Gerry Cottle Jr raises roof with new ‘Cine-Gigs’ series

Gerry Cottle Jr on the roof of Netil House where the 'cine-gigs' will be screened. Photograph: Gabriel Gauffre

Among the many innovations first debuted in London, the rooftop gig is one of the more improbable.

Ever since the Beatles surprised fans with a performance in Savile Row in 1969, the idea of the gig in the sky has inspired a host of imitators, from the Simpsons to U2. Sadly, it didn’t prevent the Fab Four disintegrating, but did succeed in capturing the public’s imagination.

Now the Rooftop Film Club, the outfit behind the pop-up cinemas that have sprouted in Dalston, Shoreditch and Peckham in recent years, is taking the concept – in celluloid form at least – and shifting it eastwards.

June saw the opening night of the company’s first ‘Cine-Gig’ at the latest venue in its roster, the newly-opened rooftop of Netil House near Broadway Market. The headline act was an open air screening of Queen’s seminal 1986 performance at Wembley. Over the course of the summer, the company will be screening a star-filled line up of classic concert films.

According to Rooftop Film Club director and Hackney resident Gerry Cottle Jr. cine-gigs are the next big project the company is focusing on.

To distinguish the concerts from standard film screenings, chairs aren’t automatically provided. Instead, fans will be able to stand as close to the ‘stage’ as they like, mingle with their friends and visit the bar, much as they would at a real concert.

“We’re aiming to recreate the concert atmosphere, where you’re standing with a beer in your hand, immersed in the music,” Cottle explains. “It’s a cinema screen but with a gig atmosphere.”

As with other Rooftop Film Club screenings, each visitor receives a pair of wireless headphones. Rather than detracting from the experience, these will enhance the atmosphere, suggests Cottle. “You lose your inhibitions. You find yourself singing – loud! – because you know the person next to you isn’t listening.”

Taken at face value, the Cine-Gig sounds like an odd concept: a group of music fans belting out stadium rock classics on rooftop just off Mare Street. But this doesn’t account for the quirky appeal of the rooftop film format. As Cottle notes, pop-up cinema continues to lure crowds, despite opposition from Netflix, multiplexes and the British weather, because it provides a unique, one-off occasion that the audience can share.

Cottle admits it’s this desire to deliver memorable experiences that keeps him motivated. The son of legendary circus owner Gerry Cottle, he recalls being at one of his dad’s shows as a boy and noticing that his gaze was fixed intently on the audience’s reactions rather than the show itself. Putting on spectacular events is in his blood.

Cine-Gigs are certainly an inspired idea. The Beatles may not have lasted long after their pioneering rooftop performance, but half a century later Netil House may be the site of a revival in the genre’s fortunes.