The Lexington, Islington

The Lexington is a pub and music venue on Pentonville Road in Islington, London that opened in 2008. The bar specialises in bourbon, as well as American craft beer. The building it is in was built over 1875 to 1876 and was originally known as The Belvidere.

The venue area is upstairs, with a raised back section by the bar. The front of this has bench seating, but facing away from the stage.

On Monday evenings the pub has a music quiz, previously sponsored by Rough Trade, that is usually hosted by Paul Guided Missile.

History
The building now housing The Lexington was erected in 1875–6. It was then known as the Belvidere, and was a new construction for the earlier tavern of that name on the same site. It was designed by the architect W. E. Williams and built by Robert Marr.

The Lexington was particularly badly hit by a reform of London business rates in 2017, with a proposed increase of more than 200 percent (the average for London music venues being about 38 per cent). The venue challenged this and managed to get somewhat of a reduction to an increase of 118 percent.

The venue's existence has been threatened further by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Lexington were among the beneficiaries of the Cultural Recovery Fund administered by Arts Council England, announced on October 12, 2020. The venue stated that those funds “will go some way in mitigating the financial damage and debt accumulated over the last seven months of closure” but that they are “still in serious peril” as they were only awarded 40% of the funding they applied for. In November the Music Venue Trust announced a campaign which highlighted the 30 UK music venues deemed still in crisis, one of which is The Lexington. The venue are currently running a crowdfunder to raise what is still needed.

Notable performers

 * Billy Bragg
 * Bis
 * British Sea Power
 * Camera Obscura
 * Charlotte Church's Late Night Pop Dungeon
 * Chris Corsano
 * Colleen Green
 * Damo Suzuki
 * The Darling Buds
 * The Dream Syndicate
 * Ezra Furman
 * Future of the Left
 * Graham Coxon
 * The Hold Steady
 * Iceage
 * Jay Reatard
 * Jeffrey Lewis
 * Joan As Policewoman
 * Jodie Marie
 * Kitty, Daisy & Lewis
 * Laetitia Sadier
 * The Monochrome Set
 * Maverick Sabre
 * The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
 * The Pastels
 * Pere Ubu
 * The Softies
 * Speedy Ortiz
 * Subway Sect
 * Sun Ra Arkestra
 * The Thermals
 * Ulrika Spacek
 * Vanessa Carlton
 * Vic Godard
 * The Wave Pictures

Recordings

 * In 2011 British soul singer-songwriter Jodie Marie released an EP of songs recorded during her gig at the Lexington in 2011 titled “Live At The Lexington E.P.” which comprised three songs from her then upcoming debut studio album “Mountain Echo”: “Single Blank Canvas”, “Greeney-Blue” and “Dandelion Wishes”. The EP was a digital only release.


 * In 2012 British-Irish soul musician Maverick Sabre released an EP of songs recorded during his gig at the Lexington in November 2011 titled “Live At The Lexington” which comprised three songs from his then upcoming debut studio album “Lonely Are the Brave”: “I Used To Have It All”, “I Need” and “Let Me Go”. The EP was a digital only release.


 * In 2014 British Alternative rock band The House of Love released an LP of songs recorded during their gig at the Lexington in November 2013 titled “Live at the Lexington 13:11:13” which comprised 14 songs: “Destroy the Heart”, “Hope”, “Christine”, “Se Dest”, “Road”, “The Beatles and the Stones”, “Purple Killer Rose”, “Phone”, “She Paints Words in Red”, “Shine On”, “Lost in the Blues”, “A Baby Got Back on Its Feet”, “I Don’t Know Why I Love You” and ”Touch Me”.