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Salmon and Compass |
Party’s over for Latin beats bar
Town Hall urged to do more to stop Chapel Market ‘going down the pan’
THE Latin beats played loud and long last week but today, after more than 20 years as a music venue, the Salmon and Compass is silent.
The bar, in Penton Street, Chapel Market, opened its doors for the last time last Thursday for the party to end all parties.
Landlord of 10 years Chris Loizou decided to quit because he says Chapel Market is “going down the pan”. The bar will be transformed into a gastro-pub.
Mr Loizou said the area was full of independent businesses but that people were staying away in recent years because of the bad press it had received over crime.
“There are so many good things about Chapel Market,” he said. “It’s got a lot of good, independently run places – bars, restaurants, coffee shops. People always hear about the bad things. The past couple of years have been very hard because I’ve seen the area go down the pan. That’s why I’ve decided to leave. I just hope other businesses down there don’t go down the same route as us.”
He believes many of the area’s crime problems had their origins elsewhere. “A lot of things that have happened in Chapel Market didn’t start down there but we get the blame for it,” he said. “Businesses are all struggling. The council needs to support the market a lot more. They need to keep an eye on what units are rented to what businesses. There are a few operators down there who don’t know what they are doing and people come down here less and less.”
He believed the bistro and gastro-pub moving into his premises would be good for the area. “I want to make sure I rent it out to an operator who’s going to be good for the street when I’m gone,” he said.
“My family have had the business for a long time. It’s a shame to lose it. I’m disappointed I’m going. I’ve brought a lot of good people to the bar. It’s probably one of the best small independent music venues in London. The guys who have played here have travelled from all over the world.”
DJ Cal Jader has been running Movimientos film and music nights at the bar for nearly four years. He said: “It was a really good bar, which supported quality music. It had a great upstairs film room where we regularly showed alternative Latin American documentaries to a packed room.
“It’s a massive shame that it’s closing. It’s quite out of the way and that’s part of the charm. It’s tucked away in a corner of Islington.”
Last week’s closing party – a Movimientos night – included a screening of a documentary about a “dirty war” against dissidents in Mexico.
Cal Jader added: “It’s hard to find venues where they will be flexible and support your night. All the big Latin American DJs have come through the venue. We’re the only place which plays alternative Latin music.”
Kalabash, another night run by Cal Jader, brought an influx of established and acclaimed live acts to the club, in a celebration of African culture which focused on a different nation each time. |
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