First UK Independent Venue Week announced

The first ever UK Independent Venue Week has been scheduled for January 28th 2014, Music Week has reported.

Small venues from all over the UK are participating in the event, and will host several gigs over six days as part of the nationwide celebration.

The concerts are being curated by artists, promoters, labels and blogs, while the initiative is also being backed by the likes of Radiohead, Frank Turner, Travis and Keane.

PRS for Music, Music Glue, Musicians’ Union, Domino, Marshall and Cato Music are confirmed as industry partners.

"The struggle to compete with large, sponsor-backed venues makes it a tough and challenging time for independents,” commented the project’s organiser Sybil Bell. “Combine this with bands finding it harder to tour due to limited revenues and rising on-the-road costs and we can all see what a difficult climate live venues find themselves in."

The following venues are taking part:

King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut (Glasgow)
Half Moon Putney (London)
Norwich Arts Centre (Norwich)
The Cluny (Newcastle)
Clwb Ifor Bach (Cardiff)
Sugarmill (Stoke-On-Trent)
Zanzibar (Liverpool)
The Louisiana (Bristol)
Oh Yeah Centre (Belfast)
The Library (Leeds)
The Joiners (Southampton)
Boileroom (Guilford)
The Leadmill (Sheffield)
The Jericho (Oxford)
Tiki Bar (Plymouth)
Soup Kitchen (Manchester)
The Forum (Tunbridge Wells)
Fibbers (York)

Information on the line-ups, as well as ticket availability, will be announced soon.

To find out more, visit independentvenueweek.com.

Picture: The Joiners in Southampton (credit: Steven Haddock)

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