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Formula @ Sosho in London (UK)

Sat 26 Jan 2008

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what an absolute nightmare
If any of you guys ever want to know the sort of things going on behind the scenes in clubs while you are having a dance please have a read of this it is a corker.

I know that promoters shouldn't air their problems in public but what went on saturday has damaged my good name and i'm just not prepared to take this on the chin.


lol.... where do i strart???

we had a really good early crowd and the amount of dressed up women was amazing. Thanks for the effort girls.

But by 22:00 the queue was really big and we tried to hurry things up a bit. The two queues didn't really work and it was a bit of a mess but you can't turn people away and tell them to go int he other queue after they had queued for an hour. I ended up going down he queue calling for tickets holders to come forward. People with tickets were given a pass to get in but I was then told off for getting them to the front and getting them in first and was told they would have to go to the back of the queue??? WTF! After about 30 mins of this had to argue my point and they finally agreed.

By the way, the reason it takes ages is because the amount of false information i was given was ridiculous.

Because the door was quite crazy there were a couple of groups of guys that got in that i was not happy with. Sorry about that.

The only people who jumped the queue were people who had booked VIP table and Ticket holders. I never queue jumped any of my personal friends because it it isn't fair on everyone else.

So by 23:15 we had hit capacity. We only had about 30 people left to collect tickets who were still ok to get in.

I then rushed round to platinum to open it early so people were not waiting in the cold. The guys at platinum could not have been more helpful.

The whole idea about platinum was this:
I was expecting to hit capacity at sosho because of the response that i have had. I knew many people would have waited for as long as it takes to get in to see your mates. Because it was going to be busy early i was expecting people to leave from about 01:00 so we could start letting people back in from then. It always happens like that.

I told everyone to go to platinum and get a wristband so when the capacity eased we could start letting people back in. This worked a treat and everyone went inside to the warm instead of queuing for 2 hours. I didn't have to do this but after last easter @ egg i wanted to make the effort for people who never got in.

At about 00:30 i ended up in the office and i was then told by the management that they didn't like the crowd. It wasn't a sosho crowd and it wasn't what they wanted. People were buying to many beers and vodka's and not enough cocktails. WTF? We had nearly hit our 12k minimum bar spend already by then also.

I was then informed that the doors were now closed for good and they didn't want any more of you in there AT ALL! no arguments. They also wanted you out as quickly as possible. WTF?? they said they were going to close the rooms and venue early. I also had my future events canceled. Please bare in mind this was still about 00:30 with a packed venue and 0 trouble.

I was a bit numb by this point. I had about 2/300 people in platinum expecting to come back who would want my blood. Ticket holders and my friends all still wanting to get in. I was already getting loads of abuse from everyone outside but there was absolutely fuck all i could do.

I was going to do a afterparty at the london stone but because of all the fucking about i canceled it. I was going to let everyone who had a platinum bar wrist band on in free to say sorry for the mucking about.

After sorting out the tickets at platinum and extra djs (tom huddard/mark storie/jack michaels) i then had to tell people they were not getting into sosho at all. We had loads of people leave sosho then to be with their friends at platinum bar so if you were wondering why the ground floor was half empty by 1am that was why.

I also noticed that around that time the main lights were turned off on the ground floor so there were no moving lights which was an obvious attempt to get people to leave.

Poor Sonny Wharton stepped into the middle of this with a half empty room and i later found off we was kicked off the decks by the management. I heard rumors about why but never heard it first hand.

I ended up in platinum all night where we were appreciated.

I was told of a scuffle in the basement around 04:00, if anyone knows who it was please can you send me a link to their dsi profile or facebook profile and i will ensure none of them get into my events again.

I heard the basement was closed at 04:00 and the rest at 05:00. I was disgusted with the managements behavior so didn't want to be there. I would have pulled the dj's off and moved the whole party to platinum if they could have coped with the extra numbers. Unfortunately nothing so dramatic took place.

The whole thing was handled really unnecessarily. If they didn't really like it, why did they not have us back. Why go out of your way to ruin everyones night just to show how much power you have?

It is such a shame because i think we could of had a brilliant night in there. Even if it was a one off.

I need to apologize to everyone who go messed about but I just wanted to go some way towards explaining what actually went on. Unfortunately my club nights are built on my reputation for caring about clubbers. If i let people think i have purposely treated them this way i will loose peoples faith in what i do.

Nothing shocks me in this business any more.

By the way, did anyone have a good time? I wasn't in there long enough to tell.

click here to look a the pictures of all of you scumbags!! lol

if there are any venues in london with capacity 700 please get in touch
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Posted Mon 28 Jan 2008
Edited Mon 28 Jan 2008
wo0
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Posted Mon 28 Jan 2008
Edited Mon 28 Jan 2008
I had a great time, all of the crowd that were round at platinum where really loving it and were very understanding about the whole situation.
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Posted Mon 28 Jan 2008
Thats way too much to read !
Who laughed: Whats-wrong-with-me
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Posted Mon 28 Jan 2008
flip what a nitemare,i was coming down had to work my friends went said they had a wkd time.....

what about hidden for a venue, has a big outdoor smoking area
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Posted Mon 28 Jan 2008
XI
Hidden's a bit of a hole. The soundsystem in the middle room was awful last time i was in there
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Posted Mon 28 Jan 2008
Yeh I had a great time, didn't even notice it closed early ..
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Posted Mon 28 Jan 2008
Paul, it's a joke and I know you did everything you could to try and make sure everyone had a good time, but the venue reacting like that is something you just simply couldn't control.

I for one had a great time at Platinum and so did all my mates who came down there.

My previously high regard for Sosho has taken a severe battering. I hope most people who were let down by them read this and understand it was them and not you.
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Posted Mon 28 Jan 2008
Me and my other four friends bought our tix in advance and had no problem getting in at all. The girl with the list was really lovely and dealt remarkably well with the stress and those horrible bouncers - she was trying to do one thing and they were telling her another! Only thing that surprised me was the cloakroom being full.
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Posted Mon 28 Jan 2008
had really good night mate, didn't see any trouble and was refreshing to come to a proper friendly night as thats becoming second place to cashing in on everything nowadays!!!

at least you tried your best for everyone involved which is more than can be said for most promoters in london.
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Posted Mon 28 Jan 2008
Thanks Rochie heard it was 'NIGHTMARE' and always hard on the promoters/organiser...I turned up very late and didnt even bother trying at Sosho as know what the outcome would be- headed straight to Platinum in the basement-AWESOME music .., the staff were friendly,great chilled crowd...loved it. So a fantastic back up plan.

Real shame for those who got caught up in the Sosho mess...including my friends...
Great effort..

Shwets
Reply Quote
Posted Mon 28 Jan 2008
Paul, good on you for letting people know about the disgusting way that sosho behaved and their snobbery and complete lack of professionalism! I can only hope that this serves as a warning to other promoters and that the venue never manages to fill its friday and saturday nights again!

Formula is a well known club night that has been going for years, it is common knowledge what a Formula crowd is like, this should have been no surprise to sosho. Were they really THAT deluded to think that a completley different crowd would come to Formula @ Sosho????
It may be 'cool' but its not that cool and is practically unknown to a 'normal' clubbing crowd- (druggies, wierdos and general degenerates= Yes)

Rather than let what was a very succesful night continue and perhaps decide that they didn't want another Formula party again because they would rather attract a different clientele, they appear to have been hell bent on sabotaging the night and Paul's reputation with it!
Sosho knew who the headline DJ was, it came as no suprise to them when he started palying, however they decided to flex their muscles and pull him- WTF?

All I can say is that I left Sosho to go to Platinum, as did all of my friends. It may have ben smaller and a little less plush but at least we were welcome.


FUCK SOSHO they are too big for their boots and as we know any place that is 'too cool for skool' gets knocked off its top spot eventually. Just look at what happened at studio 54.
Hopefully Sosho will soon have had its day and get relegated to 'has-been' status. Instead somewhere else will open that is desperate to fill it venue and bends over backward to ensure people want to come back.
Reply Quote
Posted Mon 28 Jan 2008
Edited Mon 28 Jan 2008
Rochie I had a pucca night - music was excellant, Formula do's are always good
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Posted Mon 28 Jan 2008
I didnt have fun.... :(
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Posted Mon 28 Jan 2008
Hidden's a bit of a hole. The soundsystem in the middle room was awful last time i was in there

yep sound system is whack in there!!!
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Posted Mon 28 Jan 2008
To be honest... Thought Platinum was shit. Bar staff were really rude and fucked drinks orders - asked for a vodka coke and vodka lemonade... He ends up giving me sambucas and coke. I told him it was wrong and to taste or smell it, but he said no.... So then after a massive row and Bev stepping in, he rudely slams down the drinks on the bar. They have one ladies toilet also (which was filthy)... How ridiculous is that? But on a better note, door staff were polite enough and the music was good especially Tom, wicked set! Shame Sosho's was such a fuck up.
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Posted Mon 28 Jan 2008
I didnt go to this night and sorry to butt in - my good mate Jack Michaels was on the line up so when I saw 'what a nightmare' posted, was interested to have a look.

It sounds to me like next time you need a bigger venue?.........


Only 400 capacity for what seems like a v.popular night?
Reply Quote
Posted Mon 28 Jan 2008
Where to start really!?

Had booked a VIP table for my birthday and 12 mates and was really looking forward to the night for the past few weeks.

I had rung Angelique in advance to inform her of our arrival time and turned up at the door expecting to be treated well.

Unfortunately the first thing I was greeted with was "I dont like the look of two of your friends", one girl and one boy and subsequently asked to see their ID's which they had even though they are 26 and 25 respectively.

We were then herded through a 2 door system that was a complete joke as there was little or no communication between the bouncers who were letting people in or out of the venue when they desired and appeared unapproachable and to lack the meerest common sense or general decency.

Our group was litterally shoved into a terrace section which was already nearly full with 2 other groups although the terrace space opposite was completely empty!?

There was also only 2 bar staff serving the tables despite being informed it would be one per group. This obviously meant it took longer for drinks to be served and got people easily frustrated waiting for drinks although it did seem that the bar staff were doing the best they possibly could.

Having to que for a cigarette outside also seemed ridiculous and to be told by the bouncers when we did get to the front to be no longer than 5 minutes just seemed to rub it in further.

Other than that my group ended up between the basement and the ground floor where the Dj's were trying there best to uplift the atmosphere and mood that was being crushed by the people working for Sosho and their "I dont give two fucks" attitude.

At about half 3 the music in the main room seemed to get very quiet and there seemed to be some words being said around the DJ booth between security, management and the DJ's themselves. This seemed to be going on for about an hour before the lights came on unexpectedly. Security then told us it was "night over, go home" despite the night being clearly advertised as a 6am finish.

I have been to many Formula nights at Tabernacle, Pacha and the Cross over the past few years and have never had a bad experience until now. Its just a shame that it happened on this very occasion and left a very bad taste in the mouth amongst my group, some of whom were attending a Formula experience for the first time.
Reply Quote
Posted Mon 28 Jan 2008
Rochie you tried so hard to make it a good night before and during the event - you warned us that capacity was going to be a problem, arranged an alternative venue, and then told everyone what to do when they turned up. Then you tried all night to make sure everyone was looked after.

You can see by people's comments that they know it's Sosho at fault and not you - people who've been to Formula events know you try your best to make it fair and be a good night for everyone.

It is a shame that some people had a rubbish night, but it wasn't your fault hun.

And FYI - I had a fantastic night celebrating my birthday! Thanks babe! xxx
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Posted Mon 28 Jan 2008
I don't want this to turn into a slagging match guys. Things were not right in there, i couldn't do fuck all about it and i just wanted to let people know why.


i had heard sonny got kicked off for the music he was playing and the volume but i didn't realise they turned it right down... lol classic

By the way, the head of security was fantastic to work with and i can not praise him enough. His words, we do not make the rules, we just enforce them.
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Posted Mon 28 Jan 2008

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