Snakes alive!

After losing thousands of pounds due to the lapsed license debacle, selling only soft drinks during Grand National weekend, one of the Albert Dock's more interesting drinking hotspots Circo is back in the boozing business.

The eccentric cabaret-style bar and restauran relaunched lavishly at the weekend, hosting one of their signature, designed-to-impress Freakshow Spectaculars to celebrate being under new management.

Crazy circus-themed costumes, snake charmers and stilt walkers, face painting and fire-eating. And David Gest too!

A Circo extravaganza isn't exactly your average night out in town, and all the better for it.

When not busy burlesque dancing or draping strings of white Southern Comfort plastic pearls over guests, silver-sequinned hot-pant wearers floated around with trays offering a range of feverishly flavourful canapés, influenced, perhaps, by many a quaffed Moscow Mule (£3.90) but, if these tasty little nibbles were anything to go by, Circo's new spring menu should be a dream.

David Gest and Amanda Harrington were billed as ringmaster 'hosts' for the evening. Aside from a prolonged early photo call outside the venue, the pair were barely seen and definitely not heard outside the private bar upstairs. Probably for the best.

For all the flamboyance of the show, Circo's crowd wasn't particularly annoying, as those frequenting these trendy dives often are. Sure, a fair few choose to WAG it up, but there were plenty who dressed down, too, making quite a reassuring mix, should you find yourself nervously treading that sartorial tightrope.

On top of this, DJ Andy Mac maintained the level of variation, spinning almost everything (but, conspicuously, not plates) from Vampire Weekend to Van Morrison, Jackson Five to a bit of Jungle Book.

Freakshow Spectacular events, arranged every month or so, are therefore a trick not to miss.

*Circo Liverpool
Britannia Pavilion
Albert Dock
L3 4AD

0151 709 0470

circoliverpool.com