Cardiff's Millennium Music Hall Set To Close
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Friday, 27 May 2011 |
Written by Dave Ball
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Just over six months on from losing Barfly, Cardiff’s music scene is reeling after losing another of its local music venues with the announcement that Millennium Music Hall will shut its doors after the bank holiday weekend. A statement on the venues website read, "We are currently re-scheduling some of our events in June. This is due to issues relating to a planned move of premises. All tickets purchased will remain valid for any re-scheduled events."
With a capacity of around 800, the venue has hosted a number of high profile names since it’s opening in October 2009 including Faithless, Shaun Ryder, Super Furry Animals and BRIT award winner Tinie Tempah. Situated in a prime location as part of Millennium Plaza, an area purpose built next to the Millennium Stadium as an entertainment hub, all of the ingredients seem to be there for the venue to be a roaring success but it closes having lasted a little over 18 months.
Ironically the announcement comes only just after it was shortlisted in NME as one of the best grassroots music venues across Wales in a poll voted for by readers. It appears the site will now be converted into a restaurant.
The sudden announcement has left promoters scrambling to move events they had planned for the coming weeks (check www.milleniumhome.com for details). John Rostron said he was aware of plans to close but described the notice period as ‘ridiculous’.
Rostron went on to say that the benefits of the location were, “It’s central and a good price to hire’ while moving a gig to somewhere like Cardiff Bay’s The Coal Exchange, one of the few similar sized venues left in the city, would cost ‘at least another £1000”.
Meanwhile, Steve Francis, who runs the C-Y-N-T underground dance music promoters, described the decision as a “huge disappointment” before explaining the issues caused to his plans for one of the busiest weekends of the club year.
"We have had to completely cancel our bank holiday party on Sunday but have managed to re-arrange the others thanks only to the compassion shown from other venues who were willing to move other events around to accommodate us.”
"As Cardiff is not a city spoilt for choice for larger live gig venues, it is a real disappointment and we now have to seriously consider how we'll continue to provide the same high spec shows like we have done at the Millennium Music Hall."
The comments made about lack of venues and attracting artists to Wales is particularly poignant. In conversation with a performer last year who regularly tours the UK but has only twice performed in Wales during a twelve-year career, I was told that many promoters don’t see value for money in making the trip. As a solo artist who employs a band for live performances he said the costs of the extra days to travel “off course” and the difficulty finding suitable venues meant Wales is crossed off many lists as it’s easier to come down the UK without taking the detour into the Principality. Often Bristol’s venues such as Colston Hall and O2 Academy are the beneficiaries while Welsh fans are left with the option of travelling (and paying bridge tolls) or missing out on seeing their favourite artists live until they are big enough to play the soulless Motorpoint Arena (formerly CIA).
If you’re a music fan based in South Wales let us know what you think of this latest closure in our comments section below, along with recommendations of your favourite local music venues.
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