Happy 40th Birthday Julian

Brighton buddy, Julian turned 40 this week and he wanted a big blow-out. Bored of Brighton clubs (especially Audio), we answered his birthday wish with a time-machine going (or what seemed like going back 10 years) to Ministry of Sound. I really didn't fancy the multiple train journey or the shuddering feeling of waiting for the tube stations to open at 6am on a cold Saturday morning so opted for the drive with James tagging along.

Before driving up to London we gave Julian his special present of a Venture Bros. mug we'd designed. This went down extremely well and surprised that no one picked up the copyright infringement. Nowhere outside the US actually sells the merchandise due to copyright issues.

It was the Gallery's 15th birthday and had brought back some of the biggest name DJs to celebrate. Check this out for a golden oldie special: Danny Rampling, Paul Oakenfold, Seb Fontaine, Tall Paul, Lottie and more. For Kerry and me, this really was a nostalgic journey back at least 10 years having got engaged there (as well as Kerry's nose getting broken). The door staff and security were certainly a lot less precious allowing cameras and a more relaxed dress code. Drink prices were affordable and the club hadn't really changed in layout. What was different was the sound levels (unless that's an age thing) or rather that every room had full-on volume so no decent area to have random chats and chill-out. Only the smoking area or front yard allowed this but still the bar's DJ set could be heard.

The years hadn't been kind to the DJs. Danny Rampling wore a cap to hide his hairline, Oakenfold sent his dwarf brother instead (though this didn't put off his army of fans crowding the stage) and Seb Fontaine was looking more like a beefy Danny Boyle. The main room music was a bit trancey with every track having a big breakdown which came across as a constant dance and stand around affair. I was so glad I'd brought my own earplugs as the levels were just too loud. This didn't deter what I'm certain was a knee-high-healed boot wearing female prostitute with all her front teeth smashed in (though Kerry argued it was a man) dancing on the speakers and constantly being dragged off by security.

The Baby Box room music choice was still a non-starter everytime we went in there. The upstairs bar had better sounds but the hard techno didn't suit the atmosphere. Most of the time we spent in the bar with Seb Fontaine providing a better soundtrack although being the Gallery birthday night, a few too many old classics got spun.

The crowd were quite ordinary making no particular effort to impress and didn't seem up for the music. At least their age range didn't make you feel that old. By 3am all the big name DJs had finished their sets and had gone home as well as half the clubbers. Good if you wanted to swing your arms about. I managed to attract some randoms for some funny conversations and by about 5am we managed to peel Julian away from his rhythm ramblings on the dancefloor. A great night out overall.