Starting in 2009, and now with nearly 6,000 members to its name, the meetup.com social group Nottingham Gig Buddies (NGB) has been a life changer for many, bringing together people from many different backgrounds, ages, interests, through their passion for music. To understand the success behind the growth of this group, we got to know the people behind it.
One of the essential purposes of live music, as someone who has been regularly going to gigs since I was fourteen, is to achieve a collective sense of belonging among the crowds thronging venues up and down the country. As members of this crowd, we feel that music has the obligation to help us belong to these phenomena and bring us together. However, for some of us, it can be very difficult; we are unable to find our tribe with whom we can enjoy live music. This can have drastic effects on our mental health when we don’t have people to share the same experience of live music with, such as loneliness, seclusion and a lack of self-confidence.
On a bristly cold Tuesday afternoon, Craig Chambers and I scramble around Sherwood trying to find the quietest spot to chat. It turns out the centre of the pub may not be the best place to do it. Craig is the unofficial custodian of NGB and has been since 2015. In that time, he has seen 750 events. The group started on the Meetup.com platform; a platform designed for people to do very much what it says on tin. NGB also has an additional Facebook page with over 2,000 members. Craig admits that, despite the Meetup group having a lot more members, the Facebook group is a lot more active simply “because more people use it”.
The variety of music ensures that members of all ages can have a sense of belonging to their musical tribe of choice, but also be partial to the exposure of new music genres.
“The group started back in 2009, but it had problems to begin with due to a lack of activity,” explains Craig. “We had a lot of people in the group who weren’t active and didn’t post much. I asked one of the original admins if I could become one. I would go to about two or three gigs a week so that was a factor in me wanting to get more events advertised in the group.”
“We now have about 400 active members in the Meetup group and we’ve had five RSVPs a day this month. In November we hosted 35 events, but we usually average about 25 a month across the whole year - so we definitely have a lot going on.”
The growth of the group is reflective of the number of live events that have seemingly increased in the past few years. The likes of The Old Cold Store, The Level, Metronome, The Old Bus Depot, Saltbox, Carousel and The Grove have sprawled up to offer a depth of choice from the mainstays of Rock City, Rescue Rooms and Bodega. The variety of music ensures that members of all ages can have a sense of belonging to their musical tribe of choice, but also be partial to the exposure of new music genres.
The emphasis on inclusion within the group has been paramount to its success. Everyone I’ve spoken to has said the same thing about how the group has been a welcome door to exploring new music and expanding their friendship group.
I put this to Di Tunney, another of the group’s organisers and a longtime friend of Craig’s. “The group is very welcoming and no one is bothered about age differences,” says Di. “They are into all sorts of music and there is definitely a cross-section of ages. With the way that the group functions now, someone into a certain type of music joins, then it will be Craig or I who’ll look at what events we’ve got on for that particular type of genre. We’ll point them to it and the people who are also into that type of thing and it’ll spiral from there. That’s the great thing about Gig Buddies really - there’s something for everyone.”
The emphasis on inclusion within the group has been paramount to its success. Everyone I’ve spoken to has said the same thing about how the group has been a welcome door to exploring new music and expanding their friendship group.
Nick, who has been in Gig Buddies for a couple of years since moving up from London, tells me that “The people in the group made me feel very welcome at the start and it has helped me in so many ways. The thing that I love about it the most is getting the opportunity to meet other gig buddies and find like-minded people who enjoy the same type of music that I do. My wife and I have very different tastes in music and so I would usually drag her along to see bands I like such as The Snuts and Sham 69. But now I can meet like-minded people from the group who love the same music as me.”
Eion is also a long time Gig Buddies member. He says it has “transformed my social life and helped me regain self-confidence. Most of the bands I've seen this year have been with people from NGB and I will have seen nearly 300 bands by the end of the year.” Eion is also keen to stress an emphasis on price and why he thinks the smaller venues are a lot better value for money. “I saw Marvin’s Revenge at Saltbox and it was £6 to see a total of 5 bands, at just over a pound a band.” He keeps a diary of the bands he has seen, and he’s worked it out at £5.50 a band if you go to a gig where ticket prices are around £20-£30.
Nottingham has such a wealth of music now and with all of these smaller venues, it shows just how vibrant and healthy the music scene has become. I have no doubt that with the help of people like Di and Craig, it will get more people out to gigs and supporting local artists.
This element adds another layer to the group and its impact on local acts at the grassroots. Christy, the maternal figurehead of Phlexx Records and I’m Not From London, emphasises the importance of the group spreading awareness of local acts, especially at smaller venues.
“A lot of young bands struggle to get a foothold into the music scene,” she says. “From my work at Phlexx and I’m Not From London, we try to give a foot up to those bands. If we can put on an event via Gig Buddies and another ten people get to a gig, it is such a boost for that band. Nottingham has such a wealth of music now and with all of these smaller venues, it shows just how vibrant and healthy the music scene has become. I have no doubt that with the help of people like Di and Craig, it will get more people out to gigs and supporting local artists.”
NGB is a pioneering forum for live music fans. By speaking to those who've been its driving force, it is clear they have been life changing for people of all ages. Forums like this help people find friends old and new, reconnect people with past hobbies. Others see it as a crane to lift them out of an apathy with socialising. If it wasn’t for people like Craig, Di and Christy, then forums like this couldn’t be sustained. If you're going to have a new year's resolution, then joining Gig Buddies would certainly be the one to keep.
Find fellow music lovers and become part of the Gig Buddies community via meetup.com/NottinghamGigBuddies
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