These photos of the new venue were taken during refurbishment, so a work on progress

During Prohibition it probably wasn’t unusual for a speakeasy to have to up sticks and find a new location, if the old hang-out had been leaked to the cops. And our Spring Ball on 21st March was actually the final one at the venue that has been our home for the last three years. It wasn’t the first ballroom-style venue we have used (some of you may remember the mighty Porchester Hall in Bayswater or the old town hall in Leyton) but it benefited from a large stage, great acoustics and a spacious dressing room for performers with stairs leading directly on to the back of the stage. (If that doesn’t sound unusual, believe me many venues require performers to approach the stage through the audience.) There was plenty of room, though the hall was long and thin with the stage at one end, so it could mean that some tables felt a long way from the entertainment.

But the lease is up and the team who have run the place for 20 years have now acquired a new space, to which the Candlelight Club will be moving from our next event on 16th May. It is also in south London (actually only a couple of tube stops from the old venue) and is a stone’s throw from an underground station.

It used to be a tram shed in Edwardian times and it has a slightly industrial feel (a bit like our old venue in Angel, if you ever went there), with tiled walls and exposed girders. But it also has chandeliers, so it’s quite a mash-up. It feels smaller (though apparently the capacity is the same) and has balconies on two sides, meaning more people can be closer to the stage at any time, lending it a great sense of intimacy. There is also a roof terrace, plus a couple of rooms off the main space for which the owners have grand plans (e.g. a community recording studio).

All in all, it’s an exciting move, as I feel the new space feels much more like a speakeasy, enabling us to get back to our roots, as it were. See there on 16th May!