Recently I popped into Pop Up Pirates(first and only pun). Not only does this "art installation-come-bar" sound a little bit trendy but it's also a Mothership creation who are the chaps behind The Book Club and Queen of Hoxton. We went expecting swanky typography and overpriced drinks, but try and stop me entering this sort of arty guff. I love novelty arty guff nonsense - even hipsters lurking in the smoking area won't put me off.
We visited on what was coincidentally the last day of the Clerkenwell Design week, which I will be writing a review for, shortly! Feeling pretty cultured from the mass of shiny lightbulbs, artisticly lit walls and a discovery of a giant metal robot that doubled as a bike stand, which all make up a small fraction of the design week, we bravely entered expecting, from all rumours, wafer thins girls and a cliquey atmosphere.
Luckily this turned out to be an utter lie and it was filled with people acting like jolly non-wankerish humans. With a relaxed and friendly atmosphere full of happy looking people with an absence of hair knotted on their heads, a lot of it beyond this was in a way not what you might reasonably expect (perhaps though, this is just my misunderstanding that all London art scenes require checkered shirts).
The description of a typography and slogan type bar doesn't really cover it. Photos knocking about online might almost suggest a minimalism that's nonexistent but the designers have indulged in it, and by the looks of it had a fantastic time. Every wall is covered in a mishmash of bright coloured typography and graphic design, of modern and minimalist - from burger style icon designs; cartoon explosion effects; to Dirty Dancing style signs on the dance floor at the end of the room.
There's something that looks remarkably like a cross between a mangle and a graphics printer on the ceiling, giant vinyl letters on the ceiling, and a stripy pole lurking about (n.d. not the pole dancing type). Each tiny aspect might not be a knock-out but combined they make something delightfully fun.
Silly drinks are a necessity, and astoundingly cocktails aren't as expensive as the title of 'novelty bar' might suggest In the name of research, I can tell inform that the raspberry-related champagne cocktails are gorgeous for their novelty, and the regular ones equally yum, if not better. They all cost around same, and food-wise it won my immediate respect by serving portions of chips as a side dish that was somewhat epic. In short, for a novelty bar it blew my socks off.
Aside from the bar staff sneaking a peek at the menu to check which ingredients made up each cocktail, there's very little almost pop up about it. The prices aren't horrible (you might even call them good). it's not filled with people MySpace photoing themselves (save my futile attempts to operate Twitpic on mobile) and it follows details to a brilliant extent.
As the blurb says, "without trying to be overbearing, the concept is all about communication and conversation" and it happens to be housed in an old factory building specialising in silver lithography. Think Justice's "D.A.N.C.E" video and you're part way there.
It's open till 2am with a late night license, and will be running a host of dancey type nights, with most starting around 9pm. It launched last week, and will be running until August. It is fresh, is different and is unique - and all from an advertising agency? Good Lord.
And I won't completely ruin the surprise of the toilets. Chalk's to the left of the sinks though.
Pop Up Pirate us open until August 2010, and can be found at 27 Clerkenwell Road, London EC1M 5RN.
Images © Claire Tayler for BitchBuzz.com