Golden - Stoke on Trent - Review

Ask the average rave about Stoke-on-Trent and he or she is likely to go glassy eyed for a moment before babbling on about the halcyon days when Shelleys was THE place to be for a whole generation or party goers and where the atmosphere and music was unrivalled.   Ask the same question to an average house / garage connoisseur and you're likely to elicit a similar response...not about Shelleys though.  The play to be seen at, at present is Golden, a club that has spent longer at the top of DJ magazines top club guide than it takes a raver to come up on a dog worming tablet.  So this part time clubber and full time sceptic set off to separate myth from reality and find out whether all that glitters is really golden.

On arrival, the first thing I noticed was polite security, two words that do not usually go together.  So congratulations to Showguard Security for that and also for keeping the queue moving swiftly.  Once inside, the 826 capacity Academy (home to Golden) is split into two areas.  The upstairs is a smart relaxed bar with DJ tea, complete communion spinning some superb tunes on a Jazz tip.  Some (although not the management), would call it chill out room, but rarely have I seen a chill out packed out as early as ten o'clock and on another occasion I could have happily spent an evening in there.  The downstairs though is the main area, which by eleven o'clock was heaving.  To left and right are dance platforms, the DJ's box is situated at the front above the stage and along the back wall is the bar area. the rest is dance floor.

Resident DJ's Duncan Bruce, Kelvin Andrews and Pete Bromley played sets varying from garage to the more progressive house and kept everybody  happy with a mixture old old and new. Pete Tong came on after eleven thirty and played a harder set than I'd heard from him before.  I'll leave it to the experts to debate whether his mixing is top notch, after all, he kept the dance floor fill and that is what he is paid for.  The last hour belonged to Pete  Bromley (apart from a brief live appearance from the gorgeous Lisa B) and the place went mad, none more so than when he played 'Long Train Runnin' by the Doobie Brothers (trust me, you had to be there), a truly wonderful experience.

Looking objectively, I find it hard to knock any aspect of Golden (although I would like to see the license extended past 2am) nice people, very few poseurs, friendly staff, fabulous music and an atmosphere few can match, what more can you ask for a tenner?  I'll leave the last word to the guy that came up to me in the toilets of all place.  When I asked him what he thought of it he just smiled and said "Listen mate the only thing you need to know is Saturday night is Golden."  Tim