LONDON PRIDE 2009 – “A SOHO EVENING” – SATURDAY 4TH JULY
SPECIAL REVIEW
In years gone by, just the thought of this most special day in the gAylist calendar, in probably what has become THE capital of gay throughout the world, meant magnanimous marches through the streets, with floats a plenty, celebrating such a diverse scene & shouting “out & proud” everything that was great about being gay in London, yes it was always tinged with politics, but it usually signalled the time simply to have fun. Then, after parading past Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square & even Downing Street (yes they used to let us down that way!), we would all then assemble in a park somewhere, Brockwell, Clapham, Victoria, Finsbury, even Hyde!, (we don’t talk Hackney Marshes) to party like it was 1999 (strangely all the best ones happened before then), with main stage stars performing, music tents to dance our tits (sorry ladies) off, fairground rides to shout out in ecstasy & many more activities.
However, in recent years, Pride in London has been much more of a sedate affair (well for us anyway), although, taking over Central London for the day now seems to be the name of the game, spreading across all three squares (Trafalgar, Leicester & Soho), but moreover spilling around the streets between, consuming massive amounts of alcohol & soaking up the atmospheres in special events run by bars to tempt people off the streets. Yes there is entertainment, yes there are stages, but it seems that the whole essence of the celebration has changed, and rather than everything being gathered in onr big space, it is somewhat fragmented with more than a hop, skip & jump between the four main areas. Mind you, if you believe what the organisers say “Pride London is well established as one of the largest events in the UK and is now one of the biggest LGBT events in the world”. So, did this prove to be the case this year? And was all the excitement, fun & thrill evident this time around?
Well, the sun was shinning on London town, not quite the sultry (well love it) conditions of the previous week, but certainly set fair for the masses who decided to join the parade that headed off from Baker Street at 1 p.m., marching right through the heart of shopping land down Oxford & Regent streets, meandering round and finishing just past Trafalgar square. With our best foot far from forward and all good intentions laid to waste (shame on us!), we missed out on most of the main ceremonies, as by the “the third stroke” the time was almost 6 p.m., so we shifted plans to take in all the merriment of the evenings trappings, which we hoped would include trips to The Edge, to Thirst in Greek St, to Barcode Soho & to Rupert Street and all this before a quick jaunt across to the fusion event, Club Together, held at the revamped venue The Den.
Arriving at the most northerly point of Soho, in an attempt to avoid wading through crowds, what seemed like a good idea at the time, ended up being a real struggle as we encountered a sheer wall of bodies, including a mass of Hari Krishna supporters who were blocking our entrance to Soho Square and our first stop off at The Edge. So, having finally negotiated our way past and gazing across the square, which was still packed with revellers who had clearly been soaking up all the festivities laid on by the long list of D.J.’s on “The Orange” dance stage, we wedged ourselves round and into the bar, which was already full of the most eclectic mix of people we had ever seen in The Edge, but then it was Pride!?! Over in the corner, we spotted Brent Nicholls aloft in the D.J. booth, spinning out a truly uplifting & party-esque collection of tracks, which already had the bar & its customers (not to mention the staff) cranked up and dancing deliriously. We sauntered over and said our hello’s, pausing for breath to survey all around us, before heading to the bar for refreshments.
Now, we are never shy at opening our wallets, indeed, as the saying goes, “you get what you pay for”, but being used to arming ourselves with a pint of our favoured tipple, with no draught products on tap, we were resigned to a luke warm, smallish tin which actually stung a larger whole in our wallet!! (it never ceases to amaze us that our pounds are taken advantage of on special occasions like these). Nevertheless, refreshments in hand, we returned to our spot by the D.J. booth, looking around in marvel at the merriment of many, who had clearly been up to it for most of the day. With Brent continuing to entertain, we decided on a supposed quick sprint across to our other stop off’s, but leaving The Edge behind, it was clear with was going to be no sprint at all, as Soho’s streets were simply brimming with people. Struggling past the newly re-branded Pendulum bar on Frith Street, we decided to give Thirst a miss, rather heading towards Rupert Street to rendezvous with our pal Alessandro, although it took us an age to weave down Old Compton Street, avoiding not just over exuberant party goers but pavements & roads simply covered in litter, yuk!.
By the time we got into Rupert Street, just like outside, there was no spare room to move, save for the sanctuary of the D.J. booth area, where Lee Yeomans was masterminding some serious sounds to enthral the crowd, a pleasant surprise indeed, despite our expectations to see Alessandro in place, although this superb talent & Rupert St resident was not far away & popped his head up, just as we were about to search him out, greeting us with his typical Italian charm & vigour. Taking over from Lee, we really wanted to stick around enjoy some of Alessandro’s set but time was already against us and we needed to head back to The Edge for onward movement to Club Together with Brent Nicholls, as our presence was most definitely required there, meaning we had to pass on the temptations of Barcode. So, speeding as quickly as we could, we got back to Soho square & into the bar to find tip top vocalist Tonnic injecting yet more energy into an already alive atmosphere. With Brent handing over the decks to a new sprung talent & winner of the recent D.J. competition at Escape, it was now across to our final Soho (ish) stop for the night, The Den.
The collaboration of club promoter moguls Oliver Mohns, Wayne Shires & Patrick Lilley was surely a recipe for success, although with much competition around, not least all the antics south of the river, Club Together was going to be a difficult call. Add to that the venue, which for those used to D.T.P.M. & Discotec parties is relatively easy to find, there is no escaping the fact that it is slightly off the beaten track of Soho for the comfort of those relatively unfamiliar with the territory. Nevertheless, directions sorted, we arrived at The Den’s doors, greeted as we reached our destination by the non other than the hostess with the mostest, Minty, who looked in command of proceedings as always. With entrance passes in hand, we headed down the stairs and into the familiar surroundings of what used to be The End club, heading with Brent onto the main floor, which had a smattering of hopefuls dancing away to the delightful music mixes of D.J. Paul Heron. As we returned from the bar, refreshments in hand, the man himself Wayne Shires bounded up, embracing us & thankful of our appearance, a true pleasure on our part as we love everything this man turns his hands to. With the second “rnb” room pumping, we sunk into the whole post pride atmosphere that was developing on the main floor, helped along by an energetic Tony Tansley who short of chased us round the club getting us all excited, with Sean Day & his pals also in our company, spicing up proceedings, which were heightened even more when Brent Nicholls took to the decks to carry on where Paul had left off it was turning out to be a special party. However, having changed into our camo gear, SuperMartXe duty called, so we said our farewells to everyone, slipping up the stairs and out of The Den to continue our exploits south of the river.
So what of London Pride this year? Well, it is fair to say that our take time round was very much different to previous ones. With the demise of the big park style celebrations in favour of smaller scale Central London festivities, it seems to have simply resulted in people taking over the streets of Soho, seemingly reducing the event into one massive drinking session. Given the enormous amount of litter on the streets which we had to wade through in the evening, coupled with masses of over exuberant (we should say inebriated!!) bodies around, our walk around Soho was far from pleasant and we can only imagine what it had been like at the height of the afternoon!. Yes, there were some great moments for us, we loved the fun atmosphere in The Edge, albeit that the crowd wasn’t quite us, it was good to see Rupert St buzzing with Lee Yeomans in action and the Club Together experience was a fun filled enjoyable one.
However, the fact remains that with not just Cologne Pride running on the same weekend (big enough in itself), the huge draw that is Madrid Pride, definitely drains London of the pick of the gAylist bunch of hotties & party heads and this is no surprise, as the Spanish certainly know how to put on a party for the masses, with the whole city embracing the event with, yes, Pride!!, no hiding in the back streets here, no small scale stages, no quibbling about paying for a quality event, rather encompassing a massive party weekend on a grand scale that London can only dream of. In our view, the labelled “one of biggest LGBT events in the world” is far from it and, for us the excitement, fun & thrill has gone from London Pride. So what needs to be done? Well, we say, bring back the big park celebrations, give value for money rather than ripping off and inject the real fun & passion back into this special event in the calendar. Also, maybe consider re-positioning the date, so as not to clash with the biggest pride party in Euorpe. Think about it, makes sense to us! (DISCO MATT)
SPECIAL REVIEW
In years gone by, just the thought of this most special day in the gAylist calendar, in probably what has become THE capital of gay throughout the world, meant magnanimous marches through the streets, with floats a plenty, celebrating such a diverse scene & shouting “out & proud” everything that was great about being gay in London, yes it was always tinged with politics, but it usually signalled the time simply to have fun. Then, after parading past Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square & even Downing Street (yes they used to let us down that way!), we would all then assemble in a park somewhere, Brockwell, Clapham, Victoria, Finsbury, even Hyde!, (we don’t talk Hackney Marshes) to party like it was 1999 (strangely all the best ones happened before then), with main stage stars performing, music tents to dance our tits (sorry ladies) off, fairground rides to shout out in ecstasy & many more activities.
However, in recent years, Pride in London has been much more of a sedate affair (well for us anyway), although, taking over Central London for the day now seems to be the name of the game, spreading across all three squares (Trafalgar, Leicester & Soho), but moreover spilling around the streets between, consuming massive amounts of alcohol & soaking up the atmospheres in special events run by bars to tempt people off the streets. Yes there is entertainment, yes there are stages, but it seems that the whole essence of the celebration has changed, and rather than everything being gathered in onr big space, it is somewhat fragmented with more than a hop, skip & jump between the four main areas. Mind you, if you believe what the organisers say “Pride London is well established as one of the largest events in the UK and is now one of the biggest LGBT events in the world”. So, did this prove to be the case this year? And was all the excitement, fun & thrill evident this time around?
Well, the sun was shinning on London town, not quite the sultry (well love it) conditions of the previous week, but certainly set fair for the masses who decided to join the parade that headed off from Baker Street at 1 p.m., marching right through the heart of shopping land down Oxford & Regent streets, meandering round and finishing just past Trafalgar square. With our best foot far from forward and all good intentions laid to waste (shame on us!), we missed out on most of the main ceremonies, as by the “the third stroke” the time was almost 6 p.m., so we shifted plans to take in all the merriment of the evenings trappings, which we hoped would include trips to The Edge, to Thirst in Greek St, to Barcode Soho & to Rupert Street and all this before a quick jaunt across to the fusion event, Club Together, held at the revamped venue The Den.
Arriving at the most northerly point of Soho, in an attempt to avoid wading through crowds, what seemed like a good idea at the time, ended up being a real struggle as we encountered a sheer wall of bodies, including a mass of Hari Krishna supporters who were blocking our entrance to Soho Square and our first stop off at The Edge. So, having finally negotiated our way past and gazing across the square, which was still packed with revellers who had clearly been soaking up all the festivities laid on by the long list of D.J.’s on “The Orange” dance stage, we wedged ourselves round and into the bar, which was already full of the most eclectic mix of people we had ever seen in The Edge, but then it was Pride!?! Over in the corner, we spotted Brent Nicholls aloft in the D.J. booth, spinning out a truly uplifting & party-esque collection of tracks, which already had the bar & its customers (not to mention the staff) cranked up and dancing deliriously. We sauntered over and said our hello’s, pausing for breath to survey all around us, before heading to the bar for refreshments.
Now, we are never shy at opening our wallets, indeed, as the saying goes, “you get what you pay for”, but being used to arming ourselves with a pint of our favoured tipple, with no draught products on tap, we were resigned to a luke warm, smallish tin which actually stung a larger whole in our wallet!! (it never ceases to amaze us that our pounds are taken advantage of on special occasions like these). Nevertheless, refreshments in hand, we returned to our spot by the D.J. booth, looking around in marvel at the merriment of many, who had clearly been up to it for most of the day. With Brent continuing to entertain, we decided on a supposed quick sprint across to our other stop off’s, but leaving The Edge behind, it was clear with was going to be no sprint at all, as Soho’s streets were simply brimming with people. Struggling past the newly re-branded Pendulum bar on Frith Street, we decided to give Thirst a miss, rather heading towards Rupert Street to rendezvous with our pal Alessandro, although it took us an age to weave down Old Compton Street, avoiding not just over exuberant party goers but pavements & roads simply covered in litter, yuk!.
By the time we got into Rupert Street, just like outside, there was no spare room to move, save for the sanctuary of the D.J. booth area, where Lee Yeomans was masterminding some serious sounds to enthral the crowd, a pleasant surprise indeed, despite our expectations to see Alessandro in place, although this superb talent & Rupert St resident was not far away & popped his head up, just as we were about to search him out, greeting us with his typical Italian charm & vigour. Taking over from Lee, we really wanted to stick around enjoy some of Alessandro’s set but time was already against us and we needed to head back to The Edge for onward movement to Club Together with Brent Nicholls, as our presence was most definitely required there, meaning we had to pass on the temptations of Barcode. So, speeding as quickly as we could, we got back to Soho square & into the bar to find tip top vocalist Tonnic injecting yet more energy into an already alive atmosphere. With Brent handing over the decks to a new sprung talent & winner of the recent D.J. competition at Escape, it was now across to our final Soho (ish) stop for the night, The Den.
The collaboration of club promoter moguls Oliver Mohns, Wayne Shires & Patrick Lilley was surely a recipe for success, although with much competition around, not least all the antics south of the river, Club Together was going to be a difficult call. Add to that the venue, which for those used to D.T.P.M. & Discotec parties is relatively easy to find, there is no escaping the fact that it is slightly off the beaten track of Soho for the comfort of those relatively unfamiliar with the territory. Nevertheless, directions sorted, we arrived at The Den’s doors, greeted as we reached our destination by the non other than the hostess with the mostest, Minty, who looked in command of proceedings as always. With entrance passes in hand, we headed down the stairs and into the familiar surroundings of what used to be The End club, heading with Brent onto the main floor, which had a smattering of hopefuls dancing away to the delightful music mixes of D.J. Paul Heron. As we returned from the bar, refreshments in hand, the man himself Wayne Shires bounded up, embracing us & thankful of our appearance, a true pleasure on our part as we love everything this man turns his hands to. With the second “rnb” room pumping, we sunk into the whole post pride atmosphere that was developing on the main floor, helped along by an energetic Tony Tansley who short of chased us round the club getting us all excited, with Sean Day & his pals also in our company, spicing up proceedings, which were heightened even more when Brent Nicholls took to the decks to carry on where Paul had left off it was turning out to be a special party. However, having changed into our camo gear, SuperMartXe duty called, so we said our farewells to everyone, slipping up the stairs and out of The Den to continue our exploits south of the river.
So what of London Pride this year? Well, it is fair to say that our take time round was very much different to previous ones. With the demise of the big park style celebrations in favour of smaller scale Central London festivities, it seems to have simply resulted in people taking over the streets of Soho, seemingly reducing the event into one massive drinking session. Given the enormous amount of litter on the streets which we had to wade through in the evening, coupled with masses of over exuberant (we should say inebriated!!) bodies around, our walk around Soho was far from pleasant and we can only imagine what it had been like at the height of the afternoon!. Yes, there were some great moments for us, we loved the fun atmosphere in The Edge, albeit that the crowd wasn’t quite us, it was good to see Rupert St buzzing with Lee Yeomans in action and the Club Together experience was a fun filled enjoyable one.
However, the fact remains that with not just Cologne Pride running on the same weekend (big enough in itself), the huge draw that is Madrid Pride, definitely drains London of the pick of the gAylist bunch of hotties & party heads and this is no surprise, as the Spanish certainly know how to put on a party for the masses, with the whole city embracing the event with, yes, Pride!!, no hiding in the back streets here, no small scale stages, no quibbling about paying for a quality event, rather encompassing a massive party weekend on a grand scale that London can only dream of. In our view, the labelled “one of biggest LGBT events in the world” is far from it and, for us the excitement, fun & thrill has gone from London Pride. So what needs to be done? Well, we say, bring back the big park celebrations, give value for money rather than ripping off and inject the real fun & passion back into this special event in the calendar. Also, maybe consider re-positioning the date, so as not to clash with the biggest pride party in Euorpe. Think about it, makes sense to us! (DISCO MATT)
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