Do one, Halloween! Three non-Halloween places to party this weekend
Are you vexed by the various vampires queueing up to get into your favourite club at this time of year? Bored of bats hanging behind the bar? Are you sighing in sheer despair at all the scrawny skeletons staggering around? Are the zombies giving you the urge to catch some ZZZZZZZs? In short, are you sick to the bloody teeth (sorry) of Halloween everywhere you look, when all you want to do is hit a club?
As usual, the H-bomb will be swallowing up almost all of London’s nightlife this weekend, and it’s near-impossible to find any sort of party that isn’t festooned with fancy dress ghouls spooking around the dancefloor. If you’re desperate to avoid anything remotely pumpkin-shaped, here are three great club nights that have absolutely sod-all to do with Halloween and everything to do with top tunes.
However, if you do want to take the Halloween plunge, visit our Clubs page for an eye-popping array of parties.
FRIDAY OCT 31
Evian Christ Trance Party at Corsica Studios
Evian Christ may be a (very talented) producer of ghostly, spooky hip hop, but there’ll be no ghosts, spooks, ghouls, zombies or anything else Halloween-related at this top-notch ‘Trance Party’. And don’t worry – we’re not talking ‘HANDS IN THE AIR, REACH FOR THE LASERS’ deathly cheesy trance here. It’s all about the mesmerising, hypnotic beats that Evian excels at making – that kind of trance, y’see? Just ask Kanye if you want to hear Evian’s creds. EC has produced a few Kanye tracks over time, at the hip hop megastar’s request. Also belting out the leftfield beats and bass tonight are MissingNo, Total Freedom, Dubbel Dutch and many more.
© Lee Arucci
FRIDAY OCT 31
There’s a frighteningly good techno line-up at Oval Space Music tonight – but that’s the only Halloween connection you’ll be finding here. Don’t expect vampire costumes or apple bobbing, but do expect a night aimed at techno purists and committed clubbers, who’ll be lapping up the deep, delicious tones of Detroit techno family Octave One. The new school is repped by ravey techno ace Cosmin TRG (a favourite on Modeselektor’s 50 Weapons label), Berlin dude Answer Code Request and Ukrainian innovator Vakula. Hallo-what?
SATURDAY NOV 1
The hashtag that the organisers are using to promote this event, #NotAHalloweenParty, tells you that the focus of super-fun club night Supa Dupa Fly (as ever, headed by founder and sharp selector Emily Rawson, pictured) still lies firmly with ’90s and noughties hip hop, R&B and garage – and not with plastic fangs or melting pumpkins. One bonus of this is that ‘Monster Mash’ definitely won’t be played, thank god. So, sod Halloween and just get grooving to the nostalgic party gems on offer here.