New Cross - New Shoreditch (again)

An article in last week's Time Out looked at the mushrooming of new clubs in South London, declaring that: 'Like a herd of hedonistic herbivores, the capital’s clubs have sought out fresh pastures south of the river. We map out London nightlife’s new southern stomping grounds'.

The sub heading 'Peckham and New Cross: The new Shoreditch' is hardly unprecedented - Time Out last called New Cross the New Shoreditch in 2007, and a few years before that the Standard declared it to be the New Hoxton (see here).

The acutal article is a bit more measured, acknowledging that 'Since the closure of the East London Line in December 2007, the clubbing majority has largely avoided New Cross and Peckham. The Amersham Arms is one of the only establishments left in New Cross offering hip late-night DJs, while in Peckham, warehouse labyrinth Area10 continues to host music and alternative performance. But the area’s isolation has given rise to another wave of more underground merrymakers. New artist-led project LuckyPDF is hoping to turn the area into an arty club hub once more. Among its many exhibitions in the lime-green Unity Centre, it throws monthly happening Nightfever where live bands meet Afro-inspired DJs and steaming noodles. There are also events at the Bussey Building, a looming former cricket bat factory that’s home to hundreds of artists. When the East London Line reopens in June 2010, the scene is set to erupt'.

Hmmm, the area's lively enough with gigs etc. but one pub with DJs and the odd art night hardly makes it clubbing central, compared with say Vauxhall or the London Bridge area also mentioned in the article.

Strangely no mention of the only actual medium size nightclub in New Cross - still packing them in after 20 years (longer if you count it's previous incarnations), even if it's no longer hip enough to feature on the Time Out radar. I refer of course to The Venue. Must admit I haven't been there for years either, but Darryl at 853 reports that a good night out is still to be had there.