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I turned to my boy, and without thinking, without an idea in mind, I began. Let me tell you the story of a man who tries to build himself a time machine, I said to him. He decides that he will take note of a certain period in time and space, I began, a certain … Continued

My grandmother on my mum’s side, Patricia, died young, in her early fifties. My memories of her are faint, the approximation of several early childhood encounters at best. When I think of her now all I recall is a cloud of cigarette smoke and skin the texture of cracked leather. Apparently she died while she … Continued

Purely coincidental but its all gone a bit ‘hygge’ at Wasted Towers of late. A preponderance of new and rediscovered Danish / Swedish TV brilliance means that this episode of the guide leads with three dramas from the lands of Andersen, Bergman, longboats, and shock European Championship wins (ask your parents).  Starting with the new, … Continued

Summer finally arrived this week and the British public suddenly became all sun boiled, stuck in traffic jams on irascible family outings. It’s great to be on holiday isn’t it? Either you’re on one long staycation trying to avoid the Prime Minister and his spawn or you’ve gone abroad and are facing down two week’s … Continued

They came from houses on the sides of hills, from bedrooms that looked out onto shades of green, the smell of silage smeared on the air.  They’d seen the clubs in the films, on the TV, and they knew that their little places attached to hotels, or above the bar where their fathers were drinking, … Continued

IX I wake to a dawn chorus of pure wood pigeon. From somewhere far off, in an instantly-forgotten dream I hear five, six, a dozen birds close to the window, calling. When I wake the birds are still there, still sounding themselves. A link from the dream world to the here and now of the … Continued

Rubbish Tip, July 1968 Approaching the town of Derby with the wagon and Bess, we had a choice to make. It was already getting quite late in the day and we needed somewhere to stop – a verge – a field – anywhere we could find wood, water and grass. Should we carry on through … Continued

July 1968.  London Garden Our first stop in London was in Islington where Robert’s one-time tutor and now friend Anthony Benjamin had a large home and studio. We parked the wagon on the side of the street, walked Betsy the horse through to the back garden and let her loose on the grass.  Anthony and … Continued

BUY PRINTS An exhibition celebrating the music of Conor Lumsden aka Music City.  Welcome To Music City with original artwork, photography, and design from the album world. Featuring a series of photographs by Timothy O’Connell, ephemermania from City Rocker’s Eddie Kenrick, and designs by Raissa Pardini.

3 Nov – 20 Dec A brilliant new exhibition and time capsule of screen-printed posters from Matthew Rich. BUY PRINTS HERE Matthew Rich is a screen-printer and artist based in Glasgow. In 2025 he is a facilitator at the heart of the Glasgow art and music scene but in 1982 he was a working screenprinter … Continued

From 7th June 2025 Dean Chalkley has been taking compelling cultural photographs since the mid 1990s and his work with the likes of Oasis, Idris Elba and Amy Winehouse is widely celebrated.At the tail end of the ’90s, Dean Chalkley found himself in Ibiza, the capital of the clubbing world. For many, the turn of … Continued

Our latest exhibition showcases a collection of images shot on film by Welsh artist Clare-Marie Bailey, who created imagery for Gwenno’s fourth album ‘Utopia.’ Each picture captures a moment in the diverse landscapes that inspired the album—from the vibrant energy of Las Vegas to the urban backdrops of London. The exhibition offers a glimpse into … Continued

Samuel Hickson is an illustrator and cartoonist based in Staffordshire.  His style blends traditional drawing techniques with digital colour and has evolved to fit various contexts including editorial illustration, comics and posters for Stoke-on-Trent raves.  His work has been published in national magazines such as Mojo, Little White Lies and The Big Issue. He writes and … Continued

As part of our ongoing quarter-century celebrations we’ve launched a super limited t-shirt in two colourways, printed by the lovely folks at Simple Print Studio in Bristol. Support The Social and grab yourself a garm to show off! Only £25, all money goes straight back to the venue. Cheers all x

A surprise Four Tet DJ set in the basement! Part of our on going Social 25th anniversary celebrations.  + Very special guest Chloé Robinson  + Robin and Carl + Pete Fowler (upstairs) 1900 start. £20. Tickets on the door only.  

Monday 21 Aug Douglas MacIntyre, co-author of HUNGRY BEAT, joins Vic Godard as they talk to Ben Thompson about the Scottish post-punk period, and two independent labels – Postcard and Fast Product – that changed the landscape of British music forever. Special guest DJ TBA! TICKETS

We’re back this year with a HOT, fresh run of SOCIALISM caps plus some t-shirts and tote bags, only available at the bar!

Welcome to the brand new Social Membership! After a couple years resetting things here, we’re ready to re-start our much beloved membership scheme. All you need to do to become a Social member is sign up to our mailing list via the button below to receive exclusive offers on tickets, drinks and more. Once you’ve … Continued

There are few days we love more here at the Social. The Social Christmas Market 2022 is fast approaching, mark Saturday 10 Dec in your diaries. No one knows for sure when this annual Christmas Fayre started here on Little Portland St, some say there were people selling socks, records and nature books here as … Continued

Photo: Dani Bolton (@theredbeanienz) It’s the last week before the Christmas lock downs were enforced, and we’re at a sold out Sunday show with a performance by Social family members Pet Deaths, with the band showcasing new tracks from their as of yet un-released 2nd record ‘Unhappy Ending’. It was but a short couple weeks … Continued

Our accidental dance tent returns to the fields of Worthy Farm next week for the first time since 2019! We’re back with an absolutely massive lineup of DJs, some Stonebridge classics, some huge new names as well as loads of artists who we’ve had the pleasure of hosting as part of our new and improved … Continued

We have joined forces with @weare1of100 to launch the new (old) original Socialism t-shirt! Support your local venue: grab a ticket, arrive early, stay late, have another pint… and now buy a t-shirt HERE! Back by popular demand: the original Socialism t-shirt. A message for the ages that’s guaranteed to annoy all the right people, the classic … Continued

– Please don’t come to The Social if you’re experiencing any symptoms or have been told to isolate. This may seem obvious but it’s important. – We won’t be checking vaccination status or test results on the door, but we encourage you to keep testing regularly and to act responsibly to protect your mates, our … Continued

I am very sad to announce that we’re having to cancel our NYE SOCIAL 23 party on 31 Dec. It’s been a really hard decision to make, but on balance we feel it is the right one for us right now. Our headliner Sean Johnston has got Covid and is isolating, he wouldn’t have been … Continued

Saturday 11 + 18 Dec – midday to 5pm Our legendary market is back over both floors and two Saturdays, stalls packed with music, books, art and other Christmas gifts for good people, and a bar full of booze! Two of the very best days of the year. Come and join us x Special guest stall … Continued

This week started badly. Like so many weeks of its kind it was proceeded by a triumphant weekend. A reunion with some sorely missed co-conspirators above a pub in Streatham. The session cast a long shadow. The minute I was capable of more than just laying around, I had to march two hundred meters from … Continued

As luck would have it we received news that Lias would be DJing at The Social and this piece entirely by coincidence on the very same day. Except there is no such thing as coincidence is there. It’s been a long time since I’ve spoken to you, you who kept me going through the darkest … Continued

After hooking up with Velocity Press during lockdown it is a great pleasure to finally have a real life event coming up on 8 Nov with them here at the venue, for the launch of this fantastic new edition – Tape Leaders: A Compendium Of Early British Electronic Music Composers. A richly illustrated A-Z compendium … Continued

“Wow, it’s just two corridors on top of each other”. Thats how I described The Social to a mate, the first time we stepped in. the year was 2007, Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip were tearing through radio and Myspace with their debut single, Thou Shalt Always Kill. Their biggest supporter, a DJ called … Continued

Six months or so into the life of White Rabbit Books  I was contacted by David Katz, informing me his classic authorised biography of Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry was out of print.  We agreed the book – most recently updated in 2004 – needed a makeover, revising the original edition and adding new material covering the … Continued

In the dingy backrooms of beer-damp pubs, where the snakebite and black  glowed in plastic cups, and the curling wraiths of cigarette smoke  slowly choked us, I’d held the blue volts of youth aloft. Triumphant, above the shaggy-haired crowd too young to drink, already buzzed on Hooch  and hormones, thudding  in the dark of a … Continued

You know what, 2021 is the year that killed some of my favourite movies, dead. So you know how it’s really hard to listen to R. Kelly songs because, well, R. Kelly? I mean, yeah, at one time, in the innocent early noughties, Golden Showers could’ve been a subtitle for the fourth Indiana Jones movie, … Continued

“And so I’m saying goodbye, although God knows I don’t want to…” ‘You Say’ – Michael Chapman  I’ve listened to no-one’s music more over the last ten years than the Leeds-born guitarist and singer-songwriter Michael Chapman, who died last week at the age of 80. Of all the great guitar players who plugged themselves into … Continued

A true legend. Big love and huge thanks to David Rodigan for joining us here at The Social on Friday night. It was really special to have that happen in the new basement. A killer set and unforgettable night. All the pictures below from Dani Bolton! Respect to Mistah Brown and Champian who smashed it … Continued

Soon after Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry threw off this mortal coil on Sunday, I received a missive from my author, Richard Russell, suggesting we might post a ‘remix’ of the passage in his book, Liberation through Hearing, which described his inspiring and extremely unorthodox collaboration with ‘Scratch’ in 2014. This is not an obituary or an account of … Continued

We’re not going to die because I’m positively sure that music cannot die. The music is eternal in my thoughts. The music heal brain and heal heart and make you happy. If the music die, everybody going to die. (Lee Perry) Its 1982 and I’m barefoot in the Octagon centre in High Wycombe. The land … Continued

Brian Hamill was a phenomenally talented writer, a visionary editor and a genius publisher. He took the capability of literature to transform your life incredibly seriously and the way he would write about books, especially in his reviews, was rapturous and one of the first things that alerted me to his talents. Brian engaged with … Continued

John Constantine aka Hellblazer is what you’d get if you wanted Sherlock Holmes, but as a blonde haired, yellow-trenchcoat wearing Liverpudlian,who skulks around the grimy under-garms of London, dabbling in the otherworldly and bringing tragedy and despair to everyone near and dear to him. A Diamond Geezer. Columbo in the UK, via Hell. Created by … Continued

We’re honoured to publish an extract from Rob Young’s The Magic Box. Dreamt up as a companion piece to Rob’s peerless 2010 book Electric Eden, The Magic Box does for British television what Electric Eden did for this country’s post-war folk music. In this extract, Rob blows the dust off a dystopian classic broadcast by … Continued

This Monday (9 August) we have a brilliant event happening in the basement, the Group Therapy Collective coming to host a much belated launch party for the two sets of cassettes they released throughout the pandemic last year to support NHS charities and Music Venues Trust. They brought together a properly amazing set of artists … Continued

When news hit of a new release from the fabled Paisley Park Vaults, we immediately asked The Social Gathering’s Prince correspondent for an overview (of course we’ve got a Prince correspondent – way better than having a bog standard obsequious royal correspondent like the BBC have). So, over to our man Matt Thorne for the … Continued

In January 2022, White Rabbit will publish a revised and updated edition of Shirley Collins’ singular memoir America Over the Water, which chronicles her journey through America’s southern states with Alan Lomax. We are delighted to share a short piece from Shirley below, as well as an ‘in conversation’ with Shirley and her collaborator Matthew … Continued

This month saw the publication of Australian author Jamie Marina Lau’s UK debut Gunk Baby – a cutting critique of consumer culture that gets to the core of the dangers of chasing a capitalist agenda and what happens when our lives are taken over by the ‘things’ we fill them with. In her exclusive piece for the … Continued

– Limbless Boys with Blackened Torsos – choristers. – Limping Waiter in a Cafe in Greece – chorister. – Line of German Soldiers Stood Motionless Along the Cliffs – choristers. – The Lion of Judah – ravish me, in the moment, extinguish me, now. – The Little Girls of France – how their fathers kiss … Continued

My love for The Doors is such that I have been known to walk out of bars, exit cabs and terminate friendship when others disagree with the quality of their radical legacy. The Doors’ impact on the evolution of rock n roll was the equal of any of their peers before or since and their … Continued

A SIRK publication © The Flashlight/Token Bob, 1995 Victory Garden (short story, originally published in Plus de Choses Dans le Ciel et la Terre #3, 1982) Pirates of the Universe Divide (novelisation of an unmade Doctor Who script submitted to Douglas Adams in the summer of 1979, published by Tara, 1983) Belly of the Fish of Christ, Ship (credited as a ‘found’ … Continued

When we visit a place as a tourist or disciple, we often want to return with a part of that place, an aide-memoire, a memento that in future years will take on an almost religious power, reminding us of a time pregnant with possibility, new vistas, and the sense – ironically of course given the … Continued

Ahead of the hugely anticipated (sold out) event with Will Sergeant and Bill Drummond at The Social later this month, we’re extremely chuffed to publish this extract from Will’s forthcoming autobiography Bunnyman. It’s 13 July 1978, a normal night at Eric’s. There is a band on in the main room, but it is a weekday … Continued

It was a typical Friday night in. I put on Netflix and chose Army Of The Dead as my evening’s entertainment. I’m a hardcore zombie movie fan, and the director, Zack Snyder, previously made one of my all time fave zombie flicks (Dawn Of The Dead remake, 2003)  Therefore, my reptile brain’s two-plus-two-equals-seven logic predicted … Continued

The more perceptive among you might have noticed we missed a few entries into the Social Library. Well for one reason or another we got a bit behind, many apologies. But we’re back with a fantastic review and recommendation from Matt Thorne, introducing the June Social Library entry, Got to Be Something Here: The Rise … Continued

Last week saw the publication of Daniel O’Connor’s astonishing debut Nothing – an irreverent and mischievous novel about a man who can imagine things out of existence; about a world where nothing is as it seems. The Social Gathering is delighted to share an exclusive and equally memorable short story from Daniel about a John Lennon stripper. … Continued

Some of The Glorious Heresies was made after midnight in darkened rooms in Cork City, and lots of The Blood Miracles and The Rules of Revelation. I met people like me there; impressions came in strong currents; moods, coaxed out so often, needed careful definition. I felt it was my job to capture those moods, … Continued

The moon is a balloon, Muldoon announced to a half-empty auditorium. After all, who cared about the thoughts of an artist and poet, now that reality itself had the veneer of the fantastic? The moon is a balloon, he said, the earth’s plaything, let go, the toy of our childhood. When we first looked up, … Continued

With special guests Lias Saoudi, Anna Wood, Pete Fowler, Sophie Green + more The first in a new series of real life Social Gathering events in the basement of Little Portland St… a chance to invite some of our wonderful contributors downstairs to read, talk and play music. A Social Gathering Social if you like. Or a … Continued

(Photo: Nigeria, 1999) Wasn’t sure if the world needed another article on DMX, to be honest. Everything that could be said about Earl Simmons was penned and posted in that long weekend where it was announced he’d died from a drug overdose, then nope he’s in a coma, then actually he’s brain-dead, which was that … Continued

It’s been a while, hasn’t it? In the thrill of easing and the queue to get jabbed TV has taken a back seat, a rare thing around here for sure. But there remain some real gems out there to unearth. You’ll need a fair chunk of time for this week’s first highlight. BARON NOIR, (Amazon … Continued

And then what happens: a body is discovered. A body is discovered come down a river entombed in a mysterious stone. It is a river of Africa. An unknown stone is come upon by a group of villagers in a river of Africa, which like the garden of Delius is for us an invisible village, … Continued

(PLEASE NOTE, DUE THE EASING OF RESTRICTIONS DELAY THIS EVENT WILL NOW TAKE PLACE ON FRI 30 JULY) After a year of online gathering, The Social is delighted to be able to finally announce a real life party in the basement. Time to resocialise! Since the start of lockdown, The Social Gathering has become our … Continued

Wild, mercurial, uncategorisable – three words that could be applied to both William Blake and the author of a radical new biography of the poet, artist and visionary who has inspired and baffled for generations. John Higgs takes us on an unexpected journey through culture, science, philosophy and religion to better understand William Blake in … Continued

Acid House guru and astral traveller Justin Robertson has just announced his debut novel The Tangle, due for publication on November 4th this year. The Social Gathering is delighted to share an exclusive extract. Pre-order the book from your favourite book/record shops here: https://smarturl.it/TheTangle Uncle Tobias’s hand gripped young Ethan’s shoulders with an inappropriate firmness. The odour … Continued

The world is covered in a thick fog. I open the kitchen window and sniff the air.  Nothing. No cars, no gunshots. One solitary bird calls out for reassurance that it is not alone.  A light frost thaws. Nature drips with delicate sounds. CAT perches on the edge of the breakfast bar, like a bird … Continued

We love Anna Wood here at The Social Gathering. When we were collating pieces for the collection we put out before Christmas last year (copies available here) we were convinced we needed to finish the thing on a positive note. I mean, remember how bad 2020 was? We were all begging for a shot of … Continued

As a very amateur DJ myself it’s great to share this with you today, taken from Harold Heath’s new book Long Relationships: My Incredible Journey From Unknown DJ to Small-time DJ. In this extract Harold recalls his best gig ever, one which came out of nowhere, the most unsuspecting of bookings turned transcendental experience. The … Continued

I saw a ghost once, the man with the obnoxious tattoo interrupted, steering the story somewhere else completely, and despite what you say, in my experience, ghosts are quite beautiful, he continued, and this story, he interjected, might go some way towards explaining the provenance of my unfortunate tattoo, which, believe me, I am aware … Continued

It was the album cover that caught my eye. The strange mood that the photograph evoked. That’s something you don’t get with Spotify’s Discover Weekly algorithm and their postage stamp-sized artworks. Trawling record shops, reading music publications, and word-of-mouth are still the best ways of discovering those rare, hidden gems. The album stared back at … Continued

Outside the back door a thin layer of snow has started to settle on the old stonework and the wooden decking. The mulch I’d put down on the borders a week ago is covered in what looks like a delicate lattice of white flakes. I can see my breath on the air as I walk … Continued

Human beings themselves are at risk – not just on some survival-of-civilization level, but more basically on the level of heart and soul. We are ignorant of our own nature and confused about what it is to be a human being. Gary Snyder I live on the edge of a magic perimeter. The Lake District … Continued

When you write a book about foghorns you end up in strange and unexpected places.  Jennifer Lucy Allan Accounts of animal and bird life at lighthouse stations are often dream-like or nightmarish. A  lighthouse is a solid, unmoving structure built to improve safety at sea for humans. It is also an accidental observation tower, a … Continued

Let me begin by saying that I envy people their gods. I envy their ghosts, their unseen guides, their visions and shivers of intuition. Not unrelatedly, I also envy people’s transgression and transcendence, their states of expansive wildness. Ekstasis — the experience of being outside of oneself — comes in many forms; its absence or … Continued

Lenny Kaye has been working on his new book, Lightning Striking: Ten Transformative Moments in Rock & Roll for half a decade but he has spent every second of his 74 years living at the heart of the counter-culture he has depicted. Over the course of almost 500 pages of entertaining and impeccably researched prose, Lenny anatomizes the … Continued

Just before Christmas I leave London, where I have been sleepless for most of the month, and go back to Dublin. I’m finally observing a more normal sleep schedule. Sleep came back slowly; the heaviness, and the half-open eyes. I began to surrender, taking naps during the day, then late in the day, then easing … Continued

Hate to say it, but Joe fucking bloody bastarding Wicks   The Red Book by Jung: always The Terror Luke Unabomber’s occasional Worldwide FM extravaganzas Supporting English products which have survived other pandemics. William Whiteley has been making scissors in Sheffield since the 18th century and is still making scissors in Sheffield. Never mind the … Continued

Peter Laughner is dead. That’s the first line of the greatest piece of music writing I ever read, “Peter Laughner”, by Lester Bangs, re-published in Bangs’ seminal collection, Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung in 1988 when I was 17 years old. Lester Bangs is dead, too. Yet I have lived with Bangs and Laughner ever … Continued