UK club review: The Gallery launch party at Ministry of Sound

UK club review: The Gallery launch party at Ministry of Sound

30 April, 2008 | 7.00PM

• Section: Music News Topics: Beatport Blog
• Written by: Ellie

When yet another of London’s clubs, Turnmills, released a statement saying they were closing, the North London club scene looked bleak and left fans of The Gallery wondering how their favourite club night could survive.

So when Ministry of Sound announced it would be hosting the trance night, the question on everyone’s lips was, “Will it work?”

And the answer is, “Yes!”

If anyone doubted The Gallery’s venue change, it didn’t matter—the place was packed with clubbers, whether they were there out of dubious curiosity or because they felt it was their duty as a Gallery fan.

The atmosphere was hectic inside and outside the club, the excitement of a re-launch breathing new life into the night.

With queues forming from 8:30pm, the air around Elephant and Castle was filled with anticipation. 

And how could clubbers possibly be disappointed with sets from Armin van Buuren and Judge Jules?

Judging by this line up, and considering it was The Gallery’s 13th birthday / re-birth, it’s no wonder the club was filled to its capacity of 1,200.

But once Armin’s set started, the sardine effect eased off as clubbers stopped pushing and made do with their spots on the dance floor, although some disregarded the ‘Do Not Stand Here’ signs and took their positions on top of the speakers so that they could dance more freely.

Armin played a varied set (if a little harder than usual), dropping tracks like ‘Anticipation’ by Lemon & Einar K and even sampling ‘Apologise’ by R & B producer, Timbaland.

You may have heard Armin successfully drop indie and rock tunes during his sets, such as when he played ‘Champagne Supernova’ by Oasis at Global Gathering last year, but (and maybe it’s because he was inspired by the Global Gathering and Glastonbury headliners this year) to randomly drop an R & B tune to an arena full of die-hard trance fans was a massive risk. 

But apparently it was a risk worth taking, as it was well received by the crowd, maybe because it’s one of those tracks that many of us have in our music collection under a playlist entitled ‘guilty pleasures’, perhaps?

Is it this sort of innovation that reinstates his position as the best DJ in the world? 

Or is it the fact that he’s Armin van Buuren that he gets away with it?

Whatever your thoughts, The Gallery crowd loved it.

“The thing with The Gallery is that the crowd are open-minded to different types of music,” said resident DJ, Judge Jules.

“But of course, for me, trance will always be the best genre.”

And thankfully for Londoners, the world famous trance night has found a new home at the world’s biggest club brand, with a weekly residency throughout 2008.

“The launch party was an absolute success,” said Susan Kelsh, head of press at Ministry of Sound. “The standard has been set for future Gallery parties.”

So make sure you don’t miss The Gallery Bank Holiday Special on May 2nd with a 3-hour set from Paul van Dyk.

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