G-A-Y
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G-A-Y is a gay nightclub in London.
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[edit] Introduction
G-A-Y Club is a gay clubbing fixture in Central London, usually based at the London Astoria. The brand name used to be owned by Clear Channel Worldwide, now Live Nation UK. Saturday nights are famous for attracting big gay crowds, especially pop bands, keen to launch new work. Bands that have performed there include: Girls Aloud, Sugababes, Take That, Boyzone, and Westlife. Some very famous solo stars to have performed there include: Kylie Minogue, Christina Aguilera, Mariah Carey, Will Young, P!nk and, Madonna, in November 2005, to promote her new album Confessions on a Dance Floor.
[edit] Location
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). The crowd is very young, and thousands attend at weekends. G-A-Y is associated with G-A-Y Bar, also owned by the Mean Fiddler Music Group, on Old Compton Street, which sells discounted tickets to weekend performances. The bar is also a location in which flyer boys operate.
[edit] Overview
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.
[edit] 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 Jerry Collins (who worked as a DJ under the name of 'Gary London') and Jack Barrie. During the 1980s the club night was managed by Jamie Peters, whose brother continued as promoter for a short period following Peters' death. In the early 1990s Bang! was acquired by the DJ and promoter Jeremy Joseph, who oversaw its change of name to G-A-Y; its expansion from two nights a week to five; 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).
[edit] 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 an effeminate gay male. Satirical T-Shirts available in London have the phrase "G-A-Why?" printed on them. 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".
[edit] 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. Jeremy Joseph, the promoter has filed a petition to the government which details the nature of the business. Copy of petition
[edit] 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. On 22 June it was reported that the Astoria could close its doors as early as January 2007. [1]
[edit] 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).
