Dingwalls – London
Dingwalls is a sweaty venue in Camden NW1. Way before Camden became the hip alternative equivalent of Oxford Street, the Camden Lock end was just a bunch of buildings and Stables just east of the Roundhouse on Chalk Farm Road. Set up by a fellow called H in 1973 when he left the Speakeasy, Dingwalls Dancehall was a venue where punters and musicians alike could mingle.
Faces to be seen ranged from Eric Clapton to Mick Jones to Wilko Johnson to Frank Zappa and Bo Diddley and anyone wanting to have a drink beyond 2pm.
In punky times a number of notable events occurred; The Sex Pistols were supposedly banned after trouble during a Ramones gig. Outside was the scene of the face-off between bassists Simonon and JJ Burnel of The Clash and Stranglers respectively, that ostracised the Stranglers from the Punk crew.
Round the corner from Dingwalls in the Stables was The Clash’s Rehearsal Rehearsals and the steps where the photo was taken of them for the front cover of their first album.
Blondie and Eater played there among many others and the latter met Lou Reed and his transsexual friend Rachel who probably wondered what had happened to his song Sweet Jane as they demolished it..’ and recorded their Get Yer Yo’s Yo’s live EP.
But despite the onset of Punk, Dingwalls remained primarily the home of grizzled pub rock bands, Sixties survivors from the freak scene and Hells Angels, the latter who would drop in from the Carnarvon (now Fusilier and Firkin) pub opposite.
Mick Farren (ex Deviant and Pink Fairy) The overall impression was not unlike a long, narrow barn or maybe a western saloon with a slick coat of polymer on all the woodwork…the sum total was a bar, away from the music, with a sufficiency of bar tenders. The noisy end of the club had enough lines of sight to see the bands if you really desired… though punk was coming in it wasn’t permitted to take over…Dingwalls was our joint, the freaks who’d made it through. Give The Anarchist A Cigarette.
In later years Camden became the haunt of the new British pop like Amy Winehouse, Madness and so on. and if we’re talking Camden we can’t not mention the Dublin Castle which continues to support punk gigs into 2023 and the Roundhouse at Chalk Farm.
Dingwalls (called the Powerhaus) is still going today though the Wild West feel and vibe has long departed.
TalkPunk
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