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Support Your Local Gig Venue (Feature)
Tuesday, 15 March 2011 Written by Rob Sleigh
Support Your Local Gig Venue (Feature)

Following the recent rescue of London's 100 Club and the optimistic progression of the new Live Music Bill, we're taking a look at the current state of Britain's live music scene and of the smaller venues around the nation. We want to hear from you about your favourite local gig venue and we don't mean your nearest arena. We're interested in those nearby little places with a bit of history and character about them. Somewhere you can watch a band in relatively close quarters and get a drink for a reasonable price. Leave your comments at the end of this feature and, in the meantime, here are a few words to whet your appetite for low-key live music.

While the recent naming of London's O2 Arena as the most popular live music venue in the world may be a proud claim for the UK, it seems like less of a boast for the country's live music scene. Especially when places like the iconic 100 Club are being threatened with closure. The Oxford Street venue has thankfully been saved from its financial difficulties, but unfortunately the same cannot be said for hundreds of other small clubs around the country. And most of the time, few of them make headline news like the 100 Club did and even fewer receive any kind of support from the likes of Paul McCartney. The sad truth is that most of them just end up dying out and no one ever really notices.

ImageThe UK's live music scene is said to be thriving, with arenas such as the O2 attracting thousands of punters each week to watch internationally-successful artists like Rihanna and Katy Perry perform their hits. It's fantastic to see that the UK is leading the way in live music, but the fact that the O2 is the most popular live music venue is largely unsurprising. With a capacity reaching over 20,000 there aren't many places around that could realistically compete with it. Most of the country's live music venues would need to host about 50 gigs before they hit the 20,000 mark.

The word “gig” raises another interesting point – what exactly is a “gig”? It used to be a word that brought images of bands playing in small, sweaty clubs to handfuls of music fans. However, if you were to attend a concert at one of the country's many major arenas, could it really be described as a gig? To the majority of the crowd, the band look like ants – unless, of course, you're watching them on one of the venue's large screens – and even if you have managed to get tickets for the front row, chances are you're still twenty metres away from the stage, separated from the band by a huge security and press area. Rock and roll?

So what about all the cosy little venues that you can still find scattered around the country? Places like The Croft in Bristol, The Cavern in Exeter and The Joiners in Southampton. Well, the good news is that many of them, such as these examples, are still lively and popular places to watch bands play, as they should be. Unfortunately, many others are less fortunate, despite being equally well frequented. Look back through the music press in recent months and years and you’ll find numerous examples of clubs that have been forced to close their doors, often for financial reasons as was nearly the case for the 100 Club. It’s a sad truth, but a truth that’s been occurring far too often in recent times.

Take the Barfly in Cardiff, for instance. In September, the popular venue unexpectedly closed its door after ten years of hosting early performances by the likes of Kings of Leon and Lost Prophets. During the previous year, another Cardiff venue The Point was also forced to shut due to reasons including debt and continued complaints regarding noise. Elsewhere in South Wales in 2010, legendary Newport club TJ’s closed after over 30 years, citing financial difficulties following the sad death of owner John Sicolo. Further afield, a host of other iconic locations have met the same gloomy destiny. The Charlotte in Leicester, Jilly’s Rockworld in Manchester. The list goes on. 2010 was not a great year for such irreplaceable small venues.

So how are things looking in 2011? Well… promising, at least. Just last week, the recently-proposed Live Music Bill was approved by the government during the early stages of its legislative process. The bill includes plans to amend the current licensing laws so that smaller venues are not subject to the complex and costly application process that is required of others. If the bill is successful, this will obviously be a huge help to pubs and clubs that might not have previously been able to host such entertainment.

In addition to this, there was of course the well-documented story of the 100 Club. Upon hearing of its difficulties and looming closure, an array of stars including Sir Paul McCartney and Ronnie Wood leapt in to support the troubled venue. Thanks to these well-known fans and the heap of publicity that the campaign received, the 100 Club was finally saved by a partnership deal with Converse last month. However, although other places might not receive the same amount of celebrity support when they are experiencing difficulties, is that kind of backing really required? All that these clubs really need is enough people coming through their doors each month to keep them going. There’s nothing wrong with going to the big arenas to check out the superstars of the day, but what about the superstars of the future? It wasn’t that long ago that Arctic Monkeys were gracing the stages of much smaller venues than they are now. Who knows who might be following in their footsteps? So if you really love live music, get out there and support your local gig venue. You never know – you might just be going to see the next Kings of Leon.

What’s your favourite local gig venue? Let us know below.
NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

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