Sam Ryder and Bloc Party join music tour in support of the grassroots music industry

The National Lottery and leading UK charity Music Venue Trust have announced even more artists for the United By Music Tour, with Sam Ryder and Bloc Party joining the line-up for special, one-off shows.

The United By Music Tour is bringing 150 gigs to 130 Grassroots Music Venues across the country. Sam Ryder will be performing at Chinnerys in Southend on 8th September, while Bloc Party will be playing at The Hairy Dog in Derby on 20th July.

Kicking off today with Amber Run’s first tour date at Epic in Norwich, the tour will see a diverse range of up and coming and established headline artists perform in music venues across the UK. Sam Ryder, Bloc Party, Blossoms, Metronomy and Cat Burns will be playing one-off shows to highlight the importance of grassroots music venues.

Speaking about taking part in the tour, Sam Ryder said: “These are the venues where myself and so many of my pals started at and still play. They are crucial for young artists getting into the music industry to be able to experiment across the entire spectrum of musical genres, and to go out and cut their teeth in front of real-life people and create connections that live in the physical world.”

National tours will feature more than 20 artists including Ed Harcourt, 86TVs, Amber Run, Hamish Hawk, Lily Moore, Newton Faulkner, Noah & The Loners, Witch Fever and more, with all tickets available on a 2-for-1 basis to National Lottery players as a thank you for their support.

Bloc Party will play a special show at The Hairy Dog in Derby on 20th July. On the performance, Kele Okereke said: “Bloc Party played so many small venues in our formative years they’re so important to help new and young artists develop their set and build a fanbase.

“It’s a real treat to be able play a sweaty little room again after the arenas we’ve spent the past few months in, and we’ve heard The Hairy Dog is a really important part of the community in Derby, so we can’t wait to be there.”

The initiative was launched with a special free concert for 15,000 people in the Eurovision Village on 10th May and follows the successful delivery of the Liverpool leg of the National Lottery’s United By Music Tour that saw iconic local artists such as Lightning Seeds, The Coral and Miles Kane playing local venues in support of the live music sector.

This tour takes The National Lottery’s contribution to grassroots venues through the United By Music Tour to £1.5m and comes at a crucial time when many venues are still suffering the fallout from the pandemic and the impact of the cost of living crisis.

The funds committed underwrite the costs of bands’ performance and touring costs ensuring venues get artists at no cost to them and is the single largest legacy initiative announced for Eurovision 2023 to date.

As well as supporting local venues The National Lottery and Music Venue Trust have launched the tour to extend the celebration of Liverpool’s historic hosting of Eurovision across the breadth of the country. In addition, it will celebrate and recognise all 17 UK towns and cities that initially bid to host Eurovision with an event in each of them.

By Mark Adair – Correspondent, Bdaily

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