One of the worrying trends across not just Northern Ireland but the whole of the UK and Ireland is the closure of music venues. Without these small grass roots venues many bands and musicians wouldn’t have been able to develop into who they are now. It is therefore imperative that we continue to support initiatives like Independent Venue Week which returns again for 2018.
Independent Venue Week is a 7-day celebration of small music venues around the UK and a nod to the people that own, run and work in them, week in, week out. There have been a host of great events announced across a wide variety of venues so block out Monday 29th January till Sunday 4th February and get down to your local music venue.
In Belfast, the action is split between the Oh Yeah Music Centre, The American Bar and The Black Box:-
Monday 29 January – Marshall x IVW Tour: King Creature, Reigning Days – The Black Box
Thursday 1 February – Folk Love – The American Bar
Saturday 3 February – The Outlaws – The American Bar
Saturday 3 February – Tony Strictland Quartet – The American Bar
Saturday 3 February – Ryan Vail, Jealous of the Birds, Gross Net, Cut In Blinks – Oh Yeah Music Centre
The seaside resort of Bangor gets a look in this year with a Help Musicians NI line-up at the Goat’s Toe:-
Wednesday 31 January – Help Musicians NI in Partnership With IVW Presents: Empty Lungs, Life Goals and Strange New Places – The Goat’s Toe
While in Derry, Help Musicians NI are putting on two different events during the week:-
Friday 2 February – Help Musicians NI in Partnership with IVW Presents: The Wood Burning Savages, Roe & Molly Sterling – The Nerve Centre
Sunday 4 February – Help Musicians NI in Partnership with IVW Presents: Seamus Blake, Jesse van Ruller, Michael Janisch, David Lyttle and Meilana Gillard – Bennigans Bar
