Where should I go see a concert in the UK?

July 1, 2023 3:40 PM

One of my favourite bands will be performing in an assortment of small towns/cities in the UK in November and December. I want to go but don't really know any of the places or how to get there.

British folk rock legends Steeleye Span are playing a few concerts around the UK in November and December. I want to attend one of them (since there probably won't be many more!) but as a foreign fan I haven't really heard of most of those locations listed. Where should I go?

I live in Iceland so would be flying from there. The easiest/cheapest flights for me to get are to the various London airports and also Manchester and Edinburgh. Beyond that I have no idea how to get to any of those places listed - or what would be easiest and make most sense.

Ideally I'd want to stay 2-3 nights before/after the concert so it would be nice if the town had something to see or do, at least have a walk around and a nice pub. I'd vastly prefer November and early December, otherwise the London gig would probably be easiest.

I also don't want to plan a trip around something that might be a terrible concert venue. What should I do?

posted by Bektashi to Travel & Transportation (21 answers total)

What a curious selection of locations!

Those are mostly large towns/small cities. I don’t know any of the specific venues, but in terms of being relatively easy to get to from London and having some stuff to do, I’d say go for Bristol or Brighton. Both have direct train connections from London.

Bristol’s an interesting city with quite a bit of culture and history and stuff for tourists to do. Brighton’s a coastal town, obvs out of season in November, and British seaside towns can be a bit grim out of season - but it’s also uber-hipstery, so good for cafes and bars. There’s a nice little area of old lanes with shops you can wander around, the Royal Pavilion to visit if you want a tourist attraction.
posted by penguin pie at 3:52 PM on July 1, 2023

I too would suggest Brighton. If you fly to London Gatwick you can get a train from the airport direct to Brighton in 36 minutes.
posted by boudicca at 3:55 PM on July 1, 2023

Cardiff might be a good option! There is a very good regional airport there that is not difficult to get to and from the city center. Plus, there is a train station that connects to the rest of the east-west route all the way to London.
posted by tafetta, darling! at 4:05 PM on July 1, 2023

If you're visiting for one gig, why not a handful that are near each other?

Buxton has a Victorian hot-springs spa and on a train line from Manchester, it is in a national park called the Peak District with great beauty and good walks. It might pair with Lutham St Annes, which is near Blackpool north-east of Manchester, and Ilkley in Yorkshire, and Crewe which is a short train ride from Manchester and has a railway museum.

Brighton & Hove is on the south coast, an hour from London and near London Gatwick airport. Also buy Portsmouth, Eastbourne, Tunbridge Wells and Redhill, they're close together in the south.

The there's also Cardiff, easy to fly to and a great capital city adjacent to South Wales' mountainous walking country.

Bury St Edmunds has the ruins of a monastery and has a central citadel laid out on a defensible grid pattern, and is 40 minutes on the train from historic cities of Cambridge and Ely.
posted by k3ninho at 4:15 PM on July 1, 2023

I would look at the venues themselves and see if they fit your idea of the kind of place you’d like to see the band in. The London venue, Cadogan Hall, holds nearly 1000 people, but the venue in Brighton and Hove, The Old Market is much smaller, holding only 300 seated and 500 standing.
posted by mdonley at 4:29 PM on July 1, 2023

Agreed with recommending Brighton, among others. But my top pick would actually be Buxton.

Buxton Opera House is a beautiful 19th century jewel of a theatre and will be a lovely setting to hear this band. As noted above, Buxton is a historic spa town and will be full of tea rooms and scenic little streets. The surrounding Peak District scenery will be beautiful (if cold). There will be pubs with comfort food and roaring fires. Chatsworth House is worth a visit if it's open.

Or do Ilkley, and visit Harrogate and York, perhaps stopping by the petrifying well in Knaresborough.

Frome (pronounced Froom) is a great little town in Somerset, and nearby Bath is also worth seeing.

Or: go see the gig in Stroud (another scenic and pleasant small town). The next day, go to Berkeley and see the castle where Edward II was murdered. Spend the night in Bristol and then on to Bath. From Bath, take a day trip to see the stone circle at Avebury. Another night in Bath, then go see Wookey Hole and spend the night in Wells. See Wells Cathedral and then travel to Glastonbury, climb the Tor and spend a day or two. From there, go over to Frome and see the gig there. Voilà, the historic/Austenian/pagan tour of the mid-southwest.
posted by Pallas Athena at 4:53 PM on July 1, 2023

FYI I did something similar for a favorite band that was reuniting for a tour, and I traveled around the region for three shows (two in one city, one in another) and it was perfect, for me.
posted by intermod at 5:04 PM on July 1, 2023

The only thing I would say regarding plans is that November/December weather is of the windy and wet type. It will be cold-uncomfortable, not cold-freezing. Layers (British weather is very inconsistent) and a wind proof raincoat are advisable.

Also based on time of year, I'd probably avoid Hunstanton and Great Yarmouth - both seaside summer tourist destinations, and likely to not have much going on in the off season. They're also small and not super well connected for travel.
posted by How much is that froggie in the window at 5:09 PM on July 1, 2023

Gatwick Airport is *very* near Redhill. For your other days go to London or Brighton.

None of those dates are conveniently close to Manchester, and none at all are in Scotland.
posted by genghis at 5:46 PM on July 1, 2023

look up the venue websites too. that 300 capacity house is my kinda intimate gig. you can likely get capacities and inside photos.
posted by j_curiouser at 6:28 PM on July 1, 2023

I think the "look up the venue" approach is right. You want to see the Span in a hall that looks like Anne Boleyn saw a band there once, you know?
posted by potrzebie at 7:58 PM on July 1, 2023

Other point of note about Redhill is it’s only a 30m train ride to central London.

That said, I do like the idea of picking based on what you want from a venue or multiple gigs on the trip.

Have fun!
posted by jonrob at 11:59 PM on July 1, 2023

Yes, venues definitely trump towns as your best way of deciding this. They'll all have websites so it's easy enough to get a feel for them.

I've followed a couple of favourite artists round smaller UK venues like the ones listed here - four Tom Russell gigs and four Rhiannon Giddens ones - and can thoroughly recommend it. The towns are generally pretty close together, with no more than an hour or so's rail journey between them, the shows can often vary a good deal from night to night (different set lists, local guests etc) and you get the fun of exploring a new town every day.

Buxton Opera House sounds like one of your best options to me. One word of warning, though: the further north you go in the UK, the colder and wetter the November/December weather is likely to be.
posted by Paul Slade at 12:02 AM on July 2, 2023

Crewe is close enough to Manchester (even more so to the airport), but it's not really a place to visit, unless you really like trains.

The Warwick venue is actually the university Arts centre (and actually in Coventry...), And it's a nice venue, but you could stay in Leamington Spa, which is pretty and easily reachable from Birmingham airport. You'd be able to explore Birmingham, have a day-trip to Oxford, or Stratford upon Avon (Shakespeare stuff), Warwick castle (actually in Warwick...) and explore some Cotswolds villages while you're there
posted by gregjones at 12:57 AM on July 2, 2023

I'm going to buck the trend and vote Crewe. It's the centre of the UK's rail network and a good 50%+ of trains in the country go through the station there, so you can reach it regardless of whether you fly to London, Birmingham or Manchester. Also, if cost is a factor - literally no one goes on holiday to Crewe so hotel rooms will be really cheap.

This is especially important because there are lots of strikes right now and their effect on train availability is unpredictable. You'll be able to find at least one train going through Crewe unaffected by strikes, which is not the case for other small towns like Brighton*. My previous two journeys from Brighton to London was cancelled last minute (literally while I was on the platform!) due to a strike.

* Warwick has a lot of rail connections, too, as it's on the main north-south line. There's lots of touristy things you can do in the town and surrounding area as the previous poster mentioned. I would absolutely recommend it if you would like to experience a bit of the UK's culture as well as watching the band.
posted by wandering zinnia at 1:24 AM on July 2, 2023

Cam ye o'er frae Iceland? I'd do St George's Bristol [a 200 y.o. church]: there's one seat left front row central gallery.
posted by BobTheScientist at 1:34 AM on July 2, 2023

nth-ing the suggestion of flying to Gatwick and doing the Brighton and Redhill gigs. Redhill is very easy and cheap to get to from Gatwick and Brighton is easy to get to from Redhill. I don't know anything about the venues though.
posted by alby at 1:51 AM on July 2, 2023

Brighton is probably the best answer. It's a decent size, and by far the coolest location with enough to do for a couple of days even in November.

Birmingham is the biggest city, the Town Hall is a really lovely venue, and that time of year it'll have the German Christmas markets. You can take a train to Stratford-upon-Avon for Shakespearean stuff, or to Warwick castle. Or you can hang around in Birmingham, visit the art gallery, back-to-backs, jewellery quarter, canals, chocolate factory,...
posted by plonkee at 2:01 AM on July 2, 2023

I'd also recommend Brighton. Whilst Buxton is beautiful, Buxton in November can be brutal, and if you get a bad spell of weather you'll be stuck in your hotel room with nowhere to go. Brighton is a university town, so there's always plenty going on there, lots of interesting cafes, shops, things to do. It's also close enough to London that you can get there easily by train and have a day in the capital.
posted by essexjan at 4:42 AM on July 2, 2023

I've been to gigs at both the Warwick Arts Centre and Birmingham Town Hall - I preferred the Town Hall. It was refurbished, in part to improve the acoustics for live music, and reopened in 2007. It really is a lovely old building.
Mr MMDP saw Steeleye Span there not long after it was reopened in 2007; he thought the sound (not the band) was a bit off but we've seen some great stuff there since, and certainly acoustic / acapella gigs have been fantastic.
posted by Martha My Dear Prudence at 5:23 AM on July 2, 2023

I don't have anything to add in the way of recommendations for locations, but wanted to thank you for bringing the tour to my attention. I have now booked for the London date. I think I last saw the group in 1984!
posted by kelper at 8:35 AM on July 4, 2023