The Falcon, Camden

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The Falcon
Camden Falcon, Camden Town, NW1 (6795136350).jpg
A photo of the pub from 2012, closed and converted to a residential property.
The Falcon, Camden
Location234 Royal College Street,
Camden Town,
London, NW1
Capacity 150
Closed2002

The Falcon, later The Camden Falcon, was a pub and music venue located at 234 Royal College Street, in the London Borough of Camden, North London.

Contents

History

19th century

A pub on that spot dates back to at least the late 19th century. In 1896 a pub by this name listed at 234 'Great College Street' (the former name of Royal College Street, prior to the Veterinary College there being awarded royal charter) had an accepted tender "for alterations" reported in the construction trade periodical The Builder. [1]

20th century

The pub went from hosting low-key gigs in the late 1980s to becoming one of the most influential music venues of the 1990s, and a hub of London's Britpop and Shoegaze scenes. [2] During this time it was owned by Baxter Mitchell and Alexis Hunter. [3] It was also a fringe theatre for a short period. [4]

The band Hopper outside the pub. Hopper outside the Camden Falcon.jpg
The band Hopper outside the pub.

Bands and musicians such as Blur (then named Seymour), Pulp, Lush, Slowdive, Inspiral Carpets, Suede, The Stereophonics, Feeder, Doves, PJ Harvey, Travis, Muse, Catatonia, Teenage Fanclub, and Coldplay all played there early in their careers. [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]

It was also a key venue for what journalists dubbed the Camden Lurch scene, a term they used to describe the preponderence of non-shoegaze or dance music indie bands that often played in the area, such as Silverfish and Th' Faith Healers. [11]

The Sundays and Lush played their first concerts there (on separate occasions) in 1988. [12] [13]

In February 1990, Galaxie 500 played a hastily arranged gig at the pub after the London date of The Sundays' headline tour, on which they were support, had to be postponed. [14]

Ivo Watts-Russell signed Lush and Pale Saints to 4AD after seeing them both on the same bill there in 1989. [15]

Heavenly's second time performing was at the pub, supporting The Television Personalities, and it was there that Sarah Records offered to release the band's recordings. [16]

The Verve's second time performing in London was at the pub. [17]

On 22 October 1993, after signing to Creation Records and Sony at the latter's headquarters, Oasis went to Whiteout's concert at The Falcon at which they played an unplanned and shambolic set. [18]

Creation's co-founder Alan McGee's first time seeing Super Furry Animals was at the pub in 1995, after being brought there by the label's A&R Mark Bowen, this led to the label signing the band. [19]

The Barfly originally started as a series of concerts there, with disputes with the local authorities about crowd capacity eventually leading it to move to the Monarch in nearby Chalk Farm. [2] The founders of The Barfly also started The Fly magazine, initially as a listings leaflet for their own events. Their offices were above The Falcon until 1997, when a fire was caused by an employee staying in the office during a power cut falling asleep with a candle still lit. [20]

Simon Williams first approached Coldplay about releasing on Fierce Panda Records upon seeing them play at The Falcon in 1998. [6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Tenders - London". The Builder . Vol. 67. 14 November 1896. p. 416.
  2. 1 2 Talling, Paul (2008). Derelict London. Random House. ISBN   9781905211432.
  3. ↑ Morris, Lynda (11 March 2014). "Alexis Hunter obituary". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 19 August 2024.
  4. ↑ Sullivan, Edward (1998). Evening Standard London Pub Bar Guide 1999. Simon & Schuster. p. 73. ISBN   9780671022044.
  5. ↑ Allen, Carl (2016). London Gig Venues. Amberley Publishing. ISBN   9781445658209.
  6. 1 2 Williams, Simon (2023). Pandamonium!: How (Not) to Run a Record Label. Nine Eight Books. ISBN   9781788707299.
  7. ↑ Owens, David (2011). Cerys, Catatonia And The Rise Of Welsh Pop. Ebury Publishing. ISBN   9781448116362.
  8. ↑ Allport, Robin (30 January 2014). "Slowdive: Some Comebacks Matter More Than Most". Clash . Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  9. ↑ Sturdy, Mark (2009). Truth And Beauty: The Story Of Pulp. Omnibus Press. ISBN   9780857121035.
  10. ↑ "$tar $igns". The List . 16 July 1993. p. 11.
  11. ↑ Talling, Paul (2020). London's Lost Music Venues. Damaged Goods Books. p. 96. ISBN   978-1-9162327-0-9.
  12. ↑ Young, Rob (2006). Rough Trade. Black Dog. p. 121. ISBN   9781904772477.
  13. ↑ Sonya Shelton (December 1994). Angela M Pilchak (ed.). Contemporary Musicians. Vol. 13. Cengage Gale. ISBN   978-0-8103-5737-2 . Retrieved 17 August 2024– via Light From A Dead Star.
  14. ↑ McGonigal, Mike (2022). Galaxie 500: Temperature's Rising: An Oral and Visual History. Exact Change. ISBN   9781737440017.
  15. ↑ King, Richard (2012). How Soon is Now? The Madmen and Mavericks who Made Independent Music 1975-2005. Faber & Faber. ISBN   9780571278329.
  16. ↑ White, Michael (2015). Popkiss: The Life and Afterlife of Sarah Records. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 170. ISBN   9781628922233.
  17. ↑ Baker, Trevor (2008). Richard Ashcroft. John Blake. p. 28. ISBN   9781906191023.
  18. ↑ McCarroll, Tony (2011). Oasis: The Truth. John Blake. ISBN   9781843588184.
  19. ↑ McGee, Alan (2013). Creation Stories: Riots, Raves and Running a Label. Pan MacMillan. ISBN   9780283071782.
  20. ↑ Khomami, Nadia (26 January 2014). "Little music fanzines making a big noise". The Guardian . Retrieved 12 November 2024.

51°32′36″N0°08′22″W / 51.54342204516184°N 0.1393990646932618°W / 51.54342204516184; -0.1393990646932618


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