Big Special tore through a sold-out set at Oslo Hackney on May 5, 2025, turning the venue into a full-blown pressure cooker

It’s 2025, and on any given night in Britain you might wander into a backroom pub or tiny club and catch the next big thing – if that venue is still open. Our grassroots music venues – those small, beloved stages where countless artists play their first gigs – are facing an unprecedented crisis.