Drumsheds — Attraction in London

A slick cavernous techno super-club inside a huge abandoned IKEA store, what’s not to like? Here’s everything you need to know to make the most of your Drumsheds experience 🥁

• The three rooms 🏢 The main room (think raw industrial warehouse, because this place is massive) is called “X” and can easily hold 15,000 people. Sound is good though definitely not amazing since the metallic structure lends itself to quite a lot of reverb.

The second room “Y” is also pretty big at 5,000 people, with the third and final room “Z” holding 1,000 and feeling pretty cosy as a result. Don’t expect to be able to get into Z for the last few hours of the night as they operate a one-in-one-out policy and it will be rammed.

• Chill-out 🧘🏻‍♂️ There is also a fourth quiet and dark chill-out area upstairs right next to the original IKEA toilets.

• Volume 🔊 I noted the music never exceeded 100dB regardless of the room, so it’s actually pretty quiet in there if you’re used to the eardrum-shattering likes of Fabric, but under 100dB is far better for your hearing health so maybe not a bad thing (no tinnitus the next morning!)

• Drinks 🍺 Lots of well-organised bars, so you likely won’t wait long to get served. Drinks are pretty reasonably priced for London with a 330ml beer £6, 440ml cider £6.50, and a double vodka red bull £14. Wine, seltzer and cocktails options too. Spirits go in paper cups with a lid and straw, which is really handy for clubbing without spilling any and no glass to worry about.

• Food 🍕 Tricky to find at first. You need to go upstairs, out to the terrace, then downstairs again to reach the food terrace with eight different food stall offering made-to-order pizza, bao buns, Greek, tacos, etc. Lots of covered seating too. If you didn’t know this food terrace existed you could easily spend the whole day at Drumsheds without discovering it.

• Toilets 🚾 The entrance (old car park) floor has multiple rows of portaloos so you will literally never have to wait and they are in pretty good condition throughout the event. Many people may not realise you can also use the original nice IKEA toilets up on the 2nd floor, which are especially recommended to guys vs going to the portaloos downstairs. However the ladies queue eventually started snaking out, so downstairs would definitely be quicker if you’re in a rush.

• Lockers 🔐 There are hundreds of lockers to rent at £12 each which you can go back to as often as you like.

• Mobile signal 📶 Worked fine for me on Three, though other networks may not be so lucky. Mobile chargers for lighting and USB-C can be hired for £10.

• Temperature 🌡️ The opening event here was infamously too hot and like an oven. Now they’ve “fixed” that I found the opposite to be true and with the AC blasting all of the rooms were pretty chilly until a few hours into the event. Of course once they were full it was perfect for the headliners.

• The one way system 🔂 Every room and floor has one way in and one way out, which can take some getting used to at first but definitely helps movement run a lot more smoothly than most traditional super-clubs. Staff are constantly monitoring capacity meaning a safe venue.

• Transport 🚌🚕 The shuttlebus between Drumsheds and Tottenham Hale tube station is remarkably well-organised and £3.50 each way. They also have a dedicated queuing area for taxis.

• Conclusion 🤔 Clubbing is always evolving and it’s pointless to compare this venue to the old-fashioned central London venues that have mostly long gone. I would have liked a world-class sound-system, but since every other element of this venue is world-class I’ll have to give it 4.5 and round up ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Drumsheds is likely to only be around for a year or two before being demolished to make way for new flats, so experience it while you have the chance ⏳

If you found my review or photos helpful please leave a quick thumbs...

If I could give this even even less I would Me and my friend had 2 pm entry tickets paid for via dice.

We took the drumsheds bus that was infront of Tottenham Hale station and it took us to the venue parking lot which we followed the sign for ticket entry, I needed to the toilet and so did my friend so we used the cubicles that was provided before entry, walked and scanned our tickets and continued following the signs.

Once we reached the entrance a tall dark complexion security guy with a beanie on pulled us to one side and said to follow him down this dark fenced off path. Which immediately made me uncomfortable as we were not given a reason why.

I asked “ what is this for as I feel uncomfortable”

He said

“ this is exciting don’t worry it’s a good thing”

I said “ please tell me now”

He said “you have to wait and see”

He separated my friend (who was male) and told us to go in two different lines.

I asked another guard that was there “please tell me what is going on”

He said “you have to give your ID and you will see what happens”

Already uncomfortable and separated from my friend I gave my id to the guy with the computer. He didn’t look at it or scan it as the first guy that took us said give her back her id and she’s coming with me.

They put me with my friend and told us to follow another guy in uniform.

I asked “ please tell me what is happening I don’t feel comfortable”

He said “you are being escorted out of the building”

I asked “why” He said “ we do not have to tell you why”

After this I was put with a group of people and told to leave without any probable cause.

I asked to speak to a manager and they said “no just leave” I said “I have a valid id and a valid ticket I have a right to be here.”

After talking, I did NOT raise my voice I was respectful and understand they’re trying to do their job but I need to know why I was refused. Eventually the person working for drum sheds came over MR.Davis and said “just leave they have cctv evidence of you waiting outside and hiding things on your body” I said I was brought in by the bus that drumsheds provided I was not outside the main gates at any point please show me the cctv they said you have to email to request a refund which I asked for the email he wrote it down in my phone and I tired to email funny this he gave me the wrong email it bounced back, on top of his i said you have sniffer dogs you can search me and they said NO.

I left. With a very disappointing view of drumsheds and everything that happened I do believe I was targeted as me and my friend are not English. They did not ID me properly and They did not search me. And they had no right to refuse entry to me. I did try to call the drumsheds number that is online 6 time and no answer.

All the guards laughing at us while we were leaving embarrassed us and I feel awful! It was my friend time visiting drumsheds while ontop of this people with full alcohol bottles were allowed to just walk in ??? I pointed this out and they said well they finished it now ect

Very disappointed and would not recommend to anyone, turns out you don’t get a refund if they wrongly accuse you and...

I went to Drum Sheds last night to see Bicep and had a fantastic time dancing – the main room had so much space, and the lighting rig was incredible! However, I have serious concerns about the venue’s ability to safely manage the 15,000 people in their venue.

It took us over 90 minutes to exit the venue, which felt unsafe on several occasions. The locker area was overcrowded, and people were pushing each other in a scrum grid locked by the locker layout, with no security presence to control the situation.

There were even people shouting at others to stop pushing as it was getting dangerous, but no action by the venue staff was taken.. I saw a lone security guard trying to manage the crowd but clearly struggling. Basically they weren’t in control. Luckily the crowd was friendly but this can turn! You need security and crowd Managment present to be in-control.

Once we left the venue, we were herded into a narrow exit route, surrounded by riot fences, and forced to wait outside in freezing rain and high winds for about an hour. We were stuck in the human gridlock, unable to move, with no security in sight. It felt like a disaster waiting to happen, especially if there had been any pushing or fighting. The crowd was generally calm and friendly, but it could have easily turned chaotic if an incident had occurred in the exit crowd. Tall fences, no security to be seen running parallel to the main road.

While the staff were polite, they seemed overburdened and lacked the training to handle these issues effectively. All seemed very young. I reported the chaos in the locker area, but no action was taken. It’s clear that the venue is not designed to manage 15,000 people safely, especially in terms of crowd control and exit procedures.

The toilets were also far from the main dance floor, and it took us about an hour to get through security checks (which were thorough but slow).

Bicep was amazing, and I had a great time, but unless it’s an act I really want to see, I wouldn’t return to Drum Sheds. If I did, I’d probably leave early to avoid the complete mess that is the exit. It’s a shame that large events are being held in repurposed spaces like this – the space was designed as a shop the exits and crowd routes aren’t built to handle 15,000 people exiting at once and it felt like there was so little security presence monitoring areas of the exit. The venue really needs to rethink crowd management if it’s going to host such large events, and it’s disappointing to see nightlife being pushed into venues that aren’t properly suited for the purpose. I hope the venue and authorities can figure this out, as it highlights a much larger issue with the future of London...