Planet Angel - Live an Ordinary Life in an Extraordinary Way

An Open Letter from Angel & Pete

To the Planet Angel Crew, Contributors & Party People

As you may or may not know, we (Angel and Pete) are the originators of PA and our role is to steer the whole concept successfully to achieve the ultimate aim of a permanent space for us all.

The last party was a very special, even emotional time with a fresh positive energy you could almost feel. A party that despite moving to a new venue with more like-minded people than ever before, remained the friendly, easy, gathering that is the trademark of the parties.

As we all enter a new phase on our journey and our third summer of parties, we felt it was right to attempt the near impossible: to try to thank those who pulled together to make it happen and those who have done so in the past.

We can't begin explain in detail the hard work put in by so many people, nor can we thank them enough or properly, for their love, commitment, effort and support, but here is our attempt…

Some people worked for weeks before the last party, designing new décor, backdrops and décor-hanging systems, working late into the night. Some came to pre-party venue reccy missions to ensure the décor designs would fit and spent hard sweaty time pre-rigging the venue.

Some scoured London for affordable good quality carpet or negotiated excellent rates for hire of staging. Some gave advice on fire retardant paint additives, sourced flame retardant materials, or drove around the busy city to pick up new fabrics. DJs spent hard earnt money on new tunes and rehearsed tirelessly late into the night after working all day.

Lighting people tried out new rigging techniques, worked out power considerations and studied photos and proposed new lighting plans. Some worked on logistics, where and how can we hang these... or the door systems, the layout, the newsletter, the web site, how will the shop work, how do we lay it out…

Some came during the rig to work for 24 hours to add their undoubted experience; their strength or their canny knack of making it look good. Many worked on the night, on the door, running the shop, long shifts as peace officers, preparing and serving fruit, changing the art canvasses or clearing rubbish.

Some contributed their incredible talent to en-trance us all during the happenings and live appearances or worked behind the scenes working with words, wood, metal and concepts to improve the parties. Whereas one man spent hours designing beautiful new invites, almost everyone else demanded they have handfuls on them when they were out spreading the word in the weeks before!

Some people called and offered much needed moral support when those worrying thoughts crept in late at night or 'rallied the troops' for the big move by calling their friends who had been promising to come - but never quite made it before…

So that's some of what the Crew and Contributors do, some just recently involved, some since the early days at the Warp nearly 3 years ago. There is not one 'hired in' resource at Planet Angel; everyone involved is a party person with a skill and a passion for what we are all trying to achieve. None of us are just 'doing it for a job'. Planet Angel is not about 'promoters and punters' (in fact there are 3 words we don't like to use at Planet Angel, 'Punters', 'Boss' and 'Staff'). Planet Angel is party people creating a party for other like-minded party people. As was said recently "good people have an enormous capacity to enjoy themselves, all you need to do is to create the right environment" That's what we aim to do, a balanced environment where people can be themselves, socialise, interact, enjoy and benefit - and we are on a mission to make it permanent one day, and we will succeed, we owe it to everyone who has made Planet Angel possible as well as ourselves.

And so, what can we say about the most important contributors of all? Those who repay the commitment of all of us crew and contributors with their support and loyalty? The Party People, who come to party, drenching the atmosphere with love, smiles and good vibes… the like-minded, dancing happy people that really make Planet Angel what it is??

Not enough… for without you, there is no Planet Angel!

All we can say is, as long as everyone wants to party, we will fulfil our roles to ensure that we all have a safe place to do it.

See you on the 10th; luv n hugs Pete & Angel

 

Planet Angel The next Generation - Made it so! by Sash

Can it get any better?, Could the party get any larger?, Could we have any more fun? Can I get any more short sentences in? Damn right we could. On April 12th the phenomenon of Planet Angel™ spread its wings, burst from the chrysalis it had been hiding in for a month and emerged renewed in all its vigour as a new and improved version of its former self.

From the inception of Planet Angel™ it has always been a vision of its creators Angel and Pete that one day they would have a permanent place where the ethos and vision of like-minded , talented and giving people could share their skills and even make a living doing things they love, and as of April it is one step closer to this goal with a hugely successful re-launch in a new venue "The Arches" at 34 Southwark St, Nr London Bridge.

In the month prior to the Next Generation re-launch there was a huge amount of frenetic activity in the army of support crew assisting the club and many working unpaid just doing it for the love of the club and the joy they knew they would impart to its many appreciative Party goers.

On the subject of the Planet Angel™ Massif this is as much about them as the organisation because there is a real sense that this is "our" club and not just some bland corporate organisation trying to fleece us of our ready cash with s***ty promotions and phoney attempts at appealing to the standard Marketing "Clubber Demographic" of 18-25 yr olds.With the PA "No Advertising" policy it was possible that no-one would even know that the club was moving and they wouldn't get the turnout needed to make the new night a success. There was a large amount of word of mouth "Inviting" by the Planet Angel™ regular Massif using the spectacular new invites designed by Charlie Montagnac (a very talented Graphics man) and Angel & Pete were also assisted by the featuring of a full page interview in underground magazine "Intercourse". At the end of the day its in our interest to make the club successful to make our parties better and its this emotional investment that marks this out as something a bit different.I didn't know what to expect when I turned up at the venue and the excitement was almost electric waiting to see what had been produced. The door personnel were friendly enough and the queue was reasonable as I got there fairly early to get the most from the night.The first room was obviously some kind of reception area with a bar along one side wall and plenty of tables and chairs for chilling out and taking your coat off and just getting in. The cloakroom was efficient and had a plastic pass system that allowed me to pretend to be a superstar DJ later with a backstage pass(Just pretend mind! - where's my trolley?) . I had taken my new Djembe (A West African drum) with me because I was expecting to join in a big drumming set later in the evening…. If they had the session I missed it and didn't join in because I was distracted by some monster flashing lasers in the main room.
I spent an hour or so exploring the venue and saying "HI!" to lots of the regulars (Hugs all round then) , and just getting a feel for the place. Its definitely a lot bigger than the last venue and has a cleaner feel. The PA decorators had really pulled out all the stops and the place looked fantastic. From the front room you go through to the main Dance room, then the Funky breakbeat, global choons room, which much to mine an the pleasure of many happy grinning fools is now competing directly with the main room being about the same size and with some absolutely banging music. The Live Breakbeat set supplied by The Headhunters who recently supported "The Low Fidelity Allstars" was amazing and kicked off the room to a tee and really setting the scene for a top night and future parties.


I think as the Club is evolving so are a lot of the new DJ's playing in the club that have maybe been given their breaks there and as the club grows in stature so does their confidence and ability to read an audience really bringing out their best. I can honestly say I've been really impressed with the work of One DJ I am a big fan of there and that's Butterfly Pete. He seems to have really turned it on in the last few months and I see him doing big stuff in the future. Don't get me wrong I like the other DJ's too but am a big fan of his style of music and the big Phat choons he plays.(thats it mate, no more hero worship just in case you can't get thru the door next time!)

In the back there is another final room which is really the Chillout area whilst the other rooms have some space to chill this is really where I'd go to kick back , cool down and grab a quiet drink. Attached to this bar is a garden area which although quite cold in April will be lovely during the summer months.

As the evening wore on the place started to fill up and by One or Two in the morning it was totally rammed with bouncing, heaving, dancing mayhem going on in both dance rooms and all chillout areas having a healthy amount of people sprawling about and the usual activities of Painting, Jenga, Lego, playdoh and Wendalines Face Painting in evidence. It was great to see loads of new faces aswell and nice to see the pleasurable surprise on peoples faces when you said "Hello" and started chatting. I must say a lot of my evening is a tad hazy as after a couple of hours all the excitement and fun blends together, but for me highlights of the night have to be the Live breakbeat and new proper breakbeat room, "The Happening" at 3am with fresh fruit handouts and the incredible Juggling tour de force that is Feeding The Fish, seeing the place rammed with people and knowing it was a big success,(seeing the looks on Angel and Pete's faces what a picture), Butterfly Pete's set(he rocks!), and as usual spending 7 hours with some of the nicest people I know.

Well It all happens again soon on Friday May 10th. The Latest Invites are out, another terrific design from Charlie, this time featuring an Homage to our purple fluff fairy. I've started to collect them now as they're so good! Come along to the next party and dance your pants off.

Big hugs n all that ……….Sash.

Footnote: Since the publishing of the last issue of Intercourse Mandy (The Editor) has been involved in a pretty bad accident which will put everything on hold for a while. Although I don't know her that well, as a fellow writer and somone who respects her work I'd just like to send her my Big Hugs (gently of course) and positive vibes for what she's going through.

© Sacha Ian Ryder 2002

 

Here's a selection of your comments... more in the Guestbook!

"Sh*t that was good…I do not know where to start ... it was simply beautiful :)… A sign of love for the music and keeping the party people happy, and not the money… what you're achieving at PA really interests me… An outstanding party, outstanding venue, outstanding people, outstanding music… Wow planet angel was sooooo much fun… I take it all back…"

"and the music was f*ckin' A… who played the last set?… thanks for the lovely chill music… fu*kin bangin… Top tune whoever played it… Meltdown room was bril… the doors did a great job of making the sound in each room nice and clean… F**kin' ace set… any chance of getting a playlist… Post-3a.m. DJs were fantastic… Wikkid mate… Kablam!!!… Vam… Wam!"

"The ladies toilets had mirrors and flattering lighting to put my lippy on what LUXURY!… you didn't get that annoying sound clash… completely in love with the new venue… I had the most spectacular fun at the "New Improved Formula" Planet Angel… loved the different types of music, plenty of space to chillout and sit down and a really wonderful, up for it crowd… They were smiling and bang into it… Where did all those party people come from?… Wanna come over for dinner soon? Coriander, chips and a pickled wally!… The vibe was incredible…"

"Decor was cool and the carpet laid out everywhere made it all comfy!… and bounced into the most amazing atmosphere… A brillaint idea having painting… Ohh also i have a some lego i would be quite happy to donate… that is some f*ckin light show…"

"The bar staff were nice too, I gave the guy too much money and he called me back to tell me! How sweet is that!… all of our people experienced it in different ways and really enjoyed themselves… everyone who came with me thought it was excellent… I was blissed out, loved up and… Words fail me… "

"Hey crew, 12th was my first Planet Angel party an to sum it up in one word- amazing… whichever room I went to, so much to see and do… It was different to anything I'd experienced before… When's the next one?… see you on the 10th and we'll have an even bigger party this time… the new venue rocks!… you gotta stop doing this to me…"

"Look fwd to another stormer on May 10th at London Bridge."