21 Years Lighting up Gay London
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DMVCTt CBSTt cabaret t MJGF No 1134 30 November 2016 RYNBHB[JOFDPNtRYHBZMPOEPO Ku Bar 21 years lighting up Gay London 18 Suitable only for persons of 18 years and over QX_1134_Cover.indd 1 29/11/2016 18:30 The who, what, why, where & when of gay London… THE INFORMER Annual Red Run makes over £50,000 On 27 of November, Positive East hosted the 7th annual World AIDS Day Red Run to raise vital funding and awareness for HIV services in London. The flawless Miss Jason hosted, followed by a group warm up led by Christopher Matthews with Horse Meat Disco providing the before and after run music. A record-breaking 600 people turned out on the day to run, volunteer and to cheer people on as they completed a 10K or 5K qxmagazine.com charity run. £56,800 in total has been raised so far for 14 London based HIV services that include 56 Dean EDITOR Street, Cara Trust, Bart’s Sexual Health Team, GMFA, Food Chain, NAT, NAZ, Mildmay, Metro, Spectra, DYLAN JONES StopAIDS, PositivelyUK, THT and Positive East. [email protected] EDITORIAL ASSISTANT JOE HOLYOAKE Stephen Port jailed for life [email protected] Stephen Port, the main suspect in this year’s heavily publicized NEW BUSINESS SALES EXECUTIVE Grindr serial killer case, has been jailed for life. He was convicted STEVE GREGORY of murdering four young gay men between the ages of 21 and 25. 020 7240 0055 [email protected] He lured them to his house in Dagenham on Grindr, administered a lethal dosage of GHB, then raped and killed them. As well as the SENIOR DESIGNER murders, he was found guilty of 22 assaults against 11 other men, JANNE ÖIJER including rape and assault. The case has gained national attention, [email protected] with the behaviour of the police being heavily criticized. Many have DESIGNER said lives could have been saved if police had a greater knowledge SUREN GUNPATH of gay culture, Grindr and chemsex. [email protected] CLASSIFIEDS /ESCORTS 020 7240 0055 Report shows changing landscape for LGBT [email protected] people in China DIRECTOR CHRIS COLMAN 020 7240 0055 [email protected] The third annual China LGBT Community Report DISTRIBUTION / was published this month, M.R.DISTRIBUTION with interesting findings. PRINTERS / ACORN More lesbian, bi and gay PUBLISHED BY people than ever, are FIRSTSTAR LTD. NEW HOUSE, planning to come out in 67-68 HATTON GARDEN, the near future – 22% of LONDON EC1N 8JY gay and bi men, and 12% of lesbians. Those wanting COVER: 21 YEARS OF KU same sex marriage has TO SUBSCRIBE TO QX CALL risen considerably too, with 54% of men and 65% 020 7240 0055 of women saying it would £45 FOR 6 MONTHS be their ideal relationship. £80 FOR 12 MONTHS China’s LGBT population WITHIN UK ONLY is estimated to be © Copyright in the UK and worldwide, of the publishers between 70 million Firststar Limited, Qx (ISSN 1356-6903). QX is and 140 million. published every Wednesday. Deadline for editorial and display advertisement inclusion is Thursday, six days before the relevant issue cover date. Sorry, but we cannot be held responsible for any unsolicited manuscripts , illustrations or photographs. 2 qxmagazine.com QX_1134_Informer.indd 2 29/11/2016 18:15 QX 1134 MASTER 1.indd 3 29/11/2016 17:07 QX 1134 MASTER 1.indd 4 29/11/2016 17:58 QX 1134 MASTER 1.indd 5 29/11/2016 17:58 A glittering pinnacle of Soho society, Ku has graced the cobbled streets of Central London across five venues. Whether you’re stumbling into steaming Chinatown for an aromatic bite 21 years of after a Saturday night at Klub, or mincing down Old Compton Street to their Frith Street branch for a gossip and an Aperol Spritz, they’re always the perfect concoction or conclusion for a night out! Now, they’re turning TWENTY-ONE years old. That’s the same age as Gigi Hadid. She’d love the Ku venues actually, we can just picture hr draped on a banquette in the Light Lounge, sipping a white negroni and unfollowing Selena Gomez on Instagram. Anyway, in a world where many venues are being compromised, Ku are more cemented KU! in society than ever! They’re having a wild month, with ambidextrously ambitious plans for new nights, new looks, and new horizons! We asked PR manager Nieko and owner Gary to tell us all about it. NIEKO Hey Nieko! Tell us all about your super cool 21st birthday campaign. WELL, you know as well as a birthday celebration, we LUUURVE a brand shining new campaign to celebrate the milestone. So, our Ku boys have stripped it all back once again! Andrew Christian has styled our boys for this 21st Birthday campaign, which celebrates the recently re-furbished Ku Leicester Square venue - very “lighting installation” vibes; expected a cross between flesh- revealing Star Wars and The Saturdays’ “Not Giving Up” music video. Basically: We’re working with the talented Adam Khadaroo and Calum Ducat on producing some gorgeous imagery! The boys. In underwear. In our new venue. With sexy lighting. Hope you enjoy it! You’ve got so much going on at the moment! So much, right?! Since our Klub re-launch, our weekends continue to have capacity, party lovin’ crowds. So happy! So YES, Saturday 10th December, we’re bringing all those that have been involved in the new Klub back on decks for a set...one big epic birthday celebration with DJs, hosts, and those Ku boys in Andrew Christian! Have you got super-duper DJs as always? Our DJ line-up includes: Matt Bogard, Zach Burns, Chris Brogan, Sexshooters, Marilio, Who is Tom Fox?, Rodrigo Tancredi, Kerol Garcia, Charlie Holland, Pablo Eseeme, Lady Lloyd. Nd then it’s me, Vicki Vivacious, Tristan Temple and Jacqui Swallows hosting. And there’s a new cabaret night on Sundays isn’t there? YAAS! Now THIS is something VERY new for Ku, and Soho too! We’re launching KABARET SUNDAYS on 11th December - in our own Ku style. We’ll be bringing the sassiest, most entertaining cabaret talent to our Klub stage, every Sunday evening from 7pm. Just WAIT to you hear the mouth on our weekly host: Jacqui Swallows. She’ll be hosting, doing numbers, and introducing acts... such as CHARLIE HIDES and SUM TING WONG on our first night! 6 qxmagazine.com QX_1134_KU.indd 6 29/11/2016 17:37 JACQUI SWALLOWS “I’m so thrilled to be joining the KU family to bring the world Kabaret Sundays! I’m excited to be bringing a new cabaret show to Soho on a Sunday, with some of the best acts from across the UK, in a sexy sophisticated new set up with gorgeous boys, drinks and tonnes of talent. Coming in January will be a glorious new Lip Sync for your Life competition allowing new performers on the scene the chance to compete, showcase their talents and even win a slot performing with some of the best acts across the country at a Kabaret Sunday!” Finally, let us and our readers know what we can expect from the new KU! It’s an incredibly exciting time at Ku Group as we’ve finished refurbishments across our flagship venue: The Light Lounge, Klub, now Ku Leicester Square. We enter the festive season with a “new look Ku”, a new campaign, and an energy to provide you with the best Soho can offer. Of course, we’ve got the boys...but we’ve also got great DJ and cabaret entertainment lined-up, and some delicious events to get you OUT! Welcome... to our 21st birthday celebrations Soho! GARY Hey Gary! So Ku is 21 years old. Tell us about your journey. There must have been some amazing moments… It’s been an amazing 21 years. I opened Ku with then business partner Michal Joyce back in December 1995. I had been involved in a number of successful West End venues including The Village and Kudos, and after a short stint in PR I was delighted to get back to my calling, the bar business! Ku was launched at 75 Charing Cross Road, pre-internet, pre-apps, pre-twitter. It was an immediate success and became particularly famous as a young people’s bar, a ‘coming out’ bar if you will. I became the sole owner in 2000, and, facing a huge rent increase in Jan 2006, I made the decision to close the Charing Cross Road venue and find somewhere else. Ku closed its doors on Saturday January 8th 2005 to a capacity teary-eyed crowd singing along to The Spice Girls’ “Goodbye” A massive risk, all my savings, a brewery and bank of dad loan, and I launched Ku at a massively larger venue on Valentine’s Day Feb 14th 2007. Ku Lisle St was born. The risk paid off and Ku has gone from strength to strength since then, expanding to include: Klub, The Light Lounge, Ku Soho and She Soho. There is a great camaraderie amongst my management and staff. People are happy to work at Ku and that comes across, and compliments the customer experience. I have a great team, employ over 50 people and get great pleasure from seeing thousands of satisfied customers every week. I have been very lucky and appreciate everything that Ku has become. I like to think we appeal to all across the LGBT scene. We strive to exceed expectations. So you guys have had a major refurb! What was the process and the inspiration behind it? Well, over the last 15 months we had invested in The Light Lounge, our premium cocktail bar on the 1st floor at Lisle Street.