The UK’s music scene is very diverse and plentiful. It is certainly in a league of its own with famous venues and festivals like Glastonbury, Download, Isle of White, the 02 Arenas, Wembley (Arena and Stadium), and well, all of Camden. Spreading across all of the UK you’ll be hard-pressed to not find a great venue. One of those great venues is Nottingham’s famous Rock City. Rock City has had a long laundry list of famous acts and artists perform there and this year marks its 40th birthday.
A regular band who gigs there, New Modal Army, has a soft spot for the venue as it’s very special to them. Justin Sullivan, the lead singer, had this to say “For groups like us, it feels like home,[It’s] still independent from the meddling hands of big corporate rock. You can feel the history and all the countless great bands that have played there,”. This venue is so special for the band; Sullivan added that it is “one of the last of its kind”.
Nirvana, Madness, Def Leppard, David Bowie, Public Enemy, The Ramones, Guns N’ Roses, Pulp, The Cure, Rage Against the Machine, and Manic Street Preachers, to name just a few. Many more have made their marks performed on the stage of Rock City. “The roll-call of loud and intimate gigs that have taken place within Rock City’s blackened walls contains some of music’s biggest names.”. If life was normal the famous venue would hold a special celebration, however, due to Covid, the party is on hold.
Due to the country being in the government’s three-tier system and Nottingham being in the highest tier possible (tier three) all venues and social gatherings are prohibited and the host of any events can be fined up to £10,000 for breaching the lockdown restrictions. So instead of hosting a big celebration and event for its 40th birthday, Rock City instead is sharing their favorite moments and memories with its patrons online “with hundreds of fans paying tribute on social media.”. If you take the time to look at these posts you can see why Rock City is such a beloved venue.
40 years ago today that The Undertones opened @Rock_City_Notts #Nottingham what a night. Picture was taken that very evening. pic.twitter.com/V8pzCFiMCU
— Feargal Sharkey (@Feargal_Sharkey) December 11, 2020
Love for the venue is so immense that in 2019 it even won the Live Music Business award. Over the course of the pandemic, Rock City tried to adapt and change to still allow fans to enjoy shows “It has organised ticketed indoor “Sitdown Sessions” and created a large beer garden outside. It also ran live shows in a city park in August.”. However, after the announcement of the second lockdown and Nottingmahs Their three positioning the historic venue has had to close its doors as it considers the safety of gig-goers as a top priority.
Much like Glastonbury, which had to miss its 50th birthday this year, we hope that Rock City will be able to host a delayed birthday celebration next year the pandemic slows and the vaccine rolls out and we can start enjoying a more normal year.
