onto the scene to find an energetic Steven Gellar behind the decks, infusing all encompassing atmosphere into Area’s main space with a string of scorching sounds which had the main arch filled out before we knew it. Looking around, the crowd was predominantly a younger type, disco boys, muscle queens, latino lovelies & hedonistic party goers, all mixed into the impending hedonistic heaven that was to erupt before our eyes, some faces recognisable from the “As One” party just gone, others, like Emma “Mis-White” White, from DTPM’s party over at The Roof Gardens, maybe some resting from SuperMartXe’s “Alice” explosive event (we heard it was fab!), others probably just Onyx lovers looking to start their New Year, where they left 2009 behind.

Regardless of who was who, the crowd was probably one of the friendliest we have seen, no GHB causalities, no trashy relics from clubs gone beforehand, just a charismatic collection of people wanting to either continue their clubbing indulgencies or savour Onyx in its afterhours form. So, the scene was set for one of the most amazing experiences we have encountered in Area for a long time. Yes, we hear you cry, Beyond is the ruler of this world, but not so, this Saturday morning on 2nd January 2010 proving otherwise, as we were to be treated to something really special.

First came the emergence of Onyx’s dazzling dancers, dressed raunchily in black leather & silver accessories, ascended the three podiums set aside for them, two giving us the usual go-go posing & prancing, but the third fiddling with electrical connections and then entertaining us with the most awesome angle grind saw show we have seen, sparks flying way out in front & to the sides, making for a truly superb spectacle. Mind you, the smell of metal on metal was unique to say the least, but just added to the enigmatic atmosphere. Then, with the first round of shows over, we were slipping very much into afterhours decadency, as little known talent (to us you understand), Phil Marriot ascended the decks and began to send us on a magnificent musical journey with his terrifically selected tunes, a tad harder than those Steven had played, but with each and every record he chose, we became more & more enchanted by his choices. Having said that, we were in our favoured spot on the dancefloor, just shy of the D.J. booth and were surrounded by a bevy of beauties, which probably influenced our mood, but the music was the dominating feature of our enjoyment, Phil hitting every single sweet spot with his scintillating sounds which kept us asking ourselves (inwardly of course), where had his man been hiding from our life on the dancefloor, but regardless of what we may have missed, we were loving what we were experiencing, mesmerisation in the hands of Mr Marriot. With yet more delightfully debauchery dance displays from the go-go’s, one entertaining us with a fire eating performance, the night was going better than we could have ever imagined, the crowd far from waning, as Saturday morning became Saturday afternoon, chalking up probably our longest stay at an afterhours event within Area ever.

We really didn’t want the night, the day (whatever it was) to end and with the crowd as friendly at the end as it was at the beginning, Rob Ferguson present & coming over on a couple of occasions to say hello, the 2nd time giving us a massive hug to end all hugs, even sexy Latino muscle boys turning to wish us happy new year, we couldn’t have asked to be in better company & in such an angelic atmosphere, dancing away as we did, all memories of our twisted ankle completely faded away. But like they say (and a friend reminded us), what goes up, has to come down and the fateful end of 2 p.m. was on us, conscious by the fact with a text from our clubbing pal Joel, who was shocked we were still out clubbing, in fact clubbing at all, being the first glance at any sort of clock we had made. That’s how good the party was!

So, when the inevitable lights went up, we weren’t the only ones to call for an encore and Philly (cute) didn’t disappoint, as Mr Marriot revved up the D.J. decks for a couple of extra tunes to see us through to the outrageous end of 2.30 p.m. on a Saturday afternoon!! (please). Most people would be doing their grocery shopping, washing the car, having lunch (who knows what our straight compatriots get on to), but we were doing none of that, we were dancing in the darkness of Area and loving every minute of it.

So, what did we think of our first excursion out to Onyx? Did it fulfil our expectations? And will we be back? Well, without a doubt, what we had in our minds to expect of this futuristic Friday night outing in its “afterhours” form, was not only matched but exceeded in every way. We thought it was going to feel like a Beyond event, but it didn’t. We thought, after all the NYD activity, it would be a bit lack lustre, but it wasn’t. What it was ended up being a display of exactly how an afterhours party should be, a gorgeous crowd, enjoying a decadent daytime frolic expanding the boundaries of normalism, entering another world of wonderful clubbing. We absolutely loved every bit of Onyx Afterhours, not least the perfectly precise & massively magnificent performance of Phil Marriot. For us, he made the party and we cannot wait to savour another Onyx in his hands. Where else does he play? (DISCO MATT)

Looking back over our years of clubbing, there have been some amazing collaborations in gAylist/land London, not just at the spectacular outside events that used to take place, Pride gatherings at Brockwell Park, Clapham Common & Finsbury Park being notable, Summer Rites & Purple In the Park filling our memory banks, but the superb Famous Five parties over at Bagley’s warehouse will definitely go down in history, not only for their popularity, but for the linking of massive brands like Love Muscle, G.A.Y., Fruit Machine, Sherbet & Fist (we are showing our age!). More recent joint parties Giant & Universe which combined clubs, Crash, Salvation, Atelier, Coco Late & Heaven & even Ultimate, at the time named “the biggest alliance since Star Wars”, when Crash, DTPM & Trade partied under one roof, were all successes in their own right, continuing the trend for this all encompassing type of clubbing. So, when we heard of a new venture and at the dawn of a new decade too, nothing was going to stop us from at least taking a look, even if it meant missing out on other parties that were going head-to-head, not least as the collaboration of club brands Beyond, Lovechild, Megawoof, Lo-Profile & Trannyshack seemed just too good to miss. And what was this mega collision of clubs called, well aptly, “As One” and all held in the cavernous expanse of Fire in Vauxhall, although there was much scepticism cast on its fortunes from the minute it was conceived, especially with popular parties SuperMartXe & DTPM looking to steal the show on New Year’s Day.

So, how did it actually fare? Was it the success the organisers hoped for? And how did the joining of these diverse clubbing brands work? Well, having twisted our ankle badly, thus missing out on both Matinee’s & SuperMartXe’s massive NYD party offerings, our start to 2010 wasn’t going as planned, but with lots of tender loving care & then much cajoling of our trainer onto the offending ankle, we limped our way down to Vauxhall & the Fire, the host venue for “As One”, arriving in the snow & chill of the first day of the new year at just before midnight. A lengthy queue had developed on both sides of the rear entry, although were moving quite swiftly and as we turned the corner, found the back of the guestlist queue being beckoned forward by the fabulous Roni (co-promoter of the event), who greeted us in friendly fashion, waving us through in trice. Mind you, with it being so cold we were anxious to get inside, but had to negotiate the coatcheck first, yet another slow moving affair halting our entry into the warm. However, once inside and into the corridor leading to the mirror arch, we immediately started feeling the heat & also hearing the beat of the music, indicating that the club was already pumping.

And we weren’t to be disappointed, as entering the Lovechild mirror arch, the crowd was building nicely, with D.J. Mattias playing out some chunky & funky tunes to get proceedings underway. However, we were keen to investigate further, advancing through a near wall of people into the main room which was packed out, a sea of bodies gyrating away to the upbeat sounds, courtesy of Mikey D, being the first D.J. to hit the decks in this Beyond dedicated space, also serving as the official afterhours room for SuperMartXe’s “Alice In Wonderland” party which was still going at The O2 Academy in Brixton. Moving further through the club, we made it into the Lo-Profile lounge, which was also brimming with people, Phil Hewson in charge of the D.J. decks, treating the crowd to an uplifting collection of house hits from the year just gone. We grabbed some refreshments with the drinks vouchers kindly supplied to us by Roni and also by Jay Sharp Vokins, who we came across in this sumptuous & stylish lounge space, still conscious of our now throbbing ankle, so sought to numb the pain as best we could (whatever with?!?!), heading back across the club which was getting busier & busier, aiming to find a bit of space in a favourite Fire spot, just shy of the D.J. booth in the mirror arch. Settling on this space was not only a wise move for our ankle, but gave us a prime view of the continual bevy of beautiful dancers, hunky muscular men taking it turns in twosomes on the podiums in front of us, their saucy, sexy & steamy performances setting our pulses racing. The music wasn’t bad either, Mattias doing a sterling job, then handing over to the Italian stallion Pagano, who lavished the most scintillating set on us, we had heard from him in a long time, knowing in an instant of him starting that we had really missed his superb selection of sounds over the weeks nay months, the dancers complimenting his tracks, the lighting electric & the exploding ticker tape pyrotechnics timed perfectly with his music.

It was then a case of a who’s who parade, as a host of familiar faces came up & wandered by, including Rob Ferguson who immediately asked about our ankle, D.J. pals Hugh Stevenson & D’Johnny, both giving us a big hug & exchanging new year’s wishes, then Chris Geary, who lifted us high in the air with a loving embrace, not to mention Lovechild, Kinky Trade, Hustlaball (you name it) club promoter Alex Erfan spotted us & said hello, although it was clear he was busy organising matters in what had become a jam packed & incredibly popular As One clubbing event. So much so, that it took us ages to squeeze our way back through into the Beyond room to continue our check on proceedings, resigning on a further shuffle through the mass of people into the Lo-Profile lounge, where we caught up with yet another D.J. pal Alessandro, who was due to play in this space later on, also spotting Stewart Who? preparing to take over from Phil Hewson.

By now, our ankle numbing concoction was working nicely and we were in dancing mood, so heading back into the Beyond room, we made our way up the aisle to find a small space to jig away to the tougher yet melodic sounds being played out by The Sharp Boys, although it turned out to be just a “Sharp Boy”, George present, but Stephen 1000’s of feet in the air on his way to South Africa (the lucky beggar!). There we came across yet more familiar faces, French pals Benoit & Franck, both lapping up the amazing atmosphere and moving further round, we weaved our way through the sea of cavorting clubbers, finding a spot in the corner to dance away & marvel at the “Alice” performers who had made it to their afterparty to entertain the throng. The costumes they were in looked stunning, just a hint how good the show must have been at SuperMartXe, the screens behind them full of “Alice” images & the space filled with seasonal prolific production, giving this beyond room an extra special feel. But with so much going on across this collaborative masterpiece, we wanted to check out the other rooms, as both Megawoof & Trannyshack were swinging into action, although negotiating our way through to the Lightbox was going to be no mean feat, eventually arriving in the space, to find it brimming with a mega mix of hunky, chunky Megawoofers, dancing away merrily to the melodic music supplied by this testosterone filled club brands D.J. resident & promoter Daz Saund. Whilst the room was fuller than we had seen it in years and the men were hot, the space was even hotter, so we retreated back to our favoured Lovechild spot, where Paul Heron had arrived to take over where the phenomenal Pagano had left off. Having savoured the bulk of the Italian’s set, in between our trips around the rest of “As One”, with the dancing action still keeping up the raunchy pace, we were content to stay put for a while, lapping up everything on offer from Lovechild in the hands of Mr Heron.

With the arrival of D.J. Gabriele Cutrano, Alex Erfan appeared & offered to show us into the Trannyshack room & then further into the depths of Fire, going over the plans ahead for this massive club, we being amazed by the sheer size of the place. But then, after leading us back to where we started, Alex left us to our devices, heading off to grab a spot of fresh air, while we spent the rest of the darting between the Lovechild space, Paul Heron & Gabriele Cutrano keeping up the raunchy filled pace, the Lo-Profile lounge, where Alessandro kept the heat up with a trail of terrific tunes and the Beyond room where we eventually settled. It was here where the pinnacle of our prancing occurred, as Alan K strung together the most superb of sounds, including our track of the night, Celeda’s “Underground, but much much more, packing the space out till well past 8 a.m., leaving tunes a plenty ringing through our ears, long after the party was over, our ankle pain a distant memory, but the absolutely brilliant time we had savoured at “As One” firmly entrenched in our mind.

Well, there is little left to say about our first party of 2010, apart from these words which neatly describe our experience of “As One”, amazing, delightful, fantastic, magnificent, spectacular, & wonderful. The collaboration of the clubs worked perfectly, giving Fire an extra special feel, weaving together all the different strands of Beyond, Lovechild, Megawoof, Lo-Profile & Trannyshack, better than we could have ever imagined. Never since a trip to Later five NYD’s ago, have we seen the venue so busy, so buzzing, so pumping and we were simply spoilt for choice between the rooms, each bringing their own charm, their own stunning D.J. performances, yet all being as one. Special mentions have to go to Alan K in the Beyond room, who (in his own words) “was in the zone”, playing the best set we have heard & Pagano who simply engulfed us with a phenomenal performance in the Lovechild space. We conclude that “As One” was definitely the year’s first real success in so many ways, showing the way for other events to follow and we really hope it will be back with us soon. You can bet that we will be there for sure. (DISCO MATT)

Logan was right, this was not going to be your average tea party! This was the return of the B’itches after our terrible swine flu B.itch of all summers. The scene was set, now Brixton Academy is certainly not Buckingham Palace, even SeenQueen.com had dared to suggest that Logan was chancing his luck moving to the larger 5000 capacity location. But here we had the clubbing sensation of 2009 proud to end the year in spectacular style.

Despite sounding like we are going back to a school, we followed the SuperMartXe Facebook pages closely, and saw a steady rise in sexy guys confirming their attendance...this was going to be the place to be. In preparation I’d donned a pair of my new fav pants - CK Steel’s in sexy red to help me melt into the buffed up latin crowd that was bound to be there ;-) Boy was it a roller coaster, apart from Latin fireworks at home before leaving, it was one of the coldest nights of the year. We’d opted for straight -forward non VIP tickets to experience it like the masses do - as also previous VIP experiences had proved unnecessary apart from maybe the coat check! And we are on a budget!

The cruising started on the tube, wow they all get on after Westfield at Shepherds Bush but too cocky and str8 and take your eyes off undressing those girls for one minute mister – he was with his folks!!!, delays meaning my amigo was waiting in the cold. But hey no queue at 19.15, minimal security by friendly staff to enter an unspectacular cavernous entrance hall at the O2 Brixton Academy and up a few flights of stairs to, oh no way, a coat check queue of gigantic proportions – and I didn’t think I ‘d be thinking about size until much later on in the evening. It still amazes me how a build up can occur when you have ticket and security check and a coat check system that defies all logic. Anyhow as it snaked around the corridor an excellent opportunity to cruise and be cruise although a bit chilly for sure. However it did give another friend a free coat check queue jump! Then it was down to a level where we picked up a drink and used the loo (but not at the same time without washing our hands!) – all not very impressive and the decor feeling a bit grubby but the chilly air didn’t help. And bar staff never quite as sexy as the true gay venues!

So down again and there was a DJ in a place that seemed too well lit, too cold and not a place we would stop , maybe that was the Gaydar Garden? But we kept going down (not on each other) but the stairs and past a large bar to the left which looked a bit soul-less and then into the main arena. Whoaa! Wow, this place was throbbing – a full house so well done Logan! – it was a sea of gyrating hot bodies as we made our way down into the dance floor in front of the stage. The music being perfectly mixed by SupermartXe Madrid’s very own resident DJ Juanjo Martin – a true master of the decks absolutely fantastic! This B.itch has been critical of monotonous clubbing recently and not found the beats to keep us on the dance floor for long stints but Juanjo Martin was superb! Track after track mixed and played to perfection! Very uplifting style – did I mention it was wonderful :P

This event has replaced Salvation as the one where the sexy hunks come out to play – seriously fit guys that you don’t see at the weekly clubs – saving themselves for the big event – and so nice to see, Salvation has stiff competition for its April return to London! Searching for friends is never easy, I’m sure one of our amigos was using an iPhone GPS app, well he did point out to me a blond guy I nudged to him was so uber sexy and said ‘oh yes he’s on ‘blah blah iPhone app’ – hmm I just thinking whether to get one of those :P Well we found the posse slightly too near to the sloping dance floor and little room to perform my moves ;-) But I did seem to bump into too many familiar sexy faces – I can never remember if I know them from a club, Gaydar or a sauna but as long as there is a smile we all live happily ever after! And were we cruised! mmm that’s value for money we are getting at the Virgin Gym!

The stage show started around 21.00 with one of my favorite tracks – a super PA with a mix of ‘Sweet Child of Mine’ sung by Alice in Wonderland herself! It was the usual mix of exploding fireworks and sexy dancers. Although in all seriousness, having moved to this bigger venue and from the marketing blurb I was expecting something more 'fantastico' but the stage set was not on the impressive scale of Silicon Babes or Commando – I certainly didn’t recognise too many characters – so Coronet wins the day on that. However the stage show is just a useful intermission to have a rest and certainly didn’t dampen our enthusiasm for this event as a whole.

There were definitely a few mad hatters around in fancy dress but 80% of the crowd couldn’t afford nice outfits so they went bare chested, mmm just to tease me!– some would have looked good too sweeping up the tons of litter - cups, bottles and the like from the floor – it’s so weird how places like Fire and Heaven always kept their floors pristine with ever so cute guys (sometimes) yet Matinee and SupermartXe go for the in vogue modern art ‘piles of rubbish’; look and seriously by midnight u were climbing over heaps of the stuff – am I the only one to trip over it? Jeez :P ask Santa for some sacks! But it didn’t dampen our spirits this was a fab party in full swing! And Damian Hirst eat your rabbit out!

We did notice a lack of seating – maybe this was all reserved for the VIP area but there appeared no where to sit down and chill apart from in the freezing atrium staircase! – the balcony was not open – unlike the Coronet where is provides an excellent chill out area – big shame. But we were wise to stay in the dance floor arena – it had everything you would expect – a dance floor of course! plus, toilets and bars oh and tons of sexy guys. As the evening moved on and the crowds thinned a bit then there was more chance to oogle but also its then that the slopping floor really became a bit weird for drunken revellers – I lost my footing right in front of the sexy Latin hunk I’d got my eye on! (you know the one from Salvation) So I shyly retreated to nurse my pride. Leaving just after 01.00, to beat the coat check rush, we were fortunate to be graced with a Cinderella Fire coach to take us down to Vauxhall – it was surreal like being on a school trip – people singing ‘happy birthday’ behind us (sorry but mine was in October!!!) – There was nearly a diplomatic incident as I mistakenly interpreted the guy next to me to be Brazilian but turns out he was speaking Spanish from Venezuela – offering a chewing gum saved my day!

Arriving in a snowy Vauxhall, some friends disappeared into a mega long queue stretching under the bridge at the back of Fire for AsOne, while others went into the good value £4 Barcode. Others of us slipped off and were drawn into the warmer world of Chariott’s for a little R&R. There meeting ticket holders who had not been able to get into AsOne so they’d come to chill out for a few hours before trying again – so glad we only selected to go to probably the best event of new year but Logan we were more than happy with the Coronet, (I’m on my knees now) are you going to move back there? :P

So for the B.itches return event we made the right choice, choosing the delights of a respectable sophisticated Tea Dance from one of the world’s leading super brand clubbing names and the top notch DJ Juanjo Martin – I’m sure he winked at me! Winked people!!! With probably the cutest and sexiest crowd in London. Viva SuperMartXe Londres – FANTASTICO. See you all soon and Happy New Year. Luv the B.itches XXX p.s. LOVE SUPERMARTXE = LOVE B.ITCHIN

Now in days of old, in the days of uber sex club Fist, we were most accustomed to getting out some leathers, throwing them on and heading off for our monthly fetish fix, in fact we had our purple patch phase when nothing else would do, continually adding to our collection of collars, cuffs, harnesses, boots et all, so much so that we treated the gear like our second uniform (the first being our business suits....we were all banking professional in those days you know). Life even included regular trips across to Amsterdam, where we would indulge in our devilish fetish fancies at places like The Cockring, The Spiders Web & The Arvo, even planning for special events like Leatherfest so as to satisfy our urges & desires. Yes they were fun times indeed.

But becoming a disco bunny & especially when labelled with the mantle “Disco Matt”, we were most definitely set on a totally different course and slowly but surely, our leather collection was pushed to the back of the closet, most ending up being banished completely. With Fist a distant memory, but the regenerative Hard On! always being overlooked, it was a long time before we were to slip back into it all, but slip we did, spending our last birthday at Suzie Kruger’s horny happening down at Hidden, although our indoctrination back into this side of the scene was set to be trodden very gingerly. That was until one Boxing Day evening, this one in fact, when all our previous inhibitions & disco intentions were thrust aside and we not only re-kindled those days of Fist & Amsterdam, but went all out XXX rated for Hard On’s! XXXmas party.

So, with chaps & boots on, we headed down to Vauxhall for warm up drinks at Barcode, interestingly for our first time to Hard On! without fellow leather enthusiast (well we are not quite back there yet) Benoit, but with none of the pre-party nerves that have accompanied previous visits requiring the helpful & support hand of our liege. Therefore, warm up drinks were less dutch courage more fuelling for the frolicking that lay ahead, timing our arrival at Hidden to just after 11.30, perhaps a little later than we should have been, but with no queue to negotiate our entry was swift & efficient. We were greeted on the door by the endearing Ian “Pieers” Lewis who seemed quite surprised yet pleased to see us and then once through and into the club foyer, Hard On’s! Big cheese Suzie Kruger spotted us and waved us right through, with none of the fuss or bother that accompanied our last visit, superb!!

Being Boxing Day, we were not sure how busy it was going to be, Hard On’s! Team having planned to open just the Cruise Bar and (naturally) the play area, this having been confirmed to us by Hi-Fi Sean at Barcode earlier, although as we stepped into the first bar space, it was clear they would need to set up the main (Red) room. This they had already done, swapping resident jock Brent Nicholls across to provide the musical mastery and allowing most of the eye candy entertainment to show their wares in the main space too. So, grabbing some liquid refreshments, we also did just that, arriving in the room which was filling out nicely, positioning ourselves next to the D.J. booth where Brent spotted us, looking us up & down to check that we were in appropriate gear, a cheeky grin on his face while doing so, then resulting in us catching up on some quick Christmas news with him, all in between changing tracks, our eyes also gazing on the myriad of bubble butt exposed arses around, as well as some sex on legs men who were definitely up for a bit more than just hot action.

It seemed that inhibitions had definitely been thrown aside and everyone was up for a bit of some Boxing Day bonking, as the atmosphere in the main room was truly pumped up, sexed up & raring to go, not least when the hunky muscled up chrimbo go-go’s hit the two podiums, dressed scantly in tight red shorts & accompanying accessories, chests and manly parts all pointing in the right direction. Then, adding to the raunchy mood, a veritable feast of horny men appeared, dressed in a whole assortment of clothes or in most cases not many clothes at all, making the red room a truly pumped up place indeed. Mind you, the extravert production in this main space was also adding to the sexy vibe, with graphic artist impressions of men fisting & cocks dripping, spread across the walls and for once, we were revelling in our relative ambiguity, with no fear of being caught with our pants down. But, that very thing was to literally about to happen, as our first of many forays into the plentiful playroom was met with a tall skinhead type thrusting us into a dark(ish) corner & taking full advantage of the situation, ripping open our chaps, peeling off our undergarments & going for it big time and ooh was it big!!

It was clear that the agenda was definitely to work off all those Christmas inhibitions, as the space the throbbing with action, men in slings, men on their knees, or pinned, like us, against the walls, going for it and we mean really going for it!! With our fist, sorry first encounter over & licking our lips with delight, we headed back into the main room to cool down a bit, but the heat was well & truly turned up as yet more sexy go go’s entered the fray & Mr Nicholls’ musical soundtrack was making it even more raunchy.

With nowhere to hide from this overtly audacious activity, we held station by the bar, only to be advanced upon by this gorgeous guy dressed in tight leather like shorts and massive wader style boots, not quite grabbing us, but making the sort of moves & advances that said “I want you”. So it was inevitable that yet a further trip into the play area was required, in fact one of four more across what can only be described as the sexiest experience of a night we have had in a long long time. In all our days of running an out there sex club, having seen it all happen in front of our eyes day by day, we thought we had become blasé to it all. Then, perhaps that was the problem with our last visits to Hard On! maybe we had seen it all, but certainly not on this occasion, as we indulged in it all, loving every minute of it.

Emerging from the play area, having spent the lion’s share of our time in there, T-shirt still intact (a miracle!), we headed back to the main room for one final time and with our D.J. pal remarking on our sluttiness (well we were definitely that), his stint behind the decks came to a somewhat premature end, most of us, not least him, looking surprised at the sudden stop. So, we headed into the Cruise Bar in an attempt to calm things down a little, where Hugos’land was handing over the decks to Dmac, who set about laying down some truly hard hitting & pumping sounds that had us dancing away for a while, our eyes still firmly fixed on the man in waders who had heightened our sexual hormones to alarming levels. But then there were still plenty of other horny men around, leather clad, harness trussed & rubber bound, providing more than just eye candy.

Even though we had released much of our sexual tensions in the playroom, it just wasn’t dissipating, no doubt helped along by the amazingly sexy atmosphere, the raunchy music and, dare we say it again, that guy in the waders which we just couldn’t get out of our head & glance, so with feelings still running at fever pitch, the only option left was to get out into the fresh air to cool off. Considering our options, we decided on a departure, collecting our bits & bobs from the coatcheck, then embarking on a trip back across to Barcode , which we concluded was the safer of options, but still mindful that we could have seen the rest of the night away with the horniest, sexiest fella we had seen in ages. Passing back through the foyer, both Suzie & Brent were in attendance, we thanking them both for what was a superb Hard On! party for us, remarking that we needed space to allow ourselves to de-sex, with our arrival back at Barcode, signalling a compulsory removal of our leathers to try & do just that.

So, what did we think of Hard On! this time round? And how did it rate against our usual clubbing exploits? Well, it would be fair to say, that unquestionably for us, it was our best excursion into our fetish side at Hidden yet. Indeed, we cannot remember ever having been so tempted into and then so busy in the playroom. Normally dancing plays the biggest part in our clubbing experiences, but in the case of this XXXmas party, it was simply XXX rated action. Despite reports coming in, post the event, that it was a quietish one for Suzie & her team, the people who turned up were definitely up for it in a big way and never have we seen some many bare butts, so many gorgeously sexy men revealing all, definitely throwing all inhibitions aside. If our next trip to this monthly raunchy fetish feast is anything like this one, we are surely in for another fabulously sleazy time. (DISCO MATT)

December is an extra special month for us, as not only does it signal the biggest festival of the year, Christmas, but it is the month of our birth, therefore potentially rolling a whole week into one big party. Mind you, with most focussing on Christmas, we tend to have to go with the flow and fit in our birthday celebrations when we can, although the last couple of years have seen our plans become a little more extravagant, more extensive, encompassing a whole host of venues, clubs & outings to satisfy not only our desires, but in an effort ensure that as many of our friends can make our birthday celebrations during the close run up to Christmas. But the question remained this year was, where were we going to spend our actual birthday?

Falling on a Sunday, there were a few choices, but then we like celebrating right from the start, from midnight onwards, so decided that it should all kick off on 19th (well we did actually start on 17th at Industri & then Gravity, but that’s another story!!). So, looking at the options & deciding who would be where, we eventually plumped for the venue that is due to be awarded first spot in our end of year “best bar” vote (oops we let that slip!), which would be neatly followed by a trip just downstairs. Was it Barcode Soho? No. Was it Ku-Bar & Ku-Klub? No. So where was it? Well, Profile Bar & Lo-Profile of course.

Since its launch back in July, Profile bar’s new venue & location has steadily grown on us. In the days of its life over on Frith Street, we seldom visited, as not only was it a bit off the beaten track (well ours anyway), but the space failed to ignite any enthusiasm, but was nevertheless a popular haunt for many a gAylister. But, moving Profile across Soho to join its younger sister, was definitely the right choice for the brand, giving Profile as a bar a new lease of life, giving it a sumptuous new look, giving it to expand its offer & all with the hope of increasing its clientele. And, in the short months it has been on Wardour Street, Profile has become a favoured destination for those wishing to relax, socialise & chat without the hussle & bustle that accompanies some other bars, with the added bonus of great food served by a bunch of sexy waiters & great music from some of the scene’s top notch D.J’s.

So, deciding on Profile to kick of our birthday celebrations (well, you know what we mean!) was a given & arriving at its doors just before 10 p.m. (yes we were late again) we were greeted by pal Stephen, who had forgone other plans to join us for our special outing. To add further spice to the evening, as we wandered around the bar, past filled out booths where a whole host of gorgeous gAylisters were succumbing to Profile’s tempting & tasty food, we fell upon none other than D.J. pal Paul Heron, who was providing the musical entertainment, a lovely surprise indeed, although it was difficult to tell who looked more astonished at their presence. This immediately signalled a trip to the bar to seek refreshments, although in the knowledge that this one achilles heel of Profile bar meant that we pre-planned to stock up on drinks, but on this occasion it was deemed unnecessary as the service was so much quicker than we had experienced in past visits.

Back over by the D.J. booth, we caught up on news both with pal Stephen, whom we had missed company at Industri just two days before & bought him up to speed with the trials & tribulations of the night that had nearly put our whole birthday in jeopardy. Then, turning to Mr Heron, it was a pleasure to see him again, having savoured to smashing sounds of his at our favourite social soiree a mere 36 hours ago and we were set fair to enjoy yet another superb set of his tonight, yes very much more commercial & uplifting, yet a true testament to this man’s talents. As a measure of his affection, Paul dug deep into his music collection to find our favourite record and playing it out to a, by now packed Profile bar, struck a chord not only with us but with many around, including one of the waitresses who remarked on its brilliance with us. By now the party mood was building, with Paul playing out some terrific tracks to delight and with the drinks well & truly flowing, eyes were beginning to turn to the club downstairs, where proceedings were being kicked off by fellow Industri resident D.J. Brent Nicholls.

So, as the stroke of 11 o’clock arrived, Paul’s set came to an all too short end (our fault as we were late) and we, together with Stephen, made our way round and down into Lo-Profile to continue the party and see in our birthday 24 hours in style. Arriving in this cavernous space and falling upon the D.J. booth almost immediately, Brent turned to greet us, although Stephan had already wandered straight towards the bar, but soon returned to deposit his belongings, along with ours, behind the D.J. booth, avoiding the surmountable queue that had developed across the dancefloor.

Looking around, nothing much had changed since our last visit to Lo-Profile and it has to be said that we are not big fans of the bright & extrovert decor, with most of the club being given over to seating areas and much of the rest to bar space. Whilst this proves great for socialising in groups, we have never found it to be a thrilling & scintillating dance venue. Mind you, Brent was doing his level best to change all of that, playing some magnificent music which saw the petite yet plentiful dancefloor fill to virtual capacity, soaking up the superb sounds.

With glasses replenished & eyes on the time, we boogied & bopped away blissfully oblivious to the surroundings, but with more than one eye on the stylish & gorgeous looking crowd who were filling Lo-Profile’s spaces, a particularly hunky guy taking our fancy, until his boyfriend walked up (damn) and we were forced to avert our attentions elsewhere. But to our rescue came midnight & with Stephen arriving, Champagne in hand, it was our birthday proper and we raised our glasses in toast & triumph that we had reached another milestone. And so the night took an altogether hedonistic turn, with Brent ramping up the magical music even more, playing what can only be described as the tune of moment “Get Lifted” which had us dancing deliriously, nearly jumping onto an impromptu podium like we used to do all those years ago during his sets at Crash. With the night going from strength to strength, Brent gave way to Alessandro on the D.J. decks, who had finished his stint at Rupert Street, bringing fellow birthday boy Vlad & his team of merry men with him to heighten the atmosphere. We then knew that two celebrations would collide with dramatic yet delightful consequences, first seeing out the early hours of our birthday at Lo-Profile in the hands of the amazing Alessandro, but then with a venture south of the river to Barcode Vauxhall, where when Nick Tcherniak once again led us astray with a stonking set, we knew that our special day indulging ourselves with shopping & lunch was set to be ruined, but in the best possible way as the clubbing & partying wasn’t going to stop at 6 a.m. at Barcode, as we hit Beyond, sending us deep into the second half of December 20th, most magnificently.

But the story doesn’t end there, as Profile bar was to draw us back & then slide us headlong into Christmas, a mere 3 days later & with yet further fun, when we ventured into Soho for our last outing and get together before the big day. It seemed we were greeted at the door by our fierce partner in crime, Lexi, the evervescent & sparkling new host of the bar, although our mind was elsewhere as our eagerness to deliver candy (long story) meant we completely missed him (how rude), rather making an immediate b-line for the D.J. booth where Brent Nicholls was playing an enchanting collection of smooth house tunes to ease the select crowd into the evening. And, what better a way to slide into the Christmas mood than indulge in wonderful conversation, in sumptuous surroundings & in fabulous company, which was exactly what we did, all courtesy of Brent Nicholls, Lexi, indeed everyone else around, succumbing to the temptations of our favourite liquorice sweets, then supping our favourite tipple and all with the magnanimous music Mr D.J. was selecting, running through our veins. Now, who could ask for anything more?! But with all good things having to come to an end (boo hoo), we eventually gave in to work commitments the following day, waving bye to Profile, our temporary home for the last few days, melting into the cold December night to head home & reflect on a new found friend of a Soho spot that made our start to both our birthday & Christmas extra special.

Well, were we surprised by just how good both Profile & Lo-Profile turned out to be for our special occasion? And would we recommend swinging by these Soho specialities sometime soon? Well, the answer to both questions is a resounding and massive YES. Not only does Profile Bar deliver a superbly sophisticated & splendid night out all on its own, but with the marrying with younger sister Lo-Profile into one venue, has made for a combination virtually unbeatable. Yes, the decor in Lo-Profile really needs some attention, but the space itself more than makes up for that and we had a fabulous time down there, in fact the best to date. However, the real gem is Profile upstairs, as whilst admitting that we love our Rupert Street visits and The Box is great on a Friday too, there is something quite enchanting & endearing about Profile, a hangout we hanker more & more. So, ensure you give the place a visit soon & if Soho is your destination make a whole night of it on Wardour Street, at Profile & lo-Profile. (DISCO MATT)