London Southbank’s Spiritland is closing
Spiritland is closing its venue on the Southbank in central London, it has been announced.
The establishment, which opened at the Royal Festival Hall in 2018, is described as “a spacious restaurant and bar where classic American diner fare is served up alongside a lively music policy”.
Also part of the Spiritland series of spaces in the capital is a café and bar in Kings Cross and a Headphone Bar in Mayfair.
Taking to social media today (January 6), a spokesperson for the independent Southbank venue shared the “tough news” that it is “now closed”.
However, details of two special final shows for Spirtland Royal Festival Hall have been shared: The Black Keys will DJ a free party tomorrow night (January 7) before Pulp‘s Jarvis Cocker and Hot Chip‘s Alexis Taylor take to the decks next Friday (January 13).
Cocker and Taylor were the very first DJs to play at the venue on its opening night.
As for the reasons behind the closure, the statement explained: “We set out to build a pleasure palace for lovers of music and culture – a space for drinking and dining, dancing and conversation within Europe’s biggest arts centre.
“We would have loved to continue our mission there but the current conditions simply don’t allow it. Covid, Brexit, energy price rises and numerous other factors have made this difficult decision inevitable.”
The message continued: “We opened at the end of 2018, spent 2019 finding our people – then 2020 happened.
“Although Covid meant we were closed for nearly half of our four years there, we managed to do a lot in a short time – talks, supperclubs, aftershows, album playbacks and a lot of parties.”
It added: “Spiritland Royal Festival Hall has been the only independent venue in a sea of chains, the only place to offer a culturally aligned programme to the many Southbank arts venues and a place for Londoners and out-of-towners alike to eat, drink, dance and enjoy music in a beautiful setting.”
The statement went on to express “sincere thanks” to everyone who’s been involved with Spiritland on the Southbank, including “the diners, drinkers, dancers, DJs and all our collaborators”.
“Spiritland King’s Cross, the Spiritland Headphone Bar in Mayfair and Spiritland Productions continue to steam ahead with our mission of exploring and celebrating music and the culture that surrounds it,” the post confirmed.
Organisers said they hope to go out in “a blaze of glory” with the aforementioned pair of closing events. “Come and join us for one last dance,” they added.
“We’ll miss our beautiful home on the Southbank. We wanted to build a unique and credible addition to London’s cultural landscape – our journey will continue elsewhere and we’ll keep you posted about what’s next for us.”
You can purchase final release tickets for ‘The Last Dance’ with Jarvis Cocker and Alexis Taylor here.
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Tom Skinner
NME
