- When my time is up and I find myself stood at the pearly gates asking to be admitted, I'll be asked to look back on my life and ponder any regrets I might have. When St Peter asks me, "Thomas, my boy, is there anything you would have done differently?" I'll stand sheepishly and say, "Yes, in fact there is. In the August of 2010 I missed the Love Fever studio party with Gadi Mizrahi and Jacques Renault. I'm sorry, I don't know what I was playing at." I learned a hard lesson that night, and I was determined not to let Love Fever's next instalment pass me by.
As we entered into the space, a disco ball the size of a small planet hovered above a mass of wigs and Halloween costumes rebounding flashes of colour around the packed out Dalston studio. The boys at Love Fever are known for throwing the most glamorous of the East End's "secret" parties, and it seemed, with it being Halloween and all, that tonight was to be no exception. Balloons, smoke machines and glitter curtains were the order of the day, and even the toilets (of which frustratingly there was only one per sex) had hundreds of tiny glittery hearts strewn across them.
Photo credit: gioa on acid
Mancunian DJ Trus'me had been a late announcement behind the decks, and, as the crowds quickly gathered to descend onto the floor, he served up a fine selection of slo-mo house held together with the glittery thread of disco. Special praise must go to the lads behind the bar, who—although subjected to manic scenes not unlike Tom Cruise's first shift in Cocktail, and with limited stock—kept cool under the pressure and managed to appease the hundreds of thirsty clubbers with a smile. The atmosphere was overwhelmingly friendly, and it seemed to resonate around the room. Everybody danced with everybody—boys and girls, young and old, clowns and zombies, all came together under the omnipresence of the spinning mirror ball.
Later in the night the dance floor thinned out, but those that were left were treated to a more noticeable move towards straight up disco and boogie classics, kicked off by Donna Allen's "Serious," a tune that has experienced a Robert Downey Jr-sized comeback over the last year. The decision to throw in Eric Clapton's "Cocaine" was a brave (and no doubt tongue-in-cheek) move, but it came off well.
Photo credit: gioa on acid
With the man behind the decks expertly manipulating his way through some deep disco anthems, the remaining dancers were taken to almost orgasmic heights with Carl Bean's anthem "I Was Born This Way," which had the entire floor with their hands in the air singing along irrespective of sexual orientation. We were brought back down to earth lightly with a few soulful house tunes being floated our way, the highlight being Joey Negro's now classic mix of Erro's "Change for Me." My one and only complaint would be that it was all left a bit too late. Just as we were really getting into our stride it was lights on and get your coat time.