The brilliant Overground Bar and Cafe on Sukhumvit Soi 22 in Phrom Phong has today announced its imminent closure.
Known for its eclectic events calendar filled with live music, DJ sets, comedy and spoken word nights, Overground’s last night of trading will be this coming Saturday night.
There will be closing parties for the venue on both Friday and Saturday.
Owner Grahame Lynch announced on the Overground Facebook page today that, “Today I have made the decision to close Overground Bar and Cafe after over three years of operation.”
He went on to say that, “Business is tough out there. Costs keep on rising, and income is not rising to match. The powers that be are actively hostile to the nightlife scene and probable imminent developments will make for an even more treacherous trading environment.
“We also have little visibility over the future status of our leased property which removes the incentive to invest for the long term.”
The cosy space on Soi 22 was known for hosting international artists, such as Afrika Islam, Francois K and DJ Scratchy, as well as fostering home-grown talent Jenny and the Scallywags. The spoken word poetry community, Bangkok Lyrical Lunacy, also held many an open mic night there.
Lynch paid tribute to the venue and all that he and the Overground team had achieved in their 3 years, saying, “I originally opened Overground to facilitate what I saw as a much-needed intimate venue to support a live performance scene whether it be acoustic, electronic, spoken word, comedy or otherwise.
“Three years on I am proud that we have played a small but hopefully significant role in making this happen, and that several venues around town have picked up on this, and are supporting a vibrant and healthy creative performance scene.”
This coming Friday and Saturday nights will be celebrations of Overground, with Friday night featuring DJs Nemo Cools and Rory Breaker-Morant on the decks, and Saturday with DJ Billy V, Wasabi Bytes and jnknslry rounding things off.
The Overground name and spirit will live on even with the close of the venue, however, with a series of special live performance events and festivals planned for later this year.
The first of these will be in December, featuring Afrika Islam and Das Fluff.
Let’s all raise a glass to Overground this weekend.
Featured image via Overground’s Facebook page
