My Guide Website?
The Old Blue Last
London
Having earned its musical stars having hosted the likes of Amy Winehouse, Foals and Arctic Monkeys way back when, indie music venue and former hipster magnet The Old Blue Last has been a Shoreditch institution since it opened back in the mid-noughties. Owned by hipster rag Vice Magazine, the former old mans pub was gutted and expanded to host live shows upstairs and ample boozing space downstairs. Ironic and contrived? A little. Fun? You bet. Inevitably as the weekend crowds descend on Shoreditch the venue becomes packed but throughout the week lesser known bands are given an opportunity to shine - Tuesdays nights are particularly good, with free entry and several bands on the bill. Check on the bar's Facebook page for lineups.
Drinks offers are often rampant and a bottle of beer can be as cheap as £2.50 before 7.30pm. An inadvertently fun draw is the crowd - a cross section of pretty young things, hipsters and indie kids from across the style spectrum along with goths and rockers mingling and toasting to another night out in Shoreditch.