In 2016, the historic nightclub and concert venue Passing Clouds was unceremoniously shut down after ten years. Fabric almost suffered a similar fate. According to the Mayor’s office, over the past five years the number of nightclubs across all of London’s 33 local authorities has decreased by fifty percent.

Last Night is a boundary-pushing spoken word and music experience from the critically-acclaimed band Benin City, produced by cross-artform company nabokov. Featuring the original music from Benin City’s second album, Last Night is performed live alongside poetry and audio interviews from London dwellers – DJs, property developers, barmen, and of course, the ravers. The album Last Night presents a rhythmic, brass-flavoured snapshot of the city’s fading scene.

London’s nightlife is disappearing, and Last Night is the story of those who experienced it, in their words and their music.

Named after a Nigerian Capital, Benin City is Joshua Idehen, Tom Leaper and Shanaz Dorsett. They bonded over their love of James Blake, John Barry and Metronomy. Together, they crafted the critically acclaimed Fires In The Park. Shanaz came on board, first as a featured artist but became a full member of the band not long after. Benin City has gained support and praise from Huw Stephens (BBC), Portugal The Man, John Kennedy (Radio X) and Tom Robinson. Last Night their second album, due to be released by Moshi Moshi, combines their genre-bending musicality with an ambitious live interpretation combining spoken word, interviews, and immersive theatre. After selling out its inaugural 2017 show at the Roundhouse, receiving high praise from several theatre outlets, Benin City is looking to take their show across the UK and beyond in 2018, including a forthcoming performance at SXSW in Austin, Texas.

nabokov are a cross-artform organisation working with music, theatre, spoken word and film to tell urgent and contemporary stories. They are dedicated to reinventing the form of theatre to reflect the diverse voices and experiences of our time. nabokov have a 17-year history of discovering, developing and producing exciting artists with a focus on creating inclusive environments where we can celebrate and share stories together. The organisation have recently working with Latitude Festival, National Theatre, Roundhouse and Brighton Dome & Festival and Eat Your Own Ears.