It was announced in late March that five major events will take place in London’s Brockwell Park this summer, including popular music festivals Mighty Hoopla and Wide Awake.

Local residential group ‘Protect Brockwell Park’, however, have voiced their concerns about said events, arguing that the council have ‘manipulated planning laws’. They have also raised issues such as environmental damage and the blocking of public access to the park for an extended period of time.

The legal issue stems from Lambeth council granting a certificate of lawful development to events company Brockwell Live. This certification would allow the temporary change of use of a space without requiring planning permission for a maximum of 28 days.

The festival organisers, Brockwell Live, have claimed that its events only span a total of 17 days. However, Protect Brockwell Park are making the case that this fails to take into account the additional time the area is fenced off during construction of the site, claiming the park was out of action for 38 days last year.

Speaking on their crowdfunding page, the residential group said: “We are local people fighting a million-pound company whose unsustainable business practices are damaging our trees, disturbing wildlife, compacting the soil, and fencing off huge areas of the park for weeks at a time.”

Damage to Brockwell Park last year. Photo credit: London Centric

The group make it clear that they are not campaigning for the full closure of these events, they just want to have their concerns listened to and enacted upon. Local campaigner, Lucy Akrill, told London Centric: “We’re not saying there should be no festivals at all… but this is too big, too impactful.

“So many people within the community have just had enough with the fact that the council claims they consult with the community”, she continued: “We have got to the point where it feels like legal action is one of the few ways we can make the council listen.”

Whilst the festivals themselves last just two weeks, Akrill said that last years events left the park “out of use for the whole summer and a boggy mess for the whole winter.”

Although over £30,000 has been raised, not all residents agree with the campaign. There is an argument that only one side of the debate was being heard.  South London resident, Ana De Liz, had her say on the matter, telling London Centric: “This legal action is driven by wanting the festivals to go away. And I don’t want the festivals to go away.”

She highlighted the importance if Mighty Hoopla to London’s LGBTQ+ community: “You don’t really get a lot of LGBTQ+ friendly festivals in the UK.

“We’re seeing a huge decline in venues and spaces where people are allowed to dance, have fun, make friendships, and have a nice time.”

A Lambeth council spokesperson echoed these views, stating how much Lambeth’s LGBTQ+ community gets behind Mighty Hoopla, as well as the festival City Splash being “much loved by our Black communities and beyond.”

This is an ongoing issue throughout London. After two decades of austerity, local council’s claim that they need these events to raise money. But local residents will continue to battle against them, arguing that “huge amounts of money are being made by the operators” rather than for the community.

The Hull based band last Friday 1 September issued a statement via Twitter (X) concerning their unfortunate circumstances. It read, “Hello! As a band we’re going through some financial hardship due to non-payment by promoters for a performance outside of the country – a show which heavily cost us to get to. This, paired with inflating tour costs, has left us unable to fund our October/November tour. As an independent band, touring is vital to our survival and we rely on promoters to do the decent thing and actually pay us. This is something that hasn’t happened recently regarding a show that promised a substantial fee and has left us seriously out of pocket.”

It continued, “Therefore, we’ve set up a crowdfund to help us recoup the money we have lost due to non-payment. Anything you can give to help us get this show on the road would be greatly appreciated. As well as this, to raise funds we’ve made all our tour stock of vinyl and tees available for purchase at a discounted price this Bandcamp Friday. Every purchase is greatly appreciated and all the money will go towards helping us eat and sleep comfortably on the road.”

After an extremely positive and uplifting public response, Bdrmm lead vocalist and guitarist Ryan Smith posted a video onto Twitter (X) outlining his appreciation to all those who donated to the crowdfunder appeal and those who purchased band merch in the form of vinyl copies of albums and t-shirts.

Watch the heartwarming video below:

thank you all so so much. people are fucking incredible. x pic.twitter.com/3yTCAQCmJZ

— bdrmm (@smellybdrmm) September 2, 2023

The crowdfunder, appropriately named ‘The “bdrmm got effed over” fund’, has already amassed £4,296 by way of donations, 66% of its target of £6,500. You can contribute by clicking here.

Bdrmm released their second and latest album, I Don’t Know, via Rock Action Records this June, and the band were hoping to showcase this new material on their upcoming tour.

See below for tour dates:

09/10/2023 – Future Yard – Birkenhead
17/10 – Cactus Club – Bruges
18/10 – Le Grand Mix – Tourcoing
19/10 – Trix – Antwerp
20/10 – Left Of The Dial Festival – Rotterdam
23/10 – Molotow – Hamburg
24/10 – Loppen – Copenhagen
25/10 – Hus 7 – Stockholm
26/10 – Plan B – Malmö
28/10 – Kleinvieh Dresden – Dresden
30/10 – Privatclub – Berlin
31/10 – Helios 37 – Cologne
01/11 – Arci Bellezz – Milan
02/11 – Covo Club – Bologna
03/11 – Point Éphémére – Paris
04/11 – Paradiso – Amsterdam
05/11 – Mereleyn – Nijmegen

You can purchase tickets here.

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In the recent news of 13 venues being removed from The Red List Davvyd stated, “The love shown for these venues continues to demonstrate how important they are to people and to our towns and cities. Music Venue Trust is committed to reopening every venue safely and we are going to carry on working through this crisis until that outcome is achieved.”

One of the 13 saved from the Music Venue’s Trust fundraiser was Grand Elektra in Hastings. The venue is the cities leading music venue and nightclub, hosting comedy nights, theatre and music videos as well. Paul Mandy, the owner of Grand Elektra stated, “Being part of the red list #saveourvenues has been great support for the venue and hospitality sector. It’s brought great publicity to our cause and with the support of the MVT which has been amazing throughout the whole of the pandemic crisis and helped us weather this storm so far.”

The full list of the 13 venues removed from the Red List are:

Arden Inn, Accrington
Backstage Kinross
Boulevard, Wigan
Four Horsemen, Bournemouth
Gellions, Inverness
Hootenanny, Inverness
Plot 22, Sheffield
Rossi Bar, Brighton
Strange Brew, Bristol
The Brunswick, Hove
The Grand Elektra/ The Crypt, Hastings
The Railway Inn, Winchester
Waterloo Bar, Blackpool

However, there are still venues being added to the ‘Red List’ that are in desperate need of support. These include BOOM in Leeds, The Lexington in London, The Windmill in Brixton and many more. The target for the campaign to succeed is £1,750,000 with a current £791,502 raised from 12,418 supporters.

BOOM Leeds, a renowned punk music venue, has hosted famous artists such as slowthai, Gallows and Code Orange. Yet, the beloved venue is still in dire need of donations due to the pandemics restrictions on live music. Frank Turner, lead vocalist of Million Dead and now solo singer-songwriter, performed a live-stream set in which the proceeds went to BOOM Leeds. In a social media post, the singer stated how his ‘first hard-core gig’ was at BOOM, leading to Turner and his fans raised £7000 for the venue. 

To support your favourite music venue and stop iconic live music settings closing, donate here.

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On their website, the bar stated, ‘We’ve spent a year adapting our bar and venue to meet government guidelines due to this awful pandemic, but we can go no further on our own. We need to raise £150,000 by the end of March 2021, or we face the very real prospect of never reopening. We are independently owned and operated and are proud to have retained all our staff, because we’re a family. We are now reaching out to the extended Black Heart family for support as we launch our#savetheblackheart Crowdfunder. WE HAVE HAD ZERO HELP FROM THE GOVERNMENT OR OUR LANDLORDS.’

To encourage fans and live music fanatics to help save their venue, The Black Heart have donated prizes which can be won dependent on the amount donated. If £10 is donated, you could win some Independent Artist Bundle wall art whereas £15 could get you a bundle from Ritual Productions (including multiple LP’s and t-shirts). Donate £20 and you could win a £100 tab at Beer and Burger and £200 bar tab for The Black Heart. Finally the winner of the £40 raffle donation will receive 2 tickets to the Bristol Craft Beer Festival and a bar tab at Moor Brewery. Each week, the epic prizes change, all of which are ‘donated by loads of local and international bands, as well as Old Empire, Brooklyn Brewery, tattoo artists, We Are Beer festival, Ritual Records, Orange Amps, Desertscene, Mikkeller and many more.’

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A post shared by The Black Heart (@ourblackheart)

The iconic heavy music venue has hosted huge bands such as IDLES, The Bronx and Lightning Bolt. They have hosted multiple heavy festivals, including Camden Rocks, Desertfest and Incineration Fest. Incineration fest has been postponed from its original 2021 date and hopes to go ahead on the 7th May 2022.

 The Black Heart is just one of the many epic music venues that is facing serious trouble and is need of relying on music fanatics, gig-goers and the kindness of strangers to keep going. Musicians have got behind the #savetheblackheart hashtag, with Andrew O’Neill donating all his sales from his recent ‘History of Heavy Metal’ DVD and Book to the crowdfunder. The musician/comedian tweeted,  ‘ANOTHER VENUE UNDER THREAT! Until further notice all sales of my History of Heavy Metal DVD and book are going to go to the #savetheblackheart crowdfund campaign. Not gonna sit back and watch another essential venue disappear!’

ANOTHER VENUE UNDER THREAT! Until further notice all sales of my History of Heavy Metal DVD and book are going to go to the #savetheblackheart crowdfund campaign. Not gonna sit back and watch another essential venue disappear!https://t.co/dF6Je6CbIK

— Andrew O’Neill ☉ (@destructo9000) January 25, 2021

To donate to The Black Heart Crowdfunder and enter the prize raffles, click here.

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Alongside venue founder Ben Lovett and the incredible team that make Omeara the special venue that it is, @maggierogers @theamazons @dermotkennedy and @sonicseagirls show their support, sharing some memories of what the venue means to them… first headline show, first night of their first tour, the first place that showed the power of a British audience… long may it continue! To help raise support and vital funds, visit https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/omeara (link in bio) Omeara x #saveourvenues

A post shared by Omeara (@omearalondon) on May 20, 2020 at 11:26am PDT

Not only will this action help artists and venue owners, but also promoters, chefs, bartenders, and more. Lovett has asked workers from various fields to come together with music fans in saving his beloved Omeara. In a statement on the Crowdfunder page, Lovett wrote that “in an effort to prevent the closure of Omeara and protect the wellbeing of our extended family, as well as ensuring we are still here on the other side of all of this to host artists again,” the venue will be offering experiences, merchandise, and more in exchange for donations.

He explained that “all proceeds will go directly to our staff and artists. Everything above the amount we need will be donated to the Music Venue Trust GMV Crisis Fund.” With rewards ranging from £10 to £25,000, there is plenty of incentive to participate, if not only to save this incredible venue. Fans can purchase clothing, accessories, or beauty products on the lower end of the scale, while for a higher price, they can receive a cocktail masterclass or an annual Omeara ticket pass. View all options here.

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To help raise support and vital funds to protect the wellbeing of Omeara and our staff we’ve reached out to artists, dug into the vault, spoken to everyone from our cocktail makers, suppliers, engineers, chefs and promoters to do what they do best… get creative and think of experiences we can open up to our community to show your support, as well as creating some special moments along the way! So whether it’s buying one of our new limited edition hoodies, coasters carved out of floorboards from the stage, dining experiences from Flat Iron Square, or your very own full take over of the space, every single contribution will make a difference. For more information on how to get involved, head to www.crowdfunder.co.uk/omeara (link in bio). #saveourvenues

A post shared by Omeara (@omearalondon) on May 19, 2020 at 10:40am PDT

With £9,000 already raised for Omeara, Ben Lovett recently opened new venue the Lafayette in a further attempt to keep the music industry open for  emerging artists. The musician himself  began performing around London in small, independent venues which have housed many more popular artists over the years. It is his hope, and the hope of music lovers around the UK, that we can continue to support both smaller artists and venues and appreciate them for their unique, high-quality experiences.

Lovett also showed his love and support for other musicians and record stores by sharing his favourite albums for Off the Record’s ‘Isolation Albums’ on their YouTube channel. His picks included No Doubt, Michael Kiwanuka, and Leiff Vullebekk.

Supported by UK singer-songwriter Frank Turner, the Music Venue Trust has confirmed that, thanks to the help of fans, artists, and staff, 140 venues have been protected from closure due to the coronavirus. The Save Our Venues campaign has raised over £1 million, while their target is £1.5 million, so head to their page to keep donating.

Image Credit: Kalyn Oyer