El Sieco's was a

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

, bar, and

music venue A music venue is any location used for a concert or musical performance. Music venues range in size and location, from a small coffeehouse for folk music shows, an outdoor bandshell or bandstand or a concert hall to an indoor sports stadium. Ty ...

Newport, Wales Newport ( ) is a city and Principal areas of Wales, county borough in Wales, situated on the River Usk close to its confluence with the Severn Estuary, northeast of Cardiff. The population grew considerably between the 2011 and the 2021 Unit ...

which opened in 2016 on High Street, Newport. The venue closed in 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

lockdown. El Seico's owner was Ashley Sicolo, grandson of John Sicolo. John was the owner of notable Newport music venue

TJ's TJ's was a music venue and nightclub located on Clarence Place in Newport, South Wales. It opened in 1985 and shortly became a live music venue. It was an integral part of the so-called toilet circuit and the Newport music scene, particularly ...

which was a major part of the Newport music scene until TJ's closure in 2010. The new El Seico's venue proved popular, having been named in the

South Wales Argus The ''South Wales Argus'' is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Newport, South Wales. ''The Argus'' is distributed in Newport, Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, and Torfaen. History The paper was founded as the ''South Wales Argu ...

list of top 5 live music venues in Newport, and it was announced in 2019 that El Seico's would be moving to larger premises in Market Street. The new location was due to open in September 2019, offering an increased capacity of 350, two floors, with weekend evenings offering two rooms of music. In October 2020 Ashley announced that the club would not reopen, stating that "Coronavirus put life on hold. I’ve had some great times and met some great people, but it’s time for me to move on".

Background

was a famous nightclub located on Clarence Place, which opened in 1985 and became an integral part of the so-called

toilet circuit The toilet circuit is the network of small music venues in the United Kingdom which rising indie music, indie, rock music, rock and metal music, metal bands often visit to gain support and promote themselves. The name may refer to the size and of ...

. The club, praised by

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

, advertised itself as "The Legendary TJ's". In 2010, TJ's owner John Sicolo passed away, reportedly having funded the club's upkeep in its poor quality building using much of his life savings. The original premises were held by administrators following his death, and later sold to the Hassan brothers of Cardiff. In 2012 John Sicolo's grandson, Ashley Sicolo, opened a resurrected venue, first named the 200 Club, on

Stow Hill Stow Hill is a community civil parish and coterminous electoral district (ward) of the City of Newport, South Wales. It is bounded by the River Usk to the east, George Street and Cardiff Road to the south, the Great Western Main Line to the so ...

, the decor for which included TJ's memorabilia and copies of TJ's gig posters. In May 2013

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

ers took part in a gig at the venue when PiL guitarist Keith Levene and

Therapy? Therapy? are a Northern Irish rock band from Larne, formed in 1989 by guitarist-vocalist Andy Cairns and drummer-vocalist Fyfe Ewing. Therapy? recorded their first demo with Cairns filling in on bass guitar. To complete the lineup, the band ...

singer Andy Cairns played there. The club closed on 26 May 2013 due to complaints over noise.

References

External links

Official TJ's website as at 18 February 2010

El Siecos - Facebook
{{Culture of Newport Newport, Wales Nightclubs in Wales Culture in Newport, Wales Landmarks in Newport, Wales Music venues in Newport, Wales

Background

See also

References

External links