Blow Up
Encyclopedia
Blow Up is a club night that was founded in the early 1990s by promoter and DJ Paul Tunkin at a North London
pub called "The Laurel Tree". The night quickly became the centre of the emerging Britpop
scene in Camden
attracting long queues of people eager to gain entry to the tiny venue. Early regulars included members of Blur
, Pulp
, Elastica
, Suede
, The Buzzcocks, Huggy Bear and The Jesus and Mary Chain
, leading to the club being referred to as the place where "Britpop
was born".
The style of Blow Up and its audience has been noted as an early influence on, and instrumental in, the later mid-Nineties explosion of the Britpop
scene in the UK and abroad:
and R'n'B from the 1960s (Small Faces, Kinks
, Rolling Stones etc.) and Soul
, late 1970s New Wave
(Buzzcocks
, Wire
etc.) together with emerging new bands mixed in with film soundtracks, 'music library' tracks, Easy Listening
and 1960s electronic music
(Jean Jacques Perry et al.); anything that fell under Tunkin's term of 'Orgasmic Pop'.
locals, as well as a large proportion of people from Tunkin's hometown of Southend. However almost a year after opening in 1994, an early defining point for Blow Up was the publication of a 4-page article in music magazine Select
devoted entirely to the club, which attracted people from much further afield fuelling its popularity even further. Blow Up's format and the sharp style of its 'regulars' was in contrast to the ubiquitous indie/rock clubs of the time and it went on to influence many similar nights; referred to by Melody Maker
at the height of Britpop
in 1995 as "The Club That Changed The World". A year later Blow Up was featured in Vox magazine
as one of "5 clubs that changed the face of clubbing," alongside seminal UK punk clubs The Blitz
and The Roxy
. It is also the pub where Coldplay
had their first gig.
into the much larger venue of the The Wag Club, and did much to revive the latter's fortunes which had somewhat waned since it's 80 heyday. Although Blow Up had played host to the occasional live band in Camden
, the larger capacity of the Wag enabled live shows to be hosted on a weekly basis, which continued to reflect the clubs broad musical outlook. Bands that played ranged from stalwarts of the 1960s music scene such as Desmond Dekker
, to avant-garde acts such as Chicks On Speed
and Stereo Total
, and also included a very early show for The Libertines
in 1999. In 1999 the club was voted No. 4 in Time Out Magazine's 'Top Ten clubs of the 90s'. When The Wag finally closed in 2001 after 40 years, the last club to be held there was Blow Up.
venues in 2001 after The Wag's closure, Blow Up took over the running of a venue on London's Oxford Street
called The Metro Club, and shortly after the Blow Up club night was moved here.. Prior to this The Metro club was known primarily as a club venue, but Blow Up began promoting live shows here too, and in 2002 the venue earned Time Out Magazine's 'Live Venue of The Year' award, attributed to the breakthrough acts booked in their first year there; early shows including bands such as Yeah Yeah Yeahs
, Kings of Leon
and The Killers. Due to the planned extension of Tottenham Court Road tube station
, the Metro Club was issued a Compulsory Purchase Order by Transport for London with 28 days notice in December 2008, and was forced to close. It held its last Blow Up night on January 17, 2009, also the last night of the venue itself..
The club has also held nights around the UK, as well in Europe
, Japan
, Russia
and the USA.
North London
North London is the northern part of London, England. It is an imprecise description and the area it covers is defined differently for a range of purposes. Common to these definitions is that it includes districts located north of the River Thames and is used in comparison with South...
pub called "The Laurel Tree". The night quickly became the centre of the emerging Britpop
Britpop
Britpop is a subgenre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom. Britpop emerged from the British independent music scene of the early 1990s and was characterised by bands influenced by British guitar pop music of the 1960s and 1970s...
scene in Camden
Camden Town
-Economy:In recent years, entertainment-related businesses and a Holiday Inn have moved into the area. A number of retail and food chain outlets have replaced independent shops driven out by high rents and redevelopment. Restaurants have thrived, with the variety of culinary traditions found in...
attracting long queues of people eager to gain entry to the tiny venue. Early regulars included members of Blur
Blur (band)
Blur is an English alternative rock band. Formed in London in 1989 as Seymour, the group consists of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree. Blur's debut album Leisure incorporated the sounds of Madchester and shoegazing...
, Pulp
Pulp (band)
Pulp are an English alternative rock band formed in Sheffield in 1978. Their lineup consists of Jarvis Cocker , Russell Senior , Candida Doyle , Mark Webber , Steve Mackey and Nick Banks ....
, Elastica
Elastica
Elastica were an English alternative rock band that played punk rock-influenced music. They were best known for their 1995 album Elastica, which produced singles that charted in the US and the UK.-History:...
, Suede
Suede (band)
Suede are an English alternative rock band from London, formed in 1989. The group's most prominent early line-up featured singer Brett Anderson, guitarist Bernard Butler, bass player Mat Osman and drummer Simon Gilbert. By 1992, Suede were hailed as "The Best New Band in Britain", and attracted...
, The Buzzcocks, Huggy Bear and The Jesus and Mary Chain
The Jesus and Mary Chain
The Jesus and Mary Chain are a Scottish alternative rock band formed in East Kilbride, Glasgow in 1983. The band revolves around the songwriting partnership of brothers Jim and William Reid...
, leading to the club being referred to as the place where "Britpop
Britpop
Britpop is a subgenre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom. Britpop emerged from the British independent music scene of the early 1990s and was characterised by bands influenced by British guitar pop music of the 1960s and 1970s...
was born".
The style of Blow Up and its audience has been noted as an early influence on, and instrumental in, the later mid-Nineties explosion of the Britpop
Britpop
Britpop is a subgenre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom. Britpop emerged from the British independent music scene of the early 1990s and was characterised by bands influenced by British guitar pop music of the 1960s and 1970s...
scene in the UK and abroad:
History
Often mistakenly labelled as purely a 'mod club' by the press, Blow Up had a much wider musical scope than this, although the club was initially started by Tunkin as a reaction to the prevalent grunge/slacker scene which he said "was so anti-style". The music played included British PopPop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
and R'n'B from the 1960s (Small Faces, Kinks
The Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, North London, by brothers Ray and Dave Davies in 1964. Categorised in the United States as a British Invasion band, The Kinks are recognised as one of the most important and influential rock acts of the era. Their music was influenced by a...
, Rolling Stones etc.) and Soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
, late 1970s New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
(Buzzcocks
Buzzcocks
Buzzcocks are an English punk rock band formed in Bolton in 1976, led by singer–songwriter–guitarist Pete Shelley.They are regarded as an important influence on the Manchester music scene, the independent record label movement, punk rock, power pop, pop punk and indie rock. They achieved commercial...
, Wire
Wire (band)
Wire are an English rock band, formed in London in October 1976 by Colin Newman , Graham Lewis , Bruce Gilbert , and Robert Gotobed...
etc.) together with emerging new bands mixed in with film soundtracks, 'music library' tracks, Easy Listening
Easy listening
Easy listening is a broad style of popular music and radio format that emerged in the 1950s, evolving out of big band music, and related to MOR music as played on many AM radio stations. It encompasses the exotica, beautiful music, light music, lounge music, ambient music, and space age pop genres...
and 1960s electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
(Jean Jacques Perry et al.); anything that fell under Tunkin's term of 'Orgasmic Pop'.
1993-1996: The Laurel Tree
When the club first opened in October 1993 its audience was attracted by word of mouth, predominantly made up of CamdenCamden Town
-Economy:In recent years, entertainment-related businesses and a Holiday Inn have moved into the area. A number of retail and food chain outlets have replaced independent shops driven out by high rents and redevelopment. Restaurants have thrived, with the variety of culinary traditions found in...
locals, as well as a large proportion of people from Tunkin's hometown of Southend. However almost a year after opening in 1994, an early defining point for Blow Up was the publication of a 4-page article in music magazine Select
Select Magazine
Select was a United Kingdom music magazine of the 1990s which was particularly known for covering Britpop, a term coined in the magazine by Stuart Maconie...
devoted entirely to the club, which attracted people from much further afield fuelling its popularity even further. Blow Up's format and the sharp style of its 'regulars' was in contrast to the ubiquitous indie/rock clubs of the time and it went on to influence many similar nights; referred to by Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
at the height of Britpop
Britpop
Britpop is a subgenre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom. Britpop emerged from the British independent music scene of the early 1990s and was characterised by bands influenced by British guitar pop music of the 1960s and 1970s...
in 1995 as "The Club That Changed The World". A year later Blow Up was featured in Vox magazine
Vox (magazine)
Vox was a British music magazine, first issued in October 1990. It was published by IPC Media, and was later billed as a monthly sister-magazine to IPC's music weekly, the NME....
as one of "5 clubs that changed the face of clubbing," alongside seminal UK punk clubs The Blitz
Blitz Kids
The Blitz Kids were a group of young people who frequented the Blitz nightclub in Covent Garden, London in the very early 1980s, and are credited with launching the New Romantic cultural movement...
and The Roxy
The Roxy
The Roxy was a fashionable nightclub on Neal Street in London's Covent Garden, known for hosting the flowering British punk music scene in its infancy.-Brief history:...
. It is also the pub where Coldplay
Coldplay
Coldplay are a British alternative rock band formed in 1996 by lead vocalist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland at University College London. After they formed Pectoralz, Guy Berryman joined the group as a bassist and they changed their name to Starfish. Will Champion joined as a...
had their first gig.
1996-2001: The Wag Club
In 1996 the club relocated to SohoSoho
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster and part of the West End of London. Long established as an entertainment district, for much of the 20th century Soho had a reputation for sex shops as well as night life and film industry. Since the early 1980s, the area has undergone considerable...
into the much larger venue of the The Wag Club, and did much to revive the latter's fortunes which had somewhat waned since it's 80 heyday. Although Blow Up had played host to the occasional live band in Camden
Camden Town
-Economy:In recent years, entertainment-related businesses and a Holiday Inn have moved into the area. A number of retail and food chain outlets have replaced independent shops driven out by high rents and redevelopment. Restaurants have thrived, with the variety of culinary traditions found in...
, the larger capacity of the Wag enabled live shows to be hosted on a weekly basis, which continued to reflect the clubs broad musical outlook. Bands that played ranged from stalwarts of the 1960s music scene such as Desmond Dekker
Desmond Dekker
Desmond Dekker was a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae singer-songwriter and musician. Together with his backing group, The Aces , he had one of the first international Jamaican hits with "Israelites". Other hits include "007 " and "It Miek"...
, to avant-garde acts such as Chicks On Speed
Chicks on Speed
Chicks on Speed is a multi-national musical ensemble, formed in Munich in 1997, when members Melissa Logan, Kiki Moorse and Alex Murray-Leslie met at the Academy of Fine Arts....
and Stereo Total
Stereo Total
Stereo Total is a Berlin-based multilingual, French-German duo comprising Françoise Cactus and Brezel Göring . Both Cactus and Göring sing and play multiple instruments...
, and also included a very early show for The Libertines
The Libertines
The Libertines were an English rock band, formed in London in 1997 by frontmen Carl Barât and Pete Doherty . The band, centred on the song-writing partnership of Barat and Doherty, also included John Hassall and Gary Powell for most of its recording career...
in 1999. In 1999 the club was voted No. 4 in Time Out Magazine's 'Top Ten clubs of the 90s'. When The Wag finally closed in 2001 after 40 years, the last club to be held there was Blow Up.
2001-2009: The Metro Club
During the last of several short residencies at other SohoSoho
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster and part of the West End of London. Long established as an entertainment district, for much of the 20th century Soho had a reputation for sex shops as well as night life and film industry. Since the early 1980s, the area has undergone considerable...
venues in 2001 after The Wag's closure, Blow Up took over the running of a venue on London's Oxford Street
Oxford Street
Oxford Street is a major thoroughfare in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, United Kingdom. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, as well as its most dense, and currently has approximately 300 shops. The street was formerly part of the London-Oxford road which began at Newgate,...
called The Metro Club, and shortly after the Blow Up club night was moved here.. Prior to this The Metro club was known primarily as a club venue, but Blow Up began promoting live shows here too, and in 2002 the venue earned Time Out Magazine's 'Live Venue of The Year' award, attributed to the breakthrough acts booked in their first year there; early shows including bands such as Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Yeah Yeah Yeahs are an American indie rock band formed in New York City in 2000. The group is composed of vocalist and pianist Karen O, guitarist and keyboardist Nick Zinner, and drummer Brian Chase. They are complemented in live performances by second guitarist David Pajo, who joined as a touring...
, Kings of Leon
Kings of Leon
Kings of Leon is an American rock band that originated in Albion, Oklahoma but formed in Nashville, Tennessee in 1999. The band is composed of brothers Anthony Caleb Followill , Ivan Nathan Followill and Michael Jared Followill Kings of Leon is an American rock band that originated in Albion,...
and The Killers. Due to the planned extension of Tottenham Court Road tube station
Tottenham Court Road tube station
Tottenham Court Road is a London Underground station in central London. It is an interchange between the Central line and the branch of the Northern line.On the Central line it is between and , and on the Northern line it is between and...
, the Metro Club was issued a Compulsory Purchase Order by Transport for London with 28 days notice in December 2008, and was forced to close. It held its last Blow Up night on January 17, 2009, also the last night of the venue itself..
Resident Djs
- Paul Tunkin (1993–present)
- Ian Jackson (1994–present)
- Andy Lewis (1993–2002)
- The Karminsky Experience (1994–1995, 1996–2001)
- Nori (aka Mansfield) (1995–1997)
Tours
The Blow Up club has also appeared on or as part of the following tours and events (incomplete):- BlurBlur (band)Blur is an English alternative rock band. Formed in London in 1989 as Seymour, the group consists of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree. Blur's debut album Leisure incorporated the sounds of Madchester and shoegazing...
, Park Life Tour, All UK dates, 1994. - BlurBlur (band)Blur is an English alternative rock band. Formed in London in 1989 as Seymour, the group consists of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree. Blur's debut album Leisure incorporated the sounds of Madchester and shoegazing...
at Mile End Stadium, LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, UK, 1995. - PulpPulp (band)Pulp are an English alternative rock band formed in Sheffield in 1978. Their lineup consists of Jarvis Cocker , Russell Senior , Candida Doyle , Mark Webber , Steve Mackey and Nick Banks ....
Different ClassDifferent ClassDifferent Class is an album by English Britpop band Pulp. It was released in 1995 at the height of Britpop, and led to the band being regarded as part of that movement. Two of the singles on the album – "Common People" and "Disco 2000" – were especially notable, and helped propel Pulp to...
Tour, Aftershow at Wembley Arena, LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, UK, 1995. - NMENMEThe New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
Brat Awards, LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, UK, 1995-1999. - The Camden Crawl, LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, UK, 1996–1997. - QuadropheniaQuadrophenia (film)Quadrophenia is a 1979 British film, loosely based around the 1973 rock opera of the same name by The Who. The film stars Phil Daniels as a Mod named Jimmy. It was directed by Franc Roddam in his feature directing debut...
, Film Reissue Launch, BrightonBrightonBrighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
, UK, January 29, 1997. - MTV Europe Music AwardsMTV Europe Music AwardsThe MTV Europe Music Awards were established in 1994 by MTV Networks Europe to celebrate the most popular music videos in Europe. Originally beginning as an alternative to the American MTV Video Music Awards, the MTV Europe Music Awards is today a popular celebration of what MTV viewers consider...
, MilanMilanMilan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, Italy, 1998. - V&A Sixties Fashion, Sixties Graphics & Che Guevara Exhibitions Launch Night, Victoria & Albert Museum, LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, UK, June 5, 2006.
The club has also held nights around the UK, as well in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and the USA.