Live Music Venues in Ilford, Essex*

Live sounds in a garage, pub, park or stadium

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• Queen NEVER played Gants Hill Odeon
• The Odeon Cinema formerly at Gants Hill opposite the Valentine Public House was better known for live music in the 60's-80' and acts that appeared there have included David Essex (From Silvertown), Iain Dury & The Blockheads, Queen, 10cc etc.
• Room at the Top Ilford and the Green Gate Newbury Park, used to love the basket meals and the stupid competitions
• the cauliflower
• For live music in Ilford, its got to be The Cauliflower,a change in management a year or so ago has had a dramtic effect,top bands such as Wishbone Ash, The Hamsters, East of Java, Eddie and the Hot Rods, Bad Manners, you can see them all at the Cauli, Weds nights is alternative rock night, with 2 or 3 excellent bands, and there are top live bands on thurs to sat, Ilfords only live music venue - it rocks !!!
• The cauliflower is a great pub. Its got a great atmosphere and great bands. Cant believe they've started charging for them though.
• A Friday night at the Olde valentine has been a local watering hole for me and a wide range of tourists and weirdos, although lately in the last year a young crowd of younger drinkers have blagged there way in via the doorman. Fridays are average with a DJ pumping out(ha ha)a range of music on his cd mixer for drunken dancing but it tends to clear about 11pm when the excited young clubbers bring a grand finnish to there night buy either going to 5th or The Shannon (nice) and fight each other. Saturday is the best night in the Valentine with its disgustingly dangerous ammount of high strength shots and nice young ladys going to various places. Dont even think you will get a game of pool on a saturday night. The good thing about this pub it closes at 12pm the bad thing is you have to be in there before 10:30 and beleive me not even a minute after.There is only one bad thing about this pub which is on a Friday and Saturday it takes on average 10 minutes to order a pint of fosters and a sambuca shot. There is even a small dance floor where tourists and drunken girls and boys decide to make tits of themselves i know i have done it!.
• The Island was an excellent venue, but sadly no more gigs. I saw George Clinton there, and Morrissey even played once. Ilford has gone right down hill since. O'Neils sometimes has some good traditional Irish bands.
• Try the Cauliflower pub in Seven Kings. Really lively, huge Victorian pub. (Mostly cover bands.)
• Some people have mentioned The Island on Ilford High Road, next to the new police station. I used to go there for the indie/rock nights on Friday during my Uni days and it was great, but unfortunately it no longer exists as a club. The building it was housed in has been converted back into a cinema which shows Asian films, and the front of the building is a struggling pub called The Overdraft.
• Not really music per se, but The Valentine has a karoake night every Wednesday. Beware though - go on a Wednesday when everyone's back from university and expect to queue to get in.
• Anyone remember the Podigy when they played at the Island... Fucking manic!
• Anyone remember Ian Durie at the Ganthill Odeon in 1978 when the floor collapsed?
• In the mid to late sixties at Billy Walker's Uppercut you could see everyone from Hendrix and Cream down
• The Cauliflower pub has some good bands playing down there quite often
• The Island -- Tel 0181 514 4400. Lots of different types of music: dance, indie, jungle, old heros like Squeeze and Ian Dury, plus shows like the KISS FM road show. Late license, easy parking.
• The Island has now closed down and converted into a humble (albeit large) pub
• Absolutely zilch if you're talking Oasis and co. Some local bands do gig though not very often

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Last updated: 2012-05-26