Printworks London

Musicians & Artists a Printworks

With a performance by Seth Troxler, The Martinez Brothers, and Loco Dice, the venue debuted in 2017. Although orchestral music has been performed there, its primary focus is on electronic music. 

According to Mixmag, Printworks is "one of the most spectacular venues the capital city, if not the country, has to offer" and "the saviour London nightlife urgently needed."

The location was consistently chosen by DJ Magazine readers as one of the "Top 100 Clubs." 

Planned closure of Printworks

In Autumn 2021 the owners of the site, British Land, submitted plans to Southwark Council to redevelop the site into office buildings - this would involve the demolition of the Printworks venue. This move has been widely opposed by the music community as the destruction of a key part of London's music scene.

London's nightlife has been lacking for years. The scene, which is made up of small to medium-sized venues, warehouses, and basement bars, is always awkward to discuss when you're travelling because it's been so long since there was that one hot ticket that everyone was clamouring to get their hands on.

That hunger was once satiated by Farringdon's Fabric, which won the top spot in DJMag's World's Best Nightclub in both 2007 and 2008. However, a vacuum has existed since the club was controversially closed by Islington Council in 2016 and reopened in 2017 with a stringent new licensing agreement.

Public praise of Printworks London

Despite only opening its doors in January 2017, Printworks has already received much praise. The abandoned former Evening Standard printing press, which has a capacity of 5,000 people, is home to the venue. Its industrial architecture and expansive layout are ideal for hosting underground music events.

The structure once housed the largest printing press in western Europe, and it operated in the late 1980s docklands' factory-dominated environment.

Since her debut "by heart" performance, Aurora has used this venue to play more than 10 symphonies in well over 100 concerts around the world. We didn't initially anticipate that the method would become a defining feature of our work, but it soon became apparent that it had a variety of artistic advantages for unique projects. We were able to experiment in new ways with theatrical concepts in performance when we were liberated from stands and scores. 

We were also able to create an entirely new type of introduction to the music being performed. Most importantly, we discovered that it resulted in better performance—at least for our particular group. The orchestra was able to develop a much deeper level of mutual musical understanding thanks to memorising the entire symphony. 

It also improved communication between and within sections and added a wonderful element of spontaneity and drama to each performance. The orchestra has grown so enthusiastic about performing in this manner that we have recently begun using the same methodology while making studio recordings.

Want to read about another exhibition & event venue in London? Check out Queen Elizabeth II Centre.