2 Goulston Street,
Shoreditch,
London,
E1 7TP
0871 971 5863
The ViewLondon Review
Hub is a club mighty in sound but simple in decor: perfect for its crowd of students, it may be a bit too bare for anybody else.The VenueHidden away in Goulston Street but located a minute away from the Aldgate tubes, Hub has not yet done enough to be noticed on the London scene. For now, it opens as a club during weekends and on selected nights and otherwise it works as a student bar and special events space, as the rows of lights on the ceiling clearly reveal. This club is gifted with two separate floors, each with its own bar and different atmosphere. The ground floor holds the main club area with several enormous couches and tables let people sit down after hitting the dancefloor. Despite the fresh feeling of the space, the bare decor of untouched white walls and simple furniture makes this floor somewhat unattractive in comparison with the designed spaces of other venues in London. However, the greatly atmospheric lights and the very powerful sound system worth £17K can partially compensate for it.
The bar upstairs, unfortunately not open every night, is definitely more intimate. To make up for most of its flaws, this club has a very rare treasure: a 7am license, meaning that you can dance the whole night away and comfortably catch the first tube home in the morning.
The AtmosphereHub belongs to the London Metropolitan University but anybody is welcome and there are a few faces above thirty. Most clubbers, though, are university students with the good and the bad this encompasses. Nights are loud, sweaty, cheerful and vibrant. The sound system blasts out well past acceptable noise levels and nobody really cares about wearing more than jeans and beaten trainers. If loosing control and having the most fun you can is your thing, Hub is definitely a good place to go, otherwise you may just be past the age you can enjoy this sort of place and would be better off looking elsewhere.
The MusicThe genre of choice is underground electronic, but everything depends on the night. On Fridays, they often have live famous guest DJs and bands playing, electronic beats still being the preferred choice. However, expecting the unexpected is a good approach to a night here. Saturday nights can bring in anything from dub reggae to pop passing via minimal techno: you do the math!
The DrinkThis place is no exception to the rule: with students as the main target, prices are rock bottom cheap. Beers are priced at £2-3, spirits are around the same and on Fridays they have a £1.50 deal on all drinks from 5pm onwards. And this is the good news. The bad news is that just as predictably, when spending little is the aim, the selection is not exactly extravagant or refined. The most exotic you will go is a bottle of Bavaria, served by the nice, super young, barely-drinking-age bar staff.
The Last WordHub is perfect for a rare night of very late clubbing if you, like the youngsters here, have the stamina to keep on dancing past 3am.