Banquet Records and The Fighting Cocks unite to save Bacchus
It’s a match made in music heaven: your independent record store favourites, Banquet Records, and rock n’ roll haven, The Fighting Cocks, are teaming up to save local late night venue Bacchus!
A long-time Kingston staple, Bacchus is a small but mighty late bar open 7 days a week. Following a string of closures, Bacchus is one of only two remaining nightclub style venues in the South-West London town. Its colourful history spans decades, from rock band Dodgy’s formative years via the “Dodgy Nights” to being the buzzing alternative club through the nineties and noughties from Mystery Jets to the home of Kingston dubstep. After some missteps over recent years, the place is in need of some TLC and who better to provide it than two local music business veterans!
Jon Tolley of Banquet Records and Matt Barnwell of The Fighting Cocks, share an exciting new vision to bring the once much-loved venue back into the hearts of local partygoers, and both have a proven track record of lifting businesses from the scruff of their neck, and enhancing them into what they are today.
Jon commented: “I believe in nightclubs and I’ll always believe in Bacchus. Any town would be lucky to have such a club. A safe space for people to go and lose themselves in music, any night of the week. I’ve been DJing there since my teens, and have no desire to stop. Because, when it’s at its best, it’s an incredibly special place. In recent times things haven’t been as they should. But we’re going to fix it, and there’s no-one I have more faith in to do that, than Matt and his team.”.
Matt added: “Like many people in Kingston I have a massive soft spot for Bacchus and am looking forward to getting stuck in with improvements across all key areas of the business as well as getting some exciting new events into the calendar!”.
The pair have spared no time getting their sleeves rolled up with staff and security training across the board, new club nights on the roster, the launch of a website and updates to the late bar’s drinks range already, with plenty more on the to-do list. The future looks bright for this Kingston hotspot!
