Remember renting a VHS on a Saturday night? Visions Video Bar brings those memories back to your regular night out clubbing.

The Venue
Visions Video Bar isn’t that visible and could easily be missed. Sandwiched between a Dalston newsagent and small East London fashion shop, the bar is in a basement that can only be accessed by a small door just off the main road. If you’re wandering aimlessly trying to find the place, the giveaway is the smokers who have wandered up a flight of stairs onto the main street for a fag. Its proximity Dalston junction also means, despite being in Hackney, it’s not that hard to find – buses from Islington, Stoke Newington or Liverpool Street will stop right outside.

Once you’ve entered the battered door, with the even more battered door sign outside, you walk down a flight of stairs, pay around a fiver and you’re in. The venue isn’t that large – there’s a stage and DJ hatch at one end of the venue and a bar directly opposite at the other. Hardly anything has been done in terms of the decor since it was a video shop – except, of course, the old VHS videos have been ripped off the shelves. One thing you will notice, however, is how amazingly clean the toilets are – it’s refreshing and unexpected in a venue of this kind. You really can tell you’re in a video shop, but that’s what makes the place so novel.

The Atmosphere
Apparently, Visions Video Bar has been open for 18 years, and it’s probably fair to say that the recent crowd who are at this place aren’t really anything like those who occupied it back in the day. Think of a fashion conscious crowd – mix the classic Camden caner in spray on denim with the colour of the Hoxton trendies (who’ve naturally moved further East in search of the cool) and you’ve got Friday’s crowd. Come Saturday, mix this up the strong West Indian vibe that occupies the area. The venue is open until 4.30am at the weekend.

The Music
Visions Video Bar cleverly does what a lot of venues in the area doesn’t – it hosts reggae nights, indie nights, electro nights and showcases a variety of bands. Cleverly, all Hackney residents can come away pleased. And since the Dalston indie scene is really hotting up, it’s not unusual to see a few random cool and well-known music types sampling some of what’s new.

The Drink
Visions Video Bar is a typically cool, late licence venue in the sense that the selection isn’t huge, but this is made up by the reasonable and straightforward prices. Most drinks cost £3 – and this includes a basically selection of beers and a single shot of spirit and a mixer. It’s pretty organised in that there are plenty of jugs of water on each end of the bar. If there’s a crowd, you don’t have to queue to get a drink.

The Last Word
Cool, creative and impressive – without a doubt Dalston will be full of places like this in the near future, but for the time being, it’s definitely worth a visit.

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