The Greatest Club in the World

I don’t know how long I’ve been going to Whirl-Y-Gig but I do know that it’s the best club in the world.

Alt Text: A selfie pose of an older white man & woman, in front of a white wall. Pale disco lights reflect on the wall, their clothes & their faces. The woman is in a wheelchair & she has long brown/blond/grey hair, some of which is tied back. She wears pink/brown round glasses, face jewelry, large silver hoop earrings, a necklace with a pink flamingo, a silver top & a cape made of plastic, translucent pink discs. The man is crouching behind her. He wears a muti-coloured trilby hat, a red t-shirt with a slogan in white lettering that says “I wanna…” & black & grey stripy trousers.

Because October’s been Breast Cancer Awareness Month & I’ve been sharing past blog posts that have contained tough subject matters, I decided that my November blog would be about partying. And there’s no better place to party than Whirl-Y-Gig.

I genuinely can’t remember when I first started going to Whirl-Y-Gig & who introduced me to this awesome rave night, but it was in the early to mid-1990’s. No one of my generation remembers much from the 90’s, lol, so I’m not too worried! Not that I’d want to tell you everything that happened at Whirl-Y-Gig of course, because as you know, what goes on tour, stays on tour. I do remember everyone going out about the “Parachute at the end” & I was intrigued by their venues of choice – town halls.

So one night I found myself queuing at Hammersmith Town Hall with lots of people dressed in bright, dayglo colours & with painted faces & bodies. Ravers. Good people.

Being wheelchair users, my friend & I were taken to the back entrance, basically what I call the ‘Tradesmen Entrance,’ which was flat, & a Whirl-Y crew member guided us through a maze of corridors until we reached the ballroom area. As we passed the offices, I couldn’t help laughing to myself as I pictured all the office workers at their desks on Monday, having no idea that a couple of alternative party-goers had danced past on their way to a rave less than 24 hours earlier.

Whirl-Y-Gig is just madly beautiful & it’s always given me so much energy. The community of people that go are friendly & generous. In the early days, kids were allowed in and some of those same kids share the dancefloor with me today. People in their 70’s & 80’s go to Whirl-Y-Gig. It’s so special when all of us dance together.

The decor is exquisite. You’re bathed in rainbow colours & lights which makes the experience all the more magical. And then there’s the music. Oh the music. Celtic, global, psychedelic, dub-step, drum n bass – all sounds from around the world. The end finishes when a Parachute comes down to cover everyone & cool them down. I confess that I was sick from vodka once under the Parachute which very much ruined the moment for a lot of people! I’ve always felt bad about that, so now I’m one of the people who hold the edge of the Parachute, gently fanning people back to reality.

When Whirl-Y-Gig reached its 25th Anniversary, it had moved to Camden Town Hall. It returned to this venue a few times over the years & it’s my favourite venue because of its Art Deco surroundings. It’s also central London with good transport links which does make a huge difference. Over the years Whirl-Y- has hosted some great live bands, I remember Eat Static being epic on this night. ‘Adam & Joe’ (from the show of their names) were there too & remember being so happy about that!

The best venues for Whirl-Y-Gig were always the ones with the high ceilings & large dance floors. I need a lot of space to dance & to breathe so I have enough inner energy to power me on. Because I’m lower down than everyone else & I tend to swirl about in my chair, once the dancefloor gets busy, I don’t have the space to do my moves & then I find it hard to breathe as well. At Whirl-Y-Gig I can dance all night so I get a bit frustrated if I have to leave the dance floor. Don’t get me wrong though, the other clubbers are absolutely brilliant around me & try to give me the space that I need. If there’s less room in the venue, the crew have started to section off an area for disabled people which makes it so much easier to dance & socialise.

Over the years, the club night has been very popular with disabled people & I think it’s because of its open ethos. However, it’s not always been possible to host the club in a wheelchair accessible venue because of availability & finances, but as soon as they can switch clubs, the crew will. The night is currently being held in Hackney Wick, London, UK, at Studio 9294. The club has a step-free route to get in, to get to the bar & the dance floor, but unfortunately the accessible toilet is in the venue next door. This means that if you need a wee, you have to get an escort out of the venue & take the ramp to enter the next one. Thankfully the venue staff act quickly to help you, but I wouldn’t advise leaving it to the last minute before you decide you need the loo. And I recognise that some people might not get much warning when you need the loo (I’m one of them), so bear this point in mind.

The other joy about Whirl-Y-Gig is discovering bands and new music. Zion Train, Astralasia, Transglobal Underground, Banco de Gaia, St Germain, Afriquoi…& so many others. In past years there was a drum circle that played along, which was awesome, but that seems to have fallen by the wayside in later years.

I can’t blog about Whirl-Y-Gig without highlighting the outfits. There’s lots of shimmering face & body paint, glitter, sparkles, headdresses & capes, but the outfits that light up are the best ones. Who doesn’t love a full-length set of butterfly wings complete with little white fairy lights? You can be as creative & as outrageous as you want to be & I love it!

So who created Whirl-Y-Gig? Richard (also known as DJ Monkey Pilot) & Mary, that’s who. Richard DJ’s for the majority of the night & Mary is always about in the crowd. She often takes the mic to introduce the live acts & always, always thanks people at the end of the night, reminding us all of the special time that we’ve had together, & to get home safely. They are the Pearly King & Queen of the global beats & totally lovely people.

In 2022, I was beside myself when I discovered that Whirl-Y’s New Year’s Eve party was going to be held at Subterania which happens to be 20 minutes walk/push from my flat! So Stephane & I put on our best, outlandish party wear, & went up the road to party. I don’t usually party on the New Year because it’s two days before my birthday as I like to get stuck into my day, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity of going to the best club in the world taking place in my manor!

Speaking of my birthday (I do like to prepare people a couple of months ahead, lol), it’s very nice of Whirl-Y-Gig to organise their Winter Warmer in January which is my birthday month. Even better, Zion Train are playing live. I’ve already bought my ticket!

In October 2023, Whirl-Y-Gig celebrated its 42nd Anniversary & Transglobal Underground played (hello to the drummer who is one of my neighbours). It was also a double celebration because one of my close friends turned 60! She’s a wheelchair using, Whirl-Y veteran like myself & a lot of drink was taken onboard!

Some would say that because I’m a couple of months shy of 53, that I’m too old to go raving now. That’s horses**t. But what I will say is that I don’t think it’s worth bothering with any other clubs. Not one of them touches or comes close to what Whirl-Y-Gig has or what it does for my soul.

To end, I’m going to share some lyrics from a track that I discovered at Whirl-Y-Gig. It’s “Never Too Old” by Monrroe & Emily Makis.

“These days go too fast
For me to limit
All my decisions…

I never feel too old for this
Cause something in my soul says I’m not old for this

I’m gonna let life call for me
And follow my resolve to focus on the beat

I’ll never, never leave.”

Alt Text: A selfie pose of an older white man & a white woman in a dark club. The woman has brown/blond/ grey long hair, some of which is tied back, & she is wearing rainbow-coloured face jewelry, silver hoop earrings, a black sequinned mask, a necklace with a pink flamingo, a cape with plastic pink, translucent discs, a silver top with a pink top underneath & a translucent-coloured bum bag. The man is bald & he has bright blue & pink eyeshadow on. He is wearing a red t-shirt.