Venue Spotlight: Birthdays, London

This week, we take a peek into the workings of popular independent London venue Birthdays.

We spoke to Marketing and Events Officer, Jess Partridge, who tells us about excellent food, who's on their musical radar, and the importance of community...

See full listings for Birthdays in London here.


Vital stats

  • Birthdays, 33-35 Stoke Newington Road, London, N16 8BJ
  • Capacity: 250.

When was the venue first established?

It was established in 2013 - so it's a pretty new venue.

Has the venue gone through any major changes since it opened (location, renovation, style of music etc)?

Not really, we have a variation of sounds (and always have) and have been making little but constant improvements over the years. The biggest changes have been the various people in our kitchen making delicious food!

Which band that's played your venue has gone on to be the best known?

Skepta and Bloc Party have both played, but there's tons of others.

How many gigs or club nights a week do you host?

Around 5 gigs and 3 club nights.

Which band that played your venue deserved/deserves to be better known than they are?

Because we're a small venue SO many of the bands playing deserve to, and will be, better known. But for now we'll say (London electronic pop trio) Salen.

Do you host events besides gigs and club nights?

We have excellent launches for the food in the kitchen, we've also had exhibitions and hosted clothes swaps, too.

If you could change one thing about the live music industry, what would it be?

It would be the government's ignorance of the importance of it. It's community, it's art, it's life, and often venues like ours are the start of a success story.

Has your venue ever been threatened with closure? If so, what could have been done to prevent it/support you?

Luckily we've not, but we've seen many other venues go that way. (External groups) Working with venues rather than against them, and working out issues rather than just closing them, would make the most sense.

What's the best show you've put on recently?

We've just has Jamz Supernova from Radio1 Xtra's night 'Future Bounce' - always great sounds, great DJs and amazing acts. It really feels like something special!


Track Birthdays Rooms here to keep up to date with all forthcoming events.
There is also an official website, Facebook page, Twitter and Instagram accounts.