The_Water_Rats

The Water Rats

The Water Rats

Live music venue

The Water Rats is a live music venue at 328 Grays Inn Road, Kings Cross, London, England. Until 1992, it was known as The Pindar of Wakefield and was famous for its regular old time music hall entertainment.

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Bob Dylan played his first UK gig here in December 1962.[1] The Pogues (then known as the Pogue Mahones) had their first performance here on October 4, 1982 when they played alongside the band Suppose I Laugh, which included Dmytro Morykit.[2][3] Oasis's debut London performance took place here on 27 January 1994.[4] The Beta Band played their debut show here on Wednesday 23 July 1997.[5] Acts such as Katy Perry, Sisteray,[6] The Courteeners, Ra Ra Riot and Vindicated also appeared here prior to international acclaim. On October 1, 2004, the venue hosted The Decemberists, who were playing their first show outside North America. In 2014, The Water Rats began hosting a weekly quiz night.[7] The venue reopened in October 2015 with a new management.[8][9]

Originally built in 1517, when the landlord was George Green, one-time Pindar of Wakefield, who was supposed to have had connections with Robin Hood. The present house, built in 1878, was once patronised by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Until the 1980s, it housed a regular 'Old Time Music Hall'. In 1986, the premises were bought by the Grand Order of Water Rats and the name of the venue was changed to the Water Rats.

References

  1. [1]
    Rogers, Jude (17 September 2007). "Josh Ritter, Monto Water Rats, London". Theguardian.com. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  2. [2]
    Sara Newman (24 March 2007). "Kinks Mourn Loss of Shrine as Another British Boozer Bites the Sawdust". The Independent. Archived from the original on 7 June 2009. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  3. [3]
    "Shane's World: the return of The Pogues". Independent.ie. 20 December 2006.
  4. [4]
    "Archived copy". oasisweb.net. Archived from the original on 23 August 2011. Retrieved 17 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. [5]
    "Beta Band 1997 gigography". Betaband.com.
  6. [6]
    "Sisteray Setlist at The Water Rats, London". Setlist.fm. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  7. [7]
    "Question One — the world's greatest quiz company!". Questionone.com. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  8. [8]
    "The Water Rats". Thewaterratsvenue.london. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  9. [9]
    "Iconic London music venue The Water Rats to re-open". Evening Standard. Retrieved 19 November 2015.


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