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Work on the Shempire roof now set to run into April

By Chris Cooke | Published on Thursday 18 February 2016

Good news for fans of music venues closing and then not opening again as quickly as first hoped! Which in itself is good news. Because I suspect fans of music venues closing and then not opening again as quickly as first hoped don’t get much news of any kind to satisfy their fanaticism. But unless you’re one of those oddballs, then this probably isn’t good news.

The Academy Music Group has confirmed that maintenance on the wobbly roof over at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire will now run into April, meaning another bunch of shows that had been due to take place there will be affected by ongoing building work. Said shows will either move to venues with less wobbly roofs, or shift to a new future slot at the Shempire.

AMG said in a statement: “Following the closure of Shepherd’s Bush Empire on Friday 4 Dec 2015 and further inspections, structural engineers have advised that works to the roof structure will extend into April 2016. We are sorry that these extended restoration works mean that further shows will either be moved to other venues in London or rescheduled as necessary. Once again, we thank artists, promoters and fans for cooperation and patience and wish to reassure everyone that safety is our priority”.

As previously reported, the West London venue was initially closed late last year, just before a Courteeners gig was due to start, after certain “structural issues” were discovered. All shows for the rest of the month were quickly cancelled, but AMG initially hoped to have the venue back in operation within a few weeks.

Details of the newly affected shows are listed here.