The Crobar is halfway to their crowdfunding target, and you can still help.
When London fell silent as the first lockdown hit in March, few areas went from bustling to quiet as dramatically as Soho. The area’s mix of brilliant restaurants, packed nightclubs, and top music venues meant it was always likely to be one of the hardest hit areas, as one of London’s busiest areas went dark. Let’s be honest, responsible for about 30% of Soho’s noise is cult metal bar The Crobar, a site of pilgrimage for any metalhead worth their stripes. Sadly, the bar closed back in June, forced out by a combination of the pandemic and landlords – but rock n’ roll never dies, and neither, it appears, does The Crobar.
The bar has been crowdfunding to reopen since October, with the aim of raising £95,000 (and getting a bank loan) in order to open a new site for the famed rock haven. The plan, per the crowdfunder, is to find a bigger site to house The Crobar – including a separate live music venue, a better-shaped bar, and “more than three toilets” – whilst still remaining in Soho. It’s not just personal for owner Richard though, as he’s stated his aim to “give our regular customers back their office, social club, meeting room, and rock n’ roll hangout”.
Currently, fans of The Crobar have rustled up £42,000 in funding, with the average donation being around £80. Big name fans of the bar have stepped up to help, too, with Dave Grohl donating his drum cymbal to a raffle last autumn, which helped raise £20,000 to pay the newly-unemployed bar staff. Rewards for donating this time around include t-shirts, Crobar-branded lighters, and the last bottle of Crobar whiskey – plus, every supporter will have their name displayed on a wall of thanks in the new venue.
Meanwhile, The Crobar has also been featured in a new documentary called ‘Music When the Lights Go Out’. Made by filmmakers Lucy Brown and Andrew Wildey, and joined by Soho community activist Paul Atherton, the documentary invited people to share videos, photos, and memories of their time at The Crobar, creating a film that celebrates Soho’s past whilst also looking forward to the future of the music scene. You can catch the trailer here, and the film will premiere on January 27 on YouTube.
If the fundraiser goes well, The Crobar hope to open on a new site in late 2021, but they’ll still need your help to get there. You can pitch into the fundraiser here, and hopefully we’ll have Soho’s favourite rock bar back before the year is out!
Also published on Medium.