And nothing else Matters

Peninsula Square, London, Greenwich, SE10

I already wrote a post about Fabric, which is very likely my favourite club in London at the moment, at least for late crazy nights. Last year, as plenty of classic clubs as the Cross were closing all around the city – and they are still closing down some others, I’m afraid – the owners of this club decided to open a new venue in the Dome, the big mall in front of Canary Wharf where the O2 Arena is.

Did they improve the original? Well, I don’t think so. Let’s go point by poing.

Let's go in...

1. The music. We went to a Bugged Out! Nite – a classic party that previously used to take place in The End - , hosting Tiga, Josh Wink, Satoshi Tomiie and Matt Walsh. I didn’t know any of them, to be honest, but in the pre-party at Cara’s place Cesar performed sort of a demo of the stuff the may play afterwards, so I didn’t go blind. Satoshi Tomiie is the coolest by a mile, but we forgot a slightly little think: don’t drink too much if you go to a gig. Even if it is a techno gig. The real thing is that between Jagermeister, Vodka, Martini and Scotch, all of them watered the night down a bit. So I cannot really say I enjoy the music a lot, even if it wasn’t the venue’s fault.

2. The sound. Well, this is just the only fact anybody can deny this is the best place in town about. Pretty aloud sound, maybe, but that is what this sort of thing is about, I guess. The Fabric’s ‘bodysonic’ dancefloor –designed to vibrate to the frequencies of the bass speakers built in directly below it – is even stronger here, as there are as many as 10 times more of those specific speakers. Indeed, if you go into the middle of the dancing area the club dances for you, which is quite cool for the shy guys in the tribe ;)

3. Visuals. Quite cool, ci-fi at some point, but I do really love the green laser of Room 2 in Fabric. So close, but not enough.

4. Venue. Really big, about 2,500 people fit on the main room – compared with 1,500 in Fabric. The problem here is the ceiling is too high, so the somehow claustrophobic clubbing feeling you get in Fabric is not replicated again here. On the top of that, the old electric plant look of Fabric cannot easily be replied, no matter how many new materials and flashing lights you use.


5. Transport. Going to a club at 1.00 am by boat as we did is a real Mastercard. The River Thames Boat services works till late, so I strongly recommend to do it this way. You feel like fucking Rockefeller.

6. The atmosphere. Here is where Matter really loses the battle. Fabric is a place to dance, and that’s it. Some call it a meat market, but what I really appreciate whenever I go there is that absolutely everybody is up for dancing and, maybe some of them, taking drugs. At some point, Matter seems more about chatting up – even a the incredible volume the music is in –flirting and, finally, fishing. There are plenty of places for that in town, and I reckon it was something different what was really needed.

Flirting or clubbing? That is the question

And all does not mean the place is not very good. I reckon it is. But I just don’t think it is better than Fabric, which is how they advertise it almost everywhere. A second try with less booze on my veins, though, might be a pretty good idea…