25-27/11/10: Some of us at QX are old enough (not this particular writer mind) to remember when Soho wasn’t the fabulous shirtlifters’ Shangri-La we know so well, and love so much, today. A mere twenty years ago, Old Compton Street and its environs were (quelle horreur!) a chilling wasteland of Thatcherite deprivation, kerb crawling high court judges and youth-training-scheme dropouts. With the nineties, however, came the rise of the pink pound and a revolution in homosocialising that took London by storm! Gone were the anonymous pubs, blacked-out windows, secret door-knocks and Danny La Rue types speaking Polari, and in their place came the likes of Village Soho – stylish, modern, confident and ushering forth a whole new era in metropolitan gay life! Not that we actually, like, do remember it or anything. In any case, we checked out the celebrations last weekend as Village notched up nineteen thrilling years on the scene with a full-on, party action fiesta. Taking in five days of frolics, we hoofed it down for Saturday night’s fancy dress bonanza, featuring rocket-boosted pop licks from Heidi Liscious on the downstairs dancefloor and DJ Adamix tearing it up at ground level for an absolutely heaving crowd. The ever obliging bar staff certainly got into the swing of things going about their work dressed as cheeky schoolboys. Meanwhile, the unbelievably agile Village go-gos and sexy shot studs made sure things went off with a bang as the carousing continued ‘til late. We’re already revving up for the big 2-0 next year!
Village, 81 Wardour Street, Soho, W1D 6QD
Words by Chris John
Photos by www.nicophoto.co.uk
