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According to BristolLive, demolition work in the area had completed in January, paving the way for the new construction in the Brabazon Hangars, the site in Filton Airfield where supersonic airliner Concorde was developed in the 50s and 60s. They hosted a party to break the news of the new name on Thursday the 19th of February, held at Aerospace Bristol. Acclaimed singer-songwriter Tom Grennan ripped through a 6-song performance with the last Concorde to take to the skies suspended above him.

During the exhibition, CGI images of the prospective Aviva Arena were shown to the audience, with Grennan remarking “I’ve been coming to Bristol for 10 years on tour, traveling, and it’s such a great place for music, so bringing something like this here is going to change the whole city. And it’s going to be amazing.” The new name is a result of a multi-million pound partnership with British insurance firm Aviva, who also hold naming rights with Dublin’s Aviva Stadium, home to their national rugby union team. Aviva Group CEO Dame Amanda Blanc said “Bristol is an important city for Aviva, and we are proud to back this new world-class arena which will have such a positive community impact. Aviva Arena will further strengthen Bristol’s position as one of Europe’s great creative cities and become a landmark destination for the South West of England.”

The project is set to be enormous, opening 2000 new jobs during construction with 500 more when the facilities are operational, and setting out to meet a deadline of opening by late 2028. In addition to the Aviva Arena, which will occupy one of the Brabazon Hangar units, they intend to build a conference space and 6,500 new houses. Transport links to the area are being established, with a new North Filton train station due to open in the Autumn this year. Currently YTL forecast that the arena will bring 120 events a year, with excess of 1.4 million attendants, earning the city’s economy over £1 billion in its first 10 years.

The Aviva Arena’s ambitions stretch far beyond Bristol, where its surrounding venues are lacking in one way or another. Their largest stadium, Ashton Gate, boasts a capacity of 32,000 for their summer shows, but is only available when football and rugby have wrapped for the season. The city’s O2 Academy only holds 1,600, and nearby in Cardiff, the Utilita Indoor Arena can host just 7,500. The Aviva Arena’s 20,000 tops Birmingham’s max of around 15,000, matches London’s O2 Arena, and only falls short of Manchester’s Co-op Live and Manchester Arena, both of which allow over 23,000.

With the long wait until its 2028 opening ahead, you can find more about this exciting project on the Aviva Arena website here.

Fans can get exclusive first access to tickets by ordering the band’s new album Moon Music (released on 4th October 2024) from the official Coldplay UK or EU Stores before 11.59pm BST on Tuesday 24 September. All those who have already pre-ordered the album will automatically be eligible for the pre-sale, which will begin on Thursday 26 September at 9am BST. The general sale will take place at 9am BST on Friday 27 September.

Fifty percent of the tickets for the Hull shows – their first ever concerts in the city – will go to local fans (with HU, YO, DN or LN postcodes), via Ticketmaster on Thursday 26 September at 6pm BST.

AUGUST 2025

18 – Hull, Craven Park Stadium
19 – Hull, Craven Park Stadium

22 – London, Wembley Stadium
23 – London, Wembley Stadium
26 – London, Wembley Stadium
27 – London, Wembley Stadium
30 – London, Wembley Stadium
31 – London, Wembley Stadium

What stands out about this tour announcement is the promise Coldplay have made to donate 10% of the band’s proceeds from the Wembley and Hull shows to Music Venue Trust (MVT).

Considering that every week a grassroots venue closes its doors, this will help fund vital work MVT does to support grassroots UK venues and upcoming artists. In a similar vein, Enter Shikari donated £1 from every ticket they sold for their 7-date 2023 tour. Their donations went to Music Venue Trust’s Pipeline Investment Fund, which is their grassroots venue fund.

According to an interview with Mark Davyd, founder and CEO of Music Venue Trust, Coldplay were introduced to MVT through Save Our Scene – a campaign fundraiser for cultural charities – after they reached out to its founder, George Fleming “who very graciously in turn recommended speaking to the Music Venues Trust. By February 2024, it had been agreed that when they announced their 2025 shows, that they’d be making a contribution to the grassroots to support the venues, artists and promoters.”

Donations to the Music Venue Trust will also be made by concert promoters SJM Concerts, Metropolis Music and Live Nation; the band’s booking agent WME; the venues Wembley Stadium and Hull Craven Park; and the official ticket agents, Ticketmaster, See Tickets and AXS.

Additionally, in a world first for a stadium show, Coldplay have also pledged to power the Wembley concerts’ production with 100% solar, wind and kinetic energy.

Sourced from The Independent, in June, Coldplay revealed that their Music of the Spheres show had, at that point, produced 59 per cent less CO2e emissions than their previous stadium tour between 2016 to 2017. The band have also overseen the planting of nine million trees, with a further one million to be planted before the end of the year. Coldplay are expanding their sustainability efforts to their album by producing physical copies of Moon Music made from 100 per cent recycled plastic bottles.

Lastly, seemingly to counter the ticket rip seen recently around Oasis, Taylor Swift and Beyonce’s tours, a limited number of Infinity Tickets, priced at £20 per ticket, will be made available for the shows via Ticketmaster at 12pm GMT on Friday 22 November.

The renowned Shepherd’s Bush Venue had been under threat for several months, having first appealed on its Instagram page on 1 March that funds were running short. The owners then started a Crowdfunder campaign, which eventually raised over £45,000 from around 900 supporters.

But eventual relief came when ticket sales for two planned performances by Sex Pistols members Glenn Matlock, Paul Cook, and Steve Jones, featuring vocalist Frank Carter, provided a funding runway for venue management to begin planning shows for the next few months. Initial shows were slated for August 13 and August 14, but the decision came this week to add a third date on August 15. Remaining tickets to the third show can be found here.

Carter is best known for fronting a slew of punk and hardcore outfits including Gallows, Pure Love, and Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes. He will join three of the founding members of the legendary London punk band in place of singer John Lydon, with whom the band has been feuding for many years. Despite co-writing most of the songs on the band’s seminal debut Never Mind the Bollocks, Matlock left the band early in the recording process and was replaced by Sid Vicious.

Sieh dir diesen Beitrag auf Instagram an

Ein Beitrag geteilt von Music Venue Trust (@musicvenuetrust)

The Sex Pistols have played several reunion shows since their original disbandment in 1978, including a successful live album recorded at the Brixton Academy in 2007.

“I’ve been [to Bush Hall] many times over the years, being a local lad. I’ve seen unsigned acts, I’ve seen international acts, and it would be a shame if anything happened to it,” Sex Pistols guitarist Paul Cook said on the Bush Hall Crowdfunder page, which also saw pledges of support from producer Youth Glover and rock band Wolf Alice.

“Running a grassroots venue in the UK right now is harder than ever, GMVs are currently closing at a rate of two per week (MVT 2023 annual report), 0.5% profits across the sector and 38% of remaining venues reporting a loss of earnings. Despite our tireless efforts Bush Hall is now in danger of being next,” Bush Hall management said in March when announcing the venue’s predicament.

“We have run a completely independent venue, without funded support (except during the pandemic) or external investment, for almost 23 years. It is with heavy hearts, but with a mind to a possible future, we are reaching out to those who love music and enjoy going to intimate gigs for help to keep the live music going,” they continued.

With the news of the sell-out of the two Sex Pistol shows, however, venue management took once again to its Crowdfunder page to express gratitude to supporters.

“The support we have had has been phenomenal and we are hugely appreciative to have reached our target ahead of time! Any contributions above our original target will go towards further sustaining Bush Hall’s musical future, by allowing us to focus on bettering our in house facilities and supporting emerging artists through reigniting our Bush Hall Presents’ programming,” Bush Hall management said on its Crowdfunder page after the new broke.

With “The UK” set to “lose 10 per cent of its grassroots music venues in 2023”, calls have been growing for the “music industry and larger venues to do more”. The Music Venue Trust has also revealed that 67 venues have closed so far this year alone and claims that “the UK is set to lose 10 per cent of its independent venues by the end of 2023.” Bands and artists alike are questioning, how can this be turned around? 

Support grassroots music venues ❤️✊ https://t.co/AAhI0sMJP9

— ENTER SHIKARI (@ENTERSHIKARI) April 23, 2023

Rou Reynolds, MVT patron and lead vocalist and keyboardist of Enter Shikari says “There are a lot of new arenas on the way, while at the same time, there is no support whatsoever for the grassroots circuit. There’s a very clear link between small venues and big venues – especially in terms of providing new artists with a space to find their way in the industry and find their audience.” He continues ruefully “We’re going to have all these new arenas without supporting the ways that artists can grow into them. It just all seems a bit silly!”

During Venues Day, an event hosted in London by The Music Venue Trust (MVT), the band spoke about their upcoming UK and Ireland arena tour. In their bid to help save grassroots venues, the band is donating £1 for every ticket sold to help save the music community. Speaking at the event they declared “We will not be replaced by another block of f*cking flats.” Demanding the industry to “make it impossible” for any more grassroots gig spaces to close.  The band, which signed a funding agreement with the MVT received the Outstanding Contribution Award for their donations to this cause. 

Enter Shikari Drummer, Rob Rolfe mentions that “Grassroots venues helped” to “cut our teeth, hone our craft, meet and be inspired by other musicians, and how to be a proper touring band,” he also added, “It was also the platform to help us reach an audience and build our own fanbase.”

Venues have struggled over the last few years, with the ongoing Covid-19 crisis and then the cost of living crisis causing rocket-high bills. As many businesses switched to online, venues suffered. Many shut their doors back in 2020 either for a short period of time or for good with the grassroots venues which have remained open relying heavily on “support from crowd-funders or fundraising efforts led, in particular, by the Music Venue Trust (MVT).” 

The ‘A Kiss For The Whole World’ European tour opens tonight in VEGA, Copenhagen

The Piece Hall have become the first major venue in the UK to offer the option to donate and directly support independent local venues at the point of purchase. This is after the Piece Hall signed a landmark agreement with the Music Venue Trust as well as with promoters Cuffe and Taylor, allowing the venue to give customers the option to donate to the MVT via Ticketmaster.

Groundbreaking deal to support Yorkshire’s independent music venues!

The funding agreement with @musicvenuetrust means that for all 2024 shows at The Piece Hall, fans can add a donation to support grassroots music venues in Calderdale.

Read more ➡️ https://t.co/4oolZyyeTh pic.twitter.com/5f2reLo2Xb

— The Piece Hall (@ThePieceHall) October 3, 2023

Music Venue Trust CEO, Mark Davyd spoke of the groundbreaking agreement via a press release, as he said: “This has been an incredibly challenging year for grassroots music venues, with more than 100 venues forced to close their doors to live music and many more at risk. It is absolutely vital that everyone in the music industry recognises the incredible strain the grassroots sector is under, and so it’s great to see The Piece Hall leading the way with a plan that will really make a genuine difference to other venues in the local area. We are extremely grateful to The Piece Hall and Cuffe and Taylor for coming together to support the whole ecosystem around them – we hope it inspires others to follow.”

Alongside this, earlier this year the Music Venue Trust had also announced a public ownership scheme under the name #SaveOurVenues, in which they have their first acquisition: The Snug in Manchester. The initiative was first announced in May after venues like Nambucca in North London and Sheffield’s Leadmill was under threat of closing, in which Nambucca unfortunately did. The scheme is built to tackle ownership issues and secure long-term futures for grass-roots venues.

These innovations are in response to the Music Venue Trust’s warnings this year that many small music venues in the country were at a knife-edge, as the trust called out for other big players in the music industry to help. Earlier in the year, MVT CEO Mark Davyd said about this: “This is the best year for live music in the UK in terms of gross receipts that there’s ever going to be. It’s not possible to make an argument that this can be accompanied by 100 venues closing down, cutting down access to live music for communities and cutting off the talent pipeline for artists that’ll never get to play.”

Following this news, many nightclub and venue owners say they are on the “brink of collapse” and that the introduction will lower their numbers even further over the Christmas period, posing “a threat to the very survival of thousands of businesses and jobs”. A recent study revealed that up to 40% of punters aren’t actually showing up to shows they’ve bought tickets to.

This paired with the fact fewer people are buying fewer tickets anyway is causing some major issues for the entire live music industry. Beverley Whitrick, Strategic Director of MVT (Music Venue Trust) states, “A ‘no show’ isn’t just lost ticket income, it’s lost bar take and excess staff costs” adding, “Rapid declines in attendance at this time of year represent an exponential threat to the whole sector, and losses of this magnitude cannot be sustained without throwing hundreds of music venues into crisis mode and at risk of permanent closure.”

 “It’s now the proportionate and responsible thing to move to Plan B in England while continuing to work closely with our colleagues in the devolved administrations so we can slow the spread of the virus,” addressed Boris Johnson to the nation last week. MVT CEO Mark Davyd argued in response, “confusing government messaging had created a ‘stealth lockdown’ with venues apparently able to open but in reality, haemorrhaging money at a rate that will inevitably result in permanent closures unless the government acts quickly to prevent it.”.

 The MVT is also backing the “Revive Live Tour” headlined by Bastille, Becky Hill, and The Coral with the objective to raise money for the industry by associating with the National Lottery. See here for details.

Looking for the perfect gift this Christmas? Grab a buy-one-get-one-free ticket to The National Lottery’s #ReviveLive Tour and give the gift of an experience with some amazing artists this January at grassroots music venues!
https://t.co/wU6Yk8PE9K pic.twitter.com/yulsSoiuh1

— Music Venue Trust (@musicvenuetrust) December 14, 2021

In order to help nightlife survive, the NTIA (Night Time Industry Association, another industry acting as a union for the issue) are calling for a VAT for the sector at 12.5 per cent, additional grants unique to hospitality, and for the government to reinstate furlough for the first quarter of 2022. NTIA CEO, Michael Kill, claims, “Without this, the result is a threat to the very survival of thousands of businesses and jobs.”

The venues included in this programme are, amongst others, Canterbury Cathedral, Serpentine Galleries, Boomtown Fair festival and Glastonbury Festival, which had to be cancelled for two consecutive years, with the event taking place as a live stream this year. ‘We’re extremely grateful to be offered a significant award from the culture recovery fund.’ Glastonbury organisers Michael and Emily Eavis said. ‘After losing millions from the cancellation of our last two festivals, this grant will make a huge difference in helping to secure our future.’

Small grassroots venues have also been included in the equation. Indeed, the Brudenell Social Club in Leeds will get £213,853, and the comedy club Komedia in Brighton – which usually hosts 700 events a year – will receive £123,500. Music Venue Trust, the organisation born post-pandemic to support small venues and clubs, stated: ‘Music Venue Trust has worked hard to support eligible grassroots music venues (GMVs) in their applications to this fund and we are delighted that members of the Music Venues Alliance (MVA) have now been awarded almost £16m in support. This represents an 80% success rate for MVA members, many of whom had never applied for public funding prior to this pandemic. This money is aimed at securing venues until the end of June 2021.

‘We are grateful to Arts Council England who worked so hard to deliver the fund, and to the DCMS for listening to the needs of the GMV sector.’ The MVT statement continued. ‘However, as with all grant funding, this news is hard on those venues who were ineligible due to the structure of their business or which have not been established long enough to provide the accounts required, and on those who applied but were unsuccessful or awarded only a small percentage of the money they need.’