The Legendary Marquee Club in London Relocates
August 5th, 2004 by Koldo Barroso
The Marquee club is the most important venue in the history of European pop music.
It was first opened on April 19th 1958 in London’s 165 Oxford Street becoming
an important place for the Jazz and Rhythm & Blues scene, where The Rolling Stones
played their first gig ever in July 1962, and bands like The Yardbirds and Eric
Clapton and the Animals would be regulars.
On March 13th 1964 the Marquee club was relocated to it’s most famous location in London’s
Soho at 90 Wardour Street which became a legend in the history of pop and rock
music. The club was the most important venue fot the emerging British scene and
witnessed the birth and rise of some of the most important artists in the 60’s
and 70’s such as Jimmi Hendrix, David Bowie, Cream, Pink Floyd, Elton John, The
Who, The Nice, Yes, Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, King Crimson, Genesis and many others. During the late 70’s it was also one of the main clubs to host the British punk scene with bands such as The Clash, Ultravox, The Pretenders, The Police, The Cure, Joy Division, The Damned, Generation X, Siouxie and the Banshees, and The Sex Pistols.
In the 80’s the club was relocated to 105 Charing Cross and the original building was demolished, which represented a terrible and irreplaceable loss for the history of the the city and rock music . Today the Mezzo restaurant takes it’s place. During this period the Marquee club was once again an important meeting point for the
British Synth Pop and New Wave scene with artists such as New Order and Depeche
Mode. The club closed two years later after another relocation in the same Charing
Cross St.
In September 2002 the Marquee club was relaunched in Islington by the Eurythmic’s Dave Stewart but with no luck. Now the venue will be relocated again to Leicester Square on the site of the Home club with a new management since its closure after
just four months on the site of the Islington Academy. The Marquee club will reopen in September at Number 1 Leicester Square, directly above the new MTV offices.
The club will be run by Plum Promotions, whom also run Water Rats in Kings Cross.
Capacity runs close to 900, with a main area capacity of 550 and a balcony area capacity of 320 an online statement from management reads. The stated ambition is simple - to restore the reputation of the Marquee as the first choice live
music venue in the country - not just for the public, but for the bands and industry
as well.
More info about the Marquee club:
www.themarqueeclub.net