Rotgut.org Blog

Sunday, September 20, 2009

#900 - Gossips Club, London (Soho) - May 1990

When I first started this project with a list of every bar I could clearly remember having a drink in, my poor memory confined the list to those in areas with which I am familiar. I couldn't recall the name of any bar I'd been to in Rome or Florence, nor any pub in London, cafe in Paris, or cantina in Mexico. But I finally realized that I could track down at least one club, because we went there for a special reason.

The Batcave, once frequented by the likes of Robert Smith, Nick Cave, and Siouxsie Sioux, is widely recognized as the birthplace of what we now call the "goth" scene. It was hard to find and what we didn't realize until we found it was that the Batcave was actually not the club itself, but an event that once ran Tuesday nights at Gossips Club. The night we went to Gossips was some kind of gay theme, and though a few people in the line made it clear they didn't welcome a clearly hetero couple, we did at least get to see the club (which apparently closed just this year).

69 Dean St., Soho, London, W1D 3SG (corner of Meard and Dean)
urban75 - batcave wikipedia - batcave reunion @ club antichrist - Specimen live @ Batcave (video)

Saturday, September 19, 2009

#899 - Montlake Ale House, Seattle - 9/17/2009

Update: Montlake Ale House closed in December 2013

2307 24th Avenue E., Seattle, WA 98112 - (206) 726-5968
Est. 2004 - Closed Dec 2013
Previous bars at this address: Grady's Pub, Jilly's East, Bleachers
montlakealehouse.net - seattle pi - yelp