Rescue Rooms have revealed how they will be celebrating turning 15 – a week-long run of events including a DJ set from BBC 6 Music DJ Steve Lamacq.
The venue was opened by DHP Family on Goldsmith Street on February 22 2003 by a band called Echoboy.
Steve Lamacq played the venue during the opening week and will play a mix of punk rock and Brit Pop through to his current favourites at a special event on Saturday February 24.
Steve said: “The Rescue Rooms is a great little venue, especially for bands just on the cusp of making a breakthrough.
“It’s still small enough to feel intimate, but big enough to create a sense of excitement and promise.
“I remember seeing the Kaiser Chiefs there, just as they were about to take off and it’s still one of the best sets I’ve seen them do.
“So it’ll be lovely to be back and have a crack at DJing again.”
Birthday week celebrations
- Thursday February 22 – 15th anniversary with This Is England DJs
- Friday February 23 – Bama Lama Singsong
- Saturday February 24 – All dayer event celebrating local bands, food and beer
- Saturday February 24 – Steve Lamacq DJ set as part of Stealth Vs. Rescue Rooms
- Sunday February 25 – comedy night
- Monday February 26 – Acoustic Rooms takeover event
- Tuesday February 27 – Pressure special event
- Wednesday February 28 – Rescue Rooms Super Quiz
Previous performers at the venue include The Killers, Calvin Harris, La Roux, Four Tet, Chase & Status, Bloc Party, Magnetic Man, Simian Mobile Disco, Ellie Goulding, Animal Collective and The Libertines.
And a number of previous performers have paid tribute to the venue.
Jake Bugg said: “I have good memories of Rescue Rooms as I rehearsed there before my first tour back in 2011.
“It’s also the venue where we shot the video of the live scene for ‘Two Fingers’.”
Sleaford Mods said: “Rescue Rooms was full when we walked out at our headline gig there.
“We knew then that people were proper interested – these kind of venues were out of reach for the average local band and it was a turning point.
“We had the people’s support and more importantly they were local people.”
Jeremy Pritchard from Everything Everything said: “Rescue Rooms is rare thing – an intimate venue that still boasts the sense of occasion of a room three or four times its size.
“The layout, the spec and the generosity of the stage are all top-notch but the people, in the crowd and backstage, make this venue what it is.
“It’s always been a pleasure to play and watch gigs here.
“I’ve also had some incredible and irresponsible times in the bar and at the clubnights over the last decade.”
Frank Turner said: “My main memory of the Rescue Rooms is playing a headline show back in 2008.
“It was a sold out show and a great atmosphere everywhere in the room apart from my stomach!
“It unfortunately tried to make an exit through my mouth three-quarters of the way through the show – not much fun.
“But I’ve been back since for a show to set the record straight.”
DHP Family’s director of promotions Anton Lockwood joined the company to open Rescue Rooms.
He said: “We recognised the need for a first class small-to-medium sized live music venue in Nottingham.
“We did a lot or research and hard thinking about venues around the world that we liked, and didn’t like, and took the best of them all along with the experience of live music from Rock City.
“It was brilliant to finally have a venue with the right atmosphere, capacity and facilities to be able to bring in the kind of artists into the city that we couldn’t before.
“And now 15 years later, Rescue Rooms continues to showcase artists who are often on the verge of making it to the next level.”
