O2 Forum Kentish Town

For the Minnesota golf facility, see Town & Country Club (Saint Paul, Minnesota). For the far-right forum, see London Forum (far-right group).

The O₂ Forum Kentish Town is a concert venue in Kentish Town, London, England, owned by MAMA & Company and originally built in 1934.

O₂ Forum Kentish Town

Exterior of the venue (c. 2020)
Former names	Kentish Town Forum Theatre (1934–1963) ABC Kentish Town (1963–1970) Forum Dancehall (1984–1985) Town & Country Club (1985–1993) London Forum (1993–2007) The Forum (2007–2009; 2013–2015) HMV Forum (2009–2013)
Address	9–17 Highgate Rd London, England NW5 1JY
Location	Kentish Town
Coordinates	51.5522°N 0.1422°W / 51.5522; -0.1422
Public transit	Kentish Town
Owner	Academy Music Group
Operator	Live Nation
Capacity	2,300
Construction
Opened	17 December 1934 (1934-12-17)
Renovated	1983 1993 2007
Closed	1970–1983
Architect	J. Stanley Beard
Website
Venue Website

History

The venue was built in 1934 and was originally used as an art deco cinema. After the cinema was closed, the venue re-opened as an Irish dance hall. In the 1980s, it changed directions from a bingo hall, to a dance hall and then to a live music venue under the name Town & Country Club.^[1] In 1993, Mean Fiddler purchased the venue and renamed it the London Forum. The final show at the T&C was Van Morrison on 21 March 1993.^[2]

In 2007, MAMA & Company purchased the Forum from Mean Fiddler and spent £1.5 million on renovations, increasing the capacity to 2,300. In 2015, the venue was acquired by Live Nation, and re-branded as O₂ Forum Kentish Town as part of the O₂ Academy Group.^[3]

The venue has standing downstairs and benches seating in booths on the upstairs balcony, or a fully seated layout for certain shows.

Noted performers

• AJR
• 2face Idibia
• Aleyna Tilki
• Alice in Chains
• Anitta
• Anthrax
• Arctic Monkeys
• Ateez
• Babymetal
• Bad Gyal
• Biffy Clyro
• Big Country
• Bjorn Again
• Bon Jovi
• Billy Bragg
• Bruce Dickinson
• Built To Spill
• The B-52's
• Chance the Rapper
• Coldplay
• Conor McGregor^[4]
• The Corrs
• The Creatures
• The Cure (a secret gig with the name 5 Imaginary Boys)
• Cutting Crew
• Daði Freyr
• The Damned
• Danny Wilson
• Danzig
• David Bowie
• Day6
• Debbie McGee
• Del Amitri
• Devo^[5]
• Dio
• DragonForce
• Drain Gang
• Eurythmics
• Franz Ferdinand
• Fields of The Nephilim
• Fugazi
• Gorillaz
• Gustavo Cerati
• Gym Class Heroes
• Half Man Half Biscuit
• Hothouse Flowers
• Hurts
• INXS
• It Bites
• Jack Garratt
• Jack White
• Jagged Edge
• James Brown
• Jamiroquai
• Jesus Jones
• Joe Cocker
• John Martyn
• John Mayall's Bluesbreakers
• Joshua Bassett
• Justin Timberlake
• Keane
• Keith Richards
• Killing Joke
• KSI
• Lacuna Coil
• Lenny Kravitz
• Level 42
• Lindemann
• Lionel Richie
• Lowlife (band)
• Machine Gun Kelly
• Manic Street Preachers
• Modest Mouse
• Nekfeu
• The Neville Brothers
• Nelly Furtado
• New Found Glory
• Nina Simone^[6]
• Nine Inch Nails
• Nothing But Thieves
• Oasis
• Odd Eye Circle
• Ozzy Osbourne
• Paul Rodgers
• Pixies
• PJ Harvey
• The Pogues
• Prince
• Pulp
• The Quireboys
• Reneé Rapp
• Robbie Williams
• Radiohead
• Rage Against the Machine
• Ramones
• Rihanna
• Robert Plant
• Rory Gallagher
• Scooter
• Siouxsie and the Banshees
• Skid Row
• Smashing Pumpkins
• Snow Patrol
• Sparks (band)^[7]
• Soundgarden
• Steve Earle
• Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel (1992)
• Steve Harley (as a 3-man acoustic set, 2012)
• Stiff Little Fingers
• Subcarpati
• Suede^[8]
• The Stranglers
• Those Damn Crows
• Throwing Muses
• Tokio Hotel
• Tom Jones
• The Who
• UFO
• Yungblud^[9]

References

1. "The mourning after: RIP the T&C? North London's best-loved concert venue is set to close in March". The Independent. 17 December 1992. Archived from the original on 23 April 2019. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
2. White, Jim (24 March 1993). "My old man said follow the Van: Jim White sees Van Morrison mark the end of an era at the Town & Country Club, London". The Independent. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
3. "LIVE NATION RE-BRANDS 3 EX-MAMA VENUES AS 'O2' IN THE UK". Nusic Business Worldwide. 12 October 2015. Archived from the original on 23 April 2019.
4. Ramsay, Mel (15 July 2017). "So What Exactly Did Conor McGregor Say Off Camera?". LADbible. Archived from the original on 13 August 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
5. Diver, Mike (5 August 2009). "Devo – London Forum". Clash. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
6. "Nine Inch Nails Setlist at the Forum, London". setlist.fm.
7. The Sparks Brothers
8. https://www.concertarchives.org/concerts/kingmaker-suede ^{[bare URL]}
9. Harle, Regan (10 August 2021). "Yungblud at the Forum". The Upcoming. Archived from the original on 13 August 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.

External links

• Media related to The Forum, London at Wikimedia Commons
• Forum Theatre at Cinema Treasures