Tobie Allen is not simply coming up from the underground; he is breaking out smoking, in his inimitable "take no prisoners" style. A relatively recent addition to the London scene, although a Cockney by birth, he cut his dance teeth in Cape Town club land where he is viewed as a household name where his legendary gigs at Cape Town's leading clubs are regarded in reverential tones in "I was there" moments. Across South Africa he is always a main arena headliner at all major outdoor events and is now seen as one of the Godfathers of SA house music and a local legend in dance music culture in general. Through his many hats, as a DJ, Promoter and Producer, he was instrumental in creating the Cape Town scene, surely one of the most wild, wicked and vibrant nightlife destinations in the Southern Hemisphere.
Needing wider tapestries and seeking other challenges he returned to Blighty where he went back to basics. He listened, watched, interacted and paid his dues and in a very short time back in the UK, he built a solid reputation with his Bootleg Social and Prohibition nights. Whereas Prohibition, monthly at the White House for the last two years, has stayed true to its roots as a dirty, filthy backroom night, it is Bootleg Social, his signature night, which is cementing Tobie's reputation as one of the most exciting talents on the scene.
To bootleg is to trade in the illicit, to venture into the underworld and to partake of prohibited pleasures as you dance your ass off in the face of the powers to be. So taking their cue from the sexy speakeasies of yesteryear a motley crue of misfits from the southlands formed the Bootleg Social.
To stage events that will bring back that anything goes, hedonistic atmosphere. More than a club night, more than an event, every Bootleg Social is a gathering of like minds that are all quite unashamedly up to no good. When you enter any Bootleg Social event you check not only your coat at the door, you check your inhibitions, your preconceptions and your attitude as you enter a truly unique clubbing experience, an experience where you’ll feel so good that it has just got to be illegal.
The Bootleg Boys go to great lengths to ensure that the outside world is entirely forgotten, the house is devilishly sexy, the decor debauched, the girls raunchy and the vibe that delightful blend of sophistication and sleaze. Celebrating their first birthday at a very appropriate 1920s Valentine’s ball was the Bootlegs Social’s coming of age, coming out and it positively coming all over the place, spectacular. It managed the impossible to be chic, elegant, stylish and decidedly messy all at the same time – it was if all that every preceding Bootleg Social was building towards unleashing itself on the Big Smoke, in one almighty club land climax. Every Bootleg Social is wickedly themed from fashionaistas to speakeasy’s to masked balls, so the minute you walk in the door expect to lose yourself in a carefully crafted wonderland of excess.
The Bootleg Social team’s ability to whip the crowd into frenzy has brought them to the dance floors of Ministry and Renaissance and spinning with industry luminaries like Defected, Bob Sinclair, Shapeshifters and now Roger Sanchez. So you can expect bigger things from Tobie Allen, Martin B, Ail C, Shaun Duvet and Future Filth as they blaze a beat trail country wide and beyond, spreading their nasty groves wherever they can carve them. With national nights in the offing, digital releases, radio shows, and international tours their downright criminal behaviour is not going to stop here. In all honesty it should be banned right now, but we all know all the best fruits are the forbidden ones. It’s Bootleg Social where it just feels to so good to be bad!
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