We Love Kentish Town O2 Forum Kentish Town is a major live entertainment venue in London and one of the UK’s best preserved, original cinematic theatres. It was originally built as an Art Deco cinema in 1934 by Herbert Yapp, a cinema magnate who also owned the Forum cinemas in Ealing and Fulham and the architect was J. Stanley Beard with interior design managed by his partner W.R. Bennett. The venue launched with a grand opening ceremony of music and films, conducted by the star Sydney Howard, on 17 December 1934 and was taken over in March 1935 by Associated British Cinemas (ABC) along with the other Forum cinemas and changed renamed the ABC until 1963, 28 years later. The ABC cinema closed in 1970 to become a bingo hall and then a dance hall and in the 1980s the venue's name and usage was changed to the Town & Country Club. It became one of the must-play venues on the indie circuit for up-and-coming bands as well as established acts. Throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, bands that played included The Velvet Underground and Pixies to Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine and The Wedding Present. In recent years, O2 Forum Kentish Town has seen some legendary performers take to the stage including, Dave Grohl and Sound City players, Jack White, Rihanna, Bobby Womack, Justin Timberlake and KISS. O2 Forum Kentish Town is the trading name of Academy Music Group Limited Company number: 3463738 VAT number: 710648159 Registered in England and Wales 211 Stockwell Road London SW9 9SL Partners O2 Carlsberg Pepsi Barclaycard Truly Ticketmaster Amazon Music Uber Charity Teenage Cancer Trust Sitemap Contact FAQs Work With Us Access Venue Info Legal Terms of Use Privacy Policy Cookies Policy Modern Slavery Statement Sustainability Charter Our Venues Arts Club Liverpool O2 Academy Birmingham O2 Academy Bournemouth O2 Academy Bristol O2 Academy Brixton O2 Academy Edinburgh O2 Academy Glasgow O2 Academy Islington O2 Academy Leeds O2 Academy Leicester O2 Academy Liverpool O2 Academy Newcastle O2 Academy Oxford O2 Academy Sheffield O2 City Hall Newcastle O2 Forum Kentish Town O2 Institute Birmingham O2 Ritz Manchester O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire O2 Victoria Warehouse Manchester Managed Venues Liverpool Guild of Students The Old Fire Station Bournemouth Partner Venues O2 Guildhall Southampton O2 Apollo Manchester © Academy Music Group Limited 2021 Manage my cookies