No Glasto? No problem. Everywhere at Once Festival is coming to a grassroots venue near you

With Glastonbury taking a fallow year, the Everywhere at Once Festival is filling the void to make a noise about the challenges grassroots music venues are facing.

Around 30 grassroots music venues permanently closed their doors in 2025, according to the Music Venue Trust.

As Everywhere at Once Festival kicks off, Big Issue asks the artists heading back to the venues where they made their name why they need protecting.

The Lathums – The Boulevard, Wigan, 26 June

Alex Moore, singer

I don’t remember much of it, but we first played at The Boulevard in February 2020. We were only 19 – it was one of our first proper hometown gigs and everything still felt new to us. But I remember it meaning a lot. It felt like things were just starting to move.

It’s worrying, all the talk about grassroots venues shutting down or struggling. Those are the places that gave bands like us a start. Before anyone knew who we were, those places let us get up and play. That’s where you learn how to be a band and how to play in front of people.

These venues are massively important. As you get bigger, you have to think about moving into bigger venues for the fans. But it’s always the smaller, more intimate places that stick with you.

So if we can do anything to support them, it feels right to do it. They helped us find our sound, build a fanbase, all of it, really. So it’s about giving a bit back where we can. So it feels really special coming back now. It feels like a full-circle moment.

The Royston Club – The Rockin’ Chair, Wrexham, 28 June

Tom Faithfull, singer

We’re supporting the Everywhere at Once festival because we love the idea of shining a light on independent venues all across the UK. We also love that these amazing shows are taking place in little towns as well as big cities, so everyone can see a show over the weekend.

Like every band that doesn’t start with big industry backing, independent grassroot music venues have been an absolute lifesaver for our band. Our first few years were spent in grassroot venues trying to learn about the crazy world of putting on shows and playing live music. Without the kindness of people who run independent venues and the venues themselves we never would have improved as a band.

People taking chances on you when you’re a small band who sell no tickets is something you only get with small independent venues. So to see more and more of them shutting down can’t be benefiting this country’s output of new artists.

I have a very fond memory of playing at The Parish, just down the road from The Rockin’ Chair, in our very early days. We’d been booked for our first festival in Wrexham, which we were buzzing for until the show was cancelled at the last minute because of weather. Our good mate Kev, who owns The Parish, was sound enough with about three hours’ notice to get us a gig that evening, which was a show we all loved and summed up how important the people who run these venues can be.

Read more

• ‘Against the odds’: How the Lubber Fiend made Newcastle’s music scene exciting again
• This grassroots venue brings ‘astonishing’ music and mental wellbeing to rural Wales
• ‘You can have a life-changing experience for the price of pizza’: Why Sneaky Pete’s is vital to Scottish music

Rizzle Kicks – Patterns, Brighton, 28 June

Jordan Stephens, rapper

Why are you supporting Everywhere at Once Festival?

Because grassroots music venues are the absolute lifeblood of the UK music scene. Venues like these gave artists like us our very first opportunities to play in front of real crowds and figure out who we are as performers. Right now, we’re seeing a concerning number of independent venues closing down. If we lose these spaces we don’t just lose great gig venues, but we also lose the sense of community that these venues bring together. These places play a massive part in nurturing the next gen of UK talent so it’s imperative they stay open to continue their good work.

What have local independent grassroots music venues done for you?

Grassroots venues took us from playing in our bedrooms and rehearsal studios to feeling like real, legitimate artists. Those cramped, sweaty rooms gave us the space to mess up, learn how to communicate with a crowd and build the genuine confidence we needed. Standing on those stages made a career in music feel tangible and real, which ultimately gave us the belief that we could actually make it.

How important were your local music scene and independent venues like Patterns in Brighton where you play as part of Everywhere at Once Festival in your musical development – and how does it feel to be playing there again?

The local Brighton scene was absolutely foundational to who we are now. Grassroots stages and venues gave us our live confidence, but it was the Brighton hip-hop scene specifically that had a big hand in shaping our actual identity and sound as artists. It’s where we learned our craft as lyricists, especially when it came to understanding the importance of multi-syllabic rhyming. The Brighton hip-hop scene had such a vibe, It was completely carefree, fun and meant to be enjoyed in a proper party setting. Was just about good energy and connecting with people. We soaked that up entirely, and it definitely played a part in defining the DNA of Rizzle Kicks.

Alongside local venues, how important were local National Lottery / Arts Council funded organisations – eg Audio Active – to you and your music and finding your people a creative community?

Audio Active was absolutely massive for us. So much so that we’re now patrons. Audio Active gave us an actual space to just go and immerse ourselves in music. When you’re young and trying to figure your shit out, having a space like that was so important. It helped us find our people, we were surrounded by like-minded kids who shared the exact same obsessions and creative drives. We often struggled to find our place in Brighton, but Audio Active definitely felt like we could call it ‘ours’.

Do you have a big memory of an early gig at Patterns from your pre-fame days!?

Yes! We played there back in the day, but it was called Audio at the time (that’s how old we are). Not only did we play there, but we’d go to see friends of ours who’d have gigs there, and also it was a place to have a really good night out. Many good memories.

Find out who’s playing near you for Everywhere At Once Festival

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this? Get in touch and tell us more. 

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