Performance venues

London's stages and concert rooms: the West End houses and the playhouses that make their own shows, the grand halls, the churches with a musical life, the jazz basements, the comedy clubs, the clubs proper, and the rooms above pubs where things start. What is on is listed under each venue, and in What's On.

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O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire

Frank Matcham's 1903 music hall, with three balconies stacked almost on top of the stage.

GigsWorth it for the building

It opened on 17 August 1903 with a gala variety bill headed by Fred Karno's troupe — the company Chaplin came out of — and was one of five theatres Matcham built for Oswald Stoll. Matcham designed for sightlines and for cramming people in, and both are still true: the balconies overhang so far that the front row of the first circle is nearly above the band.

The BBC used it as a television theatre for thirty years, which is why it looked familiar long before anyone played a gig in it.

Where
Shepherd's Bush Green, W12 8TT
Nearest station
Goldhawk Road · 3 min walk

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Data is compiled from public sources including OpenStreetMap, under the ODbL. Hours change often, so check before making a journey.

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