The impact that Printworks has had on the UK club landscape since opening in 2017 is incomparable. Having become one of the world’s must-visit raving destinations, the unused newspaper printing factory in London has hosted the biggest names in music, including Aphex Twin and Gorillaz, welcomed orchestras, was the location for Dua Lipa’s record-breaking Studio 2054 live stream concert and, most recently, featured in The Batman.
Bad news came last summer when Broadwick Live – the company which runs Printworks as well as Field Day festival, and new London venues Beams and Dockyards – announced the 6,000-capacity venue would close in 2023 due to redevelopment of the wider Canada Water area. It was the latest blow to the capital’s nightlife, following the shuttering of Space 289 in Cambridge Heath, The Cause and The Drumsheds in Tottenham, Tobacco Dock in Wapping, and Oval Space in Bethnal Green. Research by The Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) last August found that one in five UK nightclubs have closed down since the beginning of the pandemic.
Despite the gloomy picture, the Printworks team put their all into delivering a final season to remember. Perhaps expectedly, the biggest draws were the four successive closing parties (April 28-May 1). With varied line-ups cumulatively joining the dots from techno to melodic house, and disco to bass, appearances from more than 75 artists included d’n’b heavyweights Sub Focus and Kings of The Rollers, tech-house titans CamelPhat, and Radio 1’s dance music tastemakers Danny Howard and Jaguar. Printworks have never done things by half.
For those uninitiated, the sheer scale of the space is jaw-dropping. An industrialist labyrinthine maze with huge sound-systems to fill the high ceilings of Press Halls and Inkwells, it’s the closest thing London’s got (or had) to Berghain in Berlin. Known for combining expertly-crafted bookings across the electronic music spectrum, eye-popping visuals and light shows, Printworks’ last day delivered on every level.
With ranging feelings of anticipation, excitement and loss in the air from both the sold-out crowd (a mix of ages and personalities, as ever) and the varied mix of artists booked, Monday’s day-long party was an unforgettable send-off. The balcony-surrounded main room, Press Halls, showcased sets from scene-leaders including Peggy Gou, TSHA, Dixon and DJ Koze, as well as a live performance from cult favourite Roisín Murphy who, dressed like a space-age rave goddess and waving inflatable alien tentacles around, has the packed crowd united in voice as they sang Moloko’s classic ‘Sing It Back’ with her. Later, cowboy-hat-sporting HAAi receives a hero’s welcome for her seventh and final set at the venue, which leans heavily on hardstyle and techno and features many of her unreleased projects and collaborations.
Having always balanced established names with upcoming artists, today’s varied line-up fittingly gives a springboard to some of the most exciting rising names in dance music. Downstairs, in the tunnel-like Inkwells, Irish electronic group 49th & Main bring their mates along to form a fan club among a small but appreciative lunchtime crowd; complete with live guitar, saxophone and vocals, their tracks ‘Don’t You Like It’ and ‘Catching Eyes’ providing intimate singalong moments. Later, Mona Yim proves herself to be a real one to watch, the DJ and producer’s lunchtime set veering from rolling drum-heavy breakbeats to her own vocal-led club-pop as she tirelessly pogo’ing behind the decks.
Throughout the day, carefree edits of many unexpected crowd-pleasing pop bangers filled Inkwells’ pillars, too: Sugababes’ classic ‘Push The Button’ during Ahadadream’s set, Avicii’s ‘Levels’ and Modjo’s ‘Lady – Hear Me Tonight’ at the close of Effy’s power hour and Aqua’s ‘Barbie Girl’ during SHERELLE and I. Jordan’s sweaty back-to-back. Rather than mourning the impending closure, these uninhibited moments of joy united ravers together in celebration.
It turned out there were more reasons to celebrate, too: back upstairs in Press Halls, and before a closing performance from Bicep (whose anthem ‘Glue’ was among the last songs heard in the iconic venue), a glitchy screen of coded words kept the audience captivated until the myriad of random letters unscrambled to reveal a hopeful message: ‘See You In 2026 – Printworks 2.0’. Inevitably, rapturous cheers and a sense of relief filled the entire building.
After an unforgettable final weekend that further reinforced Printworks’ importance to UK club culture over the past seven years, it was this poignant moment that hit hardest and suggested that all is not lost. It’s not the end, just goodbye for now.