A group of music fans have launched a campaign in an effort to grant the Hammersmith Palais listed status, and thereby prevent its imminent demolition.
Some people are always looking for a cause, aren't they?
As previously reported here, the owners of the Palais want to knock the venue down and build an office block and restaurant in its place.
It now looks like they will face opposition from the group however, who issued this statement to the CMU:
"Its musical legacy alone should grant it listed status.
"It had a huge hand in bringing jazz to the UK in the 1920s and has hosted many a legendary performance since, from Motorhead to The Clash to Bowie.
"While it's not the most spectacular-looking place from the outside, the interior is grand, and it sits in the middle of a conservation area - so why is it being flattened, and its enduring popularity with generations of music fans proves its life is very far from over."
If you're gonna release a statement, as least check first that it makes grammatical sense. Surely?
are there any music venues in London
they're NOT trying to knock down?
Koko?
'lol'
why would anyone save this
one though? Who has ever seen a decent band there? Or any band?
yes
and yes.
i have, many.
and yes, many decent bands.
in the last ten years? who?
n
Four Tet/ Explosions in the Sky
was fantastic.
Hear hear
EITS + Four Tet = great night.
I first heard of Hammersmith Palais
When I heard the song 'White Man In Hammersmith Palais'
For that song alone, the place should not be knocked down.
also
link to the campaign? or petition? i can't seem to find one.
Palais? Malaise more like...
It stinks of chips, you can't see, and the booze is a rip off. And it's in Hammersmith. Flatten the fucker. Why do people get so attached to these manky old venues?
well...
..the way i see it, i agree that the venues are shit and manky, but its just seems that at an alarming rate some of these 'decent' mid sized venues are being flattened. That will leave us with just small venues, which most bigeer bands simply wont play, and theyll be shunted to bigger venues like Kentish Town forum or Brixton. There'll just be no middle ground between the larger and the smaller venues.
ok
it not your fault that you can't see the whole picture. a place of a certain cultural heritage is going to be destroyed and its place a RESTAURANT and some OFFICES will be built. nothing stands in the world alone, everything is interconnected like a chain. To you hammersmith means nothing, for others is a symbol. Don't you have places in your life that you feel sentimentaly connected with? You do not see that you invite them with your pathetic ignorant reaction to flatten culture itself in response of being old and not making profit? it is scary that there are reactions like "flatten the fucker". It is called short sight. but you will see it happen very close to you, really soon, and then you will realise, IF you hold something valuable close to your heart except mcdonalds.
good riddance
shit venue
no one hardly plays there anyways
+ its in hammersmith, no 1 likes hammersmith
It may be a bit sniffy
But I'd rather it was listed and kept as a venue then turned into an office block with Californain fusion tapas bar on the ground floor.
Is the Electric Ballroom still turning into a mall?
demolition
It's the sign of the times I'm afraid. I own one of the largest nightclubs in London, caesars which was formerly The Locarno, the oldest ballroom in the country, but because times and licencing laws have changed, people are not going to large venues anymore and they just become white elephants.
So now I am having to demolish too.
Its a shame but I cant keep pumping money into it for sentimental reasons
Save Palais!
Oh My Jesus.
They Cant Knock It Down.
Im Goin To See Enter Shikari There.
My Mum Went There When She Was A Lil Girl.
Memories!
Leave It Be!
xx
I sympathise but...
Agreed on the sentiments from those who see it as a mid-sized venue, perfect for a certain type of band at a certain point in their move from nobodies to big bodies.
However, I've never seen a good show there (duds from Suede and Tindersticks being particularly awful) and the stage is in a CORNER for God's sake, and there's supposed to be a better view from an upstairs balcony, but this has a bar and dozens of people talking, and only anyone in the front few rows on the main floor has a decent viewpoint. I made a pact a few years back never to go to the Palais again and I stuck to it - yes, even when Explosions In The Sky were playing.
I'm
Sorry But I Think They Should Put You Inside, Then Knock It Down.
Probably.
well...
...I've never been.
But much love goes out to The Clash for that great song and I am in agreement with Mr_JDTraynor.
And frankly I am sick of the fat cats building over every venue I love.
omg
i'm going there on tuesday
well, it ain't as good as the Astoria
But still, what's the point of knocking it down?
it's not making money is it?
if there were enough people going to see bands play there, the owners'd be coining it, and it probably wouldn't be knocked down (unless they'd make even more money out of offices and restaurants).
that's the end of the story. venues aren't charities.
there was a great story in the local paper up here in brum about a bunch of people who'd got a petition together because a tesco was being built in their area...and they wanted an ASDA.
you can register your dismay at the prospect of occurrences like this, but we live in a capitalist society (despite mr brainlove's best efforts!) and sentiment takes a backseat to finance.
I love it
You can see virtually everywhere it has a million bars and it is just lovely.
they can't knock it down,
think how many police officers will be put out of work!
more new venues needed
I live near W6,but have never been to the Hammersmith Palais.It's always looked a really seedy joint to me.
Why can't developers build some new venues to replace the crumbling ones,instead of the tedious shop/office complexes which repeat themselves?The new music of the noughties needs new places for bands to play it in,for God's sake. We are fast becoming a capitalist country which is strangling the growth of new music.
Don't let it go
17 days.
www.myspace.com/thepalaisrally
http://www.petitiononline.com/TPRpet/petition.html
Save it.