The famous London venue the 100 Club, which has been treated to performances by countless acts including Bob Dylan, Oasis, The Clash, David Bowie and the Sex Pistols over the years, is being faced with closure after a large raise in rent costs.
The London Evening Standard reports the current owner Jeff Horton has said the club, which is situated in London’s Oxford Street and was once described Aerosmith’s Joe Perry as ‘the finest rock n roll club in the world’, could now close ‘within months’ unless a new buyer is found due to soaring overheads which are stretching to £4,000 a month.
“It makes me so angry. The Government, Westminster council and even some of the commercial landlords say they want to help small businesses, they say they want to preserve London’s uniqueness, they want to help multi-cultural venues,” Horton said.
“Yet we’re all that and all these organisations have all dumped on us from a great height. In 1985, when I took over, the rent was barely £11,000 In the US the rents are frozen at certain venues that have a bit of heritage. Here it’s a total free-for-all.
What the 100 Club needs is a buyer or major sponsor to step forward. Barring that, we’re closing at Christmas despite being as popular as ever. It really is insane.”
The 100 Club was first opened in 1942 as a jazz club, but became centered on rock n roll in the Sixties when Jeff Horton’s father took over control in 1964.
This is how NME reviewed the legendary Oasis gig at club 100 in 1994:
Oasis, however, are fully formed and fantastic. They sound like Happy Mondays’ ‘Kinky Afro’ crashing headlong into Teenage Fanclub’s ‘What You Do To Me’, as each song, from the assured debut single ‘Supersonic’ right through to the T-Rexian highlight ‘Cigarettes And Alcohol’ revolves around a collection of huge grooves attached to glittering yet menacing glam guitar riffs.
At times tonight Oasis assume the mantle of Best Live Band In The Country with joyous, arrogant Mancunian confidence. They may never be this good again and they may have never been this good before but, four rows from the front, they sound like the most astute, important signing Alan McGee has made since Ride. They may even cancel out all the Hollyfaiths, Boyfriends and Shonen Knifes that once littered the Creation office.
Certainly, Liam Gallagher could do with shaking off some of his more latent Ryder-isms – the hunchback microphone molesting, the between-song banter (“Cheers, big ears”?). But he’s twice the singer Ryder was, much better-looking – and if he just stands up straight every now and then, he’ll be on Top Of The Pops by Christmas.
Digsy’s Dinner, Oasis , Club 100 24-03-1994