Dalston Superstore, 1st June

I had very different expectations of Dalston Superstore compared to the reality. I had heard that the door staff were unfriendly and if you didn’t dress to impress in your ultrahipster chic or weren’t gay, you wouldn’t get in. I’m happy to say that in our experience (going with two straight guys who while yes, are technically dressed, could never be said to be dressed for anything, let alone impressing) that couldn’t have been further from the truth. Granted, we did go quite early (around 11 pm) in order to avoid the crowds, given that it was a free night but we were greeted with smiles and let right in.

The night in question happens downstairs monthly at Dalston Superstore on a Friday. It is called BREED and is hosted by Rex the Dog, a DJ who my friend is a fan of. The ‘superstore’ could more aptly be described as a ‘minimart’. It’s tiny. The bar area upstairs was adorned with dogs in reference to BREED I assume and is pretty small and narrow. The club downstairs is bigger but still fairly intimate.  I had been picturing some sort of converted warehouse that didn’t look dissimilar to the large Indian supermarket on Brick Lane. For some reason, the fact that they do food only reinforced my false impression, picturing as I was a space large enough for several picnic tables upon which skinny, bearded people tucked into pancakes and OJ. Perhaps it shouldn’t, but my expectations of the venue influenced the kind of night I thought it would be. I imagined dancing with abandon in wide spaces until the early hours. This venue leant itself more to bopping about and sometimes bopping into other people, which is always a good excuse to say hello and make friends.

Dalston Superstore is a gay club and it couldn’t be more evident when you go upstairs. They had a tranny DJ playing poptastic dance stuff (I think they played Hot Chip when I ordered my whore’s handbag cocktail [had to be done – and it was delicious]). Less than two hours later the upstairs bar was absolutely rammed – mostly full of skinny bearded guys snogging each other while the DJ announced that he preferred it bareback in the 90s. But the club is ‘straight friendly’ and my two friends dancing downstairs felt perfectly comfortable.

I have no complaints about the night – it was fun, but it wasn’t AMAZING. It probably doesn’t help that just a week later I went to Krankbrother’s Street Party after party and that absolutely smashed it, making my night in Superstore seem tame by comparison. In fact I think I even left before the place closes which I almost never do! However, I did have fun and I enjoyed the music both upstairs and downstairs so I wouldn’t rule out going back; I just didn’t fall in love with the place.