A EUROVISION legacy for grassroots music venues will bring 150 gigs to 130 locations across the country, including Southampton and Winchester. 

The £1.5 million National Lottery-funded United By Music Tour will see artists such as  Blossoms, Metronomy and Cat Burns play local venues in support of the live music sector.

The Stage Door in Southampton will host hotly-tipped singer songwriter Luke La Volpe on September 7, while all female indie rock band Prima Queen will play The Railway in Winchester on July 26.

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The initiative was launched with a free concert for 15,000 people in the Eurovision Village this week. It comes at a time when many venues are still suffering the fallout from the pandemic and the impact of the cost of living crisis.

The funds committed underwrite the costs of bands’ performance and touring costs, ensuring venues get artists at no cost to them. Two for the price of one tickets are also available for National Lottery players. 

Kicking off in mid-June, the gigs will see a diverse range of up and coming and established headline artists perform in music venues across the UK with more to be announced. 

Luke La Volpe told the Daily Echo: "I’m proud to be a patron of the Music Venue Trust and part of the United By Music tour. Grassroots venues are the life blood of music. Every night of the week, fans are in there watching unknown artists evolve into the next arena megastars. I learned how to do this by gigging in these venues since I was 15 years old. Without them there is no music."

As well as supporting local venues, The National Lottery and Music Venue Trust have launched the tour to extend the celebration of Liverpool’s historic hosting of Eurovision across the breadth of the country.

Mark Dayvd, CEO of Music Venue Trust added: "Supporting grassroots music venues has never been more important and we're delighted to be using venues across the country to highlight new and established artists the world will come to know and love."

Tickets for the tour will go on sale on Monday (May 15) at 10am. Visit unitedbymusic.live for tickets.