The MVT announced the report on their twitter earlier today as well as encouraged people to write to their prospective MPs.

DOWNLOAD and read the full Manifesto for Grassroots Music: https://t.co/auSonGEoNI

SHARE this post to your social media with the hashtag #VoteForMusic.

WRITE to the prospective MPs in your constituency and ask them to commit to the Manifesto for Grassroots Music. pic.twitter.com/MK5TBDmDfv

— Music Venue Trust (@musicvenuetrust) June 11, 2024

In the report, the MVT have outlined 5 major initiatives they are urging parliament to act on including their £1 ticket levy initiative which would ensure that large arenas and stadiums would contribute at least £1 from every ticket sold towards supporting grassroots music venues, artists and promoters; an initiative that the charity proposed last month in their … report. The levy would affect all events in these venues that have a capacity over 5,000. The other items on the report are as follows; A fan-led review to fully examine the long-term challenges to the live music ecosystem which would establish a representative voice for those who live music depends on,  the agent of change principle in the ‘National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) to be put on a statutory footing at the earliest opportunity’, a reduction in VAT on cultural ticketing in GMV (grassroots music venues)  to 0% for the time being until these revered but overlooked venues have stimulated enough growth to be able to stand on their feet as well as creating a ‘specific business rates premises definition’ s for GMVs and the removal of properties satisfying that definition from the requirement to pay business rates’

Born in Shropshire, Nieve Ella first began to make a name for herself after recording and posting covers and original tunes online during the COVID:19 pandemic. She took to learning guitar and began to dabble in songwriting, effortlessly weaving a tapestry of emotional, angsty ballads from her lockdown bedroom.

At just 19 years old, Nieve eventually burst on to the scene in 2022 with her debut single ‘Girlfriend’, a gutsy, confrontational track calling out an ex-lover. The single delves into a toxic love triangle fractured with lying and cheating, causing her to empathise and team up with the ‘girlfriend’ in question, making it the ultimate ‘girl’s girl’ anthem. The track inevitably got picked up by BBC Radio 1’s Greg James, going on to receive generous radio play nationwide and major Spotify playlist features.

2023 saw the release of her debut EP ‘Young & Naïve’, a patchwork of all-too-relatable tales of youth, heartbreak, and longing, but also destructive, painful relationships, and how that pain so often feels irreversible. There is a clear sense of wanting or needing to be older, and to be treated as such.

Since then, her artistry has risen to dizzying new heights after successfully nabbing support slots for Irish indie-rock band Inhaler on their UK tour and British pop singer Dylan on her European stint, as well as knockout 30-minute sets performed at Glastonbury and Reading & Leeds Festival.

Last year also saw the release of her second and most impressive project to date, ‘Lifetime of Wanting’. The EP navigates the transition from teens into early twenties and explores a number of different interiors and everyday spaces, such as ‘Your Room’, ‘Big House’, ‘His Sofa’, ‘Glasshouses’ and ‘Car Park’, all of which relive specific memories and events rich with sentiment.

Each space comes with its own set of emotional paraphernalia; twisted sheets, hiding spots on staircases and flashbacks of dancing to Phoebe Bridgers across an ex’s bedroom floor; all poignant moments that are sewn into the very fabric of her being. With textured lyrics and honest storytelling, Nieve continues to let her heart bleed out on to her ribbon-clad sleeve.

Ready to dazzle live crowds once again, the singer songwriter will be accompanied by her best friends turned bandmates, Finn Marlow (guitar), Matt Garnett (drums), and Fran Larkin (bass).

Those lucky enough to have swiped a ticket will be able to catch her in February in London, Manchester, Glasgow, and Birmingham, with support from Stevie Bill and Siobhán Winifred. The singer is also quietly building a small but loyal fanbase across the channel, with shows set to take place in Cologne, Amsterdam and Paris in April.

With a promising year ahead, Nieve Ella is finally stepping into her light, a sign that it’s all beginning to sink in for this rising UK star.

UK shows

08/02/2024 – London – Omeara
09/02 – Manchester – Gorilla
10/02 – Glasgow – King Tut’s
12/02 – Birmingham – O2 Institute3
14/02 – Birmingham – O2 Institute3
16/02 – London – Omeara

EU shows

19/04 – Cologne – Yuca
20/04 – Amsterdam – Paradiso
22/04 – Paris – Les Etoiles Theatre

From Some Friendly to Wham! The Singles.
1,366 albums that we heard together, over 1,213 days from March 23rd 2020. The Twitter @LlSTENlNG_PARTY was a beautiful thing. Thanks to everyone who joined us x x pic.twitter.com/RrZpClawf5

— Tim Burgess (@Tim_Burgess) August 31, 2023

Tim Burgess, a member of The Charlatans, created this unique listening experience when the UK was plunged into lockdown in March 2020. Realising the loss of live music, he wanted to recreate this experience.

Tim used his Twitter platform to create the incredible show at the end of March 2020. Tim’s Listening Party saw huge success and in March 2023 he took the show to Absolute Radio.

Content Director for Absolute Radio, Paul Sylvester, said “Tim’s Listening Party has become a phenomenon. Giving audiences the chance to listen to the music and conversation while engaging with other fans on social media ties everything together.”

After 3 years of amazing success, at a time when the UK was down on its luck, Tim brought new meaning to live music. Inviting listeners to stream the album and follow along with him, joining other like-minded souls to converse about the songs and albums in real time.

Following on from his recent tweet, Tim reminded fans that there are over 1000 listening parties available to replay on their website.

He also added a further tweet, confirming there would not be a show on Absolute Radio this coming Sunday the 3rd September; however, the former Charlatan member told his listeners that next Sunday the 9th September at 10pm, there would be a special episode and he would be filling that guest spot and the show would be hosted by Danielle Perry.

It is still uncertain, if this will be the final Tim’s Listening Party show or not.

There’s no @LlSTENlNG_PARTY on @absoluteradio tomorrow but back next Sunday at 10pm with a special episode. @danielleperry will be the host, I’m the guest and Tellin’ Stories is the featured album. Join us… pic.twitter.com/q0OV2nRT9U

— Tim Burgess (@Tim_Burgess) September 2, 2023

Fans and listeners took to Twitter in reply to Tim’s recent news, that it would be the end of Tim’s Listening Party.

One listener tweeted “A sad day if this is how it ends. You made a beautiful thing, Tim. I don’t think any of us who ever took part will ever forget it. A true beacon in dark days. Thanks so much and all at @LlSTENlNG_PARTY.”

A sad day if this is how it ends. You made a beautiful thing, Tim. I don’t think any of us who ever took part will ever forget it. A true beacon in dark days. Thanks so much and all at @LlSTENlNG_PARTY HQ ♥️

— Graham (@GrahamCD272) August 31, 2023

Another fan added to say, “Aye, a wonderful experience! The very best thing to rise from 2020 without a doubt.

Aye, a wonderful experience! The very best thing to rise from 2020 without a doubt.

Congratulations , you should all be very proud

— Alan C (@Konn63) August 31, 2023

No further details have been release by Tim Burgess. at to what those new endeavour’s may be. Only to tune into Absolute Radio next Sunday for that special episode.

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A post shared by Animal Collective (@anmlcollective)

Set to begin this November, the group’s 6 date UK tour – and then extensive European leg – was announced in the later months of last year. But now all these careful plans have been torn down, in summary, due to “Inflation, currency devaluation, bloated shipping and transportation costs”. The band released a statement to their Instagram explaining the situation: “Friends, we are absolutely gutted to announce today that we are making the decision to cancel our UK/EU dates for this November. We love playing music for you and truly wish we could be there.”

The post then takes a more sombre tone: “It has been a wild year for us trying to push through a mountain of touring obstacles related to COVID and the economy. Three of us got bad cases of Covid. We were forced to cancel shows and lost large amounts of the income that sustains us and our families. But preparing for this tour we were looking at an economic reality that simply does not work and is not sustainable.”

The obvious levels of sheer disappointment then come with the band’s explanation for the newfound costs of touring: “From inflation to currency devaluation, to bloated shipping and transportation costs, and much much more, we simply could not make a budget for this tour that did not lose money even if everything went as well as it could. We have always been the kind of people to persevere through the difficult times and get on stage unless our health prevented it. We are choosing not to take the risk to our mental and physical health with the economic reality of what that tour would have been. We hope you understand and that you know we would not make a choice like this lightly.”

 This summary seems to me like very bad news. Animal Collective may not be a household name these days, but they still have an undying fanbase all around the world after the huge success of their older projects like Merriweather Post Pavilion, or even Strawberry Jam. But now, they don’t have the funds to make it across the Atlantic. Consider for a moment a band in today’s day and age, with a new album that launches their career in the same way as Merriweather did for AN CO. Would we even get the chance to see them? Or will they just end up slipping through the cracks… this is bad news.

Festivals that have been affected in recent weeks by this are Spain’s Primavera Sound and the greatly successful UK festival Glastonbury, the latter of which is not quite over yet. Primavera Sound was hit with a several cancellations very early on, with Clairo, PinkPantheress and Bleachers pulling out, and headliner The Strokes cancelling their June 3^rd headline slot due to a COVID-19 case within their touring party. Thankfully for fans, the band would go on to perform on the second weekend of the event.

Glastonbury has been hit with a couple of sudden, unexpected cancellations (and near cancellations) these past few days as well. Firstly, legendary UK punk outfit The Damned were forced to cancel their appearance tonight (June 24^th) due to several positive COVID tests, stating on Twitter: “Further to our previous updates, there have been more positive COVID tests in the Damned camp and consequently we’re having to withdraw from all remaining June appearances, including Bath, Glastonbury and the Die Artze show in Germany.” It has since been confirmed that Reef will be taking their place on the Avalon Stage.

Further to our previous updates, there have been more positive Covid tests in the Damned camp and consequently we’re having to withdraw from all remaining June appearances including Bath, Glastonbury and the Die Artze show in Germany…

— The Damned (@thedamned) June 21, 2022

In addition to this, The Chemical Brothers confirmed earlier this week that they would be performing a DJ set at Arcadia, however they have since had to cancel due to one half of the duo suffering from COVID-19 symptoms. Arcadia has since confirmed that Bonobo and Groove Armada will be filling the set time between 11pm and 1 am tonight. In a non-COVID related instance, London rockers Wolf Alice were nearly forced to cancel their Glastonbury set when their flight from LAX was cancelled, which you can read more about here. The band has since updated fans on Twitter, saying that they were waiting for a flight from Seattle that would go directly to London. The four-piece is scheduled to perform at 4:45pm today on The Pyramid Stage.

We r now waiting for a flight to Seattle where we can go direct to ldn from there https://t.co/3b5nH2uSrn

— Wolf Alice (@wolfalicemusic) June 23, 2022

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A post shared by Manic Street Preachers (@manics)

The cancelled show was to be the band’s debut performance at the venue and was part of the band’s series of summer shows, this season will also see the “A Design for Life” hitmakers perform across various festivals and live events. Fans will get a chance to catch the Welsh rockers at this year’s Latitude Festival, the band will perform on 24th July 2022 at Suffolk’s most popular event. The four-day festival is set to kick off this year on 21st July 2022 and boasts a star-studded roster headlined by Lewis Capaldi, Foals and Snow Patrol, also performing at Henham Park are Groove Armada, Rina Sawayama and Modest Mouse.

The Manic Street Preacher’s second festival appearance of the season will take place on 29th July 2022 at Y Not Festival, the Derbyshire held event celebrates its eighth year in 2022 and kicks off on 29^th July 2022. The band are scheduled to headline the three-day event on Friday and will be joined by Stereophonics as the main acts, also billed to headline the event are Courteeners, Nothing But Thieves, Blossoms and The Vaccines.

The group will conclude their festival run with a set at Lakefest on 13th August 2022, the Herefordshire held festival will be held on 11th-14th August 2022 and promises a unique family friendly experience. Manic Street Preachers will headline the event on Saturday, the festival’s third day will also feature performances from Reef, Louse Redknapp and The Reytons. The all-inclusive event will be held in a picturesque venue within Eastnor Castle Deer Park and features a star-studded line-up, also scheduled to headline the activity-packed event are UB40, Leftfield and British rockers Supergrass. Amongst the 190 acts and activities available to ticket-holders, Lakefest have also confirmed that The Red Devils, the parachute display team, will also be appearing at this year’s event.

The Red Devils will be joining us again this year, parachuting their way through the festival Gold ticket holders will have a chance to join them, with an automatic entry to win a FREE tandem skydive. Don’t miss your chance https://t.co/afCCgtaotQ #lakefest10 pic.twitter.com/iQQ8qtl17n

— Lakefest (@Lakefestuk) June 7, 2022

The band have recently finished a run of live dates with American rockers The Killers, the Manic Street Preachers supported the “Mr Brightside” hitmakers during their UK stadium tour. Both bands last performed together on 1st June 2022 at Middlesbrough River Stadium, 53-year-old singer Bradfield has spoken on the tour, “It’s been great watching The Killers, watching a frontman like Brandon Flowers still wanting it that much. For me it’s inspiring. Being further down the road in your career, to get up and just go on stage and just still want to absolutely own everything is quite inspiring – it is the secret of being in a band, you’ve still got to really want it.”

A new date for the Manic Street Preacher’s postponed show has yet to be announced, further details concerning the concert will be confirmed in due course.

Manic Street Preachers UK tour dates

24/07/2022 – Latitude Festival – Suffolk
29/07 – Y Not Festival – Derbyshire
13/08 – Lakefest – Herefordshire

Click here to purchase tickets.

Hi folks, delighted to FINALLY announce the rescheduled UK dates for The Never Ending Tour of Everywhere. With pre-sale tickets going live on 12th April at 12pm you can enter your details on the pre-sale form to gain access.https://t.co/EC4DJgTSiD pic.twitter.com/Hz9UYfPZj6

— Frank Turner (@frankturner) April 8, 2022

The forthcoming shows will be in support of Turner’s newest album FTHC, his ninth full-length album. It was received warmly by fans and critics, with Spectrum Culture saying of the album: “As Turner grows wiser, “hardcore” has become less a sonic palette and more a philosophy. Even if he was talking the talk years ago, a decade of learning and listening forced him to walk the walk…Turner couldn’t have come out with this album 10 years ago. Like a hero’s journey, Turner has returned to what he knows and loves with a newfound appreciation for the environment that shaped him.”

Turner began his career as the vocalist of London post-hardcore band Million Dead and kicked off his solo career in 2005 after the group split. His debut solo release was an E.P. entitled Campfire Punkrock, and released his first full-length effort, Sleep is for the Week, in 2007. Wasting little time and proving himself to be prolific, Turner began to record his second album Love, Ire and Song in late 2007, and then went on to release it in March of 2008.

Turner has released seven full-length albums since then; 2009’s Poetry of the Deed, 2011’s England Keep My Bones, 2013’s Tape Deck Heart, 2015’s Positive Songs for Negative People, 2018’s Be More Kind and 2019’s No Man’s Land, prior to his aforementioned ninth album FTHC.

Turner’s rescheduled shows will take place between September 21^st and October 14^th. The dates can be viewed down below. More information regarding Turner’s upcoming dates for April and May can be found here.

21/09/2022- Hexagon- Reading
23/09 -O2 Academy Sheffield- Sheffield
24/09 –  O2 Academy Oxford- Oxford
25/09 – O2 Academy Brixton- London
27/09 – Rock City- Nottingham
28/09 – O2 Institute- Birmingham
30/09 – Junction- Cambridge
01/10 – UEA- Norwich
02/10 –O2 Academy Leeds- Leeds
04/10 – Galvanizers- Glasgow
05/10 – Liquid Room- Edinburgh
07/10 –HMV Empire- Coventry
08/10 –O2 Academy Liverpool- Liverpool
09/10 –Lemon Tree- Aberdenn
11/10 –Academy- Manchester
12/10 – Tramshed- Cardiff
13/10 – O2 Academy Bristol- Bristol
14/10 – O2 Guildhall- Southampton

The 27-year-old artist has released a statement concerning the news, “To everyone in Australia and New Zealand, I can’t believe it’s been four years, I can’t wait to see you again, but unfortunately it is just not possible at this time. I will be sharing news soon about new shows. Love you all so much. I miss you, and I can’t wait to see you.”

Live Nation also published a statement on their website that confirmed the cancellation and informed ticketholders that a full refund will be given, “Due to the continuing challenges for international touring, the Harry Styles ‘Love On Tour’ is unable to be rescheduled for Australia & New Zealand in 2022. The current arena tour will be cancelled whilst we work towards a new tour, with all ticket holders receiving a full refund accordingly.”

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The former One Direction member has confirmed that the tour dates for the UK, Europe and South America will be going ahead as scheduled. The tour’s support acts have already been confirmed, for the UK dates Mitski will be opening for the singer. For the Dublin show, Styles will share the stage with Mercury Prize award-winning artist Arlo Parks, and for some of the singer’s European dates, he will be joined by British rockers Wolf Alice. Throughout the tour’s Southern American leg, the singer will be supported by Koffee, the 21-year-old musician who is best known as the youngest person and woman to win the Best Reggae Album prize at the Grammy Awards.

The singer’s second tour sees the Style perform in his first stadiums, including London’s famed Wembley Stadium on 18th June 2022. Styles is set to begin the 32 city tour with a performance in Glasgow on 11th June 2022, the singer will conclude his four-date UK leg on 22nd June 2022 in Dublin, Ireland. The tour’s European run is set to begin on 26th June 2022 in Hamburg, Germany, after 19 performances across the continent Styles will perform on 20th November 2022 in Mexico, the tour will end after 9 dates with the concluding show on 10th December 2022 in Brazil.

The “Watermelon Sugar” singer joins a list of artists who recently announced the cancellation of their Australian and New Zealand tour dates. Other artists including Sir Rod Stewart were also forced to cancel shows due to the complications and restrictions brought upon by COVID.

Harry Styles UK Tour Dates

11/06/2022 – IBrox Stadium – Glasgow
15/06 – Emirates Old Trafford – Manchester
19/06 – Wembley Stadium – London
22/06 – Aviva Stadium – Dublin

Click here to purchase tickets.

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A post shared by Emma Ruth Rundle (@emmaruthrundle)

Rundle posted a statement on Instagram yesterday (18^th of January) announcing the cancellation, saying: “This is not fun for me. This is not fun for you. The tour must be postponed. Tickets are still valid and we will announce new dates soon. Please understand that touring has been my main source of income and that not being able to do this work – going into year three – is less than ideal – It is however logistically impossible to tour right now due to the myriad covid restrictions.”

She added: “I want to thank @swampbooking who have put in more than half a year’s work into the planning of this special tour and who are working very hard on moving it to a later time in the year…I appreciate all the support you have shown me and my new work. I hope that you can understand and that I’ll see you later in the year. Much love, err.” You can read the full statement above.

The initial tour announcement came just a few weeks after the release of Rundle’s fifth studio album, Engine of Hell. The record has been received very well by both fans and critics alike. In a glowing review, Kerrang! said of the record: “This latest release sees the flesh of Emma’s music flayed to its bare bones; every track is a simplistic combination of her voice and either an acoustic guitar or a piano…The lyrics are wrought with dark meaning and somber emotion, and the lack of accompanying instruments makes their impact all the more poignant.”

Anyone who has listened to Rundle’s catalogue can tell you that Engine of Hell is one of her most intimate releases to date. The instrumentals are much more stripped down than usual; typically, Rundle totes an electric guitar both live and in studio, but here, we see frequent use of acoustic guitar and piano. The minimal instrumentation really shines a light on the personal, dark lyrics that Rundle has penned for this record, such as the sombre chorus of “Citadel”; On my way down, most of my life, I was trained how just to lay down, and never ask why, I was trained how, just to stay down, where it’s safe now.” The album can be found on all streaming services, and physical media can be purchased here. 

UPDATE 09/02/22

As of the 7th of February, Rundle has officially rescheduled her EU and UK tour. You can view the new UK dates down below. Ticket information for the tour can be found here.

11/08/2022- Bradshaw Hall- Birmingham
12/08- Brudenell Social Club- Leeds
13/08- Gosforth Civic Theatre- Newcastle
14/08- Mackintosh Queen’s Cross- Glasgow
16/08- St. Patrick’s Parish- Belfast
17/08- Dolan’s Music Hall- Limerick
18/08- St. Ann- Dublin
20/08- ArcTanGent Festival- Bristol
21/08- Stoller Hall- Manchester
22/08- Clapham Grand- London
23/08- Komedia- Brighton

Sorry guys…BEYOND THE REDSHIFT on March 12th and October 2022 tour are still ON. Stay safe everyone. pic.twitter.com/MhFmregD8Y

— Cult of Luna (@Cultofluna_off) January 14, 2022

The band posted a statement regarding the cancellation across their social media, saying: “We hoped that it wouldn’t come to this. You all know the situation we’re in and at the moment it’s too unsafe to tour Europe, which means that we have to cancel the February/March tour. We’re all super disappointed about this but we have to adapt to reality. These are dark times for sure but it’s important to keep in mind that people’s health and lives are the only thing that’s important- everything else can wait.”

The band added: “Pandemics happen every now and then, it’s just that our generation hasn’t experienced anything like it. As before, humanity will get through this… All tickets will be reimbursed and we will update you as soon as possible regarding new touring plans.” You can read the full statement here, or at the link above.

Despite the pandemic slowing down their touring schedule, Cult of Luna have been very prolific when it comes to releasing music as of late. Last year, the band released the E.P. The Raging River, less than a year after releasing their eighth full-length album A Dawn to Fear. Much to the delight of fans, the band will be releasing their ninth full-length studio album The Long Road North in just under a month’s time, on February the 11^th. The album will be released on Metal Blade Records, which the group signed with back in 2019. The band has released two singles from the record so far, “Cold Burn” and “Into The Night”. You can view the band’s visualiser for “Into The Night” down below. More information on the upcoming album, as well as pre-orders, can be found here.

Forming in 1998 in Umeå, Sweden from the ashes of a hardcore punk group called Eclipse, Cult of Luna released their self-titled debut album three years later, in 2001. Stylistically, the band blended the fury of hardcore punk with the melodic sensibilities and lengthy song structures of post-metal, culminating in a sound that was not too dissimilar to genre titans Isis (the band, not the other thing) and Neurosis. The band’s 2004 record Salvation is widely considered to be their “breakout” album, which received overwhelming acclaim, with Metal Hammer awarding it an extremely rare 10/10 rating. Cult of Luna’s entire musical catalogue can be found on all streaming services.