We've teamed up with Vauxhall's Vivaro on Tour campaign to curate a 30-song playlist guide to the 5th anniversary celebrations of Independent Venue Week.

What is Independent Venue Week?

Independent Venue Week is a 7-day celebration of small music venues around the UK and a nod to the people that own, run and work in them, week in, week out. This year is the 5th year it's taken place, and it happens from Mon 29th Jan – Sun 4th Feb 2018

These venues give artists their first experience of playing live in front of an audience and for fans, somewhere to get up close to artists that one day, may well be playing stadiums and festival main stages.

Supported using public funding by Arts Council England, Independent Venue Week brings together these venues along with breaking and established artists, promoters, labels, media, bloggers and tastemakers to create a nationwide series of gigs at the end of January.

These venues are the backbone of the live music scene in this country and Independent Venue Week wants to recognize all that they have done to create some of the most memorable nights of the past so they can continue to do the same in the future. For more info visit independentvenueweek.com.

Who's playing at IVW18?

There are over 190 venues taking part, so as you can imagine there 100s if not 1000s of acts playing, and looking at the listings for the entire country can be a bit overwhelming. However, there are loads of DiS' favourite acts playing including Ezra Furman, IDLES (performing live on 6 music from Liverpool), Honeyblood, Peter Broderick, Frank Turner, James Yorkston, King Creosote, Eugene Kelly (from The Vaselines), plus terrific new bands Sorry (who recently signed to Domino) and False Advertising, alongside this year's IVW ambassadors Adrian Utley from Portishead and the fantastic Nadine Shah (pictured above). Listen to 30 acts on our Spotify playlist or listen via Apple Music here.

Tracklisting

Nadine Shah - Evil Spring King - Who Are You?
Honeyblood - Sea Hearts
T'Pau - China In Your Hand - Single Version Ezra Furman - Suck the Blood from My Wound
Dead! - The Golden Age Of Not Even Trying
INHEAVEN - Vultures
Trudy and the Romance - Is There a Place I Can Go
Sorry - Lies
James Yorkston- Woozy With Cider - Jon Hopkins remix
King Creosote - Bluebell, Cockleshell, 123
Peter Broderick - Unsung Heroes
A. Savage - Wild, Wild, Wild Horses
The Vaselines - Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam
Fizzy Blood - January Sun
False Advertising - Not My Fault
Skinny Girl Diet - Okay
Anteros - Breakfast
Katrina & The Waves - Walking On Sunshine (with Soweto Gospel Choir)
Man & The Echo - Distance Runner
Sivu - Wonder in Me
Frank Turner - The Ballad Of Me And My Friends - Songbook Version
Withered Hand - No Cigarettes
Cabbage - Arms of Pleonexia
IDLES - Well Done
LIFE - Earthworm
Asylums - Joy In A Small Wage
Starsailor - Alcoholic
The Slow Readers Club - I Saw a Ghost
Adrian Utley’s Guitar Orchestra - In C

Subscribe to our Spotify playlist or Apple Music playlist.

What is Vivaro on Tour?

Vauxhall Motors’ Vivaro on Tour campaign continues to support Independent Venue Week in its 5th year anniversary. The Vivaro On Tour campaign offers up-and-coming British artists free use of a Brit-built Vivaro throughout the year, as they tour throughout the country. If you’re a band that’s in need of a van to take on tour, the Luton-built Vivaro is up for grabs.

Go to vauxhall.co.uk/VivaroOnTour or contact vivaroontour@vauxhall.co.uk for further information.

From the Archive: Browse our 2017 Indpendent Venue Week mini-site.