The secret to making live music venues more accessible

I’ll skip straight to the punchline on this one as it’s not hard, and it’s also the blueprint for how we can work as a community. It’s probably not a surprise either — be kind, patient, and humble. That’s it!

Independent Venue Community

I recently sat on one of the panels at the new Independent Venue Community launch. This is an initiative borne out of Independent Venue Week, which seeks to support, nurture and celebrate independent venues and develop ways in which they can be active in their local communities beyond gigs.

It seems a critical moment to acknowledge the vital role that live music venues play in our communities and how they can also support communities further at the same time. Especially at a time where venues have struggled through Covid and now face more challenges with energy prices set to sore,

Making venues more accessible

The fantastic charity Attitude is Everything has done much work to support large and small venues and festivals to be more accessible to customers, performers and staff in terms of physical and sensory access. However, as we all know, many venues are upstairs rooms or basements in small pubs or historical buildings where it would be almost impossible or prohibitively expensive to put in a lift. As you may guess from their name, Attitude is Everything also talk about ‘attitude’. This came out large in our discussions on the various panels at the Independent Venue Community launch.

Having an honest and open intent

I was sitting on the panel talking about supporting people’s mental health, and I spoke from the perspective of how we do this with the Gig Buddies project. There have always been many barriers facing people with learning disabilities to getting out in the evening. Covid has also left many people feeling anxious and lacking the confidence to get back out there.

The other panels were about supporting artists with disabilities and being a safe and welcoming space for people from the LGBTQIA community and covered all sorts of other ground. Some common issues stood out that would make venues and communities more accessible and welcoming for everyone:

Don’t promise the world.

Don’t say you’re fully accessible. It’s highly likely you’re not. For example, Glastonbury Festival does a fantastic job to cater for the needs of disabled festival goers with changing places, shuttles, accessible showers, viewing platforms, massages and all sorts. However, it is still in the middle of a valley on open farmland. That can’t be changed (and they don’t claim otherwise but do what they can and seek to improve each year!)

Be honest and advertise it.

Say what you can do. Be open about your limitations and advertise them on your website. For example, if you have a small upstairs live room, be honest and say it’s not wheelchair accessible, but also say what you have done to be more accessible. For example:

- Mental Health first aid training for staff

- A quiet area for people who are socially distancing

- Staff have had disability awareness training

Venue tours

Invite customers to be able to visit your venue first — invite them to come for a tour in the daytime so they can check out where everything is and familiarise themselves

Invite people to ask questions

There may be something you can do to ensure a customer has a great night out, which won’t take much effort or cost anything but will make all the difference. Invite customers to tell you what they need.

This might be being able to bring their own food in or knowing there will be a chair for them.

Don’t pathologise or attempt to diagnose customers

This may sound a bit far-fetched but it does happen, we’ve heard stories of people in ticket kiosks asking for proof of disability. But also I’d question if you can say something is ‘autism friendly’ as everyone is different. Instead, just ask people what they need. Also, remember that most disabilities are hidden and people may have hidden physical needs or other needs due to being neuro-divergent.

Tell everyone

Have posters or signs that show your positive intent to welcome people — whether that’s inclusive Pride Flags, local schemes like Thumbs Up (in Brighton) or other initiatives. It’s a simple way of showing you’re thinking these things through and won’t stand for discrimination. And, of course, use your website and social media for advertising this too.

Train security staff

How many times have we heard of a night being spoiled by inconsiderate door staff? And how often have we heard venues say, “they’re not our staff. They work for a separate organisation”?

As far as the public is, concerned, the door staff are part of that venue, and the venue does not stop at the door. It stops at the edge of the pavement. So engage your security staff in awareness training around discrimination and disability and get them to be part of your community and your responsibility.

But above everything, the main thing is to be:

Honest — about what you can and can’t do

Open — to trying to improve

Kind — listening to people and aiming to welcome everyone

Humble — we’re all part of trying to improve things together

Live music venues are amazing things under severe pressure, so let’s value them and see them as essential resources for changing our communities.

As I always say with Gig Buddies, “let’s try and make the world a slightly better place, one gig at a time.”

See also:

Attitude is Everything DIY Access Guide

Gig Buddies Thera Accessible Venue Guide

For further listening check out this Podcast where members of Gig Buddies Croydon talk from the perspective about how venues can be more accessible: