On The Ascendancy: 5 Great London Venues to See New Artists
Big stadium gigs are all well and good, but nothing beats the feeling of discovering your new favourite band or artist out in the wild. This is particularly true in an age of curated Spotify playlists, Soundcloud pages and online reviews, where it often feels like new music is coughed up by an algorithm rather than discovered for ourselves.
But if you long for the excitement of finding something new, it can often be hard to know where to look. Thankfully, Londoners are spoiled for choice when it comes to great music venues, so today we’re walking our readers through a few of our favourite spots to discover new bands and artists.
OLD BLUE LAST
Run by the Vice media empire, Shoreditch’s Old Blue Last has long been the place to go to discover new talent with artists like Arctic Monkeys, Parquet Courts, Lily Allen, Idles, Florence and the Machine and Hot Chip all taking the stage since the venue opened in 2004. You can read more about the venue’s boozy, debauched history, fittingly enough, over on Vice. See also, sister venue The Sebright Arms.
ELECTRIC BALLROOM
Though it started out life as one of a number of bustling Irish pubs in Camden, The Electric Ballroom has gone on to showcase legendary artists like Sid Vicious, Madness, The Clash, Richard Ashcroft, The Killers,U2, Phil Lynott, Joy Division, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Public Enemy, Blur, Garbage and The Smiths. The venue remains a safe bet for great music even after 80 years on the scene.
THE BORDERLINE
Since it first opened its doors in 1976, Soho’s Borderline has hosted some of music’s biggest names including Blondie’s Debbie Harry, The La’s, Blur, R.E.M., Muse and more. But don’t let this intimate venue’s storied history trick you into thinking its best days are behind it, The Borderline continues to showcase some cutting edge new music, alongside some old favourites.
THE FINSBURY
Nestled in the back of The Finsbury, a roomy pub in Finsbury Park, there’s a back room stage that showcases all manner of live performances, including nightly live music programmed by ace London-based promoters, Lost in the Manor who serve up an eclectic mix that ranges from folk to pop, to electronica.
THE LEXINGTON
Pitching itself as “a classic London boozer turned lounge bar, with a hint of Kentucky charm and lashings of rock & roll excess”, Islington’s The Lexington doesn’t disappoint in the music stakes, with an upstairs live venue hosting some of the best new bands around as well as regular DJ spots playing plenty of classic tunes.
Those are our picks for this week, but did we miss any of your favourites? If you know of any surefire spots for new music, let us know in the comments! For more news and info on the latest live music events in London, be sure to follow HUM on Facebook and Instagram.
