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Business News Live Business
Finsbury Park venue faces closure
By Chris Cooke | Published on Thursday 16 June 2016
London is set to lose another grassroots music venue after the property currently run by The Silver Bullet in Finsbury Park was bought by the Goodman Restaurant Group. Attempts by supporters of the existing venue to raise enough money to buy the lease on the property have so far been unsuccessful.
Noting the role it played in launching the career of John Newman, as well as their championing of lots of other artists, co-manager of the North London cultural space Anna Naylor told London 24: “The Silver Bullet is more than just a venue. It’s a cultural and community hub; an integral part of London’s live music scene. The Silver Bullet is a place where small bands can expect packed out dancefloors, and where big name acts enjoy the rare magic of an intimate gig”.
The Goodman Restaurant Group denies it has plans to turn the property it’s acquired into a restaurant, with Operations Director Dave Strauss saying “it was a very public sale which was never confidential and the lease says that it can only be a bar”. He added: “I have no desire to open a restaurant there. It will be a late-night bar for people who finish work late”. Though no talk of live music there, you might note.
Numerous grassroots music venues have closed, in London and across the UK, in recent years of course, some due to licensing issues, others because of economic challenges, and others because of a change in ownership of the buildings they occupy. It’s not clear if the team behind The Silver Bullet have any ambitions or plans to continue staging gigs elsewhere in the Finsbury Park area.
Though we do know that one thing Finsbury Park will be getting this summer is a Wireless festival, after a court recently declined to overturn the local council’s decision to grant the Live Nation event a licence for its 2016 edition. It was residents group The Friends Of Finsbury Park that took the matter to judicial review, and they have already vowed to appeal the decision.
