Show Notes
Leaving the bright lights of London, Damian travels to Birmingham to The Nightingale Club. From humble beginnings the Nightingale has grown into one of the UK's most successful queer superclubs - well known in the city and nationally.
Not only has the club far outlived the typical lifespan of a nightclub, but it has transformed itself from a members only club, to a club which can hold 1,500+ people.
With Birmingham one of the first 'super diverse' cities in the UK where citizens from ethnic minorities make up more than half the population Damian caught up with DJ Dolly and current owner Lawrence Barton to find out how the Nightingale has stayed relevant and catered to the family and community they create, nurture and serve, remaining a lifeline for some, a home for all.
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More from Memories from the Dance Floor
Welcome to the final episode of Season 2 of Memories from the Dance Floor, where we've left the bright lights of London and headed straight up the M4 to Wales. Over the series, we have celebrated LGBTQ+ venues, shone a light on their history and met the revellers taking us through the velvet curtain and into the queer chaos and joy within.
In the last episode we talked all things super clubs, exploring the legendary Tunnel Club in Cardiff, and finished with the broadcaster and drummer Owain Wyn Evans, but don't think that's all he had to say.
In the first of our four-part series, we heard what it was literally like growing up as the only gay in the village. We also heard how the lesbian and gay community supported mining families in South Wales and how queer discos and dances were springing up in towns and cities across the country.
Back in London Damian turns his attention to The Black Cap. A Camden landmark for over 250 years and one of London’s biggest and most famous LGBTQ+ spaces for more than 50, which closed abruptly in April 2015, due to the ambitions of the owners to redevelop the building into luxury flats. But what they didn't account for was our community’s resistance.