Barcode's Soho & Vauxhall + Lo-Profile Club Review - September 2008

BARCODE’S SOHO & VAUXHALL + LO-PROFILE
SATURDAY 6TH SEPTEMBER 2008
REVIEW FOR SEENQUEEN


With so many of the larger clubs across London swinging their doors open on what remains the most popular night of the social week, you could forgive yourself for overlooking the smaller venues, many of whom are never considered as offering a great clubbing night out. However, in the form of both Barcode’s Soho & Vauxhall as well as newcomer Lo-Profile, you are very much mistaking for only identifying these as swish and swanky bars.

Whilst, in terms of size, these offerings cannot hold a stick to venues like Astoria, Heaven, Fire & Area, they have plenty of surprises in the form of a great mix of stylish surroundings, superb music offerings provided by top scene D.J.’s, reasonably priced drinks compared to their larger rivals and despite their humbler spaces, deliver a clubbing experience to be remembered, thus attracting a better quality & more discerning crowd, looking to fulfil their evenings entertainment without being out well past dawn.

So, with a rare weekend off, we hastily made plans to head down to Barcode Soho with our friend Benoit, who was keen to see the new look club downstairs, which he had not yet visited since its transformation back in May. Rolling up just before 10 p.m., we found the upstairs bar rammed with party hopefuls, some simply out to indulge in drinks and chat, but many others anxious to strike a pose on the dancefloor downstairs. And they were not to be disappointed as, suddenly, the music pace stepped up, signalling opening of the club, followed immediately by a rush down the stairs and into this revamped, improved and surprising space.

We followed suit and once into the club space, spotted Brent Nicholls behind the decks, warming the gathering crowd up with his unique mix of latin flavoured twists combined with more commercially styled popular tunes, very much akin to the crowd attracted to Barcode. Grabbing refreshments from the bar, we were soon joined by our friend, who appeared through the quickly amassed clubbers to savour the fabulous atmosphere already building. The Barcode team have done a superb job with the club, increasing the space considerably, offering additional seating areas, a much bigger dancefloor, a vastly improved lighting system including an amazing combination of lasers which blew us away when we first saw it, not to mention far better facilities for the D.J., this person, we believe, being an integral part of the success of any clubbing event. With the ability to both socialise & dance away our evening, there was little more we could ask of our visit & despite the 1 a.m. finish, Barcode Soho fills a gap in the clubbing offering, virtually unrivalled across London.

Or so we thought, as we were then tempted across Soho to the more recently launched bar/club Lo-Profile on Wardour Street. Having undergone a metamorphosis from previous guises including the doomed Sweet Suite, with the backing of Gaydar Radio, the venue has quickly made it’s mark on the clubbing scene, like Barcode, attracting many top notch D.J.’s interspersed with up-coming talent, thus providing the quality of music you can expect in all the larger clubs in London. Arriving at the doors, we were soon whisked through by the larger than life door host Vanity and meandering down the long corridor, lighted by unique if but quite garish multi coloured and shaped lights sunk into the walls & ceiling, we descended some stairs and swung into the club space. With a bar in the far left corner beyond the conveniently sized dancefloor and a much larger bar to the right, surrounded by sumptuous seating areas, it is clear the Profile team have made the most of creating a very stylish & swanky feel to this venue, so attracting a similar crowd, far removed to the “G head” and gutter trash who frequent places like Fire in Vauxhall. Like the entrance areas, the whole club has been adorned in the unique lighting, setting it aside from any other and whilst not to our taste, does serve to add to the atmosphere. Recent & rising D.J. star Allesandro was in control of the decks, having taken over from veteran Guy Williams, delivering a popular mix of up-to-date house floor fillers.

After grabbing refreshments at the bar, we decided to avoid the dancefloor, rather heading for the elevated seating area to the side and making every effort to succumb to the clubbing experience on offer. However, it is fair to say, that having had such an amazing time at Barcode, Lo-Profile had a very hard act to follow and for us failed to deliver. With only a smattering of dancefloor lighting spots, an excessive amount of space given away to seating areas, some roped off in some “VIP/Royal enclosure” style affair, this meant that the crammed dance space lacked the feel of Barcode and larger clubs. Yes it was pleasantly refreshing to mix with well mannered, dressed & stylish party seekers, combined with a clean & refreshing environment as well as engaging & friendly staff, Lo-Profile just didn’t float our boat. However, it was clearly popular with many and like its Barcode rival delivers a clubbing experience worth enjoying.

So, with the need to fulfil our evening and on the promise of a trip to Beyond, we headed south of the river to Barcode Vauxhall, tempted by the extended opening time of 6 a.m. and the tried & tested club space at the rear of the venue which is currently set aside for the popular Friday’s & Saturday’s the venue enjoys. On arrival, we were waved through the door by the ever friendly Emilio and headed through the busy front room intent on dancing our way to dawn in the club space. Once there we found a packed room, full of revellers, some more akin to the Vauxhall set, others familiar from our exploits at its sister venue earlier. The gorgeously sexy Mattias was in charge behind the D.J. booth, pumping out huge house tunes & firing up the amazing mirror ball enthused lighting & laser system, now that’s how to do it! Bumping into off duty D.J’s, club promoters & scene faces, we quickly got into our stride and spotted Brent Nicholls who had entertained us earlier, he soon taking over from Mattias, delivering an altogether harder edged set than his earlier offering, similar to that we have come to love in clubs like Crash, Beyond & Hard-on. This ensured we hardly failed to stop dancing almost right up to the finish time, with the dancefloor still packed when we eventually threw in the towel.

So, what are we saying here? Well the message is clear. If you are looking for a genuine clubbing experience, without extortionate drinks prices, an out of control drug enthused crowd and massive queues to use facilities, rather to savour clean & sumptuous surroundings, a stylish mix of people, reasonably priced drinks and great large club style music supplied by top DJ scene names, you can do a lot worse than choosing either one of the Barcode’s venues or Lo-Profile to see out your Saturday clubbing yearnings. Each venue in its own way provides every much as good an experience as their “classic” clubbing peer choices and in some ways much more, for all the good & right reasons. (DISCO MATT)