Smoking ban blamed for Cheeky Monkey switch

Nightclub promoters in Wolverhampton today blamed the smoking ban and changes to licensing laws for turning popular disco Cheeky Monkey into a monthly event.

Apart from New Year's Eve, when Cheeky Monkey will be paired with its Saturday sister night Blast Off, the final weekly event was last Friday.

Cheeky Monkey will now be held on the Friday closest to most people's payday at Wolverhampton's Civic Hall. The first Payday Cheeky Monkey is on February 4. Attendance fell from a peak of 3,000 in 2004 to an average 600.

The Civic Hall can make three times as much money by hosting a concert.

Plans are now under way to replace the nights that Cheeky Monkey is not on with other club nights themed around new age music and retro indie rock.

The indie night Blast Off will not be affected, and promoter Dave Travis said it was still going strong with an average of 1,200 a time.

Mark Blackstock, general manager of the Civic Halls, said: "Things started to change when the licensing laws allowed pubs to open later. A lot of people stopped coming into town after being in the pub. When the smoking ban came in, we also lost a lot of people.

"We've come to the view that we have to change."

Mr Travis said it was intended to focus on the night of the month when Cheeky Monkey was most popular.

He said: "The week that most people get paid is always good.

"We want them to have a great time whenever they come to Cheeky Monkey."

The news was met with mixed feelings by one reveller. David Lowbridge, a 28-year-old teacher from Dunster Grove, Perton, has been going to the Civic Hall club nights for 10 years. He said: "It's a shame but I'm glad they aren't closing it."

Cheeky Monkey has been held on 699 nights and seen 817,692 people come through the doors of the Civic and Wulfrun halls.

During the 14 years that Cheeky Monkey has run, it has covered 3,495 hours of entertainment — the equivalent of 145.6 days. A total of 24,465 staff have worked there at one time oranother.

Two years ago, Cheeky Monkey was moved into the smaller Wulfrun Hall but was returned to the Civic after bosses invested in new disco lights that they did not have to move whenever there was a concert.