The results are in, the votes have been counted and we now can confirm that the winner of the Seen Queen Club Poll this year in the Club Category is MATINEE and in the Event Category is TRADE.
1. MATINEE (Best Club of 2008): Ever since Matinee hit the London club scene it has never failed to impress. In it's history it has been promoted by the former Crash/Area Team, then All Things Orange and now by DJ Oliver M. From the beginning Oliver M has been the back bone of the club being involved with all three incarnations of this 
famous Spanish party and now the man in charge along with his Evolved Events team. Ever since Matinee started here in London it captured the imagination of London gAylist clubbers. It helped rejuvenate a somewhat generic and tiring scene and showed London that a fabulous party event could and still be thrown. The club poll result speaks for itself. Matinee captured 22% of the entire vote, with statistic showing that not only does London love Matinee but so does the rest of the world. Matinee has previously won this club poll both in 2006 as the Best Event of 2006 and again in 2007 as the Best Club of 2007. This year Matinee wins again taking the Best Club of 2008 and overall highest poll winner. With it's 11th Global Birthday out of the way impressing us all with it's production, super sexy crowd and forward looking (yet crowd pleasing and accessible) music, Matinee is London's number one club.
2. TRADE* (Best Event of 2008): Trade is the ultimate survivor and the grand daddy of the London gAylist club scene. It's 18th Birthday was one of the best party events of the year, its club poll 2008 ranking being evidence of this...and it achieved this in a new venue and with newly added DJs showing that it was not a dinosaur that was going to go extinct but a creature that could Evolve and be just as relevant today as it was in it's early years. There is no doubt the army of Trade 
Babies and converters added to Trade securing 17% of the vote. At the start of the poll it looked like London was going to be over run by the Spanish invaders, but Trade, like it always does, fought back and started to eclipse the rest (there was a 607 vote gap between Trade and the next club/event). For the last week of the poll it was a two horse race between Trade & Matinee, each one securing a top listing as either best club or best event, and at some points Trade was looking to be the overall leader in the poll until the Spanish passion took force and pushed Matinee to the top. Trade needs to be respected; it has stood the test of time and continues to attract the gAylister's young and not-so-young into it's ranks proudly showing Europe and the world that London clubs still has a kick in it's step.
3. SUPERMARTXE* (Runner Up Best Event 2008): Another Spanish super club invades our shores bringing with it massive productions, an
army of gogos and continental music to put London clubbers through their paces. Supermartxe is the baby of the top 5, it's first event being held in December of 2008. Planned to go monthly, Superemartxe immediately captured the imagination of the London club scene and based on its reputation of being THE party at Madrid Pride and this year on Ibiza, it now has become one of London's hottest properties. Big circuit clubbing in a continental style was to leave it's impressive mark on us, and although the gap between TRADE and SUPERMARTXE is over 600 votes, it captured 7% of the vote.
4. BEYOND (Runner Up Best Club 2008): Beyond has had more lives than a cat, some fantastic and some disastrous. This latest incarnation of the infamous After hours sees it capturing 5% of the vote, and although it will never be what it was when it won the Best Club of 2005 & 2002, it's new format and venue best reflects the changing clubbing crowd. Established DJS and new DJs now control 
the roost at Beyond, and under it's multi laser ceiling, it's rocking terrace and it's very up for it clubbing crowd comprising a wide cross section of London's gay scene, Beyond's reinvention is finding favour and it's popularity growing. As usual, Beyond success is dependent upon the clubs that precede it on a Saturday night and with Matinee and SuperMartxe taking up two of those weeks, it has a long life ahead of itself...some even preferring to skip the whole Saturday night thing making Beyond a destination in it's own right.
5. GUTTERSLUT: This club is a new listing on Seen Queen, it being picked for what we believe to be the future of clubbing. With clubbing coming under constant pressure from a shrinking economy, disappointment to deliver promises, generic branding and it competing with the internet for the 'cruising' aspect, Gutterslut captures the imagination. Attracting a mixed, super fashionable, hype trendy and 
young crowd...electro queers mix it up with gym hunks, trendy straight rub shoulders with bears and the funky and fabulous get down with the downright weird and twisted. Musically it progresses through a strong electronic sound, keeping it accessible but still very underground, fun but not cheesy, tough and yet sexy. It does not feel the pressure to play bland house remixes of pop songs and tend to mash it up as it goes along. It combines fashionable clubbing with an element of sexiness harking back to the days when clubbing was more about socializing instead of just being a business. We could call it boutique clubbing, but with 5% of the vote, we are going just say Gutterslut is so now!
6. REVOLVER: Another relatively new club and the sister club to Matinee, this is Evolved Events attempt to create a continental styled circuit party with a London style. When REVOVLVER first launched in June 2008 at the Scala, a brave attempt outside of Vauxhall, it attracted a good crowd of gAylister reminiscent of the days of clubbing gone. Subsequent events saw smaller crowds but a maintained quality, until it moved to the Astoria. Here is lost its sexiness and somewhat underground feel and went a little mainstream. Big production could not fill the cavernous Astoria, and so Revolver went on a break. It was fondly remembered though, capturing 4% of the vote and clocking in above some of the more established events. Now it is about to relaunch at the Fridge, starting another chapter of this continental party with a London style.
7. SALVATION*: Another long term survivor (10 years), Salvation re launched itself at the Hippodrome targeting special event days to insure maximum impact. The result, a huge success. Despite packed events every time, traditionally Salvation tends to poll in the lower half of the top 10, it's clubbing devotees not showing the passion that clubs like Matinee and Trade attract from their clubbers. Even though it claimed 4% of the vote, SALVATION is the third most popular EVENT listed in the club poll.
8. JUICY: Relatively speaking, this is a poor result for Juicy, it previously winning the best club in 2006 and being runner up in 2007. Promoter Andrews Harris events usually does extremely well in our club polls with previous party ACTION winning in 2003. This may be more of a reflection of his association with ALL THINGS ORANGE which in the past has been accused of generic branding and the general trend for it's club loosing it's gay appeal and becoming straighter (which is why AM, Orange and Horizon are no longer recommended on Seen Queen). The disastrous attempt to relocate Juicy to AREA may also be a consideration. Of course, which so much stronger product now available such as Gutterslut, Supermartxe, Matinee and Beyond the competition is also tougher. Whatever the reason, it seems Juicy has lost its momentum to a certain extent and favour amongst London gAylister's. Capturing 4% of the vote, Juicy is the 5th most popular CLUB.
9. SOHO PRIDE*: Thousands turned out for this street festival celebrating all things gay in London. It is the highest in the annual events, even beating London Pride. Some of the high lights included the Gaydar Stage, the whole event somewhat let down by poor weather.
10. RAPIDO*: The European invasion continued with RAPIDO. Although we were divided about the music, we loved the venue , the decor and the production. It was probably one of the best quality crowds we came across in a long time, and despite the fact the club was busy but not packed, it climbed into 10th overall and is the 5th most popular EVENT of the year.
TOP 5 CLUBS 2008 |
|
| 1. MATINEE | |
| 2. BEYOND | |
| 3. GUTTERSLUT | |
| 4. REVOLVER | |
| 5. JUICY | |
TOP 5 EVENTS 2008 |
|
| 1. TRADE | |
| 2. SUPERMARTXE | |
| 3. SALVATION | |
| 4. SOHO PRIDE | |
| 5. RAPIDO | |
PREVIOUS WINNERS |
|
| 2007 | MATINEE |
| 2006 | MATINEE (BEST EVENT) / JUICY (BEST CLUB) |
| 2005 | BEYOND |
| 2004 | TRADE |
| 2003 | ACTION |
| 2002 | BEYOND |
| 2001 | TRADE |
TOP 10 OVERALL 2008-2001 |
||||||||
| POS | CLUB | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 |
1 |
MATINEE
|
1
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
2 |
TRADE
|
3 |
2
|
-
|
1
|
2
|
2
|
1
|
3 |
SUPERMARTXE
|
- |
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
4
|
BEYOND
|
- |
- |
1 |
4
|
4
|
1
|
-
|
5
|
GUTTERSLUT
|
- |
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
6
|
REVOLVER
|
- |
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
7
|
SALVATION
|
9 |
10
|
5
|
7
|
3
|
7
|
3
|
8
|
JUICY
|
2 |
3
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
9
|
SOHO PRIDE
|
- |
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
10 |
RAPIDO
|
- |
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
BLUE ROWS= EVENTS (Ocassional) , GREY ROWS= CLUBS (Once a month or more) |
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