A Place Of Our Own is a collective started by Jay and Keith a few years ago. Their objective is to resuscitate the North London punk scene and open a new punk venue to stop London burning with boredom. We recently got the opportunity to talk with Jay, who told us about his ideas and project in this article. Then, we went to their first benefit all-dayer at Grow in Tottenham on Saturday the 31st of August, and here’s how it went…
The party started early. Doors opened at 3pm and we got to discover this amazing venue hidden in the warehouses. A little oasis with an outside bar and stage, and an inside stage that was dark and sweaty just as we like it. Oh, and the drummers were in a cage. ABE was first, with a raunchy 30min set. They were quickly followed by Doomsday Clock, a bunch of local kids who were playing their first gig! Best warm-up ever.
Another impressive set by stoner metal band Lead Desert Blues, who were definitely too wild and played their entire set in the cage. Do they bite? We can’t be sure. At that time, the venue has completely filled up. The crowd came en masse to support A Place of Our Own. The following band, Do One, gets the audience moving and shouting along. At this point, all heads were banging.
Many bands took part to this event and played fantastic sets. We definitely noticed Eskorputas and Jawless. Both bands gave energetic performances. Eskorputas went straight to the point, playing fast and loud. Jawless, who were heavily influenced by hardcore punk, were pacing up and down the stage area, getting everyone involved. Then, came The Migraines, the new skate punk heroes of London, all while the Dub Righters were jamming with their reggae sounds on the small stage.
The headliners Kildren ended the night with beauty and class, chanting anarchist anthems with an ecstatic audience. What was set to be a promising event turned out to be a complete success with £885 raised towards, hopefully, a new punk venue in North London. Rest assured that A Place of Our Own will soon be back with more shows in the neighbourhood! Congratulations to the team and the crowd for putting on such a fantastic show. We can’t wait for more.
Pauline Di Silvestro was at A Place Of Our Own at Grow, Tottenham on the 31st of August 2019
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