As part of our series featuring venues involved in Independent Venue Week (Jan 23-29), Katie is covering a bunch of the London locations…
Name: 229 The Venue
Address: 229 Great Portland St, London, W1W 5PN
Website: www.229thevenue.com
Telephone No: 020 7631 8379
Date Founded: 1965
Capacity: 620 in Venue One, 140 in Venue Two
Brief History: First opened its doors in 1965 as part of International Students House as an accommodation centre ing British and overseas students whilst they studied at different Universities in London. Since then the venue has played host to numerous gigs, awards ceremonies, club nights, weekend festivals and music related events. In 2007 a major refurbishment and a technical overhaul took place and the 229 was launched as a dedicated live music and entertainments venue.
Personal Experience: I attended the album launch party for Altered Sky’s album Without Wonderland in the smaller Venue Two in December 2015, and photographed Broken Hands at the larger Venue One in October 2016.
Notable Acts Played There: Friendly Fires, Biffy Clyro, Foals, The Magic Numbers, Primal Scream and Steel Panther.
Highlights Coming Up: Discovery 2 Presents The Cardinal Kings + The Alibi + Ciara Donnelly + Ferris & Sylvester
