Features
A fresher’s guide to the Lincoln music scene
August 5, 2014
A fresher’s guide to the Lincoln music scene
Welcome to Lincoln, 2014 freshers! It might come as a surprise to you but the city of Lincoln is a hot bed of musical talent. It might not have the prestige of London or Manchester but it has its fair share of gigs, open mic nights, acoustic shows and a number of people bringing touring bands to town. If you’re fed up of night clubs, play an instrument or fancy yourself as a would-be promoter then use this article as a guide and come get involved!
Venues
Unless you’re planning on making enemies with your neighbours here’s a few places that you could consider putting on your mates hardcore band or just heading down to – to see some live music.
The Engine Shed
By far the biggest music venue in Lincoln, The Engine Shed is affiliated to Lincoln University and a well established haunt for ‘gown-ies’ and ‘townies’ alike. The Engine Shed has plenty of comedy, club nights and live music. Last year saw The Darkness, You Me At Six, Parma Violets, Blitz Kids, Pure Love and even the mighty hair metal quartet, Steel Panther.
If you dig pop punk, metal, rock and hardcore then make sure you check out MUTINY on Tuesday of freshers week upstairs at The Platform.
The Scene
Tucked beside the council offices and Park Court student halls, The Scene is a regular pit stop for bands on the UK touring circuit. Attractive rates and friendly punters make the venue a favourite with local promoters and if the music upstairs doesn’t tickle your fancy you can always enjoy a bit of cheesy pop down below.
Jolly Brewer
Renowned as one of the friendliest pubs in Lincoln, the Jolly Brewer has a lovely beer garden, a range of craft beers and has live music on throughout the year making it a favourite with music lovers of all ages.
Liquor
Once upon a time – The Falcon was one of the busiest alternative hang out’s in the city, with bands travelling from all over to play for the shaggy haired locals. Eventually, the place was sold and until recently hasn’t had much in the way of live music. However, promoters have started to use the upstairs room ‘Liquor’ for shows. In fact you can catch DUCKING PUNCHES there on Saturday 9th August.
The Tap & Spile
Perched on the corner of Hungate, the Tap & Spile is another venue with regular live bands. Everything from reggae to rockabilly, blues and soul. Great little boozer with a nice atmosphere.
Promoters
Now to the lovely people who bring you the shows, these DIY collectives hire out the venues, book the bands and promote shows. We’re sure there’s more hidden out there but here’s a few to get you started…
Velvet Fuzz
New kids on the block – Velvet Fuzz – are another set of promoters who use The Scene for their shows. Dealing in indie rock and ‘psychedelic’ bands, Velvet Fuzz have two shows booked for you to check out once you arrive in Lincoln.
Mountain of Records
Having recently branched out to Nottingham, Mountain of Records deal in everything from alt rock, math rock, post rock, grunge and electro to more ambient and acoustic genres of music. Find out more here.
Crash Doubt
We’ve been putting on shows since 2005 bringing bands like The Skints, Pure Love, Lower Than Atlantis and Deaf Havana to come and play for Lincolnites. Deailing primarily in punk and hardcore, we also put on a festival in 2011 and 2012 which should make a return in the not to distance future. Find out more here.
Bands
Now to the interesting part, but first let us say, this is by no-means an exhaustive list of bands in Lincoln, there are literally hundreds, it’s just a small selection of some of our favourites and mostly bands that are playing regular shows and touring outside of our little city.
The Activators
Genre: punk/ska
Archetype
Genre: Hardcore/metal
Bad Ideas
Genre: indie/alt/punk
Bruce-Tality
Genre: punk
Borders
Genre: tech/metal
Climates
Genre: Hardcore
Daniel Dobbs
Genre: Indie rock
For All The Wrong Reasons
Knock Out Kaine
Genre: Rock/hard rock
Lock Up Laura
Genre: Rock
Martyr Defiled
Genre: Metal/Hardcore
Molly and Jack
Genre: Folk/Reggae/Acoustic
Moonn
Genre: indie/psych
Riviera
Genre: hardcore/alternative
Tiger Warsaw
Genre: post-rock/hardcore/ambient
They Say Fall
Genre: rock/post-rock
Universal Law
Genre: rap/funk/rock
Wisecrack
Genre: punk rock
Practice rooms
Now all of these bands need somewhere to practice and there’s a couple of places in Lincoln that have cheap hire rates for rehearsal, gear hire, etc and staff who can also be hired to do sound at your gigs should you decide to put one on (please do!)
Playing Aloud – Hykeham industrial estate off Station Road
Club nights:
If the v-necks and fake tan of Home isn’t really your thing then there is a selection of solid club nights in Lincoln that you can take your friends to and enjoy some good music.
Back to Mono
Mutiny!
Above/Below
Holy Funk
Sugarcubes
Thanks, we hope you enjoyed this guide and that we see you at a show soon! Don’t forget to check out our FREE compilation of Lincolnshire’s punk, metal and hardcore bands below:
Tosh
You forgot Lock Up Laura! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=e8L2p9_nvHo