The Purple Turtle, Camden, London

Like alot of others I have mixed opinions on this place have had some good nights out here and some awful occassions too. Great as a music venue when they have some decent indie bands on, not badly priced either and good to go in when the place is busy…however it takes ages to get served even when quiet and the place is dirty to be fair needs a clean there is edgy but this makes you need a wash.

Music venue, nothing else.
Grubby, slow bar staff, toilets not the worst – but good sound system and that’s why you go there.

The best place that i remember from london.
super music, cool people…

This place has me feeling mixed. I've had some amazing nights out within its walls, but I'm sure like most clubnights, that had much more to do with the music and company than the venue itself.

As the others have said, it's far from being anything special. The toilets are grubby, the bar staff full of unnecessary attitude, and on the occasions I've been, the place woefully empty until eleven at the earliest. When it is full though, the atmosphere is usually friendly and fun, and there's lots of space for dancing. If there's bands or burlesque on, I'd advise bagging a space on the gallery upstairs to make sure you can see, preferably with a £10 cocktail pitcher to avoid multiple trips to the sullen bar staff.

Whilst this all sounds ghastly, forewarned is forearmed, so if you pick a night with DJs/bands you know and love, you'll have fun. But if you're not going for someone specific, there's far better places to be found nearby.

I am not the greatest lover of the venue either to be entirely honest. In terms as a space to take photos in the lighting is a bit rubbish and I find the bar staff very unattentive and rude. Trying to get served is a challenge sometimes especially when they are in the middle of just standing around and chatting. It must be hard looking like a camden cliche but I think there is a time and place for any discussion.

Purple Turtle has always been a place for bands, indie nights et al. Play Squared isn't too bad but does take a while to warm up sometimes, especially if a band has been on beforehand.

But I feel you do get what you expect from this place. It is grubby, it does have weird clientele and it is a bit rough and ready.

I suggest you enter with low expectations and you shall feel more rewarded as a result.

A fairly average predominantly live music venue, a veritable must on my teenage bar circuit. Useful for a pre-drink before Koko, however probably not worth coming down to Mornington Crescent for if you're boozing on nearby Inverness Street. Although, I am actually off there in thirty minutes so may need to update :-)

Update: Pretty rubbish venue I am afraid, and a 20 minute queue outside when the place was relatively empty. A good place for some folk, but not for me alas.

The Purple Turtle is a great live music venue. Only ever been there for that purpose so couldn't comment on club nights or general bar fly activity.

It has a grubby rock and roll feel to it that makes you want to play air guitar and stick your crotch out.

The drinks are average London pub priced which is better than some music venues that go for the jugular once you've got a stamp on your wrist.

A quick mention on the in-house sound engineer and equipment. We played a gig here recently and the sound man took a very professional interest in ensuring we sounded the nuts and mic'd our amps and drums up sweetly. The PA was strong enough to strip paint and the lighting made me feel like a rock god.

So in short- if you're heading here to listen to live music expect big sound!

This is a brilliant place for clubbing and seeing bands. Always a good night to be had and a great place for alternative clubbing. Beats the norm anytime

The 'Purtle’! Excellent place to see new bands play live. Also host to a variety of different shows, DJ’s and events!

Not a huge club, but a good enough capacity. Never too crowded, but enough people around to make it a great night out. The stage is a good size, and not so far away that the crowd cannot see who is playing.

Bar prices fairly good for London, and overall place i would really recommened to friends!

Great for live music and has a really good atmosphere. Good selection of alternative bands and the sound is decent.
Also conveniently located for travel via Camden and Mornington Crescent.

Only been once for a gig (Hail of Bullets), and loved the place! Would have loved to have stayed for the club night, but as I drove from Swindon didn’t fancy a night with no booze.

The only let down is no disabled facilties, been to alot of venues and this is a recurring problem!

Hmmm… It’s OK in here. The stage is bigger now which is great. The equipment is a lot better so the bands sound great. The music they have seems to be a lot better recently too.

So far so good.

But we couldn’t sit upstairs becuase the loos were so stinky. We couldn’t stay downstairs and talk as it was too noisy. It took my half an hour to get a drink and even then I was served by someone rude and grumpy who just wanted to talk to their friends. Typical service in Camden I guess. I think it’s part of the interview process. To be hired in Camden you must either be sexy and aloof or sweaty and sneering. Fun.

So despite the place being kitted out, and always having a great time there, it’s nothing to do with the venue. It’s the outside things like the people you go with, and the bands. Seeing as the bands are hired in by local promoters, I’m not sure this place has got any better.

And cash machines in clubs that charge you to take money out? Aren’t we done with these yet?

This is a fantastic place to see a range of unsigned bands and the decor matches what they do. It has a nice dark feeling about it with a huge cross at the back and a range of metal bands. There is a table football in there and quite a bit of seating. The drink prices are average, you can even get crazy flavoured ciders like toffee apple! It's a fun place when there's a lot of people there and it gets going.

This venue is in the heart of Camden and a great live band venue for all types of music. There are various different nights on different days of the week including rock nights, 'Stay beautiful' a glam rock night with electro music, and others. There's always a mix of people, and its a fairly dark and grotty (in a good way) place to go, with different sections and corners to hide if you want to be alone, or want some privacy. It has typical rock feel to it, but certainly doesn't just draw this type of crowd only. I went here for an afro punk night, where films were even projected into the subjecy and new genre. The sounds quite good too, with a big stage. Cool place to go. Plus it's purple, need I say anymore.

The best place ever for me. I spent crazy nights there.

Firstly, there are gigs with different bands, people depend on notoriety. I always enjoyed the bands even if it wasn't my "cup of tea", I think they give a particular attention in the choice of the artists list.

Secondly, some of the people are going to the bar, some others upstairs where you have an amazing view of the scene, others are going near the bar where there are several sofas and tables , you can also play pinball machine and for the others the DJ plays hits which make you act like a star.

Before the end of the night, there are competitions of dancing on the scene, I attended the guitar dancing, the sexy dancing etc.
For the winner, lots of drinks and several CD's.

Definitely, a place to go if you want to spend a memorable night with your friends.

Best place to listen to new bands and get comfortablewith the alternative music scene

The Purple Turtle is great if you're looking for a night out in the darkness with strange music being blasted at you. It's a very dingy club with the DJ booth at the top of a ladder above the fairly average-sized stage. Drinks are reasonable and the nights are good if you're up for metal or glam (not everyone's cup of tea), but not an amazing overall experience.