A visit to the Southwest from the trance legend PAUL OAKENFOLD is a rare occurrence, particularly in Torbay - the first and last time he played here (In Arena’s previous incarnation as Claire’s nightclub) was in 1998 (possibly 99 but I can’t find the review I did for that back in the day which is somewhere in my loft and unavailable online). Torquay came out in force for the chance to hear Oakey work his magic and also for the chance to experience the newly-opened and much-hyped Arena venue, housed in the old Claire’s building (later renamed to Bohemia before closing its doors in 2013). The evening did not disappoint on both counts.
The venue (completely unrecognisable from its previous layout) was well equipped to house the decent-sized crowd. Kitted out with an impressive amount of lighting, an LED screen behind the stage, two well-staffed bars (one as you come in and another in the club itself) and a generous sized dance floor (essentially the club is basically one large dance floor), the Arena has arrived with a bang and will hopefully be a shot in the arm for Torquay by providing it with regular club nights of this calibre. Admittedly the Foundry also host big name DJs with its own state of the art set up, but these are sporadic so having big club nights on a more regular basis between two competing venues has the potential to put the town back on the map - back in the 90s, Torquay was (along with Plymouth) arguably the clubbing capital of the South West.
Onto the music (the main event of course), I arrived just after 9pm, in time to hear Plymouth-based DJ and producer PAUL HAWCROFT, who kept the crowd engaged with a silky-smooth set of prog and (mainly) trance favourites, including many new mixes of classic tracks. It did leave me wondering how Oakey could follow this, given that he was likely to play similar. Cut to 10:30 and Oakenfold took it up a couple of gears from the off with a more pumping harder sound. The PA was cranked up to the max (the sound was clear - it wasn’t deafening but at least my ears aren’t ringing as I write this now) and the crowd were reminded that the main headliner had well and truly arrived.
I’ve heard Oakenfold a lot over the years and he rarely disappoints. He adheres to the old adage that you should give the people what they want and just like he did at Mambo Classics on the Beach in Weston-super-Mare last year (the last time I heard him), he proceeded to drop anthem after anthem back to back which kept the dancefloor bouncing. It was trance but a more mainstream variant, with a lot of vocals and I do mean a lot - probably 80% or more of his set had vocals in. There were new tracks but also older more established favourites that have formed part of his signature sets for the last few years. Standout cuts were Meduza’s 2022 remix of Supermode ‘Tell me Why’ (with its Bronski Beat ‘Smalltown Boy’ riff), Oakey’s own remix of Bruno Mars, ‘Locked Out of Heaven’, remixes of New Order - Confusion (Pump Panel Mix), PPK - Resurrection, Benny Benassi - Satisfaction and Delerium - Silence amongst many other highlights.
For me, due to the sheer amount of vocals being played, his set had the most impact in the parts when there weren’t any vocals and when the music was harder and dropped into techno or acid sections but everyone will have their own preference and the vocals resonated with a lot of the crowd for sure, providing many hands in the air moments. Oakenfold is a crowd-pleasing DJ, he’s not interested in taking people on a self-indulgent journey, he just wants to keep the dancefloor moving from beginning to end, which he did tonight. Chin-strokers need not apply, this was a set of anthems through and through.
One observation from a technical perspective, I’d say less is more when it comes to lighting and I think the venue could benefit from creating more moods from the lighting rather than just having all the spotlights on most of the time, but I’m sure they will refine their production over time.
The Arena isn’t just a club, it’s an events venue with two rooms that also hosts comedy and bands. I look forward to returning for one of those upcoming events but in terms of this review, I was there for the club experience, which I have to say left me impressed. I’ll be there again in July for the Claire’s reunion and will look forward to seeing some familiar old faces there.
Words - Joe Taylor
Photos - Martin Smith
