AllSaints goes out
AllSaints goes out
1 September 2026
1 September 2026
For Autumn Winter 26, AllSaints took over three pubs in East London: The Lexington, The George Tavern and The Shacklewell Arms. Each renowned and beloved for its idiosyncratic quirks - from tales of unsettling bathroom graffiti to Amy Winehouse’s kitten, Bleeder - here we speak to the performers, promoters and punters who’ve helped make these sticky-floored pubs sustain London’s independent gig scene.
For Autumn Winter 26, AllSaints took over three pubs in East London: The Lexington, The George Tavern and The Shacklewell Arms. Each renowned and beloved for its idiosyncratic quirks - from tales of unsettling bathroom graffiti to Amy Winehouse’s kitten, Bleeder - here we speak to the performers, promoters and punters who’ve helped make these sticky-floored pubs sustain London’s independent gig scene.
THE GEORGE TAVERN
Location: Stepney, East London
Gig capacity: 150
Open until: 2.30am Thursdays, 3.30am Weekends
Notable performances: Geese, Iceage, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Lore: Reportedly opened in 1623, the pub was then rebuilt after 1745, and then again sometime between 1799 and 1819. It was a derelict old man boozer when artist Pauline Forster bought it in an auction in 2002, moving in upstairs and transforming it into a hub of all sorts of subcultural activity. Forster has battled property developers on three occasions. In 2008, the "Save the George" campaign t-shirts were worn by Kate Moss and Sir Ian McKellen.
Celeb spot: Lewis Capaldi enjoying Geese’s much-hyped show last year
As seen in: King Krule’s Rock Bottom video, in which Pauline plays Cactus Mum - a green-faced host who serves the South London musician “some kind of gloopy soup with old rusty nuts and bolts” in it. Yum. Fur real?! Pauline gifted Amy Winehouse a kitten, born by The George's beloved cat Spider. The kitten was named Bleeder. Pauline can’t remember its gender.
THE GEORGE TAVERN
Location: Stepney, East London
Gig capacity: 150
Open until: 2.30am Thursdays, 3.30am Weekends
Notable performances: Geese, Iceage, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Lore: Reportedly opened in 1623, the pub was then rebuilt after 1745, and then again sometime between 1799 and 1819. It was a derelict old man boozer when artist Pauline Forster bought it in an auction in 2002, moving in upstairs and transforming it into a hub of all sorts of subcultural activity. Forster has battled property developers on three occasions. In 2008, the "Save the George" campaign t-shirts were worn by Kate Moss and Sir Ian McKellen.
Celeb spot: Lewis Capaldi enjoying Geese’s much-hyped show last year
As seen in: King Krule’s Rock Bottom video, in which Pauline plays Cactus Mum - a green-faced host who serves the South London musician “some kind of gloopy soup with old rusty nuts and bolts” in it. Yum. Fur real?! Pauline gifted Amy Winehouse a kitten, born by The George's beloved cat Spider. The kitten was named Bleeder. Pauline can’t remember its gender.
John Cooper Clarke (punk poet, apparent swordsman)
"The George Tavern, although it looks like a late Victorian gin palace, a stone's throw from the dark, sinister streets of Limehouse, is actually a bohemian salon, run by Pauline Forster, a remarkable woman and gifted artist. Her premises are the go-to place for the three fs - theatre, fashion and photography. It was also the place where I proved myself to be the finest swordsman in all of England. It's a long story."
John’s got a brand new book and a tour coming up.
Pauline Forster (owner, aforementioned gifted artist)
“I've been here 24 years, and there's been so many things going through that bar. It’s been quite crazy. We've even had animals in there, people performing with snakes and donkeys. And all the wonderful bands and music and performances and the madness that's gone on in there in the past. I bought that building, a closed-down pub, as an artist to live in and collaborate with other artists and musicians. It's been an open door to a lot of young people.
Amy Winehouse did the photo shoot for Back to Black here. She came back a few times. She was very sweet and lovely. Once I got a planning application through the post for this old nightclub right in the back of the George - there's [just a door that separates us] - to be demolished and built into flats. The council told me that it was pretty much set in concrete. I rang up Amy Winehouse straight away, and she said, "Make a t-shirt with ‘Save the George’ [printed on it]." So that's what I did. Then Kate Moss came to the pub and put it on straight away. And from there, it was just one after another. Grace Jones, Ian McKellen. Every time we got a new celebrity in the t-shirt, we sent it off to the press. All the newspapers wanted the story. Then we got loads of supporters.”
John Cooper Clarke (punk poet, apparent swordsman)
"The George Tavern, although it looks like a late Victorian gin palace, a stone's throw from the dark, sinister streets of Limehouse, is actually a bohemian salon, run by Pauline Forster, a remarkable woman and gifted artist. Her premises are the go-to place for the three fs - theatre, fashion and photography. It was also the place where I proved myself to be the finest swordsman in all of England. It's a long story."
John’s got a brand new book and a tour coming up.
Pauline Forster (owner, aforementioned gifted artist)
“I've been here 24 years, and there's been so many things going through that bar. It’s been quite crazy. We've even had animals in there, people performing with snakes and donkeys. And all the wonderful bands and music and performances and the madness that's gone on in there in the past. I bought that building, a closed-down pub, as an artist to live in and collaborate with other artists and musicians. It's been an open door to a lot of young people.
Amy Winehouse did the photo shoot for Back to Black here. She came back a few times. She was very sweet and lovely. Once I got a planning application through the post for this old nightclub right in the back of the George - there's [just a door that separates us] - to be demolished and built into flats. The council told me that it was pretty much set in concrete. I rang up Amy Winehouse straight away, and she said, "Make a t-shirt with ‘Save the George’ [printed on it]." So that's what I did. Then Kate Moss came to the pub and put it on straight away. And from there, it was just one after another. Grace Jones, Ian McKellen. Every time we got a new celebrity in the t-shirt, we sent it off to the press. All the newspapers wanted the story. Then we got loads of supporters.”
THE LEXINGTON
Location: Pentonville Road, North London
Gig capacity: 200
Open until: 2am Sunday - Wednesday, 3am on Thursday and 4am Friday and Saturday.
Notable performances:
Damo Suzuki, Sun Ra Arkestra, Wet Leg
Lore: Built in 1875, then known as The Belvedere tavern, once host to "authors, painters, artists, and literary men", according to an entry in the Victorian journal Notes and Queries. Used as an auction house in the 1940s. In the 90s, it was a tapas and salsa bar, then more of a drum’n’bass spot in the 2000s. It opened as The Lexington in 2008 - a hub for indie clubnights and spontaneous midweek ragers.
The Night Before Bratmas: At 11pm June 6th 2024 - one hour before Brat was unleashed into the world - Charli xcx arrived at The Lex’s regular clubnight ‘Pop Never Dies’ for a quick screamalong with phone-wielding fans. She pulled up in The Bratmobile (a lime green Tesla).
Potential of paranormal activity - 65%: With over 150 years of history, perhaps there’s more than just ghosted Hinge matches haunting the dancefloor. The Lex’s promoter Marcus Harrus recalls a strange feeling while spending most of lockdown in the building: “With absolutely every single appliance turned off, no one in the building and everything in stasis, and yet there was all sorts of noises and floorboards creaking all day and night. I don't recall it particularly scaring me - I think The Lexington is a place of joy. So I don't know if I'd call it haunted, but I'd say there is definitely a presence you can feel.”
THE LEXINGTON
Location: Pentonville Road, North London
Gig capacity: 200
Open until: 2am Sunday - Wednesday, 3am on Thursday and 4am Friday and Saturday.
Notable performances:
Damo Suzuki, Sun Ra Arkestra, Wet Leg
Lore: Built in 1875, then known as The Belvedere tavern, once host to "authors, painters, artists, and literary men", according to an entry in the Victorian journal Notes and Queries. Used as an auction house in the 1940s. In the 90s, it was a tapas and salsa bar, then more of a drum’n’bass spot in the 2000s. It opened as The Lexington in 2008 - a hub for indie clubnights and spontaneous midweek ragers.
The Night Before Bratmas: At 11pm June 6th 2024 - one hour before Brat was unleashed into the world - Charli xcx arrived at The Lex’s regular clubnight ‘Pop Never Dies’ for a quick screamalong with phone-wielding fans. She pulled up in The Bratmobile (a lime green Tesla).
Potential of paranormal activity - 65%: With over 150 years of history, perhaps there’s more than just ghosted Hinge matches haunting the dancefloor. The Lex’s promoter Marcus Harrus recalls a strange feeling while spending most of lockdown in the building: “With absolutely every single appliance turned off, no one in the building and everything in stasis, and yet there was all sorts of noises and floorboards creaking all day and night. I don't recall it particularly scaring me - I think The Lexington is a place of joy. So I don't know if I'd call it haunted, but I'd say there is definitely a presence you can feel.”
Nina Cristante (visual artist, nutritionist, member of Bar Italia. Released her solo album Live at The Lexington last year)
“I like where the stage is in the room, with the audience in a pit, the wood everywhere; it’s rustic and saloon-like. I also love the legacy the venue has, and the location is one of my favourite parts of London. You get a real feel about who your audience is, you’re so close, it is inevitably intimate and raw because of the size and sound.”
Marcus Harris (promoter, DJ)
“The thing that makes places like The Lexington special is that they're impossible to replicate because they’re the product of everything that's ever happened in them - we could never uproot the place and move it somewhere else. The chipped paint, the way a door slams, the noise an A/C unit makes, 18 years worth of booze soaking into the floorboards and knowing who and what has come before you is what makes places like The Lexington feel like The Lexington. There’s something so fundamental to British subculture about the gig-or-club-in-a-pub kind of venue.”
Nina Cristante (visual artist, nutritionist, member of Bar Italia. Released her solo album Live at The Lexington last year)
“I like where the stage is in the room, with the audience in a pit, the wood everywhere; it’s rustic and saloon-like. I also love the legacy the venue has, and the location is one of my favourite parts of London. You get a real feel about who your audience is, you’re so close, it is inevitably intimate and raw because of the size and sound.”
Marcus Harris (promoter, DJ)
“The thing that makes places like The Lexington special is that they're impossible to replicate because they’re the product of everything that's ever happened in them - we could never uproot the place and move it somewhere else. The chipped paint, the way a door slams, the noise an A/C unit makes, 18 years worth of booze soaking into the floorboards and knowing who and what has come before you is what makes places like The Lexington feel like The Lexington. There’s something so fundamental to British subculture about the gig-or-club-in-a-pub kind of venue.”
THE SHACKLEWELL ARMS
Location: Dalston, East London
Gig capacity: 200
Open until: Monday - Thursday, midnight, 3am on Fridays and Saturdays, 11pm on Sundays.
Lore: Built in the 1870s, known as The Green Man. A St Lucian pub from 1980-2011. Opened as The Shacklewell Arms by London gig promoters in 2011.
Notable performers: Fontaines DC, Beabadoobee, Shania Twain
Most famous DJ sets: Solange Knowles, Skrillex, Mark Ronson
Shacklewell clubnight anthem: Le Tigre - Deceptacon
As seen in: A scene in the Black Mirror episode Eulogy, starring Paul Giamatti
Most unsettling graffiti: The word ‘MEAT’ scrawled on the backroom wall (as reported by Faris)
THE SHACKLEWELL ARMS
Location: Dalston, East London
Gig capacity: 200
Open until: Monday - Thursday, midnight, 3am on Fridays and Saturdays, 11pm on Sundays.
Lore: Built in the 1870s, known as The Green Man. A St Lucian pub from 1980-2011. Opened as The Shacklewell Arms by London gig promoters in 2011.
Notable performers: Fontaines DC, Beabadoobee, Shania Twain
Most famous DJ sets: Solange Knowles, Skrillex, Mark Ronson
Shacklewell clubnight anthem: Le Tigre - Deceptacon
As seen in: A scene in the Black Mirror episode Eulogy, starring Paul Giamatti
Most unsettling graffiti: The word ‘MEAT’ scrawled on the backroom wall (as reported by Faris)
Faris Badwan (The Horrors frontman)
“The Horrors’ studio was next door. We moved in around 2011 and made our third and fourth albums there, and we’ve played a few secret shows there to test out new songs. I’m someone who prefers being within earshot of people to actually seeing and talking to them, so being hidden next door was kind of perfect. I have a very limited social battery, and the Shacklewell’s layout offers plenty of places to hide or switch rooms when you feel the claustrophobia kicking in. As for the venue’s smell, I’d happily wear it as cologne.”
Estella Adeyeri (Big Joanie bassist/vocalist)
“In 2016, a riot grrrl band I was in called DIRTYGIRL played an all-dayer there. I was drumming at the time, so I had my own stint in the infamous Shacklewell drum cave at the back of the stage, battling a floor tom that seemed to have its own unique relationship with gravity. I think that show was the first time [Japanese punk band] Otoboke Beaver played London, and it was such a wild, fun and thrilling set, and I still have the t-shirt I bought from them that day. I recently saw them live again for the first time in 10 years a few weeks ago headlining a sold-out Electric Ballroom, fresh off a tour supporting Foo Fighters.”
Paul Richards (Scared to Dance podcast host and party promoter)
“It’s one of my favourite places on earth. Scared To Dance has been running there for 11 years and it’s our home. I love the Caribbean-themed murals that date back to when it was a St. Lucian dancehall. I love the battered walls, the stickers and the graffiti, and the unmistakable smell of sweat after a busy night. It’s one of the best places in London to hear new music.
The reason I enjoy doing Scared To Dance [there] is because people don’t look at their phones. It’s one of the few times people can lose themselves in the moment and not worry about how they look or what anyone else thinks of them. I love it when people are completely lost in it.”
You can listen to the Scared to Podcast here, or attend on of their parties at The Shack later this year
Faris Badwan (The Horrors frontman)
“The Horrors’ studio was next door. We moved in around 2011 and made our third and fourth albums there, and we’ve played a few secret shows there to test out new songs. I’m someone who prefers being within earshot of people to actually seeing and talking to them, so being hidden next door was kind of perfect. I have a very limited social battery, and the Shacklewell’s layout offers plenty of places to hide or switch rooms when you feel the claustrophobia kicking in. As for the venue’s smell, I’d happily wear it as cologne.”
Estella Adeyeri (Big Joanie bassist/vocalist)
“In 2016, a riot grrrl band I was in called DIRTYGIRL played an all-dayer there. I was drumming at the time, so I had my own stint in the infamous Shacklewell drum cave at the back of the stage, battling a floor tom that seemed to have its own unique relationship with gravity. I *think* that show was the first time [Japanese punk band] Otoboke Beaver played London, and it was such a wild, fun and thrilling set, and I still have the t-shirt I bought from them that day. I recently saw them live again for the first time in 10 years a few weeks ago headlining a sold-out Electric Ballroom, fresh off a tour supporting Foo Fighters.”
Paul Richards (Scared to Dance podcast host and party promoter)
“It’s one of my favourite places on earth. Scared To Dance has been running there for 11 years and it’s our home. I love the Caribbean-themed murals that date back to when it was a St. Lucian dancehall. I love the battered walls, the stickers and the graffiti, and the unmistakable smell of sweat after a busy night. It’s one of the best places in London to hear new music.
The reason I enjoy doing Scared To Dance [there] is because people don’t look at their phones. It’s one of the few times people can lose themselves in the moment and not worry about how they look or what anyone else thinks of them. I love it when people are completely lost in it.”
You can listen to the Scared to Podcast here, or attend on of their parties at The Shack later this year
