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After Dave Stewart's minor catastrophy of having a rather posh Marquee club in Islington (which got bought up by the McKenzie group and is now the Islington Carling Academy), the good folks who run the Water Rats have taken over the name and are set to open a new club.
The new Marquee Club will open in September in as central London as you can get - Number One, Leicester Square - taking over the venue formerly known as Home. The new Marquee will be run by Plum Promotions, and should have a capacity of 900.
Their aim is simple "to restore the reputation of the Marquee as the first choice live music venue in the country - not just for the public, but for the bands and industry as well."
The venue is being kit out with a state of the art 25k P.A and lighting system that promises to be the best you'll find in a venue this size anywhere.
But on their website they're keen to make clear "We won't be giving up on the Water Rats or Betsey Trotwood either - this project is a crucial part of our dedication to new, original music, and we believe it will create an upward route for artists so we can provide even more support as they build their own careers. Because we'll be involved with bands from their very first gigs, we'll be able to make sure we keep our feet on the ground and never forget that we're in it for the music first and foremost."
We wish Alan, Sarah and the rest of the Plum crew the very best with this, they're good people and we can't think of better folks to be doing it.
DiScuss: What's your favourite London venue? What would your perfect venue be like? Is it a good thing that Mean Fiddler have some competition? What did you think of the old Marquee?
