First called The Zoo Bar, followed by the Rock Shed founded by Local Rock DJ - Jon Ingle, in the early 1980s, Ian Dobbs sold the venue in the latter part of the 1980s and then became "Theo's Zoo bar", in the early 1990s, and named after the head bouncer, the original venue was a standalone nightclub.
The Tramshed and Zoo Bar were brought to national attention by the media as a "haven" for underage drinkers, when they became among the first establishments to be closed under the auspices of the Licensing Act 2003, which came into effect in England and Wales at midnight on 23 November 2005.
[1] Originally named the zoo bar ( Hopwood Lane entrance) and Empire night club ( Lord Street entrance), it was founded by a local Rock DJ called Jon Ingle to serve the local bikers and heavy rock fans, the two night clubs were merged by Jon Ingle into one venue called the Rock Shed; The owner of the premises (Ian Dobbs) sold the business in the latter part of the 1980s when it was renamed "Theo's Zoo bar" after the head bouncer and before the reputation of an underage venue the Zoo bar was one of the first "indie" clubs in Halifax.
The Tramshed and Zoo Bars were side-by-side nightclubs in Halifax featuring rock, emo, indie, punk and ska music.
"[3] After it was closed, the Halifax Zoo Bar incident became an international lightning rod in Europe, as one paper cited it as a "notorious kiddie boozer" where "legless" youths could do whatever they wanted.
[8] The building which housed the Tramshed and Zoo Bar has been sold to developers and is currently undergoing a renovation that will convert the spaces into flats.
[9] The Rock Shed / Zoo Bar (and later the Tram-Shed) nightclubs would host live bands particularly on a Saturday night with varying frequency.
Bands which have performed at The Zoo Bar include well known acts such as The Prophecy, Old Man's Child, thesevenmachine, Worm and Lymph.