The Macbeth

Grungey, gloomy & with a great sound system, this big old tumbledown hostelry sees just as much drama as the bard ever imagined for his tragic hero. The Macbeth is located on Hoxton’s dog-eared edges & is right next door to the Hackney Community College. Young musos gravitate here to catch nightly live acts, & old boozers prop up the bar. The management is serious about supporting new music, & names such as Florence & the Machine, Franz Ferdinand & Paloma Faith have all graced the ramshackle stage. There’s no food, & the drinks wouldn’t win any awards, but nobody seems to care. Punters crane their necks to see the band, or shuffle upstairs through the trippy black & white ‘gallery bar’ (decorated by a local street artist), to the loungey smokers’ roof terrace.