City centre music venue faces closure after ‘an unforgettable journey’

Visitors and performers have shared that they are ‘truly gutted’ about the closure

A popular city centre music venue has announced it’s upcoming closure after four years of business. The Six Six Bar in Cambridge has announced that “after an unforgettable journey” their “time has come” to “close this chapter at 170 East Road”.

An official date has not yet been decided for the closure but the venue said they are working closely with Music Venue Trust and Stonegate to confirm the date.

In a statement announcing the upcoming closure, the music venue wrote: “What was built here was never just a bar or a music venue. The Six Six became a home for music, for misfits, for artists finding their voice, and for a community that showed up night after night and turned four walls into something far bigger than any of us imagined. And we walk away incredibly proud of what this venue achieved.”

In just four years, the independent venue and rock bar built a reputation “far beyond Cambridge“, it said. The venue worked with artists, agents and creatives from Nashville, Los Angeles, New York, Canada, Australia, Europe and Asia.

The statement adds: “Like many independent venues, we faced relentless pressure behind the scenes. Rising operational costs. Increasing supplier prices. Energy costs. Licensing costs. A hospitality industry becoming harder and harder for independents to survive within.”

A realistic weekly breakeven point for The Six Six adds up to roughly £8,300–£9,300 before profit equalling to four sold out shows a week, according to the venue. They added: “We could have continued we had a large financial package ready to implement if we decided to continue.

“This is not a collapse. This is not us being forced out. This is not the story some people hoped it would become. This is a conscious decision to evolve, move forward and build something new and exciting from everything we’ve learned and experienced over the last four years.”

The owner of the venue, Adam, said that the team are already exploring future events, touring concepts, collaborations and new projects. He said: “This isn’t the end of the story. It’s the end of one chapter in Cambridge.”

Adam feels as though what is “forcing” venues like theirs into “impossible positions” is the “wider economic climate in the UK”. He added: “The cost of operating independent venues has become unsustainable.”

Since announcing the closure on Wednesday, May 27 on social media, the post has received more than 70 comments in response. One person wrote: “Sad to see such an amazing venue go, after all that you put into it. Excited to see where your next venture takes you.”

Another commented: “Truly gutted to read this post, The Six Six has been an amazing venue to perform at, each and every time.”

Since the announcement, the team at the venue have launched a Go Fund Me to keep the establishment going for longer. The Six Six said that the fundraiser is “not about begging for sympathy” but giving them the “chance to exit properly, responsibly and with dignity while buying a little more time to continue doing what [they] love for as long as possible”.

The venue was formally known as The Boat Race, which saw a number of well-known acts perform there. Among them were Snow Patrol, Placebo and one of its most famous acts, who performed there in the 1990s, were Britpop legends, Oasis.

A spokesperson for Music Venue Trust said they are “saddened by the loss of another beloved grassroots venue”. The spokesperson added: “For four years, and in the face of significant pressures faced across the sector, the team behind Six Six have been dedicated to supporting grassroots music in Cambridge. The venue has platformed local, national and internationally touring artists alike, while providing a space for a community to thrive around the music.“MVT supports the Six Six team’s decision to step away from the venue in the interests of their wellbeing. Running a grassroots music venue is a job which demands a great deal from operators. We wish Adam and his staff all the best for the future and hope they enjoy their well-earned break.”