Duckie (at Eagle London)

An alternative, retro-happy, queer-proud and irreverent weekly Saturday night event co-created in 1995 by New Jersey-born handbag-wielding lipstick-lipped lesbian Amy Lamé and Simon Casson. This was the signature weekly event at Vauxhall's Royal Vauxhall Tavern [see entry] until July 2022, when owing to creative differences between Duckie and RVT management, the club night took a hike. Duckie is unyielding in its zero tolerance for attitude, conspicuous hipness and shirtlessness. Those who recall the left-field Bell in the mid-80s might well think that Duckie takes the spirit of that long-gone Kings Cross hot spot to the next level and beyond. Expect adventurous cabaret acts — this is where incomparable performance-art duo Kiki & Herb hit London first — and a playlist ranging from indie to camp with a sizeable dose of radio oldies, whether the Smiths, Kate Bush, the Mamas & the Papas, Joy Division, Baccara, Depeche Mode, the Monkees, Pulp or Fleetwood Mac. In November 2016 London's mayor Sadiq Khan appointed Lamé the city's first Night Czar to stem the tide of nightclub closures, and she stepped down as Duckie host, replaced by Azara Meghie. On 27 August 2022 Duckie returned – albeit as a Saturday 2pm–8pm Electic Tea Dance — at Vauxhall's Eagle (home of Horse Meat Disco), just a pebble's throw from the RVT. Azara hosts, with music provided by signature Duckie DJs Readers Wifes.