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                             |  GORGEOUS
Penelope Website: gorgeous-ibiza.com Making its Ibiza debut, I'm told, in 2001, Italian party Gorgeous became the hit underground gay/polysexual party of 2002. Having missed the earlier parties, I was first in the queue when I saw DJ Oliver's name on the bill alongside Bar Oríental's Ron Burnett, for the debut of Gorgeous at Pacha. Unquestionably targeting the island's gay market, even out of season, with "Building Workers at Pacha" promising all sorts of greasy, sweaty men in hard hats, promoters Paola and Maxi had lined up a night to remember! Getting there early to get hold of my free Gorgeous doll - that's him in the picture at the bottom of the page... he lives with me in London now! - I also caught the magical Ron Burnett playing it cool and funky behind the Pacha decks, just before the greasy, sweaty builders smashed a breeze block well to pieces on the stage... Still, don't quite know what it was all about, but it did make a few people jump, as shards of concrete came flying towards them, and set the tone nicely as the 'builders' (I'm not entirely sure they were real builders) then set about gyrating on the scaffolding to the highlight of the night for me, the arrival of Amnesia resident DJ Oliver... Heaven! At Angel's El Cel, Gorgeous again provided a club with its biggest and best party, attracting all the island's movers and shakers, plus pulling in a substantial portion of the gay tourists, but mainly being the hippest place for Ibiza's locals and workers to hang out on a weekend. Teaming up with the legendary gay beach bar Chiringay (their first venture into club promotion), plus clothes store Loverboy, the night grew and grew as the season progressed. The only time the party seemed to flag was during the August storms, when water pouring through the roof put an end to Ron Burnett's encores, but otherwise Ron, and new resident Massimino, provided Ibiza with one of its hottest new parties, and one which continued (without me...) throughout the winter. Where will it be in 2003? Currently, Gorgeous is playing monthly parties at Pacha on Fridays, and with Ministry of Sound moving to Thursdays in 2003, maybe Pacha will provide a permanent home during 2003... There are also, however, close ties between Gorgeous and Amnesia, with La Troya Asesina's DJ Oliver playing at both clubs, Bar Oríental hosting the pre-parties for both, and La Troya Asesina star Baby Marcello also performing at both clubs in 2002...Personally, I hope they stick to Angel's during 2003, as it provides a welcome change from the other clubs, and being walking distance from Ibiza Town provides some much-needed competition on the local gay scene to Anfora. Gorgeous stayed with Amnesia throughour 2004, but the curse of Sunday-night clubbing took its toll on both Gorgeous and arch-rivals Scandal... Fortunately, in 2005, Gorgeous returns to its best venue, Penelope (the former Angels El Cel), and its most successful night, Fridays from 1st July 2005! To mark the occasion, Gorgeous Ibiza hit the streets of London for the first time (well, Vauxhall, if you call that London), as part of the spectacular Space Ibiza in London event, hosting the exclusive VIP Lounge and gaining the best reviews of the three clubs at the event! So, see you at the next Gorgeous London!
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This was just a one-off for Gorgeous at Pacha, as the mainstay of Pacha's summer season, Ministry of Sound, was due back the following month for the start of its Friday residency. Gorgeous instead moved back to Lucifer, where it had launched during the winter, as one of the cornerstones of its summer 2002 schedule. This turned out to be just a short-lived move, for the Black Party and the arrival of DJ Erse to the line-up of residents, before Gorgeous relocated to the newly reopened Angel's El Cel club.
Well, so much for listening to my advice! Gorgeous did relocate to Amnesia for the 2003 season, filling the slot abruptly vacated by Kinky Trade the previous year, and appeared to be doing well. Unfortunately, this pitted them head-to-head against the other local favourite, Pacha's Scandal, dividing the local gay clubbing community. With a European-wide winter tour lined up, it'll be interesting to see where Gorgeous makes its next summer home.
