Rabbit Hole is officially closing down this month.
After one year and five months, the beloved Manila venue and café announced on September 30 that it is shutting its doors permanently this October 26 (Saturday) for the foreseeable future. Since its opening in early 2023, the venue has been known for housing various live gigs, vinyl DJ sets, and other music events within its small space located in Sampaloc. “This will be our final month,” the venue stated in their announcement post. “Mahirap i-absorb, mabilis ang mga pangyayari, pero ganun talaga buhay (It’s hard to absorb, everything happened quickly, but that’s life).”
In the rest of the statement, the venue looked back on the challenges they faced during the first few months of operations, including the owners shouldering expenses from their own pockets, staff stealing from them, and equipment getting damaged. Adding to this was everything else that they lost last July due to Typhoon Carina flooding the venue — including damaging their vinyl record collection. Following this, Rabbit Hole also cited that, recently, there have also been a number of things that have been out of their control because of the greediness of others.
In addition, the venue also mentioned that there have also been a number of unnamed issues with the space that they cannot cover anymore and that there were a lot who were apparently waiting to take advantage of them. “Long story short, we can only do so much,” the venue stated.
In a series of Instagram stories following the announcement, Rabbit Hole posted answers to questions from their followers and patrons regarding their closure. In these stories, they clarified that the venue will not be relocating for the foreseeable future and that part of their closure was due to “landlord issues.” “Nag-try naman kami humanap ng space na lilipatan pero walang pasok sa vibe (We tried to find a space to move to but none of them fit the vibe,” they stated in one story. “Rabbit Hole is not just a space. Parang Asgard lang ‘yan (It’s just like Asgard). It’s the people.”
Ahead of their permanent closure at the end of the month, however, the venue will still be open for food as well as a few events. These include 10NTA? SA PUSANGKA2L! with bird., Party Pace, Cinéma Lumière, and more on October 4; I <3 U-BELT with Halina, Brickcity, Walktrip, and more on October 11; Homeland Obscurity — a “group exhibition and art market” — on October 18; and IT WAS NEVER A PHASE, MOM Part 4 — an emo-centric gig with bands and vinyl DJ sets on October 25.
Alongside these events, Rabbit Hole will also be announcing dates for open mic nights soon. In addition to this, the venue also has plans to host a Halloween party on October 26 featuring vinyl DJ sets throughout the day, with co-owner EJ Salvador currently looking for DJs to play at the closing event.
Read the full statement on Rabbit Hole’s closure below:
This is us officially saying goodbye.
Rabbit Hole will be operational until October 26. This will be our final month. Mahirap i-absorb, mabilis ang mga pangyayari, pero ganun talaga buhay. (It’s hard to absorb, everything happened quickly, but that’s life.)
Dati, gusto lang namin ng sariling business kung sa’n p’wede namin i-share ‘yung passion namin for music. Nag-umpisa kami sa maliit na capital, DIY renovation, walang menu, konting supplies, boring legal stuff, at kami mismo ang staff. Lahat ‘yan na-figure out namin ayusin along the way. Isa lang ang talagang fixed para sa amin: gusto namin i-focus sa music ‘yung space — records, live band[s], open mic[s], [a] creative space, etc. Alam niyo na ‘yan.
(Before, we just wanted our own business where we could shared our passion for music. We started out with a small capital, DIY renovation, no menu, few supplies, boring legal stuff, and we were the staff ourselves. All of that we figured out how to do along the way. There’s only one thing that’s fixed for us: we wanted to focus the space on music — records, live bands, open mics, a creative space, etc. All of you know that already.)
For the past 1 year and 5 months, ang daming challenges tbh (sic), pero pinilit namin mag-move forward para i-continue ‘yung passion namin. First few months, abonado kami sa gastos, kami mismo ang staff, nanakawan kami, may staff na nangungupit, may mga equipment na nasira. Nadagdagan pa ‘yung mga nasisira dahil binaha, naubos ‘yung records namin, and, until recently, may mga bagay na labas sa control namin dahil sa mga gahamang tao sa mundo.
(For the past 1 year and 5 months, there were a lot of challenges to be honest, but we forced ourselves to move forward in order to continue our passion. First few months, we paid for the expenses ourselves, we were the staff, we got stolen from, there were staff who stole from us, pieces of equipment damaged. Adding to that were what got damaged because we got flooded, we lost our records, and until recently, there have been some things that were out of our control because of the greedy people of this world.)
Ang dami na ring issue nung space na hindi na namin covered. Ang dami ring mga mata na nakaabang samin para i-take advantage kami. Long story short, we can only do so much.
(There have also been a lot of issues with the space that we cannot cover. There have also been a lot of people waiting to take advantage of us. Long story short, we can only do so much.)
This is us saying goodbye and para na rin may proper exit kami at ma-cherish ‘yung final days ng store.
(This is us saying goodbye and so that we can have a proper exit and cherish the finals days of the store.)
Make friends. Take photos. Join events.
Lastly, we’re looking forward sa mga (to the) events happening this month, so keep supporting the artists and just enjoy the space on its final days.
For the last few days, come down the Rabbit Hole.