Finally, you each manage to place one hand on the sticky, moist metal of the bar, swinging your shoulders round to make a little space. You work together to fight your way to the front. You and another guy lock into an unspoken alliance. You will see things you will never un-see. Nights like Duckie see cabaret mixed with campness, before you fall across the road into one of the warehouse spaces that rumble on until lunchtime the next day. The iconic Royal Vauxhall Tavern is one of the oldest gay venues in the city and sits, as you may have guessed, in Vauxhall. There’ll probably be a surprise strap on reveal and my mate Meth will almost certainly do her rendition of Katy Perry’s Roar interspersed with rousing speeches from Gladiator and Lord of the Rings. Someone will probably rap about potatoes. Someone will probably staple something to themselves. In the north sits the glowing jewel of the Camden scene in the shape of Her Upstairs/ Them Downstairs. Established venues like Dalston Superstore and the Glory are hope to queer entertainment every night of the week, whilst pop ups, like Chapter 10 at Bloc in Hackney Wick will see you trancing your way into the next morning. Out in the east, lives Dalston, Haggerston, Bethnal Green and assorted hangers on. It’s basically moneyed Soho for retired twinks. A few miles southwest of Soho sits Clapham. From plaid clad butches to leathered up daddies suspended from a ceiling and every possible iteration of queerness outside of and in between, we have it all - you just need to know where to look for it.Ĭhances are, your first tentative steps out onto the London queer scene were made in or around Old Compton Street, the shining of London’s mainstream gay culture.
#GAY BAR SONG GET INTO A FIGHT FULL#
It’s in big cities like London though that you’ll find the full width and breadth of the queer clubbing scene. From Margate’s Sundowners overlooking the harbour to Central Bar in Strabane (the u.k.’s most remote gay bar) you could probably find one place to wet your whistle. There are gay venues in most cities and towns. But, before you grab your angel wings, glitter and poppers (we’ll get to that soon), here’s a handy guide to the dos and don'ts of the London queer scene. On this, the last weekend of the month, go back to where it all started and venture out into the queer scene.
#GAY BAR SONG GET INTO A FIGHT HOW TO#
Since the dawn of time, queer people have known how to put on an absolute stonker of a party - looking at you Dionysus. Born of marginalised communities, more often than not at the intersections of those communities pioneering DJ’s like David Mancuso, Frankie Knuckles, Larry Levan, Andy Butler, Kim Ann Foxmann and Honey Dijon have shaped the sounds and spaces we throw ourselves into once the sun goes down.įebruary is LGBT history month- a celebration of the battles won, those still to fight and all that the queer community have brought into the world. There is no way to talk of dance music and not in some way reference the immeasurable effect LGBT people have had on the creation, crafting and proliferation of the scene as we see and experience it today.