The Age of Consent 40, Southbank Centre

The Age of Consent 40, Southbank Centre

Forty years on, Bronski Beat’s defiant debut album, The Age of Consent, is reimagined by queer and trans artists of today at a one-off concert.

Tonight's show features a powerhouse line-up including Bishi, Luca Manning, Planningtorock, Tawiah, Tom Rasmussen and the Pink Singers, alongside a specially curated queer house band, performing bold new arrangements of the record.

An unashamed portrait of radical queerness in 1980s Britain, The Age of Consent was a pivotal moment in LGBTQIA+ cultural history.

Jimmy Somerville, Steve Bronski and Larry Steinbachek took the charts by storm with era-defining hits ‘Smalltown Boy’ and ‘Why’, and their new brand of bold, political synth-pop.

Under Thatcher’s repressive Conservative government, against the backdrop of the miners’ strike and the early onset of the AIDS crisis, this music acted as a beacon of hope for a generation of disenfranchised LGBTQIA+ youth.

For one night only, The Chateau presents this piece of musical and political history from 1980s Britain, live and reimagined through the voices of groundbreaking queer and trans contemporary artists.

A musical celebration, and a collective call to action for the work still to be done in the fight for queer and trans liberation.

Featuring a powerhouse line-up of trailblazing LGBTQIA+ artists to be announced soon, alongside a specially curated queer house band assembled for this show.

With current anti-trans legislation and rhetoric in the press, and the ongoing battle to ban conversion therapy, the fight for LGBTQIA+ rights continues. Against this backdrop, The Age of Consent is presented 40 years on, with its message still more relevant than ever.