A huge blow to Aberdeen's music scene, that will see the city worse off.
The Blue Lamp will serve its final pints on Tuesday 30th December. After 75 years of jazz quartets, folk sessions and late-night conversations on Gallowgate, the pub is closing for good.
The team cited rising costs as the reason they can no longer keep going. “The financial pressures, from energy to upkeep to general overheads, have grown beyond what we can sustain,” they wrote on Instagram.
It’s a gut punch for Aberdeen. The Blue Lamp has been there since 1949, outlasting generations of trends and development schemes. “Over the years, it has become far more than ‘just a pub’; it has been a vital part of the city’s cultural soul,” the statement said.
‘We have tried everything’
The team made it clear this wasn’t a quick decision. “We have tried everything we can to keep The Blue Lamp’s doors open,” they explained, “but the financial pressures have reached a point where it is simply no longer viable for us to continue operating.”
Energy bills, maintenance costs, general overheads. The maths just stopped working. “Making this decision has been incredibly difficult, and it comes only after exhausting every other path available to us.”
Seven decades of gigs
Since opening its doors in the immediate post-war years, The Blue Lamp has hosted countless musicians. Jazz, blues, folk. Acts that went on to bigger stages and acts that only ever played small rooms. The kind of place where you’d find new bands or just familiar faces.
“To each and every one of you who held a pint at the bar, tapped your foot along to a jazz quartet, discovered a new favourite band, or simply found comfort in familiar surroundings, thank you,” the team wrote. “You filled this place with life, warmth and authenticity.”
“We know this closure will leave a hole in the hearts of many. It’s not just a venue that’s going; it’s a chapter in Aberdeen’s musical and social story.”
One last night
The final night on 30th December is being positioned as a proper send-off. A chance “to raise a glass, share stories, and celebrate everything The Blue Lamp has meant to us for so many years.”
The team signed off their announcement with gratitude. “From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for being part of this incredible journey.”
This one hurts. Aberdeen doesn’t have an abundance of live music venues, and losing one that’s been around for 75 years feels like watching part of the city’s memory disappear. The Blue Lamp wasn’t trying to be anything other than what it was: a proper pub where you could catch good music, talk to strangers, and feel like you were part of something.
Places like The Blue Lamp don’t just shut and get replaced. Once they’re gone, they’re gone. The city will be worse off for it.
