Another week, another deliciously independent and vital arts and music venue veers towards the ditch.  After the demise last week of NYC’s cauldron of cutting edge creativity Tonic comes the sad news that one of my favourite London venues The Spitz has hit trouble with the landlords.  The property developers have deemed that a location this proximate to the big money swishing around Bishopsgate has no business enriching the nation’s cultural wealth when it could be filling their own pockets with the tepid overflow from the city bankers’ bonus pot.

The Spitz is always reliably eclectic; over the last year I’ve had a number of very enjoyable evenings at the venue, including performances by Keiji Haino and Chris Corsano, The Fence Collective, Susanna and the Magical Orchestra, and Noah Howard, as well as a few performances in the bistro (and more than a few fine Belgian and German ales).   The next week alone features experimental violinist Felix Lajko, some klezmer and some Nepalese music, as well as some gigs from their annual blues festival. 

This may all be gone in six months.  I’d advise those of you with an interest in such things to give the venue every chance of beating the axe by adding your name to the petition, and by getting down there to see some events in the near future.  Or just drop in for a pint and a mooch round the gallery.  Save the Spitz!