Hope & The Glory

The Glory is the place to party in East London and is one of the most popular LGBTQ+ bars in the country. But then the pandemic came along and it was forced to close. Colin Rothbart, a co-founder of The Glory and TV director, tells us of its origins, how it became so popular and the nature of running a bar during a pandemic

Colin dated performance artist Jonny Woo for several years. One day, they decided to open a bar together. Colin explains: “While we were together, I had an informal club in my garden called The Shed. We had big after parties. It became quite well known in East London.” The Shed still pops up every once in a while from Colin’s garden. Well, it will when venues can reopen. “I’m a TV director; Jonny’s a performer. Opening a bar made sense, although venues are really expensive in London and it took us years to find one we could afford in the right area. We went into business with John Sizzle and opened The Glory in December 2014.”

While it all happened quite quickly, taking over the bar came with considerable risk. “I was nervous. My whole life savings went into it. My dad told me not to do it. Haggerston, where the pub is, is called the Bermuda Triangle – not quite Dalston and not quite Shoreditch. It has to be a destination venue. Whereas Dalston Superstore gets lots of passing trade due to its location.

At the time, The Black Cap, The Joiners Arms and various other gay bars had closed – it seemed like the time to do it. It was originally going to be called The Hackney Carriage; we also considered Her Majesty’s Pleasure. The Crown and Glory was also in the offing, but that sounds like a dentist so we called it The Glory.

The venue has been a pub for around two centuries and it was called The Victory. The building itself dates back to around 1815, so ‘The Glory’ is also a reference to the Napoleonic Wars. East London queers dancing the night away. Nelson and the Duke of Wellington would be proud!

“We wanted somewhere with a performance space,” Colin says. “It’s an alternative gay bar – not your mainstream West End gay bar. It’s somewhere that gives stage time to someone who might not normally get it. We want it to appeal to the whole spectrum of the LGBTQ+ community – from gay to non-binary and trans. That’s why I think it works; it’s fun for everyone, regardless of sex, race or gender. We do collaborations with performers and promoters. We’ve collaborated with clubs in NYC and Berlin. We did a Jewish gay club night called BUTTMITZVAH. We’ve done Polish, Latino, Afro-Caribbean and Spanish gay nights. We’ve done lesbian nights, including a super-popular drag king competition called Man Up.”

The pandemic has brought life grinding to a halt, as if you needed reminding. The effect has been especially extreme for the travel and hospitality industries. Successful businesses were forced to shut and watch their profits evaporate. And then came the tiers system that even government ministers struggle to clearly articulate.

The Glory was able to open with restricted capacity and table service in Tier 2. The Culture Recovery Fund proved to be a lifeline. “We’ve been very lucky, not everyone got grants. The furlough scheme also helped. The government could have done more, of course. We were one of the last countries to lock down and our borders have been open. London is very much an international hub. There has been help, but hospitality has been hit the worst. Amazon and the supermarkets have seen their profits increase. There are winners and losers in a pandemic. It’s accelerating the move to online shopping and online everything. People are using apps more, from Deliveroo to Grindr,” says Colin.

Tier 2 was only just profitable. Overheads remained just as high but profit margins were dramatically squeezed. People were queuing up to get into The Glory, but the venue was forced to turn people away when it reached capacity.

Historically, pandemics seem to last for 18 months to two years. Societies tend to go back to normal after pandemics. After the Spanish Flu in 1918 you had the Roaring 20s. It was a boom time. Hopefully, we’ll have another Roaring 20s. Make out on a dancefloor, go see live shows! For the few months when things reopened in summer, we were packed. The demand to go out was still there.

The internet cannot act as a substitute for real life, as we’ve all discovered during lockdown. Scrolling through Instagram and watching YouTube videos doesn’t match making out on the dance floor of a packed club.

“We’re hoping we can open around April – fingers crossed. It’ll be interesting to see what happens with the vaccines. Do we need vaccine passports? Will low-risk people be vaccinated last?” The Glory’s patrons are generally in the low risk category! “Our capacity is 250 people and we had to go down to around 80 in Tier 2. It’s stressful for bar staff, cleaning the toilets every hour, everyone wearing masks. You go along with it because you have to. We want to be open but we have to do it in line with government guidelines. The key is to stay in business, we got support but many gay venues didn’t.”

The Glory has a devoted following and it’s a truly unique venue. One thing is for sure: if the vaccine programme succeeds the new Roaring 20s will be in full swing at The Glory.

For more info on The Glory, visit: www.theglory.co