Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll (& Manumission) Part 3 - The Rock & Roll

& ROCK & ROLL . . .

³Smokin Jo¹s just done our tenth birthday party as has Tim Sheridan. It¹s healthy for her to move and it¹s healthy for us; we lose two great DJs but we gain Tasty Tim; Wow, it¹s not all bad.² Andy Manumission.

With his peacock wig, rouge lipstick, electric eyegloss and haughty, somewhat intimidating demeanour, London italo-electro queen Tasty Tim is a perfect cipher for Manumission¹s future, his image and in-your-face character adding an unusual aspect to the role of the DJ. Like every travelling jock, Tim takes precautions against losing his records at the airport carousel, though unlike all the rest, he chooses hold over hand luggage every time, packing them in tightly alongside his wigs, make-up and general tranny gear. His logic is simple: losing the records is bad while losing the costume worse; but losing the costume but not his records would be a disaster: he¹d have to perform as a man.

It¹s a philosophy that¹s inconceivable to the it¹s-all-about-the-music types who¹ve controlled much of club culture for the last 10 years, though at Manumission tonight Tim¹s totally in synch with the misfits and characters that make the club. Whether it¹s Johnny the dwarf, Fernando the (self) cock sucking star or even Claire and Dawn Manumission getting drunk and dancing on the bar, everybody¹s caught up in Tim¹s vibe, his electro-disco-campness adding that oh-so-hard-to-find X Factor that makes a good club great and a great club special. And dancing to Tasty Tim¹s camp and seamlessly mixed electro-house this morning, everybody clearly compliments his vibe as much as he compliments them.

Speaking after his set, Tim, who¹s not been on the island for almost ten years, admits he¹s been pleasantly surprised.

³I was expecting some kind of hideous Ibiza Uncovered style zoo, it isn't like that at all. Ibiza¹s beautiful and Manumission, in particular, is fantabulash,² he coos.

³They were really up for my tunes and the energy level was amazing as well as it being quite a challenge for me playing in the Glass room, when the sun was coming up. Flawless makeup and burning hot sun are not a good combination; powder, powder, powder,² he laughs, adding slyly, ³ on the nose, not up it.²

Tim¹s starring role in Manumission¹s reinvention also makes sense given his own multi-coloured clubbing history which includes pioneering gender bending in London in the 80s, leading to a residency at the Wag, where he became one of London¹s top DJs (before acid house). Going on to do the door at Kinky Gerlinky in the 90s, he ended up a professional drag queen for Michael Alig¹s New York club kids, before returning to DJing at the end of the decade at clubs like DTPM. More recently, he¹s come full circle, hanging with Boy George (the pair are collaborating on tracks) as well as becoming resident at the Cock, London¹s premium electro gay hangout.

Tonight though, he highlights his eminently sensible quit-while-your-ahead approach to partying, deciding to skip part 2 at Space as well as the beach.

³Flawless makeup and burning hot sun are NOT a good combination,² he advises.

³And as for the sea and the sun, I don't do either; alcohol alone is not enough to preserve ones looks. one MUST stay out of the sun².

With that he¹s off, leaving a sizeable contingent of stragglers to make their way to part 2: Manumission¹s Carry On at Space.

Carrying On To Space:

Opening at 8am and running through til 4, Carry On At Space is more like the main club¹s back room Coco Loco (Œeveryone let¹s their guard down a bit more and loosens up a little,² promoter Sharmila suggests) and attracts overspill from the main event plus significant numbers who¹ve gone just for Space. On this morning (and apparently others) Space also attracts another bunch of much less welcome guests- the police.


Like London, Ibiza¹s generally easy going on smoking a spliff wherever you like, though if there¹s one spot on the island that this doesn¹t apply it¹ Tags