XXL (club)

XXL is a gay nightclub in London which primarily caters for the bear sub-group. The nightclub is situated under a number of railway arches just outside of London Bridge being relatively close to London Bridge and Southwark. The club was founded by Mark Ames and his then partner David Dindol in 2000. It is certainly the largest dedicated "bear" venue in the United Kingdom.

Venue

Southwark and Lambeth, given their more liberal stance towards after-hours entertainment, have seen a number of clubs springing up in their areas with a number of them setting up under railway arches like a number of nightclubs throughout central London. The club is made up of 6 arches and has a large car park for the dedicated use of patrons at the front. The interior of the venue is very large and utilitarian - bare brick walls in place of the usual club offerings of patterned wall paper or soft furnishings, possibly reflecting the club's patronage. It does boast one of the best sound and light systems in London clubland.

History

The XXL website details the history of the club through the seven years it has been operational. Mark Ames and his then partner, felt disillusioned with how little there was for the London Bear Community outside of one bar in Soho. They created XXL and it was a success, its brand grew rapidly as did its popularity and reputation as creating a safe, attitude-free venue. In 2003, XXL together with "bearhug" in London created Bear Pride, a weekend long celebration of everything "big, gay and hairy" with events around the country. In 2006 this was expanded to include the leather community in Bear and Leather Pride. The two subcultures do have a large overlap and there are a number of leather fetishists patronising XXL.

Polls in magazines such as "Gay Times", the "Pink Paper", and "Boyz" regularly put XXL in the top three night clubs in London. Mark Ames was also the title sponsor of the 2006 Bingham cup in New York Bingham Cup

In 2007 the club expanded and also diversified the brand by launching new evenings, extending its appeal far beyond the core audience.

Cultural Aspects

The club does have a primary audience - bears, cubs and their admirers but the reputation of the club as being an attitude free, safe space means that the core audience is quite mixed. The club is men-only owing to membership requirements but membership does entail many retail benefits in gay-owned businesses in London.

References

External links

* [http://www.xxl-london.com/ XXL]