Serious 7th Birthday @The Cross, London - by Big E Posted by Big E on Aug 17, 2003 - 9:00:00 AM

Serious Just Gets Better and Better...

Whenever you here the words 'Free Champagne' you expect half a plastic cup of warm Asti Spumante, Except when Serious say it that is. I mean can you see any other club or night, these days, putting on something like this? I don't think so!!! :

All the Club The World, Serious Regulars plus a few new ClubTheWorlders, met up at the pre-arranged venue Ruby Lounge Bar, at 7.30pm We felt that this night had the makings of a great one.

We had heard rumours of free champagne, and all sorts of surprises. As it was Serious’ 7th Birthday, and there was to be a Members and VIP only Pre-Party. So we got to Serious early. As many of the CTW regulars are members, everyone from CTW who came to the Ruby Lounge, was able to take advantage of the Special Serious Member’s entrance, and Member’s Guest concessionary entrance rate. Each member was allowed to take in two guests. So everyone went straight in without having to queue.

When we got inside, we found that the rumours were true, and load's of party hat's, wig's, party poppers and streamers, were laid out. But far more importantly lots and lots of free flowing Laurent Perrier champagne was served up. This lasted till the Official club opening at 10.00PM . Glass empty?, Oh Dear...just pop along to the bar and get another re-fill....Wahay!!.....Civilised or what!!. We had excellent CTW company, leather sofa's, lush vegetation, perfect weather, and seriously cool pre-party sounds.

A perfect way to spend a summers evening in my book. and at a time when clubs in Ibiza are charging £8 for a bottle of water, the way that Serious look after their members ( a measly £25 per year) is almost awe-inspiring. I mean bear in mind that champagne goes for at least £5.00 a glass in most clubs. Most members would have recouped that in free champagne alone last night.

For those that have never been there, The Cross is a club with a series of arches, with a garden terrace with leather sofa’s and plenty of seating running behind all of them . It is impossible to describe how intimate and classy it is, without going yourself. It has got to be one of the best clubs in London. Serious is monthly therem, and runs two main Dance Arches. One hosting Dusted, and the other is the Serious Arch. Dusted is funky house and regularly sees Norman Jay, 2Funky and many other funky house Luminaries. Serious is Trance with Judge Jules, Eddie Halliwell, and Luke Neville, being the stalwarts here.

Other arches hold Bars, the entrance lobby, the VIP area (which u can access if you are a member), cloak rooms and so on. There is a terrace bar too!! The sound system is excellent, and you don’t here the music from one arch when you are in the other.

Serious attracts s fairly glamorous evenly (m/f) mixed crowd. Mid Twenties and up is the age range. No real hard core cyber is in evidence. Most people dress up a bit, clubbing trainers are allowed. The dress code is funky club wear, and Ben Shermans are a definite no no.

As the night proper kicked off, many CTW’er did an hour or two of funkyness in the Dusted Arch...But we were soon taking our funky hats off (literally, in my case, it was a plastic green bowler with yellow spots) and making for the Serious Arch.

Luke Neville played a blinder, and next month is his swansong so should not be missed. Followed by special guest Tall Paul, who was a bit breaky for some. Eddie Halliwell well just stormed the place. Guy Ordenal highlighted a wicked new choon which featured Benni Bennasi’s Satisfaction riff. He closed the show and still had us dancing at 5.30am a full 9.30 hours after arriving,

Last month’s event was very rammed, understandably as Serious is one of the top nights in London, and got very very hot. Peeps justifiably complained, Serious promised to do something about it. So this month, lo and behold they turned passing people with no pre-paid tickets away (except members ). In order to keep it comfortable for those of us lucky enough to be inside. This was unprecedented. Many clubs close the doors when the venue is full. But The Cross was nowhere near full capacity. Serious just took the view that keeping people comfortable, was more important than making a bit of extra profit. Wow!! Looking after your customers, a revolution in clubland!!

Fantastic Atmosphere, Great Venue, Great people, and a superb night!!!.