2010! What a way to start. It was widely agreed that some of the entertainment and showmanship of flair had taken a back seat so we decided to gear the judging at little more towards the performance and entertainment side.
The Roadhouse judges embraced the new scoring system and gave great feedback to ensure in no way would the Roadhouse flair competition become a watered down mainstream rules and regulations competition. Roadhouse is a bartender’s comp where they are free to let rip on the stage for 5 minutes at a time and January was no different.
We had some great guys step up to the mark coming in from our Prepare to Flair competition. Marco Bernardi , Tony Malin & Nick Harrison where just a few names who made the effort to come down from the North and represent. It’s exciting to watch young talent come up through the ranks and these guys did it extremely well.
So the competition itself ran smoothly and the Roadhouse was pumping as always. All eyes were fixed to the stage and the screaming and cheering could be heard half way round the piazza. The roof was raised when the Roadhouse boys got up to do their thing. Pete Jones, Alex Wall & Sy Rogers all had belting heats and Sy Rogers went on to qualify in 6th place after pulling off an incredible 44 fore arm bumps, GLOBAL!
The finals were cooking and you could see that the guys were keen to show off their skills after a 2 month break. Tom Dyer came back and nailed first place and scored himself a £50 bonus with a Finest Call shoulder stall. Alex Searle, oozing originality, got himself 2nd place which was well deserved. Alex has great ability though sometimes could do with a cheeky grin now and again. I’m looking forward to seeing him develop over the year for sure. 3rd place was a close call and Ginge only just missed out on the position to Clinton Weir who had a corker of a round and was very pleased with his own results. When you spend as much time practicing as these guys you can really notice the difference and January was the month were you could see who had been practicing and who was still eating mince pies.
All in all it was a fantastic start to the year. The Finest Call drinks the competitors were making looked fantastic and though the standard may of started off a little “shakey” by the end they were simply amazing. All I can say is that I am really excited about the World open on 28th Febuary and the year ahead. We have some big names coming down so be prepared for some sick, slick moves.
Thanks again to the judges Big Andy, Vicki Patras & Tony Adams. Your help and support was very much appreciated.
Many thanks
Oli Pluck
David has been working in the hospitality business since the 2003, but long before that he started designing.
Born in the States but raised in the Netherlands, today he works in bars and as a freelance webdesigner.
From working in different bars, his love for bartending grew exponentially and that's the reason David started to combine his love for bartending and his eye for design and film in Delirium TV.