RUBY

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Canvas, Kings Cross Freight Depot, off York Way, London NI
Tel: 020 7749 1199
Web: blue-cube.net

Annual event - Gay Pride night - 9.30pm-6am

When Ruby came to town, she laid her mother down... Or words to that effect!

How do you make sure that your Gay Pride party is the one that everybody wants to be at? For a start, you could hold it only once a year, so that it's actually as special an event as Pride itself... Or make sure that the last party was so good that no right-minded clubber would want to miss the next one... Or maybe combine three of the most-respected and experienced clubs in London under one roof... Or use a venue with a long history of throwing successful gay events... Or just resort to using the cream of London's most-accomplished DJs...

Ruby did all of these and more.

With a buzz around town that Canvas was the only place to be on Pride night, and thousands of advance tickets already sold, the 500 tickets available on the door were soon gone, with hundreds being turned away soon after Ruby's 9.30pm start.

Even though I'd been to the venue before, back in the day's when as Bagley's it hosted the memorable Famous Five events, I wasn't the only bemused clubber that night having trouble finding the entrance to Canvas! After navigating that first 'hurdle', we then managed to get lost trying to find the main rooms once inside the venue! Fortunately, being trapped in Fat Tony's world of dance wasn't such a bad place to be, especially with Tom McMillan on the decks. Following a couple of false starts at trying to find our way out, one of the friendly security guards grunted us in the general direction we needed to take! After that, it didn't take long to establish the lay of the land: Ariel under the stairs with Fat Tony on top of him; above them, three rooms, and London's three top clubs, DTPM, Fiction and Trade; and filling them, thousands of clubbers bouncing around and getting excited to the fantastic music.

Trade occupied the vast middle room, with DTPM and Fiction, both in equally spacious rooms, on either side. And despite it being a bit chilly for July, even the red-carpeted terrace linking the three rooms externally was a pleasant experience!

But it was the pulsating sounds from the dancefloors that made this a night not to be missed. From the moment we arrived, until the very last record - which came from the Trade room, naturally - there was nothing to fault about the music. When we got there, Ariel, Tom McMillan, Harj, Gonzalo and DT's sex-poppet Miguel Pellitero were all on the decks, and it didn't get any easier to choose between dancefloors! As the night reached its zenith, we were torn between three of our favourite DJs, DT's current frontman Mark Westhenry, Trade legend Pete Wardman, and in the Fiction room, former Factor 25 star Guy Williams.

When the closing DJs, Craig Jensen, Dave Randall and Steve Thomas took to the decks, we were finally able to make room to dance, though downstairs you still needed a crowbar to separate some of the men in Fat Tony's room!

Any gripes? I had a moan at one of the toilet attendants who was spending more time larking around with the security guards, than doing anything to clear the increasing number of blocked toilets. Anyway, I told him what I thought, but next time I'll drag the promoters down to show them first... Nobody else seemed to mind, but I think that's because clubbers are used to tragic toilet facilities in London venues. There is no excuse.

Elsewhere, the staff behind the bars were fantastic, very friendly and efficient, and Ruby's success can only be benefical to other gay events at Canvas.

After Ruby, those in the know hit Bleached or Beyond... I just hit home! I was more than sated for once!

And next year? Maybe they could go one better and add Discotec to the line-up?

Martin
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