The Spitz opens
The Spitz music venue and bistro opens its doors in Old Spitalfields Market, East London, with folk guitar legend Bert Jansch playing on the opening night. Over the next decade it becomes one of the capital’s best-loved small venues, programming jazz, folk, blues, world music and new bands side by side.
Bert Jansch
Bert Jansch, who played our opening night, returns for a residency every Tuesday through June 1998.
Keane
Keane play The Spitz on 31 May 2001, three years before Hopes and Fears went to number one.
The Libertines
The Libertines play The Spitz on 14 April 2002, six months before Up the Bracket was released.
Rodrigo y Gabriela
The Mexican guitar duo play The Spitz on 28 April 2004, a few years before their breakthrough took them to stages around the world.
Regina Spektor
Regina Spektor plays The Spitz on 16 June 2004, two years before Begin to Hope made her a star.
Beth Orton
Beth Orton plays an intimate show on 6 December 2005 – and comes back to help close the venue two years later.
Kate Nash
Kate Nash plays The Spitz on 26 March 2007, just months before Foundations reached number two and her debut album went to number one.
Seasick Steve
Seasick Steve plays The Spitz Festival of Blues on 20 April 2007, the year his career took off in the UK.
The Spitz venue closes
After eleven years in Spitalfields, The Spitz loses its home in the market. The last concert is on 27 September 2007, with Beth Orton, Sandy Dillon and Seb Rochford among those playing it out. The music didn’t stop – it just moved.
The Spitz Charitable Trust is founded
The Spitz Charitable Trust is established on 12 December 2013 with a new mission: taking professional live music to people who can’t get to a gig – in care homes, hospitals and day centres across London.
Our residency at Bridgeside Lodge
We begin our residency at Bridgeside Lodge Care Home in Islington, bringing regular live music to elders, people living with dementia, and residents with severe brain injuries or end-of-life care needs. It remains the heart of our work today.
Culture Seeds Award
We win a Mayor of London Culture Seeds Award in the Culture and Wellbeing category, recognising our work using music to support care home residents and staff.
A summer in the garden
When Covid closes care homes to visitors, our musicians move outside and spend the summer playing in the garden at Bridgeside Lodge. Smaller, socially distanced sessions lead to something new: writing songs together with residents.
Research at Northwick Park
We partner with Northwick Park Hospital’s Hardy Ward and dementia consultant Dr Mahua Chatterjee to study the effect of live music. Early results show patients’ mood lifting on music days – often lasting into the next morning – along with better eating, drinking and engagement with physiotherapy.
Great Ormond Street Hospital
We start regular sessions at Great Ormond Street Hospital, bringing live music to children and their families on the wards.
St Thomas’ Hospital
Weekly sessions begin at St Thomas’ Hospital, with musicians playing for expectant mothers on the antenatal ward and for newborns and their families in neonatal care.
Evelina London Children’s Hospital
We start visiting Evelina London Children’s Hospital twice a month, playing for young patients and their families.
