March 2019 seems like quite a long time ago in the grand scheme of things, but somehow it seems even longer ago (in my head anyway) that one of London’s most iconic venues announced that it would be closing its doors “for a year”. The prospect of a £40million renovation was all well and good; change to a few eco-friendly lightbulbs, a fresh lick of paint, the place hadn’t been done up since 2004 so it was long overdue. That £40million, 1-year refurbishment soon became £70million over 3 years after the building’s roof caught fire in January 2020. Obviously, COVID came and put a spanner in the works of a job that was already well over schedule, but now… in April 2022… KOKO is back! April 29th will see the grand reopening, headlined by none other than Canadian indie darlings Arcade Fire in their first UK show since 2018. Tickets go on sale this Thursday (April 21st) at 12pm, here.
KOKO
LONDON
29TH APRILPre-order ‘WE’ from our official U.K. store before Wednesday 20th April 4pm BST to get priority access to pre-sale starting Thursday 21st April 10am BST https://t.co/jozlr1tXdZ pic.twitter.com/TY6uymsQYN
— Arcade Fire (@arcadefire) April 19, 2022
Arcade Fire are currently in the middle of promoting their upcoming album, We. Since March fans of the band have been treated to singles and surprises galore, a lucky few were sent postcards marked from the band simply stating “We missed you” with a little snippet of musical notation from their upcoming singles “Lightning I, II” that would be released shortly afterwards. Since then, the group have aired a handful of new tracks across a couple of shows benefiting the Plus 1 Ukraine relief fund, and a surprise appearance at Coachella last weekend. All of these exciting updates come with the news that one of the band’s core members, Will Butler, amicably left the band. Despite this, the band are seemingly carrying on at full steam. You can pre-order the new album here, or check out the first of the new singles below.
For those unable to attend the show, the entire evening will be streamed live on Twitch on Amazon Music UK’s channel.
The triumphant UK return of Arcade Fire isn’t the only event being put on to reintroduce KOKO to Camden though, DJ Luciano will kick off the KOKO Electronic club night on the first weekend, Central Cee will also play 2 sets on May 1st (at 4pm and 8pm), then once the opening weekend is over and done the venue will essentially continue along its merry way. Lianne La Havas, Chase and Status, and Pete Doherty are all penned to play within the first month, you can check out the full listings here.
