Residents in Bloomsbury square could have been forgiven for thinking that they’d been transported back in time, as hundreds of bright young things attending the V Day Ballroom Blitz queued outside the Bloomsbury Ballroom last night. Looking very dapper in their fantastic re-creations of 1940’s outfits, attendees enjoyed a night of decadent Glamour with a twist of modern rock.
As hosts of the event, Cakers turned out in their finery with pretty frocks, lipstick and nylons (that was just the boys!) zoot suits and trilbies … What a good looking bunch we are! 
We were joined by The Enemy who played an electrifying set after spending a few hours watching the football. Re-creating the community spirit of the 1940’s in a packed ballroom, bonding with the audience, who were happily punching the air and singing along to their sheer raw passion and energy on stage.
The Rumble Strips, true to form blew the roof off, with their trumpet ensemble playing a fantastic modern ska set and despite having a worry that they had no 1940’s outfits, naturally turned up totally looking the part. The Thirst scooted all the way across London from a Rock against Racisim gig and made it on stage just in time to kick off the event – they loved it so much they stayed and partied with us until the early hours with Bloc Party playing some inspiring tunes on the decks and reminding us just how good the 80’s were!
Hugo and Lawrence from Popstars kept the main room going all night between bands with some great Electro Dj’ing and Dave Berry entertained us all throughout the evening dressed like someone out of clockwork orange.
The Cake live team did themselves proud with a chill out room to die for - a fabulous re-creation of a 1940’s German cabaret bar, where showgirls and magicians mingled with the crowd.
The Broken Hearts played a Burlesque Dj set throughout the evening, ringing through their mixes on a telephone and sporting the kinkiest little gold lame air hostess outfits you’ve ever seen. To set the scene, The Marjorie Belles started the celebrations with some original 1940’s tunes… And yes we got the Chattanuga choo choo (who knows how to spell that?!) Finally the showstopper came from ex Tricky singer, Martina Topley Bird, whose new critically acclaimed solo album is out next week.
There are a few Cakers feeling rather sorry for themselves today, having enjoyed the debauchery of such an amazing night, so be gentle with us please! (Professional to the last the Cake team’s party started after the main event of course!)
But why you ask did we do all this?… Well apart from the 1940s fashion trend currently hitting the high street, and our love of all things indie, we actually had a message to convey! Last night we took the first steps to changing the perceptions of youth volunteering in England. Our client v, launched 150 new youth volunteering projects for 16 – 25 year olds, a program called vinvolved, with opportunities in areas as diverse as music, sport, environment and the community.
We had over 7,000 entries for tickets to the event and well over 500 lucky people, made up from existing volunteers and newcomers to the creative and inspirational young volunteering scene, attended the gig.
To find out more go to www.wearev.com.
