T Bar to charge for entry from 2010

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    Thu, Dec 3, 2009, 12:06
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    Resident Advisor
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  • As of the New Year, the London venue will introduce entry fees on their Friday and Saturday nights, with Thursday and Sunday remaining free.
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  • London's T Bar venue have announced that they are set to charge an entry fee to the club on Friday and Saturday nights. The changes to the door policy don't occur until the start of 2010, giving clubbers plenty of opportunities to attend the club while entry remains free of charge. Speaking of which, on Wednesday 9th December they'll be kicking off their 12 Days Of T Bar series, which was introduced last year by the club's programming director, Derren Smart. The concept is fairly simple, with some of the electronic music scene's hottest DJs stopping by to play sets for twelve consecutive days before the T Bar takes its Christmas break. Andrew Weatherall, Ivan Smagghe, Dan Ghenacia, Danton Eeprom, Trus'me, Jennifer Cardini, Melon, MJ Cole, Ralph Lawson and Wolf + Lamb will all pass through the Houndsditch venue's doors throughout the period, but there are two nights in particular that are specifically worthy of your attention. Poland Street's emporium of vinyl, Phonica, is celebrating six years of operation on December 12th with Dutch tech-housers Lauhaus and David Labeij, while High Horse's final party of the year on December 18th will see Steffi and Tama Sumo pile on the female pressure Panorama Bar style. To find out more about the T Bar's decision to charge for entry on Fridays and Saturdays, we had a few words with T Bar's managing director, Jaime Ritchie.
    How have things been going at the new Houndsditch space in general? Generally things have been going well. The feedback to the new space since we have opened has been unanimously positive. It has provided us with the ability to stay open later, play louder and focus on our club proposition whereas in the old venue we hovered somewhere between a bar and a club. The new space has most definitely positioned T Bar as a club. Why have you decided to start charging for entry on Fridays/Saturdays? It's a combination of reasons. From our inception, everyone involved with T Bar from myself, T Bar's programming director, Derren Smart, the DJs, staff and promoters have been passionate about free clubbing and have fought over the years to keep this possible. It was always our intention for this to carry on when we moved to the new venue. However, we are now a destination venue, open later and are amidst a time where both the clubbing and economic culture has dramatically changed and it is no longer feasible for us to continue without a door charge. Does this mean expanded line-ups on the weekends? Yes, our line-ups will be expanded and we will take advantage of both rooms. You’ll be staying open later as well, right? Up until now we have opened until 4am, but in the New Year we envisage utilising our 6am license on Fridays and Saturdays. Will this be a permanent arrangement, or are you ideally going to revert back to it being free at a later date? In general it will be a permanent arrangement. However, we will aim to bring in some one-off free events, and at this point Thursdays and Sundays will remain free of charge.










RA