The Glory will be closing on the 31 January 2024 quickly followed by a rebrand and move to a new space nearby. If all goes to plan they’ll be in the new premises by February. QX remembers the launch back in 2014, 9 years ago this week. Needless to say everyone had a truly Gloryous night and there have been many more in the intervening years.
10/12/2014: Last Wednesday will go down in our history as the day The Glory opened in Haggerston. (Recently re-christened ‘Faggerston’, for those that have yet to catch up.)
The self-styled “super-pub, night spot and performance mecca” is the brainchild of cabaret artist par excellence Jonny Woo along with John Sizzle, Colin Rothbart and Zoe Argiros.
Luminaries of queer past, present and no doubt a few future bright lights yet to shine flocked to the converted pub to grab a gander at what has been the biggest buzz on the gay scene for months now.
We loved the slick, modern subdued decor set against the quirky older features, and we couldn’t stop gawking at the toilet art by the brilliant James Davison. But more than any of that we loved the underlying energy that the venue is promising to bring, delivering East London a bespoke cabaret venue/club that the area has weirdly been devoid of for too long.
We had a fab time nattering with Princess Julia, Mark Moore, Jeffrey Hinton, Jaqui Potato, the Dalston Superstore crew, Holestar, Glynfamous… oh we could go on. As the vodka flowed, Jonny Woo took to the stage and blew the roof off with his (TRANS)former band, joined by Marc Hayward on lead guitar, feisty Fi McCluskey on vocals and Pretty Miss Cairo lending her sultry tones and sassy ‘tude to the stage.
December sees a run of cabaret acts performing, and watch out in 2015 when the basement club opens its doors. QX will bring you news on that in early 2015. Until then, The Glory is open, and it is glorious.
281 Kingsland Road, E2 8AS
Words by Cliff Joannou
Photos by Al de Perez
Read about the Glory closing here …
