Bethnal Green Working Men's Club

I really wanted to like this place. I've heard so many good things about it for so long (it is an East London institution, after all). Sadly, our experience on Saturday night was underwhelming. Let me break it down.

Given the proliferation of easily accessible clubs in Hackney (including some with free entry), if I must spend 10 min walking inside council estates and pay the entrance fee, I expect an experience that is at the very least on par with the ones available closer to civilisation or in the very least bus stops and free. The venue itself is rundown and tired. Don't get me wrong: I love the venues that feel like a discovery of something history has forgotten (Dalston Boys Club, I hail you!). Yet this one just feels like a place history has forgotten for a reason. The stage design is actually not tacky and kitsch enough, if you ask me (for the right amount of kitsch head to The Glory). The music was boring (how do you even achieve that when your theme is 90s Birthday Party?). The games instead of being revoltingly fun were just revolting. Their wardrobe guy, who looked definitely old enough to remember the venue when it was actually a working men's club before reopening as a night club in the 90's, first forgot I have already given him a pound coin for my bag, and then that my friend gave him a tenner, not a fiver. He was actually very sweet and cute but I am not sure they are doing either him or the guests any favours here, as I am assuming more intixicated people can be less understanding. 

We stayed for half an hour and left for another venue. I don't think I would be returning as I can think of a lot better places to go to locally.

There are many peculiar places that sadly had to go due to commercialisation of East End. Working Men’s Club is one of those that survived gentrification without the need of changing its old-school feel and quirky style. I’ve been coming here for years and had some of the best parties in town here, form 1950s Coney Island bashes o to Trash Italia 80s celebrations. It’s always eerie, it’s always full on and it’s always a night to remember. The place looks like it has not changed since the 1970s, but this is its charm. Carpets, cheesy décor and real East End bar ladies rather than trendy hipsters, it all contributes to its uniqueness.

There are usually at least two rooms with the best tunes of a specific decade or theme and the clientele is as original as the place itself. The decorations are always prepared with a great attention and the entertainers fitting perfectly for the particular night. It’s always worth checking the upcoming parties as the advanced tickets are always much cheaper. With the departure of a few kooky spots in the recent years, it feels like WMC is the last one standing, and hopefully the one here to stay.

What can you say about this place other than it's a total gem! The place just keeps on giving and hosts a wide variety of club nights, events and happenings across two, and sometimes three floors with a bar on each of the lower levels. The place has hosted and launched countless artists and performers since it's renaissance as a quirky club venue in the late 90's which has allowed it to survive as one of the few genuine old East End Working Men's Clubs. You will struggle to find a friendlier place or a better night out anywhere!