Hope and Anchor (When it was filthy) Town & Country Mean Fiddler The Venue (Victoria) Marquee (Wardour St) George Robey The Cartoon Underground (Croydon) Clarendon (Hammersmith)
Wasn't so keen on the Rainbow or The Academy because of the sloping floor.
Hope and Anchor (When it was filthy) Town & Country Mean Fiddler The Venue (Victoria) Marquee (Wardour St) George Robey The Cartoon Underground (Croydon) Clarendon (Hammersmith)
Wasn't so keen on the Rainbow or The Academy because of the sloping floor.
Clarendon was The Klub Foot gigs from memory. I saw (Rob), Rochee & The Sarnos play there. Now that was a night !
Used to love The Marquee when it was on Wardour Street and The Bridge House in Canning Town. Saw loads of bands starting out and it was great to see them in such small venues.
Of the bigger venues the Hammersmith Odeon has always been good for music and has an amazing history of who has performed there. Capacity just about perfect...
Many, many years ago I played (drums) at the old Marquee - a favourite of mine, too - and many times at the Bridge House - cramped stage, awkward layout for the punters. Saw the brilliant Ginger Baker play with a rock trio at the Bridge House in the late 1970s!
Was definitely The Astoria Now a toss up between The Borderline, Bush Hall, Union Chapel, Troxy or Koko
I liked Bush Hall. I'd never heard of it until I went to see tricot there a few weeks ago. Nicely restored building and it has a classy feel to it with all the chandeliers.
Odeon Hammersmith, or whatever its called now, as someone earlier said, its just the right size for big gigs. Mean Fiddler The Alleycat, Denmark Street is always special. Pelton Arms, The Tramshed.
Cant stand Wembley Arena and the O2, soulless places for music.
Hope and Anchor (When it was filthy) Town & Country Mean Fiddler The Venue (Victoria) Marquee (Wardour St) George Robey The Cartoon Underground (Croydon) Clarendon (Hammersmith)
Wasn't so keen on the Rainbow or The Academy because of the sloping floor.
Clarendon was The Klub Foot gigs from memory. I saw (Rob), Rochee & The Sarnos play there. Now that was a night !
Yep - I would have been there that night, as I was their manager at the time... Rob plays the Grape & Grain quite regularly these days, despite now living in Southend.
Oh come on now. Fucking awful to get to and it's far too big for some of the bands they get playing there. The high ceiling means unless you're not right at the front you get a terrible echo further back.
Oh come on now. Fucking awful to get to and it's far too big for some of the bands they get playing there. The high ceiling means unless you're not right at the front you get a terrible echo further back.
well actually i voted for the Troxy as my favourite London venue. still I like the position of the ally pally. saw the National there a few years back and it was great fun. and I was near the front which is good at a national gig as the lead singer often jumps in to the crowd.
Oh come on now. Fucking awful to get to and it's far too big for some of the bands they get playing there. The high ceiling means unless you're not right at the front you get a terrible echo further back.
well actually i voted for the Troxy as my favourite London venue. still I like the position of the ally pally. saw the National there a few years back and it was great fun. and I was near the front which is good at a national gig as the lead singer often jumps in to the crowd.
I'll let you off a bit as the Troxy really is excellent.
I just feel that every time this thread pops up people confuse a good venue with places they've seen their favourite artists.
As mentioned by a fair few, the Astoria. The LA2 was quite handy as well.... Underworld, and Boderline aren't bad, and the refurbed Garage is quite good as well. Kentish Town forum covers most bases, and is effectively the 'new' Astoria, as is O2 at Islington the new LA2. Never convinced by Brixton, I've seen too many bands there now with shocking sound, same for the roundhouse.... Managed to get some standing seats upstairs recently for Clutch which were good... but anything downstairs is shocking.
The Half Moon was a good venue last time I was there - but it was about 25 years ago...
I'd forgotten about the Half Moon for some reason. Seen some great gigs there and love the intimacy of the back room of a pub. Still decent when I went a couple of years back. Good beer as well, which is a real plus!
Hammersmith Odeon is still reliable as a gig venue. Dingwalls is good for smaller shows - saw my favourite ever gig there. Brixton Academy is alright for the shows apart from the queuing to get in, get a pint and to get out again. Usually enjoy the Shepherds Bush Empire but it is cramped and increasingly shabby. Newly refurbished to dazzlingly awful effect but I'll always have a soft spot for the Borderline. For a venue on that scale the O2 is fine, pricey but I'm yet to see/hear a bad show there, obviously it can lack some character but considering it is at least 50% bigger it shits on crappy old Wembley arena, even from some of the higher seats sound and sightlines are decent.
I quite like The Troxy on commercial road. Good with or without seats. Carpets nice.
I saw Lee Fields there (well, St Paul & The Broken Bones were the headliners, but I only went to see Lee Fields), and loved the venue. Sound was decent, too. Meanwhile, I saw the P-Funk All Stars at the O2 Forum and the sound was terrible.
If you want to go "posh" Ronnie Scotts is cracking.
Very very good place for a date, too. Only thing I quabble about is that if you order at the bar, they'll tack on a service charge just for pouring you a pint, which isn't on imo.
Love Brixton academy and shepherds bush empire. Seen more Charlatans and Shed 7 gigs there than I can remember. Mate of mine raves about the boogaloo somewhere in north London.
I've seen some insane, brutal things happen at the Borderline and for that reason it's my favourite venue. If you get a band who can get the entire place moving it's a sea of chaos. You can genuinely end up going from the back to the front of the venue over the course of a song. They don't insist on any barrier nonsense either which only adds to the atmosphere. I like the Underworld, but that stupid bastard pillar in the middle always gets me
Comments
Used to like the Kilburn National Ballroom as well - no idea if it is still there?
Brixton Academy - good size and atmosphere, balcony is a bit scary, bars too busy but they do 2 pint "plastics"
Kentish Town and County Club - Sat between the 2 above, saw lots of band there
Moth Club, Village Underground and Roundhouse are great too.
Town & Country
Mean Fiddler
The Venue (Victoria)
Marquee (Wardour St)
George Robey
The Cartoon
Underground (Croydon)
Clarendon (Hammersmith)
Wasn't so keen on the Rainbow or The Academy because of the sloping floor.
Now a toss up between The Borderline, Bush Hall, Union Chapel, Troxy or Koko
Mean Fiddler
The Alleycat, Denmark Street is always special.
Pelton Arms,
The Tramshed.
Cant stand Wembley Arena and the O2, soulless places for music.
Only ones I can think of are the forum and Shepherds bush empire.
I like the Pelton Arms and the Garage
Big fan of the Royal Albert (pub lol) in New Cross; Olivers in Greenwich; and Water Rats (did a gig there shortly before the roof fell in).
I just feel that every time this thread pops up people confuse a good venue with places they've seen their favourite artists.
Never convinced by Brixton, I've seen too many bands there now with shocking sound, same for the roundhouse.... Managed to get some standing seats upstairs recently for Clutch which were good... but anything downstairs is shocking.
Dingwalls is good for smaller shows - saw my favourite ever gig there.
Brixton Academy is alright for the shows apart from the queuing to get in, get a pint and to get out again.
Usually enjoy the Shepherds Bush Empire but it is cramped and increasingly shabby.
Newly refurbished to dazzlingly awful effect but I'll always have a soft spot for the Borderline.
For a venue on that scale the O2 is fine, pricey but I'm yet to see/hear a bad show there, obviously it can lack some character but considering it is at least 50% bigger it shits on crappy old Wembley arena, even from some of the higher seats sound and sightlines are decent.