Added: 01/11/2006 |
Top notch night at Neighbourhood clubIn year 2003 the owners Ben Watt and Alan Grant considered late night venues that genuinely offer their custom a space within which they can feel right at home. Having raised Neighbourhood club from the slightly noxious ashes of Subterania, the owners' latest venture is more than just a nightclub. The venue is described as 'a music and social space' which 'promises openhearted, social clubbing in understated stylish surroundings'.
Neighbourhood London club is a nice-sized club with a clear, simple layout, rough concrete walls for that deconstructed feel and an impressively bassy sound system. The sense of community remains the touchstone of the club which is why the venue was called Neighbourhood. The ethos and philosophy behind the club is a warm, social, soulful clubbing. The evolution of Neighbourhood club, the 600 capacity venue, has been spearheaded by interior designers Powell Tuck Associates, who so successfully developed stripped urban tough yet friendly vibe of the venue. The club is small and well laid out, with a great mezzanine level overlooking the main floor.
Music is obviously very important to the venue, so much so that it defines the very personality of the place. Neighbourhood?s music policy is a celebration of quality, underground dance music and guest and resident appearances from the top DJs. Neighbourhood club plays host to the likes of Norman Jay (a regular), 4Hero, Lottie, BBE , Rob da Bank and others. An intelligent and committed attitude means that Saturday's One Starry Night, in particular, is an excellent contribution to London's club scene, and a good choice for those who really like their house music.
The ante area of the Neighbourhood's dance floor has two F88s as a stereo pair to give low level coverage to clubbers entering through the main entrance and create a warm up for the main dance floor sound which envelopes you as you enter it's sound field. The mezzanine, which is a dance free zone, has three F88s along the back wall above the banquet seating to give a discrete but cohesive connection to the atmosphere the DJ is creating on the dance floor with two more F88s left and right of the downstairs stage to give coverage to the remainder of the mezzanine and create an upstairs reference point for live music emanating from the stage. The carefully thought out and spacious DJ booth was designed by Ben Watt, the centre piece of which is the Rane MP44 mixer.
With fun nights and great music, it is hard to claim barely an inch of Neighbourhood's dance floor space from the heaving crowd. Neighbourhood club has a good balance of girls and boys, and it's clear they're there to dance rather than chat. All inclusiveness is very important - everyone at Neighbourhood is a star. Intermingling with the usual West London club kids is an element of chi-chi, lip glossed Notting Hill darlings jigging genteelly in heels and micro-minis, and hatchet-faced gangsters in slip-ons and cardigans throwing alarming shapes in the darker corners.
If you like your music, head west and fill the place up with the kind of clientele it really deserves.
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