For the long Halloween weekend of Thursday 29 October through Sunday 1 November, the most coherent venue story sits on Commercial Road. The George Tavern compresses its Halloweekender into three consecutive 19:00 bills: George Michael on Thursday, Paramore on Friday and Blur on Saturday. The names around them range across Beck, Scott Pilgrim, Hannah Montana and Bright Eyes on the opening night; Avril Lavigne, Taylor Swift, Viagra “Girls” and Massive Attack on Friday; then My Chemical Romance, “NME Essentials” and Prince on Halloween itself. It is a deliberately mixed set of reference points, designed for a room whose current role combines pub sociability with a longstanding music programme.[1][2][4]

The George Tavern’s appeal begins with the shape of the place. Its official history describes a pub and artistic base in the East End, while the venue’s booking page puts the capacity at 150 and welcomes new promoters, showcases and events across music, film, poetry, markets and exhibitions. That scale gives a themed weekender a particular charge, concentrating the audience in a shared room. The venue’s own framing of its programme as a meeting point for emerging and established artists also helps explain why a run built from recognisable pop and alternative touchstones suits the calendar.[2][3]

There is weight behind that intimacy. Time Out dates the present building to the Georgian era and identifies 2004 as the beginning of its current life as a live-music venue under landlady Pauline Forster. The George Tavern’s own account places it within a much older literary and local history, and its campaign material records the practical stakes of preserving its music licence amid neighbouring development. Those details make the Halloweekender format feel apt: three brisk, character-led nights in a room shaped by both preservation and reuse. A themed bill can carry a communal, fancy-dress-weekend energy here while staying connected to the venue’s regular function as a stage for artists and promoters.[3][4][5]

Three nights, three pop-alternative routes

Thursday’s Halloweekender: George Michael starts the sequence at 19:00, with Beck, Scott Pilgrim, Hannah Montana and Bright Eyes also on the listing. Friday keeps the start time at 19:00 for Halloweekender: Paramore, joined by Avril Lavigne, Taylor Swift, Viagra “Girls” and Massive Attack. Saturday’s 19:00 Halloweekender: Blur closes the run with My Chemical Romance, “NME Essentials” and Prince. Read together, the bills move through synth-pop, emo, indie, guitar pop, R&B and alternative canon by way of a playful costume-party logic. The useful choice is less about genre purity than choosing the evening whose cluster of names best matches your own group’s shared musical shorthand.[1][2]

The calendar also demonstrates an important part of The George Tavern’s booking identity: continuity. A single series occupies the same room across three nights, giving regulars a reason to return while allowing each bill its own musical language. Its website lists later Thursday hours and 03:00 finishes on Friday and Saturday, fitting the pub-venue rhythm that frames these 19:00 starts. For readers planning a Halloween outing, the practical advantage is simplicity: pick a night, arrive with time for the full bill, and treat the venue itself as the destination.[1][2]

The George Tavern is at 373 Commercial Road, London E1 0LA, with Shadwell and Whitechapel listed among the nearest stations. Halloweekender runs Thursday 29, Friday 30 and Saturday 31 October, each beginning at 19:00. Check the official venue calendar and event pages again before travel for entry requirements, final running orders and any late changes.[1][2]

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Source list

Source details appear below for readers who want to explore the venue further. The George Tavern’s official pages cover its programme, booking approach, history and current visitor information.[1][2][3][5]

These concerts happened on 29–31 October 2026

The next dates at these venues: The George Tavern

Sources

  1. What’s on — The George Tavern
  2. Playing or hiring The George Tavern — The George Tavern
  3. Historic London Pub and Music Venue — The George Tavern
  4. George Tavern — Time Out
  5. The Story of Saving The George Tavern — The George Tavern