Pretoria musicians shattered as music venue shuts its doors
The Weiveld live music venue has been operating in the east of Pretoria for the past seven years but has been closed due to "complaints about noise" from a neighbour.
After the devastating coronavirus outbreak’s impact on creatives, Pretoria musicians have suffered yet another blow as a well-known live music venue in the east of Pretoria shuts its doors.
As the arts and culture sector starts to recover from the hard financial knock of Covid-19 over the past two years, local musicians have been left shattered as the Weiveld live music venue announced its permanent closure on Wednesday.
The venue, situated in the Boschkop Road in Zwavelpoort, has been operating since 2015.
Bronberg Hub marketing manager, Chantelle Botma, said the venue shut down due to a “noise complaint lodged by a neighbour”.
She said all planned performances have been cancelled as of Wednesday, adding that “we sincerely apologise for the inconvenience this has caused and we thank you for your support over the past few years”.
Many musicians from around the region who have performed at the venue over the years have expressed sadness at news of the closure.
Singer and radio presenter at JacarandaFM, Martin Bester, said the closure was sad news for artists, “and especially after the financial impact of Covid, you want to see more live music places open up and not close down.
“A lot of venues have closed down due to Covid-19, and now that we can finally return to some kind of normality, Weiveld closes.”
He said the closure was a blow for artists.
“At first it was Platteland and now it is Weiveld.
“It’s important to musicians in Pretoria that places like these remain open and are not closed. It is not great news at all,” Bester said.
“I honestly only have great memories of Weiveld and it was great to be part of the family. The organisers always went out of their way to look after us as musicians. It was a pleasure to perform at the venue,” said Bester.
The Marketing Zoo’s Wian Smith said they have been working with Weiveld for many years and they have been supporting the South African music industry “endlessly”.
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“It’s a big loss not only for Pretoria, but also the whole entertainment industry,” Smith said.
“We have grown together and have amazing memories from the day that we attended their official opening,” Smith said.
Musician Pieter Koen said as much as the venue was a great place for musicians, music lovers also enjoyed it.
“It created a dynamic vibe for music-goers. It was one of my favourite venues to perform at,” said Koen.
Afrikaans singer and songwriter, Appel, said Weiveld “felt like family”.
“An incredible number of people have now lost their jobs and we as musicians have one less huge stage,” Appel said.
“As if the lockdown wasn’t bad enough, Weiveld gave their best to stick to Covid-19 rules.
“There were so many good memories. We are going to miss that place,” he said.
Musician Janie Bay described the music venue as “legendary” for creatives.
“It’s sad that they are closing, but I believe the owners will reopen a new venue going forward.
“We thank them for the opportunity they gave us to showcase our talents,” Bay said.
Another musician, Deon Dee, said he could not recall a single bad performance at the venue as he always had a great time.
“It was always so nice to perform there and I cannot think of one bad moment from the stage. Our artists would like to say many thanks to Weiveld.”
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