The Kashmir Klub was a non-profit making,

live music A concert, often known informally as a gig or show, is a live performance of music in front of an audience. The performance may be carried by a single musician, in which case it is sometimes called a recital, or by a musical ensemble such as an ...

club that operated in central

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

between 1997 and 2003. It was located at 6 Nottingham Place, in the basement of a restaurant and bar called "Fabrizio" at the "Baker and Oven".Tony Moore – Musician, Broadcaster and Concert Promoter; Founder, Kashmir Klub – MusicTank
/ref> The club was started in November 1997 by musician and early

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris (musician), Steve Harris. Although fluid in the early years of the band, the line-up for most ...

member Tony Moore to provide a different approach to discovering, developing and promoting the best signed and

unsigned artist An unsigned artist, unsigned band or independent artist is a musician or musical group not under a contract with a record label. The terms are used in the music industry as a marketing technique. Bands that release their own material on self-pub ...

s available, and to create a "fertile, creative and spontaneous" atmosphere. The name was inspired by the

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

track "Kashmir". Moore loved the track and also the band. He said "It seemed to me that Led Zeppelin covered nearly every genre of music in their time, from rock to acoustic. So I thought "The Kashmir Klub" would be perfect."

Concept

No one paid an entrance fee, no artists were paid for their performance or had to pay to play, and the organisers were not paid a wage for doing it, except for a sound engineer whose pay was funded by a 10% cut of bar takings.Behind the Music: Tony Moore is proof live music need not cost a fortune , Music , The Guardian
/ref> The equipment in the club was sponsored and donated by commercial companies. There was also a strict "No talking during the music" policy. Moore, who hosted the events, commenced each show with the statement "As you've noticed there's no cover charge. All you have to pay is attention."

Operation

Originally open on Tuesday nights, the club expanded to run from Tuesday through Friday nights, as well as occasional Monday and Saturday evenings for special events. It was described by

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

in 2000 as "the coolest club in town." The shows had a set format, with the artist performing two songs in the first set, followed by another two in a second set later in the evening. Sets would be acoustic and 'stripped back'. On Tuesday, January 25, 2000 The Kashmir Klub, in conjunction with BMI, also began a monthly

webcast A webcast is a media presentation distributed over the Internet using streaming media technology to distribute a single content source to many simultaneous listeners/viewers. A webcast may either be distributed live or on demand. Essentially, webca ...

showcase of BMI writers and artists live from London. The club was known for championing artists early in their career, and various singers such as

Paolo Nutini Paolo Giovanni Nutini (born 9 January 1987) is a Scottish singer-songwriter from Paisley, Renfrewshire, Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland. Nutini's debut album, ''These Streets'' (2006), peaked at number three on the UK Albums Chart. Its follow-u ...

, KT Tunstall and

Damien Rice Damien George Rice (born 7 December 1973) is an Irish musician, singer and songwriter. He began his career as a member of the 1990s rock group Juniper (band), Juniper, who were signed to Polygram Records in 1997. The band enjoyed moderate succe ...

. The club had famous artists ‘drop in’ and play unannounced including

Sheryl Crow Sheryl Suzanne Crow (born February 11, 1962) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress. She is noted for her Optimism, optimistic and Idealism, idealistic subject matter, and incorporation of genres including Rock music, rock, Po ...

Belinda Carlisle Belinda Jo Carlisle ( ; born August 17, 1958) is an American singer and songwriter. She gained fame as the lead vocalist of the Go-Go's, one of the most successful all-female rock bands of all time, and went on to have a prolific career as a sol ...

Kiki Dee Pauline Matthews (born 6 March 1947), better known by her stage name Kiki Dee, is an English pop singer. Known for her blue-eyed soul vocals, she was the first female singer from the UK to sign with Motown's Tamla Records. Dee is best known f ...

and

Muse In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...

.The Legendary Kashmir Klub Returns To London
/ref>

Closure

The club finally closed on Saturday 17 May 2003, when the building was closed for redevelopment. Tony Moore continues to run a similar live music venue at The Bedford, a pub in

Balham Balham () is an List of areas of London, area in south-west London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, with small parts extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Lambeth. It has been settled since Saxon times and appears in t ...

, south London. In 2004 other members of the Kashmir team opened 4 Sticks Live at The Cobden Members Club, a private club in west

References

External links

BMI Press release 1.25.2000
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kashmir Klub, The Music venues completed in 1997 1997 establishments in England 2003 disestablishments in England Former music venues in London