Last orders as popular club closing
BAR Luna, also known as ‘The Shaker’, has supplied many people in Llanelli with nights out to remember. With great music and atmosphere, the club has been a significant place for people from the town.
Unfortunately, all good things come to an end, and it was announced this week that Bar Luna will be closing its doors on October 30.
The lease owner and manager of Bar Luna, Clive Brookfield, says it’s not economical to keep running the club anymore due to the costs of staff and people finding alternative ways to party at home since Covid-19.
Mr Brookfield, 80, who has worked at the club for 44 years, said: “When you have 100 people in a big venue like that, it doesn’t look good. DJS command more money these days (and the doormen), so we were losing money on it. So, we’re going to shut Bar Luna and if the town picks up one day we can come back to it. Otherwise, it will just be a good old memory. We’ve seen good times, many people have met their partners there and we’ve had good acts over the years.
“We’ve been shut for a year and people have found alternative ways. People have got bars in their house and garage and the crowds aren’t out anymore. Going back 15 years ago on a Saturday night in Llanelli you’d have 2,500 people out. I don’t think you’ve got 200 people out anymore.”
Bar Luna, which has hosted huge crowds throughout the years, is located on Market Street and has been changed over time, with different names such as Tom Peppers to keep up with the times. A two-tiered club, Bar Luna, like Llanelli’s famous Moonraker, drew in crowds from 10pm until the early hours of the morning.
When the Eastgate Development opened in Llanelli more than a decade ago, the landscape of the town centre, especially its nightlife, changed and the area, which was known as the place where people would end their night, was replaced with new commercial units and Y Ffwrnes theatre.
Now, with the disappearance of Alitalia (the former Barbican) and proposals to demolish some favourite old haunts, the face of east Llanelli could look unrecognisable in the future.
The demolition of half of Market Street would make way for a new redevelopment which would include new commercial, residential, office and bar and restaurant units.
Reminiscing on the ‘good old days’, Mr Brookfield said: “I can recall people coming out on a Saturday night at 7pm to do a pub crawl around the town and then coming at 11pm to the club and they’d they dance the night away until 2am – and it was good.”
When asked about his best memory of Bar Luna, Clive said it was when X Factor star Chico Slimani and other acts performed at the bar.
He added: “Those were really good days because I’d have 740 people upstairs coming to see Chico and downstairs, which was over-18s, I’d have another 700.
“So you’re talking 1,500 people in my venue – but you haven’t got 200 in town anymore.”
Although Bar Luna has seen the last of its good days, Clive and his staff will be kept busy managing the bar below Bar Luna called The Jail House.