A MEMORIAL gig for TJ’s owner John Sicolo will still go ahead, said organisers, despite yesterday’s news that the legendary club is to close.

The open-air concert in the city centre this summer will feature many of the bands who featured at the club over the last 15 years. They are set to play one-off sets to projected crowds of more than 2,000 people on July 10.

Emma Stowell-Corten, who is helping to organise the memorial gig, said: “The closure of the club makes TJ’s in the Square gig more important than ever because not only will it be a fitting tribute to the man himself, but also to the club, thanks to the number of bands that have confirmed to play at the gig.”

All concerts in the club on Clarence Place had been postponed following Mr Sicolo's death at the age of 66 last month, but his daughter Leanne Jones announced yesterday that she has decided to sell TJ’s after meetings with solicitors failed to find a solution to the club's financial difficulties.

Mrs Jones, 42, said: “It’s the end of an era. We are devastated as it’s been in the family such a long time, but it’s out of my hands now.”

Mr Sicolo had been battling to save the club he managed for decades after its cash flow was badly affected by the recession and the smoking ban.

He had begun to sell off thousands of items of music memorabilia and put £8,000 of his own pension fund into the Newport bar which saw early performances from the likes of Green Day, Oasis, and the Manic Street Preachers.

But writing about the closure on social networking site Facebook, Mrs Jones said: “I have done everything in my power to keep my dad’s pride and joy open but unfortunately TJ’s was in more financial difficulty than we all thought. When I sat down with the figures it was just impossible for me to carry on."

Mr Sicolo’s sister-in-law Arlene Sicolo added yesterday: “When John went that was it. He was TJ’s, and I don’t think anyone could have brought it back up to scratch.”