‘I met her in a club down in old Soho, where they drink champagne and it tastes just like cherry cola’
For many years, people in the Trans community have asked me to host an evening here in London with a Bohemian twist. However, I’d never found the right venue nor the right people to launch such a club, till now!
For as long as I can remember, T girls have been without a venue in which they could mix and mingle within the mainstream, a place other than the usual offerings i.e. clubs that are playroom orientated, or clubs that feel the need to play deafening dance music, not at all congenial to social intercourse.
Personally, I dropped out of the Trannie scene a long long time ago, having matured I found it no longer served my needs anymore and so moved on. Sure, I did have a lot of fun when I first came out, celebrating my new found sexuality on the dance floor like some Duracell bunny, but having moved on in so many ways, the idea of having to shout into someone’s ear to be heard, was no longer my idea of a good night out.
I’d ran a members club in Soho back the mid 90’s, thus giving me access to its under belly, its inside track, the not so obvious, its characters, movers and shakers.
And so, it was not without a little trepidation that I launched LOLA @ The Green Fingernail; what if no one turned up, what, if after all those years of banging on at me to host such a club, the girls then dismissed it (they can be a fickle lot)?
Well, from its opening night LOLA has been a resounding success, but then how could it fail; a fantastic venue centrally located (does it get more central than Soho?), sublime cocktails, gorgeous lounge music and a professional, dedicated bar team.
Of course, if it was to work we’d need to have the right blend, just like the cocktails we serve, the ingredients comprising of one part T girls and one part Soho society I.e. musicians, actors, writers, artists, chefs and mixologists, to steer and shape the desired ambiance.
Surely, the T community didn’t need another cookie cutter Trannie club, we’ve enough of those places already and there are those of us who don’t care to be hidden away in such ghetto’s, they’re so 20th Century darling!
T girls have been itching to strike out and say, ‘You know what, we can hold our own, so why can’t we choose to go where we want, our money is as good as anyone else’s.’
Girls…we’ve served our time !
And yet it never fails to surprise me, all it takes for some girls is to don a frock before instantly becoming apologetic, prepared to accept lower standards both of service and of themselves and yet these same people wouldn’t accept this if they were still wearing trousers.
LOLA’S success isn’t rocket science, it’s a time old recipe, ‘word of mouth;’ recommendation has always been the way to attract the right crowd, if you’re a nice person, probability is you’ll tell nice people too!
Decadence and Old Berlin never died, it’s alive and kicking down at LOLA @ The Green Fingernail.
It’s a mixed up muddled up shook up world except for Lola
Frances.
http://www.clublola.co.uk
http://www.FrancesUK.com
PS.
A big thank you goes to Lauren Scarlet of www.xvisu.com for creating the splendid LOLA website.