Independent Venue Week has unveiled Beabadoobee as its final 10th anniversary ambassador.
Beabadoobee will join other previously announced ambassadors: Radiohead’s Philip Selway, alongside Young Fathers (ambassadors for Scotland) and Adwaith (ambassadors for Wales) in supporting the event. It returns for its 10th edition between January 30 and February 5, 2023, and encourages fans across the country to get out and enjoy music in independent venues.
Former Music Week cover star Beabadoobee, who this year released her acclaimed second album, Beatopia, will play a special BRITs Week For War Child show during IVW at Lafayette London on February 3, 2023. Fans can win tickets to the show and raise funds for the charity by entering a prize draw.
Beabadoobee started out at independent venues around the UK, including The Shacklewell Arms, St Pancras Old Church, Norwich Waterfront, Birmingham’s Castle & Falcon and The Joiners Arms in Southampton. In 2022, she toured extensively across the UK, North America, Singapore, Thailand, Australia and Europe. Her schedule also included appearances at the BBC Radio 6 Music Festival, Glastonbury, Coachella, The Governors Ball, Mad Cool, Rock En Seine and Reading & Leeds.
In 2023, she will embark on her debut European headline tour in addition to supporting Taylor Swift for 12 North American dates on the singer’s upcoming The Eras tour.
Speaking about her role as IVW Ambassador and the importance of independent music venues, Beabadoobee said: “I’m extremely proud to be an ambassador of Independent Venue Week. These venues are so important at giving young emerging artists a starting point in their career. I will never forget my first gig at The Boileroom in Guildford, where I jumped on stage with my friends for three songs or my first proper Beabadoobee headline show at the Old Pancras Church in Kings Cross.
“My first and earliest gigs will always be some of my most precious memories. We need to do our best to keep these venues up and running and I want to help shine a light on how important independent venues really are to artists’ careers.”
These venues are so important at giving young emerging artists a starting point in their career
Beabadoobee
Previous IVW Ambassadors since 2014 have included Wet Leg, Arlo Parks, Anna Calvi, Wolf Alice, Nadine Shah, Colin Greenwood, Adrian Utley and Novelist.
IVW has confirmed that more than 300 venues have now signed up to participate in next year’s event. These range from large-capacity rooms such as The Troxy and Glasgow Barrowlands to unique and tiny spaces, including The Grayston Unity in Halifax (35-capacity) and Neath’s Dros Ben Tân, which operates as a cafe during daytime hours.
Shows already confirmed for the week include performances from You Me At Six, The Mysterines, The Pretenders, Rozi Plain, Sprints, Trampolene, Editors, Anna Meredith, Band of Skulls, English Teacher, Slow Readers Club, The Unthanks, Amber Arcades, Life, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Skinny Pelembe, Lowkey, James Yorkston, Nina Persson & The Second Hand Orchestra, Nuha Ruby Ra, The Subways, Pip Blom, The Bug Club and Duke Special.
IVW ambassador Philip Selway will play five shows across the week in Norwich, Cambridge, Hebden Bridge, Stockton-on-Tees and Guildford.
Many more events will be added in the weeks leading up to January 30, including special headline shows. In total, more than 1,000 shows are expected to take place across the week itself.
With the average ticket price coming in at under £10, IVW founder Sybil Bell - Live Music Inspiration winner at the Music Week Women In Music Awards - has issued a rallying cry for fans to get onboard.
“We’re so excited to add Beabadoobee to our team of fantastic artist ambassadors, and we’re all looking forward to what’s going to be the biggest and best Independent Venue Week yet,” she said. “I also hope music lovers will come out in force.
“We all know times are incredibly tough right now, but live music at IVW venues remains incredibly good value. So if you want to support your local community, if you want to hear something out of the ordinary, or the possibility of seeing tomorrow’s headliners today, then why not give the gift of live music this December 25th? It’ll probably cost you less than a tenner, and it might just be the best night of your life. Tickets for IVW shows are the perfect affordable Christmas present.”
Supported by Arts Council England, BBC Radio 6 Music, See Tickets, Creative Scotland, Creative Wales, Mercury Prize, The BRIT Trust and PPL, more than one million tickets have been sold for IVW events since 2014.
Earlier this year, IVW launched a new initiative called Independent Venue Community. This encourages venue owners to open their doors during daytime hours and provide programming targeted at under-served audiences.
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