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  • T Bar - the best free club is back

  • By Kate Hutchinson

    Posted: Wed May 6 2009

  • It was in Shoreditch. It’s now in Liverpool Street. But entry’s still gloriously free and the line-ups are just as amazing. The Time Out team hails the return of the T Bar - our favourite free London club

    T Bar - the best free club is back

    T Bar's clock © Jason Bruges Studio

  • Every party person worth their dancing pumps has a story about Shoreditch’s former freebie dance palace T Bar: Tiga’s roof-raising set at Bugged Out! in 2007; lounging on one of its low sofas at Dig Your Own Rave on a Sunday; nicking the clipboard-brandishing door-whore’s enormous ushanka… the list of unforgettable anecdotes goes on and on.

    For many, including Time Out, it was an important after-dark destination. Its flagship, forward-thinking, electronic and polysexual club nights, playing out on a crystalline sound-system in an intimate 450-capacity space, were practically unheard of outside superclubs when it opened back in 2004. Perhaps more remarkable, though, was that every night was gratis. Jamie Ritchie, T Bar’s managing director, says: ‘It’s our main USP. I think it’s strange to charge when you’re only open till 1.30am.’
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    Many felt that its closure last winter was the final nail in nightlife’s coffin, but thankfully, T Bar, with its iconic countdown-to-closing timer, hasn’t stayed away for long. Its owners have redeveloped a Mediterranean restaurant (it still has the 1980s-era menu on the wall outside!) in concrete-walled Houndsditch, a five-minute walk from Liverpool Street. Its conservatory exterior is far from its original Berlin-channelling, loft-style features. But its chilled-out ground level, complete with food menu, masks the generously sized rave den below.

    Some, however, are sceptical. Many remember T Bar as being difficult to get into, the zero entry fee attracting countless bladdered punters who had stumbled there in the knowledge they could party on till late. Consequently they tightened up on the door, leading Resident Advisor’s forum-bleaters to cry, ‘They had this guy on the door with his so-called guest list, not letting people in when it was completely empty… I hope they sort it out.’

    Rest assured, its distance from Shoreditch should keep drunken stragglers away and its well-loved security lady, Denise, will see off anyone she deems troublesome. (NB: knowing who’s playing will help!)

    For the most part, T Bar’s many followers insist that the new T Bar is ‘going to be huge’. If anything should further assure the cynical, it’s the club’s refreshed and exciting programming. The launch on Thursday welcomes back two alumni, Michael Mayer (who co-runs Berlin’s scene-leading Kompakt label) and deep-house jock Jamie Jones. Danton Eeprom and Clement Mayer are taking the reins on Friday for the Baise Main bash, while Phonica Records and Dig Your Own Rave resume their eclectronic sessions on Saturday and Sunday respectively. Other forthcoming nights include Kubicle, a Dissident Records label night (finally!) and Swayzak presents Serieculture, a vinyl auction party.

    The most exciting night is Casper C, Skull Juice and Matt Walsh’s High Horse, which ‘remounts’ at T Bar weekly from May 15. They’ll attract a younger, more Trailer Trash-esque crowd thanks to their fizzing stable of genres, from cosmic disco to global-inspired tech-house to dirty techno. Forthcoming guests include In Flagranti, Noob, Riva Starr and JD Twitch. Casper C says: ‘All four of us High Horse residents have played out at some of the best nights around but the deeper, housier and techier ends of our record collections needed a regular home and it was time for us to unleash our inner snobs.’ We can’t wait.

    Does London still need T Bar? Well, considering the economic climate and the fast-diminishing circle of trustworthy venues, the answer must be a resounding yes. ‘We’ve come at the right time,’ says Ritchie. ‘There’s no one else offering free entry till 6am on most nights. We’re going to kick off a great summer and, hopefully, everyone will get involved again.’

    www.tbarlondon.blogspot.com

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