The Spitz was a music venue in the
East End of London, at 109
Commercial Street on the edge of the
Old Spitalfields Market
Old Spitalfields Market is a covered Market (place), market in Spitalfields, London. There has been a market on the site for over 350 years. In 1991 it gave its name to New Spitalfields Market in Leyton, where fruit and vegetables are now trade ...
. The venue operated from 1996 to 2007, and was forced to close in a dispute about rent. In 2014, a group of regular performers at the venue adopted the name of "The Spitz" for a charitable trust that, "takes professional musicians into care homes, day centres and hospitals across London."
Closure
In April 2007 the landlord of the premises, Ballymore Properties, gave The Dandelion Trust six months to move out, claiming that it had not kept up with its payments. The Spitz disputed this, insisting it had always paid its rent. Ballymore Properties agreed terms with another operator.
Acts
Acts that played over the years at The Spitz include
17 Hippies
17 Hippies is a band from Berlin, Germany, playing largely on acoustic instruments, a radically democratic collective of professionals and amateurs. Their music is a confection of various folk influences. They are most popular in their native Ge ...
, 3 Men & Black (
The Selecter
The Selecter is an English 2 tone ska revival band, formed in Coventry, England, in 1979.
The Selecter featured a diverse line-up, both in terms of race and gender, initially consisting of Arthur 'Gaps' Hendrickson and Pauline Black on lead ...
,
The Stranglers
The Stranglers are an English rock music, rock band formed in 1974. Scoring 23 UK top 40 singles and 20 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades, the Stranglers are one of the longest-surviving bands to have originated in the ...
,
Bad Manners
Bad Manners are an English Two-tone (music genre), two-tone and ska Musical ensemble, band led by frontman Buster Bloodvessel. Early appearances included ''Top of the Pops'' and the live film documentary ''Dance Craze'' (1981).
They were at ...
),
A Hawk and a Hacksaw
A Hawk and a Hacksaw is an American folk duo from Albuquerque, New Mexico, currently signed to L.M. Duplication. The band consists of accordionist Jeremy Barnes, who was previously the drummer for Neutral Milk Hotel and Bablicon, and violinist ...
,
Acoustic Ladyland,
Adem, Ai Phoenix, Aiden Smith,
Apparat,
Athlete
An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...
,
Baba Maal
Baaba Maal (, born 13 June 1953) is a Senegalese singer and guitarist born in Podor, on the Senegal River. In addition to acoustic guitar, he also plays percussion. He has released several albums, both for independent and major labels. In July ...
,
Bert Jansch
Herbert Jansch (3 November 1943 – 5 October 2011) was a Scottish folk musician and founding member of the band Pentangle (band), Pentangle. He was born in Glasgow and came to prominence in London in the 1960s as an acoustic guitarist and ...
,
Beth Orton
Elizabeth Caroline Orton (born 14 December 1970) is an English musician known for her "folktronica" sound, which mixes elements of folk and electronica. She was initially recognised for her collaborations with William Orbit, Andrew Weatherall ...
,
Big Strides,
Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll ( or ; Marshallese language, Marshallese: , , ), known as Eschscholtz Atoll between the 19th century and 1946, is a coral reef in the Marshall Islands consisting of 23 islands surrounding a central lagoon. The atoll is at the no ...
,
Billy Bragg
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,
Billy Childish
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,
Cat Empire,
Cat Power
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Born in ...
,
Charlie Winston
Charlie Winston Gleave, better known as Charlie Winston, is a British singer-songwriter based in the South of France. Winston has so far had his most significant commercial success in France.
Music career Early career
Winston played bass guita ...
,
Chris T-T
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,
Cobra Killer
The Cobra Killer duo of Gina V. D'Orio and Annika Trost began as part of Alec Empire's Digital hardcore movement. Both were part of other bands signed to Empire's Digital Hardcore Recordings label—D'Orio was in EC8OR, and Trost was in Shizuo ...
,
Davey Graham
David Michael Gordon "Davey" Graham (originally spelled Davy Graham) (26 November 1940 – 15 December 2008) was a British nationality, British guitarist and one of the most influential figures in the 1960s British folk revival. He inspired many ...
,
Dick Dale
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,
David Thomas and Two Pale Boys
David Lynn Thomas (June 14, 1953 – April 23, 2025) was an American singer, songwriter, musician and poet based in the United Kingdom. He was one of the founding members of the post-punk group Pere Ubu from 1975 to 1982, then 1987 through to hi ...
Ed Harcourt
Edward Henry Richard Harcourt-Smith (born 14 August 1977) is an English singer-songwriter. To date, he has released ten studio albums, two EPs, and thirteen singles. His debut album, '' Here Be Monsters'', was nominated for the 2001 Mercury Pr ...
, Fionn Regan,
Fonda 500,
Glen Matlock
Glen Matlock (born 27 August 1956) is an English musician, best known for being the bass guitarist in the original line-up of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols. He is credited as a songwriter on 10 of the 12 songs on the Sex Pistols' only offic ...
,
GLORYHOLE! Goldfrapp ,
Gravenhurst,
Great Lake Swimmers
Great Lake Swimmers is a Canadian folk rock band from Wainfleet, Ontario, and currently based in Toronto.
The current touring line-up is Tony Dekker on lead vocals, acoustic guitar and harmonica, Erik Arnesen on banjo, electric guitar and Pump o ...
,
Hayden Hayden may refer to:
Places Inhabited places in the United States
* Hayden, Alabama
*Hayden, Arizona
*Hayden's Ferry, former name of Tempe, Arizona
*Hayden, California, former name of Hayden Hill, California
*Hayden, Colorado
*Hayden, Idaho
*Hayde ...
, Historia,
Holly Golightly,
Florence and the Machine
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,
Hot Chip
Hot Chip is an English synth-pop band formed in London in 2000. The group consists of multi-instrumentalists Alexis Taylor, Joe Goddard (musician), Joe Goddard, Al Doyle, Owen Clarke, and Felix Martin. They are occasionally joined by former memb ...
,
Jamie Woon
Jamie Woon (born 29 March 1983) is a British singer, songwriter, and record producer signed to PMR Records. He gained widespread acclaim in 2010 for his single " Night Air", which was co-produced by Burial, following his previous independent re ...
, Joan as a Policewoman,
John Parish
John Parish (born 11 April 1959) is an English musician, songwriter, composer and record producer.
Parish is best known for his work with singer-songwriter PJ Harvey. He has also worked with such artists as Eels, Aldous Harding, Tracy Chapm ...
,
John Renbourn
John Renbourn (8 August 1944 – 26 March 2015) was an English guitarist and songwriter. He was best known for his collaboration with guitarist Bert Jansch as well as his work with the folk group Pentangle, although he maintained a solo care ...
, Joni Davis,
Kate Nash
Kate Marie Nash (born 6 July 1987) is an English musician and actress from North Harrow. Her singles "Foundations (song), Foundations" (2007) and "Do-Wah-Doo" (2010) charted at numbers 2 and 15 on the UK singles chart and her albums ''Made of Bri ...
,
King Creosote
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,
Lee Ranaldo
Lee Mark Ranaldo (born February 3, 1956) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter, best known as a co-founder of the rock band Sonic Youth. In 2004, ''Rolling Stone'' ranked Ranaldo at number 33 on its "Greatest Guitarists of All Time" li ...
(
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth were an American rock band formed in New York City in 1981. Founding members Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar), Thurston Moore (lead guitar, vocals) and Lee Ranaldo (rhythm guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of ...
),
Little Axe
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Career Early career
Grounded in blues music learned from his father, a steel worker who played blues guitar at w ...
,
Little Barrie
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,
Little Sparta
Little Sparta is a garden at Dunsyre in the Pentland Hills in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, created by artist and poet Ian Hamilton Finlay and his wife Sue Finlay, since 1966.
The Arcadia (utopia), Arcadian garden includes concrete poetry in s ...
,
Low
Low or LOW or lows, may refer to:
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* Low (surname), listing people surnamed Low
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* Low, Quebec, Canada
* Low, Utah, United States
* Lo Wu station (MTR code LOW), Hong Kong; a rail station
* Salzburg Airport (ICAO airport code: LO ...
,
Minutemen
Minutemen were members of the organized New England colonial militia companies trained in weaponry, tactics, and military strategies during the American Revolutionary War. They were known for being ready at a minute's notice, hence the name. Min ...
,
Mr. Hudson, Nought,
Omar
Umar ibn al-Khattab (; ), also spelled Omar, was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () and is regarded as a senior companion and father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muh ...
,
Pete and the Pirates
Pete and the Pirates were an English indie rock band from Reading, Berkshire, England. The band consisted of Thomas Sanders (vocals), Peter Hefferan (vocals and guitar), David Thorpe (guitar), Peter Cattermoul (bass) and Jonny Sanders (drums). ...
, Pete Molinari,
Phoenix, Pips, Chips and Video Clips, Polar Bear,
Rachel Unthank (
The Unthanks
The Unthanks (until 2009 called Rachel Unthank and the Winterset) are an folk music of England, English folk group known for their eclectic approach in combining traditional English folk, particularly Music of Northumbria, Northumbrian folk mus ...
),
Ralfe Band
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The debut album ''Swords'' was released in UK in 2005 by Skint Records and elsewhere in Europe in 2007 by Talitres, with ''Mojo'' awarding a 4-star review, calling it "a whiskey-soured fo ...
,
Richard Hawley
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,
Rodrigo Y Gabriela
Rodrigo y Gabriela (, "Rodrigo and Gabriela") are a Mexican acoustic guitar duo featuring musicians Rodrigo Sánchez and Gabriela Quintero. Residing in Mexico City, they began their career in Dublin, Ireland, where they played for the first eigh ...
,
Roy Harper,
Seasick Steve
Steven Gene Wold (né Leach; March 19, 1951),freight trains">freight_trains.html" ;"title="/nowiki>freight trains">/nowiki>freight trains/nowiki> for 14 years off and on..", adding "I've been married to this one girl for 25 years, so I’m a litt ...
,
Son of Dave
Benjamin Darvill (born January 4, 1967), known by his stage name Son of Dave, is a Canadian musician and singer–songwriter, based in the United Kingdom. He was a member of Grammy award-nominated, Juno award-winning folk rock band Crash Test D ...
,
Spiers & Boden
Spiers and Boden are an English folk duo. John Spiers plays melodeon and concertina, while Jon Boden sings and plays fiddle and guitar while stamping the rhythm on a stomp box. Spiers and Boden were founding members of the folk band Bellowh ...
,
St. Thomas,
Terry Edwards
Terry Edwards (born 10 August 1960) is an English musician who plays trumpet, flugelhorn, saxophones, guitar and keyboards.
Biography
Edwards gained a degree in music from the University of East Anglia in 1982, where he was also a founding mem ...
,
Thalia Zedek
Thalia Zedek (born 1961) is an American singer and guitarist. Active since the early 1980s, she has been a member of several notable alternative rock groups, including Live Skull and Uzi (band), Uzi both of which, according to ''Spin (magazine) ...
,
The Gossip
Gossip (or the Gossip) is an American indie rock band from Searcy, Arkansas, formed in 1999. For most of their career, the band has consisted of singer Beth Ditto, multi-instrumentalist Nathan "Brace Paine" Howdeshell, and drummer Hannah Blil ...
,
The Horrors
The Horrors are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Southend-on-Sea in 2005 by lead vocalist Faris Badwan, guitarist Joshua Hayward, keyboardist and synthesizer player Tom Furse, bassist Rhys Webb, and drummer and percussionist Joe Spurg ...
,
The Long Blondes
The Long Blondes were an English indie rock band formed in Sheffield in 2003 by Dorian Cox (lead guitar and keyboards), Reenie Hollis (real name Kathryn Hollis) (bass guitar and backing vocals), Emma Chaplin (rhythm guitar, keyboards and backin ...
,
The Men They Couldn't Hang
The Men They Couldn't Hang (TMTCH) are a British folk punk group. The original group consisted of Stefan Cush (vocals, guitar), Paul Simmonds (guitar, bouzouki, mandolin, keyboards), Philip "Swill" Odgers (vocals, guitar, tin whistle, melodic ...
,
The Wave Pictures
The Wave Pictures are an English rock band consisting of David Tattersall (vocals and guitar), Franic Rozycki (bass guitar) and Jonny Helm (drums).
Background
The band has its origins in a group called Blind Summit, which David and Franic fo ...
,
Tom Baxter
Thomas Baxter Gleave (born 29 October 1973) is a British singer-songwriter based in London. He was born in Ipswich, Suffolk, and grew up in Camborne, Cornwall, with his four siblings.
The second son of Jeff and Julie Gleave (who were regulars ...
,
Tom Morello
Thomas Baptist Morello (born May 30, 1964) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He is known for his tenure with the rock bands Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave. Between 2016 and 2019, Morello was a membe ...
(
Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine (often abbreviated as RATM or shortened to Rage) was an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1991. It consisted of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim ...
),
Tunng
Tunng are an English folk music band. They are often associated with the folktronica genre, due to the electronic influences evident in some of their work. Tunng are often noted for their use of unconventional instruments, including seashells ...
,
Turin Brakes
Turin Brakes are an English band, comprising original duo of Olly Knights and Gale Paridjanian, and long-term collaborators Rob Allum and Eddie Myer. They had a UK top 5 hit in 2003 with their song " Painkiller (Summer Rain)". Since starting ...
,
Vetiver
''Chrysopogon zizanioides'', commonly known as vetiver and khus, is a perennial bunchgrass of the family Poaceae.
Vetiver is most closely related to sorghum while sharing many morphological characteristics with other fragrant grasses, such as ...
feat
Devendra Barnhart
Devendra Obi Banhart (born May 30, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter and visual artist. Banhart was born in Texas and raised in Venezuela and California. In 2000, he dropped out of the San Francisco Art Institute to pursue a musical career. ...
and many more.
The Spitz hosted many notable shows, including the final performance of
Nosferatu D2
Nosferatu D2 were an English indie rock band from Croydon, Surrey, England. They were active from 2005 to 2007 and remained unsigned during that time. The band experienced posthumous acclaim and interest when the debuting Audio Antihero record ...
's live career.
The Spitz held its last concert on 27 September 2007, featuring many of the musicians that had played there regularly over the years, such as
Seb Rochford
Sebastian Rochford is a Scottish drummer and composer. He has recorded and released music as leader of the British band Polar Bear, as Kutcha Butcha and as part of numerous collaborations.
Early life
Rochford was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, a ...
(
Acoustic Ladyland et al.), Miles Danso, Joe Wilkes,
Sandy Dillon and Beth Orton.
The Spitz Charitable Trust
The Spitz Charitable Trust, born out of the former music venue, came into being in January 2014 and "aims to take live music, using mainly jazz musicians, into a range of places, schools, after school clubs, prisons, residential care homes, day centres, the everyday settings of the street, and other places".
"About Us"
Spitz Music.
References
External links
*
The Dandelion Trust website
The kennel Spitz website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spitz, The
Music venues in London
Nightclubs in London
Music venues completed in 1996
1996 establishments in England
Commercial Street, London
Former music venues in London