7 reasons why local venues are an essential part of musical culture
There are few better ways to spend your evening than listening to some live music. Whether your in the middle of a warm weekend or have come out from a long day at work, you will always be able to enjoy yourself at a venue.
And while the big, high-budget venues designed for the most popular of artists are undoubtedly fantastic, I feel that it is the smaller venues are far more essential. As somebody who has been visited the majority of small venues in my local area, one thing I can certainly agree with, is that any town or city would be incomplete without them. Having said this however, there have been a number of venues that have had to close down or are close to doing so because of insufficient funding.
As a way to spread awareness and to persuade people to support their local venue, I have listed just a few of the many things that make these institutions so irreplaceable.
1: They’ve been the starting point for almost every artist
Even the greatest artists had to start somewhere, and that “somewhere” was most likely their local music venue. Thanks to the opportunity these venues provide to all types of artists and musicians, they have been the starting point for many a musical career.
Local venues are a great place to collect new fans, especially if it’s a free entry night. A lot of people visit local venues to to reconnect themselves culturally and to just enjoy themselves. That being said, most people will set themselves up to enjoy the music.
2: They bring people together
Following on from how people visit local venues to reconnect culturally, they also visit to reconnect socially, and there is no better place for anybody to do this than a small venue.
You could start a conversation with pretty much anyone quite easily as long as you’re a music lover, and you can also discuss your thoughts and feelings towards the music from whoever’s playing.
Needless to say, a local venue nearly always feels like a level playing field when it comes to socialising and making new friends.
3: They bring you closer to the artists and their music
In most cases, I would much rather see an artist at a smaller venue than a larger one. The reason why, is that the smaller the venue, the greater the intimacy.
I have seen a few big names play at smaller venues, and a lot of them have made for some of the best musical evenings. fo instance, I fondly remember the amazing show that Welsh hardcore-grime group Astroid Boys tore up the upstairs of the Prince Albert (one of many great small venues in the city of Brighton, England) as the result of a sudden venue change.
A smaller venue can bring you closer to any artist, both physically and soulfully.
4: They make for great safe spaces
As a lot of people tend to visit a small music venue with an open mindedness towards the music, the same normally applies to the people around them.
I have been to enough local gigs full of friendly people to know that nobody needs to worry about being themselves, when spending their evening at one of these venues.
You should also know that if you are going to see a band you like because you can connect to the music on a personal level, that most of the other people going will be feeling the same way. Therefore, you will most likely be amongst “your kind of people”.
5: They’re a brilliant reflection of the town itself
Especially in my case, where I live in a city as culturally rich as Brighton, many of the venues have their own iconic design.
Many of the larger venues are required to be played out in a specific way, as a way to make things as straight-forward as possible when dealing with a large-capacity audience. Smaller venues, however, are not so restricted, and have a lot more creative freedom when it come to decoration.
I also love the grittiness of a to of the venues I’ve visited, and each of them truly feels like a place that’s been designed with the cultures of the city in mind.
6: They’re charity friendly
I would argue that charity gigs contribute massively to charities, both local and national. Out of all of the local gigs I’ve been to, a large chunk of them were put on to raise money for charity. Quite often would these charity gigs be continuous.
I remember going to a gig at Brighton Electric. This fantastic evening raised quite a lot of money towards a local suicide prevention charity, and went on to host another night at the same venue about a month later.
7: They are a defining part of musical culture
While streaming and listening to music digitally is all the rage nowadays, nothing does, or ever will compare to the sound of live music.
There are no technical edits to obscure listeners from the true authenticity of the music. You can actually feel every element of a live song, and that feeling is something that cannot be recorded.
Needless to say, musical culture wouldn’t hold a candle to what is is today, if it was without the live music scene. And where this magic really feels real and non-commercialised, could only be within walking distance.
So I encourage you to go and visit your local venue more often, especially if it is struggling. In this modern era, where everything seems to be made less and less real, the live music scene is one of the few surviving parts of the real cultural world.
