Mercury-nominated singer, songwriter, musician, collaborator and producer Ed Harcourt will be performing a special show at Matt & Phreds on July 23rd as part of the United By Music Tour. With 1 grassroots music venue closing each week the tour will see acts including Blossoms, Cat Burns, Metronomy, Bloc Party and Sam Ryder returning to their roots to highlight the importance of these local venues in artists’ careers, as part of the music ecosystem, and as important local cultural hubs.

The United By Music Tour, organised by the charity Music Venue Trust and funded by The National Lottery started in June and is running until late September. Ed Harcourt, alongside other established acts including Sleeper and Newton Faulkner and a host of new acts, are touring the country playing 150 gigs at 130 grassroots music venues across the UK.

Ed Harcourt says: “I am delighted to announce a small solo piano tour of UK grassroots venues in association with the awesome Music Venue Trust; since I was 18 years old, I have been performing in countless clubs & bars across our land, legendary sanctuaries for all to converge, nights I can’t remember & memories I can’t forget! They have been the vibrant springboards, places where I honed & learnt how to perform live & where I find myself returning to time & time again.

Unfortunately, we are at a point now where so many of these establishments have been forced into closure. It’s truly heartbreaking. These are the sacred places where your favourite bands & singers find & found their voices. They are part of the lifeblood of our culture. By doing this tour with the patronage of the MVT & their United By Music campaign, I hope we can not only raise awareness of the threat so many of these venues face but provide you, the punters, with a magnificent night out & an excuse to get out and support live music & the grassroots venues that host us all. Thank you & see you down the road!”

The United By Music Tour is part of an existing partnership between The National Lottery and Music Venue Trust that aims to ensure live music is accessible to all. This has been achieved through previous tours (The Revive Live Tours), which saw the same two-for-one ticket deal for lottery players.

During Covid, Music Venue Trust managed to prevent the closure of the 900+ venues that they represent. However severe cost of living factors are now resulting in multiple venues closing each month, with the latest stats pointing to 66 venues closing within the last 12 months and this continues at a rate of 1 venue a week.

Every Grassroots Music Venue that closes represents one less place where local communities can access affordable live music, decreased opportunities for new and emerging artists to perform live and fewer opportunities for event professionals to learn their trade.
See unitedbymusic.live for dates and tickets