Food, drink, performance art, and interactive theatre all add up to something of a cluttered mess, acccording to Tom Jeffreys.
London is one of the most exciting cities in the world, with weird and wonderful events taking place across the capital pretty much every week. Whilst this is great for you and me, it can be tough or event organisers. How do you make your event stand out when there’s just so much competition?
One current approach is to combine all manner of disparate elements under one umbrella concept. I’ve lost count of the number of these kind of events I’ve been to now, and sometimes they can be truly wonderful; and sometimes, well, read on…
A Fluid State – a three-day event taking place in what seems to be an old Adolfo Dominguez store just behind Moorgate tube station – fails pretty comprehensively I’d say. On the VIP preview night there are various issues – dithering door staff, a treacherously frozen walk to the toilets, a lack of communication in terms of what you’re supposed to be doing, where and when – but these can mostly (if you’re being charitable) be put down to opening night teething problems.
There are, however, two rather more fundamental issues. The first is a lack of cohesion. The overarching narrative of a luxury airline taking you to various different locations is contrived, and largely pointless. This means that what you’re left with is five fairly arbitrarily connected spaces in which some stuff sometimes happens. What exactly is the point of A Fluid State? Also: the air hostess outfits are ghastly.
If this first major problem stems from the concept stages, the second is a matter of finish. A Fluid State is an event with seriously grandiose claims for itself – “London’s most exciting food and drink festival” declares its website (Taste of London, anyone? The London Restaurant Festival?) – but the attention to detail is pretty abject. Each section is separated simply by a bit of cloth, meaning that sound travels freely from one to the other. Given that downstairs are a load of prisoners (why?) periodically banging metal bars, this is really rather irritating when you’re trying to talk to the person who’s painstakingly designed your cocktail.
At one stage you can stand and see some monk giving venison stew to a group of visitors. You can’t join them though; you have to wait in line, watching, waiting. Why didn’t they screen this off? It ruins any element of surprise that the performance may have had. The whole thing just feels sloppy from start to finish.
Despite these two fundamental flaws, somehow, amazingly, some of the brilliant drinks on offer manage, just, to make their presence felt. Fluid Movement, the guys behind wicked new Marylebone cocktail bar, Purl present an instant Pina Colada sorbet, with various elements removed and re-assembled in rather innovative fashion. It’s neat, witty and delicious.
The highlight, though, by some distance are the drinks presented in the half-arsed Garden of Eden by the folks behind Crussh juice bars. Quite why topless girls need to walk around with a snake is unclear, but Christ the drinks are exciting. There’s a wheatgrass sorbet, with bee pollen tuile – it’s deliciously unusual, and doubly so when some King’s Ginger liqueur is sploshed over. But my favourite I think is a cactus smoothie, featuring kiwi and starfruit jerky (marinated in Ocho tequila for four hours, then dehydrated for 18 hours). It’s a bold, imaginative, exotic combination – and balanced expertly.
The guys behind Crussh only do these kinds of things for a bit of fun, and their passion and dedication really shine through. I wish I could say the same for the rest of this lacklustre event.
A Fluid State runs until Sunday 5th December 2010. Tickets range from £15 to £35.
www.afluidstate.com
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