He's done it before and wants to do it all again. Stephen McGinty
speaks to the man who wants to bring all of the beautiful people out at
night
WHEN Colin Barr gets excited he grins so much his face collapses into
creases and all you can see are his teeth -- beaming out like a
lighthouse of white enamel. Grinning comes naturally to Colin, as
natural as breathing or making money. Besides, he has a lot to grin
about; he's recently had a look at his life.
''How many 33-year-olds do you know who are going to have two
night-clubs and two bars?'' Er, only you, Colin. Married to a former
model, now fashion guru, Kelly Barr, with two sweet kids, he plays
tennis with best mate Pat Cash and attends showbiz weddings. ''Mandy
Smith . . . I was at both of hers.'' His bars are The Living Room and
The Lounge, his new night-club The Voodoo Room, while The Apartment
opens at Christmas.
The boy from Balornock whose father was a plumber and who left school
at 17 to hang around and work in the night-clubs of Spain and Holland,
has risen to the good life. He returned to Glasgow aged 20 to tend bar
at Sinatra's and became manager after his boss dipped the till and gave
him a split. He handed the cash to the owner who handed him the keys.
Colin Barr is as wide as a motorway. What he lacked in education he
doubled in experience. When asked to start a night-club, he launched
Glasgow's first gay club in Bennets and watched takings rise five times.
''I became a rich young man.'' The owner became furious -- until he
looked at the books.
During the eighties he rolled out clubs like Fresh, Choice, The Acid
Ball, and Toledo Junction which brought up the new sounds of House and
Acid. He also doubled as a male model to build contacts and a cash
reserve, meeting his wife, who has since worked as personal manager to
Kylie Minogue and Mandy Smith, at The Warehouse.
He fell into The Tunnel in 1989, with partner Mark Woodhouse. What
became the finest night-club in Europe was six snooker halls. A bank
manager whose kids attended his clubs stumped up a loan and Tennents
offered a huge cheque if he could return the bottled-beer brigade to
draught lager. He did by having beer hoses hang from the bar ceiling.
In 1992 Barr sold out for a ''fantastic offer'' and an agreement not
to run a club for 18 months. He launched The Lounge and Living Room
after a six-month break. The golden handcuffs clattered to the floor in
April when he had a one-off with Wonderland. The Voodoo Room opened
three weeks ago as a warm-up for The Apartment, planned for December.
''People asked me: 'why did you sell The Tunnel?' The Tunnel was
getting a wee bit ravey and techno and I didn't really want to go down
that path. I built The Tunnel for beautiful people and unfortunately
there weren't 1000 beautiful people in Glasgow prepared to come out
every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.'' He feels that with smaller clubs
he can pick 'n' choose his clientele. But who makes the grade?
''Beautiful people doesn't actually mean physically beautiful people
-- it means happy, switched on, knowledgeable, creative people . . . my
people that come in here are packages, these people want to be part of
what's going on, part of something positive.''
On the opening night of The Voodoo Room Colin returned to a faulty set
of decks only to have them cut out during his potential Let's Hear It
For The Boy, a fault now fixed. Designed by Glasgow School of Art
graduate Claire Schofield and Graven Images, it mixes the intimate
surroundings of sofas and carpets with the bamboo hangings of a beach
bar. Here dancing is just cool instead of compulsory.
He believes the secret to his success is being selective and
delivering the opposite to everyone else. The Apartment when it opens
could be membership-only. ''I want it to be unique with a certain
quality.'' Until then he'll cater to the Voodoo Room's magic, mixing
comedy with live acts and the best DJs on the decks.
Colin Barr can hype higher than helium and nearly always delivers the
match to an explosive event. He has only a few hurdles to clear to run a
Summer Ball in Blythswood Square for Scottish European Aid, a Bosnian
charity which his wife heads in Glasgow. However, he knows his success
targets him for sneers. He had a Carrera Targa but weekly vandalism
drove him back to an anonymous black Golf GTI.
However, he insists that those who dislike him don't know him: ''I
don't have any airs and graces, I'm just a human being like anybody
else, but I have one thing that a lot of people have not got . . . I can
mix with royalty or I can mix with scumbags. I don't find it a problem .
. . Don't say scumbags, say the great unwashed.'' Colin Barr, back
talking the walk.
* The Voodoo Room, 22 Cambridge Street, Glasgow, runs Thursday-Sunday
from 11 pm 'til late.
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