- The gong chimes and we rush to welcome in the summer in the only way we know how – by getting the party started mid-afternoon. Secret Sundaze has grown so popular they should have really dropped the ‘secret’ tag by now, and this opening party was especially so, throwing together mayhem, intrigue, large sunglasses, silly skirts as well as European imports Samim and Andre Galuzzi as entertainment.
The terrace at Canvas doesn’t see much action most of the year, but when we arrived – yes! – the sun was shining. The usual suspects were in attendance: Italian ladies, skinny jean boys and baggy lipped hipsters. I think we arrived to the sound of Carsten Jost’s ‘Love’. It seems deep house is haunting all the good parties recently and the crowds are very much getting it – Secret Sundaze has always been pretty clued up musically. Soon the sun went into hiding, but Samim’s set compensated for it, changing the pace of music and warming the terrace with sound. His own productions like ‘Eternally Collapsing Object’ EP on Moon Harbour simply bitch-slapped partygoers – if you squinted hard enough through your shades, it could have been DC-10. The mood was deep, raw and sexy, and I think a lot of people were expecting it to get a bit techier and harder, but I liked the pace. The girls drank and the guys watched, the afterparty neared and Gilles Smith and James Priestly jammed away to some original disco as the party neared its curfew. This party just needs to keep on booking great guests and it will remain interesting for sure. In the end, I left the usually dodgy Kings Cross area smiling, awaiting the next Bank Holiday bumpty bump.