Clubs

The Beatrocket
Sat May 17
This event has finished
Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes, Bedford Way, London, WC1H 9EU
By Charlotte Hotham

Posted: Mon May 12
There’s a real-world equivalent to Harry Potter’s Platform 93⁄4 on King’s Cross station, and it’s down one side of the Tavistock Hotel on Russell Square. Look hard and you’ll find an entrance to a little world of nightlife possibilities, where people twist and shimmy and shake till the early hours, smiling, chatting to strangers like they used to – all in the basement of a hotel. As Rolf Harris would say: Can you tell what what it is yet? Obviously, we’re talking about Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes, one of the best of the current wave of retro-styled venues.

Championing nights such as The Beatrocket, Pin Up and Shake Rattle and Bowl (as well as a host of own-label clubs), each weekend is a thriving, jiving mass of dressed-up, happy individuals all trying to get a piece of the bowling, karaoke and retro-party action.

This Saturday The Beatrocket swings by for another beat-bop soirée with resident DJs Phil Istine and Beatgirl. Armed with their box of surf hits, rockabilly and doo wop, they have guests including The Sugars and Lil’ Lost Lou playing live and Lady Kamikaze (Lady Luck) and the Truckin’ Lauras blasting out the vintage hits on the decks.

‘Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes is a wonderful venue,’ reckons Beatrocket promoter and DJ Phil Istine. ‘It’s got a unique ’50s style that fits the club and the punters and bands all seem to adore it: a rare commodity.’ Too true!
So dust off your dancing clothes, limber up your bowling arm and head along to what promises to be another scorcher of drinking, dancing and Saturday night striking lucky at the lanes.