Millennium Mills — Dancing in the Street, London Docklands

Millennium Mills in Silvertown, in the East London Docklands, was the location used for the music video of 'Dancing in the Street', the 1985 charity single recorded by David Bowie and Mick Jagger for Live Aid. The video — filmed in a single day on 29 July 1985 at the derelict flour mill complex — shows Bowie and Jagger performing the song with exuberant, campy energy against the backdrop of the ruined industrial building. The video became one of the most watched of its era and was broadcast globally as part of the Live Aid concert coverage.

The choice of Millennium Mills as a location was partly practical — it was a large, unoccupied industrial space near central London that could be secured for a day of filming — and partly aesthetic: the ruined grandeur of the derelict mill provided a dramatic backdrop. Millennium Mills was built in the early twentieth century as part of the Royal Victoria Dock complex and had been a working flour mill for much of the century before falling derelict as the London docks declined. The building is a striking example of industrial architecture — enormous, constructed of reinforced concrete with distinctive tower elements.

Millennium Mills has been the subject of various redevelopment proposals over the decades and remains one of the most notable derelict industrial structures in London. It is now part of the Royal Docks development area and has been designated for conversion to mixed-use development. The building's exterior is visible from the Royal Victoria Dock waterfront and from the cable car that crosses the Thames at this point. The Bowie-Jagger video connection is part of its cultural significance.