Pitiless police persecute Plastic People. Punters pissed.

[Corpsey]

But assuming you were a non smoker, with no handbag or shit in your pockets- is it similar to how it was in the past, or do the queues to get in and bouncers with torches make it more trouble than its worth?

I can't really comment because I haven't been since it reopened, but based on what I'm hearing I just think the atmosphere might have been adversely effected by having all these over-the-top searches and so on (and again, I'm not blaming/attacking the club owners or promoters who use PP cos obviously they HAVE to do it, they wouldn't CHOOSE to do it). I always found Plastic People had a very relaxed atmosphere in some respects, was like a pub/party atmosphere - and obviously for some people it was ALL about the soundsystem, dancing or listening sober to new music etc. It was that to me too to some extent. But also I liked going down there, getting a bit pissed, chatting to a lot of regulars inside and outside... It didn't feel very monitored, but at the same time every time I went there it didn't feel like it had to be insofar as there weren't any fights, there was a relatively low amount of arseholes (compared to Fabric, for example).

Then again, I do remember the first time I went I didn't spend as much time chatting as I did dancing and just taking in the sound of it. And talking to people outside etc. takes you out of that intense atmosphere a bit too much sometimes. This has been a problem since the smoking ban generally - the constant going outside for a fag breaks up and dilutes the effect of the music sometimes.

blah blah I'm ranting

 

[grave]

An account of my most recent visit to PP.

- Bouncers were wearing hi-vis vests, I was given a thorough pat down and they asked to see the contents of my man bag.

- They've done up the male toilets. The cubicle now has a seat, paper AND a lock on the door so you can shit in relative comfort if you wish.

- The curtain that separates the bar from the dancefloor was pulled all the way to the side, so there was a bit more light than normal. My guess is that it will be like this from now on.

- I went outside for several smokes without having to queue, and it was a fairly busy night. There was a cop van parked outside the front all night and there were a few of them loitering arouund. At one point two of them went downstairs, probably just to check out what was going on in the club. They came out a few minutes later.

- They had a bouncer in hi-vis standing near the bar for most of the evening. On a couple of occassions he would venture out onto the dancefloor with his torch.

Overall, it's not as bad as some people are making out, but having some completely serious looking bloke in hi-vis babysitting the dancefloor is undoubtedly a vibe killer.

 

[mos dan]

It's strange how the premise of the campaign to help plastic people survive was based on the fact that there is no trouble and not much drug use and it's all about the music, then as soon as the conditions placed upon the club to ensure these statements are a fact, people complain they can't smoke and chat outside and aren't allowed to take drugs in.

yeah but come on, there are levels of severity/security. re trouble: i've not seen so much as a shove in hundreds of visits. i literally can't think of a time anyone i've seen anyone thrown out for drunkenness/rowdiness/theft/anything else, how ridiculous is that.

smoking/chatting outside is totally different - it being ~about the music~, and also being a sociable place where people who love the music can share that passion, are not mutually exclusive. they are both things i love about PP, and they are intertwined.

 

[mms]

yeah but come on, there are levels of severity/security. re trouble: i've not seen so much as a shove in hundreds of visits. i literally can't think of a time anyone i've seen anyone thrown out for drunkenness/rowdiness/theft/anything else, how ridiculous is that.

i have - and there are of course reasons why this has all happened -
you know i'd love for everything to be cosy and nice but it's just not right now -
however the selecton and sound is great still

 

[pattycakes_]

has the new soundsystem been installed yet?

 

[Ach!]

I don't understand the focus on this particular venue. There are countless others within spitting distance where drugs (in particular) have always been more prevalent, but receive nowhere near the amount of attention currently paid to PP.

 

[luka]

when i was young you could smoke weed in any club in london. i rememer seeing kids sharing spliffs with security on the dancefloor. i didn't cos i dont like sharing but its a great shame you cant do that any more.

 

[mms]

when i was young you could smoke weed in any club in london. i rememer seeing kids sharing spliffs with security on the dancefloor. i didn't cos i dont like sharing but its a great shame you cant do that any more.

yep it's all massively brutal and sad

 

[pattycakes_]

I don't understand the focus on this particular venue. There are countless others within spitting distance where drugs (in particular) have always been more prevalent, but receive nowhere near the amount of attention currently paid to PP.

Yeah, this is why I think that there's a possibility of people bragging on forums leading the police there. It's no secret that they use forums to get info on whats happening wiv da yoof. People stopped posting rave numbers on squatjuice because the police cottoned on to it and started shutting them down before the could get started in the early-mid 00s. I've seen quite a few posts on different forums where people were being less than subtle about smoking at pp. Afaik pp is one of the very few places that turned a blind eye to it in london. Obv. there are drugs in pretty much every other club, but they are much harder to get caught out on than having the sweet smell of freshly burned marijuana circulate the night's air. Esp when the fucken dj has a bifter hanging from his mouth. If you combine this with the fact that there's a smoking ban in place then you can see why this would piss the boys in blue off quite a bit. I dunno, doesn't seem that far fetched to me.

 

[mos dan]

http://material-pr.blogspot.com/2010/09/pass-this-on-tis-serious-ya.html

dalston looks to be getting 'the full shoreditch'

 

[mos dan]

Yeah, this is why I think that there's a possibility of people bragging on forums leading the police there. It's no secret that they use forums to get info on whats happening wiv da yoof. People stopped posting rave numbers on squatjuice because the police cottoned on to it and started shutting them down before the could get started in the early-mid 00s. I've seen quite a few posts on different forums where people were being less than subtle about smoking at pp. Afaik pp is one of the very few places that turned a blind eye to it in london. Obv. there are drugs in pretty much every other club, but they are much harder to get caught out on than having the sweet smell of freshly burned marijuana circulate the night's air. Esp when the fucken dj has a bifter hanging from his mouth. If you combine this with the fact that there's a smoking ban in place then you can see why this would piss the boys in blue off quite a bit. I dunno, doesn't seem that far fetched to me.

i see where you're coming from with the forum talk/loose lips - but the police never used to come in to bust the place for weed transgressions. like, ever.

this still doesn't explain why pp would be singled out as against any other club in shoreditch, the like of which have more provable and visible transgressions - it'd take two seconds to find someone taking coke in most shoreditch clubs, and violence/noise/lairiness is perfectly obvious later in the night near (e.g.) 333 etc.

 

[rwtt]

i went down to Fwd last night and it was pretty lacking, although i suppose didn't pick a great night. the search on the door was quite thorough but friendly and certainly not comprehensive. the dancefloor was totally, depressingly smoke-free. main problems were that the place was half empty (and the crowd were about 30 - 40% shoreditch types with haircuts), the soundsystem was far too low, and the music was very ropey: matty g (dull halfstep, i mean i like a bit of trad halfstep but this was lame, and too quiet), and caspa (cretinous). in the newly pristine bogs i was accosted by a baseball capped, gaudily besportsweared troll and i listened patiently as he explained his life philosophy. i didn't fully grasp its intricacies but a central pillar seemed to be that life is what you make it, provided you get "on one". i found myself making excuses - i'm tired, my wife's just had twins, etc - and even lying ("great tunes though!") but we just couldn't find any common ground. in the end the lure of the kebab shop was too great and i vacated around 1am. i'm sure i'll go back but only when there's a "must see" lineup.

 

[unknown soulja]

Surely, as you were in Shoreditch 30-40% Shoreditch types with haircuts (shock horror) isnt bad going?

Also having someone you dont know talk to you is an occupational hazard when visiting pubs and clubs, normally it can be avoided by refusing to make eye contact with anyone and sticking your fingers in your ears whenever someone attempts to engage you. Alternatibely you could always just pretend you are going to the bar and lose them.

Obviously Matty G and Caspa were never going to be the ones on that line up, how were MA1 and Girl Unit?

Interesting to hear it was half empty, last few times ive tried to hit FWD the queue was so long i didnt bother.

 

[alex]

didnt go but what the fuck are fwd playing at putting caspa on b4 ma1?

 

[benjybars]

the system is so much quieter since it's reopened.

 

[rwtt]

having someone you dont know talk to you is an occupational hazard when visiting pubs and clubs, normally it can be avoided by refusing to make eye contact with anyone and sticking your fingers in your ears whenever someone attempts to engage you.

yeah but this guy was a gimp.

 

[outraygeous]

Went to a CDR recently and felt the full force of the search.

Sunday night, free entry and I had the deepest search ever

Will need to check a fwd but its all these blog superstar djs.

Im so out of touch

 

[Slothrop]

Heading down to FWD tonight (friday off, yessss) is it still going to be a case of getting down for 9pm to avoid queueing for weeks?

Also, does anyone know a) when Ben and Brackles are on and b) who Maximum and Crises are? (Maximum at least rings a bell but I can't remember where from...)

 

[alex]

maximum is from BBK and crises is a dubstep dj

 

[Sectionfive]

Anyone reach fwd last night ?

Looked like a blast from the past