With the closure of the Marquee Club in London, experiencing the rock culture, leading the rock scene in London.
This is the Rock Club in north London, UK, located in the busy intersection at Camden. Camden Town is famous for its markets and young people to gather. There are several Clubs, but when it comes to Club performing Rock music, it is limited and this “Underworld” must be the one.
When speaking of London’s Rock Club, “Marquee Club” comes to mind personally, but since this “Marquee Club” is already closed, there are few Clubs performing Rock music. In this sense, this “Underworld” is valuable entity.
A space in this “Underworld” is relatively dirty and relatively wild. Atmosphere is great. When going down to the Club from the ground level and getting into this Club, you can find the bar located at the center in the space, that can be accessed from the all direction. Main stage is located walking 20 meters from that bar. It is interesting structure.The audience-standing space is located, stepping down by approx. one meter after walking from the bar area, then stage height is also one meter. It is very surprising that one thick pillar was standing in front of the stage and cannot see the stage very well from some audience-area spot.
It is really not possible to watch the performer on the stage clearly from some spot, I have almost not watched the vocalist located at the center of the stage, watched only bass player, at one time, guessing that this building was made at very old time, not to consider to be used for a music venue, according to the English traditional to respect for the old stuff. Stage is approx. 10-meter-wide, relatively big, dressing room is located at the left-hand side from the audience, as the same height with stage. There are many people around that special area in front of its dressing room, like band related people or invited people, it is fun to watch those people, too.
When I have visited London in 2019, there was performance schedule in the name of “Underworld”, however, its actual performance was made in the different venue near “Underworld”. This is because, there was a flood around its area. In Japan, the apology may be posted on the web, but it didn’t have any on the webpage. In London, it is very normal that elevators suddenly stop and get trapped, boilers break down and hot water does not run down, roofs of buildings are falling, and inconvenient happenings often occur. It must be not surprising for British people that the business would not be possible due to flooding.
Finally, here are interesting event for me that happened after leaving this “Underworld”. After the performance, I left “Underworld” at around 12:00am. I walked to bus stop nearby, where I waited for the bus to come. It was cold in winter and few people walked on the street. Then one young man came in front of me and called out. That young man told me, “Don’t you buy this stuff?”. He is an ordinary youth. The man had something in his hand, but it was dark and invisible. When I looked closely, I found that it is an electric toaster. “Is that a toaster?” I asked, and the man held the toaster in front of me and said, “Good stuff.” I laughed and said, “I don’t need it.” The man thanked and left. The man seemed to sell the toaster seriously according to his expression. This situation is strange in Japan, but it seems normal in London.
By the way, there is other Club in the neighborhood, “Electric Ballroom” that is bigger than this “Underworld”, and this is also old-fashioned, good atmosphere. I recommend this Club, too.
Visited in 2012, 2014.
Basic Information
■ Name of Place：Underworld
■ Address : 174 Camden High St, Camden Town, London UK
■ Performed Musician :
The Offspring, Queens of the Stone Age, Radiohead, Foo Fighters, Soundgarden, Sum41
■ Homepage : https://www.theunderworldcamden.co.uk/
