Lotus Clapham Junction
Lotus lives on Clapham High Street, discretely tucked between a Launderette and City Slots it sits unassuming. Unless you were a regular you probably wouldn’t guess that a Friday night out at Lotus is in one word, ‘amazeballs’. ; Or at least that’s how the girl that’ll step on your toes in the queue describes it (there’s always one). Your sneaky suspicion she did it deliberately is probably well-founded as she saw you roll your eyes at her use of the word. Needless to say, you’ll soon discover she was correct; a Friday night out at Lotus is ‘amazeballs!’
But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. Walking through Lotus’ glass doors, Krept and Konan’s ‘freak of the week’ reverberates through the small main room and it’s like stepping into a South London house party; the good kind, both jam packed and restless. The shindig’s already in full swing and you wade through dancing bodies until you’ve reached the sanctuary of Lotus’ bar. Your expectations for the night are at an all-time low, a long and monotonous five days of work will do that to you, but it’s nothing a favourite alcoholic concoction can’t cure.
‘What’s luv?’ blends into ‘can’t trust thots’, which (blends) into Kid Inks ‘be real’ and the vibes are incredible. The best of Hip Hop, Bashment, Afrobeats and RnB play on and by this time you’re centre of the dance floor, high on J Endless, DJ Dice and DJ Wavi’s tunes. But then the famous ‘why you lyin’ vine video thunders through the speakers and when the whole club sings along in unison you consider thanking your friends for dragging you out the house. Then you think again, they hauled you out toe nails haphazardly painted (reminder to self: keep painful heels on no matter the cost) and with a toothpaste stain down the front of your blouse, it’s nothing a little spit can’t solve but that’s beside the point.
Its 2.30am and Lotus’ ‘Empire’ night has come to an end. You’ve had one drink too many and promise never to get drunk again; a promise you always make but never keep. This calls for grease, lots and lots of grease. Luckily for you there’s a KFC less than three minutes away. One wicked zinger box and a large fries later, and you’re willing to succumb to a food coma.
If the night was any good you probably won’t remember much. But in the afternoon you’ll rise from your little burrito of blankets to a friendly text that simply reads, “You made some insane decisions last night!” After scrolling through embarrassing pictures and videos there is definitely no denying it- but like your first, second and fourth shot: mistakes happen.
Visit Lotus’ website for more information
A little tip: Best to order your tickets for the night beforehand, it fills up ridiculously quickly and if you haven’t pre-booked tickets or placed your name on the guest-list you may miss out on one of Clapham’s best nights-I have learnt this the hard way.
Jessika Downes-Gössl