Manumission
Spiritual Homes - The Backstreet
The club's Instagram account remains active, promoting other events and sharing archive material. An online store run by the Backstreet team sells merchandise, incuding T shirts featuring the club's logo, drawn by Tom of Finland.
The closing night party on 16th July 2022 was filmed by Romain Beck, and footage is included in his documentary The Backstreet, which was released in 2024. A trailer for the film and some extra material can be viewed here
Many Backstreet artefacts can be found at the Bishopsgate Institute in London. There are some other items held at the London Museum including this poster and an article by Backstreet owner John Edwards and manager Mark Allnutt.
The Backstreet’s bar found a new home at the Lord Clyde in Deptford, south London.
The BLUF archive contains many event posters, including those for BLUF and IGNITE events held at The Backstreet.
During the campaign to save the club from redevelopment, there were numerous reports on the BLUF website, including a description of the inquiry and a report when the planning appeal was rejected. There was also an article in The Guardian. SubDirectory, the company that publishes Manumission, is planning to publish a detailed account of the fight later this year.
With the exception of the poster for the closing event, images in this article are from the private collection of the author.
About the author
Nigel Whitfield first visited the Backstreet in the 90s; from 2007 he took over organising BLUF events at the venue, and later started a cigar night called IGNITE. He ran BLUF worldwide from 2009 until 2026. He is a former journalist and editor, and created Manumission in 2026.
