I could be found at Islington Assembly Hall early this morning, setting up the MU mini-stand at the Music Venues Trust ‘Venues Day’, which is an annual event for several hundred managers and proprietors of grassroots venues across the UK.
I was joined by my colleagues Kelly Wood and John Shortell in time for the welcome speech by the organisers’ special guest, singer/songwriter KT Tunstall.
The Trust’s leading lights, Mark Davyd and Beverley Whitrick, then outlined the schedule for the day, with the morning proceedings mostly featuring a panel session chaired by Steve Lamacq, in which a number of notable venue managers discussed the current issues facing their businesses.
After lunch, there were a range of breakout seminars and workshops, with a spotlight on programming and financing.
The MU stand proved busy throughout the day and we met numerous names from the grassroots sector, including presenter and frontman John Robb, Jay Taylor of Manchester’s Night & Day, Alex Mann of Help Musicians UK, the Hub’s Julia Payne, plus representatives of the Good Night Out Campaign.
