Help Save Village Underground & EartH

In early March as the pandemic was causing chaos across the world, we went into business freefall and on 16 March, we made the difficult decision to fully close Village Underground & EartH until further notice.

The effect Covid-19 has had on the lives of the people and the businesses in our industry is devastating.

Our focus here at Village Underground & EartH is directed at protecting the existence of both venues in order to be able to resume business and employment as operating becomes feasible. We strive to protect the long term livelihoods of our teams, and also to be part of a future for arts and music in London.

It is not financially viable for us to operate at reduced capacity for most ticketed events, meaning we still don’t know when we will be able to re-open to the public and generate revenue that way again.

Uncertainty remains but we haven't given up!

We are searching high and low for other ways to generate money. VU has now been transformed into VU Bar, open Thursday 17:00-23:00, Friday and Saturday 17:00-00:00. For more info, click on the logo.

But nothing we can find to do at the moment is enough or covers our lost income.

How will your donations be used?

As things slowly go back to normal, landlords and suppliers will expect us to resume payments whilst we are still not able to restart our normal operations and generate revenue. Your donations will be used to cover overheads, and where possible to provide some work to either our team or the wider arts/music industry.

A note on overhead costs:

Our monthly overheads are £120,000 at EartH and £80,000 at VU. Many of these costs have already been reduced and some have been temporarily suspended but in all events, they remain uncovered into the future without additional financial assistance.

Alfa Mist performs at EartH Theatre on 3 March 2020. Photo by Wyatt Dixon.

Otherliine's recent performance at Village Underground. Photo by Eleonora Collini. Andrew Weatherall at Village Underground in 2016. Photo by Antonio Cavalieri.

NEW REWARDS

Jack Garratt has kindly donated 3 x signed Vinyls (Love, Death and Dancing) & Limited Edition Prints to our campaign. For £10, you can enter a raffle for a chance to receive one of these bundles. Jack Garratt is one of our favourite artists, having played at VU in 2015 and was one of the last artists to play at EartH before we closed down in March 2020. We are so grateful for his donation!

Let’s Adore And Endure Each Other

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Photo by Beth Crockatt Photography

Now more than ever, let’s adore and endure each other.

We are so thankful to Steve Powers for letting us use his iconic artwork on our limited edition t-shirts. They will only be sold here and for the time of the campaign.

Superstition T-Shirts

From candlelit beginnings to colossal takeovers, Superstition’s role in London's underground techno scene has gone from strength to strength, commanding some of the most respected line-ups from every corner of the genre by celebrating both the avant-garde and the godfathers of techno. To celebrate Superstition's 5th Anniversary, and while we wait to re-open our dancefloor to all our techno fans, we have released a limited edition Superstition t-shirt. These t-shirts will only be sold here and for the time of the campaign.

Name A Seat in EartH Theatre

A lovely way to celebrate your or a loved one’s passion for music and culture, become part of the fabric of EartH’s iconic theatre and show your continued support for all the artists that we promote.

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Become A Corporate Patron

Become one of our 10 Corporate Patrons with this year-long membership giving you access to:

our music and comedy events with 25 guestlists for a year to entertain your clients (subject to availability),
a £50 bar tab at each event
and 25% off the hire fee at both Village Underground and EartH for up to 3 bookings.

Sponsor An Artist – Holywell Lane Wall

Sponsor an artist to paint the Holywell Lane Wall, to be up for a minimum of 4 weeks before the end of 2021. Show your support for artists, street art and the community around. VU not only works with music artists, street artists from around the world have always stopped by to paint our wall – among many other talented artists: Stik, Pete Fowler, En Masse and Amara Por Dios have all left their mark at VU.

Sponsor An Artist – Trains

Sponsor an artist to paint the front of our trains for a minimum of 4 weeks before the end of 2021. Donate to show your love and support for street art or to create a personalised surprise for a loved one. VU not only supports music artists, street artists from around the world have always stopped by our rooftop to paint our trains – among many other talented graffers: Shok-1, Amara Por Dios, En Masse and Derlon have all left their mark at VU.

Who are we?

Village Underground is 13 years old now and EartH is just over a year old. We work with more than 1,500 artists performing to more than 200,000 people who visit from across London, the UK and the world each year.
Over the years, our 23 employees and 75+ venue staff and freelancers have worked tirelessly to renovate and transform these abandoned buildings into world class music venues, to look after them and to open our doors night after night to our varied audiences.
Both venues are financially self-sufficient. We receive no funding and rely on our bars and commercial events, the revenue of which is put back into the artistic programmes.
Village Underground is housed in a former coal warehouse which is adjacent to the former Broad Street railway viaduct.
Atop the warehouse, four recycled Jubilee line trains and shipping containers make up our co-working spaces. Up to 30 artists, playwrights, filmmakers, architects, photographers, producers and startups working side-by-side in a creative community.
EartH is housed in the former Savoy Cinema which opened in 1936 and closed down in 1984.
EartH is due to start developing EartH Studios, our music education centre and programme.

10 Years of Village Underground

RA News: Village Underground to reopen East London art deco cinema as music venue