Jazz and folk 'institution' to close after 75 years

An Aberdeen music venue and bar which has been open for more than 75 years is set to close its doors.

The Blue Lamp, known as a hub for jazz, traditional and alternative music, will shut on 30 December.

The venue's operators said rising costs had reached a point where it was "simply no longer viable" to stay open.

The closure of the venue has been described as a "huge loss" by the city's music community.

In a post on social media, the owners of The Blue Lamp said the venue had "stood as an Aberdeen institution" since 1949.

Their statement said: "We have tried everything we can to keep The Blue Lamp's doors open, but the financial pressures - from energy to upkeep to general overheads - have grown beyond what we can sustain.

"Making this decision has been incredibly difficult, and it comes only after exhausting every other path available to us.

"It is not just a venue that's going; it's a chapter in Aberdeen's musical and social story."

The venue has been run by the Brown family since it was opened in 1949 by Neil Brown.

Its "big room" opened in the late 1980s and has since hosted thousands of concerts.

Musician Simon Gall has been performing and putting on gigs at the Blue Lamp for more than 20 years.

He told BBC Scotland News the closure was "potentially quite devastating" for the music scene in the city.

"It was a really vital piece of musical and cultural infrastructure of the city," he said.

"The venue was a sort of incubator for young musicians and musical talent but crucially also for audiences.

"It leaves Aberdeen massively impoverished in a musical and cultural sense."

The Blue Lamp is also the hub for the Aberdeen Jazz Festival, which is being held in March.

Jazz Scotland said the festival - and a regular Thursday night event - would continue and new venues were being sounded out.

Chairman Neil Gibbons said: "We will hope to find somewhere that has a different feel but is just as attractive in a different way, that is our hope."

Hundreds of people have reacted to the annoucement of the closure on social media.

Folk singer Iona Fyfe described the venue as a "total institution".

She said: "This is quite literally where I cut my teeth.

"I'd pester my parents to take me to the folk club on a Wednesday evening."

Nine-piece soul band Silver City Soul Revue said it would "leave a significant void".

Keyboard player Hamish Mackenzie told BBC Scotland News it was a "huge blow" to the city's jazz scene.

"I played there many times, it is always a fantastic atmosphere and a great crowd, it creates a special atmosphere for the audience and the performers," he said.

The venue operators said 30 December - its final day - would be a chance to "say goodbye properly".