There’s a Virgin Mary effigy on the DJ booth. There are candles, dried flowers, and red fabric. And – as The Cold Magazine reported from their last party – a room full of queers chanting “I need my pussy ate” like it’s a prayer. Welcome to Club Rua.
Founded by Irish DJ Toraigh, Club Rua is a FLINTA-focused club night built around heavy underground techno, queer community and an aesthetic that’s part Catholic guilt, part folk ritual, part absolute filth. It’s quickly becoming one of the most exciting things happening on London’s underground queer scene. After launching as a grassroots, zero-budget passion project, the night has now secured Arts Council funding through the Supporting Grassroots Music Fund, landing a 12-month residency at EartH Kitchen in Dalston.
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How it started
Toraigh started Club Rua within her first couple of years of learning to DJ. No connections, no budget, just pure enthusiasm and a gap she wanted to fill.
“I was just so excited by the scene and wanted to be more involved,” she says. “At the time there were very few FLINTA nights. In the electronic music scene there are definitely still a lot of male-heavy lineups and it can be more difficult to obtain opportunities if you are female, nonbinary or trans, so I wanted to focus on building a community of FLINTA DJs and club-goers.”
She’s honest about the reality of starting a night from scratch, too. “Starting an event is so, so difficult – I went into it very naively. Getting support from the Arts Council has genuinely been a lifesaver. It’s so hard for grassroots events to survive at the moment.”
What’s the Club Rua vibe?
Think heavy, energetic underground dance music meets the most dramatic DJ booth you’ve ever seen. Candles. Red fabric. Dried flowers. Little religious and folkloric effigies watch over the dancefloor. The crowd turns up early, stays late, and dances as they mean it.
“Our first event was more than I ever could have asked for,” Toraigh says. “It feels amazing to be providing meaningful opportunities to upcoming FLINTA DJs who are really pushing the scene forward.”
On 8 May 2026, the booth welcomes Teecra, a FOLD regular who’s been making serious noise across London’s queer dancefloors and recently supported KI/KI. Inda Flo brings a politically charged, globally-minded approach to techno – she’s behind Mass Rave and holds down a residency on Voices Radio. Lo-low rounds things out as the brains behind Soft Domination and a Foundation FM host whose sets are sharp, genre-fluid and always rooted in community. Plus Toraigh herself, obviously.
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What’s next?
We asked Toraigh about where she sees Club Rua in five years, and the answer was refreshingly un-ambitious in the best way. No stadium aspirations. No brand deal fantasies.
“I’m more interested in keeping it small and strong than constantly feeling the need to up things to the next level,” she says. “I would love Club Rua to have maintained a lot of what it is now, especially the level of intimacy. It’d be amazing to build up some collaborative projects with other nights, or take over a festival stage.”
In a city where queer nightlife spaces keep disappearing, a FLINTA-led night that’s building community from the ground up – and actually getting funded to do it – feels like a massive win. Huge congrats to Toraigh and the team behind Club Rua.
The next event:
- When: Friday 8 May 2026, 11pm-3.30am
- Where: EartH Kitchen, Dalston, London
- Lineup: Teecra, Toraigh, Inda Flo and Lo-low
- Tickets: Available on DICE and Resident Advisor
Nonchalant x
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This article was written by one of our creative team writers here at Nonchalant Magazine.
