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A beautiful collective: Your favourite bands map out the best grassroots venues in the UK and Ireland
The UK and Ireland are absolutely flooded with excellent grassroots venues, each of which has helped contribute to the musical culture that we are so proud to flaunt.
It seems that we are constantly bragging about how great we are at generating some of the greatest talent in music. When you peruse the line-ups of UK festivals and list off the names, both new and old, who have found their voice on these islands we call home, there is a sense of pride that is undeniable. We wear the merch, we sing the songs, we stream the music, all in a bid to back our local musicians.
It’s great to get behind our local bands, but if we want to keep supporting them and ensure this ongoing wheel of talent continues spinning, we must ensure that the stomping grounds which allow them to refine their sound stay open. Every year it gets harder and harder for grassroots venues to keep the gigs coming. Costs of running a venue are high and profit margins have never been lower. The slightest problem is enough to force the most iconic venues to close their doors for good.
Charities like Independent Venue Week and Music Venue Trust are in place to try and help these spaces stay open by raising money for them and rallying music lovers nationwide to keep going to their local venues. The work that these organisations do cannot be understated, as without grassroots venues, the music scene that we consider boastworthy, and the bands that we hold dear to our hearts, simply put, would cease to exist.
Look at it like this: every single artist that you admire once wanted to be somebody else. Nobody goes into their art with a fully fleshed-out idea which is ready to unveil. Instead, people take to the stage in a bid to become the next John Lennon, Florence Welch, or Alex Turner. Their first gigs consist of them doing cringe-inducing impressions of these artists, stepping into silhouettes of those they consider icons. It’s not until they’ve played some gigs, worked out the sound they want to make, and better understand what kind of persona the audience reacts to, that they begin to perfect the sound the public know and love.
Those artists can’t have those first few gigs if not for grassroots venues. Oasis, Arctic Monkeys, The 1975, every big band that headline festivals and sell out stadiums, once upon a time, were just groups of spotty kids asking promoters for gigs. They weren’t going to get them at the O2, so they were taken on by The Adelphi, Leadmill and Brudenell.
Additionally, these spaces provide a place for those who don’t want to be rock stars but wish to stand in the presence of them. They are the breeding ground for communities of creatives and like-minded people, a hub where people meet best friends, lifelong loves and mortal enemies. Every city, no matter how big or small, needs places like this in order to thrive.
With the situation for these spaces so dire, Opus Kink have teamed up with a catalogue of exciting modern artists who are direct products of these grassroots venues to put together a compilation album that will raise money for Music Venue Trust. The record is called A Hideous Collective, and it features the likes of English Teacher, Katy J Pearson, and Wunderhorse.
When discussing this record, Music Venue Trust highlighted how much it reflects the talent and community that take root and flower in grassroots venues. “This compilation is a celebration of everything that makes grassroots music culture so vital,” they said, ”Every track is a reminder that these spaces are not just stepping stones – they are sacred spaces of culture, rebellion, and connection.”
So, you have the artists, you have the music, you have the record, and you understand the impact of it all, but which venues should you be going out to and visiting? Supporting your local scene is vital, but the UK and Ireland are big places, and there’s a hell of a lot of music to take in. The collaborators of Opus Kink’s A Hideous Collective have provided Far Out with a collection of their favourite grassroots venues across the country, along with reasons why that space speaks to them so much. If you’re planning a tour of these venues in the near future, consider this your helpful road map for some of the best around.
