Keeping Music Live: WaterBear and Music Venue Trust bring grassroots music campaign to Nottingham
WaterBear the College of Music, in collaboration with the Music Venue Trust (MVT), has announced that its Keeping Music Live tour will stop in Nottingham this October as part of a national campaign supporting grassroots music venues.
The live gig will take place on Weds 29 October at Rough Trade in Hockley from 7-11pm featuring Airport Dad with support from Sundress, is this ok and Luna And The Lime Slices. Tickets are just £1, with all proceeds going directly to MVT, the national charity which acts to protect, secure, and improve the UK’s Grassroots Music Venues.
According to MVT’s 2024 Annual Report, 125 grassroots venues closed in the previous year, making it the worst year on record, with an average of two closures per week, posing a great threat to the survival of the UK live music industry. These spaces are being lost to rising costs, noise complaints, development pressure and a lack of industry support.
To combat the closures and champion local talent, WaterBear has launched its inaugural ‘Keeping Music Live’ campaign: a national tour running from October 18 to November 1, 2025 with live gigs at some of the UK’s most beloved grassroots venues in Nottingham, Manchester, London and more cities, supported by MVT, Love Music Hate Racism and Save Our Scene.
Rough Trade Nottingham opened in 2014 and was the first Rough Trade store outside of London. Since its inception, the venue has become a cornerstone of Nottingham’s independent music scene, hosting in-store performances, Record Store Day events, and fostering emerging talent from the region. The venue embodies Rough Trade and WaterBear’s ethos of supporting independent music, providing a space for both music fans and artists to connect within a vibrant, community-focused environment.
WaterBear act Airport Dad, local to Nottingham and fresh from appearances at The Great Escape and Dot to Dot festivals will headline the Nottingham date. Supporting them will be other WaterBear bands Sundress and is this ok as well as local band Luna And The Lime Slices, giving emerging regional artists a spotlight on a tour with national visibility.
Greg Archer, Careers and Industry Manager, WaterBear Sheffield, says: “If venues disappear, so do the opportunities for bands, crew, the whole circuit. This is our ecosystem too - we’ve been working with local venues for years—putting on shows, helping them stay open, and giving students a proper understanding of what the industry really looks like. We’re proud to continue that with so many industry partnerships and support for emerging artists on the ‘Keeping Music Live tour.”
A proportion of tickets will be distributed by Tickets For Good, reaching NHS staff, teachers, charity workers, volunteers, and individuals affected by the cost of living crisis. Its platform ensures that access to live music isn’t limited by income or circumstance, supporting WaterBear’s mission to embed music education within the real-life, real-world infrastructure of the UK scene. Additionally, Fightback Lager will be sold on the night, supporting the tour with donations from each pint sold going to MVT.
Airport Dad have benefitted massively from the industry support from WaterBear, earning BBC Radio 1 airplay alongside appearances in festivals all over the UK, becoming a rising star in the UK alt scene. Sundress, the indie-pop band from Sheffield found immense success with their debut single reaching over 150,000 streams on Spotify this summer.
Brad Widdowson, part of Sundress and a WaterBear student, said: “We’re playing festivals next year, but without smaller venues we’d never have been ready. You learn by doing. You make mistakes. You grow. You can’t skip that part.”
WaterBear’s relationship with grassroots venues runs year-round. In Sheffield and Brighton, students perform midweek shows at local venues to help build footfall and offer support during quieter trading periods. The college supports these events financially by covering entry costs and, where possible, bar spend—making sure the venues benefit from both audiences and income. This model is central to WaterBear’s belief that education must be mutual, relevant and rooted in the real world.
Bruce John Dickinson, WaterBear Co-founder, adds: “These venues aren’t just buildings—they’re launchpads. Go to the gig. Buy a ticket. Stand at the front. These places are everything for emerging artists, playing gigs, learning to handle a crowd, and making your name.”
For more information on the Keeping Music Live tour and tickets, click here.