The Vaults
The Dance Before Christmas 17 DECEMBER 2016 £18
The Vaults is located underneath Waterloo station, within the old Victorian Railway arches. Exiting Waterloo station you walk through Leake street, famous for being completely covered in brilliant Graffiti art.
We originally wanted to attend the Masquerade ball, put on by 'A Curious Invitation' on 3rd December, however didn't get the tickets in time. After being intrigued by the venue we had a look at other potential events, stumbling across 'The Dance before Christmas'. Described as an 'Exquisite Immersive Design experience', with 'Theatrical exploration' and 'Roaming cabaret performances' we were well and truly sold. Our first 'immersive clubbing experience' - an idea which honestly beforehand sounded quite pretentious (a pal actually laughed at me down the phone after I described it to her in those words).
But alas, immersive clubbing is less pretentious, more adventurous. Granted, one would have to be in the right mood but upon entering the club it was incredibly impressive. The decor of these old disused railway arches transported you firstly to a dark, coldly lit woodland which had a gorgeous drag queen dressed up as a stag ready to read your palm. Following this, there was a room filled with that I can only describe as carousel zebras. The dance floor a few rooms on was full a hour or so in, but despite being surrounded by people (as one is on a dancefloor, at least on any good one) it still felt spacious - meaning I had enough room to thoroughly embarrass myself with some questionable dance moves.
The staff were nothing but friendly, the doormen included (which I had read otherwise). No one told me to stand up in the smoking area when I wanted to have a little sit (a pet hate of mine) and even when one of the more secretive bars had run out of pretty much every spirit apart from Whisky the girl behind the bar offered to mix me up a cocktail which was not on the menu, but which she promised I would enjoy (as far as I recall I did). Drinks prices were expensive, but not extortionate: a cocktail would set your back £8-10 each, whilst a spirit and mixer £6. However, whilst the quieter bars had no ques (but also no booze!) the main bar in the dance floor didn't just have a queue, but a penguin huddle. One had to wait a WHILE to get served...
The ticket prices were £18 each by the time we got around to buying them, however if we had been more organised, the first tickets went on sale for a mere £6 - a price which, given the effort which must have gone into the setting, acts and entertainment, is incredibly cheap. Another fun fact is that they had really clean toilets and SO MANY of them, none of that polite chat with the girl behind you as you do the awkward 'about to wet myself' side step - I didn't have to queue once!
The nights range at the vaults, if you don't go for the clubbing experience you can go and see a play, or a movie there - they were recently showing Trainspotting. For whatever reason, I strongly advise you give it a visit as you won't be disappointed; it is an interesting, original venue which I can assure will break your average club night routine.
OVERALL RATING: *****
http://www.thevaults.london/
