I’m stunned, The Princess Charlotte, or more commonly The Charlotte in Leicester has been put into administration today by it’s bosses and could face closure in as little as two weeks if new backers cannot be found.

Bosses are blaming their plight on falling audience numbers and losing major bands to bigger venues in nearby Birmingham and Nottingham although rumblings from local gig-goers and bands suggest that The Charlotte has recently been less supportive of local bands, refusing to deal with bands that don’t have agents (unconfirmed).

Whatever the truth of it, I hope that Punch Taverns (the buildings owners) are good to their word when they say “The Princess Charlotte is an important venue to the Leicestershire area and we are committed to its future”.  The Charlotte has always been one of those key venues that help bands make the leap from local heroes to becoming nationally recognised and it will be a loss to Leicester if it goes.

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