Mr Malice, who later set up the successful Egg nightclub in King’s Cross, is careful to clarify that Trade’s guestlist was not limited to the LGBTQ+ community, adding: “It was a pure melting pot. It was not anything goes, but it was close to it.” And I think that was part of it – to create something that people could feel safe in, that they could enjoy themselves in and let go a bit.
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Trade DJ Paul Newman said: “Laurence said back then that there still weren’t many places that they felt comfortable in. It was just a pure celebration.”Īgainst the backdrop of the AIDs crisis and rampant homophobia, the space that Trade created was considered precious. I think it was the way you entered into the space. Laurence Malice, its founder, said: “It was hedonistic. It first opened on a Sunday morning in November 1990 as partygoers queued up in Clerkenwell Road, waiting to be led downstairs to a venue which was celebrated as somewhere where everyone could be themselves. The Trade club night brings back happy memories for a legion of fans. Sadler’s Wells will be included, for hosting the Black, Queer and Fierce festival in 1993, as will Central Station, the venue in King’s Cross which is one of the few dedicated LGBTQ+ bars now in Islington. The Tribune reported last month how the council-run Islington’s Pride project is organising a trail of 50 plaques to honour important places and people that are part of the borough’s LGBTQ+ history.
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Trade, which was put on at the old Turnmills nightclub in Farringdon, was the first after-hours club for the capital’s gay community.Īs the venue has now been demolished, a spot nearby will be chosen for one of the new pink tributes.
#Gay bar london let it go archive#
Photos: Islington MuseumĪ LEGENDARY club night is to be recognised with a plaque as part of a project to archive Islington’s LGBTQ+ heritage. The famous Trade night at Turnmills in the early 1990s.