As independent nightlife venues across London shut their doors, the new operators of 7 Church Lane are proudly bucking that trend, writes Marco Marcelline

Behind the black frontage of 7 Church Lane in Leytonstone, work is quietly underway. After nearly two years sitting empty, the former Luna Lounge building is set to reopen later this year as a live music and cultural venue headed by new operators.

At a time when independent nightlife venues across London are shutting their doors, the decision to preserve the council-owned site as a dedicated music space is a decidedly welcome breath of fresh air.

Last month, Waltham Forest Council confirmed it had appointed a new team to run 7 Church Lane: Simon Singleton (founder of festival Shake The High Road), Jon Clifford of Dreamhouse Records, music industry veteran Toby L, and Danny, Peter and Luke of bars Leyton Calling and Chop Shop Tavern.

Rather than reopening solely as a gig spot, the group plans to transform the entire building into a multi-layered cultural hub.

During the day, 7 Church Lane will operate as a café, welcoming local residents, freelancers and families. Dreamhouse Records will establish a permanent vinyl record shop, bringing curated releases and in-store events to Church Lane.

The basement, previously used as the main performance space, will double as a rehearsal and education area, offering opportunities for young musicians to practice their craft.

And at night, the building will shift into live mode: a bar upstairs and a dedicated live venue downstairs, hosting gigs, club nights, talks and other creative events.

The venue’s name will be revealed ahead of a full late-summer launch programme featuring a month of live events. For Singleton, the building holds long-standing significance. “I put on my first event in Luna in 2016,” he says. “I’ve spent a lot of time there and it’s very close to my heart.”

He describes live music as “a key part” of the new venue and says his team’s ambition is to create a space that is both professionally run and culturally open.

Any new venture at 7 Church Lane inevitably sits in the shadow of Luna Lounge, which operated for nearly 20 years before closing in July 2024.

Singleton says he has spent time revisiting old footage of Luna over the years: “I’ve been watching quite a lot of old videos, and it really reminded me how amazingly inclusive and open it was.

“Musically, it was so unfixed in one style. One night it was crazy jazz, the next heavy metal, then folk, then punk, then DJs.”

That breadth is something the new team wants to preserve. “We definitely want that openness and energy to continue,” Singleton says. “We don’t want it to feel ultra-premium or polished or unwelcoming. It’s got to be somewhere new music is at the heart of, not somewhere snooty or pretentious.

“Some nights will be for some people, some nights will be for other people. It’s not going to just be one genre. We want our programming to be progressive, experimental and open-minded.”

Under founder Suja Khaled, Luna built a reputation as one of east London’s most energetic grassroots venues. After his sudden death in 2021, the business passed to Declan Walsh, whose tenure was marked by financial strain, various licensing disputes and an unsuccessful £75,000 crowdfunding appeal in 2024.

The venue closed weeks after the fundraiser ended. As Luna stayed shut, a group of former staff launched a petition last year calling for them to take over the space. The petition gained more than 1,000 signatures.

The creator of that petition, who asked not to be named but described himself as a former operations manager at Luna, says he informally approached Singleton in 2024 to discuss collaborating on a potential bid for the space.

Singleton confirms the two met for coffee but says there was “no formal discussion whatsoever”.

“They said they’d had an idea and I said, ‘Keep me posted, and if there’s any way I can help, let me know.’ I never heard from them again.”

Though the former operations manager’s petition was not considered by the council, he said he holds no personal ill-will towards the new operators, and adds that he supports the decision to rename the venue.

He said: “There’s absolutely no way the spirit of the original Luna could have been recreated. A new name is probably the right thing.”

Singleton also draws a line between his venture and Luna, stating that “sustainability” is central to 7 Church Lane’s financial model. “Luna was very successful as a kind of party bar atmosphere,” he says. “But we want to make the venue sustainable long- term – and attractive to people not just from the local area.

“We want to work with lots of promoters who’ll bring exciting new acts, and use our contacts and industry experience to try and have some really special guests.”

What’s for certain is that Luna Lounge, with all its intensity and controversy, is over. Whether the new venture can recapture the raw electricity that once defined 7 Church Lane remains to be seen, but after nearly two years of silence, the stage lights are warming up again, and that alone is very much worth celebrating.

Find out more about 7 Church Lane here: Instagram.com/sevenchurchlane

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