Hell-raising pub to shut its doors by August 8th.
The commercial grim reaper has been doing a brisk trade around Dalston this week. Fresh on the heels of Barden’s spectacular demise to make way for yet another basement rave place, it’s with a heavy heart that we have to report that the Stag’s Head is being forced to close its doors later this month.
Breaking the news on their Facebook page, the owners have put the pub’s imminent closure down to “unrealistic rent increases and high prices”, adding that “when you're tied to a brewery that refuses to support you and shows this by increasing rent and not delivering its beer – which has been a constant struggle – there is little way out”.
Needless to say, this has come as quite a blow to us. Not only was the Stag one of our favourite places for a quick tipple, it has also become something of a nerve centre for a lot of Dalston’s DIY bands, and, coupled with the closure of Barden’s up the road, it has effectively ended anyone’s chance of seeing live music on Kingsland Road in the short to medium term future.
This sounds pessimistic I know, but bands need places to play as much as they need practice studios, recording engineers or anything else. With both of the area’s most lively venues shutting down, a vibrant and exciting scene that has spawned bands like Django Django and Male Bonding has suffered a double hammer blow that it will find very hard to bounce back from.
Oh well, in the mean time the party will be continuing on at the Stag's until August 8th (although it may well be sooner) with a whole bunch of club night, quizzes, arm wrestling and shenanigans to enjoy. All that is left to say is thanks to everyone behind one of East London’s craziest pubs. Cheers guys, it’s been one hell of a ride!
Photo courtesy of Graham Gadget
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