The bar that replaced independent music venue The Silver Bullet is to start hosting gigs three times a week, bosses have revealed.

Islington Gazette: Independent live music venue Silver Bullet is closing after being bought by an upmarket restaurant chainIndependent live music venue Silver Bullet is closing after being bought by an upmarket restaurant chain (Image: Archant)

Zelman Drinks opened in October after the lease to the building was bought by the Goodman Restaurant Group – which owns the Burger and Lobster chain.

At the time, bosses came under fire from fans who had fought to save the bullet, which was described by its co-manager Anna Naylor as a “cultural and community hub”.

Goodman’s operations director Dave Strauss – who lives locally – vowed to continue holding live music events, but the venue has been unable to since doors opened in October because of a licensing dispute.

That will change a week on Sunday, though, when the first “jazz jam” is held. And before then the first DJ night will take place on Thursday.

Assistant manager Colin O’Reilly told the Gazette the aim was to continue the reputation of the Silver Bullet, which hosted acts including Rudimental and Laura Marling.

He said: “Obviously, this was a well-known venue for live music around London. So we would like to build up a similar reputation to the one the Silver Bullet had.

“We have obviously had a lot of interest from people in the area. Customers keep coming in and asking if we are going to have live music and we want to get back into it.

“We are looking at having three events a week, one of which will be the DJ night. The plan is to get a regular jazz and blues session going on a Sunday.”

Colin said some people are still not happy about the change but he hoped the music events would change that.

Thursday’s Zelman Disco Society event will feature DJs GCDJ playing disco, soul and funk from 10pm to 2am.

And for those that miss the Silver Bullet, a reunion event is taking place on Saturday next week in collaboration with Passing Clouds, another independent music hub that closed in Dalston last year.

The Grand Theft Audio event will take place on Saturday at The Hive Dalston in Kingsland Road. For details on that, click here.