UK towns with a healthy live music scene?

[SuperSeagull]

22 minutes ago, Sparky Mark said:

I'm thankful that music has always been a hobby for me. There aren't  many hobbies where you can meet up with some mates, have a few hours fun and end up with more money in your pocket than you started with. However, as a matter of principle, other than those for worthy causes, I choose not to play unpaid gigs. 

Likewise re the hobby point. We do the odd unpaid charity type gig but only if there is a chance something paid comes out of it - doesn’t always work though!

[Barking Spiders]

Gloucestershire isn't blessed with great venues hosting mid-level well known bands other than the town/civic halls. The acoustics at Cheltenham town hall aren't great though legacy acts and tribute bands gig there mostly. There are quite a few venues hosting open mic nights and even though there's the 3,000 capacity Centaur at the racecourse Jools Holland's big band orchestra seems to be the only act that gigs there. Chelt's pretty good for local metal, punk and straight ahead rock bands (2 Pigs and Frog & Fiddle) if that's your thing and you don't mind crowds of gypsy's kissed students. I miss the Axiom where I saw a fair few good dance/electronica acts almost a couple of decades ago. The Cotswold Inn is pretty good for localish jazz, reggae and folk stuff.

 

Seems to me most well-known ish bands that aren't over the hill opt for either Oxford or Bristol which are only 40 minutes or so away.

Edited November 2, 2022 by Barking Spiders

[Tim2291]

17 hours ago, Linus27 said:

 

Guildford is like that as well.

Its frustrating isn't it. Especially when they're not even very good at the job!

[Sparky Mark]

13 minutes ago, Tim2291 said:

Its frustrating isn't it. Especially when they're not even very good at the job!

I'm guessing that Promoters see there job as promiting artists to venues and getting gigs whilst it's the artist's job to promote the actual gigs to punters. Fair enough?

[Tim2291]

1 minute ago, Sparky Mark said:

I'm guessing that Promoters see there job as promiting artists to venues and getting gigs whilst it's the artist's job to promote the actual gigs to punters. Fair enough?

 

A promoter who is just booking bands is not a promoter, they are a booking agent. That's a very different thing, if they called themselves booking agents, then yes that's fair enough. But the promoter should do what their job title suggests, and of course the artist should promote as well but it does go both ways!

[Sparky Mark]

1 hour ago, Tim2291 said:

 

A promoter who is just booking bands is not a promoter, they are a booking agent. That's a very different thing, if they called themselves booking agents, then yes that's fair enough. But the promoter should do what their job title suggests, and of course the artist should promote as well but it does go both ways!

Ah, I see. I assumed that Promoters earned their fee by approaching Booking Agents, not that they were one and the same entity. 

[NancyJohnson]

I'm in a little village about seven or eight miles east of Reading.  Nothing here.

 

Locally Bracknell has a couple of venues, The Cellar at South Hill Park, The Acoustic Lounge (not strictly acoustic).  Reading is better, quite a few small/decent places, Face Bar, Sub 89, Purple Turtle, The Butler, South Street Arts, The Turks, Velocity, Oakford Social - there are a few that I've played but not certain whether they're still open; Readipop was great, there was a bar in the Town Hall I gigged once.

 

There was one place in Reading, old metal pub called The Rising Sun.  It was a fantastic place.  The inside was wallpapered (walls and ceiling) with pages from The Beano and The Dandy and for good measure the place had a old rowing boat in one corner (riding on a sea of papier-mache).  I played there just the once...the place was absolutely rammed, literally people falling onto the low stage.  When we were loading in we got heckled by a group of metal-boys nursing pints of lager but the level of heckling reduced with the more gear we bought in.  Reckon we played about an hour and aside from a gig I did in Milan, I'd say it was one of the best gigs I've ever played.  The bar staff said we were the loudest band they'd ever had in there.  

 

 

[BassAdder60]

On 30/10/2022 at 16:07, lownote said:

Diss at the very centre of East Anglia has a jazz club.  Quite popular I hear. The only downside is it involves listening to CDs.  Like a book club. Any thought of actually playing an instrument is a no-no.  The nearest centres of livacious music are Bury St Edmund, Ipswich or Norwich. Which means I am at the centre of 2000 square miles of quiet. That's not to say there are no venues or musos to supply them - for example, pre-covid the Burston Crown had a remarkable array of very high London quality acts - but the OP asked for thriving scenes.

Living nearby to @lownote I too find our local Suffolk / Norfolk music scene  some what limited !!

We have a few decent pubs booking bands in the villages but times are tough and they seem to be cutting back. 
A point I notice alot is that the venues are rubbish at promoting live music so it’s a challenge making sure you post on social media about your next gig.

We play at a local brewery and they have a great FB page but they don’t promote the live music they have booked and they ask why attendance is poor !! 

[Tim2291]

Just now, BassAdder60 said:

Living nearby to @lownote I too find our local Suffolk / Norfolk music scene  some what limited !!

We have a few decent pubs booking bands in the villages but times are tough and they seem to be cutting back. 
A point I notice alot is that the venues are rubbish at promoting live music so it’s a challenge making sure you post on social media about your next gig.

We play at a local brewery and they have a great FB page but they don’t promote the live music they have booked and they ask why attendance is poor !! 

This is extremely frustrating isn't it! You can of course promote as much as possible through SM and get people to come along to the gig. But the venues have a better reach for their patrons, these people who follow them on social media have been to the place in the past or visit regularly so it would be massively helpful if they would help promote as well! It is mutually beneficial at the end of the day!

[lownote]

31 minutes ago, BassAdder60 said:

Living nearby to @lownote I too find our local Suffolk / Norfolk music scene  some what limited !!

We have a few decent pubs booking bands in the villages but times are tough and they seem to be cutting back. 
A point I notice alot is that the venues are rubbish at promoting live music so it’s a challenge making sure you post on social media about your next gig.

We play at a local brewery and they have a great FB page but they don’t promote the live music they have booked and they ask why attendance is poor !! 

 

Having up to date and attractive social media and maybe a website is vital. Have several quality video clips and stills available and easy to find for venues and punters. Make the venues' job easier by supplying them with posters or at least good publicity shots.  My last band had a geriatric in charge of publicity and venues often had to scour our archive for out of date pix of the band.

[Raymondo]

I live in a smallish town, Ilkeston. It's in-between Nottigham and Derby and therefore most tastes are catered for. Ilkeston Itself has rediscovered the joy of bands playing on Sunday afternoon/ evenings.some weeks as many as five pubs offer up bands or duos. One has the solo singer with backing tracks but the rest are all live. It's not too bad at all.😁

[Beedster]

On 30/10/2022 at 12:08, NHM said:

All Kent is great, Canterbury excepted.

 
Canterbury is about to get a whole lot better….

 

 

[NHM]

15 minutes ago, Beedster said:

 
Canterbury is about to get a whole lot better….

 

 

I wait with bated breath. Or are you privy to inside information?

[Beedster]

2 minutes ago, NHM said:

I wait with bated breath. Or are you privy to inside information?

[AScheck9]

On 04/11/2022 at 13:19, Raymondo said:

I live in a smallish town, Ilkeston. It's in-between Nottigham and Derby and therefore most tastes are catered for. Ilkeston Itself has rediscovered the joy of bands playing on Sunday afternoon/ evenings.some weeks as many as five pubs offer up bands or duos. One has the solo singer with backing tracks but the rest are all live. It's not too bad at all.😁

Thought I'd responded to this but my phone says otherwise! 

 

I live towards the South of Derbyshire and the Derby/Burton scene is pretty awesome really. A few great bands and tributes playing out of here.

 

Also... my band is playing the Latch Lifter next Saturday (19th). Always a good crowd there. 👌 

[Raymondo]

45 minutes ago, AScheck9 said:

Thought I'd responded to this but my phone says otherwise! 

 

I live towards the South of Derbyshire and the Derby/Burton scene is pretty awesome really. A few great bands and tributes playing out of here.

 

Also... my band is playing the Latch Lifter next Saturday (19th). Always a good crowd there. 👌 

I would have come along to the Latch Lifter  but I will be in Leeds for the Saw Doctors gig.

 

Let me know if you gig there again and I'll try to come say hello.

[corals0ft]

On 31/10/2022 at 10:30, Crusoe said:

I don't go out in Belfast often, these days, but as far as I can see the live music scene seems to be picking up. There are the established venues, like The Limelight, but in recent years venues like Voodoo, The Dears Head, The American Bar and The Sunflower have been hosting live music.

Loved my year in Belfast, which revitalised enthusiasm for seeing local live gigs.  You forgot the Belfast Empire Music Hall, which was my local in Botanic.  Nightly quality bands down in the bar plus bigger tribute bands and minor big-name bands for paying concerts upstairs.  I was amazed also that so many pubs had live acts on, with many forms of music, in addition to the bigger venues with big names.  Saw some excellent acts from The Unholy Gospel Band to Muse over the course of the year.

 

A mate of mine came over for a weekend and I saw 8 bands over the course of 2 days.

I'd seriously consider moving back there for the music scene.

 

But my town of Horsham is similar.  Despite losing the REC Rooms 18 months back, we still have pubs with bands on in the town and several surrounding villages.  Plus open mic nights.  And during the summer, there are bands on at the town centre bandstand.  A thriving music scene in West Sussex/Surrey means no shortage of bands of brilliant musicians.  Last weekend I saw 4 and could have done a couple more if I didn't run out of steam.

[SteveXFR]

I'm in Frome, Somerset. We get a lot of great bands. We've had Foo Fighters, McCartney, Skindred, The Damned, The Stranglers, Frank Turner and many others.

Coldplay are in the venue setting up right now. Tickets are selling at record speed for the train out of town.

[SuperSeagull]

1 hour ago, corals0ft said:

Loved my year in Belfast, which revitalised enthusiasm for seeing local live gigs.  You forgot the Belfast Empire Music Hall, which was my local in Botanic.  Nightly quality bands down in the bar plus bigger tribute bands and minor big-name bands for paying concerts upstairs.  I was amazed also that so many pubs had live acts on, with many forms of music, in addition to the bigger venues with big names.  Saw some excellent acts from The Unholy Gospel Band to Muse over the course of the year.

 

A mate of mine came over for a weekend and I saw 8 bands over the course of 2 days.

I'd seriously consider moving back there for the music scene.

 

But my town of Horsham is similar.  Despite losing the REC Rooms 18 months back, we still have pubs with bands on in the town and several surrounding villages.  Plus open mic nights.  And during the summer, there are bands on at the town centre bandstand.  A thriving music scene in West Sussex/Surrey means no shortage of bands of brilliant musicians.  Last weekend I saw 4 and could have done a couple more if I didn't run out of steam.

Just down the road from you in Burgess Hill. Agree re Horsham and Crawley is also good, we play there often. But Burgess Hill, Haywards Heath and pretty much anywhere east across to Eastbourne is a bit more challenging. We play one venue in Burgess Hill other than that it’s a struggle. Doesn’t appear to be any rhyme or reason why. 

[Mykesbass]

1 hour ago, SuperSeagull said:

Just down the road from you in Burgess Hill. Agree re Horsham and Crawley is also good, we play there often. But Burgess Hill, Haywards Heath and pretty much anywhere east across to Eastbourne is a bit more challenging. We play one venue in Burgess Hill other than that it’s a struggle. Doesn’t appear to be any rhyme or reason why. 

Top House has started up with music again, but there isn't a 'music pub' as such in Burgess Hill, just pubs that have music (big difference). 

[Cat Burrito]

Growing up in 1980s Wiltshire, I always noticed that tours gave the occasional nod to Oxford or Reading, and perhaps some passing attention to Southampton. Generally though living between London and South Wales was always going to be a challenge for live music. Our initial Sixth Form band always had a little scene around it. Fast forward to now and I would say Swindon has some really passionate promoters and a lot of talented musicians but it's hard to convert this into regular large audiences. I have done some amazing gigs at a few pubs in the nearby villages that have a kind of micro scene but having toured up and down the UK for decades, we're unlikely to ever rival the North of England. Ultimately though, if it's where you live, you make the most of it. 

[Sparky Mark]

Anyone know about the Bury St Edmunds music scene; like if it has one for instance?

[meterman]

The Wirral was good last time I was up there, same for Fife, there seemed to be a lot going on and a number of alternative venues / spaces were putting on small but well attended events. County Durham and Teesside have a few niche pockets of good live music too. Stockton-On-Tees, Hartlepool, Redcar, and so on. Hebden Bridge is another one.
 

Played all those places in the olden days, even did the working men's club circuits (urgh) but there's proper dedicated venues for bands and singer songwriters now. The money might not be the same but there's places to play at least.

[pete.young]

17 hours ago, Sparky Mark said:

Anyone know about the Bury St Edmunds music scene; like if it has one for instance?

There is an excellent medium-sized venue called the Apex, which books a lot of interesting bands. There are two pubs, the Hunter Club and the Grapes, and the Bury Folk Collective meets twice a month. And an annual 2-day folk festival, this weekend.

[Sparky Mark]

5 hours ago, pete.young said:

There is an excellent medium-sized venue called the Apex, which books a lot of interesting bands. There are two pubs, the Hunter Club and the Grapes, and the Bury Folk Collective meets twice a month. And an annual 2-day folk festival, this weekend.

Thank you Pete. I've arranged to see a property next weekend in BSE so will likely stay overnight, allowing me to check a few venues. 

Edited June 28 by Sparky Mark