Living Bar: Racist
- Thread starter bang
- Start date
Is this thread still in Brixton forum? I can't see it anywhere. Am I being stoopid here? 
Saw Mr Waterhouse in the Albert yesterday, incidentally, but I wasn't introduced *sniff*.
Will LB coin it in from Dogsturd losing its late licence?
Saw Mr Waterhouse in the Albert yesterday, incidentally, but I wasn't introduced *sniff*.
Will LB coin it in from Dogsturd losing its late licence?
isvicthere?
a.k.a. floppybollocks
Things have gone quiet recently on the LB front. Has anyone got an update on developments (if any) there?
I must say that, just like the Dogstar, every time I've gone past it recently, it certainly seems to be less popular than hitherto. Is this the sign of a fad passing, or an indication that "nu"-Brixton is on the wane, making way (hopefully) for something more authentic/creative/community friendly?
I must say that, just like the Dogstar, every time I've gone past it recently, it certainly seems to be less popular than hitherto. Is this the sign of a fad passing, or an indication that "nu"-Brixton is on the wane, making way (hopefully) for something more authentic/creative/community friendly?
Well, plenty of new trendy late bars have opened in the past year or two. Maybe the Clapham kroo have simply switched their very fickle loyalties to other places that aren't bounced by assholes. Maybe many of them didn't like running the gauntlet of all the nasty dwug dealers on CHL -- unless they wanted to buy some fake charlie, of course. Maybe they didn't like their black friends being told to go home and change their shoes when everyone else in the same footwear was being let in.
Maybe they didn't like being thrown down the stairs and punched in the face by the bouncers, as happened a few months ago to a u75 user who does not want to be identified or make a fuss owing to the necessity of walking past the place. The person is understandably worried about reprisals. How d'ya like them apples? There are people who are afraid to walk down CHL because of Larry's bouncers.
Or maybe LB has just had its day.
Maybe they didn't like being thrown down the stairs and punched in the face by the bouncers, as happened a few months ago to a u75 user who does not want to be identified or make a fuss owing to the necessity of walking past the place. The person is understandably worried about reprisals. How d'ya like them apples? There are people who are afraid to walk down CHL because of Larry's bouncers.
Or maybe LB has just had its day.
There was a Public Inquiry held last week into Living Bar's numerous planning violations. Result awaited but a little bird told me the trouble centres on the first floor windows.
Photographic evidence was produced showing the old windows and there may be a dispute as to who ripped them out and when.
There are at least two live planning applications, one to extend the place still further. The music still thumps out late at night and they still chuck their rubbish in the street.
One of my neighbours walked round recently and challenged the bouncers about the noise. She was told "You'll get used to it. This is Brixton baby." She wasn't over-impressed.
Amusingly there's a new private block of flats being built bang next to Living Bar on Electric Lane. This will, presumably, be let for £oodles and the tenants, paying through their noses, are unlikey to appreciate being bombed out of bed by LB's 'ambyant computa sounz' at 4am.
So all in all things are looking up. Dogstar and Mass in liquidation and LB may even have costs awarded against it for the Planning Inquiry. Not sure how much this would be but I've heard "£thousands."
Did anyone go to the Inquiry? It was run by a central Government Inspector so may have presented LB with difficulties gathering political support.
On the 'WALLPAPER' front (the proposed Merrett 600 capacity nightclub in the Old Bike Shop) not a dicky bird. It's still with the planners and has yet to go to planning committee.
If the planners recommend 'yes' (which seems unlikely after two company liquidations, a Public Inquiry and Labour losing control) we should all attend the meeting and kick up stink.
Streathamite
ideological dogmatist
bloody well done Anna Key! and "hear, hear" mr Waterhouse!
Gramsci
Well-Known Member
The planning inquiry into the Living Bar was open to the public.The problem was that the council omitted to tell all "interested parties" that it was happening.I am going to complain as I was not notified.Someone I know who did get notified was not impressed by the councils legal team.I remember ages ago when Larry was refused an upstairs entertainments license for the Dogstar he appealed to the magistrates court.I agreed to be a witness for the council.His lawyer was organised and had put together a case for his client.The councils lawyer hadnt.He was still reading the papers outside the court just before it began.Things went downhill from their and Larry got his license.Larry was right to appeal against his enforcement order as Lambeth are generally not good on legal stuff in my experience.
Well done, Gramsci -- and I look forward to your updates on this.
This is all part of the same phenomenon as the proposed RR/CM sell offs: ignoring long-standing residents and business-people of central Brixton and their concerns and wishes, and instead behaving in an entirely undemocratic manner. It is essential that people don't let it pass.
It has been said often before but really cannot be overstated: a commercial entity mismanaged like LB doesn't enrich central Brixton. It attracts taxi'd-in Claphamites, it attracts people selling (badly cut or fake) coke, crack and other shit, and all Brixton is left with is more crime, noise, chaos and piles of street debris. Let there be good bars and clubs in Brixton -- yes, yes, yes -- but let them be an asset, not a parasite on the area.
It seems rather late for me to be wading in after all seems discussed, digested, 're-produced' and discussed again. However, I have strong feelings about Brixton and the issue (racism and clubs in Brixton if I have already lost you) at hand since, as a black Brixtonian, I have been on the receiving end of some ugly treatment - and it is a point I am repeating from another thread on a similar topic.
The insulting of single, male, blacks in bars like the Living bar, the Dogstar, the Redstar and the ilk is real. The door policy (enforced in the clumsiest, rudest way by some depressing members of the species - unfortunately, usually also black males, not chosen for personableness) reflects the management.
The shame is that these bars were good fun when they first opened, and I would have no trouble getting into them, even on my own on a Saturday night - now, who remembers the free mini-buses to the Redstar?
But, at some point the thought crystallises as you stand there, fuming from the bouncer and being stung for some silly entry fee, clutching an over-priced drink painfully extracted from fluffy bar staff, and surrounded by wankers for a couple of hours, to some questionable music, "This is seriously shit. Do not come here again." After that, a better life. If it is your thing, or you do not experience any of the above, then stay and be happy, with my sincere blessing.
In the meantime, Brixton is lovely for a good reason. There are always alternatives. And people in Brixton know what they like. Build the biggest, plushest wank bar you like and it will still be a wank bar, and some of us will still not go in. Easy.
The rest does not really matter to the masses like me. I am not hot on local politics, or palsy-walsy with the management of these places. What's more, I do not feel I should have to be just to enjoy a pleasant beer in the area where I live, and an okay area at that. Sort yourselves out.
In the meantime, you might bump into me propping up the bar at the Effra, the Queens Head, SW9, the Windmill, the Mambo Inn, Mango Landin' ...
The insulting of single, male, blacks in bars like the Living bar, the Dogstar, the Redstar and the ilk is real. The door policy (enforced in the clumsiest, rudest way by some depressing members of the species - unfortunately, usually also black males, not chosen for personableness) reflects the management.
The shame is that these bars were good fun when they first opened, and I would have no trouble getting into them, even on my own on a Saturday night - now, who remembers the free mini-buses to the Redstar?
But, at some point the thought crystallises as you stand there, fuming from the bouncer and being stung for some silly entry fee, clutching an over-priced drink painfully extracted from fluffy bar staff, and surrounded by wankers for a couple of hours, to some questionable music, "This is seriously shit. Do not come here again." After that, a better life. If it is your thing, or you do not experience any of the above, then stay and be happy, with my sincere blessing.
In the meantime, Brixton is lovely for a good reason. There are always alternatives. And people in Brixton know what they like. Build the biggest, plushest wank bar you like and it will still be a wank bar, and some of us will still not go in. Easy.
The rest does not really matter to the masses like me. I am not hot on local politics, or palsy-walsy with the management of these places. What's more, I do not feel I should have to be just to enjoy a pleasant beer in the area where I live, and an okay area at that. Sort yourselves out.
In the meantime, you might bump into me propping up the bar at the Effra, the Queens Head, SW9, the Windmill, the Mambo Inn, Mango Landin' ...
What a horrible thought.
The trouble with the "vote with your feet there are plenty of decent bars in Brixton" argument is that it leaves the problem unsolved.
It means that some black guy visiting Brixton and just walking into one of these bars by chance may get the treatment you describe.
Which doesn't strike me as good.
If you can suggest a better alternative to voting with one's feet then I would like to know about it. Deny then oxygen and the flames die.
Declare open war and invade the place with troops? Picket outside it with banners? Get a 'higher' authority to impose a minimum quota of blacks?
I stress again, this place is for entertainment. I am not about to overturn the priorities in my life to tackle this kind of farce. Close it down and and in a few months we will be discussing the replacement for the same reasons. They are in demand. There are countless others in London alone. The world needs wank bars, and for very obvious reasons.
Moreover, black guys can look after themselves - I'mold enough to know. If one is prepared to suffer that kind of shit then who are we to interfere with one's democratic rights? I am happy enough to share thoughts and raise wareness, so that people can make an informed choice.
By the time the problem becomes bar management it is already a fundamentally social one, and needs to be tackled before one is facing the entrance to a bar with trepidation. To use an extremety, it was not the police who killed Stephen Lawrence - however, existing social issues were only exposed by their mishandling of it.
Declare open war and invade the place with troops? Picket outside it with banners? Get a 'higher' authority to impose a minimum quota of blacks?
I stress again, this place is for entertainment. I am not about to overturn the priorities in my life to tackle this kind of farce. Close it down and and in a few months we will be discussing the replacement for the same reasons. They are in demand. There are countless others in London alone. The world needs wank bars, and for very obvious reasons.
Moreover, black guys can look after themselves - I'mold enough to know. If one is prepared to suffer that kind of shit then who are we to interfere with one's democratic rights? I am happy enough to share thoughts and raise wareness, so that people can make an informed choice.
By the time the problem becomes bar management it is already a fundamentally social one, and needs to be tackled before one is facing the entrance to a bar with trepidation. To use an extremety, it was not the police who killed Stephen Lawrence - however, existing social issues were only exposed by their mishandling of it.
I agree with you in the sense that alleged door-policy racism and other problems with Living Bar have deeper causes.
But you seemed trapped in a contradiction.
First you use the 'vote with your feet' argument: "Deny then oxygen and the flames die." Good. Lots of people refuse to enter Living Bar, you included by the sound of it.
Second you use the 'there's no point doing anything' argument:
I disagree with the second argument.
Just because there is a demand for something doesn't mean there should be a supply. There's a demand for child pornography and cluster bombs and Richard Littlejohn. The British National Party might decide, in a moment of lunacy, to rent office space on Brixton Hill. Supply (office space) would seek to satisfy demand (the BNP's desire and capacity to rent it).
Individuals, neighbourhoods and societies have always said: "No. In this instance we're going to regulate the market. In this case we won't permit supply to satisfy demand.
I support the right of a neighbourhood to regulate its environment. In fact, unless people have a degree of control over the local market I'd argue that meaningful 'community' can't exist. All you have are powerless individuals 'managed' by businessmen and politicians.
So I disagree with you. The neighbourhood deserves better, has the right to better, can have better and should demand better. There's no need to tolerate the sort of behaviour you and others describe, either from Living Bar or any other local venue.
Just spotted this on the Chronicleworld Message Board, posted last month. (http://www.dream-tools.com/tools/messages.mv?index+chronicleworld) So the saga continues:-
Streathamite
ideological dogmatist
viva Richard Waterhouse! And anna key is right,Dionysius: It is about the effect on Brixton as a whole, as well as fundamental considerations concerning racism. market forces plus "pull in the weekend trendies out for a bit of cool-by-association" is an insult to brixton - I cannot and will not ignore the nasty, racist practices of this bar.
Yeah me too, as a Black Guy I've experienced problems getting in the bar too...I gave up on it ages ago. I don't like the Music in their anyway...so I just walk past as if the place doesn't exist.
In regards to the racism point, I'm sure Mr Merrett will have his excuses...like the tired old line of "We're not racists we employ 2 Black Cleaners and a Black Glass Collecter"
BOYCOTT LIVING
A poster called Larry (Member # 1537) said this on another thread:Originally posted by CK1977
In regards to the racism point, I'm sure Mr Merrett will have his excuses...like the tired old line of "We're not racists we employ 2 Black Cleaners and a Black Glass Collecter"
A bar operating a door policy which illegally discriminates on grounds of gender (and admits to it, openly, on a public bulletin board) does not necessarily discriminate on grounds of race also.
But if I was a trade union official going into a firm which admitted openly to discriminating against employees on grounds of gender I'd take a long hard look at its race policies.
NB: This thread has received over 14,500 hits. Is that a record and will Living Bar receive some sort of certificate?
I agree, and would like to know the basis on which they 'pick.' Is 'picking' performed on race grounds or do they only discriminate on grounds of gender, following a management instruction to "penalise groups of guys?"Originally posted by CK1977
The above sounds very dubious to me
I suspect it's only a matter of time before a disgruntled ex-'picker' comes on these boards and explains precisely how the 'picking' was undertaken.
Snip
Pickman's model
Starry Wisdom
Will this be one of those famous facebook partirs?
Mrs Magpie
On a bit of break...
Well I have no idea what that poster's agenda is other than malign so he's out of here.
Shippou-Sensei
4:1:2.5
ahhh nostalgic
editor
hiraethified
It's all part of Brixton's lively history and the Living Bar no longer exists anyway.
el-ahrairah
forward communism, forward gerbils!
i missed this by reading the whole thread fro the beginiing for old-times sake.
Similar threads
