When the Guardian’s Helen Pidd told a young interviewee in Morecambe recently that Blur had once played there, the reaction was incredulity: “No way. They came to Morecambe? Wow, imagine that.” The town’s seafront Dome venue closed 15 years ago. But this is not the only reason why the Lancashire town has dropped off touring schedules. A trend that sees live music increasingly concentrated in big cities means that it has become less accessible to musicians and audiences who don’t live in them.
A combination of factors, including the pandemic, rising energy costs and disputes over noise, has left many smaller, independently owned venues struggling – or even forced to close. In 2023, a net total of 125 across the UK were lost. Festivals, with their temporary stages and pop-up campsites, have also become sparser. Between 2019 and 2024, 161 shut up shop.
