Indie venues fight to keep grassroots gigs alive
Morag ButlerA woman championing grassroots music has called on people to support their local independent venues – or risk watching them disappear.
Performer and promoter Morag Butler, who runs Rosslyn Court, a music venue and B&B in Margate's thriving cultural quarter, says small venues are "really, really under threat", despite being essential spaces where artists hone their craft.
Her Kent seaside venue, an "intimate acoustic" space, hosts big names while also giving local talent a place to grow.
"There is nothing like live music," Butler says. "It lifts you up. It's a different experience to listening to it online, or on the radio, or on a record."
She was speaking during Independent Venue Week (IVW), which has been taking place across the UK to celebrate grassroots spaces.
Hundreds of live shows and events have been staged in cities, towns and villages, bringing artists and audiences together.
'Success to success'
IVW chief executive and founder Sybil Bell says it is about recognising what venues mean to people.
"More than ever, fans are also showing that they want to be out, in person with mates, being in the moment and not on a screen," she says.
Butler said they had been "lucky" at Rosslyn Court, because they owned their premises while other venues did not, adding if they did not own the premises, they would not survive at all.
She is urging people to continue supporting live music, adding: "If you don't support your independent venue, it will disappear."
Across the south of England, other venues have echoed Butler's concerns, with some pointing to the "Covid effect", which brought financial strain, and changed how bands run tours.
At The Factory Live in Worthing – created inside a former carpentry and joinery factory and styled with "an industrial vibe" – marketing and programming manager Stephen Sheldrake said the venue had taken off since the pandemic.
He says they put people "at the heart of everything" - artists, audience members, staff and volunteers.
"We are here to capture the excitement of live music and bring that joy to people - and it's just gone from success to success."
Standout shows for Sheldrake have included Irish pop band Hothouse Flowers, alongside hip-hop acts Arrested Development and Obie Trice.
Getty ImagesFor Sheldrake, the icing on the cake came when Trice Facetimed Eminem from the green room.
He said he grew up listening to Eminem, adding: "It just blew my mind to think that Eminem had somehow heard of The Factory Live and was chatting to his friend here and I just can't get over that.
"I just think it's absolutely amazing.
"This is Worthing. This is an intimate venue and we're doing things that have a reach that's beyond England into the States and around the world," he said.
"It was a real pinching moment."
In Bexhill-on-Sea, programmer Greg Norrington said the De La Warr Pavilion also went through a "tough time" during Covid, but stressed the importance of keeping independent venues open.
"A lot of artists are trying to make their presence known online now and think that's the only way to make it," he says, "but all round the likeliest way of still being a musician or having a career in it is putting the hard graft in, starting in the smaller venues and building your way up."
The De La Warr has hosted artists including Patti Smith, the Flaming Lips, and Suzie Eddie Izzard's retelling of Hamlet.
Asked who he would most like to book, Norrington said it was the Arctic Monkeys, adding: "Alex Turner is just the absolute best."
Smaller, multi-purpose venues are also playing their part.
Everything at The Apothecary Tap in Banbury, Oxfordshire - a craft beer bar that doubles as a comedy and music venue - is driven by "passion", owner Rob Foreman says.
"I'm passionate about my beer, but I'm also passionate about my music," he says, adding that independent artists could be hard to find but were vital to keeping the venue alive.
"Grassroots music just keeps getting better."
'Soul in the room'
Simon Bentley, director of The Wight Bear in Southbourne, Dorset, says it is a "buzz" introducing people to great music and comedy close to home.
"It's just showing them what brilliant music there is out there, and comedy as well, for them all to enjoy out on their doorstep rather than going to the bigger venues."
Bentley says bigger venues have their place, but independent venues belong to the people who use them.
When they staged a performance in their bar, pulled the furniture out, set up a backdrop and put in a sound system, he said, "you can feel the soul in the room".
IVW this year has included the Towner art gallery in Eastbourne, known primarily for visual arts and cinema.
The gallery has used IVW to experiment with live music, something curator Emily Medd said it planned to continue beyond 2026.
She said IVW was an exciting celebration of "DIY spaces".
Towner was "not a traditional gig venue", she said, but a "DIY ethos" was definitely something Towner had.
For IVW, the Towner teamed up with BBC Introducing and BBC Surrey and Sussex presenter Melita Bennett to showcase three emerging local acts.
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