Donuts at The Green Door Store is no more

After five years at the Green Door Store, Donuts has been given a few days notice to leave the venue


DONUTS announced on their Facebook page this afternoon that their time at Green Door Store has come to an end as the venue notified them via email that they are no longer welcome at the venue.

The news came to the organisers this morning as they were told in an email that their night no longer fits in with the club’s direction and the space has been filled with a new in-house night. The news was said to be “completely out of the blue”.

The new night will be a mixture of hip hop, RnB and rap with an emphasis on new releases. As it is an in-house night there will be no entry charge. Green Door Store have said they prefer hosting free nights as it means that money isn’t a barrier for people coming in.

We spoke to Matthew Tanner, the founder of DONUTS, to get a few words on the matter. Matt said: “After receiving the news, friends started to message me telling me there is a new hip-hop night happening at the venue on a Tuesday.

“I was in total shock as I was told today by the owner of the venue that he was unaware of what would be going in there when this looks like it had been planned for some time now. Especially as we did have an agreement that I was to give them adequate notice if I was to ever leave the venue”

Matt, who started up the night as a hobby as he was finishing uni, said in a Facebook post: “After giving my heart and soul to the venue since setting up DONUTS we are surprised and disappointed that we were given no notice or time to prepare and plan a smooth and successful venue change.”

DONUTS have insisted that this is not the end but it will take time to adjust and find a new venue but that they are working on it and will give updates as they come.

Matt says “Its not all doom and gloom, I have been more than overwhelmed by people’s support on Facebook. Although today we got some bad news, we also got plenty of good news!

“The comments and messages from people that come to DONUTS and have said they will support us is truly inspiring and I am excited to move forward from here.”

Brighton’s hip-hop, soul, disco, funk, RnB and left-field electronic music fans have taken to Facebook to express their support for the night with one faithful fan saying: “The crowd will follow”.

Matt started the night in April 2012 as he was coming to the end of his time at uni as a hobby and it’s growth and popularity was unexpected. He wanted to introduce a hip hop night in Brighton with an emphasis on music that isn’t regularly played in clubs.

Toni, a spokesperson for Green Door Store, said: “Matt was looking for more money than we could afford and the night was growing a little too large for the venue so we had been in discussions with Matt for a couple of months regarding his decision to look for a new venue.

“Unfortunately this has not been communicated to the public. We have no hard feelings towards him and wish him the best for the future.”