26/07/14: Summer Rites was a festival bringing together the most magnificent elements of gay life from all corners of London.
Held at the prestigious and vast Tobacco Dock venue in Limehouse, it was one of the few times that you could find the muscled disco bunnies of Vauxhall, the preened and fabulous men of Soho, and the tattooed party boys of the East End, all in one place and together in a joined unity of celebration and festivity.
Of course, this one place was pretty damn big and incorporated many of the biggest and most legendary gay clubs and brands of the capital into its outlay: from DTPM to alternative cabaret, Sink the Pink to Ku Bar, Barcode and an R&B Terrace, a huge array of Bear nights, and, of course, East Bloc.
The entire Summer Rites was the brainchild of clubbing maestro and promoter Wayne Shires, the man who’s single-handedly built up East Bloc into the go-to jewel of the East.
Everywhere we wandered in our happy odyssey through the different rooms, the atmosphere was electric, the sun shining, the music simmering, and all the guys wore smiles – and, as the day wore on and as the heat grew hotter, increasingly very little else.
Out on the main terrace, next to the old sailing ships moored to the docks, the party blazed in the sunshine, where you could witness East End stars like Jonny Woo take a ride on the rocking bronco, or Glyn Famous swing down the twister slide in his heels.
We finished off the night flitting between the Sink the Pink room where Sinitta performed, and the R&B Terrace, where the beats kept all dancing until the end, and then we emerged into the warm night, well and truly full of the joys of summer. We can’t wait until next year!
Tobacco Dock, 50 Porters Walk, E1W 2SF
Words by Pat Cash
