Middle Earth was second only to the pioneering club UFO as a late 60s counter-cultural hub. Located in Covent Garden – then a market rather than today’s tourist trap – Middle Earth opened in 1967 and quickly became famous for its light shows, dealers and occasional police raids.
But while its audiences were reportedly drawn from curious members of the mainstream as much as they were from the hippie underground, the club was also renowned for its ability to attract pioneering bands from both sides of the Atlantic, including The Soft Machine, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Fairport Convention and, later, Captain Beefheart and The Byrds.
