"Planet Angel is somewhere people want to be, where they can shed their inhibitions, be creative, and most importantly, feel comfortable. This collection of unique and interactive elements, such as uplifting tunes, unique lights and interactive art, combine to create a perfectly balanced, creative and fun environment."

Not so long ago Planet Angel was just a dream. This is how a small group of like-minded individuals turned the dream into a reality.

It was a chance meeting at the WARP Experience in November 1999 that led to the meeting of Planet Angel and myself. The WARP Experience was a 24hr dance event held at the Drome, London Bridge, organised by Frasier Clark (Megatripolis, Parrallel Youniversity). I had been asked to DJ there in Gregs Metaconceptual Gallery, something I had done a couple of times before. I had known Greg as a Whirl-Y-Gig regular for many years and so I was happy to play in his gallery over the duration of the 24hr gig, even though I was constantly competing with numerous louder PA systems and hoards of djembe drummers. Upon arrival at the WARP I went to set up in my usual corner, where upon I found two people already making themselves at home in (supposedly) my space. We introduced ourselves, although a rather frosty exchange followed as territory was being disputed. Pete was calm and assertive, whereas the younger Angel was quite firey and on edge. And I struggled to bite my tongue. It appeared that Greg had double booked us all which left us with a small dilemma. However, we agreed to work together during the 24hr event, with Pete and Angel providing the lights, decor and interactive art, whilst I provided an atmospheric backdrop of ambient grooves and uplifting global dance. During the following 24hrs we talked about past and present - friendships were being formed and Planet Angel was born. Little did we know what this was to going to lead on to.

From that event alone it was obvious that we worked well as a team and hence we collaborated in a series of successful gigs at the Drome, in what I admit were less than desirable locations. It was here that we tested out the art canvases (later re-named the "Dream Mosaics"), which was novel interactive art where people could freely express themselves with fluorescent paints under UV lights. The WARP then moved to 'Open' at Charring Cross and for two successive gigs we held Planet Angel out in a covered courtyard. When the WARP finally closed its doors at Charring Cross in the spring of 2000 we vowed that we would continue to work together. This was the seed for the Planet Angel events that we hold today.

On June 6th 2000 Planet Angel opened its pearly gates as its own event in the Arches, London Bridge, running with just one room and a bar area with a 10PM - 3AM licence. We ran these events through a word-of-mouth approach, without advertising or flyering other clubs or venues. Like minded people came to the parties and then told their friends, who then told their friends....and so on. This is an approach we have kept to this day as a way of protecting Planet Angel, allowing it to grow at a steady rate and ensuring that those who choose to come for the first time will be greeted by a like-minded, friendly crowd.

The parties ran throughout the summer months, with global vibes and uplifting trance hand delivered by myself, backed by an excellent hard house DJ and new comer to Planet Angel, Tequila (Ben). Outside the venue the warm summer evenings allowed us to create a chill-out area which proved popular with the djembe drummers. These events at the Arches allowed us to experiment further with the music, lights and interactive art, developing ideas that were later to become the foundations of the Planet Angel events that we hold at the present date. Likeminded people started joining the crew -Planet Angel was growing.

The Planet Angel held on the 16th September 2000 was undoubtedly the turning point for us as a club, as all the elements just seemed to fuse together perfectly. It was at this gig that we first introduced the plasticine tables, which was a new dimension to the interactive art and proved to be as popular as the Dream Mosaics. The models that were created were fantastic and offered a crazy insight into the minds of their creators. Unfortunately this was the last Planet Angel to be held at the Arches since another club night offered to take over the venue on a weekly basis, and we were only operating once a month. This was a major blow for Planet Angel since we had worked so hard to build a regular crowd of about 200 like minded people - things were just starting to take off. So, after a couple of months of frantic searching around London we eventually found a new home for Planet Angel.

On the 8th December 2000 we held our anniversary / re-launch party at our new home, Imperial Gardens, complete with a 6AM licence. All previous Planet Angel parties had run until 3 AM at the latest (except those held within the WARP) and so this was a challenge in its own right. This was an free / invite-only event, since we wanted to say a big thank you to everybody who had supported us over the last year. We were overwhelmed at the turnout since we had a full house on our hands. Imperial Gardens is a real maze of corridors, rooms and balcony's - somewhat confusing at first but once explored the full potential of this venue was realised. The entrance was adorned with fairy lights, ball balls and decked with roof high palm plants which made a stunning impression upon entering the venue.

We now had a proper chill-out room complete with its own music, which was a first for Planet Angel. DJs Birdman and Mr Fox, a Brighton based duo, entertained those who wanted to sit and chat - or those playing with the lego (another new addition to Planet Angel) - with an eclectic selection of downbeat gems. In the main room Tequila and myself were joined by DJ Therapy (Matt), who I’d met previously on the dance floor at Whirl-Y-Gig, where I had then realised that we had much in common, both musically and on a one-to-one level.

At this first gig at Imperial Gardens we introduced the concept of 'The Happening' in the main room, something that is now a regular part of the Planet Angel parties. Around 3am the music dips down from trance into two minutes of atmospheric ambient dance, during which we serve fresh fruit. After this we have a special performance for up to ten minutes, which can be anything and everything. Past Happenings have including Feeding the Fish (a visually mind-blowing juggling act), The Invisible Circus (two statues/mime artists), djembe drummers, didge players, a Fashion Show, Poetry from the Purple Wizard... to name but a few. After The Happening we crank the music back up and kick the party back into gear.

From March 2001 we started holding Planet Angel as a monthly event at Imperial Gardens, although keeping with the word-of-mouth approach and resisting all temptation to become commercial. At the party in May 2001 we unveiled the front room. Up until then we'd only been using two out of the three rooms at Imperial Gardens, but we were more than ready to expand, which meant that we now had a new room to experiment with, both in terms of music and interactive art. The music policy for the third room read as funky big beat & global beats - we wanted to keep this room fun, lively and as diverse as possible, offering an alternative to the main room, which is predominantly progressive house & uplifting trance. Further additions to the parties included giant Jenga and Mega Wipeout, which proved to be as popular as the lego and plasticine.

Over the winter months of 2001 / 2002 we also ran Planet Angel Chilled which was a daytime / evening version of the established Planet Angel all night parties, based on the same balance of interactive art, cool tunes and friendly vibe. Held at the Spitz Bar @ Spitlefields Market on Sunday afternoons, this children friendly venue was a perfect location to offer like-minded people another opportunity to get together in a cool, relaxed and friendly environment... an attuned place to chill on a Sunday afternoon. During the afternoon the music was a fusion of chilled out vibes, and then after about 7pm we cranked up the volume and stepped up the tempo, playing a mix of tunes reflecting the music played in the two main dance rooms at the all-night Planet Angel parties; hardly chilled but its what everybody wanted!

And so Planet Angel kept growing - but we were fighting a tough battle running the main parties at Imperial Gardens. It would not be professional to list the problems, but as an event we knew it was time to move on. And so March 2002 saw the last Planet Angel event to be held at Imperial Gardens.

The 12th of April 2002 saw the start of a new chapter of Planet Angel. We moved back to The Arches @ London Bridge, where two years previous we had held our first few parties as a solo event. Now under new management, this venue had far more to offer to the all night Planet Angel parties: four arches all at ground level (and hence much better wheel chair access), excellent rail and bus links, better and safer location, its own large private supervised car park and friendly security.

We kept the general structure of the parties the same, although we had a few subtle changes including renaming the rooms. The main room became the Trance Meltdown Room, featuring the usual blend of uplifting trance & progressive house music, whilst the Front room of Imperial Gardens became the Funky Lounge, with a wider music policy of breakbeat, bigbeat and all things funky. And The Chill Bar remained as the Chill Bar; cool, eclectic, laid back yet never horizontal.

Over the following months we gradually re-adjusted into our slightly bigger new home, experimenting with the layout, improving the decor and light show and tweaking the music policy. As some regular party people pointed out, Planet Angel had changed; I'd like to think that all changes were for the better and that we had grown up somewhat.

During that summer we re-launched Planet Angel Chilled on Sunday afternoons at its new home in Shillibeer's Restaurant. I had to duck out of Chilled due to my slightly excessive workload, so the music coordinator / resident DJ role was passed into the capable hands of DJ Nibbler, a DJ protégé of mine. Chilled thrived at Shillibeer's and rapidly became a family friendly environment. I occassionly show my face at PA Chilled and play a few tunes, although that's usually limited to those events coinciding with bank holiday weekends.

Back at the main all-night parties... Bio performed as the Happening at the September 2003 party (mainly thanks to the combined efforts of Matt Therapy and DJ Monkey Pilot). Bio were a new trance act, consisting of Andy Young (The Secret) and Ade Chapman, who, after experiencing a Planet Angel party, asked if they could play a live PA. The following party they made their debut performance as Bio, which we recorded and later released as our first CD on Planet Angel Records. A few months later Quietman also played live.

And so the Planet Angel story continues. We can still be found partying on a monthly basis, the date of which is a closely guarded secret in our attempt to protect the vibe of what is essentially a word-of mouth event (although you can email Planet Angel if you want to join us). Each month takes us one step closer to achieving our overall aim of moving into a permanent space where we can incorporate the main parties and PA Chilled, launch further creative workshops and events, and incorporate beneficial facilities and resources for those who visit.

Photo's by Ian Hunter, Mark Wilkinson & Glenn Dunwell