Much-loved Bath venue Moles to close immediately after 45 years as cost of living crisis continues to bite
· louderBy Fraser Lewry
published 5 December 2023
Owners of Bath Moles file for insolvency and appeal for industry help to stave off grassroots sector collapse
The much-loved Moles Club in Bath has shut its doors with immediate effect, after its owners filed for insolvency. The venue, which opened in 1977, has played host to early shows by the likes of Oasis, Radiohead, The Cure, Manic Street Preachers, The Smiths, Blur, Pulp and Supergrass.
"Making the decision to close Moles was horrendous, but the cost-of-living crisis has crippled us," says co-owner Tom Maddicott. "Massively increased costs of stock, utilities and rent compounded by our customers also feeling the impact of the crisis has made it impossible to continue."
"It’s obviously an incredibly difficult decision to have to take, for our team, the staff, the local community, and the artists that over the years have created such an incredible history of music.
"But the reality is that live music at grassroots level is no longer economically viable and we will not be the only grassroots music venue forced to close. There needs to be a major shake-up of the live industry with the big players supporting the grassroots where it all begins to secure that pipeline of talent.
"Football gets it with the Premier League investing millions in the grassroots game each year to bring through new players. The music industry needs to do the same before the entire grassroots sector collapses."
Moles also operated as a recording studio, with artists including Robert Plant, Portishead, Spiritualized, Björk, Elbow and Biffy Clyro using the facilities to record or mix studio material, while Supergrass, The Primitives and the Trash Can Sinatras recorded live albums at the club.
The Music Venue Trust – the organisation which which lobbies to protect UK grassroots music venues – has released a statement regarding the closure of Moles.
"Today is a very sad day for our sector," says CEO and founder Mark Davyd. "Grassroots Music Venues like Moles – one of the best loved and most efficiently run venues in the country for almost 45 years - have done everything they can to keep afloat, investing every penny they can into trying to fulfil their commitment to live music.
"Venues like these all over the country are going out of business, whilst helping nurture the artists that will go on to generate millions for the broader music industry. Put bluntly, they have been badly let down by those who profit from their efforts. Unless it gets serious about its responsibilities to encourage, nurture and develop the grassroots live sector the music industry as a whole will face a catastrophic failure of artist development.
"In France all major live music events are required to pay 3.5% of each ticket sale into a fund to support grassroots artists and venues. We have today written to the government and to opposition parties to insist that, in the event that the music industry will not act voluntarily, a compulsory levy on every ticket sold for every live music event above 5,000 capacity that takes place in the UK must be introduced by legislation to prevent the devastation of the sector."
In September the Trust revealed that 125 UK venues had closed over the previous 12 months, representing 15.7% of all such spaces in the country.
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Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 37 years in music industry, online for 24. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.
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