Secrets of stealth clubbing

Jasmine Gardner
27 Jul 2009

Outside a secret Shoreditch venue a chap in a hard hat and high-visibility jacket is holding a clipboard and ushering people through a door.

Shifty-looking guests steal backward glances as he nods them through. If you want to get in you'll need to know the code (you've "come for the health and safety meeting") and whatever you do, don't mention the word "bingo", or you'll be turned away.

This is Underground Rebel Bingo, a stealth night that starts just like the elderly community's favourite Wednesday evening pastime and quickly descends into a drunken, messy party - and it's just one of the many secret nights harbouring London's trendiest party-goers in hidden venues around the city.

Also on the list are Greco-Roman, an exclusive DJ battle and music showcase night run by four well-known DJs, including Joe "Hot Chip"; Tabula Rasa, all-day parties on secret outdoor terraces that launched earlier this month; a speakeasy bar called Barts hidden in a west London apartment block and celebrity shindigs (that play host to Jaime Winstone and Alfie Allen) once a month at The White Horse, a disused pub in Bethnal Green.

They, and many others, are ensuring that the best parties to be at are the ones you need to dig for.

"We set Rebel Bingo up to be a secret because bingo is a shameful vice," says co-founder James Flames.

"The illicit feel of the night and the atmosphere of being with 100 other people who feel that they're 'in on it' is what makes it such fun."

Recently, TV presenter Miquita Oliver turned up, and at the weekend's Rebel Bingo World Championships, man-about-town and friend to the Geldofs, Chungs and Dellals of the world, Nick Grimshaw, was on the decks.

Rebel Bingo has a lot of rules (all of the prohibitive variety). "No old people" is one, as is "No work suits" and "No boring people". "The main policy," says James "is 'No wankers'.

"It's not that I want to discriminate against any sort of person, but I don't want people to come who don't really want to be here."

Alex "Half Nelson", one of the DJs behind Greco-Roman, a night which draws in big-name acts such as Hot Chip (who play in masks and under the pseudonym "Booji Boy High"), Metronomy, Little Boots, Jack Penate and Four Tet, claims the secrecy of his parties is more perfunctory. "We just never get around to telling many people about them," he says.

But try to find out where they happen or to buy a ticket and you'll meet a brick wall. "Let's face it," says Alex, "there is nothing secret about a party that's publicly posted on Facebook and there's nothing particularly 'rave' about buying your ticket in advance through Ticketmaster."

To find out about most of these parties you either have to be monitoring the right websites on a daily basis for clues or know someone who knows.

It seems like a big effort, but for Alex it's worth it to break away from London's expensive club nights that he says have become "one-dimensional in their programming, too heavy on security and closed at 2 or 4am".

"This whole party movement has taken the power away from the club owners and returned it to the artists, DJs and promoters," he says.

"We have helped remind people what club culture was all about in the first place: breaking down boundaries, genuine experimentation, journeying into the unknown and, most of all, hanging out with your friends rather than a bunch of tourists, bankers or hen parties."

To be a part of the stealth crew, you'll either need contacts, or some stalwart effort and a good nose for a surreptitious shindig.

FIND THEM IF YOU CAN

Greco-Roman: check www.myspace.com/grecoromanmusic as often as possible. The "upcoming shows" listings are for the Greco-Roman Soundsystem, not the parties.

Tabula Rasa: next party, Sunday 2 August. Email maud@wild-music for an invitation.

Barts: call 020 7581 3355 or email info@barts-london.com for directions.

Underground Rebel Bingo: check www.rebelbingo.com.

The White Horse parties: no public admission. Try loitering outside 236 Cambridge Heath Road, E2.