Rediscover London’s club scene with these top venues (2024)

Moments away from the overground, Colour Factory is a Black-owned nightclub and music venue in the heart of Hackney Wick.It’s known for spotlighting female, non-binary, and queer artists, and has an excellent programme of low-key nights during the week in addition to their sell-out weekend events.

Brought to you by the people behind Printworks, Drumsheds is a huge multi-level, multi-room cultural space in Tottenham’s old big Ikea.There arethree separate dancefloors, five different bars – including a 25,000 sqft bar in the main 15,000 capacity room – as well as 48-metre-long LED screens and an outdoor terrace and food court. Expect huge clubbing line-ups, daytime events and gigs.

A hip nightspot in Hackney from the team who run the Shacklewell Arms and Lock Tavern, Moth Club is a former trade hall that houses a military veterans’ club alongside its hipper clientele.It borrows its name from the Memorable Order of Tin Hats, an order of ex-military servicemen and women who still regularly meet and drink at the venue. Regardless of the recent refurbishment, these words ring true, right down to the last commemorative plaque. Well, almost. The venue’s back room has been entirely covered in gold glitter, a look which somehow works remarkably well with the retro, dated interior.

Corsica Studios is an independent, not-for-profit arts complex whose ethos is to breed creativity and culture in areas of regeneration, which it achives primarily through putting on some of the most cutting-edge club nights, one-off parties and gigs in London.

It’s not easy these days to go for a big night out in west London, which is what makes the scruffily chic basem*nt bar at NHAC such a draw. For the last 25-odd years, they’ve hosted regular hip hop nights, indie band showcases, jazz gigsand events run by local heroes, making it a hub of creativity which is hands-down infectious. It’s also had a pretty impressive clientele in its time:Lily Allen, Rita Ora and The Libertinesall owe their first shows to this venue.

This Kingsland High Street hangout is a bit of a face on the east London party scene. In true Dalston style it’s home to all: popular with a large and diverse LGBTQ+ crowd, but welcoming to all and everyone.

Over its 16-plus years, Fabric has established itself as one of London's clubbing landmarks – a reputation built through consistently high quality programming that showcases all strands of the UK’s electronic music underground.

This industrial-ish space in Tower Hamlets is owned by the same team that ran Oval Space. Sitting directly opposite that venue, TPF did indeed used to operate as a working pickle factory, but after being used for foodie pop-ups and exhibitions in 2013, the intimate venue was fully revamped as an excellent club and live music space.

It may be about as far north as a lot of us are willing to venture for a night out, but Unit 58 is also one of the most refreshing venues in London. The staff are bubbly, the parties are flaming hot and the DIY-feeling space itself is pretty spectacular: a high-ceilinged warehouse with a mezzanine and a massive sparkling disco ball.There’s a reason why this place attracts some of the trendiest Gen-Zers around.

This Brixton club has a similar feel to XOYO: a sleek, dark cavern with plenty of space for dancing. The programming leans very much towards the leftfield side of dance music – don’t expect cheesy ’80s nights here, it’s quality underground house, techno, disco and bass all the way.

A hugely welcome addition to London’s music and nightlife ecosystem, this newish two-roomed venue has a fantastic arched main room, replete with exposed brickwork. The bar room also doubles as a second room for club nights – and on the right night can feel like an absolute riot.

Established in 2010, this excellent Shoreditch venue quickly cemented itself as one of the most on-point clubbing spaces and gig venues in London, thanks to a booking selection that ignored genre and simply focused on quality.

The roving nightlife destination has taken up permanent residence under some party-ready railway arches along Hackney’s aptly named Bohemia Place, with astellar line-up of live music and DJs keeps those arches rumbling – even after the overground stops its service. Night Tales also comprises the largest beer garden in the neighbourhood, which is conveniently covered in the winter months for year-round revelry.

Hidden away in an unassuming business park, Venue MOT is a warehouse-style venue in a former MOT centre. With limited signage and a stripped-back interior, it has a stomper of a sound system, late licensing and exciting bookings supporting up-and-coming promoters. A serious FU to commercial clubbing.

If more venues made an effort to design their rooms as cosily splendid as this place then we’d all be happier. The upstairs bar is one of those joints you just know you’ll enjoy kicking back in. Imagine sultry dimmed lights, in a large room with a hint of loft space with a conscious nod to comfort via sofas and you’ve got an oasis of calm in a bustling district. Open daily for co*cktails and a broad playlist of house, jazz, funk, soul, disco and R&B, it also hosts regular weekend DJ nights.

You can’t miss Village Underground thanks to the four brightly coloured, graffiti-covered tube carriages, now artists’ studios, perched on its roof. Its renovated Victorian warehouse space hosts exhibitions, concerts theatre, live art and – most impressive of all – some amazing club nights.

The Outernet building is like an iceberg: there’s a lot more going on beneath the surface than meets the eye. From ground level, it’s allflashy projection screens amidst the buzz of the West End; underneath, it’s an enormous subterranean multi-purpose entertainment venue, going four storeys deep. HERE at Outernet hosts live music, club nights, performances and more in its high-tech cavernous space.

A queer superpub co-owned by drag legend Jonny Woo, The Glory hosts everything from alternative drag shows to quirky club nights. There’s a bar for casual drinks and a disco room downstairs for dancing and othershenanigans.

This intimate 80-capacity Hackney basem*nt venue is run by the same folk behind the legendary Fold (need we say more?). As well as a friendly community of regulars and a vibrant programme of underground DJs, the space itself is ideal for a full sweaty one. It’s low-ceilinged, loud, and you can getvery close to the decks to see exactly what is spinning.

Located in a former bus depot, Ministry of Sound was once the epitome of warehouse cool and is still perhaps the UK’s best-known clubbing venue: thus, any self-respecting fan of dance music in any form should visit Ministry at least once.

Simon Hammerstein hit the scandalous jackpot with his New York club when it opened in 2007, combining flagrantly outrageous shows with high-rolling clientele and tales of behind-the-scenes controversy. Early in 2011, he opened the London branch on the site of the old Raymond Revue Bar to tabloid squawking. You probably won’t get in unless you have very deep pockets (table reservations are several thousand pounds) and/or know someone. If you do make it in,get ready for a boujie nightwhich is suitably outrageous.

Infernos is a bit like Marmite: you love it or hate it. We’d encourage every Londoner to visit at least once, however, as it’s an institution in its own right. Situated on Clapham High Street, this bumper clubis set over two levels and features a very sticky light up dance floor, fish tanks and dance platforms, plus DJs blasting cheesy pop hits for hours on end. It’s silly, it’s carpeted, andmost importantly, it’s reliable.