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IIf you told anyone from anywhere but Britain You were going “out” but not “out”, they might look at you like you had radishes coming out of your head. But here, we all know what it means. You are leaving your house. You may even be getting ready. But you will be back by 11 pm. Midnight, at one push. it will be four to five o’clock drink Maximum. Unless, you know, someone twists your arm.
This one foot in the door, one foot out energy is enough to make you feel patriotic. We are fundamentally a nation of misguided people. That’s why many of us have been thrilled to see the rise of hi-fi listening bars popping up in our cities. The venue – dim lighting, comfortable chairs, stacks of records, lethal martinis, good food, state-of-the-art speakers – sit somewhere in the middle vinyl Store, Living Room and Cocktail Lounge. Read: They are the ideal place for a non-committal nation’s new night out.
Listening bars originated in Japan in the 50’s and 60’s, where they were taken very seriously. The experience was like going to the cinema: you put on a record, and listened to it in silence. No one was allowed to talk. You breathed between tracks as if you were at a classical concert. It was not designed to be a social experience. In the UK, we have taken a more liberal approach. While supersonic speakers and an impressive vinyl collection are still an absolute must, our hi-fi spaces allow for the occasional late-night dance as well as gentle conversation.
London’s first listening bar, Brilliant Corners, opened in Dalston in 2013, followed by Spiritland in King’s Cross three years later. In the mid-2010s, as popularity grew more venues opened in the capital and beyond, with Jumbi and Housu in Peckham and Bambi and the Goodbye Horse in Hackney now among the most popular.
According to Sasha Shaker, senior director at OpenTable, the rise of hi-fi listening bars in London symbolizes our inclination towards “experiential dining”. “While great food and service are essential, liveliness plays a big part in making a meal memorable,” she says, pointing to Bar Leven in Peckham and Café 1001 in Spitalfields as additional listening lounge favourites. “They strike the right balance between dining and immersion, providing spaces where people can socialize, listen to music and enjoy a quality menu,” she says.
Hidden Grooves in Shoreditch, which opened this summer, is one of London’s newest listening lounges. Located inside the Virgin Hotel, the bar actually made founder Richard Branson – who launched Virgin selling cut price records in the seventies before it became a record store and label before growing into a media empire – jump with joy when he saw it. “He looked like a kid,” says Neil Alline, entertainment director at Virgin Hotels, who came up with the concept of Hidden Grooves. “In that neighborhood, there are already a lot of listening bars. But I knew we could do it better.”
Aline spent a year sourcing vinyl for the bar’s collection from auctions and record shops to ensure they had a good stack of disco, reggae and pop classics that were cheaper than other venues’ offerings. Next, there were the speakers – the crown jewels of the listening bar. “I told the team it was going to be expensive,” he says, laughing. “We don’t want to call ourselves a hi-fi lounge if we don’t have the high-fidelity experience.” They chose the Westminster Speaker of the Tannoy, who has been the speaker in the UK since 1926. “There’s a two-year waiting list,” says Aline. “Each speaker is basically the price of a car.” New, they cost £55,000.
Audiophiles will love it, but the 800-square-foot space will appeal to everyone, too. Especially those who partied especially hard pre-COVID. “I think there are people like me, who are interested in dance music. To hit with a stick for 30 years and wanted something different and a little cozier and intimate,” says Aline. ”you like music. Appreciate a wonderful drink. The DJ is playing, you’re surrounded by a few people – but it’s not loud, so you can still talk to your friends and hear the conversations. You don’t have to go wild but you can still have a good time. It’s more social than a club. It’s a mix between being in your living room and being in a bar.”
When record label Rhythm Section founder Bradley Zero founded hi-fi listening bar Jumby in Peckham with producer Nathanael Williams in 2022, he took this premise a step further. “I just moved out of my house and I needed somewhere to put my records,” he says. “I brought all my speakers, all my audio equipment, even my sofa. We basically created a living room.” Zumbi’s library still contains Zero’s entire vinyl collection, with the DJ carefully selecting the discs rather than mixing them to encourage an immersive listening experience. “What naturally happened in the first week was that when people finished eating, we removed the tables and it became a house party. It’s definitely not a club,” he hastened. “We don’t have lasers. We just have a turntable. It’s really one record after another.”
Zero, who spends many of his nights making people dance on the decks in clubs across London, makes it clear he’s not coming for the clubbing culture.’ “You don’t want to be in a noisy, dark room all the time,” he says. “You want to be able to eat, talk And dance. We just filled that gap.” Aline echoes: “After COVID, a lot of us were very nervous about going to a big club. It’s a different experience.”
Over the past five years, almost 400 nightclubs have closed in Britain, equivalent to more than a third of the total number in the country. In London, a dedicated task force is being launched by the Mayor’s Office to boost the city’s nightlife View and save locations that are at risk of closing. “There is a lack of budget and a lack of club venues that are easily accessible in central London,” says Zero. “People are going out more locally.”
Meanwhile, Shravan’s bars are booked. There’s a wait of up to a month for a Friday night table for two at Bambi. Elsewhere, Jumby’s website simply reads: “The latest booking slot on Friday and Saturday is 9pm. We do not offer queue jumping or guest lists.” Consider yourself informed.
“The cool thing about Zumbi is that you can go there to meet a friend, have something, and throw it out until 2 a.m.,” says Zero, confirming the collective’s inclination toward communal spaces rather than traditional sweat-drenched dancefloors. “It segues into ‘going out’ later that night, if you want.”
An evening that could go anywhere – this is what we’ve always been best at.