Loft Party

The last Loft Party of 2009 took place last Sunday at The Light in London’s Shoreditch. Open Magazine attended the legendary event which has been the inspiration for many a famous DJ and nightclub over the years.

It was back in 1970 when David Mancuso held the first ever Loft Party in New York, called Love Saves the Day. The invitation-only event was an anti-commercial, intimate version of a nightclub, which would go on to influence house clubs such as Paradise Garage, Warehouse, and The Gallery. Revellers flocked to Mancuso’s apartment on 647 Broadway once a week to dance the night away, and the gay community found it a safe haven as it wasn’t uncommon for them to be hassled in clubs at the time.

Future legends Frankie Knuckles and Larry Levan attended the early loft parties and took note, incorporating elements into the clubs they would later open. Throughout the years the party moved venues, and is now based at a secret location in the East Village. Along with promoter Lucky Cloud System they bring the spirit of the original Loft Party to London four times a year.

The upstairs of The Light Bar in Shoreditch plays host to the event, and is decked out with balloons whilst the floor is covered with talcum powder to aid the tapping of feet. The atmosphere is very much that of a house party - the restaurant downstairs provides a free buffet for the first couple of hours, there is a masseuse on site, and children run around popping balloons and dancing with their parents until their 7pm leaving time, giving the adults the chance to let their hair down on the dance floor.

Revellers here are slightly older than the average clubber hitting Fabric every weekend. One glance at the crowd who are mainly in the 30-40 bracket reveals that they are here for the music alone (they even clap at the end of every record) and a few very happy looking silver-haired couples dance to Mancuso’s records. No longer an invite-only event, tickets can be purchased for £23 in advance - an ironically restrictive price seeing as the original events were free - however this is the 2009 way of creating an intimate setting.

Having abandoned the DJ staples of mixing and beatmatching in the 80’s, Mancuso chooses to play each record in its entirety on his favoured old-school, high quality sound system which used to be considered one of the best in the world.  His set is brimming with early house and disco, however he includes reggae, the odd rock track, and current dance music - the most recent party featured mixes by Pete Herbert and The Unabombers which elicited great cheers from the happy punters.

The Loft Party will be celebrating its 40th anniversary in New York on Valentine’s Day 2010, the same day the first ever party took place. After six years in London they still continue to sell out, proving how successful a friendly place to dance can be.


For more information on the Loft Party go to www.loftparty.org