SOHO’S BEST BAR’S ON A FRIDAY – 30TH OCTOBER
REVIEW FOR SEENQUEEN
Now, our Friday’s in Soho seem to be becoming quite a tradition, in what can only be described as fitting end to a hard working week, or more appropriately, “hair of the dog” after an overindulgent Thursday night at Industri, not that we make a habit of doing either (who are we kidding!?!). But who could resist the draw of the capitals best & busiest gay village on a Friday, with plenty of gAylisters around to soak up a blissful evening’s entertainment with. It is not surprising that our favourite clubbing website has just added a new section devoted to the best bars in Soho, so we thought it would be a fitting tribute to this launch to give you a snippet (well for us anyway!) of what three of these bars have on offer on a Friday.
But this was going to be no ordinary Friday, as there was something quite big going on in Trafalgar Square which looked like stealing the usual focus away from the bars. What was this event? well the “Candlelight Vigil” of course, in memory of an innocent life lost to the callous brutality of homophobes who took a dislike to two men showing their affection for each other. With a reported gathering well into the thousands, Soho was embracing itself to take the strain as we arrived in Rupert Street bar, the first of our three (well four actually) stop-off’s, squeezing our way past an already buoyant crowd to find our usual spot at the top end of the bar, where we always get exemplary service from the ever smiling Luca (but then all the bar staff are really friendly & helpful).
The team had a lot planned across the night, not only were they scheduled to pay respects with two minutes silence at 9 p.m. (the vigil, remember!?) but they had an amazing pre-party for Lovechild lined up too, Rupert Street’s General Manager Cathy filling us in on all the details and just in time too, as the whole troupe of sexy go-go dancers all dressed in tight red lycra body suits appeared, with promoter Alex Erfan right in the thick of it. We managed to grab a hello from him and from Chris Geary (the dancer’s organiser) before they sped off into Soho to spread the good “Lovechild” word. Rupert Street resident D.J. Alessandro was due to start at 9 p.m. and with us in the company of his boyf as well as an over exuberant Jon, we were tempted to stay, but the call of D.J. friends slightly further a-field got the better of us and we left a pulsating Rupert Street to head off to our next destination.
Just a hop, skip & jump up Wardour Street and we found ourselves at the door of Profile Bar, the stylish new(ish) stable mate to Lo-Profile and what is proving to be a popular place to eat drink & socialise in superb surroundings with magical music on offer from some the scene’s biggest D.J. names. And tonight was no exception, as the place was actually quite busy (considering the vigil) and as we sauntered round past the bar area, we headed in the direction of the makeshift D.J. booth, where Brent Nicholls was limbering up for a night delivering delectable disc’s of music to a burgeoning, gorgeous looking and definitely gAylist crowd. We said our, by now, usual greetings to Mr N, before retreating momentarily to the bar to order up refreshments, served by the pleasurable Philippe (pleasure personified indeed) who was truly deserving of a tip (at least) for his very efficient service.
Back over with Brent and we really settled into Profile’s surroundings, as he grappled with the unfamiliar music system to then commenced playing out some truly uplifting & huge house hits to really give the atmosphere a boost. With food being ferried past by waiters with precision regularity (General Manager Rosella enjoying a brief bite herself) and we have to say, it all looked really appetising (especially the sausage & mash!!) so we vowed at that moment to make a point of coming down another day to try it for out ourselves. But food was not on our mind at this point, moreover classy conversation with our D.J. pal who had, cutely, prepared a quite wonderful speech for the planned two minute silence break at 9 p.m. but then no surprise as the man is nearly as eloquent as us (joke!). With track after track gluing us to our spot, especially when he pulled out our favourite track of the moment (twice in 24 hours!!), we were going no-where and continued to postpone our visit to The Box, to well past 9.30 p.m., but eventually felt obliged to head across Soho for our next stop-off of the night.
And we weren’t to be disappointed as upon arrival the bar was brimming with familiar faces, good looking hunks & off duty scene workers, joining forces with an emerging crowd from the vigil, reports coming our way that over 10,000 people were present. Not that it had dampened the turnout at this favourite Friday nighter of ours, and who could blame us for thinking so, with owner Frank always being so kind & gracious to us, the gorgeous Gilliume behind the bar, looking after us wonderfully & then Oliver M who regularly provides the tunes, tonight going back-to-back with D.J. Moussa. To add to the excitement, top club promoter Steve Elliot was in town, whom we hadn’t seen since Scandal, but was in fantastic form.
Oliver, when seeing us, popped out from behind the D.J. booth and grasped us in an enormous hug, lifting us off our feet in embrace (well, it’s become a bit of a tradition!) and spent a moment catching up with us since we had last been together, just seven days ago. He filled us in on his trip to Brussels & also discussed the merits of the forthcoming Halloween club events across the weekend, before returning to duty, playing our second favourite track of 2009 (well Zoe Baldwin is first of course!), Norman Dorat’s “Last Forever” which heightened our already happy mood further. It was clear, however, that Oliver had a demanding audience of people continually attracting his attention and, feeling a little sidelined, we said our premature farewells, heading back in the direction of Profile Bar.
Upon our return, Brent was coming to the end of his set, but wanted to investigate downstairs in Lo-Profile when he finished and we thought it would be rude not to accompany him. So, as the 11 p.m. transition occurred we followed our lead down the special entrance between the two spaces & into Lo-Profile, where fellow Industri resident, Paul Heron was commanding the D.J. decks. Popping across to the bar, the familiar smiling face of Philippe greeted us, remembering our drink (a sign of a good barman), releasing us in an instant to rejoin our pals over by the D.J. booth. The atmosphere was building nicely, as was the crowd, just as classy as it had been upstairs & far removed from the sometimes torturous mob that frequent parts of Vauxhall. And the atmosphere continued to rise when out from nowhere appeared two drop dead gorgeous muscle hunks, who took to improvised podiums & wowed the onlookers, moving & dancing in motion to the marvellous house music Paul Heron was delivering.
Brent was in camera clicking mode and went in search of some tasty material to add to the shots he had already taken of the go-go boys, but soon returned to join us and then encourage us onto one of the podiums as Paul played (yes you guessed it!) our favourite record (the naughty boy), Zoe Baldwin’s “Release Me”, nearly succeeding on getting us enticed onto the elevated spot, a pastime we used to love in the days of old, but now not quite so brash as we were. By now, our night was well & truly fulfilled and having held such great company right through it, the inevitable call of time approached & with Brent also throwing in the towel, we headed out of Lo-Profile, in the blissful ignorance that one of our favourite D.J.’s was about to take over from Paul, Jamie Head (damn, how did we miss that?!?!), rather collecting ourselves for a perilous peddle home to reflect on another superb Friday in Soho.
So, how did our night at three of Soho’s best gAylist bars reflect? And what, which, where & when would we recommend? Well, it was always going to be tricky to spread our allegiances as thinly as we did. However, it is fair to say that each bar visit had its own merits. Rupert Street remains as popular as ever and you can always guarantee a busy atmosphere & superb service from the staff (well we do anyway!). The Box on a Friday is very special and attracts a very high quality crowd, many scene faces yes, but it has an air of class about it that makes for a perfect Friday frolic. However, we have to say that we were very impressed with Profile Bar. This was only our fourth visit, but we are really warming to the place. The crowd, like The Box, are stylish & good looking and the service we got from the bar (well Philippe) was exemplary. Lo Profile was good too, although they have to do something about the decor (come on Gaydar!), but we were pleasantly surprised by just how much we enjoyed it down there.
In terms of recommendations, well all three rank really high. When you consider that for little or no entrance fee to any of these tip top bars, you getting scene headlining D.J.’s like we enjoyed, Alessandro, Oliver M & Jamie Head , who would complain if they did charge. Then, look at the two talents that are Brent Nicholls & Paul Heron and we would pay to hear them play any day. As for choosing a night to visit, well, The Box is definitely best on a Friday, Rupert Street is busy pretty much every night, but Saturday’s & Sunday’s are particularly good. As for Profile, well, if it’s fabulous food, magnificent music & an amazing atmosphere you crave, then visit Thursday through Saturday and we think you won’t come away disappointed. Add to that the attraction of Lo-Profile just downstairs and it makes for a great combo. So, a big cheer & thanks to all three venues for making our Friday really special and we will be back to all of you, that’s for sure. (DISCO MATT)
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