The UFO club opened on 23 December 1966 in Tottenham Court Road, London in an Irish dance hall called the Blarney Club. The founders, John (Hoppy) Hopkins and Joe Boyd, booked Pink Floyd as the house band. However as the band’s reputation grew so did their ability to attract bigger audiences and command higher fees. After 5 gigs the band moved on to be replaced by Soft Machine. The club itself grew in popularity and pressure from the police and the landlords forced the club to move to the Roundhouse in North London. The premises were considerably larger and unless a big name band was playing the club rarely made a profit and eventually folded in October 1967.