100 Club

Open since 1942, 100 Club is one of London’s most storied and legendary venues. Everyone from Louis Armstrong, Billie Holliday and Muddy Waters to the Kinks, the Sex Pistols and just about every notable Britpop band has walked the stage at this 350-cap basement venue. It has long provided a home for trad jazz, pub blues, northern soul and punk, and now it hosts an eclectic mix of genres from dance pop to electronic and indie. These days it’s rare to go to a small gig in central London, but 100 Club – at 100 Oxford Street – is one of the few venues keeping live music alive in W1. 

Originally a restaurant, the 100 Club was first hired out as a live music venue in the ’40s and was popular as a hangout/bomb shelter during World War II owing to its underground location. It was threatened with closure in 2011 due to rocketing rent charges, but was saved thanks to securing backing from Converse, no doubt helped by vocal support for the venue from the likes of Mick Jagger and Liam Gallagher.