It’s that time of year again: Thursday’s the new Friday, Friday’s the new Saturday, Sunday’s a fun day and on Monday morning you can wake up with a spring in your (probably hungover) step. You’ll notice that for this Easter bumper special we’ve gone a little party, food and international heavy. Because what else do people do on bank holiday weekends apart from eat, party and go places? Exactly. See you on the other side. This Weekend’s Picks • FRI Brixton Clubhouse’s Terrace Opening Party • SAT Superfreq E’special • SUN Kitsuné Maison Party TONIGHT Back to ’95 Eleventh Birthday Start off the party circuit with a fun one tonight. Go back to ’95 and jump along to some old school garage and house sets from Todd Edwards, a live performance from Barbara Tucker, as well as another two rooms playing soul, funky house and RnB. Back to ’95 Eleventh Birthday, 10pm-6am, £15-£17.50, Proud2, The O2, Peninsula Square, SE10 ODY. FRIDAY PARTY: Brixton Clubhouse’s Terrace Opening Party PARTY: 360° Weekender It’s almost a cardinal sin to not be outside on Good Friday. So good news, then, that the Brixton Clubhouse (formally Dex) terrace opens in line with the first bank holiday of the year. The urban haven hosts a 12 hour techno-house party (starting at 2pm, no less) with Scottish techno outfit Slam, Cedric Maison of Hypercolour and hot newbie Samantha Blackburn. A superclub plus a bank holiday can only mean one thing: a superparty extravaganza. The second of the four-night Egg special means UK bass - and lots of it. Record label ClekClekBoom takeover Room 1 with a roster of artists, and the likes of Fife, Deadbit and DJ Q take over Room 2. Head in tonight and stay until closing time… on Monday morning. 2pm-4am £8-£10 469 Brixton Road, SW9 8HH 10pm-6am £15 Egg, 200 York Way, N7 9AX SLEEPOVER Easter at Dean Street Townhouse Forget Easter weekends away - spend an Easter weekend in town. From Friday to Monday, Dean Street Townhouse is offering special rates of £150 for the Tiny and Small rooms and £250 for the Medium and Bigger rooms. Egyptian cotton, Cowshed products and eggs any way you want them for breakfast. Dean Street Townhouse, 69 - 71 Dean Street, W1D 3SE Call 020 7434 1775 or email hotel@deanstreettownhouse.com to book INTERNATIONAL #1 The Do-Over Coachella Sundays If you’re out California way in the next couple of weeks for Coachella, you don’t want to miss The Do-Over Sunday parties at Palm Springs’ Ace Hotel & Swim Club. Nurse your festival hangover by the pool with sunny jams from surprise DJs, a BBQ and ice cold beers. The Do-Over, April 15 and April 22 701 East Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs, California 92264 PODCAST Easter Party Mix Ibiza, Coachella, London - wherever you are this week you’ll be needing pool/party/Easter gathering-friendly tunes. Maui based DJ Q Ross brings you some sunshine inspiration straight from Hawaii. Enjoy! Play SATURDAY PARTY: Benny Benassi & Friends PARTY: Superfreq E’special Everyone remembers the hot pant-clad girls of Benny Benassi’s Satisfaction in 2002, or, more recently, his party track with Kelis. Well this weekend he’s coming to Ministry, where he’ll be playing his usual crowd pleasing, house-techno line-up. Support comes from electro producer Etienne de Crecy and 2010 Red Bull Threestyle DJ winner Santero who’ll offer up a mesh of jungle, hip hop and house. Hot pants optional. For some international glamour (and panoramic views), it’s got to be Superfreq’s 10th anniversary E’Special. Entertaining discerning clubbers for a decade in Ibiza, London, Mexico City and LA, you can expect the usual high-fuel party with music from Mr C and Luke vB (naturally), Raymundo Rodriguez, and the world’s leading techno head Ambivalent. Get your freq on, 30 floors up. 11pm-7am From £20 Ministry of Sound, 103 Gaunt Street, SE1 6DP 11pm-7am £15 Paramount, Centre Point, 103 New Oxford Street, WC1A 1DD POPCHIPS PICK Sponsored Listing The creators of Secret Cinema are at it again. If you fancy stepping into Prohibition era Chicago, head to Fat Sam’s Grand Slam Speakeasy at The Troxy where they’re showing a screening of Bugsy Malone with a twist. Expect live scenes, all singing all dancing characters, gangsters and cola floats, of course. Future Cinema, £25, until April 29 popchips, @popchipsUK, www.facebook.com/popchips, now available to buy in Waitrose, Wholefoods and Planet Organic PRODUCT PICK Easter Egg Easter wouldn’t be Easter without an actual egg (the club doesn’t count). We’ve got our eyes on this chocolate creation by artist Darcel, chocolatiers Jean-Paul Hevin and A la Mère de Famille. Available at Colette INTERNATIONAL #2 Ibiza Easter Picks Spring means one thing on the White Isle: opening parties. There’s a lot going on this weekend so we’ve narrowed it down for you. Do it like a local and head to Aura on Friday night, a gallery party on Saturday, and end at beloved beach club Blue Marlin for Sundays done right. Check out our Ibiza Guide for more inspiration AGENDA PICK burn studios Residency Calling all DJs: burn studios have just launched Residency, a programme which will give three talented DJs a residency at a top Ibiza club this summer. All you have to do to enter is upload a 15-20 minute mix - after a live competition the best will be picked to go to IMS before bootcamp, where you’ll be mentored along the way by UJ faves Jamie Jones and 2Many DJs (and more). See you in Ibiza. burn studios Residency competition, applications close April 8 SUNDAY PARTY: KitsunÉ Maison Party PARTY: Red Bull Music Academy presents If the warm-up mix is anything to go by, Kitsuné Maison’s Easter Sunday party should be a goodun. As the biggest party on their calendar, there’s sure to be new talent and an impressive crowd. There’ll be good-time electro from The Magician, dance from Radio 1’s Jaymo and Andy George, and raw pop meets lo-fi disco from new band Is Tropical. Don’t forget to also check out Jodie in the Don’t Panic room. The Bernstock Speirs bunny caps will go down well here. And finally, if you can muster up enough energy (you should), there’s the Red Bull Music Academy party at The Nest. It’s going to be a get-down banger, with a soundscape journey from garage, grime and funky to dubstep and house. T Williams provides your house/bass fill, joined by garage king MJ Cole for some much needed dancetime tracks. Support comes from garage producer Wookie who’s joined by original grime kids Elijah & Skilliam. 9pm-4.30am £14 Heaven, 9 The Arches, Villiers Street, WC2N 6NG 7pm - 2am £7 The Nest, 36-44 Stoke Newington Road, N16 7XJ Reserved La Bodega Negra – Fun-fuelled Mexican on Old Compton Street 9 Old Compton Street, W1D 5JF | 0207 758 4100 | www.labodeganegra.com Location Sex shop? Peep show? By now you’ve probably heard that the front of La Bodega looks less than traditional - and if you’re familiar with its heritage (one of the owners was behind La Esquina in NYC) then this will come as no surprise. Pass under the ‘COME’ sign (yes, we know), get past the bouncer and descend into the hacienda-style basement. Décor/ Vibe This could be our favourite dining room in London right now. Dark, sultry, candlelit, buzzy, hip hop beats at a healthy level and a great front bar - this is as good as it gets for a great night out. We REALLY needed a place like this in London - and the Old Compton Street location suits the restaurant perfectly. Flavours Here it’s more about drinks, atmosphere and décor than food, but the menu is surprisingly good. Faves included tuna, avocado, chipotle, jalapeño tostaditas and mixed seafood and rice cazuela. Drinks were good (as you’d expect) - we stuck with the original margarita on the rocks with salt, but there were tamarind, watermelon and passion fruit versions on offer (and frozen grapefruit which should be left to the American tourists). Upshot This place is FUN. We like the café on Moor Street - casual booth dining with no reservations, a central bar and a raw bar coming soon - but the subterranean restaurant is where you’ll find us. We hear there’s already been some great parties here too, so if you need us, we’ll be at La Bodega Negra. If we can get in… Reserved Archive > RESTAURANT REVIEW BY TR, WEEKEND GUIDE by JC & MY LIKE SHARE FORWARD *|SHARE:TWITTER, FACEBOOK, STUMBLEUPON, LINKEDIN, DELICIOUS|* *|GOOGLE:PLUSONE|* PREVIOUS EDITION (c) 2012 Urban Junkies. All rights reserved. Reproductions of any portion of this website only with our express permission. Urban Junkies is a free daily mailer. All listings and features are editorial: We do not receive any payment from venues, artists or promoters. Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy of information listed but we cannot accept responsibility for errors or omissions.