Location: London, England
Capacity: 1,600
Situated by East London’s historic Tobacco Dock, bordering the sleepy neighbourhood of Wapping, E1 radiates calmness from the outside. Inside, of course, is a different matter. The venue underwent major changes to the soundsystem and interior architecture in 2017, allowing it to be spread across two main rooms: the Warehouse and Black Studio.
Before it was E1, in 2012 Studio Spaces was launched. After a few years of garnering a name for itself, “the venue moved away from pop-up events and invested in a world-class soundsystem, installed by long-term partners Sound Services, featuring a bespoke Funktion-One system and each interior space optimised for a precise, powerful, full-frequency-range acoustic experience,” says Fraser Bush of E1. Since then, E1 has gone on to feature the likes of Juan Atkins, My Nu Leng, Heartless Crew, Ellen Allien, Adriatique and Solardo.
During the pandemic, E1 opened a Covid compliant outdoor bar and food court - Site 5- while successfully applying for an Arts Council Covid Recovery grant. "Post-pandemic, E1 envisions a return driven by the same vital force that sustained it through those periods of difficulty in the previous decade," Bush says.