OneLove

The number ‘7’ has always been noted in history as a number of power. It is symbolic in Religion, with God resting on the seventh day and the seventh day being the Sabbath (since there are seven days in the week). Buddha is reported to have walked seven steps at birth, with the seven Lucky Gods existing in Japanese mythology. Islam has seven heavens and seven earths while Eternalism holds seven deities. Then there are the Seven Deadly Sins, the Seven Virtues, the Seven Sisters, the Seven Sleepers and Seven Archangels. Rome had seven emperors while the world has seven natural and ancient wonders and seven continents. Star Trek has Seven Of Nine, everyone got all ninja in “The Seven Samurai”, James Bond’s secret agent number is 007 and Snow White has her seven dwarfs, while in “The Seven Year Itch” we got to see Marilyn Munroe’s white dress fly up. There were seven rings in Lord of the Rings and seven dragon balls in the Dragon Ball series. In music, there are seven notes in the traditional Western major scale, Prokofiev wrote seven symphonies and traditional Indian music is based upon seven octats. There is U2’s EP ‘7’, Iron Maiden’s album “Seventh Son of a Seventh Son” with Steve Vai’s album “The Seventh Song” a compilation of the 7th tunes from his previous albums. David Bowie has belted out the tune “Seven” as has Queen with “Seven Seas of Rhye” and Youssou N’Dour and Neneh Cherry reached number 1 on the charts with “Seven Seconds” while Pink Floyd’s “Money” is in 7/4 meter. In essence, ‘7’ features heavily in our world: so when the seventh day of the seventh month in the seventh year of the 21st century comes about, one must expect a divine alignment somewhere in the world. And that divine alignment was definitely happening in Platinum Nightclub with OneLove.

The neo-pagan symbol ’ק’ once more greeted me upon arrival as I entered the doors. I had turned up quite early, prepared to absorb every single moment of the festivities, and already a mass of bodies had infiltrated the club. Bar waitress Hannah smiled brilliantly at me as she served me champagne while manager Joey promptly informed me it was his birthday. The champagne certainly flowed in celebration of such an auspicious event. As I turned to look at the DJ Booth, the sight of Murray Brown behind the decks thrilled me immediately. His head shone under the wonderful lighting as intense basslines undulated throughout the room. These basslines left little doubt of their dominance, as they surged powerfully across the system. It was as though Murray had added 8000 watts of power to the subs and let rip. Popular melodies were fused vividly with profound bass heavy grooves and rampaging rhythms all wrapped within an ardent cocoon of fat harmonic textures. His melodic lines were introduced by horns or jangling guitars, the synthetic consistencies persistent and sinuous. They swathed about my head like a pungent metallic aroma. The addition of percussion to his mix added a turbulent movement towards his already metrical beats. The supplementary phaser on his basslines extended the bass heavy tones until they were completely overwhelming. The beats thumped in unision, throbbing across the floor to wind up my knees and settle in the pit of my stomach. Each texture held beautiful resonance and depth and I was somewhat disappointed when Murray’s set came to a rousing end.

The sight of a buff Timmy Trumpet in a white singlet helped in re-inspiring my enthusiasm levels however as he took to the DJ Booth with The Stafford Brothers. The onslaught of testosterone from this trio of seriously good looking boys undoubtedly stirred the loins of every lady in the room, as the female population surged towards the booth. Amidst a barrage of bouncing beats and teeming bass lines, the sound of The Stafford Brothers was penetrating towards each corner of the room. As Timmy lifted his golden Bach Stradivarius to his lips, the pure tones of his beautiful trumpet pierced the Stafford fabric of booming beats and resonating bass grooves. Timmy’s tone was wonderful; the quality pristine in texture and clearly pitched. With a slight reverb to enhance the trumpet tones, his nicely bronzed muscles jittered under the lights as his fingers adroitly pushed at the valves. Chris Stafford, bopping away behind the decks to the beat had his headphones perched on his head. With a flourish, he unleashed an assault of forceful meters upon the dancefloor with winding melodies floating atop resounding bass grooves; the depth between the textures seeming to be deep and concentrated. The mid range frequencies churned out familiar melodies to be distorted by the twisting bass grooves and rampant rhythms. Matt stood to the side with his face creased into a wide smile as a blowup bottle of Jagarmeister lay an unwitting victim in his arms. He finally took the headphones from Chris to batter the system with his own brand of goodness. A blitz of unchecked beats surged across the excellent system with the indelible basslines blowing through the subs to explode against my face. My breath was quite taken away by the potency of his bass heavy offerings. Leaning into the CDJs, Matt tore the roof off the building as clamorous kick drum beats mingled with the agitated activity of percussion to be seized by puissant bass heavy grooves and protuberant melodies. Emotive vocals pierced the mix to lift the music into the realm of the overwhelming. “Destination Calabria” reached my ears, the familiar saxophone hookline sending me into a frenzy. Below Matt, the dance floor was a deluge of body parts and torsos as the intense enthusiasm of The Stafford Brothers was ably transmitted through the entire crowd.

Meanwhile, three exquisite ladies from The Model Crew clambered atop the subs to encourage further dance mania. Their gorgeous sequined bodies moved beautifully to the beats while below their fascinated audiences mimicked their lithe movements. Meanwhile, the artful lighting of gorgeous red head Fi had distorted the room. Her fingers worked nimbly as lasers, lights and awesome illumination lit up the dancefloor and the DJ Booth, transforming the scene into a dreamlike landscape of surrealism. In the female bathrooms, the lovely form of Letitia worked industriously with her palette as she powdered, rearranged and beautified our faces. I was exceedingly impressed with her presence, not to mention her brisk applications at refreshing my makeup.

Back in the DJ Booth, Junior Sanchez was slowly making his way up the carpeted stairs. With The Stafford Brothers welcoming him, Junior Sanchez resolutely set himself up in preparation for his set. The air changed once again, as a thick sense of anticipation overrode the crowd. Finally, amidst the jangling of guitars and punk inspired vocals, Junior Sanchez delivered his unique hallmark of dance. Focussing on the offbeat, his offerings were assuredly manful; his potent beats slamming against the thick chunky guitar chords and resolutely overpowering the bass lines. The mix was pudgy with unrestraint and unprincipled; tearing at our heartbeats in a masculine advance of power. Bodies were influenced to jitter and contort to such a change in character – the apparent potency settling upon the crowd and exhorting bodies to dance dance dance, and dance some more. Bouts of percussion penetrated the mix, allowing for greater movement while the eternal presence of guitars chewed into the system; unbalancing the mix in favour of top heavy melodies to pierce our aural cavities and leave us vulnerable. The dancefloor was a mosh pit of approval, as bodies were influenced by turgid beats and high flown rhythms. All who were within aural range were exposed and laid bare to the elemental fury of Junior Sanchez and I was completely in awe of his unique bestowal.

If the number seven is indeed a symbol of power in human history, its omnipresence was certainly in force on this evening as the entire club rocked in acknowledging the double celebration of Joey’s birthday and OneLove. My sincere thanks to Joey and the staff of Platinum for an incredible evening. On this special night 07/07/07, the cosmos had come together in divine forces to coalesce under the roof of Platinum and transport its inhabitants to a wonderland of extravagance and splendour. With One Music for One People in One Place, this was indeed One Love.

Love and Kisses, Lady Lex