Islington music venues

Located in a mall, the 800-capacity Islington Academy was never going to be London's most atmospheric venue. Still, the gigs are decent – fast-rising indie bands and cultured singer-songwriters.

Opened as a cinema shortly after World War I, the Scala was used briefly to show adult films in the '70s before becoming a live music venue where Iggy Pop and Hawkwind both strutted their stuff.

Housed in a large, difficult building, the King’s Cross branch is best to head here when there are DJs, generally Thursdays to Sundays.

If you're after a mixture of underground sounds and a lounge space where you can actually hear what your mates are saying, you can't do much better than 'The Lex'.

The latest addition to Essex Road's burgeoning bar scene was a popular, flamboyantly historic, big corner pub that was ripe for a revamp.

The devil might have all the best tunes, but the Union Chapel is proof that him downstairs knows nothing about architecture.