The CLF Art Cafe

I wish I didn’t live at the other end of town. The CLF Art Café is one of these places I’d love to call my local. It is located in the Bussey Building which is one of these buzzing names I heard mentioned over and over again before finding a good reason for venturing to Peckham Rye.
The fact that I have been only twice in a year says it all, Peckham Rye is just a bit of a trek for me. On both occasions I attended a daytime conference hosted by the Southwark Art Forum — no real buzz from the slightly sleepy staff who are more accustomed to serving cocktails than making coffees (according to the website they don’t normally open in the mornings).
While last year, London ground to a halt due to the tube strike, last week the Overground (my lifeline to this part of town) had more trains cancelled than on schedule. It’s a lovely building though and I got a sense of what I may be missing out on for not returning for one of their club or comedy nights.

I came here with a few friends for NYE, and while the door staff were horrible to deal with we ended up having a great night in the end.
When we arrived, it was just before 11PM and it took us a couple minutes to talk to the person managing the guest list (he was talking to someone else) but by the time we spoke with him it was 11:03PM, and he didn’t want to let us in because we were on the guest list and the gust list closed at 11PM. After trying to negotiate, eventually we were able to go inside. Mind you, at this point there were only about 20 people on the queue and it was still pretty empty inside on all the levels — and it didn’t start to get packed till just before midnight.
But that aside, once we were in it was really great! The bar staff were quick, friendly, and efficient (never waited longer than 5 minutes to get served!) and while the prices were steep for the area, they made sense for a NYE bash and weren’t high for Central London on a normal night. (£5 for a glass of wine, £4 for a can of Red Strip, £5 for a glass of prosecco) So my purse was happy ;)
I loved that there were so many floors and that every floor had it’s own music and vibe and such great artwork projected on the walls and wonderful decorations everywhere! Though on NYE, the basement was my fave: a chilled energy, no bar queue, great music and plenty of room to dance.
However, I wish there were more loos, and that the loos they did have were better maintained. It was so gross.
Still, I’d love to come back here.
4* because the loos were gross (though maybe they aren’t like this every night!) and the door staff could have done with being friendlier.

There is no other place in London where you can find such a diverse array of spectacular events under one roof. The building itsself hidden away just off Rye lane opens out into a another world of edgy creatures painstakingly created on all the surrounding walls and is definitely something to check out. They have lots of great monthly nights as well as great one off events, the magic of the CLF art café is that once you step through their narnia like doors you have no idea what the interior could be like as it truly is a blank canvas.
From personal opinion I would much rather go out at the bussey building then in surrounding areas such as New cross or going further afield and Shoreditch. London Get to know the CLF art café. Truly a great night out every time.

This is a strange building, on at least three if not four levels, used currently for art and music events of varying quality.
When you first approach this place, it is through a narrow passageway off the High Street, that is guarded by two security staff who will check you for any glass or alcohol. When you get to the Bussey Building itself (named after the large advertisements for cricket bat manufacturers Bussey & Co that use to adorn the building), the first thing you are surprised by is the urban artwork and grafitti on the walls, with a huge three-​story black and white drawing of a parrot (currently) dominating proceedings.
One’s first impression largely thanks to the whole semi-​clandestine approach to the building (none of the artwork can be seen from street level) is that one has stumbled across an exciting squat of the type one would expect to find in Berlin or Prague. However, this is where the comparisons sadly end. This is not a squat, but a commercial venture. The building is owned by Peckham Business Park Ltd and is being rented out, legally, for events that are trying to be as underground as possible but, when you consider the prices, are actually pretty overground to be honest.
For a start, when I’ve been, each floor has been rented out to a different party, each charging £10. Now, while this is a large building, so to have a different price for each floor makes it a very small venue in each case. The middle floor is at least divided into three sections so there could be scope for more than one DJ, but with considerable music bleed.
Prices for drinks are certainly commercial, and expect to pay £3.50 for a can of lukewarm Red Stripe, or £12 for a bottle of cheap and nasty plonk. The worst thing though is the fact that the smoking area, while really nice (in the courtyard as you go in), is three floors down if you happen to be on the upper levels. This is really inconvenient. By the time you have made it back up to the second floor, you want to go back down for another cigarette. A proper underground venue or a squat would have no rules about smoking, of course. However, even though you are led to believe you are entering into an underground paradise, you are being watched by the security guys who will be sure to be most unpleasant if they catch you smoking anywhere other than the courtyard. So, all in all, it doesn’t feel very relaxing and the whole thing smacks of being terribly fake. Though the hipsters that attend probably feel they’re doing something very edgy. The fools.
The only reason I have gone there is if there are certain DJs I really want to see. The music can be really very good (albeit terribly loud at times so bring earplugs if you value your hearing), and certainly plenty of underground sounds such as psytrance, acid techno and acid house are commonplace. But with the smoking policy, and the smoking area so far away from anywhere, it does not appeal very much to me.
I will be back; I just won’t go out of my way. As for the squat scene, I go to plenty of real-​life squat parties rather than this anodyne recreation of one.