|
There was heightened speculation this week that problems at O2 superclub Matter might bring down its sister club Fabric. Bosses at Matter announced last week that the club would close for the summer months, pretty much with immediate effect, despite some nights already being booked in for June. And while the statement said details of an autumn relaunch would follow, there has been wide speculation that this was the club under the Dome shutting for good. It was initially thought that Matter's sister venue, the much longer established Fabric, would not be affected by problems over at the Dome, but speculation has risen in the last 24 hours that this might not be the case. Fabric has long been regarded one of London's very best quality clubbing venues.
Redundancies
The rumours seem to be based on a number of redundancies that took place at the Fabric Company earlier this week, all immediate, and many reportedly, according to a number of sources, affecting people who worked on the main Fabric venue and the spin-off record label, as well as those directly concerned with Matter. It is thought that Fabric's owners pumped millions into Matter, creating an incredibly impressive clubbing space and booking some major league DJ talent. But, despite a generally positive reaction by DJs and clubbers alike to the new venue, it has struggled to pull in sufficiently large crowds, mainly because of location issues. Acts have been booked until early July. Despite the credentials of its Farringdon sister club Fabric, and a good programme of club nights, Matter has seemingly struggled, partly because of the location of the Dome, which is hard to get to and from late at night once the Jubilee Line closes. According to Music Week, Matter made a million pound loss in year one and the company who runs it has £3 million worth of creditors. AEG blow It will be a blow for Dome operators AEG if it Matter fails to reopen. While the Arena part of the O2 does very well when the right acts are booked in, not all the periphery facilities have enjoyed the same level of success. Not the entire outer rim of the Dome is even in use yet, and originally there were plans to open a theatre and other venues alongside the main arena, though if some of those already open are struggling to make ends meet, AEG may not find partners willing to come on board to run periphery venues. However, it should be noted, the Dome's public transport issues are most problematic for late night entertainment facilities like Matter. Additional reporting by CMU Network
|
