Last Dance Tunnel: beloved club to close in August
RIP: the Dalston venue will shut its doors for the last time in August
In a further blow to Hackney’s clubbing scene, Dalston venue Dance Tunnel has announced it is to shut its doors for good in August, with Hackney’s “licensing climate” cited as the reason for its closure.
The Kingsland High Street nightspot, which opened in 2012, posted a statement on Facebook that said: “We regret to announce that Dance Tunnel is to close its doors in August. Sadly the licensing climate in Hackney has made it impossible for us to get the hours we need to make Dance Tunnel sustainable in the long term.
A staple of East London’s dance music scene, Dance Tunnel last year played host to Four Tet, Ben UFO and Prosumer, among many other DJs and record labels from across the globe.
The statement continued: “We would like to sincerely apologise to all the Tunnel Dancers who we are letting down. We really tried to make it work.
“Thanks to all the artists, DJs, promoters and family members who have shared their favourite music and moments with us over the last three-and-a-bit years. Thanks to everyone who has made our basement such a special place. Sorry we never got round to fixing that slope on the dance floor.”
The exact reason the venue must close is unclear. The Hackney Citizen approached it for clarification but the staff declined to comment.
Sources in the music industry are speculating the venue was unable to extend its licence to run regularly until 4 or 5am, although this has been confirmed by neither the venue nor Hackney Council.
Events at Dance Tunnel usually close at 3am, although sometimes are allowed to run until 5am when Hackney Council grants permission through a ‘temporary event notice’.
Alan Miller, chairman of the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA), said: “Dance Tunnel helped put Dalston on the map. It is loved by many and for lots of different reasons: a fantastic night out, friendly people, great music, good curation – a taste of something that’s special.
In the three hours since Dance Tunnel’s statement was posted on Facebook, it had generated 1,300 likes and almost 300 comments, with fans commenting “such a shame,” “everything about that club was awesome,” and “much love to you guys, was a lovely home.”
‘Much love’
Dance Tunnel is following in the footsteps of former Hoxton venue Plastic People, which shut down in January last year, having hosted the likes of Four Tet, James Blake, Andrew Weatherall, Theo Parrish and Floating Points as residents. The owners did not explain why they were shutting, saying only ‘‘it felt right to move on.”
Last summer Hackney Council was slammed for proposing a borough-wide 12am-closing time for new bars, which it backed down from after a widespread campaign against the plans.
Mr Miller, NTIA Chairman, said it is important London venues are given the licences allowed by the 24-hour licensing act if it is to compete with other “global cities”.
“We live in a 24-hour society. London is a global city, competing with the likes of Barcelona, Berlin and New York. We supposedly have 24 hour licensing – but councillors and licensing committees haven’t caught up with that.
“In Hackney, London and across the UK we need to take note that if we make it too difficult for venues to run in a way you’d expect an international venue to then they won’t be able to operate. It’s very sad.
“It creates a special place where people can meet, get inspired, have fun, relax – all those things that are essential to life. People understand that in the context of galleries and theatres but not quite when it comes to bars and nightclubs.”
Hackney Council was approached for comment but had not responded at the time of publication.
This can only be seen as a good news story for residents who live in the area: perhaps they can now get a few more hours sleep, not be woken by drunken screams in the dead of night, and not wake to find vomit and piss in their front gardens. We, all, live here.
I bet you moved to the area because of its reputation for being lively and full of things to do and its apparently “cool” tag, but you’re bored of that now and want all the rowdy people to go away so you can enjoy you’re luxury neighbourhood carefree. Nobody can afford to live on Kingsland Rd anymore. You haven’t got a thing to complain about you utterly disgusting self obsessed idiot.
We have lived here long before as the Evening Standard put it; ‘The streets of Dalston are paved with kebab shops’ – luxury neighbourhood haha. Drunks shouting in the early hours of the morning isn’t ‘cool’. They’ll still be selling overpriced pizza slices upstairs and inconsiderate anti-social ‘fun’ people like you will be able to buy a cocktail there but it won’t help you with your housing problem. Dan Beuamont has had his free publicity for his cause – he will sell his licence and turn a profit and somebody else will move in. Truth is he one of the better licensees – it’s the lawyered up really bad ones who abuse the system those that encourage irresponsible ‘fun’ who are the real villans of the peace.
Remember when London had nightlife? That was a fun time wasn’t it.
I moved to the area in 1993 because of family connections. Hackney was ‘cool’ then, but now it is filling up rapidly with people like yourself who like to ‘bet’ and presume, with no evidence, about why people do things rather than consider they may have valid reasons …and throw in a few mild insults to make their argument seem more forceful. What a joke.
I’m glad the club shut. We, all, live here.
Good to see Hackney Council standing its ground against the bullying tactics and astroturfing campaigns of the bar owners organisations.
This is a small business which is definitely not making some kind of enormous profit like Costa Coffee or Telford Homes being driven out of business by a council policy. The idea the bars and clubs in hackney or anywhere in london are making some kind of super profit is utterly ridiculous if you spend more than two seconds thinking about the economics. How much do you think you take behind a bar in 150 capacity venue busy for 5 hours a few nights a week? Not much less staff costs, cleaning, TAX, the loan to set up and adhering to pointless nanny state licensing requirements. This is a bonkers licensing policy designed to create places in hackney for rich dull newcomers and support inflated property prices of which the council will be receiving a cut of the profits from deals it has struck with developers and chains. Clubs such as this are an essential part of the cultural life of the city, the djs they book form part of the whole reason people live in London and support our music industry which up until now is one of the few things the UK is actually good at and generates huge tax revenues for the country. The fact Hackney cant come up with a better solution for a big labour authority is appalling and embarrassing and shows how far labour is now just a puppet for big business the same as the tories. Hackney is completely enthral to developers and chains who can afford the lawyers and whose agenda is to clear out anything which may upset their profits from property deals and put off potential buyers for overpriced flats. This is what is driving their decisions, it is pure coincidence this fits with some locals views on what hackney/london should or should not be, sadly it is impossible to tell from a few comments who is in the minority or majority. I strongly suspect the silent majority in hackney and london is dismayed by this type or perverse decision making and watching london turn into a city size dismal world……
moved here 1989 couldnt agree more
do people think everyone moved in last week? hackney cool? costa brava urbana – stag and hen party paradise
Abso…bloody…lutely.