United By Music Tour

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The National Lottery and leading UK charity Music Venue Trust have announced even more artists for the United By Music Tour, with Sam Ryder and Bloc Party joining the line-up for special, one-off shows. The United By Music Tour is bringing 150 gigs to 130 Grassroots Music Venues across the country. Sam Ryder will be performing at Chinnerys in Southend on 8^th September, while Bloc Party will be playing at The Hairy Dog in Derby on 20^th July.

The tour kicked off at Epic STudios in Norwich with with Amber Run’s first tour date, the tour will see a diverse range of up and coming and established headline artists perform in music venues across the UK. Sam Ryder, Bloc Party, Blossoms, Metronomy and Cat Burns will be playing one-off shows to highlight the importance of grassroots music venues.

Speaking about taking part in the tour, Sam Ryder said: “These are the venues where myself and so many of my pals started at and still play. They are crucial for young artists getting into the music industry to be able to experiment across the entire spectrum of musical genres, and to go out and cut their teeth in front of real-life people and create connections that live in the physical world. Can’t wait to come sing my head off with you all and celebrate what music is all about – connection.”

National tours will feature more than twenty artists including Ed Harcourt, 86TVs, Amber Run, Hamish Hawk, Lily Moore, Newton Faulkner, Noah & The Loners, Witch Fever and more, with all tickets available on a 2-for-1 basis to National Lottery players as a thank you for their support.

Bloc Party will play a special show at The Hairy Dog in Derby on 20^th July. On the performance, Kele Okereke said: “Bloc Party played so many small venues in our formative years – they’re so important to help new and young artists develop their set and build a fanbase. It’s a real treat to be able play a sweaty little room again after the arenas we’ve spent the past few months in, and we’ve heard The Hairy Dog is a really important part of the community in Derby, so we can’t wait to be there.”

The initiative was launched with a special free concert for 15,000 people in the Eurovision Village on 10^th May and follows the successful delivery of the Liverpool leg of the National Lottery’s United By Music Tour that saw iconic local artists such as Lightning Seeds, The Coral and Miles Kane playing local venues in support of the live music sector.

This tour takes The National Lottery’s contribution to grassroots venues through the United By Music Tour to £1.5m and comes at a crucial time when many venues are still suffering the fallout from the pandemic and the impact of the cost of living crisis. The funds committed underwrite the costs of bands’ performance and touring costs ensuring venues get artists at no cost to them and is the single largest legacy initiative announced for Eurovision 2023 to date.

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As well as supporting local venues The National Lottery and Music Venue Trust have launched the tour to extend the celebration of Liverpool’s historic hosting of Eurovision across the breadth of the country. In addition, it will celebrate and recognise all 17 UK towns and cities that initially bid to host Eurovision with an event in each of them. 

Every National Lottery player who purchased a ticket will be invited to bring a “plus one” for free – all they need to do to qualify for this offer is to bring any National Lottery product when they attend the gig.

Artists taking part in the United by Music Tour:

86TVs
Amber Run
Bloc Party *
Blossoms
Cat Burns
Ed Harcourt
Hamish Hawk
Lily Moore
Luke La Volpe
Metronomy
Newton Faulkner *
Noah & The Loners
October Drift
Opus Kink
Prima Queen
Sam Ryder *
Sleeper
The Dirty Nil
Witch Fever

Ian Broudie, whose band Lightning Seeds performed as part of the Liverpool leg of the United By Music Tour and played in the Fan Village to help launch the UK wide initiative, comments: “The atmosphere in Liverpool has been incredible and it’s been great to see old and new fans alike come down to not only support us, but the music venues we’ve performed in. Grassroots music venues are integral to the future of music and need to be supported, which is why I’m delighted that The National Lottery and Music Venue Trust have extended the tour to the rest of the UK.”

This is the third year The National Lottery has partnered with Music Venue Trust, underwriting the full touring and production costs of artists participating, as part of their ongoing commitment to the grassroots music sector and takes the total money committed to £5.5m.

Mark Dayvd, CEO of Music Venue Trust said, “The partnership between The National Lottery and Music Venue Trust is delivering desperately needed support to Grassroots Music Venues right across the country in a very difficult and challenging year. By investing directly into artists and venues, creating hundreds of new shows and one off events, the United by Music Tour is making sure that everyone can continue to access the very best live music in their local community.”

For the full schedule of gigs and for more information on The National Lottery’s United By Music UK Tour, please visit: unitedbymusic.live

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