Solely The Poets will turn into the primary band to ever cost £1 for tickets for a gig at London’s O2 Academy Brixton in February.
The Studying four-piece will play the venue on February 2, 2026, simply days after the discharge of their debut album ‘And I’d Do It Once more’ on January 30 – pre-order/pre-save it right here.
To rejoice, they’ll play the Brixton Academy and cost followers the identical value that they charged for his or her first ever gig seven years in the past, in an effort to make the present as accessible as potential.
As a part of a collaboration with LIVE Belief, the initiative representing the UK’s dwell music and leisure sector, an extra £1 from each ticket bought shall be donated to assist shield grassroots dwell music within the UK.
Tickets go on pre-sale on Thursday (September 11), whereas the final on sale begins at 10am on Friday (September 12). You will get yours right here.
Explaining the pondering behind the choice, frontman Tommy Longhurst has stated: “We charged £1 for our first ever gig – again then we solely had a few songs, so something extra felt like an excessive amount of for us. We wouldn’t have been in a position to see half the gigs we went to if ticket costs have been what they’re now, so we needed to guarantee that this present was open to everybody.”
Guitarist Clem Cherry added: “Our followers know our exhibits are a protected house. That is about ensuring anyone can come and have an incredible evening in an iconic venue. It’s additionally a thanks to everybody who’s supported us thus far.”
Jon Collins, CEO of LIVE Belief, has stated: “It is a great, optimistic transfer by Solely the Poets, giving again to the grassroots whereas giving again to their followers. Making this present accessible to all means everybody can benefit from the related psychological well being, communal and emotional advantages.”
“Funds raised for the LIVE Belief will go on to assist artists, venues, promoters, festivals and extra throughout the UK grassroots. A younger band like Solely the Poets stepping up whereas artists like Biffy Clyro and My Chemical Romance again the Belief at their enviornment and stadia exhibits is additional proof of the rising ranges of assist for the LIVE Belief throughout all components of the dwell music scene.”
A £1 ticket levy marketing campaign was launched by the Music Venue Belief in response to the information that 2023 had proved to be “disastrous” and the worst 12 months on report with 125 grassroots music venues shutting their doorways – a charge of two per week. The coverage includes £1 from each ticket bought at an enviornment present or bigger being put again into small venues.
Requires the levy, which is analogous to the one seen in soccer’s Premier League and is already in use in a number of nations throughout Europe, first surfaced in Might 2024 earlier than the authorities agreed to again it in November that 12 months.
Again in January, it was additionally reported that 70.6 per cent of impartial UK acts had by no means toured, whereas 84 per cent of unsigned artists merely can’t afford to, and lots of earn lower than the minimal wage. In Might, Wolf Alice’s Joff Oddie warned of music changing into “a center and higher class sport”.
Talking in regards to the levy, Prime Minister Keir Starmer lately instructed NME: “I’m very supportive of this initiative, the £1 levy going again into grassroots [venues], as a result of a lot of our music is grassroots.
He acknowledged that smaller, impartial institutions are “the place lots of people entry their music”, including: “It’s clearly the place a number of musicians begin off, and due to this fact I’m massively supportive of it. I’d wish to see it expanded much more, however I need to assist it in any method we are able to.”
Sam Fender, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Mumford & Sons are among the many artists to undertake the £1 levy initiative, and it was lately reported that over £100,000 had been raised from Fender’s current tour.
