HMV Forum
History
The venue was built in 1934 and was originally used as an art deco cinema. After the cinema was closed, the venue re-opened as an Irish dance hall. In the 1980s, it changed directions from a bingo hall, to a dance hall and then to a live music venue under the name Town & Country Club. In 1993, Mean Fiddler Music Group purchased the venue and renamed it the London Forum. The final show at the T&C was Van Morrison on 21 March 1993. From 2009-2013 the venue was named the HMV Forum.
In 2007, MAMA & Company purchased the Forum from Mean Fiddler and spent £1.5 million on renovations, increasing the capacity to 2,300. In 2015, the venue was acquired by Live Nation, and re-branded as O2 Forum Kentish Town as part of the O2 Academy Group.
The venue has standing downstairs and benches seating in booths on the upstairs balcony, or a fully seated layout for certain shows.
Noted performers
- AJR
- 2face Idibia
- Aleyna Tilki
- Alice in Chains
- Anitta
- Anthrax
- Apiwat Ueathavornsuk
- Arctic Monkeys
- Ateez
- Babymetal
- Bad Gyal
- Biffy Clyro
- Big Country
- Bjorn Again
- Bon Jovi
- Billy Bragg
- Bruce Dickinson
- Built To Spill
- The B-52's
- Chance the Rapper
- Coldplay
- Conor McGregor
- The Corrs
- The Creatures
- The Cure (a secret gig with the name 5 Imaginary Boys)
- Cutting Crew
- Daði Freyr
- The Damned
- Danny Wilson
- Danzig
- David Bowie
- Day6
- Debbie McGee
- Del Amitri
- Dendera
- Devo
- Dio
- DragonForce
- Drain Gang
- Eurythmics
- Franz Ferdinand
- Fields of The Nephilim
- Fugazi
- Gorillaz
- Gustavo Cerati
- Gym Class Heroes
- Half Man Half Biscuit
- Hothouse Flowers
- Hurts
- INXS
- It Bites
- Jack Garratt
- Jack White
- Jagged Edge
- James Brown
- Jamiroquai
- Jesus Jones
- Jet
- Joe Cocker
- John Martyn
- John Mayall's Bluesbreakers
- Joshua Bassett
- Justin Timberlake
- Keane
- Keith Richards
- Killing Joke
- KSI
- Lacuna Coil
- Lenny Kravitz
- Level 42
- Lindemann
- Lionel Richie
- Lovejoy (band)
- Lowlife (band)
- Machine Gun Kelly
- Manic Street Preachers
- Modest Mouse
- Nekfeu
- The Neville Brothers
- Nelly Furtado
- New Found Glory
- Nina Simone
- Nine Inch Nails
- Nothing But Thieves
- Oasis
- Odd Eye Circle
- Ozzy Osbourne
- Paul Rodgers
- Pixies
- PJ Harvey
- The Pogues
- Prince
- Pulp
- The Quireboys
- Reneé Rapp
- Robbie Williams
- Radiohead
- Rage Against the Machine
- Ramones
- Rihanna
- Robert Plant
- Rory Gallagher
- Scooter
- Siouxsie and the Banshees
- Skid Row
- Smashing Pumpkins
- Snow Patrol
- Sparks (band)
- Soundgarden
- Steve Earle
- Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel (1992)
- Steve Harley (as a 3-man acoustic set, 2012)
- Stiff Little Fingers
- Subcarpati
- Suede
- The Stranglers
- Those Damn Crows
- Throwing Muses
- Tokio Hotel
- Tom Jones
- The Who
- UFO
- Yungblud
References
- ^ "The mourning after: RIP the T&C? North London's best-loved concert venue is set to close in March". The Independent. 17 December 1992. Archived from the original on 23 April 2019. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
- ^ White, Jim (24 March 1993). "My old man said follow the Van: Jim White sees Van Morrison mark the end of an era at the Town & Country Club, London". The Independent. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
- ^ "LIVE NATION RE-BRANDS 3 EX-MAMA VENUES AS 'O2' IN THE UK". Nusic Business Worldwide. 12 October 2015. Archived from the original on 23 April 2019.
- ^ Ramsay, Mel (15 July 2017). "So What Exactly Did Conor McGregor Say Off Camera?". LADbible. Archived from the original on 13 August 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
- ^ Diver, Mike (5 August 2009). "Devo – London Forum". Clash. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
- ^ "Nine Inch Nails Setlist at the Forum, London". setlist.fm.
- ^ The Sparks Brothers
- ^ https://www.concertarchives.org/concerts/kingmaker-suede
- ^ Harle, Regan (10 August 2021). "Yungblud at the Forum". The Upcoming. Archived from the original on 13 August 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
External links
- Media related to The Forum, London at Wikimedia Commons
- Forum Theatre at Cinema Treasures