MATTER
O2, Greenwich, London
PH: 0207 549 6686
PH: 0207 549 6686
Matter is a slightly smaller venture bought to you by the people at Fabric. While not as grand or well marketed as Fabric, Matter can often offer a better night out due to a better lay out and friendlier atmosphere – as long as you can get there.
LOCATION & ACCESSABILITY
Matter is a complete bitch to get to and from mainly as the Jubilee tube line that goes directly to the O2 complex where it’s situated is usually delayed or closed. That means a bus from London Bridge which has taken me up to 2 hours, or a Thames ferry from any stop from Waterloo onwards along the river costing around 4GBP. If you ask me the ferry is the way to go. However getting home there is only one option – cab. Matter usually closes around 6am so the tube is about an hour away, and a bus at that time can often be the same, not to mention freezing!
VENUE LAYOUT & BARS
Matter is very new as far as venues go, opening in September 2008, and you can tell by its user-friendly design and sleek appearance. For those of you who know it, it’s kind of a boxier version of Home in Sydney. However I feel its fine lines and stony appearance would leave a lot to be desired sans lighting effects. With 2 rooms – one main room downstairs and one smaller room upstairs – each with a large bar, there’s not a lot to Matter, but there’s beauty within it’s simplicity. The Main Room is one big dance floor with full circle balconies looking down upon it giving it a Shakespearean Globe feel, complete with tiered steps to dance on either side of the dance floor. The smaller room is quite the non-feature, with a circular bar and not much else.
The smoking area is a fenced off area out front which is not too pretty to look at. The piece de resistance is the caged walkway running along the centre of the rooftop, which gives you a great view of the main room floor but also allows people to pour their drinks on your head from a great height! There’s also ample dance room and comfy couches on the same floor, and a secret hidden toilet should the downstairs loos be rammed.
The loos are always clean and there are ample which usually means no queues but they lose loads of points for making all the taps hot. Fair enough they want us to buy water but what if I simply want a cool splash to the face after an epic dance floor session? There’s also a lift near the secret glass staircase at the rear of the venue that overlooks the O2 complex, but I’ve never had the stomach to get in it.
Surprisingly enough drinks don’t cost the earth, with a double vodka red bull costing 5GBP and water and softies coming in at 2GBP. But be sure to have some cash in your pocket, as minimum on card is 20GBP.
HISTORY & SHOWS
Being Fabrics little brother means you’ll never be short of line up’s. As mentioned before, Matter only opened in 2008 and has played host to some impressive shows for one so young: Fatboy Slim, Stanton Warriors, Funkmaster Flash, Justice, Pendulum, Bookashade, plus the regular drum’n’bass nights Ram and Hospitality which I highly recommend.
All in all Matter is a top night out and is fairly reasonable in price as far as clubs go. However this may be to compensate for what you spend in travel costs. We live in hope that the Jubilee line is eventually bought under control, but home is only ever a cab ride away. And at 6am, depending on what state you’re in, a cab may not be a bad idea.
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