- It's hard to believe that summer's almost over when it has not even began yet! And I was aghast to find out that this was going to be the last boat party the Sancho Panza crew were organising before Londoners experience gloomy and miserable weather for the next 6-8 months. What else is there to look forward to in the cold winter period?
Despite the crap weather we'd had all summer; these last 5 months have seen the boys going from strength to strength. From their much-talked about boat parties, to their stellar performances at the Carnival, to their over seas stints, Matt Brown and Jim K-Tel have certainly been kept busy. And, their monthly sets at AKA have been attracting a strong following too.
The day of the party turned out to be sunny! I was excited to see the sun shining brightly. But then this is London after all! By the time I got to the pier, the clouds have gathered, it was windy and it looked like rain was coming down any moment. That didn't deter the 240 of us gathering to board the boat. Quite a few were turned away and I could feel their disappointment. Since I've been a regular to their events, I recognised several faces and it felt like a mini reunion. It was great to see everyone making an effort to attend the last boat party.
Not to be bias, but this last one has got to be the best I'd attended in
their series of parties. Nothing (except the rain and bad weather) went
wrong. From the time the needle was put on the first record, everything went on smoothly. The music -- a wonderful concoction of light-heartedness, fun and infectious got us into the mood to dance almost immediately. Usually, the punters would take a while to warm up but this time round, we were on the dance floor doing the jiggy from the start. Maybe the drizzle played a part. Maybe everyone just wanted to seriously party. Who knows? Whatever it was, the dance floor was crammed!
>From Balearic, to disco, breaks and funky house, the three DJs (Balearic Bacon, Eren and Different Gear) on rotation, impressed us with their playing. We gyrated to Lenny Kravitz "Are You Going My Way" and jumped to Outkast's "Hey Ya". At the same time, we bopped up and down the murky River Thames and gawked at some of the sights. We chatted with others, and made more new friends.
Matt and Jim came on and played a wicked back to back set. Seriously, these two have come a long way indeed. They were fabulous and their mixing was flawless. My mates mimicked playing the guitar when the unmistakable strains of Deep Dish's Flashdance came on. I managed to trainspot some of Sancho Panza's rocket tracks and smiled when I hear a familiar tune here and there. Really, we didn't want the day to end. The music, the vibes, the company – all fantastic!
The party had to stop somewhat. But none of my mates wanted to go home! We ended at a bar in East London before hearing wind of an after party somewhere and we adjourned there. Imagine what a wonderful surprise that the Sancho boys were spinning at that house party and we had a great after hours in an intimate environment.
But my mates and I agreed on one thing. We cannot wait for next summer for their parties. It's way too long!! So we're now clamouring for the boys to organise a ware house party somewhere pretty soon. After all, that's their forte with years of throwing such events. We now know for definite that their parties are much sought after!
Keep posted on Sancho Panza's events at www.sanchopanza.org