Its a well-kept secret but in this review Im going to blow the whistle on possibly the best House night in the UK. The Kindergarten club is its name and its home is the sunny South Coast city of Portsmouth. Created by the larger than life Martin Metcalf the Kindergarten club has been running for a good 5 + years. It started in the humble surroundings of a social club and gradually acquired a large loyal following which has seen the night find its current home in the majestic Tangerine suite nightclub. This club has recently had a multi million pound facelift, creating an ultra modern three-tiered club. The perfect surroundings for lush soulful U.S House! Regular K clubbers have been privileged to hear some of the best DJs on the scene spinning records at the club. Previous guests include Roger Sanchez, DJ Disciple, DJ Spen, ATFC, Terry Hunter, Harry Choo Choo Romero, Bobby and Steve, Norman Jay and many more. The quality of the DJs booked is evident if you look at the K clubs list of residents Danny Rampling, Paul Farris, Simon Aston (Indeep, Mainline Music) and Martin Metcalf (Power FM). Truly awesome line-ups!
I could talk for hours about the past fun Ive had at this club listening to some of those DJs but in this review I shall talk about the recent Soulfuric sessions party that I enjoyed at the club. We all know about Soulfuric records, possibly the biggest U.S house label, if not, then certainly one of the most consistent. With the promise of top DJs and live PAs the night had all the ingredients to be hot hot hot! Miami? Why bother when you could enjoy the party on the beaches of the Solent?
The night started with a pre-club boat party round the coast. It doesnt get any better than cruising on a massive boat listening to some fine house music and dancing on the deck with 300 plus partygoers! This was shaping up to be one of those nights!
The cruise finished at around 10:30 pm and then it was off to the club. When we arrived there was already a big cue. The upstairs room/bar was rammed. You could see the sweat dripping off the walls, the music was pounding. Resident DJ Flash Jordan played an inspired set. Keeping it real funky, he managed to get all 500 plus people in the room dancing and prancing! The atmosphere was so good we didnt want to leave but we knew that it was our duty as House fans to go downstairs to check out the Soulfuric crew. We managed to squeeze through and found our way into the lush Tangerine Suite. This part of the club features a giant sound system, two large bars and a rather cool VIP area with its own Jacuzzi. I would have had a quick dip but I forgot my Speedos. Straight away it was obvious that the party down here was even hotter than upstairs. The club was packed and the dance floor was crowded. I spotted Paul Farris bopping away, also Mark Wilkinson of the Problem Kids was doing his thing on the floor. Brian Tapperet was on the decks and boy did he have some tracks. There where many promos as well as a smattering of Soulfuric classics played. Im sure I heard some UBP, always crowd pleasers. The sound system was big and loud, perfect! Next up to grace the decks was Marc Pomeroy. He hammered the point home and sent the crowd wild with tunes that only he would have. Hot off the press Soulfuric demos and classic House tunes, I couldnt leave the dance floor. This musical treat was made even more sumptuous by the backing of the clubs resident Bongo Drummer. Bongo Dave is the best Bongo player Ive heard. His playing elevates tracks to a new level, and really fires up the appreciative crowd.
The K club always has that little something extra to make the nights special. As well as resident Bongo player, they have live Saxophonists, live Bass players and plenty of live PAs. I once saw Kathy Brown down in the club singing her heart out and sending the dance floor to heaven! Her record Give it up sounds good on Vinyl but believe me, live it sounds the Nuts! The Soulfuric Party saw a live PA by Mambana, doing her two recent hits, No Reason and Libre. She was good, no Kathy Brown, but still good. Mambana was really in the party mood and got many clubbers to join her up on stage.
By now I was feeling a little worse for wear, the whole boat party thing, had made me feel queasy, I needed rescuing, cue DJ John Julius McKnight! His mixing was not really anything to get excited about, but he had the records and thats what counted. I perked up and carried on doing my ting on the floor.
The party kept going till 2 am, then up came ugly lights and it was time to head of home. The Soulfuric boys received a rapturous applause and the general consensus was a good night had by all! Coming up at the Kindergarten is the Basement Boys party. That one is going to be massive, Teddy Douglas carrying out deck duties. See you there!
Matt Neale (hero of the people)
I could talk for hours about the past fun Ive had at this club listening to some of those DJs but in this review I shall talk about the recent Soulfuric sessions party that I enjoyed at the club. We all know about Soulfuric records, possibly the biggest U.S house label, if not, then certainly one of the most consistent. With the promise of top DJs and live PAs the night had all the ingredients to be hot hot hot! Miami? Why bother when you could enjoy the party on the beaches of the Solent?
The night started with a pre-club boat party round the coast. It doesnt get any better than cruising on a massive boat listening to some fine house music and dancing on the deck with 300 plus partygoers! This was shaping up to be one of those nights!
The cruise finished at around 10:30 pm and then it was off to the club. When we arrived there was already a big cue. The upstairs room/bar was rammed. You could see the sweat dripping off the walls, the music was pounding. Resident DJ Flash Jordan played an inspired set. Keeping it real funky, he managed to get all 500 plus people in the room dancing and prancing! The atmosphere was so good we didnt want to leave but we knew that it was our duty as House fans to go downstairs to check out the Soulfuric crew. We managed to squeeze through and found our way into the lush Tangerine Suite. This part of the club features a giant sound system, two large bars and a rather cool VIP area with its own Jacuzzi. I would have had a quick dip but I forgot my Speedos. Straight away it was obvious that the party down here was even hotter than upstairs. The club was packed and the dance floor was crowded. I spotted Paul Farris bopping away, also Mark Wilkinson of the Problem Kids was doing his thing on the floor. Brian Tapperet was on the decks and boy did he have some tracks. There where many promos as well as a smattering of Soulfuric classics played. Im sure I heard some UBP, always crowd pleasers. The sound system was big and loud, perfect! Next up to grace the decks was Marc Pomeroy. He hammered the point home and sent the crowd wild with tunes that only he would have. Hot off the press Soulfuric demos and classic House tunes, I couldnt leave the dance floor. This musical treat was made even more sumptuous by the backing of the clubs resident Bongo Drummer. Bongo Dave is the best Bongo player Ive heard. His playing elevates tracks to a new level, and really fires up the appreciative crowd.
The K club always has that little something extra to make the nights special. As well as resident Bongo player, they have live Saxophonists, live Bass players and plenty of live PAs. I once saw Kathy Brown down in the club singing her heart out and sending the dance floor to heaven! Her record Give it up sounds good on Vinyl but believe me, live it sounds the Nuts! The Soulfuric Party saw a live PA by Mambana, doing her two recent hits, No Reason and Libre. She was good, no Kathy Brown, but still good. Mambana was really in the party mood and got many clubbers to join her up on stage.
By now I was feeling a little worse for wear, the whole boat party thing, had made me feel queasy, I needed rescuing, cue DJ John Julius McKnight! His mixing was not really anything to get excited about, but he had the records and thats what counted. I perked up and carried on doing my ting on the floor.
The party kept going till 2 am, then up came ugly lights and it was time to head of home. The Soulfuric boys received a rapturous applause and the general consensus was a good night had by all! Coming up at the Kindergarten is the Basement Boys party. That one is going to be massive, Teddy Douglas carrying out deck duties. See you there!
Matt Neale (hero of the people)
Navigation
