The shortlist in NME's search to find Britain's Best Small Venue in association with JD Roots has been revealed.
Thousands of votes were cast for hundreds of venues across the country and now, the list has been filtered down to just eight. The shortlist is now set to be put to a panel of judges and the winner will be revealed on May the 8th.
This year, the panel of judges include Frank Turner, Geoff Ellis (T In The Park and the King Tuts Wah Wah Hut promoter), Reading And Leeds Festivals organiser, Melvin Benn, Jo Dipple (head of UK Music), Radio 1's Huw Stephens and NME's own Krissi Murison, Mike Williams and Luke Lewis. Our local venue, The Tunbridge Wells Forum, is pictured above.
The shortlist for Britain's Best Small Venue is as follows:
- South East: Tunbridge Wells Forum
- South West: Bristol Thekla
- Wales: Bridgend Hobos
- Midlands: Stoke Sugarmill
- London: 100 Club
- East Anglia: Norwich Arts Centre
- North East: Leeds Brudenell Social Club
- North West: Hebden Bridge Trades Club
- Scotland: Cabaret Voltaire in Edinburgh
- Northern Ireland: Belfast Limelight
NME's partnership with J.D. Roots will also include a series of three shows across the UK, focusing on bringing back alternative music acts back to their hometowns for one-off gigs during May.
Acts performing on the bill include The Cribs, The Horrors and Twin Atlantic. The first of the shows kicks off tomorrow (May 3rd) with Twin Atlantic playing at King Tuts Wah Wah in Glasgow. The Horrors will follow on May the 9th at Southend's Chinnerys venue, finishing off with The Cribs performing at Wakefield's Theatre Royal venue on May the 16th.