David

More than 3,000 night-time venues have shut their doors across London since March 2020, according to the Night Time Industries Association. That figure represents a 15% decline from pre-pandemic levels, and it has sent shockwaves through every layer of the city’s cultural identity. The closure of Soho venues in particular strikes at something deeper than … Read more

When Madame Jojo’s shut its doors in 2014, something broke in Soho that has never been fixed. The revue bar on Walker’s Court had survived gangsters, slum landlords, the Blitz, and six decades of cultural upheaval. But a single licensing review after a violent incident outside was enough to end it. For many who loved … Read more

In Brief: London has lost more than 60% of its LGBTQ+ venues since 2006, falling from 125 spaces to approximately 50. The decline is driven by gentrification, soaring commercial rents, the COVID-19 pandemic, shifting social habits including online dating, and a cost-of-living crisis that has priced out both venue operators and patrons. Soho’s Old Compton … Read more

Picture a Tuesday night in Soho. The year is 2009. Walker’s Court smells of cheap perfume and stale beer. You walk past the neon-lit storefronts, past the clip joints pretending to be pubs, past the last survivors of the Raymond Revuebar era, and you stop at a black door on Brewer Street. Behind it, something … Read more

If you have ever wandered through Soho looking for a proper London pub, chances are someone pointed you toward the Coach and Horses on Greek Street. This unassuming corner pub has earned the title of Soho’s most famous pub through a combination of colorful characters, literary history, and decades of bohemian charm that no other … Read more

Walk down Wardour Street or Frith Street today and you will find cocktail bars, chain restaurants, and premium coffee shops. But underneath the pavement, in basements that now store wine cellars or house private dining rooms, something extraordinary once happened. For nearly four decades, Soho was the undisputed jazz capital of Britain. The lost jazz … Read more

When Corsica Studios announced it was fighting for survival in early 2026, it felt less like news and more like a recurring nightmare. The beloved Elephant and Castle venue, a cornerstone of London’s underground music scene for over two decades, joined a growing list of clubs pushed to the brink by rising costs, licensing battles, … Read more

London in 1976 was a city on the edge of something explosive. Unemployment was rising, the youth felt abandoned, and a raw new sound called punk was clawing its way out of basement venues and into the national consciousness. Two clubs sat at the center of this revolution: the Roxy and the Vortex. These were … Read more

Muriel Belcher (1908 to 1979) was an English nightclub owner and artist’s model who founded the Colony Room Club at 41 Dean Street, Soho in 1948. She ran the private drinking club for more than three decades, turning it into the most famous bohemian gathering place in post-war London. Her razor-sharp tongue, fearsome door policy, … Read more

Trident Studios was a British recording facility located at 17 St Anne’s Court in London’s Soho district, operating from 1968 to 1981. Founded by brothers Norman and Barry Sheffield, this unassuming basement studio became one of the most important recording spaces in British music history. The Beatles recorded “Hey Jude” and several White Album tracks … Read more