31/12/13: New Year’s Eve at Heaven is always a big deal, with revellers queuing around the barricaded block in a bid to get in, get their drink on the rocks and get down before the countdown.
This year’s spectacular came in the top form of X Factor winner Sam Bailey – and then again, in the guise of evergreen trio from an unforgettable era, 911! So it was, a little after the screams that signalled an epic start to 2014 were sent up across the superclub, that Sam Bailey emerged onto the stage, all black sequin gown and ginormous voice, to smack us around the chops with a six song set including timeless, mammoth tracks like ‘If I Were A Boy’, ‘Listen’ – and her Christmas #1 triumph ‘Skyscraper’.
As she took her last bow and disappeared behind the curtain to turn the rest of the night backstage on its head, it wasn’t long before onstage were Jimmy Constable, Simon Dawbarn and Lee Brennan; the now fine looking men who as bombastic 90s pin-up boys gave us gems such as ‘More Than A Woman’, ‘A Little Bit More’ – and of course, their signature ‘Bodyshakin’’. 911 ended 2013 with their comeback single ‘2 Hearts 1 Love’.
Be on standby people, something tells me 2014 will have quite the kick to it!
Heaven, under The Arches, Villiers Street, Charing Cross, WC2N 6NG
Words by Yafeu-Khamisi Rodway-Brown
Photos by Chris Jepson