Throughout the United Kingdom, in most towns and cities, you will find a bingo hall. Many are new, and are built to specification on retail parks and the outskirts of towns. Yet others are grand, art deco buildings. Built as cinemas, they often have changed function over the years, going from music venues to bingo halls and back again. One of these is The Globe in Stockton.
The Stockton Globe in the Early Days
The Globe in Stockton on Tees is a real riches, rags, and back-to-riches story. Built-in 1913, it followed the path many of these old halls do. Opening as Art Deco cinemas in burgeoning industrial towns, they lost purpose when television was invented and the heyday of cinema was over. From the fifties to the seventies many of them switched to live music venues, as did The Globe.
The most famous bands to play there were The Beatles. At the height of their fame, they brought Beatlemania to the town, complete with screaming fans and police cordons.
Another musician who graced the stage was Davy Jones with his band the Lower 3rd. Quite a few people may have missed this one, with what seemed quite a standard 1960s beat combo. However, the frontman would go on to bigger and better things after his December 1964 gig by the name of David Bowie. This was quite the burgeoning lineup, with The Kinks and Gene Pitney all sharing the same stage. The last rock band from this era to play the Globe were Status Quo, who took to the stage in 1974.
The Bingo Hall Era
The Globe in Stockton on Tees is a real riches, rags, and back-to-riches story. Built-in 1913, it followed the path many of these old halls do. Opening as Art Deco cinemas in burgeoning industrial towns, they lost purpose when television was invented and the heyday of cinema was over. From the fifties to the seventies many of them switched to live music venues, as did The Globe.
The most famous bands to play there were The Beatles. At the height of their fame, they brought Beatlemania to the town, complete with screaming fans and police cordons.
Another musician who graced the stage was Davy Jones with his band the Lower 3rd. Quite a few people may have missed this one, with what seemed quite a standard 1960s beat combo. However, the frontman would go on to bigger and better things after his December 1964 gig by the name of David Bowie. This was quite the burgeoning lineup, with The Kinks and Gene Pitney all sharing the same stage. The last rock band from this era to play the Globe were Status Quo, who took to the stage in 1974.
The Bingo Hall Era
It then became a bingo hall, as did many of these buildings at that time. This was the first major wave of popularity in the pastime, where halls became a centre for the community who had disposable income to entertain themselves.
This pastime would become ingrained in British culture, and today many people still play bingo in halls and online. Recently, popular live bingo games like Double Bubble, Odds & Evens and 1&2 To Go Bingo have emerged as the bridge between the two for their ability to recreate the audience interactivity of a land-based hall while letting people play from the comfort of their homes. This has in turn increased footfall in real bingo halls today.
However, this format was not around in the mid-nineties when visitors to the town centre were depleted, and the building was then locked away in 1997.
The Rebirth
Luckily, the original interior of the building was quite intact. After many plans to reopen, £27.9 million of investment saw it open its doors in 2021. Since then it has hosted some extreme heavyweights of rock. Classic bands like 10CC have played there, and former punks like Paul Weller. However, the biggest group to come to this small town was Queens of the Stone Age.
With live music making such a comeback, The Globe is a standard-bearer for many other similar venues. With investment, they can bring top acts even to small towns. This also provides a huge benefit to the local economy.
This pastime would become ingrained in British culture, and today many people still play bingo in halls and online. Recently, popular live bingo games like Double Bubble, Odds & Evens and 1&2 To Go Bingo have emerged as the bridge between the two for their ability to recreate the audience interactivity of a land-based hall while letting people play from the comfort of their homes. This has in turn increased footfall in real bingo halls today.
However, this format was not around in the mid-nineties when visitors to the town centre were depleted, and the building was then locked away in 1997.
The Rebirth
Luckily, the original interior of the building was quite intact. After many plans to reopen, £27.9 million of investment saw it open its doors in 2021. Since then it has hosted some extreme heavyweights of rock. Classic bands like 10CC have played there, and former punks like Paul Weller. However, the biggest group to come to this small town was Queens of the Stone Age.
With live music making such a comeback, The Globe is a standard-bearer for many other similar venues. With investment, they can bring top acts even to small towns. This also provides a huge benefit to the local economy.
