Here's why local musicians say London needs its smaller venues, now more than ever

Local musicians and the owner of a closing bar in London's Old East Village say the city needs to do more to support small venues for local and touring acts. 

Jim Ferreira opened the Old East 765 Bar & Grill in 2016. His goal, he says, was to host a space that could be branded as London's most diverse entertainment venue. 

During its six-year run, the bar welcomed performers of every genre to its stage, regardless of skill and talent level. An average week roster would see karaoke, comedy, open jams, hip-hop acts and drag shows depending on the night. 

But the variety couldn't hold up against years of roadside construction coupled with a pandemic. The final blow to business landed when the building was sold to a property development company. After bidding farewell to its patrons with a showcase of 25 bands last weekend, Old East 765 locks its doors forever this Sunday at 11:59 p.m. 

Looking ahead, Ferreira said he worries the loss of the bar only adds to a widening gap in London's independent music scene. 

"The community needs to come together to support venues that support live music and live entertainment, regardless of genre, more now than ever," said Ferreira. 

"If you look at the last 10 years in London, we've been awarded so much on such great scales of hosting the Country Music Awards, hosting the Junos and so much entertainment nationally at the major level. The sad thing is that's not happening at the smaller capacity…there needs to be more done." 

The bar is the latest in a growing list of smaller venues with a capacity of 200 to 400 people to shutter its doors in London. Last year, the iconic Call the Office Bar & Nightclub closed due to what owner Darren Quinn described as shrinking profit margins. 

In July, the London Music Club on Colborne Street was sold and closed as well. 

Veterans of the local live music scene may also recall bars like the Black Shire Pub, Alex P. Keaton, APK Live, Salt Lounge and Honest Lawyer, whose closing dates range from the early 2000s to 2010s. 

Some area musicians say this makes for a difficult climate to build a homegrown following. 

"Trying to book any sort of headline show or show that you put a few artists together is tough, because there's no space," said indie-pop artist Ben Heffernan, who has been performing in London for over a decade. 

"There are some really great venues - Rumrunners, Aeolian Hall - but they're at 300 to 400 capacity," said Heffernan. "For somebody like me who might draw a crowd of my own of maybe a hundred, plus another person, and together we draw 200, there's not really a lot of options for that kind of thing, and it seems like the few options that did exist have closed."

For musicians like Heffernan, there are perks to smaller-sized venues. It can be advantageous to promote a show with limited tickets, and packing a small room goes a long way to developing an audience-artist relationship for music of all genres, including the city's growing Hip-Hop scene.