The Edinburgh alternative scene has recently been dealt a devastating blow. Legends on Cowgate is due to hand over its keys to Encore Bars in less than a week – a company usually based in New Town that have been probing and scavenging vulture-like in an attempt to snatch up an Old Town bar and spread their mediocrity onto Cowgate. Worse, however, is the fact that any notion of continuing Legends as an alternative bar have been completely disregarded in favour of a quick-fix solution in joining industry trends and turning Legends into a cowboy-themed bar; eradicating years of history and culture in the name of gentrification. Edinburgh stands to lose arguably its most important alternative venue that has been active for over 35 years to another soulless, temporary fad-bar that will leave no legacy and completely reshape the identity of Cowgate.
Legends (previously Opium, previously Legends) has been host to a range of different genres and is an ideal size and location for mid-level bands to play whilst touring. It is also a dream venue to play for a lot of local bands due to its reverence and cultural importance. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing a fantastic array of local bands there, such as: Earl of Hell, Dog Tired, Hammer, Iron Altar, Skrap, Robot Death Monkey, Luxera, Melted Messiah, High Noon, Dread Persephone, Disposable, Kakihara, Serpent, Chekovs Gun, Mrs Frighthouse, Cult of Sobek, Skeptic, H8teball, Doppelganger, We Make Mammoths, Solar Sons, Exdestrier and a whole lot more that I will kick myself later on for not adding. I’ve also played countless gigs there with Primitive Vices and played to a packed crowd for the Frontier Living EP launch when I was with Big Iron. There really is no other sensation like feeling the connection with every other person in the room whilst you’re playing and the next weekend coming to see your pals play or a band you’ve wanted to see for ages perform and knowing that they felt the exact same way you felt. Having that sort of connection with a place is incredible and is why the closing of Legends is so much more than just a minor inconvenience to the scene. Though the new iteration of the boozer might bring in more customers, they will not have nearly the same connection or love of the venue as we music fans have created for ourselves. Legends has touched so many lives it’s a horrendous feeling knowing that that experience is being taken away from the community. But all is not lost…
There remains still other opportunities and places for the alternative scene to thrive in Edinburgh. Bannermans Bar is a great boozer for cheeky afternoon swalleys and seeing the occasional touring band that doesn’t mind playing its more limited capacity (compared to a bigger venue such as the Corn Exchange or La Belle Angele – the only real large-sized venue that actively encourage music from the punk, rock and metal scene in Edinburgh) as they have been around so long and are a staple of the Edinburgh rock scene. Banshee Labyrinth is another contender with a gothic theme throughout and multiple areas including gig, cinema and pool rooms. Banshees is likely to become the next late-night spot for Legends-goers as it’s very alt and queer-friendly and open till 3am with lots of different incentives for patronage. La Belle Angele is also a fantastic large venue right in the heart of Old Town that still hosts bands from the rock/metal/punk collective. With club nights such as Decade and Keep it Steel that play your favourite throwback tracks from the 70s to current day.
Those of a certain age (90s bairns and prior) will remember Studio 24 and the similar sense of loss that accompanied the venue’s closure. I missed Studios by a few years but have always felt a spark of jealousy towards those that got to experience the place because of the love that was clearly felt for the place. I can finally fully empathise with how they must have felt and it’s painful to see history repeating itself. Reading an article about Studio 24 and the same sorrow and infuriation is palpable. Studios closed its doors after 25 years of service following the development of residential flats near the venue and the ensuing noise complaints. Who is to blame in that scenario? Neil Cooper, investigating the parameters of the newly built tenements surrounding Studios revealed:
“Some of those purchasing the new builds were informed by those selling that the flats were fully soundproofed. This apparently turned out not to be true, but by the time it came to light, the holding companies who stated otherwise had dissolved, and were no longer liable for the properties. This meant that, even though Studio 24 existed long before the flats, the owners of the club were seen to be in the wrong, and were forced to shell out thousands of pounds on sound-proofing on top of that already in place.”
This ultimately spelled the end for Studios as noise complaints flooded in and they were forced to close their doors though they had simply been operating as they always had. An iconic alternative music venue being forced to close due to no fault of their own; unfortunately, this seems to be occurring once more.
Legends recently released a statement confirming our worst fears of its imminent closure. The wonderful bar staff are obviously torn-up about the whole situation and have put out a call. This coming Friday (13.03.26) they request anyone who has ever played, drank, worked or danced at Legends to come down for a massive hoorah. They say “We need the numbers. We need to prove that this community is real, it is powerful, and refuses to disappear quietly.” Here is your chance to give something back to a venue that has given so much to so many.
But it doesn’t end there. This Saturday (14.03.26) upcoming groove metal band Serpent have their debut EP launch Can’t Cut the Head Off the Snake at Legends, with support from Welsh heavy metallers State of Deceit, the hardest band in Scotland Robot Death Monkey and Weegie sludgers Acid Reflux. This is such an important gig both for Serpent and for Legends and certainly not something to be missed. Send Legends off the right way and get your tickets quickly, they won’t last long.
I’d like to thank all the staff at Legends for the phenomenal job that they do, Jackal Batcharj for his commitment and love for the venue and for always playing whatever shite tunes I suggest during Cult club nights, to all the promoters and door staff for helping create excellent evenings out, to Nic Reid for putting on some stellar shows and making wonderful memories, and Deano; for years of service on the sound desk keeping everything running smoothly with his constant scampish smile.
If it goes, I’m going to miss Legends. The £1 Tequilas, the couches in the back room, the many vandalised booths, the mental decor, the horrible horrible single toilet in the men’s room plus its accompanying graffiti, the gig room and all the times I’ve been melted headbanging and moshing there, the bogging upstairs flat and all the nights I can’t even remember. But don’t give up hope. We still have the scene and we still have the music. Remember… Don’t let the bastards grind you down.
Following are insights from some peeps in the know all about Legends, the scene and what comes next for the alternative community in Edinburgh. Jackal Batcharj, started drinking in Legends, then playing it, then working the bar and finally organising the live events; he truly knows and loves this venue and holds nothing back in his deep and thoughtful assessment of the situation. Succeeding that is Nic Reid’s perspective on things, founder of promotion company Wildcard Collective he knows all about the gigs and scene tied to Legends and shares some experiences and his feelings on the matter. Both these blokes are good mates and I’d like to thank them very much for their involvement in this article. If you yourself have any stories you would like to share then send them to Edinburgh Music News (link below) who are compiling them together so even if Legends closes, it does not do so quietly.
Jackal Batcharj
1. What does Legends mean for the alternative community?
In my opinion, Legends, or as some will remember it, Opium, is an important part of the Edinburgh alternative community. Whichever name you remember it under, this venue has been an incredibly important place for live music, and where friendships, connections, relationships have been forged for longer than I can remember. From drinking in here the moment I turned 18, to playing gigs upstairs, to working both on the bar and as the organiser of live music in this venue – it is a real welcoming and safe space for all sorts of alternative people. Despite the fact that I personally am absolutely lost in the sauce of the metal part of this community, Legends provides a space for people all across the spectrum of metal / punk / rock / emo / anything outside of subculture. There are few places I can think of that have such a harmony of people who may be misfits across the wider club scene, banding together and not only co-existing but really mingling and being part of a wider community. From all the goth kids that used to drink up at Hunters Square and Princes Street Gardens to those further afield who never really had a place, this was the place for them.
2. What drove you to want to work in Legends?
I’m getting on and have had more than my fair share of shitty corporate jobs working for big companies doing shit work for minimum wage, where I felt like I had to tie up my hair and take out my piercings and was told I couldn’t get tattoos or wear eyeliner or nail polish, and was expected to dilute my own personality just to fit in – and when I refused, it was always hard not to feel othered. After a particularly crap job in my mid-twenties and dreadful treatment from them, a friend of mine who worked here back then suggested I come in. I was initially apprehensive because I had never worked in a bar – but it was such a welcoming experience, and to be able to turn up every day not only allowed to express myself in my true form but also to be encouraged to do so was massively refreshing. A place where I can be me, talk to people about music and art and life and find a common ground, and everyone around me feels the same encouragement to be freely themselves was so new to me, and now I would settle for no less. I can barely keep track of how many wonderful staff I have had the honour of working with whilst here – and no two of them the same. This is a place that celebrates individuality. I’ve left and returned a few times and always had such a warm welcome back. And this time, when I was done with bar work, I was supported in finding a way to bring my love of live music and the Scottish music scene into the forefront of my life.
3. What has been your favourite experience at Legends?
It is honestly nearly impossible to pick a “favourite experience” of this place. I’ve been here for a while in so many capacities, and so many wonderful things have happened. To not ramble too much and pick a few off the top of my head from recent times, the EHHC Hardcore charity gig at the start of the year was fantastic. Seeing so many people band together to listen to violent music, whilst at the same time turning up with enough bags of non-perishable food and toiletries and things for an Edinburgh food charity to fill out our entire stage space was amazing to see. And this is just one of many charity gigs that has happened here – another notable mention would be Cocofest a few years back, even before I worked here. Our brother Coco from Defacer was very suddenly and unexpectedly diagnosed with bowel cancer, and we ran a two-day festival with a lot of local bands jumping on and a lot of money raised for Coco, his family, and a cancer research charity. Whilst Coco sadly lost his battle with cancer, when remembering him and thinking back to spending that weekend with him, here on this stage, celebrating him and how much of a badass he was, showed how much everyone around here cared about each other. Over the past few years we have run several Palestine fundraisers, Men’s Mental Health awareness gigs, Safe Gigs for Women, fundraisers for charities to help support gender equality – to see musicians and music enjoyers alike band together for so many great causes through heavy music has been a huge pleasure and I think indicative of the community spirit around this venue and the scene as a whole. So many things have happened in this place and there are so many memories, some happy, some sad, that happened within these walls for me alone – I can’t even begin to imagine how many other stories people have over the years.
4. What gig was the most memorable and enjoyable for you?
Honestly my main band Disposable has played countless gigs here over the past many years – so many EP and album launches, band anniversary celebrations and the like – but the one that comes to mind right now was last Saturday with Doppelganger and Luxera – with someone in each band working at the venue, this was super bittersweet. Sharing members to play covers, and even getting Deano (our longstanding house engineer and a staple of the scene) up on stage, and bringing some younger dudes from a bunch of different bands up on a whim to play together for the first and sadly only time ever – it was testimony to how many great gigs have happened in here, how much this place means to the crowds that come here. So many of the people who support us now probably saw us for the first time ever in here. It is a space that provides an opportunity for younger bands to showcase themselves and build a following. For a while I ran an open jam to do the same – I don’t know where those opportunities will be for the next generation of young and talented local musicians if not here.
5. What message would you give to the alternative community to encourage them to keep coming to gigs and keep adding to the community?
As I said above – I can only look at Legends from my perspective, and a lot of that comes from metal bands in Scotland. Honestly gigs are what has kept this venue alive for as long as it has been – seeing generation after generation of bands and punters come through, turn up to gigs of all genres to have a good time and discover new bands has meant a lot. In particular the EdRaM crowd have been great to have here – constantly pushing community, and supporting local music and making friends. It’s super important to keep turning up to live music spaces and showing them that you want this sort of thing in your city, and to support and be supported by other people like you in an already fairly niche community. Every band that you enjoy was a local band once and there is no lack of talent in the Scottish alternative scene – in fact, I believe it is criminally overlooked. But by turning out to as many gigs as you can you can help support artists of all kinds into continuing to keep the subculture you love alive.
6. Any other words of wisdom or general opinions / thoughts about Legends closing that you would like to share?
I don’t think that the closure of Legends is something to take lightly. Perhaps a lot of people reading this will be too young at this point to remember Studio 24 – another great Edinburgh music venue lost to gentrification. The original home of Keep it Steel, and so many great live gigs and alternative club nights. Disposable had the pleasure of playing one of the last metal gigs in that venue – BOBfest 12, with a lot of other great local bands. It is the place we played our first ever gig – and a place that, as a literal kid, I could go to see live music, play live music, meet other people who had the same passion and interests as me, and stoke the flames of this passion for music and arts in Edinburgh. I remember speaking on that stage 9 years ago about the loss of a staple music venue for the scene, and the missed opportunities for future musicians like me to find their footing in an already overlooked and underheard community. Legends became a place that could keep that dream alive – but with its closure, I cannot think of another place in Edinburgh that supports this kind of music and also accommodates under 18 shows. I do not believe that the kind of themed, money grabby fad that is replacing Legends will last a year, yet alone several decades of memories, opportunities and community. They can take our venues but they cannot take our scene. But we have to show them that – we have to find those beacons of individuality and subculture and we have to protect them. By supporting those local businesses that create spaces for us – by attending gigs regularly – by showing these big corporate dickheads that no matter what, we exist, we matter, and we are a community that supports each other.
Nic Reid
1. What does Legends mean for the alternative community?
I’m very wary regarding speaking on behalf of the community as a whole, there’s a lot of different folk with a lot of different opinions and perspectives but I’ll do my best. From the (often tearful) conversations I’ve been having I feel Legends is incredibly important to people as it was the first place many of us went when we were young and getting started in the scene, giving us a place to meet others and begin exploring our identities as alternative people in a (mostly) judgement-free environment, something I believe is especially important to the queer people in the alternative community, toward whom Tanya and the team at Legends have always been welcoming (for example, after the recent Supreme Court ruling/EHRC guidance). Certainly almost everyone I am lucky enough to consider my friends in the scene met almost everyone they know in the scene either via Legends or via someone they met via Legends.
2. What has been your favourite experience at Legends?
There’s certainly a few memorable moments, and quite a few unmemorable ones! I think my absolute favourite moment however has to be my first ever pit to Dog Tired at the first RaMFest back when Jo Shepton was running it. I can vividly remember falling backwards onto the Legends stage and making eye contact with Luke. A close second has to be attending Cassel Rays’ sold out show last year, incredible to see them in such an intimate venue, especially seeing how big they are now. Major thanks to Duncan at Red Crust for sorting that for me!
3. What was your favourite gig to put on and why?
Another tricky question! I think it probably has to be Luxera’s single release last year. Just something very fulfilling about seeing your friends come up through the ranks, the first time I met Luxera they were the second band on a five band bill back in the early days of Wildcard. Very nice looking at how our relationship has progressed personally and professionally over the years as we have all grown and improved together. For much the same reason I’m sure Serpent’s upcoming EP launch will be another special one! As mentioned above this year’s RaMFest was a major full circle moment for me putting in one of the bands I looked up to the most in the local scene when I first started getting involved so that has to be an honourable mention as well!
4. What encouragement/words of wisdom would you give to the community in regards to keeping up morale and keeping punters coming out to gigs? / What gigs are you putting on that people should look forward to?
I think with the bullshit being pulled by Encore it’s very easy to become despondent and stop giving a fuck. Honestly the day I found out from Jackal I cried about four times and was fully ready to pull the plug on Wildcard altogether. Unfortunately we as a scene don’t have the luxury of lounging in self-pity for too long, Edinburgh has been rapidly losing venues and alternative spaces the past few years so it’s more important than ever to support these places. Have a bowl of nachos at Auld Hoose, get tattooed by Jeff Kohl at Black Thorn, drink a coffee at Slow Progress, eat an all day breakfast at Black Rose, go to gigs and club nights at Bannermans, Banshee’s, La Belle and wherever else they’re on! Folk like myself, Duncan at Red Crust, Luke from Dog Tired / Hellraiser, Gary and James from Decade and Matt from La Belle / Keep It Steel will always do our best to keep providing as many cool gigs and club nights as possible but we need folk to show up to them! I’ve got a few gigs coming up across various venues. For those into their grind we have 3 touring bands from the US/Belgium coming to Banshee’s this month, if you prefer something slower I would suggest Riffs and Spliffs at Bannermans on the 20th of April (cause 420 haha), on the extreme metal front Mastiff are coming soon with a cracking local support lineup and if you’re more into punk we have antifascist skinheads The Oppressed and 1976 punk legends 999 both coming for gigs in Bannermans after the summer. There’s plenty more TBA so make sure you give Wildcard a follow!
5. General thoughts/opinions on Legends or anything else you would like shared?
We might be losing the physical space but that doesn’t mean we need to lose the community that Legends has granted us for all these years. Fuck Encore Bars. Fuck Edward Fox. Legends Forever x.
Photos by @monad_sixgill
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