Carl Barat was there, said hello, he seemed nice. His brother looks like The Big Bang Theory version of Carl. and he had a police line do not cross guitar strap.
1) The stage is tiny and too low to the ground
2) The pull of randoms isn't great compared to Dublin Castle, say
3) There's a "secure" storage area for your stuff which is good
4) It's got a nice upstairs with pool tables
It's alright. Very average and underwhelming but not bad.
My Brother and I book gigs for The Hope & Anchor every 2nd & 4th Friday of the month. (We are Goodsoul Promotions)
I relly like it as a venue.
Loading/unloading is a bit of a pain as it's down a flight of stairs, but you can park almost outside the venue for 20 mins to unload. Maybe free on Saturday's to park, but I'm not sure.
Capacity is about 90. The venue sound man (Rich) is really good. The staff are very friendly. Levi, who works the door, is a really cool guy too.
Good range of beers and I can recommend the food. Prices are reasonable for London (about £3.80 for a pint of Heineken)
It has fallen off the gig map since its heyday in the late 70's (one of the first Pubs to put on bands).
The video for The Damned's New Rose (1st Punk single) was filmed there.
It was THE venue for all the Punk Bnads to play. The Stranglers and Ian Dury used to live upstairs. A fair amount of memorabilia on the walls if you wander round the entire Pub. (Have a look upstairs as well).
The stage is small (a 5 piece would struggle to get everyone on it) and it's next to the entrance, which can be a bit distracting as people come in and out.
They do still have the jukebox which has a very good selection of stuff.
used to be better
when it was a grody old rockers pub. bit soulless now but the venue is pretty good for small gigs. nice and loud and right up in people's faces.
Unless it's changed massively, it's a nice venue but most of the nights are of the 'stick 5 random bands on and hope some people show up' variety.
It used to me more of that kind of a place but now it's at least possible to put on real shows there
I've played/attended a couple great noise shows in recent times, loud enough and the sound guy was really good and helpful.
they used to have a pretty good jukebox
not sure if this is still the case.
sweet, should be a larf.
If any of you are about feel free to pop in. ;)
played my first ever london gig there 9 years ago
which means i'm old.
it's ok
it's also where ian curtis had his first ever epileptic fit.
well, actually he was driving home from there, but still
It boats that its "London's most famous venue"
on the front. Think Wembley would have something to say about that.
It's a bit Dublin Castle-y
Careful with the roof xx
the video for
'One Step Beyond' was filmed there
so there you go.
I saw a band play there (because I had nothing else to do and a mate asked me) that had Carl Barat's brother in
Carl Barat was there, said hello, he seemed nice. His brother looks like The Big Bang Theory version of Carl. and he had a police line do not cross guitar strap.
Good night
Night Rob!
Played there 3 times in 3 different bands
Things to note:
1) The stage is tiny and too low to the ground
2) The pull of randoms isn't great compared to Dublin Castle, say
3) There's a "secure" storage area for your stuff which is good
4) It's got a nice upstairs with pool tables
It's alright. Very average and underwhelming but not bad.
NON-ANSWER
A biased point of view
My Brother and I book gigs for The Hope & Anchor every 2nd & 4th Friday of the month. (We are Goodsoul Promotions)
I relly like it as a venue.
Loading/unloading is a bit of a pain as it's down a flight of stairs, but you can park almost outside the venue for 20 mins to unload. Maybe free on Saturday's to park, but I'm not sure.
Capacity is about 90. The venue sound man (Rich) is really good. The staff are very friendly. Levi, who works the door, is a really cool guy too.
Good range of beers and I can recommend the food. Prices are reasonable for London (about £3.80 for a pint of Heineken)
It has fallen off the gig map since its heyday in the late 70's (one of the first Pubs to put on bands).
The video for The Damned's New Rose (1st Punk single) was filmed there.
It was THE venue for all the Punk Bnads to play. The Stranglers and Ian Dury used to live upstairs. A fair amount of memorabilia on the walls if you wander round the entire Pub. (Have a look upstairs as well).
The stage is small (a 5 piece would struggle to get everyone on it) and it's next to the entrance, which can be a bit distracting as people come in and out.
They do still have the jukebox which has a very good selection of stuff.
Awesome!
Cheers guys. Played London loads with various bands but not with this band or hope and anchor ever.
Band link is here if anyone wants a listen.
http://soundcloud.com/dragnetband
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Dragnet-Band/184171954698?fref=ts
Good luck. Hope it all goes well.
We've putting on a gig there tomorrow, so we'll make sure we tidy up before you play mate!
dunno about the food
had a particularly sad looking plate of pasta when i was in there a couple weeks ago
My mates band played there a few weeks ago
/coolstory
i walked past it last night
/coolstory
This is a pretty successful jag
jag?
I stay in the same street
I've been in once for a total of 1 pint. Apparently keane played their first gig there.
That's all I've got.