Events are listed by date, then city. Submit listings at least ten days before publication to gay@list.co.uk. Listings are compiled by Robin Lee.
Glasgow
I Karen Dunbar King's Theatre. 297 Bath Street. 0870 060 (3048. 8pm. £l3.50—L‘I7.50. Come and spend an evening in the company of the Queen of pulling ridiculous faces.
I Scott Agnew The Polo Lounge. 84 Wilson Street. 553 l22l. 9pm. £5 (£4). See Cotnedy. page 39.
Edinburgh
I On Request Iigo. l4 Picardy Place. 478 7434. l Ipm~ 3am. £3. Promos. commercial dance and party anthems.
I The Wedding Banquet Filttthouse. 88 Lothian Road. 228 2688. 8.45pm. See Filtn Index.
Glasgow
I Death Disco The Arches. 30 Midland Street. 0870 240 7528.
10pm 3am. L'l2. Iilectro. mutant hottse and beyond from Justin Robertson.
Edinburgh
I Forbidden Fruit Destination. I7 Albert Place. 554 7282. 8pm lam. Free. New night for gay girls and their friends. with DJ I.ynny.
Sunday 18
Edinburgh
I Booty Medina. 45—47 Lothian Street. 225 (3313. l Ipm-~ 3am. £3. See Clttbs. page 37.
I Taste Cabaret Voltaire. 3038 Blair Street. 220 ()I7(). I lpm 3am. L5 before I l.30pm: £8 alter (£6 members). See Clubs. page 37.
Monday 19 .
Glasgow
I Passionality Cube. 34 Queen Street. 226 8990. I l.30pm-~~3am. £3. See Clubs. page 34.
Tuesday 20
Glasgow
I FUN Cube. 34 Queen Street. 226 8990. l l.30pm-~3am. £3. DJ Shana Halliwell mixes older classics and fun tunes. Requests welcome.
Edinburgh
I Vibe Iigo. l4 Picardy Place. 478 7434. l lptn 3am. £4. Cray night with James Longworth on the decks.
Wednesday 21
Glasgow
I Allure The Tunnel. 84 Mitchell Street. 204 1000. ll.30pm 3am. £3. Happy. cheesy pop from DJ Darren and the guys behind Passionality.
I Bildwechsel Screening (‘(‘.»\. 350 Sauchiehall Street. 352 4900. 7pm. Free. ticketed. A mixed programme of independent short films by queer filmmakers from Scotland and beyond. See \vww.hiIdwechsel.ot'g for info.
Edinburgh
I The Hub I.(}BT Centre for Healtlt & Wellbeing. 9 Howe Street. 523 I I00. (3.30 8.30pm. Free. Free internet access and tea. coffee and magazines.
I The History Boys Brunton Theatre. Ladywell Way. NltlsseIhtll'glt. oo5 2240. 7.30pm. See FiItn Index.
Glasgow I Calmanator 2: Judgement Day The Ifniversal. 57 59 Sauchiehall Lane.
332 8899. 8.30pm. £6 (£4). See Comedy. page 40.
Saturday 24 :
Glasgow
I Let’s Make Love Terrence Higgins Trust Scotland. 134 Douglas Street. 332 3838. I0am-«4pm. Free. Learn practical tips on how to have better sex at this workshop for gay men. Booking essential: email group.scotIand(0‘tht.org.uk. Edinburgh
I Club Noir Studio 24. 24- 2o Calton
Road. 558 3758. 9pm~~3am. L’l2 (£9). See Clubs. page 37.
Edinburgh
I Booty Medina. 45 47 Lothian Street. 225 (i3l3. I 1pm 3am. (.3. See Stm I8. I Taste Cabaret Voltaire. 3o -38 Blair Street. 220 ol7o. I 1pm 13am. £5 before I l.30pm: £8 after (to members). See Sun l8.
Monday 26
Glasgow
I Passionality Cube. 34 Queen Street. 220 8990. l l.30pm—73am. £3. See Mon 19.
Glasgow I FUN Cube. 34 Queen Street. 226 8990. l l.30pm 3am. £3. See Tue 20.
Edinburgh I Vibe Iigo. I4 Picardy Place. 478 7434. I lptn 3am. L4. See Tue 20.
Wednesday 28
Glasgow I Allure The Tunnel. 84 Mitchell Street. 204 I000. I l.30pm 3am. £3. See Wed
2I.
Edinburgh
I The Hub I.(}BT Centre for Health & Wellbeing. 9 Howe Street. 523 I100. 6.30-8.30pm. Free. See Wed 2|.
I Icebreakers (‘(‘ Blooms. 23 24 (ireenside Place. 550 933l. 7.30 9pm. Free. Social group for people who want to feel at ease and make friendships in I.(iB'I' company.
Scene & Exhibitions .
Glasgow
I Bennets 80-90 (iILISSIttl'tl Street. 552 5761. Wed Thu & Sun I l.30pm-3am. Fri Sat I l.30pm 3.30am. Friendly. down to earth. late-night disco venue. recently refurbished and rising from the ashes after a major fire.
I The Polo Lounge 84 Wilson Street. 553 l22l. Mon Thu 5pm lam. Fri-Sun 5pm 3am. Spacious. swanky. gay/mixed Merchant (‘ity cltib. with several rooms and a downstairs dancelloor open at the weekend (£5 after I lpm).
Edinburgh
I CC Blooms CC BIoottts. 23» 24 (ireenside Place. 556 933]. Mon. Fri & Sat 0pm 3am: Tue Thu & Sttn
8pm 3am. The east coast scene queen pumps out dance and cheese delights every night.
I Destination & Destination 2 l7 Albert Street. ()I31 554 7282. Destination open daily. 7pm lam. Fri & Sat 5am noon; Destination 2 open daily. noon lam. Food (until 9pm) and relaxation in women-friendly Destination 2. with camp entertainment and a Moulin Rouge cabaret show (Thu Sttn in March) next door.
I Mist 20B Dublin Street. 538 7775. Mon 'I'liu noon lam: Fri Sat
noon 2am: Sun 12.30pm lam. Formerly the Newtoth Bar. and now reopened after a style revamp.
SHORT STORIES AUGUSTEN BURROUGHS Possible Side Effects (Atlantic Books) ooo
It's queerly satisfying to know that other gay men lead equally uninspiring and uninspired lives. where mopping up dog pee. checking on eBay bids and having bad dates are the highlights of the day. Augusten Burroughs' new book. a collection of short biographical stories. begins with such banal events. written with an attempt at wit that frequently falls flat on its slightly smug face.
The first quarter bears a fair amount of good old-fashioned homo misogyny: women are 'dykes'. ‘shrews'. and ‘bitches' who wear ‘come-fuck-me-pumps'. but by the middle of the anthology Burroughs confessional soul- searching manages to save the book from being thrown at the wall.
The tone is more serious.
yet entertaining. with tales of alcoholism. pornographic road rage. pattern-Cutting and animal misuse. (Alexander Kennedy)
COMING-OF-AGE TALE WILL DAVIS
My Side of the Story (Bloomsbury) o
The horror. uncertainty and exasperation of being a teenager are supposed to be character-building. And so the horror of coming out. the uncertainty of running away to Brighton on a hinge of pills and powder. and the exasperation at realismg his first shag is a web designer should set
young protagonist Jarold in good stead for life. Davis' coming-of-age debut cares little about character. however, or indeed plot and style. Donning the persona of a yoof is a poor excuse for bad writing, and resorting to a text message language devoid of vowels and an irritating habit of abbreviating swearwords is duff on the ear. Amid the selfish ramblings of a hyperactive teenager. the book's surface engagement with depression is worryingly caSual. (Isla Leaver-Yap)
PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER
NEIL BARTLETT Skin Lane (Serpents Tail) .0
Author and theatre director Neil Bartlett explores the link between repressed sexual desire and social envy in this disappointing follow-up novel to the Whitbread-shortlisted Mr Clive and Mr Page. London. 1967. Mr F is a furrier, who has plied his trade on London's Skin Lane for some 30 years. Quiet. punctilious and conscientious. his careful routine unravels when he begins having a recurring nightmare of finding a naked youth dead in his bathroom.
He finds himself attracted to his young i apprentice. and begins ' to guiltily tantasise about i taking a knife to the 1 boys beautiful hide. ; Bartlett’s detailed imagining of the bygone fur trade proves interminable padding for a rather thin plot. The depiction of Mr F's inner I torment relies heavily on an accusatory second ‘ person voice, while the resurrected archetype of g the ‘murderous gay’ ' appears somewhat antiquated in 2007. , (Allan Radcliffe) 3
AUSTRALIAN ADVENTURE
The Naked Drinking Club (Ebury) 000 i
THE m~ M
RHONA CAMERON
In 7979. the chronicle of a year in Cameron's teenage life. she's an adopted Lothians lassie who fixates on girls. lets the boys take advantage of her. and watches her father die. In her first novel. The Naked Drinking Club. the 24- year-old protagonist Kerry is a refracted parallel. and the action has moved to Australia. Here she hopes to discover herself — and her birth mother.
Kerry finds a job selling oil paintings — or rather. hawking the same set of tasteless daubs over and over again (knocked up by industrious chappies in Ball). The techniques that Kerry develops are evocative of the way a comedian captures an audience. and reflect back onto Cameron herself. Outside of this. a series of vignettes tie together a shaggy dog story — albeit an amusing one. (Robin Lee)
15—29 Mar 2007 THE LIST 57