- One of the liveliest places for clubbing in Torino has always been on the banks of the river Po, where all the "right places" seem to be concentrated. Until The Fluido Club, which was once a nightlife pillar was converted to a bar due to noise complaints from the neighborhood, that is. Since then, the scene has definitely been missing something. Luckily, after a year in limbo, Fluido was refurbished and was set to be reopened under a new moniker: Gamma. And, as if that wasn't enough, the English-born, Berlin-based Tony Lionni was booked to play its grand reopening—his first-ever performance in Torino.
After we got past an unpleasantly fussy door selection, we found ourselves looking at one of the most evocative clubs in Europe. (Imagine Berlin's Watergate placed in the hearth of a baroque city). Directly on the river, and overlooking one of Torino's nicest bridges, Gamma is a cozy venue with warm red-tinged walls. Its dance floor can hold 150 people, and you could probably squeeze 100 more into the bar area. (In Torino that's just about the right dimension to maintain a quality music policy without being worried about having the place half empty every weekend.)
Photo credit: Alessandro Maioglio
Even if it was the opening night, surprisingly the place wasn't packed. There was a mixed crowd, but it was missing the right chemistry. It didn't help that people seemed more concerned about getting drinks at the bar, than with dancing to the remarkably good set by DJ resident Federico Gandin (hands down Torino's finest DJ). The dance floor got busier during Tony Lionni's performance, but the night never seemed to take off.
The English DJ was more concentrated on the selection rather than on the mixing, but the result was good nonetheless. Old school tracks paired with dub stabs, dark-tinged house and some forgotten gems—all blended together in a very personal journey. We even caught Photek and Robert Owens' classic "Mine to Give" soulfully warming up a few of the more seasoned clubbers on the dance floor. Lionni's set was a crescendo, which closed with the indelible piano riff of his own "Found a Place," and, for a moment, the club showed its potential, cheering and greeting the guest DJ. For the most part, though, the cheers on the night were mostly of the metaphorical variety, namely for the fact that such a beautiful club has reopened in Torino.