The Moon in Cardiff closes down: “Grassroots music venues need constant support”

The Moon in Cardiff has announced its closure with immediate effect.

• READ MORE: UK grassroots venues suffering from “the complete collapse of touring” without help

The 140-capacity venue, located on the iconic Womanby Street near beloved venues Clwb Ifor Bach and Fuel, said on its Instagram account that they have handed back the keys to their landlord and published an extended statement about its closure on its website.

“Despite our best efforts to keep going during the past few years, the burden of a cost of living crisis and the mounting costs of running a business where survival always runs on a knife edge have proven too difficult for us to continue,” the statement began. “Every time we think we’ve overcome a hurdle, another 5 appear and there are so many factors involved, not one particular reason but dozens. We’ve fought so hard and are so proud that we’ve kept The Moon alive for this long, especially during the most difficult times that no-one could have predicted back when we reopened the space in 2017.

“We cannot thank you enough for helping us through the years, for helping us to re-open the venue in 2017, for coming to us week in and week out, for getting us through the good times and the bad, for supporting us when we were closed in 2020-21 during the pandemic and coming back in droves again after that time. We loved the diversity of our audiences and musicians who walked through our doors and will take so many happy memories forward of brilliant and life changing nights.

“Thank you to our brilliant staff throughout the years who have worked tirelessly on the bar, behind the sound desk and DJ decks, security team keeping us safe, flyerers getting people through the doors, and the hard working bands and promoters putting the gigs on – we wouldn’t have survived so long without you putting your all into it, night after night. You made The Moon and we will always be grateful.

“We’d like to say a huge thank you to the entire music community around us, it has honestly been the best time of our lives, and we have thousands of great memories. From the thrill of booking exciting bands who go on to bigger things, to hosting events that couldn’t find a home, artists who were getting overlooked or brand new first timers, to proudly adding CARDIFF to that tour poster. All the friendships made, relationships built, people who got engaged, married, celebrated, remembered. Having the best parties, discovering the best music.

“Womanby Street is losing a vital part of its live music heart, but we firmly believe that Cardiff is getting exciting again and has so much potential, so much to offer. Please don’t think the answer is simply to replace us quickly and hike up the number of small venues. We don’t need too many small venues all doing the same thing, we need great quality venues that are supported, celebrated, protected and USED. Venues that create legacies, bringing people together for years to come, full to the brim with events and audiences, a wide spectrum of genres and events, affordable, accessible and inclusive.

“We are gutted that we weren’t able to carry out all our plans we had, do something about the toilets, stage height, backstage area, redo the decor, furniture, artist murals, fix basically everything all over again and expand into all sorts of exciting adventures.”

The statement then turned attention to the troubling wider landscape grassroots venues are facing right now, where on average, two venues are closing every week. The UK touring circuit across the UK’s grassroots music scene is said to be facing “complete collapse” without urgent help, particularly after the recent budget announcement bringing warnings that £7million in new premises taxes will place over 350 grassroots music venues at immediate risk of closure. To add to the “unprecedented crisis”, it was revealed in September that the UK has lost 480 nightclubs between June 2020 to June 2024, with 65 closing just this year.

“Grassroots music venues need constant support, and we are a prime example of what happens without that help,” they continued. “The financial pressures put on independent music venues are extreme, and the support we receive just isn’t enough to match that. We have appreciated the grants and funding provided by Creative Wales and Cardiff Council in recent years, but the support can’t come only in emergencies or through special projects. Music venues need constant support through levies on the much more profitable parts of our industry. These insignificant amounts on huge ticket prices would provide a significant benefit to independent venues around the country.

“We also feel the pressure of business rates and taxes that burn through any small profit we make and leave us barely breaking even on the most popular of nights. Increasing the business rates in Wales on music venues and continuing to charge VAT on ticket sales is going to close more and more music venues in the years to come. We ask the government to reconsider these charges and question where music will be without independent venues like us in years to come.”

The Music Venue Trust also released its own statement on Facebook. “Sadly, despite all the positive direction that government and industry seems now to be heading in, and everyone trying to get to grips with the challenges being faced by our grassroots music ecosystem, it isn’t happening fast enough to save vital spaces that are much loved and valued by their communities and essential to artists,” they said.

“The Moon is the perfect example of one of those spaces; incredibly important to local artists and music lovers, run by a dedicated and passionate team who have pulled out all the stops trying to keep the doors open, doing everything they could together as a community to keep music live. The external pressures on these venues cannot be met by these operators alone, and we must, urgently and without further delays, have a comprehensive action plan from the very top of the live music industry down to the very beginnings of people’s passion for live music that delivers real change and saves our venues from closure.

“We have consistently warned the Government that financial burdens from things like poorly conceived and delivered Business Rates was placing too much pressure on venues like the Moon. Not enough action has been taken quickly enough and now another venue has been lost.”

The news comes less than two weeks after Boom in Leeds announced it would be closing in March 2025 after facing numerous threats over the last few years, many of which were similar to the issues The Moon was encountering.

A £1 ticket levy for gigs at arena level and above has been floated as a potential solution to the crisis, which was part of the MVT’s recent ‘Manifesto For Grassroots Music’ published just prior to the election. Enter Shikari, Sam Fender, Alien Ant Farm and Katy Perry have all introduced the levy voluntarily on their shows, while Coldplay pledged to donate 10 per cent of all profits from their 2025 UK stadium shows to save independent venues.

The MVT’s Mark Davyd told NME: “This is not just Coldplay handing money to venues that need money, this is about investing it in a way to supports artists, venues and promoters. They all lean on each other in a way that cannot be disentangled.”

Last week, the Culture, Media and Sport Committee welcomed the UK government’s new backing of a levy on gigs at arena level and above to help save the grassroots music scene. Nonetheless, pressure is mounting for a clear deadline for the industry to take urgent action.