When legendary saxophonist Sonny Rollins was interviewed by Mojo last year he spoke of jazz's lack of mainstream success. "I'm glad it's not popular" he declared, saying that a world of "ignorance, killing, hatred, bombing" doesn't deserve jazz - "jazz has nothing to do with this world. Jazz is bigger than the Earth". It's a... Continue Reading →
Musicians Against Homelessness: Steve Diggle of Buzzcocks Interviewed
As we gear up for another series of Musicians Against Homelessness gigs this September, we talk to one of the bands supporting the campaign - and a true legend; Steve Diggle of Buzzcocks... Last year marked the 40th anniversary of Buzzcocks, and you celebrated with a world tour. Can you pick out a highlight or two... Continue Reading →
A Brief History of The UK Music Festival
It’s that time of year that people refer to as ‘festival season’, but with so many festivals on offer all year round, there’s a case to be made that every season is festival season. We’re spoilt for choice in the UK, with city festivals, seaside festivals, all-dayers, multi-venue, multi-genre, family friendly and family unfriendly events... Continue Reading →
We Are The (Customer Service) Champions
We'll let you guys worry about who deserves to top the album of the year lists, or whether England have any chance at the World Cup, because the only trophy we care about is the ticketing industry’s Outstanding Customer Service Award. And, if you’d been at the recent Society of Box Office Managers (SOBOM) Awards,... Continue Reading →
A ‘Springwatch’ for live music: Get involved with the UK Live Music Census
As event organisers you don't need us to preach about the cultural contribution made by live music every day across the UK. Just this week I saw The Moonlandingz at The Bullingdon in Oxford, and it was totally unforgettable. But how do we quantify the value of this? And what of live music's economic contribution?... Continue Reading →
The WeGotTickets Musical Comedy Awards: An Interview with founder Ed Chappel
Ed Chappel, founder of the Musical Comedy Awards, has been pitting the very best talent in musical comedy against each other for the last nine years now as acts battle it out for the MCA crown. We're proud to have sponsored the event for the last three years, and in that time have been treated... Continue Reading →
6 Of The Best: Our Favourite Independent Music Venues
Where would we be without our independent music venues? It doesn’t bear thinking about, and each week we seem to read about another one threatened with closure. Thankfully though, we are still blessed with some incredible music venues, each dedicated to bringing us the best new live music experiences. They take a gamble on upcoming... Continue Reading →