Greek Jam Night
Come down the basement for Greek Jam Night, with Rebetiko Carnival. If you know the songs, you’re welcome to bring your instruments and join in.
Otherwise, sit back with a cocktail, a glass of Portuguese wine or hot food brought to you by A Portuguese Love Affair, and enjoy an evening of traditional Greek folk music.
Doors: 7pm
Music: 8pm
This event is free entry.
A Drag Love Affair: Week 4
WEEK 4 OF A DRAG LOVE AFFAIR - and things are heating up.
The drag competition hosted by Cazeleon is back for its second season. Join us in the basement as seven chosen participants perform each week, hone their craft and compete for the grand £500 prize!
Doors: 7pm
Show: 8pm
Love Affair Kingdom w/ Major Dom
Don your capes, your contacts and your bedsheets… it’s drag christmas (Halloween weekend) x
SCARE AFFAIR KINGDOM
FEATURING
👑 RICHARD MELANIN III
👑 MILD PERIL
👑 PERCY NON GRATA
and of course your host, MAJOR DOM ⭐️
For this edition of Love Affair Kingdom we are introducing an entry fee. This is because the venue is under considerable financial pressure. We are also offering a SHOW + RAFFLE ticket, which automatically enters the ticket holder into ‘The LAB Raffle’, our fundraising effort to support LAB with legal fees.
Doors: 7pm
Show: 8pm
Tickets HERE!
Salon Perverse: Sins of the Flesh
The SALON PERVERSE Halloween residency at LAB ends with a bang…
Salon Perverse: Sins of the Flesh brings together underground cabaret, visceral performance art, queer cinematic throwbacks and a heavy blend of dark disco for an immersive dive into the dark and the taboo.
Live Cabaret & Performance from:
Pretzel Cage
Mandy Sweats
Donna Poderosa
Marnie Scarlet
Matt Skully
Jasper Colorado
Herr Maphrodite
DJ: Glotzer (ZIBER)
The Sapphic WIP Round
What happens when a Nashville-style songwriters round meets London’s queer music scene? Join Sapphic Strumming and The WIP Round for an intimate evening celebrating queer songwriting in all its raw, honest and unfinished glory. Hosts Nina Sundstrom & Leah Tess will be joined by 3 featured sapphic songwriters to share their work in its most authentic form. Across the evening, expect original songs, works-in-progress, stories behind the lyrics and a glimpse into the creative process. More than a gig, this is a space for queer artists to share their work, connect with fellow songwriters and celebrate the stories and experiences that shape their music & songwriting process. Whether you’re a songwriter looking for inspiration, a music lover curious about the stories behind the songs, or simply keen to discover new queer voices, come along for an evening of intimate performances, storytelling and community.
Line-up to be announced soon.
Come for the songs, stay for the stories.
Tickets HERE!
A Drag Love Affair: Week 5
WEEK 5 OF A DRAG LOVE AFFAIR - just like that, we’re already in the second half.
The drag competition hosted by Cazeleon is back for its second season. Join us in the basement as seven chosen participants perform each week, hone their craft and compete for the grand £500 prize!
Doors: 7pm
Show: 8pm
Sensored Magazine presents...
Descend into L.A.B for an evening hosted by Sensored Magazine. Expect erotic and sensual performance guided and curated by Editor in Chief and photographer Tom Selmon. more details coming soon ❤️🔥
Watch Party: Vol. 1 Cinema Realité
Watch Party is an event series hosted by Debrain4k, celebrating cinema at the level of experience. With curated screenings, film-themed talks, set design, free popcorn and automatic entry into a raffle to win a Criterion Collection DVD 🍒🍸📀 !
Screenings:
GAP-TOOTHED WOMEN (1980)
WERNER HERZOG EATS HIS SHOE (1980)
These films by documentarian Les Blank are described a ‘cinema realité’, a style of filmmaking that combines improvisation with close observation and almost no voice-over narration. In Les Blank’s world, this cat-on-the-wall style becomes an inroad into the backwoods of Americana and the true eccentricity of its subjects.
The screenings will be followed by 3 short talks from guest speakers showcasing their perspective on the magic of cinema 🎬 plus a social from 7-9pm
The Shimmy Shake Up
A 90s One-Hit Wonder Burlesque Fundraiser
London, get ready for a burlesque show unlike anything you’ve seen before.
We’re taking a trip back to the glorious, unforgettable 90s with a wheel full of one-hit wonders and a lineup of some of London’s best burlesque artist.
Yes, you read that correctly… a wheel of songs!
Here’s the twist that makes this show extra fun and special…
The performers don’t choose their songs. YOU and the mystery wheel do.
We’ll spin a wheel & whatever song it lands on is the song the performer HAS to dance to.
And here’s where you come in…
If there’s a particular 90s one-hit wonder you’re dying to see a performer dance to, you can put money toward your song of choice and try to get it onto the wheel. If you put enough money toward a song then we for-go the wheel and the performer has to dance to YOUR SONG
And guess what?
Every penny raised through the song donations goes directly to Sadie Sinner.
Sadie is a much-loved fixture of the London cabaret scene who has recently undergone surgery and has been unable to work her usual gigs while recovering. So we're turning a night of ridiculous 90s nostalgia into a chance to show her some love and help support her while she gets back on her feet.
Will someone be performing to I'm Too Sexy?
Will Blue (Da Ba Dee) make an appearance?
Could your donation be the reason someone has to strip to Tubthumping?
You decide. The wheel decides. The performers have to make it work.
Featuring some of London's finest performers! From seasoned favourites to exciting newer talent.
It’s a show you’ll have to see to believe!
Tickets HERE!
A Drag Love Affair: Week 6
WEEK 6 OF A DRAG LOVE AFFAIR - we’re on the edge of our seats.
The drag competition hosted by Cazeleon is back for its second season. Join us in the basement as seven chosen participants perform each week, hone their craft and compete for the grand £500 prize!
Doors: 7pm
Show: 8pm
Playground w/ Pamela Van Horn
Pamela Van Horn is back for another edition of the queer, experimental cabaret night ‘Playground’ ❤︎ where desire and playfulness are alchemized into performance. Expect sensuality and provocation in this burlesque, cabaret and drag lineup…
lineup TBA
Doors: 7pm
Show: 8-10pm
Free entry before 8pm or £10 tickets on the door
Blue-Ray Cabaret: Edward Scissorhands
Saccharine pastels, sentient hedge spirits and the elegant blades of Edward Scissorhands. See it all mixed into a queer cabaret night at Love Affair Basement.
Blue-Ray Cabaret is a series of live nightlife performances inspired by iconic cinematic and televised worlds. Watch drag, burlesque and beyond led by queer, immigrant artists inserting themselves into these Hollywood stories.
Doors: 6pm
Show: 7pm
This event is a monthly feature at LAB across September - November. Find the entire Blue Ray Cabaret programme on Outsavvy now.
A Drag Love Affair: Week 7
WEEK 7 OF A DRAG LOVE AFFAIR - and the finish line is in sight.
The drag competition hosted by Cazeleon is back for its second season. Join us in the basement as seven chosen participants perform each week, hone their craft and compete for the grand £500 prize!
Doors: 7pm
Show: 8pm
Golden Era Burlesque
Step back in time for a sultry night of glitz, glamour, and cheeky performances that’ll leave you wanting more.
Join us for an unforgettable evening curated by the Time Traveler of Burlesque Miss Odelia Opium!
Golden Era Burlesque is a night dedicated to the vintage art of the tease!
Step into a secret underground speakeasy where we celebrate the glamour of Old Hollywood! Immerse yourself in a night of classic burlesque, where the jazz is hot and the drinks are cold!
Dress up to the nines if you like and enjoy an evening with international showgirls!
Experience the charm and allure of the Golden Era Burlesque live in person, where classic glamour meets captivating performance. Don't miss this spectacular night celebrating timeless entertainment in an intimate setting!
Featuring the talents of
MIMI SUGARPILL
ODELIA OPIUM
DONNA PODEROSA
PETIT POIS
TANGERINE TASSELS
and newcomers
PIXEL DUST
KAT DU BELL (NL)
This will be a night to remember!
Get tickets HERE!
Dina's Birthday
Pour one out for Dina’s birthday. Co-owner of L.A.B and legend of Hackney Road ❤️
details TBA closer to the time xx
Greek Jam Night
Come down the basement for Greek Jam Night, with Rebetiko Carnival. If you know the songs, you’re welcome to bring your instruments and join in.
Otherwise, sit back with a cocktail, a glass of Portuguese wine or hot food brought to you by A Portuguese Love Affair, and enjoy an evening of traditional Greek folk music.
Doors: 7pm
Music: 8pm
This event is free entry.
A Drag Love Affair: Season 2 Finale
WEEK 8 OF A DRAG LOVE AFFAIR.
THE GRAND FINALE. Who will win the £500 prize, and be crowned the next star of the underground?
The drag competition hosted by Cazeleon is back for its second season. Join us in the basement as seven chosen participants perform each week, hone their craft and compete for the grand £500 prize!
Doors: 7pm
Show: 8pm
Love Affair Kingdom w/ Major Dom
Major Dom returns with London’s ONLY FREE drag king night! Featuring a roster of the hottest up and coming drag king talent.
LINEUP TBA
Doors: 7pm
Show: 8pm
Free entry before 8pm or £10 tickets on the door.
Dreamhouse Cabaret w/ Juliet Peaches
The diamonte-studded cabaret night is back after its summer break. Hosted by burlesque starlet Juliet Peaches, expect an evening tantalising and tongue-in-cheek performance with the best of London’s cabaret and burlesque circuit.
LINEUP TBA
Doors: 7pm
Show: 8pm
Free entry before 8pm or £10 tickets on the door.
Salon Perverse
Join us for the second instalment of Salon Perverse. An intimate, interdisciplinary series exploring the aesthetics of desire, led by Matt Skully.
This cultural salon invites artists, writers, and thinkers to examine longing, eroticism and the deeper layers of sexuality through art, language and cinema.
18+ | Consent centered | All genders, orientations and experience levels welcome
More details and tickets TBA xx
Hot n Bothered: Halloween Edition
Hot n Bothered are BACK for another Str1p, pole and performance night.
Lineup and tickets TBA xxx
LAB's Legal Aid Fundraiser
We’re doing an all-dayer party to raise funds to cover LAB’s legal costs. ❤️🩹
With Pamela Van Horn, Juliet Peaches, Luna Lussuria, Matt Skully, Kit Khan, and more.
Queer Market
We’re doing a queer market evening with a focus on zines and erotica 💋
more details coming soon X
A Drag Love Affair: Week 3
WEEK 3 OF A DRAG LOVE AFFAIR - we’re in the thick of it now.
The drag competition hosted by Cazeleon is back for its second season. Join us in the basement as seven chosen participants perform each week, hone their craft and compete for the grand £500 prize!
Doors: 7pm
Show: 8pm
Blue-Ray Cabaret: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Monsters. Music. Magic.
The second edition of Blue Ray Cabaret is here, and this time you’ve been cursed… and you can’t stop singing and dancing. Experience Sunnydale through ONCE MORE WITH FEELING, in a joyous queer cabaret night at Love Affair Basement.
Blue-Ray Cabaret is a series of live nightlife performances inspired by iconic cinematic and televised worlds. Expect comedy, drag, burlesque, and beyond - led by queer, immigrant artists inserting themselves into these Hollywood stories.
Doors: 6pm
Show: 7pm
This event is a monthly feature at LAB across September - November. Find the entire Blue Ray Cabaret programme on Outsavvy now.
The Bittersweet Readings
Literary journal The Bittersweet Review is back for another round of their reading night, ‘The Bittersweet Readings’, featuring a lineup of queer and trans writers.
L.A.B's 2ND BIRTHDAY
Pour one out for L.A.B’s second birthday… they grow up so fast x
yes that’s right, your favourite east London speakeasy is TWO 🍒⭐️🍸
we’re celebrating in style with a cabaret, comedy and burlesque night hosted by Miranda Maracas and featuring Mitzi Fitz and Pat Elle !
Sacrelicious w/ Red Velvet
Red Velvet and her debaucherous Church of Horn are back at the basement. Ready your offerings, dust of your Sunday best and prepare to be humbled at the altar of drag, cabaret and burlesque from your favourite underground starrs.
Doors: 7pm
Show: 8-10pm
Afterparty: 10-12am
A Drag Love Affair: Week 2
WEEK 2 OF A DRAG LOVE AFFAIR - we’re just getting started.
The drag competition hosted by Cazeleon is back for its second season. Join us in the basement as seven chosen participants perform each week, hone their craft and compete for the grand £500 prize!
Doors: 7pm
Show: 8pm
CAMP CLASSICS presents: BOUND
As part of Salon Perverse’s Halloween season residency at L.A.B, we are welcoming Camp Classics with a screening of BOUND.
A 1996 American neo-noir erotic crime thriller, written and directed by the Wochowskis in their feature film directorial debut. Starring Jennifer Tilly, Gina Gershon and Joe Pantoliano. The film centers on Violet (Tilly), a gun moll who longs to escape her relationship with her mobster boyfriend Caesar (Pantoliano), as she enters into a clandestine affair with ex-convict Corky (Gershon).
CAMP CLASSICS is a queer film club. Screening films that are queer, camp, silly, retro, sometimes glazed over, or with cult followings, but mostly films that make you realise you don't need a trillion dollar budget and an all-star cast to make a film that has an impact.
Cine Brazil & Cine Favela LGBTQIAPN+ - Lesbian Visibility Day screenings
A screening night presented by two cinema collectives amplifying underrepresented filmmakers in Brazil, in celebration of Lesbian Visibility Day. The evening will feature:
‘Interioranas’ – a documentary film by Rayanne Rodovalho Reis exploring lesbian life in rural Brazil
‘How a River is Born’ – an animation film by Luma Flôres in which a young girl Ayla wakes up in an unknown mountainous landscape and learns to explore;
‘MÃES’ a documentary by Bruna Aguiar about the journey of lesbian couples who pursued their dream of motherhood.
Tickets for this event are via Outsavvy and linked in bio. Food tickets including meat and vegan fejioadas are also available to purchase.
Doors: 5:30pm
Films: 7-8pm
Private Hire
Sorry! We are closed for a private hire on this day.
If you’d like to hire L.A.B for your event, speak to Camila at info@loveaffairbasement.co.uk
Entra
DJ collective ENTRA return to L.A.B for another night of sonic exploration ❤️🔥
tickets TBA x
A Drag Love Affair: Week 1
Week 1 - it begins…
A DRAG LOVE AFFAIR - Finding L.A.B’s next star. The drag competition hosted by Cazeleon is back for its second season. Join us in the basement as seven chosen participants perform each week, hone their craft and compete for the grand £500 prize!
Doors: 7pm
Show: 8pm
Live at LAB: Friends with Benefits
The new all live musical, comedy and cabaret night at LAB. Slide out of your suit, pop on your sparkly scales and join Tiffany Black, George Barnes and friends at LAB. Featuring Kit Khan, Kit Kelly, Kayvon & Toby, Some Dandy.
Doors: 7pm
The Cabaret of Curiosities
Shapeshifting siren Cazeleon ushers a fresh lineup into the basement for the latest edition of The Cabaret of Curiosities - a night of the wonderful, the weird and the beautifully perverse. Featuring the most eccentric and electrifying of London’s performer circuit.
LINEUP TBA
Doors: 7pm
Show: 8pm
Tickets forthcoming on Outsavvy.
Just A Little Taste... w/ A Man To Pet and Marta Vine
Wine tasting & Drag. It's never been done before… probably… but why?
Pour one out for the October edition of Just A Little Taste, at Love Affair Basement. Hosted by Greek-born drag legend A Man To Pet and LAB's wine supplier Marta Vine. A night that puts sophistication and debauchery in the same room. What happens next… Be the first to find out!
Marta Vine is the wine supplier of A Portuguese Love Affair and Love Affair Basement - she brings wine exceptional, small-production wines from family-run vineyards to discerning restaurants, wine shops, and private collectors across the UK and beyond. Founded on a passion for terroir-driven winemaking, Marta works with growers across established and emerging wine regions to source bottles that reflect the character of their land and the craft of their makers!
Grecian born drag darling A Man To Pet is no stranger to the basement. The East London drag legend drew crowds hosting Pet’s Picnic on the green and starred and devised our sold-out drag panto “The Devil Wears JPG Hairy Chest Catsuit”. Host of Basic Boys at Dalston Superstore, you can find them swanning about at Body Movements and “showing love through insults”.
Doors: 7pm
Workshop: 8pm
Greek Jam Night
Come down the basement for Greek Jam Night, with Rebetiko Carnival. If you know the songs, you’re welcome to bring your instruments and join in.
Otherwise, sit back with a cocktail, a glass of Portuguese wine or hot food brought to you by A Portuguese Love Affair, and enjoy an evening of traditional Greek folk music.
Doors: 7pm
Music: 8pm
This event is free entry.
Sheer Encounters Vol. 2
Join us at L.A.B for the second edition of Sheer Encounters, a men’s lingerie social hosted by Manos.
A social safe space for men (inc. trans men) who seek community amongst a shared love for wearing lingerie, and admirers too. This event focuses on general socialising, with event host & photographer Manos taking Polaroids throughout the evening.
Dress Code
Bodysuits, stockings, corsets, garter belts, bras, heels/comfortable shoes, thongs, sheer nylon & lace materials. No sportswear / lycra.
Social: 6-10pm
Book tickets
Dreamhouse Cabaret w/ Juliet Peaches
The diamonte-studded cabaret night is back after its summer break. Hosted by burlesque starlet Juliet Peaches, expect an evening tantalising and tongue-in-cheek performance with the best of London’s cabaret and burlesque circuit.
LINEUP TBA
Doors: 7pm
Show: 8pm
Free entry before 8pm or £10 tickets on the door.
Love Affair Kingdom w/ Major Dom
Major Dom returns with London’s ONLY FREE drag king night! Featuring a roster of the hottest up and coming drag king talent.
LINEUP TBA
Doors: 7pm
Show: 8pm
Free entry before 8pm or £10 tickets on the door.
Blue-Ray Cabaret: Desperate Housewives
Blue-Ray Cabaret is a series of live nightlife performances inspired by iconic cinematic and televised worlds. The opening series, three nights across September - November, look into the oddities of suburbia. First up… DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES.
Watch drag, burlesque and beyond led by queer, immigrant artists inserting themselves into these Hollywood stories. Expect neurotic housewives, covert crime and DRAMA! All in the underground basement of LAB for your pleasure…
Doors: 6pm
Show: 7pm
This event is a monthly feature at LAB across September - November. Find the entire Blue Ray Cabaret programme on Outsavvy now.
Permission to rest
Hosted by The Permission Space, Permission to Rest is a guided breathwork workshop designed to restore balance.
Doors: 7pm
Workshop: 7:30-8:30
Playground w/ Pamela Van Horn
Pamela Van Horn is back for another edition of the queer, experimental cabaret night ‘Playground’ ❤︎ where desire and playfulness are alchemized into performance. Expect sensuality and provocation in this burlesque, cabaret and drag lineup…
lineup TBA
Doors: 7pm
Show: 8-10pm
Free entry before 8pm or £10 tickets on the door
António Variações Legacy Night
In honour of HIV/AIDS awareness day L.A.B presents a show celebrating the legacy of queer Portuguese icon António Variações. This event will feature performances from queer Portuguese artists.
Profits from tickets will go The Love Tank - a nonprofit who will be at the event providing education, support and on-site testing.
Lineup
Karma
Ewan Whatarmy
And more
Book tickets
Doors: 7pm
Show: 8pm
Golden Era Burlesque
Step back in time for the debut of Golden Era Burlesque, a night dedicated to the vintage art of the tease… Curated by the time traveler of burlesque, Miss Odelia Opium.
LINEUP
Odelia Opium
Mimi Sugarpill
Marianne Cheesecake
Dolly Dove
Miss Cherry on Fire
Doors: 7pm
Show: 8pm
Francesinha + Jazz Night!
Jazz L.A.B is back! A free night of live jazz curated by bassist Jason Simpson.
This Wednesday 14 September Dina is doing a special of francesinhas, the beloved Portuguese beef sandwich with beer sauces. Francesinhas must be pre-ordered to account for food preparation, so please use the link below! Other food from our typical menu will also be available to order on the night.
Doors: 7pm
Music: 8-10pm
Free entry.
Choro music in the garden
We have live brazilian choro music in garden, with @docedechoro.
Come and enjoy a cocktail, a glass of Portuguese wine and the end of summer !
Free to enjoy.