WaterBear the College of Music, in collaboration with the Music Venue Trust (MVT), has announced that its Keeping Music Live tour will kick off in Hull this October as part of a national campaign supporting grassroots music venues.
The all day live gig will take place on Saturday 18th October at The New Adelphi Club, beginning at 1pm featuring Maftin with support from Wench, Polite Bureaux and more. Tickets are just £1, with all proceeds going directly to MVT, the national charity which acts to protect, secure, and improve the UK’s Grassroots Music Venues.
According to MVT’s 2024 Annual Report, 125 grassroots venues closed in the previous year, making it the worst year on record, with an average of two closures per week, posing a great threat to the survival of the UK live music industry. These spaces are being lost to rising costs, noise complaints, development pressure and a lack of industry support.
To combat the closures and champion local talent, WaterBear has launched its inaugural ‘Keeping Music Live’ campaign: a national tour running from October 18 to November 1, 2025 with live gigs at some of the UK’s most beloved grassroots venues in Hull, Manchester, London and more cities, supported by MVT, Love Music Hate Racism and Save Our Scene.
The New Adelphi Club, established in 1984, is a cornerstone of Hull’s grassroots music scene. Originally a three-bedroom house built in 1888, the venue has hosted a remarkable array of artists, including Oasis, Radiohead, Green Day, Pulp, The Stone Roses, Supergrass, and Mumford & Sons. It remains a vital space for emerging artists and alternative music, perfectly aligned with the Keeping Music Live campaign’s mission.
The Hull date will be an all-day event and will serve as a warm-up for the rest of the national tour. Emerging local band Maftin will headline the date with support from WaterBear artists Good Damage and Mother’s Day from Sheffield, Polite Bureaux from Bradford and Hull’s rising stars such as, Rothco, Wench, and Emitter with more acts to be announced soon.
Greg Archer, Careers and Industry Manager, WaterBear Sheffield, said: “If venues disappear, so do the opportunities for bands, crew, the whole circuit. This is our ecosystem too – we’ve been working with local venues for years—putting on shows, helping them stay open, and giving students a proper understanding of what the industry really looks like. We’re proud to continue that with so many industry partnerships and support for emerging artists on the ‘Keeping Music Live tour.”
A proportion of tickets will be distributed by Tickets For Good, reaching NHS, staff, teachers, charity workers, volunteers and individuals affected by the cost of living crisis. Its platform ensures that access to live music isn’t limited by income or circumstance, supporting WaterBear’s mission to embed music education within the real-life, real-world infrastructure of the UK scene. Additionally, Fightback Lager will be sold on the night, supporting the tour with donations from each pint sold going to MVT.
Hull bands Polite Bureaux and Wench are at the forefront of the city’s new wave of talent, and both feature on the Adelphi line-up. WaterBear has built strong links with Hull’s music community, with students performing alongside local artists and gaining first-hand experience of the city’s grassroots circuit. The Hull date of the tour puts these homegrown acts in the spotlight while connecting them to a campaign with national reach.
Brad Widdowson, part of Sheffield band Sundress and a WaterBear student, said: “We’re playing festivals next year, but without smaller venues we’d never have been ready. You learn by doing. You make mistakes. You grow. You can’t skip that part.”
WaterBear’s relationship with grassroots venues runs year-round. In Sheffield and Brighton, students perform midweek shows at local venues to help build footfall and offer support during quieter trading periods. The college supports these events financially by covering entry costs and, where possible, bar spend—making sure the venues benefit from both audiences and income. This model is central to WaterBear’s belief that education must be mutual, relevant and rooted in the real world.
Bruce John Dickinson, WaterBear Co-founder, adds: “These venues aren’t just buildings—they’re launchpads. Go to the gig. Buy a ticket. Stand at the front. These places are everything for emerging artists, playing gigs, learning to handle a crowd, and making your name.”
For more information on the Keeping Music Live tour and tickets, click here.