Court dates of May 21st and 22nd have been set to decide the fate of one of Cardiff’s top live music venues after a complaint about noise was made. With the recent closures of The Coal Exchange and The Toucan, closure of The Point would threaten live music in the Welsh capital, leaving no 200-1500 capacity venues in the city.
The venue has recently played host to some of Wales and the world’s top artists. Cerys Matthews, who recently played the venue, commented: “I performed at the Point in 2006. It’s a wonderful venue – you can sing to the heavens and look out across the crowd to magnificent stained glass windows. It’s taken Cardiff a long time to have somewhere so special for musicians to perform. Everything must be done to keep music alive in the capital of Wales.”
Of The Point, BBC Radio 1 DJ Huw Stephens, writing in his Western Mail column, says “The venue is envied by all who go there to play, it brings touring bands from across the world to Cardiff, not to mention homegrown talent like the Manics, Cerys, Furries and the best Welsh promoters. It’s a multi-cultural venue that hosts comedy, films, debates, Welsh industry meetings, religious events, charity events and remembrance services. It is the only venue of its capacity on Cardiff and I hope it survives.”
An online petition has been set up at www.keepthepointalive.com. In just over a week, the petition has collected over 4,000 signatures. Signatories include local residents, Welsh music fans, visitors to the venue from all over Britain and performers who’ve played at The Point including Chumbawamba, Tegan And Sara and Amy Wadge.
The Point is a gothic-style, stone-built church that was built in 1900. It has been active as a live music venue since 2003 and has hosted gigs from the likes of The Stereophonics, The Manic Street Preachers, Cerys Matthews, Super Furry Animals, Athlete, Steve Winwood, Glen Tilbrook, Funeral For A Friend, Willy Mason, Candi Staton, The Twang, Joe Jackson, Beirut and Iron And Wine among many others.
