Club Montepulciano
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Club Montepulciano was a critally acclaimed lounge and cabaret club-night institution that ran themed events across a number of venues in London, with guest appearances in the South of England and across Europe, from 1993 to 2004. From these events, acting as a launch pad for new talent, the club proved to be influential on the emerging cabaret and burlesque scenes.
As a musical event Club Montepulciano was founded upon swinging cocktail tunes, nightclubs of yesteryear and ballrooms of a bygone era. Its themed nights had different retro vibes and were influenced by icons like James Bond and the Playboy clubs of the 1960's. As a result of these themes, clubbers had to dress appropriately and in the style of each event.
Venues graced by Club Montepulciano included the Hanover Grand, Cafe De Paris, the Connaught Ballrooms, Turnmills, the Kensington Roofgardens, Brockwell Lido, the Rivoli Ballroom, the award winning Embassy Club, Glastonbury Festival, Glyndeborne, Pacha's flagship venue in Madrid, Dingwalls, Eastborne Wintergardens, the original Brighton Concord, The Water Rats (club), Madam Jojo's, the Scala (club) at Kings Cross, the Eve Club (where Christine Keeler met Jack Profumo), the Blackheath Halls and The Camden Centre.
Club Montepulciano’s cabaret and comedy acts included The League of Gentlemen (before they were famous), Mackenzie Crook from The Office as Charlie Cheese, Jackie Clune as Karen Carpenter, Matt Lucas from Little Britain and Shooting Stars, Amy Lamé in collaboration with 'Duckie', Ursula Martinez, The Tiger Lillies (Shockheaded Peter), Men in Coats, Mike Flowers Pops, The Lorraine Bowen Experience, Tina C and Dr Stuart (The Fifth Element) and the UK Latin American Ballroom Dance Champions.
To complement these performers were a number of award winning circus acts, magicians and impersonators. Club Montepulciano also hosted its own in-house casino, talk-a-oke, the Flirtation Tank and Minuscule of Sound. The in-house band Montepulciano (the band) also brought each of the events to life with their chart topping number 1 singles (Spain and Greece).
With a variety of different things happening at each event, Club Montepulciano was described as one of the official “199 things you have to do before you’re a real Londoner” (Time Out Magazine 2004). The demand for its music grew into Club Montepulciano Recordings and subsequently Freshly Squeezed Music.
The band Hooverphonic recorded a song called Club Montepulciano in tribute to the institution.
