In news that strongly suggests that someone hates Edinburgh’s indie music fans, the Bongo Club is the latest venue to fall under threat of closure, or at last be forced to relocate from its current premises on Holyrood Road.
This of course follows a long line of music venues including The Roxy Art House, The Forest, The Big Red Door, and Cabaret Voltaire, the first three of which have already closed their doors. (We could extend the list back a few years to the Venue, Tap, Attic, Cas Rock, Belle Angelle, Subway etc but we’d be here all night).
Edinburgh University, which owns the building that the Bongo Club is located in, plans to sell the premises, giving Out of the Blue (the arts trust behind the Bongo) seven months to find new premises (or convince its landlords to come up with a solution – the preferred option being to simply reverse the notice to quit.
The club has placed a statement on its website which contains a quote from Edinburgh University’s Rector Iain Macwhirter who says: “I cannot believe that it is beyond the wit of Edinburgh University to find some accommodation for this highly successful and groundbreaking community venture.”
More at http://www.thebongoclub.co.uk

For anyone not all petitioned out already (what with the battering that radio is also taking at the moment), visit the petition site to put pressure on University management to find a solution.

(the pic is of Stanley Odd at the recent Bongo Club leg of Detour’s Wee Jaunt, in case you couldn’t tell…)