Shunt Lounge
(closed)
Through a long, lightless tunnel I feel my
way, with sprays of wet mist and red light flaring up at intervals. It's
frightening; I'm unsure of my step, of who's walking beside me, and of what
subterranean vermin are underfoot. Though the darkness is intimidating there's
a prickly excitement akin to stumbling around looking for your first illegal
rave. Shunt is a performance space run by the Shunt Collective, a catacomb of
arched chambers which house cinema theatres, live band stages, art
installations, pinball rooms and dank corners. When I stumble into the main bar
area it's for a Kenneth Anger programme hosted by the ragged mystik himself. In
the end we're herded from malfunctioning cinema to malfunctioning cinema and we
finally catch the films 2 and half hours late, crammed into a small room with a
mixed bunch of hipsters, goths, cultists and film students. So, this place
isn't perfect, but on any given night you can catch burlesque death shows,
Johnny Trunk playing weird records and free flapjacks. There's a rumour that
Shunt will be closing in June 09, so go now!
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