I used to party at The Eagle in New York City with Tomas Vytautas Raskevičius, a liberal politician in Lithuania, where he is the leader of the Freedom Party. Compared to so many of the gay bars in Manhattan, that place was less pretentious with its “come as you are” vibe even as it was wild in celebrating sexualities.
So while in London, I went to check Eagle, this same-named gay bar and club in Vauxhall, expecting to encounter that same vibe.
And here are things worth highlighting.
- The names may be the same, but the two bars (or others bars of the same name and related logos) are not at all related. Instead, they were inspired by The Eagle’s Nest, a pioneering 1970s gay bar that solidified the leather culture by providing a safe space for the gay community.
- In London, the bar is only open from Thursday to Sunday, from 8-9PM to 3-4AM. If you want to party, really party, go there particularly on Sundays, when they have the quite popular “Horse Meat Disco” that’s been running for 20+ years now.
- The place isn’t shoddy at all, and even has a beer garden and pool table.
- Crowd-wise, this attracts not just the gay and bisexual leather people and their followers; instead, at least when I was there, the crowd was more varied.
In London, Soho used to be the only gayborhood… though now, not anymore. Vauxhall has long become an alternative that should be checked out. And part of the shift is Eagle.
So yeah, you should definitely come over to check. But be reminded: This is quite tame compared to, say, The Eagle in New York City. Perhaps I just dropped by at the wrong times? Or perhaps this is the vibe this place is really going for? No matter… because when checking LGBTQIA+ spaces, we also check those that serve those at the fringes of the rainbow community, and the concept of Eagle has always been that.
And so off we go for more LGBTQIA+ rampa!
Eagle London is located at 349 Kennington Lane, Vauxhall, London, SE11 5QY, UK.
