It’s Independent Venue Week. This initiative, which began life in 2014, is the UK’s annual 7-day celebration of independent music and arts venues and the people that own, run, and work in them. This year more than 200 venues are putting on hundreds of shows between the 29th of January and the 4th of February.
The Crescent in York is but one such venue and their week includes appearances from those Scots’ stalwarts and fiercely independent musicians, Steve Mason and Pictish Trail, indie-soul band Skinny Living from nearby Wakefield, a couple of Burning Duck Comedy nights with Vittorio Angelone and John Kearns, and tonight’s event, Triple Dutch! featuring three top bands from the Netherlands, Personal Trainer, The Klittens, and Real Farmer.
And just a little after eight it is Real Farmer, the four-piece band from the city of Groningen in northern Netherlands, who light the blue touchpaper on this evening’s entertainment. And it all quickly ignites. They career their way through a double-handful of songs in double-quick time, most, if not all of which will appear on their debut album, Compare What’s There which is set for release next month. The record’s first single ‘Inner City’ captures the band’s punk/DIY aesthetic, a maelstrom of pent up fury and frustration reflected in lead singer Jeroen Klootsema’s prowling presence on stage, something that puts you readily in mind of a young Henry Rollins.
This is the third time that The Klittens have appeared at The Crescent, but the first in which they have actually played on the stage! On both previous occasions they had set up on the floor in front of the stage, invariably an indication here of an act performing before a smaller crowd. Now they are playing to a packed Crescent and as they cheerfully note “are moving up in the world.” Their songs certainly arrive fully formed, indie-noir jewels strong on melodic charm and creative intuition. They dedicate their final song – a coruscating buzzsaw of a tune – to Palestine and a heartfelt plea for peace.
And so to Personal Trainer who surely have to be one of the most inventive, dynamic, and feelgood young bands of the moment. Hailing from Amsterdam, they have a revolving cast of personnel which merely seems to add to their sense of spontaneity and openness to fresh ideas. Built around singer Willem Smit, the band produce a refreshing amalgam of the most pleasing power pop, some classic indie (ergo Pavement), skittering funk, and the occasional trumpet. Personal Trainer build up a highly contagious head of steam before signing off with a glorious double-salvo in the shape of ‘The Lazer’ and ‘Texas in the Kitchen’ both of which are drawn from the band’s debut album, Big Love Blanket.
It is nights like this – thrilling musical events, brimming with creative energy and excitement and bringing a whole raft of different people together for a shared purpose – that reinforce the intrinsic value of places like The Crescent and the positive impact they can have upon not only a person’s emotional well-being but also the boost they can give to the local nighttime economy.
But Independent Venue Week is not just about tonight or these self-same seven days once a year, it’s about supporting grassroots venues all year round. Such support has become even more critical at a time when over a third of the UK’s grassroots music venues are loss-making. Furthermore, in 2022 there was a total of 960 grassroots music venues – identified by the Music Venues Trust as those that “programme artists that deserve audiences, with no expectation of direct financial reward” – but that number dropped by 125 last year, with around half of those closing altogether and the other half ceasing live music provision. The message is absolutely clear. The time is now for us to get out there and champion independent live music venues in whatever way we can before we lose even more of these invaluable community resources.
This event was brought to us by Please Please You .
Photos: Simon Godley
