London's Top Clubs

Occupying former theatres, railway arches, factories and warehouses, many of London's major clubs started out as illegal party venues, and Londoners are used to descending into the ancient heart of their city for a big night out. There's indie, rock, pop and world music in the mix, but it's all-night dance music raves on Fridays and Saturdays that are the lifeblood of these huge spaces.

333

333 Old Street, EC1V 9LE
The 333/Mother bar complex was at the heart of the original Hoxton revolution. Its promoters and DJs helped launch the mullet movement and fanzine the 'Shoreditch Twat', which was later adapted for Channel Four. It's lost its cutting edge in recent years, but 333 is still a great venue, with basement scuzziness downstairs, and an ideal lounging and drinking space at the top. The music is entertainingly unexpected: the main dancefloor might play host to dark drum'n'bass, while banging Italo-disco happens below and there are cheesy reggae classics above. No East End venue has inspired more silly fashions, general japery and musical mayhem than this Shoreditch stalwart.

Current events at 333 Mother

Breaking The Illusion event running until Friday 24th February 2012
TIMES Friday 17th February and Friday 24th February 2012 - 10pm-3am PRICING £5, Free before 11.30pm
DJ BTI plays hip hop and R&B.... More about this event

All events at 333 Mother

Corsica Studios

Elephant Road, SE171LB
A superbly designed two-room club and arts venue that captures the feeling of an illegal party in a squatted industrial space - while still being clean, well-organised and close to central London. There's absolutely no passing trade here (it's pretty hard to find, in fact), so if you want to be sure of a night where everyone is there for the music, this is the place to go. Corsica Studios is home to many of London's oddest and most daring clubbing experiences, with a consistent focus on the cutting edge of electronic and indie experimentation, all played out on two Funktion 1 sound-systems. The opposite of the bland superclub experience available across the road at Ministry of Sound.

Current events at Corsica Studios

Tief event Saturday 18th February
TIMES Saturday 18th February 2012 - 10pm-6am PRICING £10 & £13
Prosumer, Axel Boman, San Soda, Midland, Dan Beaumont, Zoo Look, Hesseltime, Thick As Thieves and John Malcom Moore spin house and techno.... More about this event

All events at Corsica Studios

EGG

200 York Way, London, N7 9AP
The fabulous EGG nightclub was well prepared for the smoking ban, with a fantastic garden and terrace which make it London's finest summer clubbing spot. There are three floors inside, and well-programmed nights of house, electro and dirty beats attract a wild polysexual crowd. It's at its most hedonistic for the Sunday morning after-party Breakfast at Egg, when North London's wildest clubbers converge to watch the sun rise and keep the rave alive.

Current events at EGG

Play Presents event Friday 17th February
TIMES Friday 17th February 2012 - 10pm-6am PRICING £10
Killa Kela, Ami Carmine, Nicky Blackmarket, Macpherson, Messy MC, Stun Residents, Nathan Coles, Ben Roberts, Whipped residents and Basso & Brooke spin... More about this event

Supernova event Saturday 25th February
TIMES Saturday 25th February 2012 - 10pm-10am PRICING £13
Deep house and techno from Bloody Mary, Luna City Express, Rosario Internullo, Neverdogs, Indira Paganotto, Nils Hess, Cristian Viviano, Jb, John Deni... More about this event

Heroes event Saturday 10th March
TIMES Saturday 10th March 2012 - 10pm-6am PRICING phone for prices
DJ Butch spins house and techno.... More about this event

All events at EGG

The Den and Centro

18a West Central Street, WC1A 1JJ
For many, the real damage of this bleeding recession came when iconic club The End and its upstairs bar AKA closed its doors to business. Ironically, the subsequent slump in the property market saw plans for a swanky block of flats in the once-highly-sought-after central location go up in smoke, with developers preferring to rebrand and reopen the venue instead of throw away top dollar on flats nobody could afford to buy. So, just three months elapsed before the unveiling of The Den and Centro: "a fantasy nightclub and party venue for indulgence in hedonistic pleasure," in schmalzy PR-speak. In truth (and this is no bad thing) the only real difference between The End and The Den - except the odd laser and new LED colour Pallets - is the position of the letter 'd'. Still, Centro has undergone a serious enough facelift, including the addition of a new stage for live acts, to warrant the clever painting of 'Re' above the first three letters of Holborn tube sign on the flyer graphics. The result being "a rare mixture of impressive 90s extravagance and minimalism" according, again, to the PR pen-pushers (who clearly never heard of Oasis). It remains to be seen how the place takes to the changes and whether or not The Den and Centro can attract the big names and parties back into its walls. But given the fact that Jonathan Tana of Space flew in from Ibiza for the opening, it shouldn't be too long before The (D)en(d) is back up to speed and the key residencies return.

Current events at The Den and Centro

Max Parties event running until Thursday 23rd February 2012
TIMES Thursday 16th February and Thursday 23rd February 2012 PRICING £10
Resident DJs spin house, hip hop, disco, funk, chart and Latin.... More about this event

Popstarz event running until Friday 24th February 2012
TIMES Friday 17th February and Friday 24th February 2012 - 10pm-4am PRICING phone for prices
Resident DJs spin indie, pop and R&B.... More about this event

Pause event running until Sunday 26th February 2012
TIMES 12th February, 19th February and 26th February 2012 - 10pm-6am PRICING phone for prices
Resident DJs spin house, disco, hip hop, chart, funk and Latin.... More about this event

Paradox event running until Tuesday 28th February 2012
TIMES 15th February, 22nd February and 29th February 2012 - 12midnight-7am PRICING phone for prices
Residents Antoretox and David Vice supply house and electro.... More about this event

Clubbing London & Max Parties event running until Wednesday 29th February 2012
TIMES 16th February, 23rd February and 1st March 2012 - 12midnight-6am PRICING £10
Resident DJs spin house and electro.... More about this event

All events at The Den and Centro

Fabric

77A Charterhouse Street, EC1M 6DR
Built on the site of a Victorian meat cellar, London's original super club continues to boast the most sensational and eclectic line-ups in the capital. Its global reputation is founded on its diversity and willingness to showcase new talent alongside established residents such as Ali B, Andrew Weatherall and Tru Playaz. Feel the bass bleed through the speakers buried in the floor and recline in style on the famous bed seats at one of their top regular nights. Fabriclive on Fridays is regularly rammed and draws some of the biggest names in hip hop, drum'n' bass and electro. Saturdays are a more glamorous, house-orientated affair with the cream of the world's DJ talent. The bars usually stay open till 3am, thinning out the crowd to the hardcore as the sun rises over the sleeping city - and the serious party-people warm up for glamorous Sunday night gay/mixed party DTPM.

Current events at Fabric

Fabriclive event Friday 17th February
TIMES Friday 17th February 2012 - 10pm-6am PRICING £17, adv £16, £10 before 12midnight, £7 after 3am
Caspa, Redlight & Dread, MC Artwork & SP:MC, Trolley Snatcha, The Others, Subscape, KGB, Dynamite MC, IC3, Marcus Intalex, Calibre, Fabio, Dillinja, L... More about this event

Wet Yourserlf event Sunday 26th February
TIMES Sunday 26th February 2012 - 11pm-6am PRICING £10, NUS £7, adv £5
Cormac, Jacob Husley and Peter Pixzel spin house, techno and electro, with a live performance from Thomas Muller.... More about this event

All events at Fabric

Heaven

Under the Arches, Craven Street, WC2N 6NG
Apart from occasional touring nights like Bedrock and Gatecrasher, Heaven is gay, but thoroughly welcoming to all. It was once the home of Megatripolis and holds a fond place in the memory of anybody lucky enough to experience the rave explosion of the 90s. The venue is brilliantly laid out through a series of interconnecting rooms and there's plenty of space to chill out along with two sizeable dancefloors. The atmosphere in this deservedly famous venue is second to none - very weird, and equally friendly.

Current events at Heaven

Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs event Thursday 16th February
TIMES Thursday 16th February 2012 - 7.30pm PRICING £12.60
Melodic dance and electronica from the artist.... More about this event

Oh Land event Thursday 23rd February
TIMES Thursday 23rd February 2012 - 7pm PRICING £10.50
Leftfield electropop by the Danish-born singer-songwriter now based in New York.... More about this event

Azealia Banks event Monday 27th February
TIMES Monday 27th February 2012 - 7.30pm PRICING £10.50
Hip hop and dance by the New York-based singer.... More about this event

Morning Parade event Tuesday 6th March
TIMES Tuesday 6th March 2012 - 7pm PRICING £9
Indie-rock by the Harlow-based band.... More about this event

All events at Heaven

KOKO

1a Camden High Street, London, NW1 7JH
Following an epic programme of refurbishment, the former Camden Palace reopened as KOKO, a music venue with big ambitions. An eclectic set of regular club nights has turned this revamped North London landmark into a slice of cutting-edge cool. It always was a magnificent venue, and the refurbishment has more than done it justice: it's like going to a rave in an opera house, with swathes of opulent velvet and a huge arch rising three floors above the giant dancefloor. Fridays are indie nights, with bands followed by DJs playing whatever the skinny-jeans crowd are listening to this week, while Saturdays offer a varied selection of big parties, and the week is mostly given over to gigs. Low prices (by London standards) help ensure its popularity with students.

Current events at KOKO

Ghostpoet event Wednesday 15th February
TIMES Wednesday 15th February 2012 - 7pm PRICING £15
Hip hop by the London-based MC.... More about this event

Fink event Friday 17th February
TIMES Friday 17th February 2012 - 7pm PRICING £15
Atmospheric and intelligent alt rock with elements of folk and blues by Brighton-based singer-songwriter Finn Greenall.... More about this event

Mr Scruff event Saturday 18th February
TIMES Saturday 18th February 2012 - 9pm-3am PRICING adv £15
The Manchester-based DJ spins an eclectic mix of acid jazz, soul, hip hop, funk, disco, deep house, reggae, dubstep, Afro beat, breaks and Latin.... More about this event

Kurt Vile event Tuesday 21st February
TIMES Tuesday 21st February 2012 - 7.30pm PRICING phone for prices
Rock from the Philadelphia-based singer-songwriter and guitarist.... More about this event

The Jezabels event Wednesday 22nd February
TIMES Wednesday 22nd February 2012 - 7pm PRICING £10.60
The Sydney-based four-piece plays soaring indie-rock.... More about this event

All events at KOKO

Ministry of Sound

103 Gaunt Street, London, SE1 6DP
A massive sound system, huge dancefloor and a staggering roster of big name DJs has made sure of Ministry of Sound's place in clubbing folklore. The opening night back in 1991 heralded the explosion of superclubs across the UK. Boasting a crisp, clear, thumpingly loud sound system, and some of the best house DJs of the era, the club attracted thousands of hedonists south of the Thames every weekend. This giddy ascendancy was subsequently translated into various record labels, a clothing company and sister clubs across the globe. Of course, success on such a scale never lasts, least of all in clubland, and the buzz around the venue had stagnated by the late '90s. Thankfully the last few years have seen the brains behind the operation quit resting on their laurels and sort it out. A welcome refurbishment of the interior and a creative injection into the DJ line-up means that Ministry is still well worth a look.

Current events at Ministry of Sound

The Gallery event Friday 17th February
TIMES Friday 17th February 2012 - 10.30pm-6am PRICING £13, mems £10
Judge Jules, Richard Durrand, Sean Tyas, Stoneface & Terminal, Jon Fitz, GM, Francesco Poggi, Miss Dix, Our House In House and Plastic Fondu spin hous... More about this event

Fedde Le Grand London Takeover event Saturday 25th February
TIMES Saturday 25th February 2012 - 11pm-7am PRICING £18, mems £15
The Dutch DJ spins house, electro and techno, with support from Thomas Gold, Danny Avila, Tours Residents, Patrick Hayes, Shane Hayhoe, James Murray a... More about this event

Stealth event Saturday 3rd March
TIMES Saturday 3rd March 2012 - 11pm-7am PRICING £18
Roger Sanchez, Prok & Fitch, Bobby Burns, Muzzaik, Jason Chance, DeeAfro & Miss Crazy D, DirtyByDesign, Robert Bishopm, Simon Heightz, Shane Who, Ben ... More about this event

Saved event Saturday 10th March
TIMES Saturday 10th March 2012 - 11pm-7am PRICING £18
Nic Fanciulli, Robert Dietzm, Guti, Subb-an, Italoboyz, Nikola Gala, Mark Fanciulli, Platinum, Freaky Electronique, Trent Gently, C Randall, Miss Tour... More about this event

Armin Van Buuren Presents event Thursday 1st March
TIMES Thursday 1st March 2012 - 9pm-4am PRICING phone for prices
The Dutch DJ spins trance, house and electro.... More about this event

All events at Ministry of Sound