One regular said “most people didn’t even know the club existed”
The Curzon Club operated for nearly three decades(Image: Angelica Watson)
A tiny bar in a “dead part of town” was a nighttime hotspot during the 90s. The Curzon Club, which was formerly located on Temple Street, was at one time recognised as the city’s oldest gay venue.
Following 28 successful years of operation, the establishment shut its doors in 2016, yet the “insane” and “mental” memories of good times spent there remain cherished today by many – particularly Liverpool’s LGBTQ+ community.
The “one-room” establishment was amongst the clubs visited by the community when venues like Paco’s and The Bear’s Paw served as the preferred destinations for society’s “outsiders” to socialise. The club remained the final survivor until its eventual closure, seemingly to be sold off for flats at the time.
The ECHO has taken a look back at the venue ahead of the city’s Pride celebrations, happening on Saturday, July 26.
Toxteth DJ Stewart Who? was a regular customer of the venue, attending the club “three or four nights” a week. He told the ECHO: “It was a small bar, down a side street in a dead part of town. It was 1989, and the vibe was a ‘cocky speakeasy’. Most people wouldn’t know of its existence; you had to know it was there.
The Curzon Club closed its doors back in 2016
“But once inside, the punters didn’t act like they were hiding anything from anyone. There was confidence that this was an LGBT+ space. It wasn’t very big, one room essentially, and the music it played was upfront: house music with the odd bit of pop.
“The record I always associate with The Curzon is ‘Is There Anybody Out There’ by the Bassheads, the brothers Nick and Desa Murphy, who made the track, are from Neston. There was one person at the club, who went by the name of Dean the Queen. He was always in the club, voguing away like his life depended on it.”
The 53-year-old former Liverpool John Moores University student explained that when he attended the club it was a time when “it felt almost criminal to be gay”, with LGBTQ+ rights being nowhere near where they are today.
Liverpool charity Sahir has stepped in to help facilitate and coordinate the 2025 community-led Pride. However, with only a few weeks’ notice, the charity has created a GoFundMe to help with the costs. The target is £60,000 to deliver the celebrations, with any surplus of the funds raised being used to protect the life-changing work Sahir does all year round. You can donate here.
He added: “You kept your head down. The age of consent was 21, there was no internet, AIDS was killing people, violent homophobia was a real threat in the streets and was encouraged by the media, acid-house music was new, and the Tories were still in power. You can’t compare that time with now, even if there was a similar club, the atmosphere and political climate were very different then.”
One of Stewart’s favourite memories was the club’s “pretty insane lock-ins”. He said: “I went on Christmas Eve once, and we didn’t leave until about 8am.
“As we staggered back to Toxteth on Christmas morning, mass was being said in a local church and a gospel choir was singing inside. We stood outside listening, feeling like sinners, but captivated by the soul-stirring voices. We were in such a state, that all we could manage was beans on toast for Christmas lunch.”
The club briefly reopened under new management
The venue played porn on its screens and hosted men-only events, which came complete with a mixed-fetish theme, erotic dancers and changing areas.
The interior consisted of “glitter curtains”, a seating area and toilets “which were like something you had never seen before”. Under new management, it reopened briefly in 2017, but regular Lynnette Devine, who “practically lived” in the original club, claimed nothing could compare to the atmosphere during the 90s.
The Toxteth costume designer, who attended the club when she was in her late 20s, said: “I was out every night of the week in the 90s and during the week it was our go-to.
“It was the gayest bar in Liverpool at that time. The downstairs dance floor was just mental, they had a smoke machine with mirrors all around the walls. The Curzon had that edge that you can’t compare to, there was nothing like it.
“If there was a year I could go back to it would be 1997 – there were so many good club nights, and there was just a great vibe. That year was just the summer of love for me and The Curzon Club just added to it.”