A night at the Half Moon, Herne Hill, south London

editor

13 years ago

Day three of my four day DJ tour-ette saw me spinning some tunes at the Half Moon, a large, late-Victorian boozer close to Brockwell Park, a sprightly ten minutes walk from the centre of Brixton.

Originally built as a hotel back in 1896, you can find many lovely original features inside, including engraved mirrored walls and an intimate snug bar.

The Half Moon has two bars and a fairly large live music room, which once resonated to the likes of The Police, Van Morrison and U2. I also played there a couple of times in somewhat lesser known bands (*this is an understatement).

There’s a good selection of ales on offer and the staff are friendly too. It wasn’t that busy for a Saturday night mind, but then the weather was absolutely dreadful outside.

There’s a large, tall stage for bands and a generously proportioned area for DJs, complete with carpet (!) and a huge fan for recreating that 1980s hair-blown promo video effect.

The DJ gear could have done with a bit of a clean, but I did like the big red arrow stuck on the CD decks indicating the presence of the play button 🙂

I liked the venue, although the cavernous roof means that the sound can get a bit boomy unless the place is packed – a lower ceiling would make it feel a lot more intimate in my ‘umble opinion.

I also found the Bluetooth-earpiece-toting security fella a little more insistent than I would have liked too. I know everyone wants to go home at the end of the night, but if felt like he really couldn’t get us out quick enough.