KOKO

1A Camden High Street, London NW1 7RE

KOKO is a 1,500-capacity music venue in Camden Town, London, housed in a Grade II-listed theatre that opened in 1900 as the Camden Theatre, designed by W. G. R. Sprague. The building has lived several lives, as a BBC recording studio where The Goon Show was taped, as The Music Machine in the punk and new-wave years, and as the Camden Palace, where Madonna gave her first UK performance. Restored and renamed KOKO in 2004, its ornate interior lends a sense of grandeur to a gig. That reputation survived a serious fire in 2020; following a multimillion-pound refurbishment it reopened in 2022 with Arcade Fire. Over the decades its stage has carried everyone from The Clash and Prince to Coldplay, Amy Winehouse, Lady Gaga and Ed Sheeran, and it remains one of London's premier rooms for both billed shows and the secret album launch.

History

Formerly known as

Camden Theatre1900–1909
Camden Hippodrome Theatre1909–1913
Camden Hippodrome Picture Theatre1913–1945
BBC Camden Theatre1945–1972
The Music Machine1972–1982
Camden Palace1982–2004

via MusicBrainz

About KOKO

That reputation survived a serious fire in 2020; following a multimillion-pound refurbishment it reopened in 2022 with Arcade Fire. Over the decades its stage has carried everyone from The Clash and Prince to Coldplay, Amy Winehouse, Lady Gaga and Ed Sheeran, and it remains one of London's premier rooms for both billed shows and the secret album launch.