BUILT ON VINYL, POWERED BY BANDS: CELEBRATING 15 YEARS OF RECORDS BARS
London’s cult live music bar group, Record Bars – home to Venn St. Records in Clapham, Northcote Records in Battersea, Old St. Records in Shoreditch and Eastcheap Records in the City – is celebrating 15 years of keeping live music and vinyl culture at the heart of London nightlife with a month-long festival this April.
Across four Saturdays, the group will host 24 acts performing across its four venues, continuing the music-led ethos that has defined the brand since the first Venn St. Records opened in 2010.
Expect a packed programme of live bands and DJs, returning favourites and breakthrough acts. Festival-goers can enjoy drinks at 2010 prices until 8pm on selected festival nights, alongside a special cocktail menu in partnership with El Jimador running all night featuring four cocktails each priced at £7.
Each venue will host its own late-night celebration, with stacked line-ups of live music and DJs before the festival wraps up with a closing party at the original Venn St. Records in Clapham.
Eastcheap Records – 4 April
Kickstarting the festivities, the vinyl-lined venue decked out with thousands of records behind the bar, rock’n’roll artwork and glowing neon sets the stage for a full night of music. Live bands including All-Stars House Band warm up the room before resident selector Kengo San takes to the decks, with DJ duo The Nextmen, headlining. Famed for packing out dancefloors everywhere from Glastonbury Festival to Notting Hill Carnival, expect an explosive mix of hip-hop, drum & bass and soul.
⭐️ 2pm – 3am, free entry, 4th April. Live music from 4pm.
📍 20 Eastcheap, London EC3M 1DT
Old St. Records – 11 April
A stacked line-up begins with indie party starters, The Marquees, followed by soul and R&B from Joel Bailey and The New Beat Collective, fresh from touring with Stormzy. As the night unfolds, the action spreads downstairs where DJ P and MC Onyx bring a garage-fuelled set to the dancefloor. Headliner to be announced.
⭐️ 3pm – 3am, free entry until 9pm, 11th April. Live music from 4pm.
📍 350-356 Old St, London EC1V 9NQ
Northcote Records – 18 April
The party heads south and starts with an afternoon of outdoor live music with Spencer Chaplin opening with acoustic crowd-pleasers, followed by the brass and drum act Thunderhorn, bringing big New Orleans street-band vibes. The action then moves inside for the Hip Hop House Band’s high-energy festival set, weaving old school, new school and everything in between into seamless live medleys. Closing the night is genre-hopping party selector A Skillz, known for DJ sets blending funk, soul, hip hop, rock and bass music into one dancefloor soundtrack.
⭐️ 2pm – 2am, free entry until 9pm, 18th April. Live music from 4pm.
📍 8-10 Northcote Rd, London SW11 1NT
Venn St. Records – 25 April
The festival wraps up where it all began, Venn St Records. The Clapham OG hosts a closing party featuring a special live set from familiar face Matt Owens (Noah and The Whale) and Radio King, followed by Not A Faze bringing nu metal covers to the stage. Headlining the night are two-time BRIT Award nominees Nova Twins, whose DJ set will pull from the punk, grime, rock and electronic influences that shape their genre-blending sound, closing the 15-year celebrations with a bang.
⭐️ 4:30pm – 3am, free entry until 9pm, 25th April. Live music from 6:30pm.
📍 78 Venn St, London SW4 0BD
Founded by Rocket Leisure with the opening of Venn St. Records in Clapham in 2010, Records Bars began as a single neighbourhood venue built around vinyl, live music and late-night energy. Fifteen years on, that original concept has grown into a four-site group spanning South London, Shoreditch and the City, with Northcote Records, Old St. Records and Eastcheap Records joining the family. Collectively, the venues have hosted more than 15,000 live performances, championing emerging artists while keeping music firmly at the centre of the bar experience.
