The Spitz
| Location | East End, London |
|---|---|
| Owner | The Dandelion Trust |
| Capacity |
250 (standing) 220 (part seated) 180 (all seated) |
| Opened | 1996 |
| Website | |
| www.spitz.co.uk | |
The Spitz are an independent record label and music promoter. They started out in 1996 running a club in the East End of London, at 109 Commercial Street on the edge of the Old Spitalfields market. However, the venue was forced to close in 2007 in a dispute about rent.
Closure
In April 2007 the landlord of the premises, Ballymore Properties, gave The Dandelion Trust six months to move out, claiming that it had not kept up with its payments. The Spitz dispute this, and insist that they have always paid its rent. Ballymore Properties have agreed terms with another operator.[1]
Acts that played over the years at The Spitz include 17 Hippies, 3 Men & Black (The Selecter, The Stranglers, Bad Manners), A Hawk and a Hacksaw, Acoustic Ladyland, Adem, Ai Phoenix, Aiden Smith, Apparat, Athlete, Baba Maal, Bert Jansch, Beth Orton, Big Strides, Bikini Atoll, Billy Bragg, Billy Childish, Cat Empire, Charlie Winston, Chris T-T, Cobra Killer, Davey Graham, Dick Dale, Fionn Regan, Fonda 500, Glen Matlock, Gravenhurst, Great Lake Swimmers, Hayden, Historia, Holly Golightly, Florence and the Machine, Hot Chip, Jamie Woon, Joan as a Policewoman, John Parish, John Renbourn, Joni Davis, Kate Nash, King Creosote, Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth), Little Axe, Little Barrie, Little Sparta, Low, Minutemen, Mr. Hudson, Nought, Omar, Pete and the Pirates, Pete Molinari, Phoenix, Pips, Chips and Video Clips, Polar Bear, Rachel Unthank (The Unthanks), Ralfe Band, Richard Hawley, Rodrigo Y Gabriela, Roy Harper, Seasick Steve, Son of Dave, Spiers & Boden, St. Thomas, Terry Edwards, Thalia Zedek, The Gossip, The Horrors, The Long Blondes, The Men They Couldn't Hang, The Wave Pictures, Tom Baxter, Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine), Tunng, Turin Brakes, Vetiver feat Devendra Barnhart and many more. The Spitz hosted many notable shows, including the final performance of Nosferatu D2's live career.[2][3][4]
"The Spitz held its last concert on 27 September 2007, featuring many of the musicians that have played there regularly over the years, such as Seb Rochford (Acoustic Ladyland et al.), Miles Danso, Joe Wilkes, Sandy Dillon and Beth Orton. While the entire Spitalfields Market is currently being refurbished, the Spitz has moved out for good. Having helped to regenerate the Spitalfields area in London's East End over the past eleven years, The Spitz has become the victim of its success, as the familiar process of the so-called gentrification led to ever-rising rents and house prices, making it extremely difficult to run an independent music venue and put on non-mainstream music." (Roland Pietsch, Spitz Venue Manager)
The Spitz Charitable Trust, born out of the former music venue, came into being in January 2014 and "aims to take live music, using mainly jazz musicians, into a range of places, schools, after school clubs, prisons, residential care homes, day centres, the everyday settings of the street, and other places".[5]
References
- ↑ Alex Stephens, "The Spitz given six months to quit Spitalfields", London Evening Standard, 26 April 2007.
- ↑ http://www.loscampesinos.com/chaff/were-gonna-walk-around-this-city-with-our-headphones-on-to-block-out-the-noise/
- ↑ "Download Nosferatu D2 Live supporting Los Campesinos!" @ The Spitz, 3 January 2010.
- ↑ "Los Campesinos!" 5 March 2007. Songkick.
- ↑ "About Us", Spitz Music.
External links
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Coordinates: 51°31′11″N 0°4′29″W / 51.51972°N 0.07472°W