The Square was a 250 capacity independent live

music venue A music venue is any location used for a concert or musical performance. Music venues range in size and location, from a small coffeehouse for folk music shows, an outdoor bandshell or bandstand or a concert hall to an indoor sports stadium. Ty ...

Harlow Harlow is a town and local government district located in the west of Essex, England. Founded as a Planned community, new town in 1947, it is situated on the border with Hertfordshire, and occupies a large area of land on the south bank of the ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It was managed by SquareOne Entertainment LLP who took over the venue in July 2008. After a five-month closure period from the end of 2015, The Square re-opened on Friday, 10 June 2016 before closing permanently in early 2017. Prior to 2008 it was run by

Essex County Council Essex County Council is the county council that governs the non-metropolitan county of Essex in England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county; the non-metropolitan county excludes Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock which ...

until funding was withdrawn and the venue was closed after over 35 years of service as a community resource. The Square was one of the starting places for acts including

Enter Shikari Enter Shikari are a British Rock music, rock band formed in St Albans in 1999 by bassist Chris Batten, lead vocalist and keyboardist Rou Reynolds, and drummer Rob Rolfe. In 2003, guitarist Rory Clewlow joined the band to complete its current li ...

George Ezra George Ezra Barnett (born 7 June 1993) is an English musician. After releasing two EPs, '' Did You Hear the Rain?'' (2013) and '' Cassy O (2014), Ezra rose to prominence with the release of his hit single "Budapest", which reached number one ...

, and

The Subways The Subways is an English rock music, rock band from Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire. Formed in 2002, the band consists of Billy Lunn (guitar, lead vocals), Charlotte Cooper (bass, lead vocals), and Camille Phillips (drums). Founding member a ...

. Harlow bands

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, De-Railed and Morning Parade formed at the venue.

Cornershop Cornershop are an English indie rock band formed in Leicester, in 1991. The group are best known for their single " Brimful of Asha" from their third album '' When I Was Born for the 7th Time''. A remixed version of the track reached number one ...

name the venue as the gig that got them signed, as well as being the first venue to pay them to play. BBC DJ

Steve Lamacq Stephen Paul Lamacq (born 16 October 1964), sometimes known by his nickname Lammo (given to him by John Peel), is an English disc jockey, currently working with BBC Radio 6 Music. Lamacq was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire ( ...

broadcast a live

Coldplay Coldplay are a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer and percussionist Will Champion, and manager Phil Harvey (band m ...

show from the venue in 2000. The Square comedy club played host to

Jack Dee James Andrew Innes "Jack" Dee (born 24 September 1961) is an English stand-up comedian, actor, presenter, and writer known for his sarcasm, irony, and deadpan humour. He wrote and starred in the sitcom '' Lead Balloon'' and hosts the panel show ...

Eddie Izzard Suzy Eddie Izzard ( ; born Edward John Izzard, 7 February 1962) is a British stand-up comedian, actor and activist. Her comedic style takes the form of what appears to the audience as rambling whimsical monologues and self-referential pantomi ...

Jo Brand Josephine Grace Brand (born 23 July 1957) is an English actress, comedian, presenter and writer. Starting her entertainment career with a move from psychiatric nursing to the alternative comedy stand-up scene and early performances on '' Satur ...

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and was regularly hosted by John Mann. In 2012, a live recording by the band Seymour (later Blur) from 1989 was included in the Blur 21 box set. BuildingPhoto-copy

In May 2015, building owners Circle Housing announced plans for redevelopment of the site. In July 2015, a series of gigs under the banner 'Back To Square One' was announced, with big-name acts coming back to play the venue one last time. The series includes Newtown Neurotics,

The Members The Members is a British punk rock, punk band that originated in Camberley, Surrey, England. In the UK, they are best known for their single "The Sound of the Suburbs", reaching No. 12 in the UK Singles Chart in 1979, and in Australia, "Radio" ...

, Steve Harris British Lion,

Buzzcocks Buzzcocks are an English punk rock band that singer-songwriter-guitarist Pete Shelley and singer-songwriter Howard Devoto formed in Manchester in 1976. During their career, the band combined elements of punk rock, power pop, and pop punk. The ...

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, King Prawn,

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John Otway John Otway (born 2 October 1952) is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter who has built a cult audience through extensive touring. Biography Early life Otway was born in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. From the age of nine all he ever wanted ...

, The Beat,

Nine Below Zero Nine Below Zero are an English rock band who have a cult following throughout Europe. They became popular during the period 1980–1982 and are still performing currently throughout the UK, Scandinavia and Europe as of 2025. Career The band ...

Eddie & The Hot Rods Eddie and the Hot Rods are a pub rock band from Essex founded in 1975. They are best known for their 1977 UK top ten hit " Do Anything You Wanna Do", released under the shortened name Rods. The group broke up in 1985, but reformed in 1996. Sin ...

Gaz Coombes Gareth Michael "Gaz" Coombes (born 8 March 1976) is an English musician, best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist of the alternative rock band Supergrass. He first entered the music scene aged 14 as the lead singer of the band The Jennifer ...

Chas & Dave Chas & Dave (often billed as Chas 'n' Dave) were an English pop rock duo, formed in London by Chas Hodges and Dave Peacock (musician), Dave Peacock. They were most notable as creators and performers of a musical style labelled ''rockney'' (a p ...

, and

Secret Affair Secret Affair are a mod revival band, formed in 1978 and disbanded in 1982 during which period their work is predominantly best-known. They reformed in 2002 and have since then produced an album in 2012. Career Formed after the demise of th ...

. In October 2015, The Square was shortlisted for ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' magazine's 'Britain's Best Small Venue' competition. The Square finally closed on the morning of 31 January 2017, with the final band playing the venue on Saturday 28th, being long standing Essex band

. Hot Rods guitarist Richard Holgarth, was also a member of the SquareOne Entertainment Partnership and the Technical Manager of the venue from 1981 - 2015. Some years later, it was finally demolished, but the promised development that led to the closure never happened and it remains a piece of unused, waste ground to the present day.

References

External links

*The Square Facebook Page {{DEFAULTSORT:Square, The Music venues in Essex Harlow Former music venues in England 2017 disestablishments in England