With one grassroots music venue closing each week, the tour has already seen Blossoms, Cat Burns, Metronomy and Bloc Party return to their roots to highlight the importance of these local venues as part of the music industry’s wider ecosystem, and as important local cultural hubs. The final headliner, Sam Ryder, will be performing a one-off, intimate show at Chinnerys in Southend on 8th September. The tour also sees a range of artists, from established acts like The Big Moon to newcomers, embark on tours across the UK that aim to include venues and towns that are often overlooked on traditional touring routes.
The United By Music Tour, organised by the charity Music Venue Trust and funded by The National Lottery started in June and is running until late September. Rhoda Dakar, alongside other established acts including Sleeper and Newton Faulkner and a host of new acts, are touring the country playing 150 gigs at 130 grassroots music venues across the UK. Every ticket buyer can take a guest with them for free (just by showing a lottery product) which makes the already cheap tickets even more affordable. See unitedbymusic.live for all tour dates and tickets.
Speaking on the tour, vocalist Juliette Jackson said: “We are so excited to go out on this tour! These smaller venues are so crucial to the UK’s musical landscape – they give new artists a vital space to learn and hone their craft and enter the world of live music at an accessible level. We need to protect these places to keep new music coming.”
The Big Moon will be performing at:
5th Sept – Tunbridge Wells Forum
6th Sept – Bath Moles
8th Sept – Swansea Hanger
9th Sept – Stoke Sugarmill
11th Sept – Sunderland Independent
12th Sept – Galashiels MacArts Theatre
13th Sept – Dunfermline PJ Molloys
15th Sept – Kendal Brewery Arts
16th Sept – York Crescent Community Venue
17th Sept – Bedford Esquires
Picture credit: El Hardwick