Barcode Soho London Pride Special Event Club Review - July 2008

BARCODE SOHO – PRIDE SPECIAL – SATURDAY 5TH JULY
REVIEW FOR SEENQUEEN


Having escaped work at 8 p.m. we ventured in Soho to mix with the amassed 1000’s celebrating London Pride and on arrival outside Barcode, it was clear that the crowd were definitely having a good time already, most having savoured the festivities in Trafalgar & Leicester Square(s) following the customary parade through the streets of the West End.

Venturing inside into Barcode, firstly on ground floor level, we were immediately greeting by long lost friends, as always seems to be the way at Pride, and immediately took advantage of refreshments to get our party going, along with the others already in party mood. Plenty of commercial house tunes were pumping out although when we peered into the DJ booth, it was empty, thereby signalling our venture into the club bar below.

Once down the stairs and through the doors, we entered a packed club room, the dancefloor brimming full with eager boys and girls. As we could remember from the launch Saturday, the laser lighting was as good as ever and with the club so full the atmosphere was electric. Moving towards the DJ booth, which like upstairs, was vacant, we paused for breath in amongst the revellers who were clearly having a great time without the aid of a DJ. However, it wasn’t long before we were blessed with the amazing talents of Alan X, a Barcode favourite, who took command of the decks, pumping out house classics, one after the other.

Moving back upstairs for some air we ventured outside briefly and the crowd seemed even bigger than before, many seemingly shunning the temptations of Compton Street, which we were told remained rammed as dusk became dark. It wasn’t long before we found ourselves back down in the club, where Alan X was handing over to DJ Oliver M, who was fresh from his set at the Salvation Pride party at The Hippodrome. Oliver remains one of our favourite DJ’s of the moment and he greeted us with his usual charm and passion and from this moment on, we were sure to be guaranteed some fabulous music to heighten the already brilliant atmosphere.

So, the scene was set for another fantastic outing to Barcode and as Oliver failed to disappoint, pulling out familiar tune after tune, also paying remarkable attention to us between music choices, we fully immersed ourselves in the enthralling entertainment package that is the newly revamped Barcode Soho club bar, with its brilliant acoustics, fantastic lighting, all combined with a regular line up of top notch DJ’s to compliment everything else on offer.

With the end of the extended opening until 3 p.m upon us, we waved goodbye to Oliver and headed off into the Soho night to continue our Pride partying south of the river at the sister venue and then the ravages of Beyond at Area.

For us, Barcode Soho remains one of our favoured venues in Central London and the recent refurbishment has put it right back where it belongs, not only as a clean crisp and inviting bar, but as a genuine pre-club or indeed clubbing venue in its own right. If you haven’t visited this new look Soho haunt, we thoroughly recommend you do very soon. We will definitely be revisting ourselves again and again, especially when the talents of DJ Oliver M are on display. (DISCO MATT)