When was the last time you did a proper all-nighter in London? With £7 pints, rising ticket prices, mass club closures, licensing restrictions, sluggish night buses, noise complaints and venue curfews, hunting down a place to party until sunrise feels like an increasingly impossible pursuit. And worse still, there’s not even anywhere left to grab a commiseratory bite to eat afterwards.
The latest late-night venue to go under is Tiger Tiger, the Piccadilly Circus restaurant and club, which yesterday announced its closure (the group’s Croydon outpost disappeared long ago, in 2017). Tiger Tiger had long ceased to be much of a player in clubworld — it had reportedly been operating at a loss for years — but it still managed to operate for more than a quarter of a century, first welcoming guests in 1998. And while it hardly known as a top-flight hangout — the opposite is closer to the truth, especially with recent calamities — it was somewhere that offered cheap drinks and somewhere to party. It was trashy, but sometimes, that’s what’s wanted. Set to become a luxury hotel, its closure is another sign that London is no longer able, or indeed willing, to cater to anyone but the super wealthy.
