KOKO (previously called The Music Machine and Camden Palace) is a concert venue and former theatre in Camden Town, London, England. The building was known as Camden Palace from 1982 until its 2004 purchase and extensive restoration, led by Oliver Bengough and Mint Entertainment. Since, the club has been known as KOKO and is one of the premier live music venues in London. On the evening of 6 January 2020, a large fire broke out in the building. History 1900–1945: Theatre and cinema The Camden Theatre opened on Boxing Day 1900. With a capacity of 2,434 it was one of the largest theatres in London outside the West End. The theatre was designed by the prolific theatre architect W. G. R. Sprague. Ellen Terry opened the theatre, then the most celebrated actress in England, who had lived in nearby Stanhope Street as a child. The St Pancras Gazette, a local newspaper, commented as follows in a review of the theatre's production of an opera called The Geisha in 1901: On 6 December 1909 it reopened as a variety theatre and became the Camden Hippodrome Theatre. By 1911 films were being presented as part of the variety programme and in January 1913 it became a cinema known as the Camden Hippodrome Picture Theatre. In January 1928, the theatre was bought by the Gaumont British cinema circuit. 1945–1972: BBC studio Closed during World War II, it outlived many similar buildings, including Camden Town's other theatre, the Bedford Theatre, because the BBC took it over to be used a radio and recording studio in 1945. They continued to use the former theatre until the early 1970s. Among the first weekly series to be broadcast live from here was The Richard Tauber Programme, from 1945–47. Later recorded at the theatre were The Goon Show and the first Monty Python's Flying Circus album (2 May 1970). After the BBC left in 1972, the building remained empty for a number of years. It was even the subject of demolition proposals until it was Grade II architecturally listed in late 1972. 1977–1982: The Music Machine However, in 1977 it re-opened as a live music venue named The Music Machine. The venue was the central location for the 1979 Disco Dance film The Music Machine. The venue was particularly popular with new wave and punk bands, hosting concerts by groups including The Boomtown Rats, The Clash, and The