As you have probably been made aware of over the last few days; the Thekla could be under a very real risk of closure due to residential developments taking place in the city.

Despite all the furore surrounding it, the legal ins and outs and the (well deserved) public outcry, I’d like instead to tell you about where this unique and irreplaceable Bristol institution came from, its history and its importance to the cultural fabric of this incredible multi-faceted and dynamic city.

Thekla (which translates from Greek as ‘Goddess’; incidentally) has its humble beginnings in 1950s Germany where it was built for use as a cargo ship.

In 1982, American playwright and author Ki Longfellow had an idea to create a culturally fluid music venue where they could host plays, music, performance dance and cabaret. They would also display art in the onboard gallery. Ki and her husband, lead singer of ‘Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band’ Vivian Stanshall, travelled to Sunderland where the ship was in a poor state of affairs, refitted her and sailed back to Bristol the following year where they moored as the newly named ‘Old Profanity Showboat’ and where the ship remains to this day.

The grand opening finally happened on May 1st 1984 and over the next 2 years , ‘The Old Pro’ saw the likes of over 240 different shows and performances. Alongside the stage productions, ‘The Old Pro’ would put on gigs to help subsidise the less lucrative poetry and cabaret shows. This even led to Jarvis Cocker’s PULP headlining there in September of 1985.

Over the years, staff working the bar, door and cloakroom would invariably wind up on the stage at some point and finally, after 2 years, Ki and Viv couldn’t help themselves any longer and ‘The Old Pro’ staged it’s very own in-house production co-written by the pair. The show was called ‘Stinkfoot’ and ran in the two weeks leading up to Christmas of 1985. As mentioned, the ‘Comedy-Opera’ was written by Stanshall and Longfellow and was specifically staged to fit in and around the ship. The cast was made of staff and crew alongside other performing regulars and, as such, the characters portrayed often had the quirks and foibles of the actors portraying them. A runaway success, they sold out every night - allaying fears that the expense of an in-house show might cripple them financially.

Following the tremendous effort that producing ‘Stinkfoot’ entailed, along with the day to day running of such a busy and in-demand venue, the couple were ready to call it a day in early 1986. It was only for the pleas of the regular performers and patrons that they hung on until August of that year.

To give you some idea of the incredible impact of this bizarre floating theatre/music venue; the following artists all appeared during that magical 26 months, most of which were only just starting their careers and every opportunity to perform was vital:

Keith Allen, Joe Cocker, Ian Dury (The Blockheads), John Entwhistle (The Who), Jack Bruce (Cream), Bert Jansch (Pentangle), Ronnie Lane (Small Faces), Rik Mayall, Paul Merton, Bill Oddie, John Peel, David Rappaport, Tony Robinson, PULP, Alexi Sayle, Tony Slattery, Joe Strummer (The Clash), Screaming Lord Sutch, Steve Winwood, Tangerine Dream

During its revival and re-birth in the 90s and 00s, ‘The Old Profanity’ regained her original name of ‘Thekla’ and quickly became an instrumental nightclub as a part of the burgeoning ‘Bristol Scene’. Down in the hull, bands like Portishead and Massive Attack would play their formative shows alongside future drum and bass icons Reprazent, with Roni Size at the helm. A regular to ‘Thekla’, Banksy stencilled pieces all over the inside of the ship, as well as an iconic image of the Grim Reaper rowing a boat over the river Styx on the outer hull. This piece has since been removed for posterity and can now be seen in the M-Shed museum.

Since it's purchase and subsequent refurbishment in 2006 by the current owners, a whole host of other bands have played at the iconic venue, including Franz Ferdinand, The New York Dolls, Pete Doherty, Tokyo Police Club, The Growlers, Santigold, and The Chords.

My own experience with the venue has been the opportunity to see amazing bands there over many years from 2010 onwards. Bands like Melvins, MudHoney and Dinosaur Jr along with regular shows by Therapy?, obscure cult bands like Evil Scarecrow and a plethora of local acts, all in the very same position that Massive Attack and Portishead found themselves in. When I moved to Australia for a few years, the friends I made were amazed to learn that the ‘nightclub on a boat’ from Skins was real and every one of them had to visit it when they came to see me. Even on the other side of the planet, Thekla captures the imagination and elicits joy.

Leading names from the world of music have heard of the current plight and have taken to twitter to show their support.

These days, Bristol’s youth demographic will know Thekla as a busy and thriving nightclub, notable for its indie and alternative night ‘Pressure’ which is on every Thursday and has been hosted and DJ’d by Calum MacMillan since it’s inception. Pop Confessional is another superb night that I love to get along to whenever I can and the long and winding queues that grace the carpark before the doors open are a testament to its ongoing importance and popularity.

General Levy is bringing his nationwide Jungle tour to Thekla on November 24th and I cannot in all honesty imagine a better venue for the event. But Thekla isn’t just a venue. It’s a meeting place, a platform for musicians, an icon, a landmark, and a Bristol institution. In fact, it’s more than that. For 35 years it has been a part of Bristol's DNA and integral to every musical ‘scene’ that has occurred here. Countless memories have been made at Thekla and, with your help, will continue to be made for decades to come.

#SaveThekla