Independent Venue Week 2022: The venues involved, artists performing & more

Independent Venue week - 'celebrating the spirit of independence and culture of live music and venues' - will host its first in-person event since the pandemic began back in 2020, at the end of this month.

Running from Monday 31st January til Sunday 6th February 2022, this year's celebration will see over one hundred grassroot music venues in over sixty locations across England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland taking part, including The Louisiana in Bristol, The Kazimer Stockroom in Liverpool and the Bootleg Social in Blackpool to name a few. Each will host a broad variety of live acts across the seven-day period, including internationally renowned musicians and local talents from the surrounding communities, whose involvement will help to generate much needed funds for said venues in addition to maintaining the live music ecosystem and the scores of skilled staff employed in the sector.

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Marking Independent Venue Week's ninth consecutive year, fast-rising art-pop two piece, Wet Leg have been announced as England's IVW ambassador of 2022, replacing last year's ambassador and Mercury Prize winner, Arlo Parks. Glaswegian soul-pop star, Joesef will represent all IVW 2022 events Scotland whilst Mace The Great represents Wales, and Derry-born singer-songwriter, Bridie Monds-Watson AKA SOAK, takes on ambassador duties for IVW in Northern Ireland.

Speaking about their recent appointment as IVW ambassadors for England, Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers of Wet Leg said:

“We grew up in a place where we had no music venues at all and after living in Bristol and London, it’s been incredible to experience what it’s like to be a part of a scene; to feel that sense of community that you can pin point geographically to a place, to a venue, I think is quite important and quite special particularly for emerging bands and artists. 

"It’s a bit of a delicate ecosystem – Music makers and lovers are supported by the venues and in turn the venues are supported by bands/artists and their fans passing through. The way I see it is this – No Independent venues = No music scene. No community. And to me, I feel that that’s something worth continuing to preserve and nurture. That’s why we’re super stoked and very very proud to be ambassadors for this year’s Independent Venue Week.”

(Check out the official video for Wet Leg's debut single, 'Chaise Longue', below...)

In partnership with Independent Venue Week 2022, Attitude is Everything, a charity set up to improve deaf and disabled people's accessibility to live music, also launched their #JustAsk campaign. The campaign aims to ensure that next year's instalment of IVW is as accessible as possible for acts on the line-up, by giving promoters and venue owners sufficient training and knowledge on the subject so that performers no longer have to carry the burden of having to state their access requirements before shows.

Attitude is Everything’s Artists Development Manager, Rich Legate, said:

“This campaign is going to be a hugely positive and beneficial collaboration between promoters and artists, aiming to enrich our future live music landscape. Attitude is Everything’s Next Stage research shows that many artists with access requirements face challenges disclosing their health condition or impairment. We want to take the burden away and enable artists to flourish. It’s really exciting to be tackling this in partnership with IVW and setting a blueprint for the future.”

Fancy getting your hands on tickets to Independent Venue Week shows happening where you are? Head to our Independent Venue Week 2022 home page by clicking or tapping here or check out our Independent Venue Week Inspire Me page. Tickets are now on sale.

Check out our What's On Guide to discover even more rowdy raves and sweaty gigs taking place over the coming weeks and months. For festivals, lifestyle events and more, head on over to our Things To Do page or be inspired by the event selections on our Inspire Me page.