G-A-Y

'G-A-Y' is a gay nightclub in London. It usually operates from the London Astoria music venue.
Situated on the corner of Charing Cross Road and Oxford Street (with the closest Tube stop being Tottenham Court Road), the venue attracts a large crowd of Soho clubbers. G-A-Y plays gay pop, modern pop and retro (usually disco). G-A-Y is associated with G-A-Y Bar and G-A-Y Late, both of which are also owned by the Mean Fiddler Music Group and operate in Soho. The two bars sell discounted tickets to weekend performances and are locations in which flyer boys operate.

Contents

Venue

Performances

History

Cultural Aspects

Crossrail

Sale of the Astoria

G-A-Y Brand

Sale of G-A-Y

External links

Venue

G-A-Y, like many London nightclubs, is housed in an ex-theatre. The area formerly known as the Royal Circle has tiers of seats fixed to tables. The lower seating area has been changed into the main dance floor. Meanwhile, the upper foyer forms a second dance-floor playing (slightly) more modern music on a Friday, and retro music on other club nights. The club is open Monday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. Monday and Thursday nights tend to be crowded due to the cheap drinks available all night; Friday night is "Camp Attack" (retro music night, generally featuring a theme of some sort); Saturday night is generally a performance by a musician or artist.

Performances

Saturday nights at G-A-Y have seen many performances from a wide selection of artists and genres. Acts to have appeared on stage at G-A-Y include:
Alcazar, All Saints, Amerie, Amy Winehouse, Atomic Kitten, Bananarama, Blondie, BoyZone, Christina Aguilera, Christina Milian, Dannii Minogue, Donna Summer, Erasure, Enrique Iglesias, The Feeling, Geri Halliwell, Gina G, Girls Aloud, Hilary Duff, Human League, Infernal, JoJo, Kelis, Kelly Rowland, Kylie Minogue, Madonna, Mariah Carey, McFly, Natasha Bedingfield, LeAnn Rimes, Pink, Pussycat Dolls, Rihanna, S Club 7, Scissor Sisters, Scooch, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Spice Girls, Steps, Sugababes, t.A.T.u., Victoria Beckham, Westlife and Will Young.

History

G-A-Y has the longest uninterrupted history of any British gay night club. It began in 1976 in the Sundown club (in the basement of the London Astoria: now called LA2) as a Monday night event called Bang!, started by club promoters Norman Scott and Jerry Collins who worked as a DJ under the name of 'Gary London'. During the 1980s gay club nights Bang! (Monday)(Saturday) and also Propaganda (Thursday) were run by gay club promoter and dj Colin Peters,(Peter Daubeney) whose brother Jamie continued as promoter for a period following Colin's death. In the early 1990s Bang! was acquired by the DJ and promoter Jeremy Joseph who was a former DJ employed by the late Colin Peters, who oversaw its change of name to G-A-Y; its expansion from two nights a week to four; and its move from the LA2 to the London Astoria. For some years G-A-Y operated in both venues: the LA2 on Thursday nights and the London Astoria on Saturdays).

Cultural Aspects

For many gay people G-A-Y will be their first taste of predominantly gay clubbing. Within the gay community, "G-A-Y" is used as a term to describe a gay male or female. The bouncers at G-A-Y have also established quite an unpleasant reputation for themselves; due to the huge numbers of (as Time Out London put it) "disco queens with pink whistles, screaming their tits off", it is not uncommon to see people being pulled out of line and sent away for being too inebriated or too excited.

Crossrail

There has been much debate on whether the Astoria will be renovated as part of the government's attempts to build the Crossrail link. It is expected that the Astoria is to be subject to a compulsory purchase order. Promoter Jeremy Joseph has filed a petition to the government, detailing the nature of the business. Copy of petition

Sale of the Astoria

In June 2006 it was announced that London Astoria owners Mean Fiddler have sold the site to property developers for £25 million. The site is expected to be turned into shops.[1]

G-A-Y Brand

The G-A-Y brand has expanded to two other bars in the area. G-A-Y Late (located nearby) and G-A-Y bar (located in nearby Soho). The brand is owned by promoter Jeremy Joseph, he also has an undisclosed shareholding in G-A-Y Late and G-A-Y Bar. x

Sale of G-A-Y

Over the last weeks it has been confirmed that Mean Fiddler/Live Nation have put both, G-A-Y bar and G-A-Y Late up for sale for an undisclosed amount.

External links

★ G-A-Y website

★ Mean Fiddler website

★ G-A-Y (Saturdays) club reviews

★ G-A-Y Camp Attack (Fridays) club reviews

★ G-A-Y Music Factory (Thursdays) club reviews

★ G-A-Y Pink Pounder (Mondays) club reviews