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A new music venue in Merseyside is set to open its doors later this year.
The Future Yard, which is located in Birkenhead, will open its doors in September at a time when live music venues across the UK are facing the toughest of financial challenges due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The 350-capacity venue is set to launch with a series of socially-distanced and digitally-streamed shows, ahead of welcoming audiences at full capacity once government guidelines allow – provisionally planned for early 2021.
The first show will come from Birkenhead’s very own She Drew The Gun, who will play to a socially distanced crowd on Saturday, September 19.
“We believe that Future Yard is needed now, more than ever before,” said Future Yard founder Craig Pennington.
“True, it is a challenging time, but we believe the experience of lockdown has shown how powerful a community can be and we want to provide a space for our local community to come together. We’ve also seen an explosion in live streaming and digital performance, which has been hugely welcome and is here to stay, but this does not replace live music.
“People who love live music have acutely realised how important it is to them, how much of a role it plays in their lives. We’re committed to creating a new venue to champion and support new music in Birkenhead.”
She Drew The Gun’s Louisa Roach said, “Now that I’ve seen the venue, I’m really excited about playing here. I really like what’s happening with the place: it’s great to have something like this on your doorstep. I can’t wait to be on the stage in Future Yard, and to have that interaction again. It’s a step in the right direction, until we can do things properly when we’re over this pandemic.”
A highly limited number of in-venue tickets will go on-sale Thursday 30th July at futureyard.org alongside the option to purchase a digital ticket.
The venue also harbours bold plans to become the UK’s first carbon neutral grassroots music venue, working in partnership with Liverpool John Moore University’s Low Carbon Eco-Innovatory.
The announcement comes after it was confirmed last week that the first portion of the government’s £1.57 billion fund to protect the UK’s arts and cultural industries will be used to save grassroots music venues from closing their doors.
In a statement, Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden confirmed that £2.25 million of emergency funding will be used to secure the futures of up to 150 venues across the country.
The support package will be administered by Arts Council England (ACE) and will specifically target venues identified by the Music Venue Trust to be at severe risk of closure.
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