22/03/13: Oh yes, in 2013, it’s still very much about the bears! Ten years ago when Tonker swung its doors open to provide a burly, beefy alternative for London’s pruned and preened gay scene, the bear as we know it today was still very much an outsider amongst outsiders.
It was a time when David Beckham and his metrosexual minions were soaking up gay culture, with heterosexual men adapting to fit the gay mould while our very dancefloors were dominated by waxed chests and perfectly toned pecs.
The thought of a beard was something you only ever brushed up against at Christmas when greeting your Aunty Betty, and moustaches were the things of Hollywood’s Mexican villains.
But, oh how the tide has turned, and a once marginalised section of our gay community is now well and truly at the forefront of good taste as fuzzy chests, butch beards and gruff guys are definitely, yes please, very much for us.
Jumping around having hosted early club nights in East London next door to Fabric through to its present spiritual home at Eagle London, Tonker (originally ‘Tonka’ before the corporate clones got their claws out) is the brainchild of promoter Tim Jones, who proved he still very much had it by spinning a slick mix of classic vinyl house and up-to-date hits as the bar was backed-up three to four blokes deep!
The night proved a testament to quality clubbing based on three simple principles: booze, cruise and tunes. We soaked up all three!
Eagle London, 349 Kennington Lane, Vauxhall, SE11 5QY
Words by Cliff Joannou
Photos by Mark Storey
