 A photo of the pub from 2012, closed and converted to a residential property. | |
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| Location | 234 Royal College Street, Camden Town, London, NW1 |
|---|---|
| Capacity | 150 |
| Closed | 2002 |
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.
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 name of the 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]
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 time. [4]
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 on. [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
The Sundays and Lush played their first concerts there (on separate occasions) in 1988. [11] [12]
Ivo Watts-Russell signed Lush and Pale Saints to 4AD after seeing them both on the same bill there in 1989. [13]
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. [14]
The Verve's second time performing in London was at the pub. [15]
Alan McGee's first time seeing Super Furry Animals was at the pub in 1995, after being brought there by Creation Records A&R Mark Bowen, this led to the label signing the band. [16]
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 pub 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. [17]
Simon Williams first approached Coldplay about releasing on Fierce Panda Records upon seeing them play at The Falcon in 1998. [6] Steve Lamacq was also in attendance that night. [18]
Catatonia were an alternative rock band from Wales who gained popularity in the mid-to-late 1990s. The band formed in 1992 after Mark Roberts met Cerys Matthews and Kirsty Kennedy. The first major lineup featured Dafydd Ieuan of Super Furry Animals on drums, Paul Jones on bass, and Clancy Pegg on keyboards. With this line-up the band recorded two EPs, For Tinkerbell and Hooked.
Pub rock is a subgenre of rock music that emerged in the early to mid-1970s in the United Kingdom. A back-to-basics movement, which incorporated roots rock, pub rock was a reaction against the expensively-recorded and produced progressive rock and flashy glam rock scenes at the time. Although short-lived, pub rock was played live in small traditional venues like pubs and clubs. Since major labels showed no interest in pub rock groups, pub bands sought out independent record labels such as Stiff Records. Indie labels used relatively inexpensive recording processes, so they had a much lower break-even point for a record than a major label.
Shoegaze is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volume. It emerged in Ireland and the United Kingdom in the late 1980s among neo-psychedelic groups who usually stood motionless during live performances in a detached, non-confrontational state. The name comes from the heavy use of effects pedals, as the performers were often looking down at their pedals during concerts.
Souvlaki is the second studio album by the English rock band Slowdive. It was recorded in 1992, and released on 1 June 1993 by Creation Records.
Slowdive are an English rock band that formed in Reading, Berkshire, in 1989. The band consists of Rachel Goswell, Neil Halstead, Christian Savill (guitars), Nick Chaplin (bass), and Simon Scott, all of whom played on the band's early records. Halstead is the band's primary songwriter.
King Tut's Wah Wah Hut, also known as King Tut's, is a live music venue and bar on St. Vincent Street, Glasgow, Scotland. It is owned and managed by Glasgow-based gig promoters DF Concerts.
Koko is a concert venue and former theatre in Camden Town, London.
The Marquee Club was a music venue in London, England, which opened in 1958 with a range of jazz and skiffle acts. It was a small and relatively cheap club, in the heart of London's West End.
The Fly was a free music magazine owned by MAMA & Company, published monthly in the United Kingdom.
The Barfly was a chain of live music venues in the United Kingdom originally started by Nick Moore, Jeremy Ledlin and Be Rozzo on Valentine's Day 1997. Club nights and events tended to feature rock, alternative and independent music.
Club Fandango is a live music promotions company based in Highbury, London. It was started in 2001, by Simon Williams and Andy MacLeod. The former runs Fierce Panda records, the latter the Pointy Records label. Williams and MacLeod had previously promoted nights such as Club Spangle!, NME "On" nights, Club Pointy and Club Panda.
The Straps are an English streetpunk band, formed in 1977 in Battersea, South London by vocalist Howard Jackson and guitarists Dave Reeves & Steve MacIntosh & Brad Day on drums
Dingwalls Dancehall is a live music and comedy venue adjacent to Camden Lock, Camden in London. The building itself is one of many industrial Victorian buildings which were put to new use in the 20th century. The original owner of the building, T.E. Dingwall, had his name painted on to the outside wall of the building, which was a common practice by businesses in Camden Town during the late Victorian era. The paint is still visible to this day, hence the venue's name.
Alexis Blue were an English four-piece indie rock band, made up of one pair of brothers and two friends from the Wallasey area of Merseyside, the band was unsigned, but self-released their music through an independent record label set up by the band and associates - People vs Grass Records.
Blow Up is a club night that was founded in the early 1990s by promoter and DJ Paul Tunkin at a North London pub called "The Laurel Tree". The night quickly became the centre of the emerging Britpop scene in Camden attracting long queues of people eager to gain entry to the tiny venue. Early regulars included members of Blur, Pulp, Elastica, Suede, The Buzzcocks, Huggy Bear and The Jesus and Mary Chain, leading to the club being referred to as the place where "Britpop was born".
Camden Underworld is a music venue in Camden Town, London, England. The venue is a part of the World's End pub, situated in the basement of the building. It has a capacity of 500 people.
The Half Moon is a public house and music venue in Putney, London. It is one of the city's longest running live music venues, and has hosted live music every night since 1963.
The Bull & Gate is a Grade II listed public house and former music venue at 389 Kentish Town Road, Kentish Town, London. The pub had a long history as music venue, with bands such as The Pogues, Coldplay, Blur, and Suede playing there towards the start of their careers.
The Dublin Castle is a pub and live music venue in Camden Town, London. It gained prominence as a venue in the late 1970s after the band Madness established a live reputation there. Subsequently, it was an important venue in the early stages of several bands' careers and contributed to the Britpop musical genre. Amy Winehouse was a regular visitor to the pub.
Camden Crawl was a music festival in Camden, London, which first appeared in 1995 and then was held annually from 2005 to 2014.
51°32′36″N0°08′22″W / 51.54342204516184°N 0.1393990646932618°W
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