Music returns to Tin Pan Alley
Central London will see the opening of three music venues later this year as part of a £ 1bn redevelopment of the Denmark Street area into a multimedia entertainment district branded Outernet London . Outernet Global CEO Philip O ’ Ferrall tells Access about the plans
Words : Christopher Barrett
For half a century , Denmark Street
was a mecca for musicians and the music industry . Dubbed Tin Pan Alley , artists such as the Sex Pistols , David Bowie and the Rolling Stones were regularly seen there and over the years it became home to the NME , Melody Maker , studios , management companies and a tightly packed array of purveyors of musical instruments .
A stone ’ s throw from Tottenham Court Road tube station and the renowned Astoria venue on the periphery of Soho , Denmark Street was the beating heart of the music industry . And even after the A-list talent was long gone , and the Astoria demolished , it remained the home of the battered but beloved Enterprise Studios and the 150-capacity 12 Bar Club .
The transformation of the area , by Outernet Global , property firm Consolidated Developments and construction giant Skanska , has been controversial but Outernet Global CEO Philip O ’ Ferrall says the aim is to respect the area ’ s musical past while transforming it into a state-of-the-art , multimedia music hub .
The most eye-catching aspect of the new development will be a vast outdoor public atrium with its interior walls covered in a huge digital canvas – a fourstorey , 360 °, 8k video screen .
O ’ Ferrall says the content on the screens will be scheduled to reflect the audience likely to be on site at different times of day and evening . He suggests it is ideal for product launches but the space could also be used as a live event venue for audiences of up to 750 .
“ It features a cutting edge L-Acoustics sound system , and Brilliant Stages provided the moving parts to enable the building to be opened or closed ,” he says . “ We have a licence to host 100 late-night events a year ; it is very much a mixed-use space .”
Possibly of more interest to the events industry will be the new 2,000-capacity venue – the largest live music venue to be built in central London since the 1940s .
“ It sits directly beneath the atrium . Brilliant Stages is helping to provide everything we need to be able to quickly switch between full standing shows to all-seated gigs and product launches ,” says O ’ Ferrall .
Though the venue will have a 750 all-seated capacity , it can be used for events with table service for 900 . O ’ Ferrall says the venue team is aiming to host a minimum of 100 nights of live music a year .
There is also good news for those missing the infamous 12 Bar Club , which during its two decades on the street hosted shows by acts including Jeff Buckley , The Libertines and Joanna Newsom , before it closed in January 2015 .
“ One option was to knock the 12 Bar Club down , but we underpinned it and moved it away , dug down and then put it back in situ ,” explains O ’ Ferrall . “ The shop front has been put back in place , and there is a glass walkway that takes you into the original old venue , with
“ The fact is , you can have an album-listening party in the house the Sex Pistols lived in , with Johnny
Rotten ’ s graffiti still on the wall .”
Outernet Global CEO Philip O ’ Ferrall
36