The Koko is located in the Mornington Crescent area of Camden, along the Camden High Street at Crowndale Road.
From the Koko website: (
visit link)
"ADDRESS
1A Camden High Street
London
NW1 7JE
0207 388 3222
TRANSPORT
Mornington Crescent Tube station is just across the road, which you can reach on the Northern Line.
There is plenty of bicycle parking immediately in front of the venue.
We recommend EC1 CAR SERVICE. Minicabs can be booked by phone at: 020 7729 7878.
BOX OFFICE OPENING TIMES
The box office is open from:
12-5pm Monday to Friday
Note, not all tickets are available from our Box Office, please check the listings page before visiting.
To buy tickets outside Box Office hours, you can contact Ticketweb at 08444 4771000.
For group bookings, please call 0844 844 9990.
Please note the box office is closed WEDNESDAY 31 AUG, reopening Thursday 1 Sept."
We found some history of what looked like an iconic building to us on Wikipedia: (
visit link)
"KOKO (Music Venue)
KOKO (previously called The Music Machine and Camden Palace) is a concert venue and former theatre in Camden Town, London. The building was known as Camden Palace from 1982 until its 2004 purchase and extensive restoration led by Oliver Bengough and Mint Entertainment. Since, the club has been known as KOKO and serves as one of the premier live music venues in London.
History
The Camden Theatre opened on Boxing Day 1900. With a capacity of 2,434 it was one of the largest theatres in London outside the West End. The theatre was designed by the prolific theatre architect W. G. R. Sprague. The theatre was opened by Ellen Terry, then the most celebrated actress in England, who had lived in nearby Stanhope Street as a child.
The St Pancras Gazette, a local newspaper, commented as follows in a review of the theatre's production of an opera called The Geisha in 1901:
"It is a matter of special gratification that the opera was presented at our beautiful local theatre on a scale of magnificence and completeness which would do credit to a West End theatre, but this is nothing new at the Camden Theatre, being rather a continuation of the policy with which the proprietors started their enterprise, viz. to offer nothing to their patrons but standard work, which has received the unmistakable approval of critics and public."
On 6 December 1909 it reopened as a variety theatre and became the Camden Hippodrome Theatre. By 1911 films were being presented as part of the programme and in January 1913 it became a cinema known as the Camden Hippodrome Picture Theatre. In January 1928, the theater was taken over by the Gaumont British cinema circuit.
Closed during World War II, it outlived many similar buildings, including Camden Town's other theatre, the Bedford Theatre, largely because it became a BBC radio theatre from 1945 and is Grade II architecturally listed since 1972. Among the first weekly series to be broadcast live from here were The Richard Tauber Programme [1945-47]. Later programmes recorded at the theatre included The Goon Show and Monty Python's Flying Circus album (2 May 1970) until the BBC moved to the Golders Green Hippodrome in 1972.
In 1977 the venue was then renamed The Music Machine. The venue was the central location for the 1979 Disco Dance film The Music Machine.[10] The venue was popular with new wave and first wave punk bands, hosting groups including The Boomtown Rats, The Clash and The Dickies. It was the last venue AC/DC's Bon Scott was seen drinking at before his death from alcohol poisoning in 1980 - After leaving there, Scott finished up at The Dublin Castle on Camden's Parkway where he was placed in a taxi by a school teacher and later died that night.
In 1982 the venue was renamed Camden Palace. During this period it hosted the rock night "Feet First" on a Tuesday. The nights were hosted by Steve Strange and Rusty Egan of electronic band Visage. Camden Palace was the location of Madonna's first UK performance.
In the late 1990's the Camden Palace was famous for holding its weekly rave events and was illuminated with UV lights, state of the art sound system and décor of the rave scene. During this time the legendary weekly House/Acid house event, Clockwork orange was held on a Saturday with Andy Manston and Danny Gould running until 2001, Frantic ( Hard House/Trance) and the iconic House/Trance event, Peach with Graham Gold, Pele, Darren Pearce and Dave Lambert running until the Camden palace closed in 2004.
Although in recent years such events have made a return to the venue since its incarnation as Koko, including reunions of peach and clockwork orange.
2004 restoration and relaunch
By 2004 the Camden Palace was rundown and in a state of disuse. That year the theatre was purchased by Oliver Bengough and his company Mint Entertainment. Bengough saw the potential of the theatre and embarked on a multimillion-pound restoration process lasting more than six months. The restoration process included all new technical facilities, enabling the scope of operations to be broadened to include live concert performances, club nights, corporate events and television production.[20] The Daily Telegraph described the modern interior amenities and the building's historic facade as "lend[ing] a sense of grandeur to any gig".
Since restoration, KOKO’s commitment to sustainability has been recognised with an award for Environmental Excellence in Camden Organisations (EECO), for Innovation in Waste Management and Recycling. The venue has been praised for ‘the continued exceptional effort by staff to achieve a 95% recycling rate in the difficult events and entertainment industry, and for the use of recycled materials within the building in order to close the recycling loop.’
The key points in KOKO’s innovative recycling and waste management strategy include:
Recycling paper and cardboards (including flyers), as well as approximately 30,960 glass bottles, 20,088 aluminium cans and 77,166 plastic cups every month;
Replacing 982 light bulbs with GLOWB low energy light bulbs;
Reducing emissions, by working with ‘The Carbon Trust' and ‘Better Climate for Camden’: by switching to a green energy supplier, KOKO aims to prevent the release into the atmosphere of 520 tonnes of CO2 over the next 12 months;
as KOKO currently produces approximately 310.809 tonnes of CO2 per annum, they have teamed up with Solar Aid who supply Solar Lanterns to under-developed countries to help offset this.
Notable Events
On 19 March 1964, The Rolling Stones performed there. On 10 March 1970, The Faces performed there. In 1972, the theatre was the host for The Goon Show's reunion episode The Last Goon Show of All. The event was attend by several senior Royal Family members. The show was filmed and recorded.
On Friday 14 November 1980, The Music Machine hosted an infamous gig by London mod revival band the Chords where onstage interactions between the band members ranged from frosty to outright hostile and following the gig, the Chords' frontman Billy Hassett left the band acrimoniously and was later replaced by Kip Herring.
In 1985, Steve Marriott performed there with his band, Packet Of Three.
The cult London electronic band You You You, consisting of Karen O'Connor, Laurence Malice and Iain Williams, performed their debut concert at the Camden Palace on 13 January 1987. The band billed their first series of concerts as 'Stage 1' of their 'World Domination Tour' and enlisted the help of illustrator Mark Wardel to design their publicity. Their appearance at the Camden Palace attracted over 1,000 people on what the Met Office recorded as probably being England's coldest night of the 20th Century.
In September 2003 the legendary House- Trance night Peach celebrated its 10th birthday party to a packed out Camden Palace, Also running 3 birthday celebration events throughout September with big name DJ Ferry Corsten and others.
In 2005, a year after restoration, Coldplay chose KOKO to launch their album "X&Y". Later that year, Madonna also hosted her album launch of Confessions on a Dance Floor at KOKO.
The next year, in 2006, Elton John hosted a benefit party at KOKO for his AIDS Charity Bash, attended by Natalie Imbruglia, Elle Macpherson, Jade Jagger, and Kevin Spacey.
Prince performed a secret show at KOKO in 2007, his first UK show in over 10 years, with David Walliams, Damien Hirst, Will Young, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, David Furnish, Boy George and Pete Burns in attendance. The American band My Chemical Romance also played a private show at KOKO in 2007, hosted by Radio 1. Later in 2007, The Disney Channel used KOKO to host Hannah Montana's Live in London, an exclusive one-off event broadcast globally for her fans.
In 2009, KOKO hosted the iTunes festival, which extended over 30 nights and featured guests including N.E.R.D, Paul Weller, James Blunt, Calvin Harris and Dizzee Rascal and over 45,000 people.
In 2010 KOKO also hosted fundraiser for the Institute of Contemporary Arts featuring a performance Lily Allen and Bryan Ferry and attended by Vivienne Westwood, Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin.
Since restoration, the club has attracted well known musicians including Al Murray, Irfan Latif, Don Broco, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Madonna, Christina Aguilera, Prince, Coldplay, Tori Kelly, Katy B, My Chemical Romance, Emma Marrone, Oasis, Bruno Mars, Thom Yorke, Amy Winehouse, La Roux, Skrillex, Lady Gaga, The Killers, Kanye West, Katy Perry, Lily Allen, Demi Lovato, Usher, Noel Gallagher, Swedish House Mafia and many others.
On 4 May 2014 Koko hosted the Peach Camden Palace Reunion headlined by Graham Gold and featuring Darren Pearce, Pele, Dave Lambert and Craig Dimech."