Koh Phangan to London: Curiousity Club at Gigalum |Koh Phangan Tales

'House music lovers of London - don't miss our Super Sunday Session at Gigalum! Head honcho Lizzie Curious is joined by a host of the capital's finest house DJs and special guest DJ from Thailand DJ Pablo Escobud, free entry all night with an electric atmosphere that's second to none!'

The Curiousity Club

Thanks to Ryan Dinham and Gigalum for use of photos!

On the line-up for this Curiousity Club storming Sunday session at Gigalum:

Lizzie Curious, Move The House, Southern Kaos, Mike Fry, Sophie Foster, Simon Francis, and just in from Koh Phangan Pablo Escobud! Gigalum had been getting rave reviews from my Jungle Experience promoter friend in Thailand, and I'd been reading up how it was becoming something of an SW4 legend...

'But come the weekend with the likes of
Judge Jules, Nicky Romero, Sister Bliss and Norman Jay on the decks the place is transformed - with the arms-in-the-air atmosphere of a rocking house party!

Gigalum is a bar Clapham is proud of, and the DJs queue up to play at.' Gigalum Press

As Lizzie Curious had said, Pablo was in good company. Our Koh Phangan friend who lives in North Clapham confirmed this as we caught up in the Sunday afternoon sunshine: You do realise Clapham's the 'in' place to be? Fussy crowd, though!

Gigalum, Clapham Common South Side

Drinking champagne and cocktails on the terrace overlooking Clapham Common South, Gigalum's 30-something clientele are affluent and engaging, and although 300 of the usual crowd are in Ibiza en masse this week, there is still a full house for The Curiousity Club, set up as event and record label by London-based Beatport No.1 chart topper Lizzie Curious.

London DJs and Koh Phangan crew hands in the air

Straight away we are feeling the London love!

We're taken by surprise how nice everyone is - we'd never met Lizzie in person before, yet she bounds across the dance floor to welcomes us like we're long lost friends, and everyone she introduces us to greets us with the same open smiles:

London Djs Mike Fry and Pablo Escobud at Gigalum

Whether they are DJs, promoters or well known producers, they all have a friendly welcome for us and an open ear to hearing Pablo's set. We'd expected London to be much more dog-eat-dog and competitive, but instead we're made to feel instantly at home and welcomed into this fun-loving set of London househeads!

"Everyone here wants to be here", explains Mike Fry, who warmed up the Sunday afternoon session with a 2hr nu-disco set, then spent the rest of the evening taking care of The Curiousity Club guests and partying with our Koh Phangan crew.

Gigalum residents Southern Kaos radiated energy as they pleased the still warming up crowd basking in the sunshine, before House FM DJ Simon Francis brought out some of his new Visionaires productions to the delight of the crowd gathering inside for his birthday set.

Soon it was away with the tables to provide an instant dance floor, and crank up the volume as DJ & vocalist Sophie Foster took over with her brand of uplifting funky house. Pablo catches my eye with a grin as Sophie plays his new favourite track; they have similar DJ styles, with a love of a happy uplifting tempo and a funky beat...

Next up is the Pablito! He goes straight into his euphoric vocals and beautiful house music, and Lizzie is heading straight to the decks... "Tune!!" It's a good a start and the crowd are massively receptive, all shaking their thing to the music; they're an old school crowd of educated house heads who know and love their music, and have no inhibitions about showing their free expressionism on the dance floor:

They're our kind of people!

For the last half hour of his set Pablo is pulling out his tunes and going back to his funky roots, with massively positive response: 'Pablo Escobud killing it right now - funky house at its best!'... 'Banging set! Loved it!'...

Chunkdahfunk, MD for Move the House, 'a collective of London's finest DJs specialising in all things house' - and playing at venues such as Pacha, MoS & Hed Kandi bar, has positive response for us later too:
'Hey Pablo great to meet you! Wicked set mate'

It's as much as we could have asked for from the cream of London house DJs, and we are overwhelmed by what a lovely bunch of people the Curiousity Club regulars are!!  Move the House take over the decks from Pablo and do just that, Move the House!

The house is pumping for the next hour...

... before the Curiousity Queen herself, Lizzie Curious, takes over the decks!

Lizzie has an uncommon energy rarely seen but always much loved among DJs, reminding me of Marco Loco, Darragh Casey... Jack Sumpter!

"She's a little powerhouse" says our newly returned Koh Phangan mate as he grooves away in tune with Lizzie's energy - he wasn't expecting to have a boogie like this in London!! She's bringing in some tribal beats, then some old school classics 'You got the love' (she certainly does), before mixing it up with the banging DollyRockers tech house remix of her new track with Dms 12: 'Hold on Tight'...

I turn to the guy pumping hands to the ceiling next to me in agreement:
"Now, THAT'S roof-raising!"

What a great night out in London!!

'Great party. Too good for a Sunday' Mike Fry

Birrthdays in the House! Simon Francis and Marta Bosello

At the end of her set and the end of the night, Lizzie plays what she will say later is one of her favourite tracks: a bootleg of Wolfgang Gartner & Justice's 'We are all friends' - "a huge fave of mine" ...