Live music

End of the Road founder on the secret to a good festival and the act you can’t afford to miss in 2025
Music festivals

End of the Road founder on the secret to a good festival and the act you can’t afford to miss in 2025

End of the Road is in its 19th year. Founder Simon Taffe took time out from planning to explain how he keeps a festival alive in tough times

I couldn’t find a decent music festival – so I created my own
Jess Lardner

I couldn’t find a decent music festival – so I created my own

Co-director of Homestead Jess Lardner knows what a festival needs: genuine interaction, hot showers and morning Bloody Marys

‘We get communities dancing’: How Bradford’s brass heritage still brings people together
Music

‘We get communities dancing’: How Bradford’s brass heritage still brings people together

In the Big Brass Blowout’s lineup, traditional brass sits alongside afrobeats, reggae and soul

‘The record is a snapshot’: Inside Billy Mahonie’s unlikely comeback and the evolution of post-rock
Culture

‘The record is a snapshot’: Inside Billy Mahonie’s unlikely comeback and the evolution of post-rock

Loud music ruined my ears – but it doesn’t mean I can’t still enjoy a Mogwai gig
Music

Loud music ruined my ears – but it doesn’t mean I can’t still enjoy a Mogwai gig

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Independent venues are the backbone of the live music scene – we must look after them
Sybil Bell

Independent venues are the backbone of the live music scene – we must look after them

Plea to save UK’s grassroots music venues as hundreds face closure: ‘We’ll all be poorer for it’
Grassroots music venues

Plea to save UK’s grassroots music venues as hundreds face closure: ‘We’ll all be poorer for it’

Big Issue’s Changemakers of 2025: Culture and sport
Changemakers 2025

Big Issue’s Changemakers of 2025: Culture and sport

Bingo and karaoke with Barry from EastEnders: How the UK’s entertainment economy is changing
Entertainment

Bingo and karaoke with Barry from EastEnders: How the UK’s entertainment economy is changing

Husband and wife Big Issue vendors: ‘Just treat people how you want to be treated’
Our vendors

Husband and wife Big Issue vendors: ‘Just treat people how you want to be treated’

‘The Jazz Bar is too important to fail’ says the couple who saved an Edinburgh institution
Venue Watch

‘The Jazz Bar is too important to fail’ says the couple who saved an Edinburgh institution

From 00s pop to cutting-edge electronica: Here’s the best UK music festivals in summer 2024
Festival guide

From 00s pop to cutting-edge electronica: Here’s the best UK music festivals in summer 2024

‘When I was mentally ill, I could only listen to hard techno’: Why is music so important to us?
Music

‘When I was mentally ill, I could only listen to hard techno’: Why is music so important to us?

‘Against the odds’: How the Lubber Fiend made Newcastle’s music scene exciting again
Venue Watch

‘Against the odds’: How the Lubber Fiend made Newcastle’s music scene exciting again

‘This is not the end’: Experimental arts venue Iklectik fights to survive after shock eviction
Venue Watch

‘This is not the end’: Experimental arts venue Iklectik fights to survive after shock eviction

This grassroots venue brings ‘astonishing’ music and mental wellbeing to rural Wales
Venue Watch

This grassroots venue brings ‘astonishing’ music and mental wellbeing to rural Wales

Grassroots venue Off the Cuff is home to UK’s biggest youth open mic – and it needs your help
Venue Watch

Grassroots venue Off the Cuff is home to UK’s biggest youth open mic – and it needs your help

Big Issue’s Venue Watch helps save Woking’s only grassroots music venue: ‘It’s a big win’
Venue Watch

Big Issue’s Venue Watch helps save Woking’s only grassroots music venue: ‘It’s a big win’

English Teacher on the power of diversity and how grassroots venues keep music from becoming boring
Music

English Teacher on the power of diversity and how grassroots venues keep music from becoming boring

Independent Venue Week 2024: Without grassroots music venues, there’d be no Madonna
Venue Watch

Independent Venue Week 2024: Without grassroots music venues, there’d be no Madonna

‘No mean feat’: How Leeds grassroots venue The Wardrobe defied the odds to celebrate 25 years
Venue Watch

‘No mean feat’: How Leeds grassroots venue The Wardrobe defied the odds to celebrate 25 years

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Save Luna: London venue fights to survive in face of crippling costs and founder’s tragic passing
Venue Watch

Save Luna: London venue fights to survive in face of crippling costs and founder’s tragic passing

‘You can have a life-changing experience for the price of pizza’: Why Sneaky Pete’s is vital to Scottish music
Venue Watch

‘You can have a life-changing experience for the price of pizza’: Why Sneaky Pete’s is vital to Scottish music

2023 was brutal for UK music venues with at least one closing per week. We must fight to save them
Venue Watch

2023 was brutal for UK music venues with at least one closing per week. We must fight to save them

The unusual story of how one Lancashire venue rose like a phoenix: ‘It’s a place for everybody’
venue watch

The unusual story of how one Lancashire venue rose like a phoenix: ‘It’s a place for everybody’