|
The Bars and Clubs of London
Hight times are
are happening at London's hottest bars and clubs.
•
An American
College Student in London
•
London's
Weekly Hip-Hop Battle
|
NO
MORE 'LAST ORDERS' AS PUBS OPEN LATE
England's long history of early-closing
pubs is over. Pubs – and clubs for that matter – can
now stay open as late as they wish under a new Licensing Act put
in effect in November. The law allows for establishments to serve
for 24 hours, but unlike all-hours Las Vegas, most places will
simply extend business hours by an hour or more. So the 11 o'clock
bell, followed by the phrase, "time please gentlemen,"
is ringing later in London.
|
London's club scene is as famous among
partiers as its culture is among historians.
Few places on the planet can brag about the trend-setting themes and
the first-rate music supplied by cutting-edge deejays and bands.
The club scene is young. The crowd is overwhelmingly in their 20s.
Older revelers generally stick with the bars, more casual dance clubs
or pubs. The doormen at the clubs have more power than the Queen. They
scan the queues, overlooking those without the right "look."
The only option for those in line is to be patient and polite. It's
a flashback to one's youth when the bully picks sides for the neighborhood
football game – you just hope you are eventually chosen. Once the
game starts, of course, you can dominate.
Pay less attention to a club's address than it's name. Most are located
on side streets in dingy warehouse away from tourist areas – that's
part of their appeal – and chances are you will have been warming
up with a few pints in a pub or bar/club and won't be able to remember
the location anyway.
In addition to the clubs featured in PubClub, there are special events
rotating around the city different nights of the week (usually Monday-Thursday).
Time Out magazine lists them all but frankly, unless one is well-versed
in the club scene, it's impossible to know what you are getting yourself
into. It's best to stick with the places we mention. Some nights at
the same club are different, so if those queued up are people you would
like to party with, get in behind them. Club covers usually range from
£5-15 but can reach £30.
Bars
A large part of London's nightlife exists not in the pubs or even the
famous (or infamous) clubs. It occurs, instead, in the city's many bars,
places without a long history or discriminating doormen. Often called
"club bars," some of these places are upscale while others
are just fun places to cut loose.
The clientele is largely local, residents who live in the area and
simply walk from bar to bar after work or into the night. Or sometimes
both. The dress is upscale trendy (basically, whatever is in style),
although nobody will kick you out for wearing a pair of jeans.
Most of the young and fun "club bars" are located along Fulham
Road and in Chelsey, although a few are in Soho.
Fulham is a young, upscale area with plenty of bar choices. The bars
usually get rolling in the early evening– people in London
seem to like to drink right after work – and go until about 11
during the week. On weekends, people often stay out until closing at
2 a.m.
Two of the best club bars are located under the same roof. The Light
Bar and St. Martin Lane are both in the St. Martin Hotel.
The Light Bar is one of the town's newest hot spots. It has a well-dressed
crowd eager to sit around the long, marble bar and pay high prices for
drinks. But it's worth it – bartender Charlie Hamberger makes the
best cocktails in London. Ask for the blackberry martini – it contains
fresh-squeezed blackberries. The scene at St. Martin Lane is much the
same. Since both are so close together, people often start at one and
finish at the other.
Other popular socializing spots are The Collection and
The Purple Bar.
The Met Bar (Metropolitan Hotel) is one of the more interesting
places in London. Bar patrons on the second floor look down at people
eating on the first floor through a fish tank. It's quite the scene,
better earlier than later. It's a great spot to meet a friend for drinks
before going to other bars or clubs, although since it's technically
a private club it's best to arrive before 6. Try the raspberry martini.
One of the most creative bars is Tsunami. Located at the foot
of Tower Bridge, it takes the martini concept to a different level.
Instead of serving chilled flavored drinks with vodka, it does the same
with sake. The result is like being hit by a tidal wave (thus its name).
It has received several favorable write-ups in the local press.
The Match Bar in the West End (Margaret St.) matches the trendy
look of other London bars but does so with a more casual flair. The
crowd is much the same, albeit a little more laid back, and it's usually
easy to get a seat at the long, mirrored bar.
The Pitcher and Piano is THE PARTY PLACE on Sunday nights. This
Fulham bar has a casual, drunk crowd singing along to the music and
getting sweaty on the dance floor. It gets going at 7 and closes around
midnight.
The unemployed – in other words, those who don't have to go to
work on Monday – get their hormones in high gear and walk around
the corner to Crock's. This is London's top pick-up bar (and
the women are often more aggressive than the men). It has live bands
of questionable talent, loads of loaded people who either want to party
late or failed to meet someone at The Pitcher and Piano. It's best not
to close the Pitcher, as there's usually a queue at Crock's by 11.
There are also a number of causal to upscale bars in the Battersea
area across the Thames. It's heavily local; in fact, few tourists
even know it exists.
Clubs
Leading Europe's
nightlife charge, London is club heaven.
London is the mecca of the European club scene. If there's a trend
elsewhere in the world, be it music or club fashion, it likely began
here. The club scene can be confusing; figuring out the Underground
system seems simply by comparison.
The clubs are sleek, very European in style. Guys almost always wear
jackets. The people look nice but get wild. The music is everything
from hip hop to UK garage. You can check in with many of the city's
top deejays at various record stores in town; Black Market in
Soho is the best.
Fabric Home is the cream of the crop and is THE "big club."
It has a riveting sound system that literally shakes the dance floor
playing all drum and bass and hip hop. When it's time to relax, Fabric
has "day beds" to lay back and enjoy the scene. Get too relaxed
and they will call you a cab. Don't dress to impress here, it's more
of a hip jeans look. (Charterhouse Street in Clerkenwell/Farrington
tube), cover charge, 12 pounds). The place is huge and it's open all
nights (since the tubes start again at 6 a.m., it's possible to stay
and take The Underground home).
Sound Republic in Leicester Square is one of the most interesting
clubs in the city. It has a dozen monitors lining the walls and ceiling-high
screens filled with fast and colorful video images. The two-story lounge-style
bar has semi-circle booths and hardwood floors.
The king of clubs in London is the Ministry of Sound It features
house music on weekends and is a true "super club" where some
patrons party until 9 the next morning. There are two rooms and an upstairs
bar/VIP area. Wednesdays are college nights with a reduced cover to
4 pounds and a DJ spinning contest. (Gaunt Street at the Elephant &
Castle tube stop and near the Imperial War Museum, cover charge, 15
pounds.)
A trio of others, who combined hold something like 8,000 clubbers,
are also lighting up London's club scene. Scalia (King's Cross)
is a spacious club that is distinctly hip-hop. Home is a seven-story
mega-super club with a very modern look and feel. Fabric
Onanon (pronounced "on and on") is in Soho. Why bar
hop when you can floor hop? Onanon has seven choices: A dance floor,
a room with couches for relaxing, one that resembles a ski lodge, and
so forth. Pick a floor and do your thing. It's good any night but is
best on Mondays.
The Emporium (Kingly Street, off Regent Street) is owned by
a Frenchman who loves Greece. It's a tribute to ancient Greece with
statues of gods, a fountain at the entrance and cast-iron gates. It's
a well-dressed club with a comfortable dance floor. Go-go dancers (guys
and gals) add to the scene.
Tourists love the light and sound spectacle at Hippodrome (Leicester
Square), making it a good place to meet other travelers.
On the lighter side, The Fez & Kertouche (Fulham) is
a small sweat box for people who love to dance. It's casual,plays good
music and serves cold Jaeger shots.
Cheap thrills can be found at Club Richmond. It has free admission
before 11 and gets mainly college students who are living nearby as
part of a foreign exchange program . Overall the place isn't all that
riveting but with the right group can be fun.
For live music, the punk crowd favors Metro Club on Oxford Street.
Small and dark, it's kind of a locals underground spot. The inexpensive
beer (certainly by club standards) helps quench the dancing thirst.
Theme Music Clubs
For 70s and 80s music, Cairo Jack's is the place. Both classy
and casual Cairo Jack's has two levels – a pub feel on the first
and a bright bar with dancing and dark corners on the second. The staff
is so friendly, it's sometimes hard to believe you are in a London club.
The £3 cover charge is a welcome relief from the big-buck mega-clubs.
Latin music is popular all over the globe these days, and it stands
to reason that London would have a hot scene. Bar Rumba (heart
of the West End) has different themes each night, Tuesday being salsa.
(It's jazz on Monday, drum and bass on Thursday, new wave on Friday
and garage on Saturday.) Salsa! on Charing Cross Road is a bar/club
with a Latin beat while Club Soneros (in Vauxhall, just south
of the river) has bands three nights a week (upscale dress). Hardcore
salsa dancers go to Villa Stefano in Bloomsbury for "Sunday
School" on Sundays.
Swing dancing is alive and well on Wednesdays at Jitterbugs
in the West End.
Soho and Covent Garden are full of jazz venues. The best of
the bunch, at least for serious jazz fans on expense accounts, is Ronnie
Scott's in Soho.
Private Clubs
London is full of clubs which, no matter how well or wild one is dressed,
are reserved exclusively for members. Occasionally, though, they let
in well-dressed non-members.
The hottest of the bunch is the Home House. Madonna is one of
the high-profile celebrities members, which should give you some indication
of the clientele. Another exclusive spot is Club 57.
China White pretends to be private, but actually lets in non-members
(on a selective basis, of course). Go decked out and take your chances.
Inside it's like being in a cave, with big sofas and a dance floor.
Its best nights are Wednesdays and Thursdays and if you do get in, have
the "China White Cocktail."
Gay Clubs
London has a vibrant gay scene. Most of the clubs are located in Soho,
although Earl's Court is staging a resurgence from when it was on top
in the '70s .
Among the most popular places are 100% Babe (Kentish Town Road)
with is lesbian night on Sundays, The Artful Dodger (Southgate
Road) features an underwear party Sundays from 3-midnight. Coco Latte
is an upscale club that mixes in 70s, garage and groove. The there's
Heaven (Villliers Street), a long-standing London tradition,
with a variety of choices within its walls.
 Next
stop on the London Party Bus: PostParty
• London Pubs
|