I count myself as a member of the "rocker" community in sheffield. I have played in rock bands and frequented the many rock bars and venues in the sheffield scene for nearly 20 years now.

Sheffield has always had a thriving Rock scene and it is one of its many assets, people often come here, from other cities, to go out or see a band in one of the smaller pub venues. Rock fans despite looking a bit scarey to some are generally a happy bunch and there is famously very little trouble associated with rock music, especially when you compare it to some of the other types of music.

Anyhow..
It seems that we will loose a large part of the city's established rock bars in the reorganisation of the centre of sheffield in the next few years and I imagine that it will be unlikely that a new prestigious development would likely be planned to have space for a rock bar or venue.

The Casbah, The Nelson, and The Sportsman, are due to go, And for What its worth the once Legendary Yorkshiremans too, is due to be lost and 18 months ago the Classic Rock bar was forced out of their Temporary Premesis where they had established a superb scene, only for the place to be left empty for 4 months before demolition and the ground left waste for a year or more since.

Will these venues and patrons be expected to just dissappear, or will new buildings be incorporated for them in the new town centre.
Does anyone have an opinion or any information please ?

Certainly a lack of smaller venues in Sheffield if you ask me. I worry too like you that new developments never seem to have much in the way of provision for live venues.

Yes Andrew my bet is that there will be huge bar/resteraunt units available like the one in the wards brewery development which faces Ecclesall road, which are far too much for anyone to make a viable pub business inside. What the city lacks is smaller traditional pubs not huge halls for massive "stylish" bars like Bar Matrix and the place under the chinese resteraunt next to where the mad Greek was. most of the older pubs are now owned by Absent multinational pubcos who are only interested in squeezing every last penny out of the premises, even if it means the Manager has to flog himself to death to do it.

Unfortunately we are losing a couple of hundred pubs a week in this country, and it seems that any place which isn't rammed every weekend is at risk, unless good independant proprioters can be assisted.

We have gained a few too though, what about West Street Live, it was Jazz fusion/funk when I was in there last but you can bet they'll be putting on rock bands too. Not too expensive either! :cheers:

We have gained a few too though, what about West Street Live, it was Jazz fusion/funk when I was in there last but you can bet they'll be putting on rock bands too. Not too expensive either! :cheers:

Well I have only been in there once and the band playing was a good rock band. But I wouldn't describe it as a rock venue or the patrons rock fans. It seemed to be on the edge of the west street clientele with mainly middle aged smart dressed people.

In summary I would say that west street live is a "live venue" rather than a "rock venue".

Yeah, I'd agree there, but it does make a nice change from the usual chart music shite and trendiness of West St.

Who knows, with the opening of those student flats next door, Corporation could start opening in the day as a bar, although i'm not quite sure where people would sit...

The free Camra magazine "Beer Matters" has picked up on this story, they comment that the council has given the go ahead to the next stage of the redevelopment of the city centre, which involves demolishing long established traditional pubs without any thought of replacing them in the new development.

They comment that "The sheffield cultural destruction continues"

I agree with them about this,
While the Casbah and the Nelson are not particularly valuable buildings, culturally, the Yorkshireman's aka Lion's Lair is a perfectly good attractive traditional pub, with good proportions and it is a real tragedy that they cannot retain it in the new scheme, especially when they are retaining the victorian terrace which it backs onto. There are so few proper traditional pubs in town now.

http://www.borracho.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/rock/andy/01theyorkshiremans%20arms.jpg

Great looking pub?
I think so. Well worth retaining in the new scheme. This pub has been in existance since the 1790s for christ's sake.

Incidentally that picture was taken over 20 years ago in the early 1980s and is featured on the Rock reunited website, which I am the author and administrator of, where people send in pictures from when they were out in the old days when everybody had long hair and went into rebels and the wap.

www.rockreunited.co.uk (http://www.rockreunited.co.uk/index12.shtml)

Too many chav venues in my opinion. Too many places play the same old recycled garbage.

Also, Casbah is overrated - it's expensive and the bouncers there are more interested in starting trouble than preventing it.