Call The Office is THE venue for punk rock music in London. Located in a building that originally functioned as a hotel in the 1800s, Call the Office has been the premiere club and bar for alternative music in London for decades. Legendary acts like Radio Head, Teenage Head, The Ramones, Green Day and Blink-182. Though the venue is incredibly small, holding just 330 people, it’s had a huge impact on the London Music scene.
While the venue holds a distinct place in the history of London’s music scene, it was nearly lost in 2018 when the owner was having trouble financially supporting the club. This came at a time when the venue was holding fewer shows than ever, and it looked as if London’s punk scene might lose its most storied venue. Call the Office, however, is making a roaring come-back. A new owner finally stepped forward in May of 2019. Under new management, Call the Office has reclaimed its spot as London’s top music venue for alternative shows.
Losing Call the Office would have been a massive blow to the London punk scene. Old venues that housed punk concerts such as The Embassy Tavern and the Brunswick house have closed over the last several years due to fires. In an article with the London Free Press, Mario Circelli, founder of the Forest City London Music Awards and London Music Hall of Fame, spoke about the importance of venues to the music scene in London.
“There was a great deal of concern. We have lost a lot of live music venues over the last decade. The musical community needs venues,”
Luckily, Call the Office did not meet the same fate and will continue being a home for the London Punk Community for, hopefully, years to come. The venue serves as not just a place for concerts, but also as a place for the music community to gather. The following audio story is a report on one of the punk rock communities’ events, held at Call the Office four times a year.
London (ON) Punk Rock 