The Venue (Victoria Street, London)

The Venue was a music club at 160-162 Victoria Street, London, England, owned by Virgin Records. It opened its doors in October 1978 and operated until 1984.^[1] The first act to play there was Graham Parker and The Rumour, followed by the last live performances by Alex Harvey before his death. Todd Rundgren played some dates there just before Christmas in 1978, as part of the tour to back up the Back to the Bars album; released for the Christmas market, at the time. Two shows were sometimes played per night, and the ambience was akin to a nightclub, where audience members sat at tables and could have drinks and meals while listening to the acts. It was also popular for use by record companies showcasing new signings to the music media.^[2]

Additional info

The sound system was supplied by Eastlake systems, it was their first foray into live sound.

The building first opened as the Victoria Picture Palace in 1911. In the 1960s it was the Metropole cinema.^[1][3] After The Venue closed, it was occupied by a Dicky Dirt's discount jeans shop in the mid 1980s and was a branch of the restaurant chain "Ask" prior to its demolition in early 2013 as part of a major redevelopment of the area.

Acts that played at the Venue

• After the Fire
• Altered Images (23 Sept 1981)
• The Armoury Show^[4]
• Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band (12 and 14 Nov 1980) ^[5][2]
• Blancmange
• The Blues Band
• The Blow Monkeys (16 Feb 1983) - opening for Fad Gadget
• Brand X
• James Brown
• Bruford
• Cabaret Voltaire (band)
• John Cale
• The Cars
• John Cooper Clarke (10 Dec 1980)
• Cocteau Twins (16 Nov 1982)
• The Cramps
• Crosby & Nash (21 Apr 1980)
• Delta 5
• Defunkt
• Depeche Mode (23 July 1982) ^[6]
• Devo (1979)
• Doll by Doll (18 Dec 1979)^[7]
• Clint Eastwood and General Saint
• Dave Edmunds
• Fad Gadget (16 Feb 1983)
• Georgie Fame^[2]
• Felt (15 Sept 1983) - opening for the Smiths
• Rory Gallagher (July 1980)
• The Go-Betweens (15 Sept 1983) - opening for the Smiths
• The Go-Go's
• Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
• Al Green
• Charlie Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra
• Hall & Oates
• Peter Hamill
• Herbie Hancock
• Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel
• Roy Harper
• Alex Harvey
• Steve Hillage (10 Apr 1979)
• Bert Jansch and Albert Lee
• Japan
• Wilko Johnson
• Junior Walker and the Allstars
• Kajagoogoo (21 Jan 1983)^[8]
• King Crimson (10 Aug 1981) ^[9]
• Kokomo (band)
• Legs and Co.
• Level 42 (21 Aug 1981) ^[10]
• Lindisfarne
• Machito
• Taj Mahal
• Hugh Masekela
• Curtis Mayfield
• Kate and Anna McGarrigle
• The Members (11 Apr 1981)
• Merger (1981)^[11]
• The Monochrome Set (5 March 1981, 26 July 1982, 2 November 1982) ^[12]
• Nine Below Zero
• Graham Parker & the Rumour (1 Nov 1978)^[2]
• The Passions (17 Oct 1981)
• Pigbag (9 Dec 1981)^[13]
• Iggy Pop (with Nico)^[2]
• The Pretty Things
• Alan Price
• Tito Puente
• Queen Ida
• Q-Tips (11 Sep 1981 and 27 Mar 1982)
• Sun Ra
• Ramones^[2]
• Chris Rea
• Rip Rig + Panic (9 Sept 1982)^[14]
• The Rivits (featuring Jess Roden)^[15]
• The Roaches
• Rocket 88 (featuring Alexis Korner)
• Rockin' Dopsie
• Roman Holliday
• Shock (troupe)
• The Skids
• The Slits
• The Smiths (15 Sept 1983)^[2]
• Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes
• Steve Hackett
• T34 (three times in 1982) ^[16] (This is not T-34, the rock band featuring Al Murray.)
• Tik and Tok
• Todd Rundgren (Dec 1978)
• U2 (18 Dec 1979)^[7]
• James Blood Ulmer
• Stevie Ray Vaughan (8 Sept 1983)
• XTC (1980)
• The Yachts
• Zeitgeist

Coordinates: 51°29′53″N 0°08′00″W / 51.4981°N 0.1332°W / 51.4981; -0.1332

References

External links

• Photos of the Venue - Flickr set by dusashenka

• Various Venue posters etc - A lot of bands are listed on posters here, although it is quite hard to see the dates

• More Venue related images