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44-409: The Buffalo Bar was a music and arts venue located at 259 Upper Street , Highbury Corner , Islington, from 2000 until 2014. The venue was situated beneath The Famous Cock Tavern, adjacent to Highbury & Islington station . The basement at 259 Upper Street had previously been a branch of Po Na Na nightclub, and before that, Club Down Under. The Buffalo Bar opened in 2000 and hosted performances by

88-618: A Unitarian congregation decided to move out of the City (from Carter Lane near St Paul's Cathedral ) and build a large church in the Dissenting Gothic style on Upper Street. Half a century later its official history recalls: The spire and building were badly damaged in the Blitz , and demolished. Islingon Council purchased the land fronting onto Upper Street and built a fire station. Tucked away behind this, though still with an entry fronting onto

132-557: A "Night Czar", Amy Lamé , with a remit of looking at this issue. Upper Street Upper Street is the main street of the Islington district of inner north London , and carries the A1 road . It begins at the junction of the A1 and Liverpool Road , continuing on from Islington High Street which runs from the crossroads at Pentonville Road and City Road and runs roughly northwards from outside

176-456: A 40-date European tour. At the start of 2004, Electric Eel Shock went into the studio for the last of the Go sessions. Although these were still produced on a relatively low budget, and paid for by the band, this was the first time that they had used a studio and sound engineer as opposed to a practice room, kitchen or cupboard . The results, Go Europe! / Go USA! , were licensed around the world and

220-591: A fixture on tour with the band. The band finished recording Beat Me at the end of December 2004, and returned to Japan for the first time in a long time, to do a few gigs . Throughout 2005 EES shows have become larger; touring in the US and Europe with the Bloodhound Gang , headlining festivals, and playing with the West Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra. Electric Eel Shock also made an appearance in

264-522: A further group built immediately south of Hornsey Row in 1792. A William Beverley (identified with William Roxby Beverley ), the first to solve the problem of a "magic knight's tour" in chess (a variant on the knight's tour in which the numbered steps form a magic square ) resided in these buildings, now replaced by Islington Town Hall . In 1837, the year of Queen Victoria's accession, Islington residents decided to create their own " lit & phil ". The Islington Literary and Scientific Society included

308-468: A large number of notable alternative and indie rock artists. As well as live concerts the venue hosted a number of club nights, including The Cave Club, Great Big Kiss, Afro Cuban Lounge, How Does It Feel to Be Loved? , Twee As Fuck, Artrocker , Guided Missile and Indieoke. Notable artists that played the Buffalo bar include: The Libertines , Keane , Hot Chip , Bloc Party , The Kooks , Art Brut ,

352-461: A library, reading room, museum, laboratory, and a lecture theatre seating 500. The architects were the fashionable partnership of Robert Lewis Roumieu and Alexander Dick Gough . The library was sold off in 1872 and the building was disposed of in 1874, running through various owners and purposes over the following century, before becoming the home of the Almeida Theatre in the 1970s. In 1860

396-563: A pub in Lower Street. Lower Street has since been renamed Essex Road . The fields around Upper Street, with their close proximity to the growing city of London, were a major farming area, mostly for dairying and market gardens. The street itself served as part of the drovers' road , channelling livestock from the Midlands and North of England towards Smithfield Market in the City of London . From

440-464: A restaurant in its upper floors, but the mall closed in 2008. Since 2013, the building has housed several chain shops. It is currently an Amazon Fresh store. The closure of the arcade reflects the reduction in the number of antique traders in the nearby Camden Passage , though a weekend antiques market is still held there. Moving north, there is the Business Design Centre, mentioned above as

484-579: A well-known Japanese comedian of that name) to Aki. Gian, Maekawa, and Aki started practicing together shortly afterwards. The band's first public performances was an 11-piece group with keyboards, female vocals, and French horns. When logistics became unworkable the band stripped down to a three-piece. Gian took up playing with four drumsticks and also gained a reputation for playing almost naked. Gian has been arrested once in Hong Kong , and fined HK$ 100, for playing this way. Electric Eel Shock set up

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528-535: Is Union Chapel , a working Congregational church , live-entertainment venue and charity drop-in centre for the homeless. Built in the late 19th century in the Gothic revival style, the church is a Grade I-listed building. In the 1970s and 1980s Upper Street was a focal point of the radical left . It was home to Sisterwrite , Britain's first feminist bookshop , as well as the Trotskyist Pioneer Books,

572-733: Is named after a local estate agent . Citations ' Sources [REDACTED] Media related to Upper Street, London at Wikimedia Commons 51°32′25″N 0°6′9″W  /  51.54028°N 0.10250°W  / 51.54028; -0.10250 Electric Eel Shock Electric Eel Shock (EES) is a three-piece garage rock band, formed in Tokyo in 1994. They first toured the United States in 1999. Akihito Morimoto, known as 'Aki' ( guitar and vocals ) and Kazuto Maekawa ( bass ) first met in high school in Osaka . Aki learned English by listening to

616-562: The Church of England parish church . St. Mary's was rebuilt in 1754 and its spire dominates the Islington skyline. The church is a major venue for performances of traditional religious music . The Little Angel Theatre is a children's puppet theatre in a former Temperance hall, behind the church. Directly opposite the church is the King's Head Theatre , founded in 1970 as the first pub theatre in

660-752: The London Underground as their only form of transport. After this, they returned to the US with Bob Slayer as their new manager. The band spent the rest of 2003 between the US and Europe. Highlights included playing at both the SXSW and CMJ festivals in America, playing at Roskilde Festival in Denmark, headlining the Rockit Hong Kong Music Festival , and supporting the Canadian band Danko Jones on

704-556: The Reclaim the Streets movement took over the street, barricaded it to traffic and held a long party in the street. Upper Street was one of the settings for local resident Douglas Adams 's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. The London-based sections of the later books are set in and around Upper Street, the home address of " Fenchurch ". In addition, the character of Hotblack Desiato

748-588: The Scorpions ) that they had met in Amsterdam during the Danko Jones tour . Electric Eel Shock were soon making plans with Bauw for a new album. The aim was to catch all the energy and character of an Electric Eel Shock performance with a production that would sit alongside the early Black Sabbath albums that had inspired their creation . Assisting Attie in the studio was the band's live engineer, Tim Bray, who had become

792-524: The anarchist Rising Free shop (famous for stealing stock from other shops to sell in theirs ) and the socialist Red Books. In the 1980s, Upper Street was home to the Islington Action Group for the Unwaged, a major far left campaigning and activist group, and to the squatter-run Molly's Cafe, a focal point for the anarchist and squatting movement. Upper Street made headlines on 23 July 1995, when

836-660: The Art Goblins and Keith Top of the Pops & His Minor UK Indie Celebrity All-Star Backing Band . Promotional videos were also filmed at the venue including for Electric Eel Shock , Comet Gain and the Ethical Debating Society . In November 2014, the Buffalo Bar announced that its lease had been terminated and the club would therefore be forced to close at New Year. A petition to save the venue garnered over 5500 signatures,

880-838: The Duke Spirit , We Are The Physics , Hope of the States , Animal Collective , Emmy the Great , Bis , the Maccabees , Jack Rose , Josh T. Pearson , Larrikin Love , Desperate Journalist , High Llamas , the Organ , Sleaford Mods , Thee Faction , Male Bonding , Colour Me Wednesday , Chris T-T , T.V. Smith , Spearmint , the Popguns , Shrag , Savages , the Tuts , Factory Floor , Fat White Family , These New Puritans ,

924-551: The Micro Music record label with their friends and released their first full-length album, Maybe... I Think We Can Beat Nirvana . They followed this with Live Punctured . In 1999, Electric Eel Shock recorded Slayers Bay Blues on an eight-track recorder , and made enough copies to begin their first concerts abroad. They had lined up a handful of dates in and around New York , including CBGB , with their friends Peelander-Z who had relocated there some time earlier. Due to

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968-867: The Nightingales , the Wolfhounds , the Cravats , the Homosexuals , KaitO , Victorian English Gentlemens Club , Zombina and the Skeletones , Pink Grease , Tiny Masters of Today , Blood Arm , Frank Turner , Scout Niblett , Jon Langford , the Featherz , Poppy and the Jezebels , Yummy Fur , Country Teasers , the Lovely Eggs , Future of the Left , Blood Red Shoes , Joanne Joanne ,

1012-782: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart , Friendly Fires , Two Door Cinema Club , Martha Wainwright , Stereolab , Futureheads , Bombay Bicycle Club , the Long Blondes , the Magic Numbers , Ed Harcourt , the Zutons , Oneida , Part Chimp , Electrelane , and the Joy Formidable , as well as others including the Horrors , Foals , Fiery Furnaces , Maxïmo Park , the Brian Jonestown Massacre ,

1056-472: The Royal Agricultural Hall. Islington Green is a small, triangular public park containing an artistically distinctive war memorial . At this point Upper Street splits, continuing north and northwest as a narrower street while Essex Road (formerly Lower Street) continues northeast. North of Islington Green, places of interest include the former Islington Chapel, now Angel Recording Studios and

1100-494: The UK. The Almeida Theatre is an important independent theatre and producing house. The former Islington post office is now the entrance to the large scale mixed-use development "Islington Square", centred around a converted Royal Mail sorting office. Further north is Islington Town Hall , where the joint first legal same-sex marriage in England took place on 29 March 2014. Adjacent to

1144-577: The Upper Street area became notorious for its night-time entertainments. In 1870, Charles Dickens described the area as "amongst the noisiest and most disagreeable thoroughfares in London." and in 1885, it was widely known as "The Devil's Mile" on account of its prostitution, crime and the level of drunkenness. Between 1936 and 1939, the former Methodist chapel in Providence Place, just off Upper Street,

1188-448: The band successfully raised $ 50,000. The press release describes Sugoi Indeed as an album full of classic rock hand-crafted in Japan. Attie Bauw, who produced the last two EES albums, was at the controls again, only this time he engineered the basic tracks and Electric Eel Shock took the production reins on the album themselves. The album was licensed to several labels around the world and

1232-659: The band went on a promotional tour that took in 25 countries and 27 European festivals . The band's European base camp for much of their touring in 2004 was the Suicide Motel in Utrecht , Netherlands, which Bob Slayer set up with Frank Suicide the guitarist of the Dutch band Wasted . Whilst spending time in the Netherlands, they developed their friendship with Grammy -nominated producer , Attie Bauw, (who had worked with Judas Priest and

1276-566: The cultural significance of this part of London." The Buffalo Bar was one of a number of grassroots London music venues subject to closure during the same period, including Madame Jojo's , 12 Bar Club , Power Lunches , The Grosvenor, Passing Clouds and The Silver Bullet – prompting questions over the future of venues faced with the threat of "soaring rents..noise pollution orders, and developers". The Mayoral Music Venues Taskforce reported in 2015 that 35% of small venues had closed since 2007. In 2016 incoming Mayor of London Sadiq Khan appointed

1320-499: The end of the 16th century, there was a significant inn at the bottom of what is now Islington High Street. It was known as the Angel by 1614 and lends its name to that area. The 1837 Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist states that the Angel is where "London began in earnest". In the 18th century Upper Street began to be redeveloped from an agricultural to a residential area. Ten houses were built in 1768 (later named Hornsey Row), and

1364-572: The lyrics of bands he liked. Before Electric Eel Shock, Aki and Maekawa first formed an 80s metal cover band in high school called Caducious . Aki and Maekawa remained in Tokyo. Aki followed his passion for fishing and became a competitive angler (he still writes for Japan's largest fishing magazine, Basser Magazine ) and Maekawa joined The Apollos (a Japanese funk band) for a short time as session bassist. Maekawa introduced their drummer, Tomoharu Ito (known as Gian, due to his similar appearance to

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1408-623: The main entrance to Angel Underground station , then past the Business Design Centre , then splits at Islington Green (where Essex Road , formerly named Lower Street, branches off), then past The Screen On The Green cinema, past Islington Town Hall , ending at Highbury & Islington tube station on Highbury Corner, where the A1 carries on as Holloway Road , part of the Great North Road . Upper Street contains many fashionable shops, pubs, restaurants and theatres, concentrated on

1452-491: The main street, is the 1950s rebuilding. By the mid 19th century, the growth of London necessitated a bigger venue for agricultural and other shows. In 1862, a group of businessmen associated with the Smithfield Show opened the Royal Agricultural Hall on a large plot between Upper Street and Liverpool Road immediately to the west. Unusually for London, both roads were rebuilt with a high pavement - up to 1 m above

1496-564: The nearby Emirates Stadium , home of Arsenal Football Club . Starting from the south, the first significant venue is a former tram shed , built in 1850 for commuter service to the City. By the 1940s the service had ceased, and the building was converted to an electricity substation , which was then closed by the 1970s. Following some years of lying derelict, it was reopened on 14 November 1979 as The Mall Antiques Arcade, and at its height housed over 35 dealers on its ground and lower ground floors. The building also housed other businesses, such as

1540-407: The road surface for some of their length - to protect pedestrians from being splashed with mud and ordure created by the large numbers of animals walking along the drover's road to the hall. A number of pubs and shops existed along Upper Street to serve farmers and visitors to the hall. In the 1980s the exhibition venue was revamped as the Business Design Centre . In the late nineteenth century,

1584-622: The success of these few gigs, the handful of dates that were planned turned into an East Coast tour. They returned to the US and toured almost constantly for the next two years. All the while, the band survived on the sale of CDs, t-shirts, and help from friends. They then recorded the EP Go America . In early 2003, the band received an email invitation from journalist Bob Slayer to perform in London. On January 16, 2003, Electric Eel Shock landed in London for five hastily-arranged gigs. The five shows become twelve gigs in ten days . The band used

1628-443: The support of bands such as The National , The Subways and Mclusky (who performed a fundraising gig for staff), and the intervention of local politicians including local councillor Olly Parker and local M.P. Emily Thornberry . Parker said in a speech that the Buffalo Bar had "probably done more for cultural life in Islington than anyone" and Thornberry stated that the bar "makes a very important contribution to youth culture and..

1672-561: The town hall is Islington Museum . Upper Street also contains the Hope and Anchor , one of the most important venues of the 1970s and 1980s punk and new wave scenes. The Stranglers ' album Live at the Hope and Anchor was recorded here. The building is still in use as a music venue today. Further north, the eastern side of Upper Street is taken up by a long but narrow garden, Compton Terrace Gardens. Accessed from Upper Street through these gardens

1716-540: The video clip for the Bloodhound Gang song "Uhn Tiss Uhn Tiss Uhn Tiss". Their tours throughout Europe at the end of 2005 were completely sold out . In March 2006, Beat Me was released in Japan on legendary metal label Roadrunner Records . The band toured Japan, Australia, New Zealand and the US in 2006 and played festivals in Europe . Electric Eel Shock released Transworld Ultra Rock on October 1, 2007. The album

1760-562: The west side of the street, while the east side has several notable churches and chapels. The hilltop village of Islington originally consisted of two streets in addition to the High Street: Upper Street and Lower Street, which diverged from the High Street at Islington Green . Both date back to at least the 12th century. Henry VIII hunted duck in the ponds off Upper Street, while Walter Raleigh lived in Upper Street and owned

1804-529: The world. EES and their UK based manager Bob Slayer became consultants on first SellaBand and later PledgeMusic. Having played an important role in establishing the viability and model for Crowd Funding in music they have now launched their own crowd funding site Fan-Bo.com . Launched in June 2012, Fan-Bo is a place where fans of Japanese pop culture can support independent bands, artists, writers and other creatives. Sex, Drugs, & Email From 2007 to 2011 Gian

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1848-602: Was released in October 2009. Electric Eel Shock has strong support from their fans and became one of the first bands without previous significant record label success to fully embrace crowdfunding. In 2004 they raised £10,000 from 100 fans (the Samurai 100) by offering them guestlist for life. Two years later they became the fastest band to raise the 50,000 budget through SellaBand. The album Sugoi Indeed, has been licensed to Universal Records in Japan and various independent labels around

1892-576: Was the first release on their own label Double Peace Records . The band toured throughout Europe in support of the new album, later appearing as a support act on The Presidents of the United States of America 's These Are the Good Times People tour. The album was released by P-Vine records on November 16, 2007 in Japan. Electric Eel Shock joined Sellaband on 2 May 2008 to raise the funds to record their next album. On 25 June 2008 after 55 days

1936-488: Was the home of a drama school, the London Theatre Studio , directed by Michel Saint-Denis , with a conversion of the building designed by Marcel Breuer and F. R. S. Yorke . The students taught there included Peter Ustinov . In recent years Upper Street has become extremely fashionable, and contains numerous pubs and restaurants, The pubs along the street are also popular meeting places for supporters going to

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