Rave New World – The Vibrant Pulse of Cosmic Slop: A Celebration of Diversity in Leeds?

Maya Bhogal explores Leeds’ rave culture through a queer, poc lens.

I heard about Cosmic Slop a few months back, when a few friends of mine had first found out about this almost exclusively allusive club night. The name alone, ‘Cosmic Slop’, instilled me with a certain intrigue that no other club in Leeds has, however when the concept was explained to me, I needed to get my hands on a ticket.

As explained to me, Cosmic Slop is a diverse club space, intended to make the marginalised groups of Leeds feel more included in the nightlife scene. Great! – I thought, thinking that Leeds was in desperate need of a more diverse and inclusive space for people of colour and the queer community. Months passed and I finally got my hands on a ticket for the end of freshers week and was mentally preparing to venture back into the nightlife of Leeds. We bought tickets on the door, which meant we had to queue for a while (which is honestly a great indicator that things are great inside).

On arrival to the club, I initially noticed a disparity between the image in my head and the reality before me. Understandably, I was under the presumption that Cosmic Slop was a diverse, queer space yet the crowd was majority white and majority male. To be fair, I wasn’t necessarily expecting to be greeted with dhol drums and pride flags, yet this wasn’t the inclusive space I and some of my friends were promised. However, it didn’t derive from the energy and atmosphere of the night, which is the only thing that matters when searching for a good club night. Overall, I would recommend Cosmic Slop – but don’t go in expecting a reformed Leeds nightlife, but instead go in with open minds and enjoy the tunes!

Words by Maya Bhogal