Zodiac

The latest constellation in London's LGBTQ+ galaxy, Zodiac — which opened November 2021 following months around town as a pop-up, bang in the middle of the pandemic — offers an explosion of frivolity and fabulousness with two nights of karaoke spread across two floors (Tuesday and Sunday), classic drag (Friday), Drag Bingo (Thursday) and transgender specials (including Temptation every Thursday), all in the cabaret spirit. As of March 2024, resident comic duo Eileen Eiffell and Solero Summers host That Time Of The Month every last Friday of the month. Music = pop, commercial, neo-R&B and gay-friendly. Basement space (Z Club) is used for post-11pm karaoke on Tuesdays and opens properly Friday and Saturday 10pm as a clubby den for dancing. Independently/queer/trans-owned, the bar is located about a seven-minute walk north of Warren Street tube station, though this might take longer in heels. The bar, which has picked up speed and might just qualify as 'Black Cap: Next Generation' (though that Camden Town classic is due for a return soon), attracts a cross-section of customers, from trans folk to straight men. Check website for details. Outdoor smoking area overlooking busy-busy Hampstead Rd (so there's always an audience). NB: in the late 1960s/early 70s there was a pub on this site, and on the walls was a film poster of THE DEVIL IS A WOMAN (1935) – the last (and possibly finest) of the seven Josef von Sternberg-directed vehicles starring Marlene Dietrich.