BARCODE SOHO – SATURDAY 10TH MAY
REVIEW FOR SEENQUEEN
It seems like an age since the team at Barcode Soho started the renovations of this popular venue and having missed out on the re-launch party on Wednesday, due to work, we were keen to see the fruits of their labours, particularly in the club downstairs.
So, just before 10 p.m. on a balmy Saturday night we ventured into the West End and to what is our favourite venue amongst many on offer. From the outside, Barcode looks like its familiar self, but it is clear that everything has changed the moment we entered.
Sweeping through the double doors past the friendly and welcoming supervisor, the revised entrance immediately drew us into the ground floor bar, which has been completely transformed. The window seating has been upgraded with additional “centre aisle” seating as well as high tables and stools, making for a much more comfortable arrangement. The bar has been moved from the side to the back and looks much more glamorous with distinctive lighting, which neatly changes colour dependant on the mood.
The major difference is in the DJ booth which is now on the left hand side of the bar, cleverly recessed and raised with huge Barcode signage behind in red, making a real statement. Faye Lanson was holding court behind the decks, pumping out uplifting house mixes to a captive and engaging audience who showed their appreciation by boogying away to her tunes. The whole vibe of the ground floor has improved and with additional seating on the right hand side of the bar, it has well and truly come of age.
The team have extended onto a first floor, dedicating the space to a brand new coatcheck and what has to be the largest toilet facilities in Soho, which are superbly decked out with state of the art equipment, continuing the truly glamorous feel. With a seating area outside the coatcheck between the ladies and gents facilities, the space is unrivalled with any we have seen and we can well see the temptation to spend time socialising up here.
As if all of these changes were not enough, we then entered the “piece de la resistance”, the basement club and bar. Accessed by the same stairwell as before, that is where the similarity well and truly ends. So, as we descended and then pushed through the doors, we entered what is clearly and much larger space and unrecognisable from the old room. The team have gone to extraordinary lengths to improve this part of the venue and it has certainly paid off. With vertical red panel lighting stretching around the walls and an incredible lighting system on the ceiling, complimented by some amazing lasers, the dancefloor space had a truly magical feel, which simply took our breath away as we wondered through.
With the bar pushed further to the back and equally as impressive as the facility on the ground floor, complimented with new and additional seating areas, we continued to be delighted by the changes and clear improvements. Best of all, the DJ booth has a now fantastic location, seemingly floating in the middle left of the dancefloor and once there we found scene favourite DJ Brent Nicholls standing resplendent, sending the crowd delirious with his unique mix of funky house beats, tailored beautifully to this more relaxed clubbing experience. In charge of the decks and the lighting, it was clear Brent was in his element and like us was impressed with the new club space, with the ability from the new booth to see each and every reaction of the audience in front of him.
With familiar faces strolling past, off duty DJ’s popping in for a chat and the club getting busier and busier, we savoured the electric atmosphere, much improved on the club of old. Despite it getting busier and busier, with the added space we never felt crushed like so many times in the past and with Brent continuing to push out a fabulous mix of tunes and experimenting with the lighting system we danced ourselves dizzy, trading endless comments and compliments of the club, right through to the all too sudden end at 1 a.m.
So, has the transformation been a success, with out a shadow of a doubt yes. The ground floor space is a clear improvement on the old, the first floor has to rank as one of the best facilities of any venue we have been to in London, but the true success is the basement club and bar. As we said, this simply took our breath away and we have fallen in love with its charms, the lighting system, the incredible positioning of the DJ booth, the improvement in the acoustics, combined with the bigger bar and new seating. All this has made for a very special club space indeed and it can now rank not only as a fabulous “pre-club” venue but a true clubbing venue too.
So hats off to Troy and the team in making Barcode Soho into a truly magnificent bar. The venue has definitely caught up with its younger sister and whilst the Vauxhall venue is still the fantastic place it was when it opened, we can see that some club events will be itching to move over the river soon. We will certainly be visiting Barcode Soho again and again (DISCO MATT)
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