The Final Dinner Celebration shout out grassroots music venues as they win Finest New Artist on the BRIT Awards 2025

The Final Dinner Celebration gave a shout out to the UK’s grassroots music venues as they picked up their BRIT Award for Finest New Artist final night time (March 1). Try their speech beneath.

After selecting up the BRITs Rising Star award in 2024, the London band returned this 12 months to take Finest New Artist, following the discharge of their debut album ‘Prelude To Ecstasy‘.

Throughout their speech, they took a second to spotlight the present challenges dealing with grassroots music venues within the UK. It follows reviews that 2024 noticed the UK lose one grassroots music venue each two weeks – with practically half making a loss and 200 remaining in a state of emergency because the nation faces a “collapse in touring”.

“We wouldn’t be a band, and quite a lot of the artists right here wouldn't be bands both, with out the UK’s unimaginable impartial venues and they're the lifeblood of the music business, and they're dying,” stated bassist Georgia Davies.

“And if venues like this, just like the O2, arenas, stadiums throughout this nation contributed even a tiny bit in direction of these impartial venues then we'd not be dropping them at this alarming charge. We wouldn’t be right here with out them, none of this is able to be occurring with out them.

“So I needed to say to all of these artists taking part in impartial venues all throughout the nation tonight, preserve going as a result of that’s the most effective type of artwork there may be,” she continued. “And, in a time when artwork is beneath risk, that's crucial factor to maintain supporting.” You possibly can watch their full speech beneath.

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The concept that the higher echelons of the music business must be paying again into the grassroots and wider ecosystem was backed by the federal government’s CMS Choose committee enquiry final 12 months earlier than a levy on stadium and area gigs was beneficial. A March deadline has been set for voluntary motion earlier than the federal government step again in and investigates making it obligatory.

Nonetheless, regardless of the likes of Coldplay, Sam Fender and Katy Perry making main contributions of their very own, the advantages of the levy might not be felt for a while – and a recent report from Music Venue Trust reveals that venues should not out of the woods but.

Final 12 months noticed round one venue shut each two weeks, with a close to 20 per cent improve in “emergency instances” with 200 nonetheless on crimson alert for closure. The report additionally discovered that venues investing in gross sales of meals, alcohol, merchandise and extra to subsidise the stay music they placed on as a consequence of quite a lot of monetary strains – together with power payments – has elevated by 440 per cent lately, and from £114,814,162 in 2023 to £162,067,095 final 12 months.

Consequently, the UK has seen a lower within the complete variety of stay music reveals (down 8.3 per cent since 2023) accompanied by a fair steeper decline in ticket revenues (down 13.5 per cent since 2023).

This additionally comes after the federal government introduced a worth cap for the re-sale of touted tickets and an investigation into the follow of dynamic pricing. Go to here for Music Venue Belief’s full 2024 report.

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Final 12 months, The Final Dinner Celebration have been pressured to chop their European tour brief citing “emotional, psychological, bodily burnout”. A number of concert events on their UK and Eire tour in Cardiff, Lincoln, Birmingham, Nottingham, Bristol and Southampton have been additionally scrapped as a consequence of ailing well being.

In different information, the band has been confirmed to be opening for Olivia Rodrigo at her greatest ever UK present with a headline slot at BST Hyde Park 2025.

In a four-star overview of the band’s critically acclaimed debut, NME wrote: “Some might select to posit the band’s success as an antidote to the extraordinary scrutiny – about their rise, look and resolution to make music with out a ‘critical’ intention – they’ve acquired of their early profession. However take all of that away, and also you’re nonetheless left with incredible songs which are straightforward to embrace and return to. It’s exhausting to overlook all of the issues they’re doing proper.”