Opening a new venue in London isn’t so much a tightrope walk as a piano wire walk. Over a vat of acid. In a burning building. In your underwear. Being watched by everyone who ever dumped you. The opportunities it affords are vast, but trying to carve out a reputation from scratch when you’re up against the likes of the immovable object (Fabric), the acoustic palace (KOKO), the never-ending house party (Brixton Jamm), the tower of power (Bussey) and dozens more that I could probably come up with clever names for.
The sheer variety that’s already on offer is staggering, so trying to pin down any kind of solid USP is a minefield, but it’s not impossible. In a sense, the best way to make sure a new venue makes an impact, is to limit its lifespan. If a club is only going to be operational for a few months, people are going to want to check it out before it’s gone again. Case in point: Printworks.
As the name suggests, Printworks is a hulking printing press facility in Surrey Quays. In life, it printed both the Metro and the Evening Standard, and now it’s been converted into a multi-purpose creative space which, from next month, will start hosting a ridiculous run of music events, right up until April. You can see the full list of nights here, but let me give you the headlines: Sub Focus, Netsky, Maya Jane Coles, Alix Perez, Floating Points, Gold Panda, Motor City Drum Ensemble, Adam Beyer, DJ Koze and many more still to be announced.
But so what, right? It’s not like other venues aren’t booking acts of that calibre, what else can Printworks offer? Well, for one thing, scale, the indoor space is split into 6 rooms across 119,500 square feet of space. A great deal of the old machinery has been left untouched, and the main area is completely soundproofed, so events can run into the wee hours without any fear of vibrating any hapless locals out of their beds.
Given the size, capacity is also a major factor. Fabric has a capacity of 2,500, and although many of the events at Printworks will be limited to the same figure, it could hold 5,000 comfortably. To put that into perspective, the largest club in the world is Privilege in Ibiza, and that holds 10,000 people. Accordingly, Printworks will also host theatre, food fairs and art installations during its lifespan.
London is littered with old, disused buildings, and while it’s not always viable to turn them into a club or art space, it demonstrates how much space there is in the city which is crying out for new purpose. Clubbing is obviously about the music, but being in a space with real, tangible history can have a pronounced effect on the atmosphere. If you’ve ever been to a night at Village Underground, Manchester’s Antwerp Mansion, Limelight in New York or Berghain in Berlin, you’ll know exactly what I mean.
Some of the coverage you find on Cultured Vultures contains affiliate links, which provide us with small commissions based on purchases made from visiting our site. We cover gaming news, movie reviews, wrestling and much more.
