Well, someone at the office heard that The London Cocktail Club on Goodge Street had good reviews, so we went there first, for a drink. Except some went before others - some of us had things to tidy up. So we remaining three - Martin, Nadjia, and I - followed behind. I had a rough idea where it was - but the man with the iPhone led us astray. Oh, those iPhones.. After some discussion about the best way to go, we walked from Oxford Circus, but the iPhone led us on something of a merry dance before we finally located the basement we were after!
Yes, it's in a basement. Valeriya, who booked it, had warned us not to judge it by its scruffy appearance. We didn't, despite the clamber down the iron steps, with graffiti on the walls. Once inside, we made our way to the back, where she had reserved a table. First impressions? Cramped, crowded, dark and dingy. We clustered around a teeny table in the far corner, and perused the enormous cocktail menu. I didn't see anything I was familiar with, but made a choice eventually. And after an interval, the server (with the interesting tattoos) appeared, took our order, and disappeared again.
Before our drinks had a chance to arrive, the server returned to tell us that our hour's booking was up, and no, we couldn't extend it - another party had booked the table. Well, what can you do? Friday night, eh? She did, however, agree to find us another table. And so it was that we crowded around an even smaller table out front, where our drinks were waiting for us. With, eh, nothing to tell which was which - we had to go chase her to ask.
The main part of the bar is interestingly decorated. It's kind of Hallowe'en every day here, apparently - the space above the bar is decorated with bloodstained butcher's cleavers and such, and, for goodness' sake, a giant red Lego man! Holding a bottle of booze, naturally. Speaking of which, I had ordered a "green lady" - a twist on a white lady - which went down very smoothly, I must say. You have to give them credit for their inventiveness of drink container - one was served in a Pot Noodle container, another cocktail in a beer glass. There's also a food menu - listed on the back of a plastic VHS storage box, with a sleeve advertising "Food Porn"! Mainly, they had chicken nuggets, hot dogs, chips, onion rings, and the like. We ordered some nuggets - not mad about these - and some chips, which were delicious.
When we'd done, we hot-footed it to the venue. Which was, again, in a basement. A bigger, and, when we arrived, much emptier space this time. Our lads played a blinder, but sadly, only for about half an hour this time - which not only deprived us of hearing some material, but deprived the lead singer of his chance to work the crowd. They had two new songs - their new ballad went down well, a nice change of pace. I also liked Nabeel's new beret. (Will wardrobe surprises become a feature?) The lighting was a bit weird, cutting out completely at one point and changing awkwardly throughout the set. But the sound was good, and we all had a blast! Glad to see a good turn-out from the office this time.
I found the bar prices reasonable, at £4 for quite a decent-sized glass of wine. The room gradually filled as the night wore on - pity they weren't there to see Hard Façade. I stayed for the next two bands, but wasn't as enamoured of them, and since I was tired, when I'd had enough to drink I called it a night earlier than most of the group. Still, roll on the next gig, at The Pavilion, Brick Lane, on the 30th May. Barring anything earlier that I haven't heard about yet..
Meantime, for tomorrow, there are a couple of plays I'd like to see, but they're sold out - so it's back to films. Two are vying for top spot - think I'll go for Life Feels Good, showing at Riverside Studios as part of the Polish Film Festival.
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