QX magazine TruePDF 20 march 2019

One was white and from the south, the other was black, and they were both exquisite looking people, and without trying at all they could just look like models.. You’re just dancing on th

I just wanna go back,

back to 1979…

Sex Circus

It's back in town and

it's bigger than ever!

+

The Informer

Gay British pop icon George Michael’s

vast collection of queer art went on auction

at the world-renowned Christie’s Auction

House this past week A total of 61 pieces

were up for auction, with artwork by Tracey

Emin and Damien Hirst in the mix, which

was auctioned off on Thursday 14th March

The catalogue sold for £9,264,000, with

another 100 works selling online for over

£1 million in a sale that ended on the

15th of March The biggest ticket item was

Hirst’s The Incomplete Truth which sold

for £911,250, featuring a dove encased in

formaldehyde The proceeds raised will be

going to charitable causes which the star

supported before his sudden passing on

Christmas Day, 2016 at the age of just 53

Outrage has been sparked within the LGBT+ faith community this week as the Archbishop of Canterbury has decided

to ban same-sex partners from attending the Anglican Church’s 2020 Lambeth Conference The event sees bishops from around the world meet to discuss issues within the church Reverend Kevin Robertson was told personally by Archbishop Justin Welby in January that his husband Mohan Sharma would not be invited to attend the meeting The decision was made following fears around a boycott from African bishops over openly gay members attending The church is seeing an increasingly contentious split between the liberal Western churches who embrace LGBT+ people, and African churches who do not Bishop Michael Curry who delivered a memorable sermon about the power of love at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle has voiced concerns about Welby’s decision, sharing that he wishes that his Episcopal Church would “like it to be reconsidered”

George Michael art collection sold

for more than £10 million

@qxmagazine qxmagazine.com

EditorDylan B Jonesdylan@qxmagazine.comEditorial AssistantIfan Llewelynifan@qxmagazine.comNew Business Sales ExecutiveSteve Gregory

020 7240 0055steve@qxmagazine.comSenior DesignerJanne Öijer janne@qxmagazine.comDesigner

Suren Gunpathdesign@qxmagazine.comClassifieds

020 7240 0055classifieds@qxmagazine.com Director

Chris Colman

020 7240 0055chris@qxmagazine.comDistribution /

M.R.DISTRIBUTIONPrinters / AcornPublished byFirststar Ltd New House, 67-68 Hatton Garden, London EC1N 8JYCover: Matt Spike

© Copyright in the UK and worldwide,

of the publishers Firststar Limited, Qx (ISSN 1356-6903) QX is published every Wednesday Deadline for editorial and display advertisement inclusion is Thursday, six days before the relevant issue cover date Sorry, but we cannot be held responsible for any unsolicited manuscripts , illustrations or photographs Inclusion in our images, is no indicator of sexual preference

In the run up to the 2020 US presidential election, several politicians have announced that they plan on running to take office The first step towards the White House is at the DNC Primary where candidates plead their case to get their place

on the ballot It is expected that not all of those who have announced their run will make it to the Primary debates Openly gay Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg has reached the 65,000 donor goal needed to qualify making him the only LGBT+ Democratic candidate running so far, and the first openly gay presidential candidate to participate A Rhodes scholar and a war veteran, at

37 he is also the youngest candidate running He will be facing off against Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren

Gay US Presidential Candidate meets goal to participate in

Primary debates

Canterbury bans same-sex spouses from Anglican Conference

Pleasuredrome is celebrating their rewards app by giving away free flip flops They’ve paired up with the Stamp Me app, where you can tap in and collect loyalty points every time you visit Get yourself 10 Stamps and you can get 1 free entry into the facility The first

500 guys to head over and stamp can get themselves a free pair of Squirt flip flops, with the offer coming to an end on the 31st of March The award-winning gay spa is open

24 hours of the day, every day of the week, welcoming over 15,000 men through their doors each month Their state of the art facilities include deluxe pods, a

cinema, tanning booths and London’s largest men only spa pool For more

information visit www.pleasuredrome.com

Our government

GOING

down

ScaffoldingDangerous and ugly!

Polenta

A bit wanky, but we like it

Aladdin PornIt’s a thing, Google it

Billie Eilish

She’s gonna be the next Dua

Lipa, we’re calling it now

WindWindy weather is SO ANNOYING

Mena Massoud

He’s playing Aladdin in Disney’s latest

cash cow meaningless remake, and

we are ON BOARD

Hey Guys! Describe yourself

in three gorgeous words.

MF: On our website, the three

words we used to describe Mr

and Mr Ford are Provocation

Deviation Masturbation But

that’s purely in our spare time

and not a reflection of our

business!

JF: Someone once described

us – as Sohocialites But it’s only

Shag, marry, avoid; Boris

Johnson, Nigel Farage,

Jeremy Clarkson

JF: I’d shag Boris, but I’m not

into scat

MF: I would happily marry Nigel

Farage… to Theresa May

JF: Jeremy Clarkson I don’t

drive – already avoided

Mark &

Jason Ford

What’s the fabbest thing that’s ever happened to you?

JF: Drinking Cristal with Jerry Hall and my idol, Grace Jones

in her trailer

MF: Celebrating Halloween in West Hollywood with Graham Norton and buying a (terrible!) JPG jacket because he thought

it looked ‘fab’ on me

You own a certain business some people might be familiar with…tell us a little about it?

JF: SweatBox is the most fun you can have in Soho without your clothes on

MF: Am I allowed to mention the Boyz Awards?

What’s the best Sweatbox story you’ve got?

JF: We’re keeping that for our memoirs

MF: Film rights available by negotiation We were thinking of calling it The Ins and Outs of Shaking it All About

Were there any stumbling blocks during the refurb process?

JF: The interview said 69 seconds…

MF: And we had 99 Problems (but you bitches ain’t one) But it’s all behind us now We’re back in two weeks’ time on April

1st at 4pm

What can people expect from the shiny new Sweatbox?

MF: Everything they loved about the old SweatBox, but cleaner, bigger, and much better designed

JF: More campness, more playfulness and twice as much sexiness

MF: And we have a stage now,

so we are going to bring back cabaret to bathhouse culture

JF: Think Bette Midler and Barry Manilow on keyboards and sexy hunks in towels

FINALLY - what time do you get off work?

JF: We run the busiest 24 hr sauna in London: we never finish working

How did one get into Studio 54?

You got into Studio 54 because you were one of several things: You were either very,

very physically beautiful by the generally

accepted standards in the culture - more men than women It pretty much meant young and beautiful, if you were very famous, or if you were very creative I don’t really think that being rich got you in, unless you were so rich that you were also famous for being rich I was not particularly beautiful, I was certainly not famous, but I was very creative Philip was very beautiful, but as a pair I was the creative one and he was the beautiful one I remember going to studio 54 with Phil and he was wearing red corduroys and a white t-shirt and I would have to wear a twister board with the centre

you’d stay out until 5 or 6 in the morning somehow when you’re 17 years old By the way, completely illegal for me to be in them

I didn’t drink, and I still don’t really drink It doesn’t mean that I didn’t do other things I did recreational drugs, but didn’t drink

So back then, did it have that reputation? Did everyone know about Studio 54?

By the time I got there, yes It opened in

1977, I think From the time I got there the first time, I became a regular and went every Thursday and every Saturday for probably eight months Before I went I had heard of it

The minute it opened it was a known thing - there were crowds outside trying to get in I don’t know of any place that does it today the way that they did it then There wasn’t a line to get in, there’d be a mob Marc Benecke was the doorman He would come out and point

at people and say “YOU”, and you’d have to force your way through the crowd Sometimes he’d split people up I was a regular and I never had to wait, but I used to go with my friend Philip, and once we brought a friend of

So you arrive in NY what year?

January of 1977 - I had just turned 17 I

moved for NYU

How were those first few days after

landing?

They were fabulous I was too stupid and

young to be nervous about anything I was

anxious to get out into the world and I don’t

think I said the sentence “I’m gay” until I

moved to New York City That was part of it

because I wanted to claim my identity

Was there a community there waiting

for you?

It was very apparent; I didn’t have to go

looking for it Right away I got a job at

an ice cream parlour restaurant We sold

hamburgers and hot dogs, right in the

village across the street from a store called

Reminiscence At the time it was the trendiest

shop in New York City There would be a

line around the block to get into the shop I

became friendly with the people who worked

in there and they took me to Studio 54 I went

out to discos all the time I went out two or

three nights a week I had my classes, I had

qxmagazine.com

morrah.”

Your first time ever stepping through

those doors was with these friends

from the boutique How did that night

play out?

You always got to Studio 54 around 11:30pm

I knew that they were regulars already, Tim

and Jim That was their names One was

white and from the south, the other was black,

and they were both exquisite looking people,

and without trying at all they could just look

like models I adored them I was like a kid,

they were much more sophisticated than me

I was in awe of them That they allowed me to

come with them was a big boost to my ego

Walking in, what do you see?

You would elbow your way through the

crowd, then walk into a vestibule where

you paid Halfway up the stairs there were

lounge areas with sofas outside where

people had sex It was the first place I ever

had any sexual activity with another human

being Nobody cared, you just walk past

Then you walk up to the ‘dress circle’ and

the seats had all been ripped out, replaced

by mattresses People sat up there and did

drugs, and people laid up there and had sex

quite out in the open, and nobody noticed

or cared It was like being in an artfully lit

Sodom and Gomorrah The staff were all

male, they all wore gym shorts and had

fantastic bodies There was a VIP downstairs

area that I knew existed, but I never went

because I wasn’t VIP enough

So every Saturday Night and Thursday

Night…

Generally Unless there was an event or a

holiday If it was Valentines Day you’d go to

Studio 54 One year the whole lounge area

had been completely covered in those

candy-message hearts, which looked fun but was very

messy I was there the night that Bianca Jagger

was led in on a horse, and I was there that

Diana Ross sang sitting on the ledge of the DJ

booth, which was suspended over the dance

floor so she could have plunged to her death

You’re just dancing on the dance floor

an in walks a horse?

Yes In walks a horse People weren’t

confused People knew who Bianca Jagger

was, it might have been her birthday You

saw many surprising things at Studio 54 The

horse didn’t phase anyone It was just like

Cinderella There I was - 17 living in a dorm

- and I’d be dancing and sharing a drink with Liza Minelli and Rod Stewart and Andy Warhol, and I’d leave at 5 in the morning, and would walk to the subway, sometimes through the snow in my jazz shoes - my feet would be

so cold and wet - and go back to my dorm

Quite the double life

Who else did you know there?

Aside from the regular celebrities, there were Studio 54 celebrities There was Rollerena, and Kevin and Arthur The rumour was that Rollerena was a very important stockbroker with a seat on the New York Stock Exchange,

in his 40s, and he dressed in pale cream Scarlet O’Hara-esque antebellum drag, and wore roller-skates, and a wig, and rhinestoned bejewelled glasses I also remember him having a Mardi Gras mask on a stick occasionally Then Kevin and Arthur; Arthur was bald as an egg, and Kevin had a long face Neither of them wore wigs, but they dressed in period drag They’d turn up in glamorous Escada gowns like they were going

to the Oscars That doesn’t sound like such an event today, but that was 1977 The first time you saw it, it was quite an unusual thing to see Then there was Disco Sally who appeared

to be in her late-80s, certainly the oldest one

in the room, and she seemed to be there every night Towards the tail end of Studio 54,

I remember people with disabilities being led

in, in a way that was quite nauseating, as if they were a novelty

What would you say was the most depraved thing you witnessed at Studio 54?

I didn’t think any of it was depraved You saw men having sex in trios and duos You didn’t see many lesbians You saw a lot of heterosexual sex, as much as gay sex because

it wasn’t a gay disco It was completely libidinous and hedonistic The idea was let’s put people the management thought were fabulous in a room, let’s make sure they were doing drugs so they’d lose their inhibitions

You’d see group sex sometimes, but never more than three or four This is very shortly after the birth of sexual liberation - women hadn’t had the pill for very long, gay rights had just started to be a thing we were fighting for The Stonewall rights were ten years later,

but culturally that’s the blink of an eye This was an explosion of sexual freedom That’s also why it ended

You stopped going after eight months Was it you that ended with it, or it that ended with you?

When Steve Rubell (the owner) was arrested for tax fraud, it closed for a few nights and then it re-opened, but it wasn’t the same There was a big welcome back party for him, but shortly after that it closed The spirit shifted when Steve was arrested, but

it really shifted because of AIDS All of New York nightlife slowly shut down and never recovered

And the very last time you headed over

to Studio 54

I don’t remember, which is very sad I probably didn’t know it was the last time It would’ve been nice to be able to cement the moments in my memory a little more People were trying to keep New York nightlife going, but by then people had started dying Philip died in 1982, so even though it wasn’t even called AIDS, there was something killing gay men by 1980 The spirit of New York changed very drastically, very quickly The fights over promiscuity took over

The studio has garnered a folkloric reputation Would you say it lives up to the lore?

One hundred per cent Completely deserved

It was a fantastic experience, and I feel very lucky that I got there in time to be a part

of it A bad night at Studio 54 would be a spectacular night anywhere else It deserved its reputation, a spectacular fall of the Roman Empire kind of place

Would you say that a place like Studio

54 could exist today?

No, for a couple of reasons One would be the joy of that sexual explosion that only happens when it’s new Now we’ve been through so much sexually as a culture that it wouldn’t happen Also we’re more evolved, beauty is still the planet’s most valuable currency, but we’re not supposed to admit that We would never have a club that only allowed beautiful in We wouldn’t support it

as a culture Everybody hated the people that went to Studio 54, resented it terribly and EVERYBODY wanted to be one of them

Hey Adam! Tell us a bit about yourself

I’m a DJ, producer and radio presenter from London I played my first gig

on the scene about eight years ago at little old Circa Bar in Soho… and

have somehow managed to keep it together since then! I’ve spent the last

few years remixing artists like Robbie Williams, Paloma Faith, Years & Years

and others and travelling the world DJing

What’s your radio show all about?

TURNED:ON is all about brand new dance music I guess it’s a place

where people can be introduced to new sounds and artists, and skip all the

classic/older music that a lot of radio seems to put out I was always that

kid who grabbed the aux lead at a party and tried to play new music off

my iPod to people (they would often just look at me with a blank expression

as I flipped Madonna off and put some kind of Drum & Bass on), so I kind

of just do the same thing now - it’s just that party is a radio show around

the world, and I get less blank expressions (I think) I’m really proud that

TURNED:ON is about to celebrate its 250th show - nearly five whole years

of sourcing music, mixing, producing and presenting it every single week

without ever missing one!

People are loving radio and podcasts and stuff at the moment –

why do you think that is?

There are many places in 2019 where an algorithm can tell you what

music you should like or should listen to based on your listening history

on an app But the one thing you can’t get with an algorithm is company,

on their way to work, at their desk at work - and I think people enjoy feeling like they aren’t on their own and that they are going through the

‘experience’ with someone else With TURNED:ON that ‘experience’ is discovering new music together I think we live in an increasingly isolated world with social media and the internet whilst perhaps not actively realising it - so to have interaction with another human, even if it’s just their voice, is kind of refreshing

Do you think there are enough LGBT voices in music and radio?

In terms of radio, I think the fact that one of the biggest radio stations in the world, BBC Radio 1, has two openly gay presenters in their daytime schedule speaks volumes as to how far radio has come With the explosion of digital and internet radio, there are also now many LGBTQ+ dedicated stations around the world focusing on issues and topics relative to the community

- which is amazing Music wise, I’d love to see more LGBTQ+ artists away from the mainstream - in Grime or Hip Hop for instance or even the smaller corners of dance music, which can all be very straight/male dominated

Finally…where can we listen to you?

TURNED:ON is syndicated as a radio show on 20+ stations around the world between Thursday and Sunday every week - so quite a few places! The main broadcaster in the UK is Gaydio, every Saturday night from 10pm-11pm It’s also available to download every week from Sunday morning as a podcast - just search for TURNED:ON in the iTunes podcasts sections, or on Podomatic.com

C L U B N E W S F or our Mus t s & May be s l is t ing s , s ee page s 36-4 0

or vis i t t he What ’s On s ec t ion at w w w.q x maga zine.com

Eurofest

Friday 22nd of March

Remember when hearing the word ‘Europe’ didn’t make you feel

inconsolably exhausted? Well, turn back the clock to a pre-Brexit world

where Europe meant kitschy pop and sequined outfits! Eurofest is

powering on and bringing a heavy dose of Euro-pride back to the RVT

This week they’re teaming up with Manchester’s Boom Bang a Bang to

bring you the UK’s biggest Eurovision preview vote They’ll be blasting

out this year’s competing songs so that you know who you’re rooting

for at this year’s Eurovision You may not have managed to book your

tickets over to Tel Aviv for the real thing, Eurofest is sure to be the next

best thing PLUS they’ll be welcoming to the velvet-curtained stage

Macedonian pop sensation EYE CUE!, who competed last year with

their hit Lost and Found They’ll be performing a set jam-packed with

Eurovision bangers Get yourself some schlager you shlag!

The Royal Vauxhall Tavern, 372 Kennington Lane, Vauxhall SE11 5HY

7pm – 3am Doors 7pm, show 7:45pm Advanced tickets £6.50,

£8 after 10:30pm.

Non Binary Cabaret

Friday 22nd of March

With a big middle finger to that pesky gender binary, these performers are

here to celebrate the rollercoaster ride that is the gender spectrum Curated

by Sit Down Cabaret, this Non Binary Cabaret is home to queer performance

art and cabaret, where norms are left at the door Embracing the menagerie

of gender, sexuality and love that the world has to offer, these folks are

pushing cultural boundaries and diving headlong into the tide of gender

expression Nestle yourself into the intimate Glory Basement and watch living

history unfold Host Ingo Cando will be your master of ceremonies for this

ceremonial disembowelment of stereotypes and social expectations Grab

your sock-stuffed crotch, glitter those brows and slip into those heeled

high-tops It’s time to explore the gender spectrum

The Glory, 281 Kingsland Road, Haggerston E2 8AS

Doors 7:30pm, show 8pm Tickets £8, OTD £24

BRÜT

Friday 22nd of March

Theresa May being truly fucked over in Parliament? That’s brutal Being truly fucked in a leather swing? That’s BRÜT!

Bringing you the capital’s biggest beefcakes all in one rip-raw party, where leather harnesses and budging hairy chests are the ‘it’ accessories for this spring season A typical club night sees maybe one or two of these huge beefcakes dominating the dance floor, but at Brüt the entire dance floor is packed with man meat, and the domination happens over in the dark room The great thing about this Friday night frolic is that you don’t have to sort that awkward ‘your place or mine’ discussion; the only place you need are the dark corners of Bloc South

Bloc South, 65 Albert Embankment, SE1 7TP

Can you believe it’s been a WHOLE YEAR of Soulful Saturdays over

at Eagle? It feels like only yesterday we were shaking our cabooses to some Aretha mix at the launch In celebration, they’re cranking up the gear to bring you an even more banging dose of soul jams and RnB hits Serving up the best in the genre will be certified beefcake Terry T-Rex who always delivers, and guest resident Jeanie Crystal will have you bouncing to those throwback beats To mark the occasion selected drinks are 2 for 1 until 11 pm, so be sure to get lubed up in liquor before the party really pops off! Host Roy Inc is on hand should you

be in need of a soul sister These days it feels like we all need saving, and the one place sure to offer up our salvation is Soul On Saturday!

Eagle London, 349 Kennington lane, Vauxhall SE11 5QY

9pm – 4am Free before 10pm, £6 after

SBN & NBN

Sunday 24th of March

A day of rest… but not for us! Sundays are the holiest day of the week They sure are over at Union Nightclub where the men of London come to worship the male form Get on your knees and do something way more fun than praying Stark Bollock Naked is where and

how you should be on a horny Sunday afternoon,

in the middle of a crowd of naked men who are keen to get to know you Thing get proper hot and steamy over at SBN, with it all coming

to a boil at 5pm when bearded beefcake Lex Anders & British beauty James Castle (pictured) take to the stage for an XXX live show that is sure to get your blood pumping and your manhood throbbing

Union Nightclub, 66 Albert Embankment, Vauxhall SE1 7TW

to wear on a Saturday night is a major hassle, with TFN you can spend the time you would’ve done choosing out an outfit on some creative manscaping It’s where you can mix with likeminded guys and kick back with some hot naked men

Covent Garden Health Spa, 29 Endell Street, Covent Garden WC2H 9BA £15 entry, includes 1st drink and coat check.

XXL Military

Saturday 23rd of March

Are you into big hair bears? SIR, YES SIR Do

you look sexy in camo print? SIR, YES SIR Do

you fantasise about an orgy at an army base?

SIR, HELL YES SIR! There’s something about

a man in uniform that has us instinctively

grabbing our ankles ready for a cavity search

It’s the perfect opportunity to get your hands

on some privates and dance up against a captain or two The theme might say army, but the darkroom is sure to get handsy All the burly men of London head over to Southwark

on a Saturday night and one quick look around the dance floor is enough to see why This club night is sure to be sergeant MAJOR

Pulse Nightclub, 1 Invicta Plaza SE1 9UF

10pm – 7am £15 guests, £10 members.

Trough

Saturday 23rd March

London’s most stylish naughty night is back This time they’re taking over Bloc South for an evening of debauched revelry, all set to some killer tech beats They always deliver on a teaming dance floor that’s jam-packed with grizzled muscle Delivering on the night’s dark beats are DJs Tony Bruno, James Baillie, and Two Kinds of Evil Take a daring turn into the dark room and you won’t be disappointed, have a grope of a few grizzled pecks and bulging abdominals They’re really not picky when it comes to dress code, operating a ‘less is more’ approach, but some hot gear is always appreciated, from leather to rubber or just your civvies It’s all about getting the hottest guys in for a night of hard-core clubbing and getting your rocks off on a Saturday night Time to shove your snout in this Trough

Bloc South, 65 Albert Embankment, Vauxhall SE1 7TP 10pm – 6am £20 tickets available at TroughLondon.com.

BEYOND

Saturday 23rd of March

There comes a point in your Saturday night when you’re slowly writing off whatever you had planned for Sunday

Once you’ve written it all off there’s nothing stopping you from going FULL THROTTLE But where to head when all the clubs have closed at 4? It’s time to head BEYOND your average clubbing experience It’s time to take it

to the next level Bringing in that killer Tech and House combo are the folks at Beyond, who somehow make staying out until midday a good idea When all logic says “No, go to bed’’, Beyond says “Buy yourself another drink and dance up against that muscle hunk who’s been making eyes at you’’ It’s the irresistible night of high-octane clubbing that makes staying out all night a weekly endeavour

Fire, South Lambeth Road SW8 1SP

4am – Midday £13 concession/flyer before 7am, £16 OTD.

13

qxmagazine.com

CMYK Bar

15/03/19 105-109 The Broadway, Wimbledon SW19 1QC Photos by Richard Holland

It’s only been around for just over a week and it’s already drawing the crowds We decided to check out Wimbledon’s first-ever gay bar on Friday night, and we were NOT disappointed Spiffing down the District Line and a 5-minute walk from the station took us to the doors of CMYK, and we weren’t quite sure what to expect Thankfully, the fact that it’s the only queer joint in the area didn’t have them slaking on serving up

a gorgeous watering hole A big topless, tatted dancer was doing his thing up on

a podium as we walked in and we felt right at home The place was full of a Wimbledon crowd that meant a whole bunch of guys that hadn’t been in our Grindr neighbourhood before, making it open season for us Unfortunately, they seemed to have more common sense than your average Londoner so it was a boy-less Uber trip back into central

XXL St Patrick’s Day

16/03/19 Pulse, 1 Invicta Plaza, Southwark SE1 9UF Photos by Zefrographica

What’s better than a big sexy bear?

A big sexy IRISH bear Feeling our four-leafed fantasy on Saturday night

we skipped like a leprechaun down

to XXL ready to find ourselves a big bearded Irishman With that accent,

we couldn’t help but swoon Since we were feeling particularly festive, we decided to stick to the Guinness that made for very pretty looking throw-up

on the floor of our Uber home We don’t know if it was the little stubble

we had growing or our beer-filled belly, but we felt like the bell of the XXL ball The good thing about this club night is that no matter how many skinny young things waltz in, a big old bear will always be way more popular with the crowd The morning after we sure wished a ‘Top of the Morning’ to the guy who we woke up next to…

qxmagazine.com

15/03/19

30 Lisle Street, WC2H 7BA Photos by Zefrographica

As always there was lots of FLESH

on show at Ku on Friday – which

is fine! There were also more than

a few moustaches Moustaches, like cowboy hats, are evidently back How do we feel? We don’t care Actually we do SOMETIMES moustaches look great, sometimes they look shit You have to be the right sort of person to pull them off ANYWAY…Ku can always be relied

on for a great, raucous night out Speaking of which, head down on Wednesdays for BOMBSHELL, their t-girl night in the basement club It’s wild! Bring an open mind and leave your judgments at home

Q X P R E V I E W :

Mighty Hoopla

IT’S MIGHTY HOOPLA SOON Well, not that

soon It’s on 8th June so still like three months

away But it’s soon enough that you can start

trawling ASOS for your “look”

Whatever you do, DON’T pick that sequin

rainbow shorts/t-shirt combo Everyone and

their French bulldog was wearing that last year

So 2018!

Now in its third year, Mighty Hoopla has

become a sparkling and well established summer

event on London’s LGBT social calendar Like

Pride in London would be if they actually had a

good lineup OMG WHO SAID THAT? NOT US!

The past two years they’ve thrown

unforgettable, glitter-strewn summer days of

campness, with acts like Years & Years, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, All Saints and more If you’ve never been before, you’ll be a convert after your first time When you’ve seen Charlotte Church performing “Hot In Here” with a bunch of drag queens, there’s no going back

And this year’s lineup is JUST as major

They’ve got Irish songstress and Time Machine cast member Samantha Mumba! They’ve got All Saints again, back for round 2! They’ve got queen of disco, CHAKA KHAN! They’ve got lippy London lass Kate Nash! They’ve got a DJ set from Nicola Roberts!

They’ve also got stages and dance tents run

by the some of the best and most original queer

club nights in London; POC cabaret collective The Cocoa Butter Club; queer Jewish party kids Buttmitzvah; fab pop bitches We Love Pop; cult garage connoisseurs Gay Garage; and of course drag superstars Sink The Pink

Oh and they’ve also got JAMELIA! THAAANNKYOU! For every last bruise you gave me! For every time I sat in teeeaaarss…

ok we’ll stop

Mighty Hoopla is on Saturday

more info and tickets, head to mightyhoopla.com

The Dunky! It’s slap BANG

on Old Compton Street,

the thriving, throbbing,

thronging heart of Soho Is

that enough “th” adverbs

for you? Good because we

haven’t got anymore The

Admiral Duncan is one of

Soho’s cosier establishments,

but what it lacks in size it

makes up for in personality

We’ve all met men like that

haven’t we One of our all

time faves Sandra (pictured)

graces their cabaret stage

every Thursday We love

her because, she SHOCKS

us And we’re not easily

shocked She’s…she kind of

defies description Just go

and see for yourself

Halfway 2 Heaven

7 Duncannon Street, WC2N 4JF

Good old Halfway!

Can always be relied on for a camp ol’ knees

up any night

of the week

Oh yes dear

Halfway is tucked behind the bustling bumptiousness of Trafalgar Square,

a handbag’s throw from fluttering pigeons and sputtering buses

Inside, it’s an oasis of old school gay bar fabulousness

Upstairs it’s all wood paneling and salubrious pints, and downstairs it’s all cabaret and quipping on their sparkly pink drag stage Don’t miss Friday’s drag act – she’s fresh out of the oven and crispy on top, it’s Lola Lasagne (pictured)!

Little Ku

25 Frith Street, W1D 5LBLittle Ku is CUTE! It is, as the name suggests, little! It’s the cheeky little brother of the KU group’s flagship Lisle Street venue Little Ku

is tucked down a Soho side street, the perfect place to dive into for a catchup with friends, or a romantic date away from all the

Old Ship

17 Barnes Street, E14 7NWDown in lovely Limehouse, there’s

a gay pub that for many is quite off the beaten track

So if you’ve already sashayed your way around Soho, dawdled around Dalston and veered through Vauxhall, why not try something

a little different and hop on the DLR for some Limehouse lovin’! The Old Ship is an endangered species,

a proper old school gay boozer It doesn’t QUITE have sawdust on the floor – if we were in America, it definitely would

Bridge Bar

8 Voltaire Road, SW4 6DHNestled away over the river in boozy, bougie Clapham, it’s Bridge Bar! A slick little place under the arch of a railway bridge (hence the name, very clever) Bridge Bar is the place to be if you like cocktails and people watching It’s right by Clapham High Street, so you can see all the tanned gorgeous Australian Clapham gays stalking past with their bags of shopping from Next and John Lewis Cheers!