An Evening Underground : 12 Hours in London's Hidden Music Scene
In such a lively city, with talent on every street corner, it can be difficult to know the best bands and venues in town. The better evenings come from word of mouth, friends, colleagues and strangers. I spent 12 hours visiting music venues recommended to me by fellow Londoners, from all walks of life, to discover new music scenes hidden in the depths of London.
19:00pm. The Spice of Life: Incendiary nights.
In the heart of Soho, through an oak set of double doors sits a quaint, classic British pub : The Spice of Life. Wooden panelling, dim lighting, and older men drinking dark beer at the bar. Hidden downstairs is a poorly signposted, yet lively music venue. I hand my £6 to the girl in a beret on the door. The room is electric, full of Central Saint Martin students in eccentric outfits making small talk, sipping Guinness. It quietens as the first band enters the stage. Enter KULTRA centre stage, a hard blues rock band from London. High on the energy of their first sold-out London show, they gave a gritty, powerful performance. The angst ripples through the room and brings the crowd to life. The audience riled up, raring for every next track. After a cigarette and another beer, the crowd gathers in flocks. Take the Cure, add Echo and the Bunnymen and sprinkle a bit of Nick Cave, and you have Colours of the Dark. This London-based gothic, post-punk rock band has the energy to keep a crowd up all night. With their poetic, well-thought-out lyrics and a captivating stage presence, they certainly started the night out right.
21:30. The Admiral Duncan.
Around the corner in Soho stands tall the Admiral Duncan. This historical pub is one of London’s most iconic gay pubs. It is a popular haunt that attracts the best of Britain’s drag kings and queens to try out new material on a friendly, diverse crowd. We arrived just in time for stand-up, drag-cabaret artist Aunty Ginger. She is about to embark on a UK tour, adorned with rhinestones and a wig larger than life. The setlist is strong, and she knows how to win over a crowd. She effortlessly reels through Cher, Abba, and one rendition of "You’ll Be Back" from Hamilton, I indulged in with a group of sixty-something soldiers at the front of the room. An evening with Ginger is guaranteed to be theatrical and unapologetically bold. At the end of the set, she leaves the captivated audience and sashays off stage to claim free drinks from her entourage of adoring fans. In a tightly packed smoking area, after the show, I caught up with Aunty Ginger herself :
“The Admiral is an iconic part of London’s LGBTQ+ scene. I love how easily the venue becomes full/busy and how electric that atmosphere feels on stage. The audience is so diverse and they all LOVE a sing-along… musical theatre, pop, ballads, LGBT anthems, they love it all! Get the right songs and they’ll love you forever.”
“It’s a cracking venue and I feel proud to have that in my diary”
00:00 – E1. East London.
After a nauseating Uber ride through central London, we are dropped in an old industrial alleyway, in an isolated location in East London – E1. This venue is a hub for all techno lovers in the city, famous for its array of visiting artists. The venue is hazy and intimate, with its old industrial bones still protruding through. An evening here is raw and stripped back, with chest-rattling beats, dripping with sweat. After an overpriced beer, I embark on the marathon, eager to stay till close and make the most of my twenty-pound entry ticket. Various artists played through the haze, but one stood out from the crowd: NIKOLINA. Having spent the last month taking her sound across Europe, she left her imprint on this London crowd. Her piston-like rhythm hypnotised the room, keeping us under her spell until the main lights were switched on, and we were ushered out. I left to a dusky sky at 5:30, feeling as if my brain had been removed, cleaned and replaced on exit. That was one performance I wouldn’t forget in a hurry.
After an Uber back, a tube, and then another tube, I arrived home and bid farewell to another evening left somewhere underground in London.
