“The man in the Viking helmet is smiling as the two pre-school nymphets encircle him in a paganesque dance. Another case of some sleaze ball sicko corrupting young innocents or perhaps something even more sinister, more sordid ? No, no, no ! Mr Viking, it transpires, is bopping with his daughters. Everything is not as it seems at one of the most influential events in club history. Whirl-Y-Gig began life as an event run by the Association of Humanistic Psychology for which Monkey Pilot (then known as Richard) was a manager, DJ’ing with his back to the audience…inventing a brand new concept, the faceless DJ. He later took this concept to Club Dog, where as the first resident DJ he would influence the likes of Zero Gravity.
Whirl-Y-Gig is best known for it’s traditional parachute drop. For those unfamiliar, at the end of each night, a gigantic parachute envelops the whole dance-floor, covering everyone beneath. Dancers sit beneath the ‘chute for up to 20 minutes,..as a ring of people outside the circle gently waft the chute over their heads.
Musically too, the club’s emphasis has always been experimental. Current favoured artists (1997) include Joi, Trans-Global Underground, Nitin Sawhney mixed along the likes of Time Shard, whilst past discoveries include pygmy house maestros, Deep Forest, some two years before the world embraced them.
Monkey Pilot says ‘ when people come to Whirl-Y-Gig they aren’t paying for bands or a long list of star DJs, they are paying for the experience in which they themselves are a vital part’ So next time you’re disappointed with that ‘star’ DJ, do something about it. Try a party where you matter. It might just change your life.”
Jonty Skrufff – Muzik Magazine