Were you at the party last week? Here comes our recap, but mostly we just hope everyone had as much fun as we ended up having and we’re really grateful to all of you who chose to spend the evening hanging out with us. Of course, in the daylight run-up a more apt description might have been SUPERSTRESSED, as so many really amazing friends became saints and busied about in a hive of relentless activity to help make it all work.
Outside the sumptuous Bloomsbury Ballroom, one of central London’s plushest and most beautiful venues, the sight of everyone arriving was really something special, perhaps only bettered by your progression to the reception bar. The more intrepid explorers among you will have discovered there a cabinet exposition of artist Richard Clarke’s unique work “Oursome Montagne” – involving 3D cardboard mountains and really cute monsters hiding behind pine trees.
Others may be excused for having supposed the fashion show had already started, given how many of you made such a fine effort to dress up – it did not go unnoticed or unappreciated!
Having spent months-that-seemed-an-eternity agonising over whom best to enlist as support for our main showcase (Liars, of course!) we were really pleased that Somebody’s Mind and Prinzhorn Dance School agreed to play. The bands were aided in turn by a sound desk and venue acoustics that brought out their full potential.
PDS claimed the stage with such enthusiasm and their foot-stomping, bass-driven set was a rousing way to get the party in full swing. The band has an approach that is at once dark, compelling, minimalist yet emphatic – as heard in songs such as "Up! Up! Up!", "You Are the Space Invader" and "Crackerjack Docker". Also being the only band to ever rhyme ‘cancer’ with ‘Hampshire’ gets our recommendation.
We are moreover deeply indebted to DJs Raary Deci-Hells (once of Test Icicles and RAT:ATT:AGG and now Kasms) and Good Shoes’ own Rhys Jones, who did sterling work to ensure the tempo stayed high.
As for the fashion show proper, we trust it was one of the strangest, liveliest and most fun an audience could hope to witness. Under a bright spotlight came parades of diverse character creations. The beauty and madness of it was seeing wobbly punters interweave with models (Bishi, the Tricoteurs and Alex Kokon To Zai to mention a few), foregrounding the confusing aspect of an audience that in parts blended seamlessly – including the odd balding security guard with a SUPERSWEET bandana…
Click HERE for more on Liars or scroll down and check if you're in one of the pictures! You can also watch the full-length bootleg of Liars live HERE.
Click here for Part 2.
Words: Alderson
Photography: Pavla Kopecna, Krittiya Sriyabhandha, Burak Cingi, Amy Gordon, Jason Glass, Mari Ohashi, Lameya Chaudhury, Liane Eltan, Debbie Roberts, Rachel Bevis, Emli Bendixen, Lucy Cox, Senay Sargut, Charlotte Feld