St. Albans post-hardcore band Enter Shikari have launched a campaign to raise funds for a local venue in their home town. Music venue The Pioneer has been a centre for creativity for 82 years and the band are now looking to help it become a hub for touring acts once again.
Proud to announce our partnership with @thepioneerclub and @HeadlinerHub to try and make more things happen in St Albans, and bring more music to the local community.
We’re looking for your help. Head to https://t.co/HME5g5d9hS for more info on how to be involved.
X pic.twitter.com/9YSnjkKgkr— ENTER SHIKARI (@ENTERSHIKARI) August 16, 2023
Enter Shikari have firmly planted themselves as one of Britain’s most successful and influential bands over the past few years. The band’s latest studio effort, A Kiss For The Whole World, has even granted the group their first ever number one album and garnered both critical and popular praise. On the back of what has been considerable success, the band have also found themselves at the forefront of important issues facing society and the planet today.
Enter Shikari features notable lyrical content ranging from the political to climate change and has set them apart from their peers in many ways. The band are not just content to speak on social issues either, preferring to take action on what they believe in. Indeed, the band recorded A Kiss For The Whole World using only solar power.
Now, together with St. Albans based media platform Headliner Spacers, the band have now turned their attentions to local site The Pioneer-a venue that helped the band get their start on the music scene. The grassroots venue played a major role for the band upon their formation in the early 2000s, with Enter Shikari promoting many of their earliest performances at the venue. Bring Me The Horizon and Gallows can also count themselves as alumni of The Pioneer.
In addition to music, the venue also features the UK’s oldest indoor skate park. And Enter Shikari are raising funds to not only save The Pioneer but also to make it a premier venue for touring artists as well as a cultural and creative hub complete with rehearsal spaces and recording studio. Thus far, the band have raffled frontman Rou Reynold’s Kaoss Pad, Chris Batten’s bass guitar and guitarist Rory Clewlow’s Gibson SG in order to raise the required funds to take The Pioneer back to its lofty position within the scene.
Surviving multiple threats to its existence, @thepioneerclub in St Albans continues to survive thanks to vital funding from @ENTERSHIKARI. Headliner reviews the venue and @bluehouruk_‘s recent headline gig #livemusic #stalbans #livemusicvenue https://t.co/FbQOQJDapH
— Headliner (@HeadlinerHub) June 18, 2022
Headline Spacers has been leading the renovation of the venue with the platform overseeing the construction of the new studio and bar-a result of a partnership with Signature Brew. The platform will begin on the rehearsal space next as well as an education centre for aspiring musicians, crew members and technicians.
Enter Shikari have also released a new T-shirt with proceeds going to The Pioneer. The band have explained that each shirt that is sold will count as one entry to the raffle. Further information about the raffle and T-shirt sales can be found here.
