TIM HORNSBY has booked his last show for Fibbers, the iconic York music venue.

"I've said I'm not going to continue as house booker for anyone," says Tim, 63, the club's promoter since its move to Toft Green in 2014.

"After 27 years, I think I've paid my dues after putting on 7,500 shows. If anyone does the maths, that's a lot of Saturday afternoons and Sundays afternoons as well as weekday nights and Saturday nights with a club night afterwards, so we were going full tilt all the time.

"I drew a million people through the doors at Stonebow, including at The Duchess and the clubs we did for a few years there too. "

Tim, who promotes concerts under the name Mr H Presents, had first run Fibbers from 1992 at Stonebow House, switching to The Duchess, in the former snooker hall in the same building, before resuming the reins at Fibbers.

When Fibbers was acquired by Barfly, the naming rights were transferred to the new owners, and likewise when Tokyo Industries purchased the live music venue's lease.

When informed by Tokyo Industries that the Toft Green site had been acquired by a new developer, potentially for conversion to an hotel, Tim stopped booking acts in early spring. He announced a "closing down party" for June 29 with a That's All Folks message on the Fibbers website, then hosting his two final shows, The Orb, on June 28 and Rainbow's Rising & Blackmore's Blood, the following night.

Upcoming shows by China Crisis, on The RETROspective Tour, and Electric Six, have been moved to Pocklington Arts Centre on November 2 and The Crescent community venue, York, on November 19 respectively.

Aaron Mellor, of leaseholders Tokyo Industries, has clarified that Fibbers would " remain open until 'at least' next January and would be closing only for its regulation summer break, "like we have done every summer for seven years" before re-opening in September.

"We have a rolling lease until at least January 2020 but I suspect it will extend past then also," said Mr Mellor.

In his That's All Folks valedictory statement, Tim wrote: "Fibbers on Toft Green is now closed for gigs, sorry. New location coming soon."

"I have spoken with Aaron and said I was thinking of opening a Fibbers bar elsewhere in the city, and he has no problem with that.

"I've also offered to help in any transition from Toft Green, to be involved in a legacy way as I need material for my book. l haven't fallen out with Aaron; I have great respect for him: he kept the Fibbers name going. When Fibbers closed at Stonebow in 2014, he said, 'why not run it at Toffs?', and two weeks later we had our first night there with Tony Joe White.

"I've told him I won't continue as the house booker, but will help with anything he needs, because York and Fibbers owe Aaron a debt of gratitude."

Promoting concerts is a bug that Tim cannot shake off just yet. "I envisage doing a dozen shows a year with bands and agents I consider friends, and I'll be doing those around York, but my days of being a house booker, trying to fill a diary...they are over.

"I'm only interested in doing really big shows now, and my preference would be to continue to do that in York, as you never go anywhere where there's already a big dog. So I'll stay where I know the interest is: York.

"This will be under the banner of Mr H Presents, but on a much reduced basis: that's why it will be a dozen gigs, rather than the 200 to 300 I do now."

Looking back to when he launched Fibbers, in the year his beloved Leeds United won the last old First Division title, he says: "I still think, how did I get into this?! In 1992, I was a single parent with three daughters aged between five and 12, and doing something like this was sheer madness.

"But I was lucky enough to meet to meet Michelle [Hodgen], who has had all the great ideas, like the food at Fibbers, the fajitas, Asian menus; the cappuccinos. She handled the finance; she would argue with the bank manager; she designed the stage; organised the bigger PAs. She always had the big ideas that mattered, but it was always me that took the credit.

"And at one point, every Barfly had a manager trained by me and Michelle: Bristol, Cardiff, Cambridge, Glasgow, Camden, Liverpool."

Booking bands has become more challenging down the years. "Bands used to do six tours a year, amounting to 30 shows; now they do two of 12, as agents squeeze it down," says Tim. "And because of our proximity to Leeds, agents think people from York will go there.

"Bands also now think a YouTube clip will suffice, but people are too busy watching old Jimi Hendrix clips, so if you're not super-original, you won't get noticed now. We live in a 'scroll world': scrolling up and down for information, looking for 'what's next?'."

What's next for live music venues, when club nights and tribute acts increasingly find regular slots in the diary? "I do fear for the future of small venues, what with all the legislation; people objecting to the noise; the costs; the contraction of the live music industry. Yes, I do fear for them," says Tim. "I certainly wouldn't start a live venue now. Absolutely not."

Reflecting on his favourites Fibbers gigs down the years, he picks Slaves, Klaxons, Alabama 3, Wilko Johnson, Kasabian and The Killers. What about Coldplay, didn't they play there?

"Yes, but I spelt their name wrong, as 'Coalplay', on the poster when they supported Surge on June 30, 1999. I remember Chris Martin getting people tea from behind the bar!"

Charles Hutchinson