Due to phenomenal demand, Frank Carter with Paul Cook, Glen Matlock and Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols have added a third date for their Fundraiser for Bush Hall gigs in West London on Thursday 15 August, with two shows on Tuesday 13 August and Wednesday 14 August selling out in minutes.
Members of one of the most influential rock bands of all time, will be joined by the electric frontman Frank Carter at Bush Hall to perform the Sex Pistols’ iconic 1977 album “Never Mind The Bollocks” in full. Funds raised from these unmissable gigs will go directly towards preserving this revered independent London venue. Tickets for the third and final show go on sale this Friday 7 June.
Supporting Bush Hall, a cornerstone of the music scene, is a cause close to the hearts of all the artists. Both Paul Cook and Steve Jones grew up around the venue, attending as punters themselves, while Frank Carter performed at Bush Hall back in 2012 for his debut live show with his former group, Pure Love. Lifelong Sex Pistols fan Frank Carter first met Steve Jones in 2008 during an interview on Steve’s radio show, and later met the rest of the band through mutual friends. They soon bonded over their shared love or live music and decided to perform together to help preserve the iconic London venue.
The shows will raise funds for Bush Hall, a beloved grassroots venue in the heart of West London. It’s more important than ever to protect grassroots venues and support this vital area of the music industry – since the pandemic, sustaining live music continues to be incredibly challenging. In 2023, Bush Hall saw a 24.5% decrease in live music bookings.
Money raised from ticket sales will help secure Bush Hall’s musical future, allowing the venue team to focus on bettering in-house facilities, and supporting emerging artists through reigniting their Bush Hall Presents’ programming.
Bush Hall’s historic breakthrough came with REM gracing the stage in 2002 – Amy Winehouse followed, with the likes of Florence & The Machine, Toots & the Maytals, Adele, The Killers, Michael Kiwanuka, Alicia Keys, Paul Weller, Nick Cave, Bombay Bicycle Club and many more. Bush Hall showcases not only artists who are starting out, but those already established, as well as introducing international bands to the UK market – with Kings of Leon famously performing their first UK gig at Bush Hall in 2006.
Tickets go on sale HERE
About Bush Hall
Originally built in 1904 as a dance hall, Bush Hall has enjoyed lives as a soup kitchen in WWII, a bingo hall, rehearsal space for the likes of The Who & Cliff Richard and finally a snooker/social club in the 80s and 90s… In 2001 it was restored to its intended, musical purpose, by current owners Charlie Raworth and Emma Hutchinson.
Based in the vibrant heart of West London, Bush Hall is a fully independent, grassroots music & events venue having hosted some of the biggest names in music & comedy over the past 23 years. Running a Grassroots venue in the UK right now is harder than ever, GMVs are currently closing at a rate of two per week (MVT 2023 annual report), 0.5% profits across the sector and 38% of remaining venues reporting a loss of earnings.
Despite tireless efforts, at the beginning of this year, Bush Hall’s live music was in danger of being next on an increasing list of venues. Due to rising costs, devastatingly low margins and lack of profitability we had to launch a crowdfunder campaign earlier in the year to ‘Save the music at Bush Hall and were amazed at the response. These essential funds took the immediate threat/pressure off and have enabled us to continue music programming and gig schedules for the year.
However, the work to sustain our live music is very much an on-going and an evolving process… we are still much in need of support for our long term objectives. We have restructured the business and our core team, and are working really positively on best practice, strategies and marketing to get the music gigs and all other events back on track.
We are working closely with artists, agents and promoters, along with MVT, to not only highlight the plight of Bush Hall, but the entire grassroots scene and to deliver some extremely exciting shows and events that will feed into a sustainable music programme for the future. Any further funding and donations we receive will be put directly towards creating a full and diverse music programme at Bush Hall.
