‘When I’m at a concert, I feel alive’: the photographer raising money to save London’s music venues

There is nothing on earth like live music. It rises in your chest, it surges through your pulse, the beat rattles your bones.

“When I am at a concert I feel that I am alive,” says photographer Alex Amorós, whose 40 Music Venues project is raising money for the Save Our Venues campaign.

Amorós began taking photos of London’s empty, shuttered music theatres on his daily walks in lockdown.

“In the beginning, I wanted to document what was going on at a crazy time in the live music industry. The more venues I visited and the more photos I shared, the more I realised I could use the interest they were getting to support the Save Our Venues campaign.”

His book, 40 Music Venues (£25) captures London’s most treasured landmarks, from The 100 Club in Oxford Street to Windmill Brixton, from the Shacklewell Arms to Paper Dress Vintage, both in Hackney, to Camden’s KOKO. These are the sites of passion, excitement, romance, anger and joy – of experiences and memories of total freedom and thrill, that we cling to now that we have neither.

Moth Club in Hackney, from 40 Music Venues (Photo: Alex Amorós)

“I kept the photos black and white because I want to show the darkness, the real situation for these historic buildings,” says Amorós. “As well as for the people who work in them.”

The future of these places, after a year of lockdown closures and the prospect of reduced capacity in the future in line with social distancing restrictions, is bleak. Though there was some government support provided by the Culture Recovery Fund last summer, the Music Venue Trust, which represents 670 independent venues across the UK, estimates that only 17 per cent – 114 venues – are financially secure for the next eight weeks. According to reports last September, employment in the sector had fallen by 15 per cent, with more than half of venue staff nationwide on furlough.

Hundreds of venues are still at risk of permanent closure, which would be a tragedy not only for those employees and for fans but for the entire music industry, which would be devastated if there was no circuit of stages for emerging bands and artists to play. #saveourvenues is a campaign featuring fundraising events including live-stream concerts, and crowdfunding effort for individual grassroots venues as well as a national fund.

The Lexington, from 40 Music Venues (Photo: Alex Amorós)

“It’s a depressing time: it’s not just all the musicians but the sound technicians, the people who work in the bars – it’s important to support them,” says Amorós.

“I went to a concert the very first time I came to the city, and in the seven years I have lived here I have worked in them taking photos, working in music promotion, performing with my band and DJing by myself. Live music and independent venues give the community so much – they’re so important for London, too.