Famous - Club Review

“FAMOUS” – SUNDAY 3RD MAY 2009
REVIEW FOR SEENQUEEN


Now we all like the thought of being famous, but fame comes in many guises and indeed what is fame? Is it being a famous person, a celebrity, or maybe just someone that is known by many for what they do, known within the circles they mix, maybe known on the gAylist scene, yes, we all have our idea of fame and being Famous.

So when you are asked the question, do you want to be Famous, only if for 15 minutes?, would you say yes?, well we certainly did, when this very prospect was landed on our doorstep, with a new club launch called, yes you guessed it, Famous. Brought to us by the people behind none other than Salvation and at the swanky centrally located venue, Floridita in Soho’s Wardour Street, it was not just that attracted us, but set that at the socially sensible time of 5 p.m. till midnight, well how could we say no?

So, with only a wee Disco nap after a busy Saturday into Sunday, we headed into town and up to a so far undiscovered venue, not far from Lo-Profile, very easy to find, with a wide entrance and very welcoming security staff, we were inside in a trice. With only a small hiccup with the guestlist to negotiate, we were through & past the coatcheck, being greeted & given the royal treatment by the man himself, Steve Elliot, who clearly was busy, busy, busy, but certainly had the time to not only guide us in, but show us around the top floor, before getting on with his business. And it was this most sumptuous tip top space where we enjoyed the first part of the “Famous” experience, with a gorgeous mix on true gAylist socialites, none of your trashy end tat here, moreover a glittering array of good lookers, glamorous gays, guys & girls as well as sassy scene faces, including Chris Geary, Pier Morrocco & Alessandro, who all took the time to say hello. But the hello’s didn’t stop there, as a whole array of faces, some recognisable, others not, walked up to greet us. So was this to be our 15 minutes of fame? well maybe. With D.J. Minx warming up the crowd with some uplifting funky house, we armed ourselves with refreshments in anticipation of what was to come.

And come it did, as the reasonable crowd began to disappear down the sweeping staircase, yes a stylist and seductive entrance to the downstairs place, but not quite the opulence & overtness of the Café De Paris comparison, but fabulous nevertheless. Once down the staircase, drinks in hand and having had the paparazzi click us in motion, we found respite by the lengthy and well stocked bar at the front of the room and watched as the gathering masses began to brave the dancefloor, grooving & moving to the equally groovy & gigantic house mixes that D.J. MisWhite was laying down. From her elevated position, she could oversee all the action and it was clear that she was in pole position to build on the atmosphere, with brilliant track after track, which certainly hit the spot with many and certainly us, less commercial, more funk, less mainstream, more unique and so much more our style than in previous outings.

There seemed to be more familiar faces appearing, some from years gone by, a true reflection of the appeal & draw that Steve Elliot and Salvation(esque) parties tend to attract, making it feel quite special. We spotted Industri pal, Matt Kruger, on duty sadly, but looking superbly smart nevertheless, although it was a shame he wasn’t allowed to sport the fantastic kilts that the gaggle of go-go’s were wearing, some looking jaw droppingly gorgeous, certainly providing the eye candy required and many being most attentive to the crowds desires (now, now, nothing filthy here!!), adding that extra dimension to the nights proceedings. So, with Pier Morrocco still in close attendance and discussions a plenty about who the night would pan out, not least that poor old Gonzalo, who was lined up to D.J. later, had bitten more off the weekend that he could chew and may not be arriving (I don’t know… these youngsters just can’t handle the pace!!), the arrival of Oliver Mohns and Robb Williams served to inject yet more excitement into our evening and maybe another reason to grab a moment of fame!

With Steve in attendance, we, along with Oliver, Robb, & Pier were ushered into the exclusive V.I.P. space, to savour a quadrangular room of quality and class, that was very much the epitome of Floirdita, from the fabulous first floor, right through to the bohemianly styled basement, which made for the most amazing space for Famous and, if it be said, many more gAylist offerings, so clean, so presentable and exuding style in bucket loads. As we caught up with Oliver, Robb & Pier more, we were introduced to the organiser of Salvation Paris (you know how bad we are remembering names…sorry forgot his), who was keen to get to know us (not like that naughty!), so was this another moment of fame?

With Oliver & Robb off to organise their own event and Pier about to take over the D.J. decks from MisWhite, we moved back into the main room to savour the fabulous Famous atmosphere, with the crowd building, if a little slower than expected, but with the quality never diminshed. However, one thing was for sure,the heat was certainly being turned up by Pier, who, as he had at Matinee La Leche, grabbed the audience with his charismatic collection of progressive, chunky, and tougher edged tech house tracks combined with tunes of the now, which had even the tamest of dancefloor dollies, gyrating away. With the kilt clad go-go’s taking to the stage in front of the D.J. booth to excite the experience, definately did that and the evening was now well & truly alight, with a continuing number of hopefuls swinging down the staircase to grab their fill of Famous. However, with a hectic schedule ahead of us, our moment of fame was well & truly up and as we waved farewell to Pier, to Matt and then caught up with Steve, to discuss the merits of the night, we had to then make our leave, heading of to our next clubbing appointment south of the river.

So what did we think of Famous as a venture and did we get our moment of fame? Well, the event had all the ingredients of a high quality affair, matched in everyway by the classy crowd, by the magnificent music and by the fantastic Floridita venue. However, with everything in place, the one thing the event lacked was numbers through the door. So why didn’t the all the build up and talk match the popularity on the night? Well, if you look back to the last bank holiday, it has become starkly clear that like then, people were very picky with their choices, as we said then, there were winners & there were losers. On this occasion however, we would say that Famous was not a loser. Yes, the numbers were quite low, but we can guarantee that everyone that was there had a superb time.

However, it may have down to the recent problem of making a t-dance timed event work. In days of old, remember Factor 25? it definitely worked, but times they have changed and whoever takes on this tricky task needs to tread carefully in our view. Famous deserves the right to succeed in whatever form it decides upon & in the hands of Steve Eliot we are certain it will, for our support it will definitely get. As for our 15 minutes of fame, well, we think we achieved it in more ways than one (DISCO MATT)