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Union Chapel Closes

Fans of gigs in dank, sweaty black boxes had reason to rejoice this week with the announcement that after 13 years as an internationally renowned venue, Islington’s Union Chapel will close its doors to London’s concert goers at the end of January. Many of the capital’s discerning punters will no longer be obliged to marvel at the stunning 19th century architecture and wonderful acoustics of this Grade II listed building, and can instead reclaim the joys of squinting at their favourite artist through the stink-haze in some scummy basement sinkhole somewhere.

There is much controversy over the exact reasons for the closure, but the whole heart warming saga can essentially be understood as a breakdown in the relationship between the Union Chapel Project and the church membership. The UCP say that the church’s decision to ban the consumption of alcohol in the main performance area with immediate effect places an insurmountable financial handicap on their ability to run the project. They say it is the “final straw” in a 12-month battle for survival, but really it is just the inevitable consequence of the UCP’s insistence on hosting gigs by such notorious hell-raisers as Tori Amos and Ravi Shankar. The church has been totally awesome, and this is yet another example of organised religion being just super-duper. For more evidence of the church’s coolness you need only look to new Pastor Mark Shelton’s landslide 7 to 6 victory in a recent vote of confidence in December.

Perhaps the new year will bring further good news in the form of the closures of other memorable and aesthetically arresting live venues, such as Bush Hall or Somerset House, and we can all relax and continue to pay through the nose for the privilege of being manhandled at the Mean Fiddler or some other delightful piss-cube. Who knows? Until then, let us take comfort in this uplifting tale, with its message of not so much love thy neighbour as love thy Residents Association. CM

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Union chapel closes