By Freya Hoare
When an artist has hit its peak in the 70s or 80s it is fair to assume that in the year of 2026 they aren’t performing to the capacity that they used to, unless you are The Rolling Stones. If you are The Rolling Stones, please retire.
But as a wind down on their careers, or to keep that train chugging along, many artists will slowly begin to turn their full production concerts into acoustic shows where they have someone interview them onstage beforehand and title it as an “Evening In Conversation With…”
An artist who has been doing this relentlessly for the past few years is former Sex Pistol and current Public Image Ltd frontman, John Lydon, has been touring his “I Could Be Wrong, I Could Be Right” show which also is mainly a Q&A session for several years.
Why bother?
With the longevity of John Lydon’s tour, it is easy to claim, “Just put out a book or something?” and in most cases it is artists promoting a book. Steve Cradock of Ocean Colour Scene fame has been doing this since March. Fittingly titled “Travellers Tunes,” Cradock has visited of course the bigger cities of the UK and Ireland but also smaller towns that make you wonder, why would you want to go there? I can legally say that as I am from Bridgwater, Somerset and went to the show there.
Paul Young, back in 2025, was promoting his book “Take a Piece of Me With You“. His agent contacted The Edge Arts Centre in Shropshire. Peter Neale, the manager of The Edge Arts Centre, has noted that “Many of them take the opportunity to stay locally and have a nice time. We look after them well, we pay on time and I suppose we’re a change from the usual circuit.”
Alexander’s is a 150-capacity venue in Chester. Owner Jamie Northrop said: “People realise that the smaller more intimate venues offer something that the customer wants. It’s all well and good to have huge shows with pyrotechnics, etc, but that isn’t always what it’s about.
“The smaller intimate shows and sessions are where people really learn who the artist is, and the meanings behind the songs people have grown up loving.”
The impact
As of 2026, so far, 30 grassroots venues have closed permanently throughout the UK. Hopefully more well-known musicians are realising that they can support the venues they first started playing in.
The Edge Arts Centre has seen a long term positive impact from the Paul Young show as the show sold out. In the aftermath of the show, the centre’s Manager Peter Neale said: “I get the impression that agents all know each other and make recommendations to one another, and we are now contacted by artists and agents every day offering big names and small. We are fully booked until Christmas 2027 and presently booking for April 2028”
He added: “Before Paul Young was announced we had 300 email subscribers and virtually no Facebook followers. Now we have 2,300 on email and 1,200 on Facebook, with 155 on Instagram.”
It is clear to see that with these notable names visiting these small towns, there is clearly a significant impact not only to the venue but the general area. Peter Neale said: “Big names raise awareness and therefore the smaller shows mostly sell well. We attract fans from further afield and local hotels are doing well.”
Hopefully, now that people are aware of these venues it will encourage them to keep returning year in, year out.
However, that isn’t the case for all venues. Alexander’s hasn’t reaped the same benefits that The Edge Arts Centre has. The cost of hosting these artists at a small venue isn’t cheap,. Jamie Northrop said: “Whilst we have been contacted by several artists with a view to playing here, the fee they are seeking is still not one we’re able to manage as a 140 capacity venue. Doing the math, we think we’d need to be a 250 cap or more venue and be able to guarantee a sell out in order to be able to progress any bookings. And the bigger the artist the higher that capacity has to be.”
Freya Hoare is joined by music journalists Izzy Hurcum and Leah Simons to discuss the influx of bigger artists beginning to do smaller shows in small towns.
