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With an extraordinary track record of urban club nights under his belt, you just know that a new venture from Patrick Lilley is something to talk about. So Saturday night saw us rock up at Area to see just what all the fuss was about and find out whether we really do need 'another' urban night. Falling first in to the main room it was obvious that dj Big Jon knew exactly what his peeps were after as his funky mix of house, rnb and hip hop fell on to the ears of an almost capacity crowd. Next door in room 2, and with a little more space to swing, djs Pierre and Clington brought a bit of the Queer Nation funky flavour to Vauxhall ahead of it's own reopening this Friday (30th) in Brixton. The terrace room played host to old school, Latin and Asian beats making for an impressive 3 completely different vibes in the one club. Add to that a superb performance from singer Meleka (in the obligatory Hamnett-style Obama 'change' tshirt dress) with her fantastic track 'Go', and an x-rated show from the stars of US black porn company Flavaworks that almost caused a riot such was the rush for their free dvd and calendar give-aways, and you have one of the best urban nights we have been to in ages and definitely deserving of the tag 'something different'. Can they keep if up for their 2nd outing? We hope so.

words and photos by Chris Jepson