Shimmy in West London exudes a magical, irresistible pull like a mysterious forest from childhood tales that the heroine can’t help but enter. Softly-lit and enticing, you know you shouldn’t, but there’s something about the place…
Spinning a yarn made of Gothic fairytales and embellished with Victorian curios, this music club is an enchanted woodland with some dark secrets waiting around the corner, appealing to the inner child but with a humour that’s for adults only. Amid the beautifully wizened branches that guard a forbidden mansion, a mischievous bear does his business with a spot of light reading, but it pays to keep one eye out in the human loos as well, where you’ll find a cheeky peep-hole or two and even some vintage porn – your mum never told these kind of stories at bedtime. The roots of this marvellously twisted venue reach deep into Porchester Road in the West End. Formerly cherryjam before its Cinderella-esque transformation, Shimmy is a late-night kind of place with a dancefloor that demands to be explored; a varied line-up of music styles are on offer, including a regular Saturday night slot for Deep House, Disco and Boogie.
