London gay

Gay/lesbian nightlife in London is renowned for its diversity. From rubber “gummi-bear” nights to preppie “high-tea dances,” London sports a club, pub, disco, or even temporary basement venue for every proclivity and kink. In an effort to cash in on as wide a sampling of clubbers as possible, some owners offer a variety of specialty nights that can be surprisingly strict in their exclusivity. This one-night-stand approach to club life is what keeps London’s nightlife fresh and exciting (because it’s so darned competitive) but it can be confusing.

What might be gay and mixed on a Saturday could be decidedly heterosexual on a Sunday, and largely gay, black, and “indie” on a Monday. Aside from the dyke-only bars and some strict dress-code bars, bars are open to all, but consult a current issue of Boyz, DIVAor QXto avoid disappointment. Although licensing laws have been relaxed, traditional pubs still close around 11 p.m. (10:30 Sundays), while other bars, discos and clubs just start rolling at midnight.

WEST END: SOHO AND COVENT GARDEN
Check out Compton’s (51-53 Old Compton St., W1; +44-20-7479-7961; www.comptons-of-soho.com), recently remodeled and always busy. The atmosphere is traditional English pub
The Admiral Duncan (54 Old Compton St.; +44-20/7437-5300) is a popular pre-and post-theater pub with a mixed crowd of Londoners and tourists. Newly gay Duke of Wellington (77 Wardour St.; +44-20/7439-1274) is another traditional London pub given a gay makeover. Further along the same street, Trash Palace (11 Wardour Street; +44-7956/549246) is a frenetic late opening two storey bar, loved by the indie rock crowd. Also popular with the young alternative music crowd is Retro Bar (2 George Court, Adelphi; +44-20-7321-2811), just off The Strand.

Kudos (10 Adelaide St., WC2; +44-20-7379-4573; www.kudosgroup.com) and Bar Code (3-4 Archer St, W1; +44-20-7734-3342; www.bar-code.co.uk) are modern, happy hour alternatives popular with what gay Londoners smilingly call the ‘cute suits’ and the Levi & T-shirt crowd. Kudos is often crowded, particularly on Saturday nights when it is the starting point for club bunnies on their way to Heaven. Bar Code has a harder edge, and there’s dancing in its basement bar until late on weekends. Back Bar is now Escape Bar (10a Brewer St., W1; +44-20-7734-2626), open until 3 a.m. six days a week.

The Edge (11 Soho Square; +44-20-7439-1313; www.edge.uk.com) is a great place in good weather when the crowd flows out onto the sidewalk. It’s an attractive, three-story space attracting a friendly, young crowd. Get in the mood in the so-hip-it-hurts Freedom Café (60-66 Wardour St.; +44-20-7734-0071; open till 3 a.m.), a mixed gay/straight bar in the heart of Soho with a downstairs cabaret and a great selection of beer from around the world, open from 9a.m.-11p.m. The bar was revamped early 2005.

Ku Bar (75 Charing Cross Rd., W1; +44-20-7437-4303) is a stylish bar, popular with a young crowd on their way to the clubs. 79CXR (79 Charing Cross Rd., W1; +44-20-7734-0769) is a big bar with late hours and low attitude, catering to a cross section of gay men, and a good bet most nights of the week, especially after 11p.m. It has a reputation as quite a pick up spot.

Village Soho (81 Wardour St., W1; +44-20-7434-2652; open till 1 a.m.; Sundays till 10:30 p.m.) is busy with cute boys on two floors. A revamp in 2005 has given it a new lease of life. The Yard (57 Rupert St., W1; +44-20-7437-2652; www.yardbar.co.uk) is located through a passageway between two tall buildings. With food service, two floors and indoor/outdoor space, they draw a good, younger, sometimes rough-around-the-edges crowd. Its outdoor patio is the place to hang out when the sun shines.

Rupert Street (50 Rupert St.; +44-20-7292-7141) is an award-winning, stylish bar, highly popular with a young and cute crowd and often bursting at the seams. Check out the john while you’re there — for the décor. If dancing is not your thing it’s now easier to drink in Central London after 11 at night. G.A.Y Bar (30 Old Compton St., W1; +44-20-7494 2756; www.g-a-y.co.uk) is pure pop paradise, with huge LCD video screens showing the latest clips and remains open until 1 a.m. Downstairs is a women�s bar, Girls Go Down. The Shadow Lounge (5 Brewer St., W1; +44-20-7287-7988; www.theshadowlounge.co.uk) was London’s most talked-about gay scene newcomer of 2001, a members’ ‘lounge’ club where you don’t necessarily have to be a member to gain admission. The place to be seen sipping cocktails next to London’s A-list, including a few celebrities you may recognize, this is still the most sophisticated gay bar in town. Just round the corner, Soho Revue Bar (11-12 Walker�s Court; +44-20-7734-0377) is a performance club, with events such as Sunday�s Cabaret Spectacular. In its former incarnation as Too 2 Much, it was the site of Elton and David�s wedding reception.

NORTHWEST LONDON
If you only have time for a one-nighter in Camden Town, it must be spent at The Black Cap (171 Camden High St., NW1; +44-20-7428-2721; www.theblackcap.com). This popular pub has been famous for its drag shows for nearly 30 years and, although there are two shows nightly, the early Sunday evening show draws the biggest and most interesting local crowd of gawkers and buzz-cut cuties. Upstairs is a quieter bar and garden for romantic drinks and conversation. Before or after a ramble on Hampstead’s Heath (the highest point in London), or a swim in the park’s cruisey men’s pond, head to the King William IV (77 Hampstead High St., NW3; +44-20-7435-5747; www.kw4.co.uk) for a relaxed pint, great food in the garden, and a taste of local color among the boys who live and work in the area.

NORTHEAST LONDON
The friendly King Edward VI (25 Bromfield St., N1; +44-20-7704-0745) is Islington’s most popular and central bar, with an upstairs café and a great rear garden. Restaurant and lounge, The Green (74 Upper St.; +44-20-7226-8895) was the talk of the cocktail swilling crowd in 2005. For relaxed charm,the lesbian-run The Duke of Wellington (119 Balls Pond Rd.; +44 20-7254-4338) is a beautiful old Victorian pub popular with local men and women on weekends when traditional Sunday lunches are served and the newspapers are free. Every Saturday, frisky guys may like the raunchier edge of Central Station (37 Wharfdale Rd., N1; +44-20-7278-3294) open late on weekends for a cruisy crowd and with some very dark corners to explore.

SOUTH LONDON
There’s something about South London that seems to attract some of London’s cruisiest and horniest guys. Substation South (4 Brighton Terrace, Brighton; +44-20-7737-2095; www.substationsouth.co.uk) is a large and very cruisy late night bar with a dance floor. Different club promoters run various weekly theme nights. Man Bar (82 Great Suffolk St., SE1: +44-20/-928-3223) hosts a variety of hot and cruisy nights (and afternoons). The Hoist (see FETISH) is a very popular leather bar with a strict dress code.

Vauxhall Gay Village is very much the current place for cutting edge gay clubs. Vauxhall venues come and go at a breakneck pace, so check with local papers and magazines before heading south of the Thames. For those who want to make the most of every weekend of the weekend, Friday night�s A:M (Fire, 39-41 Parry Str.) runs till 11a.m. Saturday morning, Crash (see below) is a big Saturday night destination. House and techno venue Instinct (Colosseum, 1 Nine Elms Lane) and hotspot Ultra (Area, 67-68 Albert Embankment; +44-20-7091-0080; www.areaclub.info) add even more heat to Saturday nights. Horse Meat Disco (South Central, 349 Kennington Lane; +44-20-7793-0903; www.horsemeatdisco.co.uk) attracts an eclectic set from bears to style mavens. After-hours substance-enhanced shenanigans Orange and Open at Fire (see above; www.allthingsorange.com) set the pace from 3am. At the same venue, Later kicks off at noon Sunday. Who needs sleep?

Weekdays, Vauxhall’s hot dance club Crash becomes Crash Bar (66 Albert Embankment, SE11; +44-20-7793-9262; www.crashlondon.co.uk) and surprise, surprise, it’s horny and cruisey, too.

But there’s room in South London for more than raunch. Saturdays at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern (372 Kennington Lane, SW8; +44-20-7737-4043; www.duckie.co.uk), screamers of all genders turn out for “Duckie”, a busy dance floor playing indies and techno trash till 2 a.m. It’s also popular Sunday afternoons. A little further out, Clapham plays host to two popular bars: the Two Brewers (114 Clapham High St., SW4; +44-20-7498-4971; www.the2brewers.com), which is a popular disco and cabaret venue with the younger set, and definitely worth a visit if you are already south of the river; and Kazbar (50 Clapham High St.; +44-20/7622-0070), which is an outpost of the Kudos empire.

WEST LONDON
In the Earl’s Court and Chelsea areas you’ll find the ‘tried-and-true’ stalwarts of the gay scene as well as a few sleazier surprises. The Queen’s Head (27 Tryon St., SW3; +44-20-7589-0262) in deepest Chelsea is a delight, a traditional pub in a quiet location and just the place if you’ve a thing for silver-haired uncles with silk cravats. Earl’s Court’s bar scene is not as big as it was, but The Coleherne (261 Old Brompton Rd., SW5; +44-20-7244-5951), still caters to a more mature leather/denim crowd, and offers a buffet and music (as well as a strict dress code) upstairs. Just down the street is the remodeled Brompton’s (294 Old Brompton Rd., SW5;+44-20-7370-1344; www.bromptons.info), a cruisey American-style bar/disco attracting mostly 30- to 40-somethings. It has an upstairs pub for more quiet conversations, and hosts occasional drag and cabaret acts.

EAST LONDON
Many East London bars are large enough to call themselves clubs and keep club hours. The White Swan (556 Commercial Rd., E14: +44-20/-780-9870) is an East London institution — vast, attitude-free and great fun, especially for the Sunday night tea dance. The crowd is a mix of East End queens and Canary Wharf yuppies. No sensible East Londoner buys stocks or gets a permanent Monday mornings. Backstreet (Wentworth Mews, Burdett Rd., E3; +44-20-8980-8557) is a friendly, strict leather/rubber club. In Walthamstow, Central Station (80 Brunner Road; +44-20-8520-4836) is a big cruisy pub.

DANCE CLUBS
There’s somewhere to shake your tush every night of the week in London. Check QX Magazine (www.qxmagazine.com) for the most up-to-date club information. Heaven (The Arches, Villiers Street, WC2; +44-20-7930-2020; www.heaven-london.com) is still the most famous of them all, a true gay superclub, recently refurbished.

Ghetto (5-6 Falconberg Court; +44-20-7287-3726; www.ghetto-london.co.uk) is open seven days a week, offering a disparate range of “theme” nights for eclectic tastes and shallow pockets. Wednesday is trendy electroclash haven Nag Nag Nag, where flash bulbs pop and dressing up is de rigueur, while Friday’s New York-influenced The Cock brings the capital’s freaks out en-masse for sleazy synthcore bump’n'grind. there�s something for everyone, and it�s a welcome antidote to Soho’s increasingly expensive money pits.

But if you love clubs, take the time to discover some of the many one-nighters, which are the real strength of gay clubbing in London:

Monday: Boys who can spot a bargain flood into town Mondays for the

G.A.Y Pink Pounderat The Astoria (157 Charing Cross Rd, WC2; +44-20-7734-6963) while Popcorn is a tasty treat on over at Heaven (The Arches, Villiers Street, WC2; +44-20/7930-2020; www.heaven-london.com). with a hot mix of club kids, students, and scene queens.

Wednesday: Fruit Machine is one of London’s longest-running club nights and it’s still packing ‘em in to Heaven (see above) for a sublime night of uplifting dance music.

Thursday: Beautiful people get jiggy to soul and uplifting dance music at Thursday night’s Discotec (The End, 18 W. Central St, WC1; +44-20-7419-9199; www.discotec-club.com;10 p.m.-4 a.m., be early or queue). It’s one of London’s coolest yet most mellow club nights.

Friday: Polysexual describes Friday night hotspot Fiction (The Cross, King’s Cross Freight Depot, off York Way, N1; +44-20-7251-8778; www.blue-cube.net; 11 p.m.-late). Music is deep and funky and dress code is “make an effort.” Popstarz (The Scala, 213 Pentonville Rd, Kings Cross; +44-20-7738-9988; www.popstarz.org; 10 p.m.-late) is a Friday nightclub with music from British pop, to ’80s new wave. Equally attitude free, Camp Attack (The Astoria, 157/165 Charing Cross Rd., +44-20-7734-6963; www.g-a-y.co.uk) is a cheesy ‘’70s/’80s night from the G.A.Y people, attracting a very young crowd to one of London’s largest-capacity dance spaces. First and third Fridays of the month Asian gay club Club Kali takes over the Dome (1 Dartmouth Park Hill, N19; +44-20-7272-8153).

Saturday: G.A.Y. (The Astoria, 157/165 Charing Cross Rd, +44-20-7734-6963; www.g-a-y.co.uk) is the biggest-capacity gay night in London, with handbag dance pop and P.As by some big, big names — Donna Summer and Cher included. Exilio Latino (LSE Student Union, 3 Houghton Street, WC2; +44-7931-374391) is London’s leading Latin gay night with salsa and a party crowd.

Sunday remains one of the best nights for clubbing in London — better, many Londoners believe, than Saturday. DTPM at the fabulous Fabric (77a Charterhouse St, EC1; +44-20-7749-1199; 8 till late) is the numero uno Sunday night club, with three dance floors — a large, sprung one playing house/techno, smaller floor playing more popular disco diva tunes for a shirts-off muscleboy crowd and a sexy little split-level R&B bar. It stands for “De-Tox in the P.M.”

The indie set gets starry-eyed at Marvellous at Crash (66 66 Albert Embankment; +44-20/7793-9292).

LEATHER/FETISH SCENE
London is a leather city, and there’s quite a bit of crossover between the fetish and mainstream scenes. You’ll see “off duty” leathermen at clubs like Crash, and in harder West End bars like Compton�s and Bar Code. Bars with backrooms — generally in North, East and South London — also attract a harder crowd. London’s most famous leather bar is The Coleherne (261 Old Brompton Rd., SW5; +44-20-7244-5951), still going strong after a million-pound refit a couple of years back. Most strict fetish venues are a little out from central London.

Once a month, London’s leather and rubber crowd heads south of the river to Fist (Imperial Gardens, 299 Camberwell New Rd, SE5; entrance Medlar Street; www.fist.co.uk; £11-13) a truly unique dance, cruise and raunch night for a mixed lesbian and gay crowd. The door policy is very strict about what you wear; if you’re not in rubber, leather or boots you won’t get in — or they’ll make you strip at the door. The Hoist (Railway Arch 47b and c South Lambeth Rd, SW8, just behind Vauxhall Station; +44-20-7735-9972; www.thehoist.co.uk) is a slick leather bar with an industrial look, similar to The Lure in New York City, and popular with a 30 -and 40-something crowd. Strict dress code. Open Fridays and Saturdays, on Saturdays, there’s dancing in the second arch. Once a month it plays host to SM Gays, when the dress code is more relaxed but there are demonstrations of leather, bondage and SM skills. You’ll need to be in leather or rubber to get into The Backstreet (Wentworth Mews, behind Benjys, E3; +44-20-8980-8557) a dark and intimate bar with boots dangling from the roof.

 

 

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