27/05/2026
Ladies and gentlemen
After an unforgettable journey, the time has come for us to close this chapter at 170 East Road.
While an official date its yet to be decided we are working closely with MVT and Stonegate ( Landlord) and will update more later today on future gigs and date.
What was built here was never just a bar or a music venue.
The Six Six became a home for music, for misfits, for artists finding their voice, and for a community that showed up night after night and turned four walls into something far bigger than any of us imagined.
And we walk away incredibly proud of what this venue achieved.
In just four years, this tiny independent venue built a reputation that reached far beyond Cambridge. We worked with artists, agents and creatives from Nashville, Los Angeles, New York, Canada, Australia, Europe and Asia. We received awards, industry recognition and multiple nominations while staying completely independent and doing things our own way.
Over 50,000 tickets sold. Over 400,000 drinks served. Over £2 million generated back into the British economy.
Not bad for a little grassroots venue in Cambridge.
Like many independent venues, we faced relentless pressure behind the scenes.
Rising operational costs. Increasing supplier prices. Energy costs. Licensing costs. A hospitality industry becoming harder and harder for independents to survive within.
And in our opinion, organisations like PRS/PPL continue to represent one of the most flawed parts of that system burdening many of the very venues responsible for keeping grassroots music alive in the first place.
For transparency, our average weekly operating costs looked roughly like this:
• Rent, insurance & maintenance — approx. £1,350 per week
• Staff wages (NET)— exceeded £1,000 per week even after reducing opening days and hours
• Stock orders — typically £3,500–£4,500 per week (+35% cheaper if freehold)
• Security, sound engineers & box office staff approx. £700 per week
• Utilities & energy — peaked around £1,100 per week during the "energy crisis" and averaged around £350 per week over the last 18 months
• Cambs Water & sewage — approx. £75 per week
• PRS/PPL licensing — approx. £75 per week
• Card processing fees — approx. £125 per week
• Bank loans used to support the venue — over £175 per week
• Cambs Council licensing & compliance costs — approx. £230 per week
That placed the realistic weekly breakeven point for The Six Six at roughly £8,300–£9,300 PER WEEK before profit or 4 sold out shows a week for perspective
And the truth is…
We could have continued we had a large financial package ready to implement if we decided to continue.
This is not a collapse. This is not us being forced out. This is not the story some people hoped it would become.
This is a conscious decision to evolve, move forward and build something new and exciting from everything we’ve learned and experienced over the last four years.
The Six Six became bigger than just a venue. It became a brand, an attitude, a community and a platform and we believe now is the right time to take that energy into new projects, new experiences and new directions while we still love what we created.
We leave proud. With our heads high. And on our own terms.
Over the years we’ve had the privilege of working with some incredible artists and DJs including Electric 6 , The Sherlocks , 86TVs , Ashley Campbell, Ginger Wildheart, You me at six, Kunt and the Gang, Wolfsbane , Frank Turner , Gary Powell, Jon Mahon from Kerrang! Radio, Grungers, Eschalon , Akkadian , PENGSHUi , Gurl, Dotz , Tuggawar, Trampolene, The Skinner Brothers, Red Method, Vexed, Oscar Corney, SCHY, Native James, Hollowstar and countless more who trusted our stage.
To our incredible promoters special mention to Atomic Asylum, Lovely Drop , Generation NeXt Peace Productions, Imperious spirit productions, Stortford Dub Club, Rian from ARU and Panic At The Emo thank you for standing beside us time and time again
To the DJs who learned their craft here. The promoters who built nights from nothing. The students who started their musical journeys here. The countless people Josh trained in sound and lighting.
This place was always bigger than just a venue.
It was an institution of rock ’n’ fu***ng roll.
To the crew who physically helped build this venue during the hottest summer in a decade....thank you for believing in a mad idea and helping bring it to life.
To the lifelong friends made through this journey you know who you are.
To Unsainted, Nomad, Lou-Cypher & "THE" Knash-Vile thank you for being the soundtrack to such a huge chapter of Six Six history.
To Masky from London Road Studios — thank you for originally helping set this entire journey in MOTION
To Iain and the crew — thank you for always riding out for the venue.
To our regulars, supporters and beautiful Sixers thank you for believing in us, backing us and helping create an atmosphere that people will genuinely remember for years to come.
We also want to thank Sophie, Adam, Jay and Gareth at the Music Venue Trust for their support, guidance and belief in what we were building.
Most importantly…
Thank you to every member of staff, every promoter, every artist, every DJ, every sound engineer, every photographer, every bartender, every regular and every single person who ever walked through those ICONIC red doors
You gave this place its heartbeat.
The Six Six may be leaving 170 East Road…
But this is not the end.
This is simply the end of this chapter.
The Six Six will continue, just in a different form, a different direction and with the same fire that built it in the first place.
So tonight… Raise a glass to perseverance. To passion. To hustle. To tenacity and Grit and to following dreams and enjoying the journey..
It has been our esteemed honour to serve you
Never let anyone tell you it can’t be done, follow your dreams, follow your instincts,ignore the noise and hate in this world and just create something you believe in.
The Six Six Bar & Venue
170 East Road
2022 — 2026
