Review of Promise & Goodgreef - NYD 04

It was unofficially nicknamed ‘Bosh on the Boat’ and bosh we certainly did. With six rooms and 42 DJ’s over 12 hours, this was always going to be good. Even I didn’t expect it to be this good though. Indeed, this was probably the best New Year period that I’ve ever had. 

Having never experienced clubbing on a boat before, I didn’t know quite what to expect when I stepped aboard the Tuxedo Princess on the bank of the River Tyne in Newcastle.

It took a bit of time to get my bearings as well. As I found out later, the vessel was big enough to get lost on, so when I first stepped on I didn’t have a clue where to go. The long corridors and doors and staircases everywhere just added to the fun though. This was more than a clubbing experience, this was a mini adventure…..even if it was hard to walk straight even when totally sober!

When I eventually did find the first room of music, it turned out to be the main Promise meets Goodgreef room and local lad and Promise resident Richard Tulip was already on the decks. One of the first things that struck me about the place was how crisp the soundsystem was. It sounded almost perfect, something that I was not expecting from this particular venue.

Tulip’s set was almost as perfect as well, getting people in exactly the right mood for what was to come later. After listening to this, you just knew the rest of the night was going to be If he wasn’t before, this man has to be considered one of the best residents in the country now. He just got better and better as the dancefloor filled up.

After enjoying my first set of the night, it was time to go exploring again. On my way around the venue, it was nice to notice that it had plenty of seating areas and places to chill. I just knew then that this was going to be a lifesaver later on. The fact that you could go out on deck to cool off was just the icing on the cake. Who cares if you could have fell overboard!?

The next port of call (sorry for the puns!) was the Frantic room, where Quality resident Mark Maitland was doing what he does best and banging out some hard stuff. The thing about this room was that the ceiling was really low. Not a problem for a short arse like me, but you try boshing when you’re six foot odd. I suppose that’s what you get if you come clubbing on a boat though.

As with Tulip in the main room, Maitland proved that he was indeed a talent by giving us another quality set.

Probably the worst room on the boat was the Mixmag Future Heroes room. Not only did this have very little light, it also had a very dodgy soundsystem and, as a result, it was hard to create any sort of real atmosphere in the place. This was a shame as the standard of DJing was at times very good. Sets from the likes of John  , Liam Ash, Diamond Phil and Burg all deserved better.

The set of the night for me came from John Kelly. After never being one to bother about him in the past, this really impressed me. Following on from Matt Hardwick was always going to be difficult, but I think he managed to do it. Yes, he may have played tunes that he always plays and, yes, he may have anthem bashed but, on the night, it was just what was needed. And I couldn’t stop dancing even though my legs were giving way and even though I knew I wouldn’t be able to enjoy a personal favourite, Rob Tissera, who was on the decks next.

At this point the atmosphere could not have got much better and, after seeing a bit of Shan and Paul Glazby in the Frantic room, it was back down to the Promise/Goodgreef bit for Eddie Halliwell. Quite predictably the dancefloor was packed by this time and it was a struggle even to get to the back never mind the front. If you had space to dance, you were very lucky indeed. The usual chants of ‘Eddie! Eddie!’ greeted the man himself and I think it is fair to say that he didn’t disappoint. With big screens dotted around the room showing the decks, you could even watch his mixing and scratching. On occasions, this was very entertaining indeed. Tracks included Holding Onto Nothing, Satellite, Velvet Morning, Fearless, Traffic and Lizard. With the massive crowd and lots of dancing came the heat though and, if you didn’t need a rest and a drink after this, you just couldn’t be human. 

Sadly, and perhaps ironically, the boat had ran out of bottled water early in the night. Along with having no hangers in the cloakroom for a good while, this was probably the biggest mistake of the night. Glasses of water were still provided, of course, but you would have expected better organisation for an event like this.

Back to the music and it was the lovely Anne Savage and Lisa Lashes who finished the night off with a B2B set. After Kelly, Glazby and Halliwell though, I found refuge in the House Party Saloon for the first time of the night. Howard Donald was on the decks and it wasn’t really my sort of thing but enough people seemed to be enjoying it so I didn’t really care.

I sat down and began to reflect on a really good night. The so-called ‘Bosh on the Boat’ had been a success despite one or two minor hiccups. Hopefully, it won’t be the last time I step onboard the Tuxedo Princess along with two of my favourite clubs.