Ottawa Venue Zaphod Beeblebrox to Reportedly Close

BY Calum SlingerlandPublished May 1, 2017

Having only changed ownership early last year, Ottawa nightclub and live music venue Zaphod Beeblebrox is reportedly set to close later this month.

News of the venue closure came from Ottawa concert promoter and musician Ryan Fitz, who wrote in a public Facebook post that the club had "2 weeks left. Then she's gone."

UPDATE (5/3, 2:35 p.m. EDT): The venue has now officially confirmed it will be closing its doors on May 14. You can read more about the upcoming closure here.

Further comments revealed that news of the closure was first broken at the venue's weekly "Trailer Park Bingo" event last night (April 30). The club's management has yet to comment or announce further plans.

In December 2015, longtime owner Eugene Haslam announced he would be selling the venue to a staff member in following his own plans to retire. He had run the club since 1989 and had moved the venue to its present location at 27 York St. in Ottawa's ByWard Market in 1992.

Known commonly as Zaphod's to locals, the club was named after the Galactic President from Douglas Adams's sci-fi comedy series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and served a variety of unique cocktails which also took inspiration from the books. 

Over the years, the club has played host to the likes of Alanis Morissette, Brendan Canning, Nickelback, Rheostatics, Swervedriver, the Scenics, Robyn Hitchcock and Blackalicious, to name a few. The Rolling Stones also shot a music video inside the venue for their 2005 single "Streets of Love."

Exclaim! has reached out to Zaphod's but as of press time has yet to hear back from the venue.

UPDATE (05/02, 10:45 p.m. EDT): As the Ottawa Citizen reports, the club will issue a press release "in a few days" and will not comment until then.

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