Tinker-Tailor-Soldier-Sailor

The End…of London’s club scene?

Following the announcement The End is to close in January 2009; the ill fate of four more London clubs has been sealed.  Supposedly some of the glitziest clubs of London (and regular hang outs to C-list celebrities), Café Royal, Paper, Dolce and Chinawhite now add to the list of clubs to close. 

In January this year, The Cross at Kings Cross shut its doors for a final time and the land was sold to property developers.  With so many closures, it poses the question is London’s club scene dying a death?  As a huge fan of house music and although not someone to frequent celeb haunts, I am saddened to hear that further clubs will be laid to rest.  It would appear that once again, the land has been sold to property developers.   To be precise, Israeli developer Alrov has signed a £90 million deal to renovate the site Café Royal has occupied for nearly 150 years into a decadent, exclusive hotel in a bid to restore glamour and luxury to the West End of London. 

It has been reported that Paper, Dolce and Chinawhite are currently scouting for new locations but the historic Café Royal which has played host to people such as Oscar Wilde and Elizabeth Taylor will hand over its keys this coming January.  To commemorate the London landmark coming to an end, Café Royal are hosting a Grand Finale on 16th December that promises a ‘glittering charity Christmas ball’.  Tickets cost £84.50 plus VAT and can be bought here.

Thankfully, it seems The Egg at Kings Cross has no plans to close and with few destinations left in the heart of London for late night (and early morning) clubbing, I will be fully supporting London’s remaining club scene for as long as my love of house music continues to grow.

If you too have an opinion on London’s club scene, it would be great to hear your thoughts.  Feel free to post your comments here or email them to clare@tinker-tailor-soldier-sailor.co.uk.

January 2009 – Set to be a sad time for London clubbers

Posted

in

,

by

soldiersailor

Tags:

, , , , , , , , , ,

Comments

2 responses to “The End…of London’s club scene?”

  1. ruth Avatar
    ruth

    V sad news about The End, one of the best clubs in London. More exciting things will be happening in the new year though! Not sure about the celeb haunts, but london club nights have never been busier or more exciting in my opinion – students and tourists will always need places to go out and always have money to spend.

    Also, the interesting thing now about the london club scene is the huge choice and variety, back in the day it used to be very segregated – you’d generally only go to one club for its good techno night, another for house, another for d&b etc – now it seems the kids want a complete mix which makes it much more fun.

    I read an interview with Layo & Zoe from the End a while back, and one of the things they said about the closure was that they wanted things to finish on a high, with a really big party, rather than it petering out and closing with no-one really that bothered – I can see their point!

    I plan to try and make it to one of the closing parties in Jan if I can get a babysitter!

  2. soldiersailor Avatar
    soldiersailor

    Indeed, very sad news.

    I agree, there’s no stopping London club nights, it’s London afterall! However, what I’m hoping is that in light of some of the biggest clubs closing, it will somehow raise opportunities for current and new promoters to launch something even bigger and better!

Leave a comment