Our debut event was the launch of the International Times. Guest writer Harry Mason explores the publication and why the Roundhouse was the perfect venue for its launch.

When the Roundhouse first opened its doors on 15 October 15 1966, it didn’t begin with a concert or festival. Gigs from Bob Dylan and the Stones would come later, but for its debut the Roundhouse opted for the launch of underground magazine the International Times.
It was a bold choice, but one that was carried out with aplomb. The Roundhouse played host to an all-night rave billed as a ‘pop-op-costume-masque-drag ball’, with guests invited to ‘bring their own poison’. It was an opulent and provocative night, playing host to screenings, readings and mysterious ‘happenings’, not to mention performances from Soft Machine and a fledgling Pink Floyd. It was a fitting choice, however, with the Roundhouse and International Times going on to become two pillars of a British cultural revolution.
The IT, as it was dubbed, became emblematic of changes in music, film, writing and thinking that were occurring at the time. One early article was directed at ‘Crazy Dirty Rotten Beat Tea-Head Commie Rats’. Clearly, challenging the dominant narratives of the mainstream media didn’t originate with the internet age. The proto-punk IT was determined to up-end what was expected of the British press, printing art, poetry and polemics that still have the power to shock.
DISCOVER
2000s 1990s Counterculture 1980s Now 1960s 1970s London history Partnerships
MORE FROM OPENING NIGHT: 15 OCTOBER 1966