Soho Live - Special Review

SOHO LIVE 09 - SUNDAY 13TH SEPTEMBER SPECIAL EVENT REVIEW

Ever since its inclusion in the social calendar back in 2002, the street parties of Soho, in Pride format, have been a resounding success, attracting a healthy, handsome & hedonistic crowd who were definitely in party mood and one that has always been a popular choice for us, whether in the original "Saturday" Pride format or the more recent "Sunday" slot which proved to be just as, if not more successful for many reasons. With last year’s party in August being one the best events, not only of the year, but in Soho Pride's history, we were very disappointed when news of its demise came through, the lack of financial support being the main reason, although the underlying current of causes extended to excuses such as Crossrail, Mayoral support withdrawal and many things in-between, we began to resign ourselves to the fact that our most favoured outdoor event was not going happen this year.
However, when news hit that the team behind The Edge Bar, together with the might of the Gaydar organisation were coming to the rescue and planning a Pride style event across Soho's streets, our enthusiasm was renewed as was our anticipation of what the combo team had in mind for the day and indeed when the date for this all encompassing party would be. Then as news began to spill out from various sources, it was clear that the now usual August timing would definitely slip, the preferred date being a Sunday in September, but with the promise of the inclusion of all the ingredients that have made previous events great, but with a new name tag as well as the aim to make it much more of a community event in line with the wishes & necessary support of Westminster Council, everything seemed set fair for another spectacular Sunday in Soho. So, how did the reformed event go down? Was it the success that the team expected? And what was our take on Soho Live 09?
Well, having made a commitment to our favourite bar, Rupert Street, to help the team out, in what in previous years has proven their busiest of days, we knew from the start that our experience of Soho Live 09 was going to be different to say the least, although we were defiantly going to savour everything the event had to offer, even if it was going to be in small bites across the afternoon. Mind you, we were definitely in poll position to view the goings on around the Q.X. stage in Rupert Street, just shy of the bar, which has always proven to be a very popular area of activity. And with plans to decorate the bar in a XXX rated style, we threw ourselves into the affair, joining the Rupert St bar crew on the Saturday afternoon, to commence preparations for the big day itself and like in no Soho Pride parties before, we were going to be very much a working part of the event itself, well and truly in the thick of it at one of the most popular destination bars on this very special day. With the weather forecast looking set fair just days before and with the Saturday having a real "indian summer" feel, expectations were high for a repeat the following day, although we rose from our bed to a very gloomy looking London and dressing ourselves in our special saucy outfit to match the Rupert Street theme, we headed into Soho, arriving just before midday to start our duties. Walking into the area, there seemed to be an uneasy calm around the streets of Soho, although much of the preparation for the afternoon's activities having been completed, St Anne's Garden looked very colourful with a huge bouncy castle on one side, stalls spread around the other, all sandwiching a stage area ready for a string of shows including a huge homage to musicals by the talented "A Stage Kindly" theatre group. We had also spotted the revised positioning of the girls stage in Romilly Street on our approaches to Soho, which had the promise of some spectacular performances by girl bar G Spot's very own D.J. Caz Sandra D, resident at Ruby Tuesdays & Miss Bailey, not to forget the added spice of vocalist extraordinaire Tonnic. Even the Q.X. stage was ready and waiting and we were very much looking forward to appearances by Matinee, Hard On!, Industri & Lo Profile resident Brent Nicholls, fab D.J/Producer & Gutterslut resident Per Q.X. and the duo that played a superb b2b set at the recent Trade/Orange party and are regulars at Beyond & Juicy, Jamie Head & Mickey D, all who had the promise of making this stage area extra special yet again.
Aiming for Rupert Street, we didn't catch the build up in Soho Square itself, the focus of much of the afternoon, as duty called behind the bar, but we had plans to savour the atmosphere on planned breaks across the afternoon. Now in years gone by, the party would get going reasonably early with the 1 p.m. start across Soho drawing in an early crowd, which would quickly swell to capacity by mid afternoon, but as 1 p.m. came and went it was clear this year was going to be very different. But for what reason? Was it the weather? (well it was a bit chilly & grey!), Was it the lack of advertising? (well there was plenty, although some customers coming into Rupert Street seemed unaware of what was going on). Or was it down to the current lacklustre financial climate where people seem to not want to party like last year? (a definite possibility).
With only a handful of people in the bar, we spotted Brent Nicholls arriving for opening duties on the Q.X. stage, although with no-one to perform to, his 1 p.m. start was stalled and we managed to grab his attention for a brief chat, catching up on news, showing off our saucy outfit and attempting a prediction on how the afternoon would pan out. And, it is fair to say that our predictions were not far off the mark, with the crowd struggling to build for much of Brent's set and the bar being relatively quiet for much of the early afternoon. We were also getting news that Soho Square was taking its time to liven up but with the weather clearly not helping it was evident, looking through Rupert Street's windows, that the streets were far from full even as 3 p.m. approached, when all expectations were that it would be much busier. Further news from around Soho was not promising, Barcode reporting things were really quiet and even Compton Street not the usual bottleneck of people we have become used to in previous years. So, it was time to get out onto the streets and see what was going on for ourselves and in a short hop down to the Q.X. stage, where Brent Nicholls had handed over proceedings to Mikey D, there was a reasonable crowd gathering, although nowhere near the packed out place this popular part of Soho's street parties usually is. We were hoping to catch up with Brent to get his perspective, but with news he had gone in from the cold, we turned tail and headed up to St Anne's Garden and then into Compton Street which seemed to lack the buzz we would normally expect, although there were plenty of familiar faces stopping us in our tracks, commenting on our Paparazzi T-Shirt and leather chaps outfit and also asking about the afterparty itself, a glamorous T-dance styled affair with a star studded cast at super new club venue the Wandsworth Palais. The mood of many we spoke to seemed a little downbeat, although things were spiced up the procession of bronzed beauties promoting the forthcoming Wig party, definitely lifting the atmosphere, as well as the sexy dancers, courtesy of Mark Forn's Fierce Intl organisation, outside newbie gAylist shop DV8, all carrying out impromptu performances to delight.
Heading up to Soho Square via Greek street, there were plenty of stalls to tempt, although not many were taking the bite and then entering Soho Square, the format was very much different to 12 months ago, when the main stage was within the confines of the square itself, the real focal point of activity. This year, the Soho Live team had decided to make the square a place for fun and frivolity, with carousel style slides & rides, as well as laying on some special catwalk shows sponsored by "Paparazzi". But the music was where the real action was, with the stage in the far left hand corner outside the square, drawing the largest crowd of the day we had seen yet. Oliver M was performing a very uplifting set ahead of the biggest billing of the afternoon, The Freemasons, who would be followed first by Steve Pitron and then by Paul Heron, so there was certainly alot on offer to attract. And with a good looking crowd smattered with familiar & scene faces as well as jaw droppingly gorgeous go-go dancers in amongst the throng & on the stage in front of Oliver, even the overcast skies couldn't dampen the spirits here.
But, we had to head back to our duties behind the bar and sidling down Dean Street, where there were a handful of people enjoying the fairground style of stalls but the street like the ones we had wandered down before just seemed to lack the atmosphere we had been used to. Even the girl’s stage, which we dropped in on, had just a handful of people entering the entertaining fun. It was only when we were back behind the bar at Rupert Street and when day turned to night that the buzz began to really build for us, with the surrounding streets now full with revellers who then decided to spill inside to soak up the scintillating sounds being delivered by Alessandro, Rupert Street's resident D.J. and we really began to enjoy our Soho Live experience, being released from duties at 9.30 p.m. when we mingled with friendly faces and customers alike to see out the rest of our evening before deciding which afterparty to head to.
So, that was Soho Live for us, but to answer our earlier questions, firstly, how did the reformed event go down? then, was it the success the team expected? and finally, what was our take on Soho Live 09? Well, with the lacklustre start which was most likely influenced by the inclement weather, the event really struggled to ignite in anywhere near the numbers that the previous year's Soho Pride event did and certainly our experience going around the streets when we did, was that Soho Live seemed to lack the dynamism of previous events, probably trying to be too much to be all encompassing, rather than focussing on its usual target market. There was no doubt that the team were expecting big things, but we suspect they were disappointed by both the turnout and some of the feedback. The grand plans for the official afterparty, Paparazzi, seemed all good, but the response was minimal, most choosing to stay in Soho for parties at Lo Profile & Shadow Lounge or heading to nearby Vauxhall. Being confined to Rupert Street for most of the day may have distorted our opinion of the event, but with constant feedback from friends passing through, we think not.
So what of the future for Soho Live? Well, there is no doubt that hosting the event in September was probably a factor on its success this year, although with the weather having been so bad in August, maybe the outcome would have been the same. Then there is the inevitable reason, if but a now boring one, that the so called recession took away peoples enthusiasm to get out and party, so to be fair to the organisers were always going to face an uphill battle. A more controversial view is that through its recent publicity campaigns, the Gaydar organisation has alienated the very people it wanted to attract to Soho Live and that the lateness of advertising together with the change of branding was also to blame. We suspect that there was an element of all of these reasons to point the blame, which then raises doubts about future events, should they take the current course. In our view is that there is mileage in Soho Pride (not Live!) and by bringing it back towards the summer, we believe the successes of 2008 can be repeated. We wait in anticipation of news for next year’s celebration. (DISCO MATT)