Inveterate gig-goer Will made it to all the IVW Reading shows, enjoying a fabulous array of live acts!
Now in its 11th year, Independent Venue Week (IVW) is the UK’s annual 7-day celebration of independent music & arts venues, and the people who own, run and work in them. A national project with a local feel, since its inception in 2013 and first iteration in 2014, IVW has empowered local music communities, with thousands of artists playing thousands of shows in villages, towns & cities all around the UK and the US.
Bringing independent venues directly together with artists, promoters, agents, record labels and media to create a unique series of special live events across the U.K, alongside valued long term partners including Arts Council England as well as BBC 6 Music, the celebration encourages artists, audiences and the wider music business to recognise the vital role these independently-owned venues play. I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the four gigs held in Reading, by live music promoters Steven Siddle aka Sid and Nigel Poole from Club Velocity, for Independent Venue Week 2025.
The first gig for IVW ’25 was on Tuesday 28th January at The Facebar, Reading. The evening began with Reading born singer songwriter Jess Tuthill, whose wonderful voice held the crowd captivated with her warm, sometimes emotional, occasionally humorous songs, accompanied only by her ukulele. Jess was followed by more Reading natives, Puma Theory, a melodic alternative rock group, who were on great form!
Finally we were treated to the wonderful Gemma Rogers and her band, who had the crowd singing and dancing along! As a special treat, she passed a bottle of rum around the audience when she sang ‘My Idea Of Fun‘, to accompany the chorus; “My idea of fun, is a little shot of rum. That’s my idea of fun.” I’ve seen all three acts a few times now, and they just get better every time I see them. Thank you for giving us a really good evening, let’s hope we can do it again this time next year..
The second IVW ’25 gig was on Thursday 30th January, also at The Facebar. This time featuring two solo acts; Baby Maker was the initial artist to take to the stage. The first time I saw him, it took me a song or two to try to ‘get him’, but now I really enjoy his music and he made for a great start to a fantastic evening of live music.
Next up was Funke And The Two Tone Baby. I can’t recall ever seeing a one man band create so much energy in one room, producing such a great sound with his beats, synth bass line, harmonica and guitar – you need to see it to believe it! A brilliant gig, which is saying something from a bloke who usually prefers a full-on band.
My third IVW ’25 gig of the week was on Friday 31st January, held at one of my favourite very small venues The Rising Sun Arts Centre, Reading, which is run completely by volunteers. First up were Berkshire’s own The Stellar Thieves, their singer and guitarist doing double duty as the Sound Engineer for the evening!
They were followed by indie guitar band from Oxfordshire, Chroma Rays, a new band to me. I enjoyed their set, as clearly did everybody else in the room. The evening finished witha great set from more local rock/punk favourites; the excellent Eat Daddy Eat. They were on fine form, playing some banging tunes.
Sunday 2nd February was my fourth and final IVW ’25 gig, and I returned to The Facebar to see another solo artist, Oxfordshire born singer songwriter Tom Webber. I was impressed to see how full the room was for a Sunday evening gig of just the one artist – there were some who had travelled miles to see him, he must be well liked! Not only does he have a great singing voice and is a very good guitarist, he’s also great at getting his audience involved. During one of his songs, he unplugged his guitar and moved into the centre of the crowd, to play and sing up close and personal. If you get a chance to listen to him, or even better to see him live, then do so!
Many thanks again to Steven Siddle and Nigel Poole from Club Velocity for being the welcome faces at the door, and for all your hard work getting these excellent bands to play for us. It was an Independent Venue Week to remember, thanks to all of the fabulous musicians who performed for us. Also, a massive thank you to the hosts The Facebar and The Rising Sun Arts Centre who welcome us week in, week out, at gigs.
Please remember – it’s Independent Venues like these which keep music alive for new and old bands, and for their customers who go to enjoy live music, whatever genre you may be into!
Main Photo Credit / All Photos: WILL SEWELL
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