The Grade II-listed Roundhouse was built in 1846 as a turntable shed for steam engines, and the venue has married beautiful looks with beastly behaviour ever since. It made its name as a venue in the ’60s, when the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane and The Doors graced its stage. But the Roundhouse was also the scene for the infamous Greasy Truckers Party, pretty much the official death knell for hippydom’s positive ideals. The New York Dolls further lowered the tone with their first UK shows.
After a couple of fallow decades and a total refurb, the venue reopened in 2004 with a show from the Chemical Brothers so loud that it almost rattled the bolts out of the building’s girders. Fortunately, despite David Byrne tinkering with the architecture for his 'Playing the Building' project in 2009, that flaw's been fixed – as a series of deafening gigs since have proved.