A month of farewell parties have been announced for Proud Camden after it was announced that the venue will close down next month.
The independent live music, gallery and cabaret venue was opened in 2001 by CEO Alex Proud and will close on Sunday, March 4, to enable Proud to focus on new ventures elsewhere - including two new venues.
“After more than 17 years at the Stables Market in Camden, and having been part of the transformation of a town that is now thriving with visitors from across the globe, we have decided to move on," said Proud.
"I’m dedicated to keeping the Proud venues fresh and we have found two new venues which will open in due course. The first called Proud Embankment is located underneath Waterloo Bridge and we’re also opening a brand new Proud venue in Camden High Street. This is another chapter in our story, but I do think it’s a sad one for Camden to lose a venue with such a rich musical heritage.”
Farewell parties will run from February 16 to March 3.
Proud launched his first art gallery in the town in the late '90s, which proved to be a popular drinking haunt stars such as Amy Winehouse, Kate Moss, Liam Gallagher and Pete Doherty. The gallery then moved to a site within Camden Stables Market in 2001, when the Proud Camden name was established.
In 2006, Proud Camden embarked on its next chapter moving to the current location, a 200-year-old former horse hospital at Camden Stables Market. It has welcomed performances from acts such as Sting, Jarvis Cocker, Ray Davies, Florence & The Machine, Moby and Coldplay. The venue also hosted the wake of punk rock pioneer Malcolm Mclaren which included a performance from Adam Ant. It was also reputedly the location of Ed Sheeran’s first ever live performance.
