Sophisticated Boom! Boom! October 2004
Club night hosted by the Actionettes at the Water Rats, Kings Cross, London
urban75 report: part 1 - part 2
The Actionettes have been running their monthly club nights at the Water Rats theatre/pub since moving from The Garage, Islington in March 2003.
Each night has a special theme with loving tributes being paid to music greats such as Phil Spector, the Shangri-Las, Elvis, Dusty Springfield and Ike & Tina Turner.
The October event was billed as a 'Las Vegas Special', so the urban75 donned tuxedos and headed north....
The Water Rats is fine, old school music venue, featuring a large front bar with huge street-facing windows and a good sized backroom stage.
In time-honoured fashion, the entry fee is paid to someone sitting on a wobbly stool by the door who slaps a smudged stamp on your hand in return.
Inside the pub, a large blackboard advertises a selection of sandwiches, croissants and other tasty goods but once the sun goes down, there's only booze on offer. Which is fine by me.
Two Actionettes man the roulette wheel. It has to be said that some doubts were expressed about their actual knowledge of the game, but seeing as I won free tickets to a club night I wasn't complaining.
Nicola (aka 'Roulette') was hard at work selling Actionette badges from her cinema-style 'mobile tuck shop'.
Gold lamé jacket sporting, club compere Sonnie Mann works the crowd up to a frenzy with his flamboyant introductions. Let the show begin!
Actionettes in, err, action. Their first set saw the girls dancing to songs like 'Viva Las Vegas' and 'I Want You to be my Baby'.
'Stars in Your Eyes' winner Emma Wilkinson delivers a fabulous rendition of a Dusty Springfield classic to an appreciative crowd.
Dusty and a selection of Actionettes performing.
Miss High Leg Kick is brought on stage in style by the Action Men.
Miss High Leg Kick in action!
Actionettes back on stage, dancing to upbeat 60s leg-shakers like Rubbernecking and Bossa Nova Baby.
I'd brought along my man-sized new Nikon D70 camera and after much bewildered button pushing and knob-twirling managed to get the hang of the thing. Here I used a long exposure to capture movement and sparkle!
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Actionettes 1
