Andy Preston

IT is a real rock’n’roll revival for a famous grassroots venue ready to make a comeback after being missing for more than a decade.

The 12 Bar Club in Denmark Street – the landmark street known as Tin Pan Alley – shut in 2015 as the St Giles area underwent massive redevelopment. It was known for giving performers their starting break and Someone Like You singer Adele had one of her first gigs there.

There were secret, intimate, gigs from big names and regular shows from gritty rock’n’roll bands. Fans said it was in the perfect location because of the street’s rich musical history as a guitar shop mecca and where record labels set up their offices.

Now a joint venture involving the club’s founder Andy Preston, music and gallery owners the Farsight Collective, US-based entertainment firm Legends, and Denmark Street managers Outernet, sees them working on a deal to bring the club back to life in its original spot.

Euan Johnston of Farsight told the Extra: “It has been in our minds for some time that we could all collaborate and bring the 12 Bar back. Then the Music Venue Trust bec­ame involved and there’s been a really positive response from the owners.”

Mr Johnston said the new 12 Bar, in a space in occasional use as a bar called The Lower Third and The Forge, would be part of a new “music eco-system” in the famous street.

It would be made up of four venues ranging from capacities of under 100 to 500 people. “We aim to help bring back the live music element to the stretch, a place for both new and established acts,” he said.

Under a section 106 agreement with Camden Council, signed in 2015, music businesses including the club believed they would have a right to return when building work by Soho developers Consolidated was completed.

But as work dragged on, no new lease was forthcoming for the 12 Bar.

At one point the developers attempted to open a club with the same name in the same place, but were forced to back down after 12 Bar owner Mr Preston took legal action to protect his intellectual property.

The opportunity for the revival of a historic name came about when the ownership of the redeveloped block was restructured.

Outernet, which manages the Denmark Street estate, signed a deal with American concert venue and entertainment brand Legends to work out the next steps for the venues, including an immersive neon-light-style screen attraction that greets people as they leave Tottenham Court Road station.

Mr Preston met Music Venue Trust founder Mark Davyd, a leading figure in the UK music industry, and Mr Davyd agreed the 12 Bar could be a beacon for a live music revival on the stretch.

Now a deal is set to be signed that would see the venue re-emerge in exactly the same spot as before.

Mr Preston said: “I met with Mark Davyd and he told me how the 12 Bar had inspired the Music Venue Trust and how he had helped try to get a section 106 to protect the street’s music businesses when the redevelopment was going through planning.

“The people at Legends met with the trust and understand the value of the name 12 Bar and what we achieved here. It is really exciting to think this wonderful venue is rising again.”

The new club would be partly managed alongside a gig space opposite, which has a capacity of 500.

Mr Preston said: “Denmark Street has always been about perfor­mance and recording as well as music shops – and providing a place for musicians to show their work and develop it.

“It is very exciting and it has taken a really long time and a lot of work  to keep the idea alive after closing all those years ago. It would be something wonderful to see the name back where it belongs.”

Mr Johnston added: “Everyone is aligned now and it can only be good news for the future of Tin Pan Alley.”