It’s not quite on the same scale as Chasers, the legendary nightclub whose closure earlier this year sparked a huge reaction from generations of Bristol party-goers.
But the owner of a ‘new’ club that opened nearby has now applied for a permanent late-night licence and said the venture is going from strength to strength after a rocky start thanks to the pandemic.
Wayne Houghton opened Rumors as a cocktail bar just over two years ago in early March 2020 - and had to close it again within a fortnight thanks to the coronavirus pandemic lockdown.
Read more: Chasers nightclub in Kingswood closed 'for the near future'
Since then, the bar has opened and closed with each wave of the pandemic and lockdown, and in those difficult times, has evolved into something a bit different - a nightclub showcasing DJs and local musical talent.
And now, after a series of temporary licences to see how late night opening went, Mr Houghton has formally applied to South Gloucestershire Council for a licence that would see Rumors allowed to stay serve alcohol until 1am on Thursday, and until 3am on Friday and Saturday evenings, with the venue closing at 3.30am.
The application is currently in consultation, which ends this week, before councillors on the licensing committee will decide whether or not to grant it.
Mr Houghton said he hopes they do, and has told councillors that a series of temporary licences allowing him to stay open into the early hours have been implemented without any trouble, safety incidents or complaints.
Mr Houghton said he’s discovered that ‘people in Kingswood love to party but don’t go out until 11pm’, since he opened Rumors two years ago. With the bar evolving into more of a nightclub, with a capacity of 300, he’s opened a rooftop terrace area complete with its own bar, and installed three VIP areas overlooking the dancefloor action.
Rumors is now building a reputation as somewhere for some serious music - some of the city’s top DJs have been booked, and music nights with everything from dancehall to old-school is selling out the club on a weekly basis.
“We opened two weeks before the first lockdown so had to close again straight away. It’s going very well now but it’s been a little bit of a challenge, but we’re getting there now,” he told Bristol Live.
“We closed, opened again, closed again, and it’s more now a bar that does music events, which I think it seems is what Kingswood wants. We started off opening like a pub, but we found people in Kingswood don’t go out until 11pm, which was great, but we’d be open til 12 and it would fill up and then we’d have to close, which was a shame,” he added.
Kingswood’s main nightclub - the legendary Chasers - reopened after lockdown last summer but didn’t survive this winter, and the news of its closure was broken to shocked generations of Bristol clubbers in January this year.
Chasers management said they hoped to be back, but said the club was closed ‘for the near future’.
Mr Houghton said Rumors was a very different vibe to Chasers. “We do a real mixture of music. We’re trying to implement something here that’s a bit different,” he said. The club’s music nights showcase a mixture of old school music, R&B, dancehall, bashment, garage, hip hop - on different nights, or maybe even the same night.
“I had a 2am licence temporarily, and it went well. What I’m asking for now is for a 3am licence on Fridays and Saturdays, and 1am on Thursdays,” he added.
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