UK CLUBLAND

Last month we focussed on one recent club closure in Yorkshire, a symbol of the decline of Clubland in certain areas. While most Clubland closures seem to disappear under the radar news-wise, the recent trials and tribulations at Bethnal Green working men’s club, situated in the east-end of London have produced an extraordinary reaction from the trade union Equity. Mark Ritchie reports;

At first glance a club in the east end of London looks as though it was originally marketed as a traditional British working men’s club. In recent times the venue in Bethnal Green has become a beacon for LGBT+ friendly live music gigs and events. Post Covid rumours began to circulate regarding the limited chances of the club enjoying a sustainable business future and it seems that insiders at Equity have jumped in to promote plans and financial assistance to try and keep the club afloat.
This activity from the union has led some members of the former Equity variety branches to question why the support for the venue in Bethnal Green has been so strong, while the response to at least 2000 UK closures during the last two decades has, in the opinion of some, produced little more of an expression of tired resignation from some Equity officials.
Bethnal Green club is currently advertising a series of farewell events at the venue, including drag nights featuring a performer called Vanilla Parker Balls and a cabaret evening, performed by what are described as ‘sex-workers’. The venue operates from premises in the Tower Hamlets area of London, where one east-end resident told us that most of the customers on events nights come in from other areas, possibly the insider opined, due to the high Bengali/Bangladeshi population in the area, an ethnic group which is not considered great supporters of such venues in the UK in general.
Equity is campaigning hard on the venue’s behalf and their spokesman Michael Day told us: ‘Equity has a long tradition of trying to help venues which are threatened with closure. Campaigns are often led by members who work such venues. When venues are funded by the arts council or by local authorities, any cut in funding is often well known in advance. With smaller private venues we reply on our members bringing news of closure threats to our attention’.
A conclusion which could be drawn from the troubles in Bethnal Green is that some areas of the Clubland fraternity are combative and ready to fight for these venues, while other areas of the club movement have simply been sinking, largely due to apathy, for many years now.

We continue to look for area correspondents who could collate and send us information across the national club scene. If you have a related story to tell, please e-mail all your Clubland information to mark.ritchie@ukcabaret.com