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EAST LONDON IS A VAMPIRE
One fateful night after way too many cans of beer, episodes of Shameless, Spaced and Jam and heated discussions about what type of bread is best (Sunblest or Hovis - the argument will never be settled), the general chit chat turned to inspiring gigs. Having both been to see Bloc Party at the Cambridge Corn Exchange many moons ago, the gig reminded me of the 'fans only' shows they did. Being lucky enough to get along to the Bedford Esquires gig, the anticipation leading up to it and the aftermath - let alone the gig itself - were something we both thought should be the real gig experience.
Some gigs really stuck in our minds, like Noisettes at White Heat and the Barfly, Grinderman at HMV, and many other small gigs that squeezed more atmosphere into one tiny room than Wembley Stadium ever could. They really brought people into the music and were the types of gigs we always sought out.
Then an idea jumped to the forefront. Why not put on gigs for important bands in a smallish venue with a fan base priority? Rolling all the elements we thought made an exciting gig into one? Bringing the best bands up close and personal? In order to get the fans in there first, they will have to be made aware of it before the rest of the world. Seems fair. So we got to work.
After months of trekking around London looking at the best and truly the worst venues in the capital, we stumbled across a small venue in Shepherds Bush that was a former Victorian public convenience! Perfect! Right size, good location, great ethos. It ticked all the boxes.
We had the idea and the venue, all we needed now was a name..... after much procrastinating we went back to the source of where the idea came from. We wanted to use something that signified our time in music and our time in London. Scrawled across my bag were five words from a sticker given out free with the NME. East London Is A Vampire. Little debate was needed. We lived with the name for about 3 weeks. It fit, so it stuck. The rest is history.....