Bonobo, Burlesque, Brilliance

Hello Party Princesses!

I’ve been a little quiet now and feel like I’ve neglected you all but I’m back with the tales of my travels and with a cracker of a party!

You may have seen my post about the Gate London – I went along, had a great time but forgot my camera and felt like a class idiot….top marks to me! WELL, I got an invite last week from the Party Planner at The Gate telling me about a Bonobos Charity Burlesque and Cabaret fundraiser and couldn’t really turn it down! Love a bit of burlesque and thankfully I took my camera this time.

Bonobos are often referred to as “the forgotten ape” but these beauts are so bloody cute! How can you not share a grin with this fella!

Burlesque nights are always an excuse to release my inner Ditta and glam up! Deep red shoes and lipstick – Check, blue leopard print waist nipping dress – Check!

Glancing over the line-up, it fair to say we were in for a treat! Burlesque dancers, exotic fan dancer’s country singers, belly dancers, retro singers and even a group of Cellists!

Niko - Party Planner for The Gate x

The pub was CHOCKA! Perhaps a little overfilled but everyone had got into the spirit and I actually ended up talking to some complete strangers and meeting lots a great people whilst being pressed against the bar!

The bar still had their “buy 2 glasses get the rest of the bottle free” promotion so of course I had to make the most of it….again!

Our first act of the night was the very funny and beautiful Ginger cupcake! She teased us with her cleaning come dancer show. Definitely gave us a few tips on how to remove our stockings and sexily remove the rubber gloves. Washing up will never be the same again!

Ginger Cupcake

In the words of Katy Perry – “Show me your Peacock” Here we have the exotic fan dancer who gave us a short but sweet show. I love her fans! 😉

Next up, a little Turkish delight (Sorry for the pun!) Belly dancing was oddly hypnotic; I wish I could twirl my hips like that.

The next act was by far my favourite of the night. The Massive Violins! A 5 piece Cello group. This is not your usual cello act though; you won’t find a Mozart number with these guys.

They rocked some classic pop songs from Queens, “bohemian rhapsody”, Jungle Books “Ape like you” and Johnny Cash classics but the surprise of the night was that 90’s school disco classic “Sex on the Beach”. My jaw hit the floor, it was incredible. Such a nice surprise and a massive round of applause! The singer – Camilla – blew the roof off The Gate, such a powerful voice for such a tiny girl!

Scores on the (royal) doors: 

Food and service:  Attentive staff so even though it was super busy you never had to wait more than few minutes
Atmosphere and decoration:  Giddy and very excitable
Facilities:  Spick and span. Could have done with more seats but we made do!
Talent Radar: From the young to the old, something for everyone!
Fun Factor: Over exposure to goodness!
Perfect for: EVERYTHING! I had the BEST time and hope there will be another one soon!
In 3 words: Bonobo, Burlesque, Brilliance

Visit the Bonobo website and The Gate’s Facebook for upcoming events

Varsity Cardiff

Holla At my blog readers

When you think of UK party cities, you think of London, Liverpool, Manchester, Bournemouth, Newcastle and of course….Cardiff! Until last week I had a little Wales shaped hole in my list, I just had to tick Cardiff off my party list and boy did Cardiff deliver.

First of all I must comment on what a lovely city Cardiff is, walking round the city I noticed the mixture of the old (cathedral) and the new and the locals were so welcoming and friendly. Great first impressions.

After spending a VERY long time trying to stay away from the shopping centre it was time to get dressed up and paint the town red. We had hunted the best nightlife spots before we came and visited a few of them whilst wandering round the city and found a street with 5 of the better bars in the city.  We floated around from bar to bar but they all seemed to lack a bit of spark and atmosphere, it’s difficult to pin point what was missing, the party X-factor or the PP Factor –Party Princess Factor but somehow I don’t see that catching on much.

Our sprits were low; we were slightly disappointed with Cardiff but pushed on and tried our luck in the last pub on our list. Varsity. Frankly, we should have gone there in the first place! We were greeted by a lovely groups of cheeky chappies on a birthday party and coaxed us in the bar with the promise of a few drinks and dance.

We walked in and the bar looked a little empty but its only because everyone was on the dancefloor. Ideal really – no queues for drinks and a chokka dancefloor.  I grabbed my self a long island ice tea and headed towards the floor! Just as we started to loosen up and enjoy the music, it was announced that a dancing competition was in session and the winner would be given a large pitcher of their choice. The mood changed, dancing was no longer for fun…this was serious. There were some pretty funky shapes being thrown about by some people, and even though I didn’t win (I’m not bitter….much!!)

" I said ooops inside your head....."

Also…the Captain Morgan promo team popped out from no-where and the Capt’n himself, dressed his finery joined in the dance competition and lead a stupidly long conga out of the front door, back and through the bar – madness. Highlight of the night was dancing with everyone to “oops upside your head” song, I’m sure that’s not the real words but ill investigate.

Scores on the (royal) doors:  

Food and service:  Super-fast, super friendly, super awesome

Atmosphere and decoration:  Little quiet but MORE than made up for it.

Facilities:  Huge mirror to fix my bronzer disaster

Talent Radar:  The Capt’n was look mighty fine.

Fun Factor: F.U.N spells fun,

Perfect for: Pre-clubbing, cheeky mid-week dance, quiet nights turning crazy.

In 3 words: Dance, pitchers, conga.

For other reviews visit: Cardiffpubs.co.uk, Qype and /View Cardiff or visit this lovely little video