Dan Beaumont Takes Five
There’s a Bertolt Brecht quote that goes, “In the dark times, will there also be singing? Yes, there will also be singing. About the dark times.” We’d say there would be dancing, too.
Dan Beaumont has been cultivating spaces for queer nightlife to flourish for over ten years in the London music scene, by opening staples like Dalston Superstore, Dance Tunnel and Voodoo Ray’s, and most recently with his legendary gay dance bacchanal, Chapter 10. An old friend of Ace Hotel London Shoreditch — he’s colored the airwaves in our Lobby and celestial basement venue, Miranda a handful of times — Dan takes us through five of the very best LGBTQIA+ venues in East London that are doing it right.
Dalston Superstore
Transparency: this is my venue. I’m a little biased here. Superstore is (I’m told) an East London institution and serves our community extra helpings of drag brunch, to danceable techno, power ballads and porn star martinis. Ad-hoc queer workspace and coffees by day, two floor raving by night. Something for everyone (although be warned, at busy times the door policy will prioritise people from the LGBTQI+ community).
VFD
An unassuming basement in Stoke Newington houses a vibrant den of iniquity. Art happenings, revolution planning and lots and lots of dancing overseen by the heroic proprietor (community leader, designer, speaker, polymath) Lyall Hakaraia.
The Glory
A meeting of minds between legendary drag artists Jonny Woo and John Sizzle, The Glory is a notoriously friendly pub which showcases the absolute cutting edge in the art of drag and queer theatre plus inevitable disco action in the small hours.
The Karaoke Hole
Sorry this is one of mine again. A karaoke bar hosted by drag queens. What more do you need?
The Apple Tree
A new addition to London’s queer alternative scene, this “sex positive” pub mixes music, performance and community events in a lovely two floor boozer in Farringdon.
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