Sizzler - Best free summer party ever? (93 Feet East)

Member Name: chinnyli

Product:	93 Feet East
Date:	27/06/01 (146 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Free entry, Free food, Relaxed atmosphere in 3 rooms of music

Disadvantages: Tickets in advance only, Drinks not free but still cheap, Finishes 2am

Lets be honest, when you get a trendy record label deciding to run a club night, particularly in collaboration with some corporate sponsor, you don't generally expect a cheap night out - think Bugged Out meets Big Beat Boutique at Fabric, Heavenly Jukebox (long demised) at Turnmills, or on bigger scales any major music festival and you get the picture - high entry fees, especially after pub closing time, coupled with extortionate drink prices and pricey, inadequate food if they provide it.

So I was slightly sceptical when my boyfriend suggested going to Sizzler at 93 Feet East for the second of "four free parties" planned for the summer by Wall of Sound and Rizla. Nevertheless, I was curious so decided to go along.

Before you get in though, you'll have to get tickets first (which can be a nuisance for anyone that likes to act spontaneously!) These are free, but are apparently only available from the Rough Trade record shops in Neals Yard (Covent Garden) or Talbot Road (West London) about a week before the club night happens, and they run out really quickly. At Rough Trade Talbot Road, they would only allow two tickets per person, so if they operate the same policy everywhere else and you have a lot of friends wanting to go, you may have to make a few more visits.

I've heard people were able to get in without tickets at the first Sizzler party, but I'm not sure about the second one - we didn't bump into any people we were expecting to see that hadn't gotten tickets first.

Friday 22 June and we arrived earlier than we would at a normal club, about 10pm, and got in without any problems. No queues, and went straight past the bouncer who took our tickets. You'll end up in the courtyard, and first thing you'll probably notice is an ice cream van! The ice cream is provided free (you could just go up and ask for three if you wanted!) but as the van is there most of the night, I wouldn't sugges
t this as the first thing you get, and definitely don't eat one while trying to down pints! I enjoyed mine most after half an hours worth of serious dancing, and also a while since I'd had a drink! I'm afraid they only had one flavour though - vanilla with raspberry ripples, but it tasted divine!

They provide seats and tables in the courtyard, a welcome refuge for anyone wanting a rest, needing to make their loud mobile calls, needing fresh air, or just wanting to enjoy the last of the evening sunshine.

A sort of ramp leads from the courtyard into the club itself, into what looks like a school corridor. It branches off into three directions - to the right are the toilets (girls, bear in mind that people can see into the room though thankfully not the cubicles from the courtyard at night!), and to the left are the bar room, and the main room.

The main room was playing house music and looked a bit empty when we arrived, so we tried out the bar room first.

Music here was provided by DJs from Wall of Sound's hip hop label Bad Magic, namely Big Ted (Blak Twang), The Creators, The Plagiawrists, and DJ Greenpeace. The room was already quite busy and throbbing with some people dancing. We went straight to the bar, where, well, unfortunately the drinks weren't free, but we asked for two pints of Stella Artois, and they only costed £2.50 each, cheaper than the pubs I go to! Surely a pre-pub closing time offer only? But we asked for the same again later, and it was still the same price! And a bottle of Budweiser Budvar was £2.50 too, although alcopops (ie Bacardi Breezers, Smirnoff Ice etc) were about £3.

The Bar room itself is a bit cramped for space, because though it is a fairly large room, there are a lot of seats about which don't allow for dancing easily, you might end up tripping over them! Nevertheless, it's cosy and makes for a much more relaxed atmosphere than the main room next door, and by th
e looks of it, most of the punters favour this room (or maybe they realise hip hop music is better?) It quickly got busy to the point that bouncers had to close the doors on the room and restrict the number of people going into the room - must be surprising for people who go out to use the toilet, to find they have to queue to get back in!

There is a bit of a strange area directly in front of the DJ booth, where there are massive wooden curved seating areas next to the windows that could pass for tables, with bean bags scattered about, and approximately 12 inches in front of these, are proper tables about the same height as the seats but made of stone. I found it a bit strange that they would commit so much space just to seats, (ended up dancing in gap between table and chairs because there was nowhere else,) but quite nicely bohemian in a way - you can sit there lotus style, or group up in a circle to chat with friends, or just lie back on the bean bags. But whatever you do, don't stand up on them to dance! Apart from the fact you may fall off where the curvy edge suddenly narrows, the bouncers don't like it too much and will tell you to get off! If you do stand though, you'll get a great view of the DJs doing their stuff on the decks... or being a twat if you like, why do some of them have to jab pointlessly in the air 'dancing' thinking this will get the crowds going?

Anyway, the music in the room was good, although some might find at the beginning of the night that the DJs tend to play it safe and choose well know, popular records, and, that the DJs haven't coordinated their selections very well so that they don't bring the same records! I heard one same track played three times in that room! However, this improves later as the DJs choose less obvious tracks.

Scandinavian band Royksopp played live in the main room next door, a bit like the new Air (smooth Radio #1 rather than whimsical La Femme D'argent
) crossed with house beats, while Erland from Norwegian band Kings of Convenience provided ethereal vocals on some of their songs and with much bouncing about on the stage. Sander Kleinenberg, Bjorn Torske, and Medicine and Dirty Beakniks DJed after, but as I'm not a fan of house music, I didn't stick around after the live band! All I can say, is that at the end of the night when we walked past the room, the music had gotten louder and harder, and you could hear it from the courtyard outside!

The main room has a large dance floor and a bar, no seats, so this is where I suppose the serious dancers would end up if they want to do some serious dancing. The room doesn't have doors as the Bar room does, so you shouldn't have to worry about getting in if it overflows. Besides, you'll have to go through the main room (if the bouncer doesn't let you go up from the outside stairs) if you want to get up to the 'loft'.

Music in the loft was provided by indie-ish label We Love You, with Corporate Hospitality (they seem to crop up in a lot of places) featuring Mrs Jones, Boogie Knights, and Jo We Love You. The room feels really spacious, though there are plenty of seats cluttered about - its effectively more of a chillout area. There's also a bar up here, but note that they don't sell pints, only bottles.

The loft is supposed to lead out to another outdoor terrace with seating area, but I didn't come across it (although I could see it from the courtyard). Come to think of it, I never found the cloak room either, but this shouldn't matter too much for a 'summer party', it'll be too hot to bring a jacket along!

A flyer said there was also meant to be a free BBQ, I think I either got there too late, or haven't explored the club hard enough to find the them! Nevertheless, I'm convinced they do provide it, I'll just have to arrive earlier next time to get it!

The dress
policy is pretty relaxed, unlike a lot of places, I felt quite comfy wearing my strappy top and baggy flairs (what my boyfriend sweetly refers to as my hip hop outfit, like I ever wear anything else!) as there weren't quite so many people either flouncing about wearing next to nothing or wearing suits!

Light projection displays (and the massive Pokemon style lanterns outside I think) were provided by The Light Surgeons, who used to be responsible for the projections at Sonic Mook Experiment when it used to run at Scala (could someone tell me what's happened to it?!)

I enjoyed myself here, because unlike so many of the other clubs I've been to, the organisers seem genuinely interested in making sure everyone has the chance to enjoy themselves - this is evident by the free entry and food they offer, a relaxed attitude from bouncers that don't bother you unless you do something you shouldn't be, plus drink prices that don't cripple your wallet. With less concerns about how far your money will stretch for the night, it becomes much easier to relax, and simply soak up the music and atmosphere. Plus, should you get bored of music in any one room or need a change of scenery, you can easily check out the next room (outside even), although I was pretty happy sticking to the Bad Magic room for most of the night!

Just a few niggling points, is that at 2am they finish much too early! (Any normal party and it would barely be beginning!) And of course, it can be a bit inconvenient getting hold of tickets in advance, but this aside, it was definitely worth my (boyfriend's) trouble - I had a good night out, spent less than a tenner (I'm a light drinker) and woke up next morning with a very novel hangover! My advice, would be to get there early, grab a seat and enjoy the vibes, this night ain't gonna last forever! Hope to see you at the next ones!


Details for Sizzler #4 - The Grand Finale

Friday
24 August, 8pm-2am

Bad Magic main room:
The Bees (live), Jon Carter, Propellerheads - DJ Set, Derek Dahlarge (the return of), Dan Peppe (Themroc)

Black Magic Bar:
The Creators, The Plagiawrists, DJ Greenpeace

We Love You Loft:
Le Hammond Inferno, Jo We Love You, The Boogie Knights, Andy Thompson

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For up-to-date details:
http://rizla.co.uk/sizzler/

For Tickets:

Rough Trade
16 Neal's Yard
Covent Garden
London
WC2H 9DT
0207 240 0105

Rough Trade
130 Talbot Road
Portobello
London
W11 1JA
0207 229 8541

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