“PROUD TO BE PRIDE”
PRIDE LONDON 2010 – FRIDAY/SATURDAY 2ND/3RD JULY
SPECIAL EVENT REVIEW
Now, in years gone by we have always attempted to throw ourselves into the pride spirit, in fact back in the 90’s we absolutely adored our times both partying & working at the massive post parade (we don’t like the analogy march) park gatherings, special memories of Kennington, Brockwell & Finsbury Park parties, as well as Clapham Common, still clear in our minds, although the turn of the century saw other work commitments get in the way, limited our pride devotions to special clubbing events. However, 2010 was set to be completely different, as not only were we enthused by the whole Pride London activity, but we were keen to absorb as much of the goings on as possible, well we were until an untimely accident lay us low with a bad back (but you know all about that). Mind you, plenty of rest followed by lots of determination saw us not just savour the before & the after, but plenty of the in between too. So sit back as we take you though our escapades from Friday to Saturday night, signalling our celebratory return to Pride partying & being. "proud to be pride".
So where do we start? Well at the beginning is a good place and with one of the busiest weekends on our doorstep and wishing to look out best, it was off into Soho to get our golden locks (well grey bits actually) trimmed in time for the following day, our Friday jaunt into town then finding us in the capable & hilarious hands of D.J. pal Brent Nicholls, who was spinning the sounds at Profile Bar, but like us was struggling with conflicts to his body, we being a right pair, him with his summery allergies and us with our crippling back pain. However, braving each other’s health ridden storms, we laughed & giggled our way through the evening, the backdrop of fabulously funky music, not to mention plenty of eye candy in the form of a scantily dressed young barman certainly sent plenty of healing waves our way and got the weekend off to the best possible start. But as no great party really starts without a pre-party these days, our evening’s entertainment was to end in the hands of Onyx down in Vauxhall, venue Area positively buzzing with pre-pride activity and magical music aplenty, superb performances from both Jamie Hammond & Phil Marriot more than satisfying our tastebuds, the ever attentive Tom ensuring our smooth entry to the club & our early(ish) retirement, so as not to ruin the marathon road of activity ahead.
With pride day dawning to warming sunshine, we were ready for our first foray into Central London to savour Pride London 2010 in all its glory, indeed our first full on pride experience for close on ten years. Being much more organised than usual and with our back seemingly much better after all our therapeutic laughing the previous night, we arrived at the head of the traffic diversions in Parliament Square just before 1 p.m., a good thirty minutes before the parade was due to start across the other side of the west end in Baker Street, so plenty of time to position ourselves in our favoured viewing spot by Piccadilly Circus, or so you would think. However, having decided to take a quick look at the dance stage setting in Leicester Square on the way, what can only be described as the rudest & surliest security guard, who treated us with a most unwelcome amount of distain when we enquired whether the stage was open, forced an immediate detour to vent our frustrations & them calm our fraying nerves, calling on pals in Rupert Street & arming ourselves with cooling liquid refreshments.
With 2 p.m. fast approaching, we began to hot foot it across the short distance to Piccadilly Circus, although were soon stopped in our tracks by a chatty Micky Galliano & Andrew Harris, both soaking up the warm summer sunshine beating down onto Archer Street, we picking up on hilarious anecdotes with both Micky & Andrew, recalling on recent clubbing experiences & dancefloor moments, the intensity of the conversation & yet more of that therapeutic laughter detaining us from our parade watching duties longer than we had expected, meaning it was close on 2.30 before we got anywhere near the parade, which seemed to have been diverted away from its usual route. Making it to Piccadilly Circus, we managed to catch the last ten minutes or so of this colourful cacophony of gay liberation celebrators, flags flying, whistles blowing & waves of people parading past this ionic London landmark of a spot, very much being proud to be pride, large floats making a splendid splash, although we managed to miss the “Best Of Brits” mini we were so looking forward to seeing.
So, with the last of the parade trail gone, we turned tail and headed for the dance stage in Leicester Square, which we were sure would be in full flow by now, arriving at just turned 3 p.m. and making our way to stage front, suitably impressed by the set up, given the short notice nature of arrangements, the usual site of the dance stage in Soho Square having been prohibited by Westminster council on grounds of safety, but an 11th hour reprieve handed to Craig Elder & his team to use Leicester Square instead. Mind you, with no drinks stalls of any kind within the arena and alcohol banned from the square, the atmosphere, to begin with, was a little subdued, although D’Johnny was definitely doing a fantastic job behind the decks, rousing the audience with a whole collection of funky chunky tunes, very much in the style of his brilliant Beyond inspired beats we love so much. Catching Tom Fuller’s attention, our passage to the select VIP area behind the stage was secure, following which a whole host of friendly faces appeared to say hello, including clubbing pals, Jason, Ross & the huggable Rob, not to mention D.J. chums Jamie Head, Mikey D, Steven Sharp & Nick Evans, the square filling with pride party goers before our very eyes and the atmosphere building by the minute.
We were keen to check out proceedings down on Trafalgar Square, although the streets leading up to it were swarming with people who had either peeled off from the earlier parade or had decided to venture in search of Soho, our arrival at our destination confirming our fears that the whole area would be packed to the rafters. Finding what seemed the only reasonable space to stand, we had a good view of the square below, although being so far away, the performers on the stage were hardly visible, save from the massive screen next to it, which made for easy viewing, even if the show at the time, Tight Fit (a real blast from the past), wasn’t that inspiring. With the dance stage calling us loud & clear, we headed back to Leicester Square just in time to capture the bulk of Jamie & Mikey’s back-to-back set performance, a brilliant collection of hands in the air anthems, mixed in with characteristic vocal electro & tech inspired tunes that set the scene for The Oli & Paul Martin to follow.
By now Soho was awash with alfresco drinkers & socialites intent on making the whole area a street party like never seen before, hardly a spot unoccupied, a space unfilled, so much so our foray onto Rupert Street saw us soon retreat to the relative comfort of Barcode, first bumping into the lovely Jeremy Precelton & partner Tim Banham, then head poncho Kerry Chapman. Having caught up on news we dived inside to say our hello’s to longstanding pal Kris Di Angelis, who was warming up the Barcode pride party with some soothing sounds, he being thrilled to see us, bounding out from behind the booth to give us a big hug, gripping our back a little harder than we would have liked, although the liaison did bring a huge smile to our face, memories of our Soho frolics in years gone by, streaming back in our minds. However, as joyous as the meet up with Kris was, the dance stage was once again calling us back, we rounding the corner into Leicester Square just in time to catch the last few beats of Alan K’s latest rendition of our favourite track “Release Me” and by the time we were stationed within the VIP area, we could see he had really captured the audience’s attention & imagination, the atmosphere having increased considerably, hoards of revellers soaking up Alan’s monumental music with gusto. So it was here that we stayed, seeing out the remaining two hours of activity, our occasional dancing dervishes intermixed with social schmoozing & chit chat with both Elder brothers, photographer Chris Jepson (subsequent evidence confirming he caught in pose with his camera, the sneaky man!), club promoter Romain Lopez & a resplendent Naomi, we being pleased as punch to get our slice of Jiggy magic on this special day. With Peyton putting up a prolific PA performance & The Sharp Boys rounding off this brilliant outdoor event in the hands of the dance stage in Leicester Square with a rip roaring set, the 8 p.m. finish came all too quickly but signalled our retreat back into Soho to continue to pride party activity deep into the night.
As good as the music was in the square we had left behind, it was set to get even better, as entering our favourite bar hangout Rupert St, we spotted a resplendent Alessandro Londra through the crowd, already spinning some scintillating & uplifting beats to a packed out place. Finding a sacred spot next to the D.J. booth, we immediately found our stride, soaking up Ale’s tremendous tunes, his whole performance very much with pride in mind, not least with a truly uplifting Lady Ga Ga mix, plenty of the funky euro/italio style sounds that have become his trademark, as well as a special dedication to us of that record again, “Release Me” getting a rapturous reaction from all around us. With the party atmosphere ramping up by the minute & plenty of familiar faces floating, Alessandro was revelling in the moment, his music hitting all our high notes, making for one of those truly memorable performances that he always seems to deliver within the walls of this Soho sophisticate of a bar.
Not much could have torn us away from the amazing Alessandro & his music, although a quick trip up to Profile Bar, weaving our way around the packed & crowed streets, saw a return to the spot where our Pride weekend had started just over 24 hours before, as Nick Evans was banging out some brilliant beats to an up for it funky collection of party heads, we delighting in seeing the venue so full of fun once again, in some ways completing the circle of our proud to be pride inspired central London antics. However, with our mind now set of the chain of clubbing parties ahead of us, it was back to Rupert St to soak up yet more of that Londra lambasting, rubbing shoulders with an angel-tastic Svetlana Queen, before changing into our SuperMartXe gear for our trip down Logan’s yellow brick road to The Coronet & his “The Wizard Of Oz” gay party extraordinaire.
So that was our pride trip, but what did we think of Pride London 2010? Well, there was no doubt that we felt much more enthused about the whole affair this year compared with last and with the dance stage being secured in Leicester Square, rather than being pushed into its usual Soho corner, it seemed to pull proceedings together much better, rather than creating the feel of celebrations being somewhat separate, the dance stage acting as a real linch pin to the party activity between Trafalgar Square & Soho. However, it was clear that facilities in Leicester Square were a bit “last minute.com”, no fault of The Orange Group of course, but the resounding cries of lack of refreshments dominated discussions, as did the rather unfriendly security staff & their idiosyncratic decision to restrict numbers, despite plenty of space being available each side of the stage front. However, those issues aside, all the D.J.’s performances more than made up for these issues and the whole afternoon was, without doubt, the most enjoyable outdoor event we had savoured since the spectacular Soho Pride of two years ago, so big thanks go to Craig, Aaron, Daniel, Tom, Steven, George, Johnny, Jamie, Mikey, & especially Alan, without whom none of this splendour would have been possible, Leicester Square very much the plentiful filling in our pride celebration sandwich.
And as for Soho, thank goodness the authorities decided to relax restrictions on the streets so as to allow the pride partying to go ahead, although we remain bemused by their decision not to allow any outside stalls or the like, which would have made that subtle difference between this gayest of villages streets feeling more like a proper pride celebration, rather than hoards simply taking advantage of the traffic free roads to drink decadently outside. However, you get a sense that London as city casts a critical look at giving its spaces away to gay celebration, rather than embracing it like Madrid, Cologne & many other worldwide metropolises do, the mere fact that our own mayor was unwilling to take to the stage for fear of being heckled, a perfect example of elements of intolerance that still seems to grip our society. However, we send a massive thank you to Rupert St & Profile for playing their part in our brilliant before & after as well everything combining to ensure that we were definitely "proud to be pride" in 2010. (DISCO MATT)
PRIDE LONDON 2010 – FRIDAY/SATURDAY 2ND/3RD JULY
SPECIAL EVENT REVIEW
Now, in years gone by we have always attempted to throw ourselves into the pride spirit, in fact back in the 90’s we absolutely adored our times both partying & working at the massive post parade (we don’t like the analogy march) park gatherings, special memories of Kennington, Brockwell & Finsbury Park parties, as well as Clapham Common, still clear in our minds, although the turn of the century saw other work commitments get in the way, limited our pride devotions to special clubbing events. However, 2010 was set to be completely different, as not only were we enthused by the whole Pride London activity, but we were keen to absorb as much of the goings on as possible, well we were until an untimely accident lay us low with a bad back (but you know all about that). Mind you, plenty of rest followed by lots of determination saw us not just savour the before & the after, but plenty of the in between too. So sit back as we take you though our escapades from Friday to Saturday night, signalling our celebratory return to Pride partying & being. "proud to be pride".
So where do we start? Well at the beginning is a good place and with one of the busiest weekends on our doorstep and wishing to look out best, it was off into Soho to get our golden locks (well grey bits actually) trimmed in time for the following day, our Friday jaunt into town then finding us in the capable & hilarious hands of D.J. pal Brent Nicholls, who was spinning the sounds at Profile Bar, but like us was struggling with conflicts to his body, we being a right pair, him with his summery allergies and us with our crippling back pain. However, braving each other’s health ridden storms, we laughed & giggled our way through the evening, the backdrop of fabulously funky music, not to mention plenty of eye candy in the form of a scantily dressed young barman certainly sent plenty of healing waves our way and got the weekend off to the best possible start. But as no great party really starts without a pre-party these days, our evening’s entertainment was to end in the hands of Onyx down in Vauxhall, venue Area positively buzzing with pre-pride activity and magical music aplenty, superb performances from both Jamie Hammond & Phil Marriot more than satisfying our tastebuds, the ever attentive Tom ensuring our smooth entry to the club & our early(ish) retirement, so as not to ruin the marathon road of activity ahead.
With pride day dawning to warming sunshine, we were ready for our first foray into Central London to savour Pride London 2010 in all its glory, indeed our first full on pride experience for close on ten years. Being much more organised than usual and with our back seemingly much better after all our therapeutic laughing the previous night, we arrived at the head of the traffic diversions in Parliament Square just before 1 p.m., a good thirty minutes before the parade was due to start across the other side of the west end in Baker Street, so plenty of time to position ourselves in our favoured viewing spot by Piccadilly Circus, or so you would think. However, having decided to take a quick look at the dance stage setting in Leicester Square on the way, what can only be described as the rudest & surliest security guard, who treated us with a most unwelcome amount of distain when we enquired whether the stage was open, forced an immediate detour to vent our frustrations & them calm our fraying nerves, calling on pals in Rupert Street & arming ourselves with cooling liquid refreshments.
With 2 p.m. fast approaching, we began to hot foot it across the short distance to Piccadilly Circus, although were soon stopped in our tracks by a chatty Micky Galliano & Andrew Harris, both soaking up the warm summer sunshine beating down onto Archer Street, we picking up on hilarious anecdotes with both Micky & Andrew, recalling on recent clubbing experiences & dancefloor moments, the intensity of the conversation & yet more of that therapeutic laughter detaining us from our parade watching duties longer than we had expected, meaning it was close on 2.30 before we got anywhere near the parade, which seemed to have been diverted away from its usual route. Making it to Piccadilly Circus, we managed to catch the last ten minutes or so of this colourful cacophony of gay liberation celebrators, flags flying, whistles blowing & waves of people parading past this ionic London landmark of a spot, very much being proud to be pride, large floats making a splendid splash, although we managed to miss the “Best Of Brits” mini we were so looking forward to seeing.
So, with the last of the parade trail gone, we turned tail and headed for the dance stage in Leicester Square, which we were sure would be in full flow by now, arriving at just turned 3 p.m. and making our way to stage front, suitably impressed by the set up, given the short notice nature of arrangements, the usual site of the dance stage in Soho Square having been prohibited by Westminster council on grounds of safety, but an 11th hour reprieve handed to Craig Elder & his team to use Leicester Square instead. Mind you, with no drinks stalls of any kind within the arena and alcohol banned from the square, the atmosphere, to begin with, was a little subdued, although D’Johnny was definitely doing a fantastic job behind the decks, rousing the audience with a whole collection of funky chunky tunes, very much in the style of his brilliant Beyond inspired beats we love so much. Catching Tom Fuller’s attention, our passage to the select VIP area behind the stage was secure, following which a whole host of friendly faces appeared to say hello, including clubbing pals, Jason, Ross & the huggable Rob, not to mention D.J. chums Jamie Head, Mikey D, Steven Sharp & Nick Evans, the square filling with pride party goers before our very eyes and the atmosphere building by the minute.
We were keen to check out proceedings down on Trafalgar Square, although the streets leading up to it were swarming with people who had either peeled off from the earlier parade or had decided to venture in search of Soho, our arrival at our destination confirming our fears that the whole area would be packed to the rafters. Finding what seemed the only reasonable space to stand, we had a good view of the square below, although being so far away, the performers on the stage were hardly visible, save from the massive screen next to it, which made for easy viewing, even if the show at the time, Tight Fit (a real blast from the past), wasn’t that inspiring. With the dance stage calling us loud & clear, we headed back to Leicester Square just in time to capture the bulk of Jamie & Mikey’s back-to-back set performance, a brilliant collection of hands in the air anthems, mixed in with characteristic vocal electro & tech inspired tunes that set the scene for The Oli & Paul Martin to follow.
By now Soho was awash with alfresco drinkers & socialites intent on making the whole area a street party like never seen before, hardly a spot unoccupied, a space unfilled, so much so our foray onto Rupert Street saw us soon retreat to the relative comfort of Barcode, first bumping into the lovely Jeremy Precelton & partner Tim Banham, then head poncho Kerry Chapman. Having caught up on news we dived inside to say our hello’s to longstanding pal Kris Di Angelis, who was warming up the Barcode pride party with some soothing sounds, he being thrilled to see us, bounding out from behind the booth to give us a big hug, gripping our back a little harder than we would have liked, although the liaison did bring a huge smile to our face, memories of our Soho frolics in years gone by, streaming back in our minds. However, as joyous as the meet up with Kris was, the dance stage was once again calling us back, we rounding the corner into Leicester Square just in time to catch the last few beats of Alan K’s latest rendition of our favourite track “Release Me” and by the time we were stationed within the VIP area, we could see he had really captured the audience’s attention & imagination, the atmosphere having increased considerably, hoards of revellers soaking up Alan’s monumental music with gusto. So it was here that we stayed, seeing out the remaining two hours of activity, our occasional dancing dervishes intermixed with social schmoozing & chit chat with both Elder brothers, photographer Chris Jepson (subsequent evidence confirming he caught in pose with his camera, the sneaky man!), club promoter Romain Lopez & a resplendent Naomi, we being pleased as punch to get our slice of Jiggy magic on this special day. With Peyton putting up a prolific PA performance & The Sharp Boys rounding off this brilliant outdoor event in the hands of the dance stage in Leicester Square with a rip roaring set, the 8 p.m. finish came all too quickly but signalled our retreat back into Soho to continue to pride party activity deep into the night.
As good as the music was in the square we had left behind, it was set to get even better, as entering our favourite bar hangout Rupert St, we spotted a resplendent Alessandro Londra through the crowd, already spinning some scintillating & uplifting beats to a packed out place. Finding a sacred spot next to the D.J. booth, we immediately found our stride, soaking up Ale’s tremendous tunes, his whole performance very much with pride in mind, not least with a truly uplifting Lady Ga Ga mix, plenty of the funky euro/italio style sounds that have become his trademark, as well as a special dedication to us of that record again, “Release Me” getting a rapturous reaction from all around us. With the party atmosphere ramping up by the minute & plenty of familiar faces floating, Alessandro was revelling in the moment, his music hitting all our high notes, making for one of those truly memorable performances that he always seems to deliver within the walls of this Soho sophisticate of a bar.
Not much could have torn us away from the amazing Alessandro & his music, although a quick trip up to Profile Bar, weaving our way around the packed & crowed streets, saw a return to the spot where our Pride weekend had started just over 24 hours before, as Nick Evans was banging out some brilliant beats to an up for it funky collection of party heads, we delighting in seeing the venue so full of fun once again, in some ways completing the circle of our proud to be pride inspired central London antics. However, with our mind now set of the chain of clubbing parties ahead of us, it was back to Rupert St to soak up yet more of that Londra lambasting, rubbing shoulders with an angel-tastic Svetlana Queen, before changing into our SuperMartXe gear for our trip down Logan’s yellow brick road to The Coronet & his “The Wizard Of Oz” gay party extraordinaire.
So that was our pride trip, but what did we think of Pride London 2010? Well, there was no doubt that we felt much more enthused about the whole affair this year compared with last and with the dance stage being secured in Leicester Square, rather than being pushed into its usual Soho corner, it seemed to pull proceedings together much better, rather than creating the feel of celebrations being somewhat separate, the dance stage acting as a real linch pin to the party activity between Trafalgar Square & Soho. However, it was clear that facilities in Leicester Square were a bit “last minute.com”, no fault of The Orange Group of course, but the resounding cries of lack of refreshments dominated discussions, as did the rather unfriendly security staff & their idiosyncratic decision to restrict numbers, despite plenty of space being available each side of the stage front. However, those issues aside, all the D.J.’s performances more than made up for these issues and the whole afternoon was, without doubt, the most enjoyable outdoor event we had savoured since the spectacular Soho Pride of two years ago, so big thanks go to Craig, Aaron, Daniel, Tom, Steven, George, Johnny, Jamie, Mikey, & especially Alan, without whom none of this splendour would have been possible, Leicester Square very much the plentiful filling in our pride celebration sandwich.
And as for Soho, thank goodness the authorities decided to relax restrictions on the streets so as to allow the pride partying to go ahead, although we remain bemused by their decision not to allow any outside stalls or the like, which would have made that subtle difference between this gayest of villages streets feeling more like a proper pride celebration, rather than hoards simply taking advantage of the traffic free roads to drink decadently outside. However, you get a sense that London as city casts a critical look at giving its spaces away to gay celebration, rather than embracing it like Madrid, Cologne & many other worldwide metropolises do, the mere fact that our own mayor was unwilling to take to the stage for fear of being heckled, a perfect example of elements of intolerance that still seems to grip our society. However, we send a massive thank you to Rupert St & Profile for playing their part in our brilliant before & after as well everything combining to ensure that we were definitely "proud to be pride" in 2010. (DISCO MATT)
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