At 240 Seven Sisters Road, Finsbury Park in North London there is currently a semi derelict pub. Before it closed it was known as the George Robey (and before that The Clarence Tavern) and was for many years an important music venue, particularly known for punk gigs. You can even download a 1983 set recorded a the pub by anarcho-punk band Omega Tribe at the excellent Kill Your Puppy.
Club wise it was probably best known for Club Dog, which brought the free festival/squatter spirit indoors from the mid-1980s and became one of the first places where that scene, with its psychedelic and world music vibe, began to cross over with the emerging rave scene. In 1996 the pub briefly became the Powerhaus, part of the Mean Fiddler group, and then closed down.
My main memories of the place are of a club called The Far Side, which I went to a few times in 1994/5. It was one of those places where DJs and sound systems from the squat/free party scene played, like the Liberator DJs . I've just scanned in a couple of spacey flyers which give a feel for it -'Get over to the Far Side - revel without a pause - spinning trippy trancey techno, delightfully deep house and pleasurable progressive for your entertainment'. The flyer for September 1994 (below) also has the topical Fight the Criminal Justice Bill slogan at the bottom.
September 1994 flyerFrankly my memories of all the places I went to at that time tend to blur a little, but I do recall some great music and searching for a bagel round Finsbury Park before getting the first train back to Brixton the next morning.
January 1995 flyerSee also London RIP (picture of Robey today from Ewan-M at Flickr)
9 comments:
Nice post; do you have many flyers from your club days? I was in a well known bookshop recently and came across a large coffee table book devoted to the club flyer. remarkable.
Hi! I'm writing a feature on The George Robey & wondered if you (or anyone you know) would be interested in discussing their memories with me! I'd like to get an old regular's opinion on the place! if so, please e-mail lolly.doyle21@googlemail.com
Yeahhhh was the first place where i felt a real sound system, reggae, dub, jungle... wow i been on summer 1994,its very nice for me found this info, respect!!
I use to go to the far side in 95, it was the best! had so many great nights there
Vic Valium was the DJ at the Sir George Robey when I lived in the neighbourhood during the summer of 1987 and make it my local. He spun some great stuff.
I saw some memorable live shows there that summer as well, including Desmond Dekker, Jayne County, John Cooper Clarke, Hank Wangford Band, Buckwheat Zydeco, Lick The Tins and others.
It was also a good place to keep the party going after festivals at Finsbury Park.
I was sad to see it gone when I returned for a visit in 2004.
Steve, once I was on the tube from Brixton and John Cooper Clarke sat down opposite me, turned out he was on his way to perform at the Robey (think this was a bit later than 1987 though, probably early 90s)
Used to love the George Robey in the mid-eighties. Most memorable gig was Wilko Johnson in about 1986. Very Poignant considering the news on Wilko recently :(
Just found your blog - brilliant stuff and I'll be spending a good few hours going through your archives! (Hope you don't mind but as I found this because I was looking for something about the George Robey I've included a link to this post on my own blog...)
Thanks C, enjoyed your post about travelling in the back of a van to the Robey with a band (read it here people):
http://sundriedsparrows.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/im-with-band.html
Of course it got me guessing who the band was - I reckon Flux of Pink Indians?
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