The Roadmender is a classic venue, and should remain open. I am sure that it holds a lot of good memories for people..I know it does for me, and so it would be very sad to see it go.
We cannot loose the roadmender it is a long standing well respected venue,known nationwide.It is an asset to northampton and an alternative to pub club yob culture offering a variety of gigs. surely there must be a way to save it....to withdraw funding is certainly stupid and shortsighted.
The Roadmender is a great venue and vital to Northampton. We should not pull the funding but re-organise the management to help them to run the venue to survive on their own and be viable.
The Roadmender is a major asset to Northampton and a major asset to the midlands - to withdraw its funding is short sighted and stupid.
If the council are so unhappy with its performance why aren't they working with the venue to make it better instead of simply bailing out on it!!?
What will be left of Northampton if it closes is pubs and clubs which will fuel a yob culture, I really can't believe that withdrawing funding is even a consideration!
I go up and down the country (as do lots of people) to see live music. The Roadmender is such a good venue. Good for all types of music, all tastes.
WE MUST KEEP LIVE MUSIC ALIVE AND LOCAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i think lined pockets and flatts springs to mind!!!!
i think the council would make more money from council tax on flats than inject 60k into the venue every year!
we aint stupid!!
I have been going to roadmender regualy for over 3 years and i have enjoyed it very much. Many of my freinds are in bands which have played at roadmender and have gone on further to get other gigs as a result of their gigs at roadmender I see alot of my old freinds there which I would never see again if it wasn't for roadmender. it is a safe place to enjoy my self on friday nights and some saturday nights. please do not close roadmender!!!
Not only does it have a great mix of bands, but the Roadmender is a fantastic community venue. Couldn't the council persuade more of the other community groups funded to use the Roadmender as a meeting venue during the day? Build it up don't just drop it!!
It helps variety in the town and is practically the only venue to regulary feature up-and-coming bands as well as established artists. Do the council really want a boring non-descript place with no culture or individuality?
the road mender is a living legend I sure your(council) ruthless motorist persucution could more than pay for the roadmender,or would you rather have people on streets.
I do hope there is a way the Roadmender could be kept running. It is a crucial part of our young culture and has been for 100 years. Is there another venue that attracts the same level of support of young people? Who else can boast several 100 young people queuing around the block, week in, week out rain or shine?
I have seen some fantastic gigs and had some excellent themed nights out in the Roadmender. Its one of the only places in Northampton that has real personality and uniqueness. Why take that away?
when i first picked up my guitar at the age of 13, my dream was to play the roadmender where all the great musicians have played, 10 years later i organsied 16 rock bands including my own to raise thousand for the red cross, No other place in northampton would allow me to do this.
This is an important venue for up and coming bands. I have been there many times and had a great time. Our younger teenagers have so few places they can go and enjoy music. Please keep the Roadmender open.
Sort it out. Everyone complains about kids hanging out on the street because they have nothing better to do. So what's the answer. Reducing the number of places under 18's can go to is short-sighted and stupid. the council need to pull their heads out of their backsides and nurture the community they represent, not run it down.
Good venue, badly managed.. Hopefully worth another shot at getting it back to the good old days of pre 1994.. Including working with local artists / promoters.. Its all about the music not the £££££
im a 16 yeqr old girl.. that is mad about live music.. its hard to see lush bands play at smaller venues becasue you have to be 18 mostly!
plus other venues are too far away!
would you prefer all us teenagers to be hanging around out in the streets and in the town.. where not long ago there were reported rapes! great that your looking out for the young people. and wanting us to maybe get put in thse situations! incase you hadnt noticed that was sarcasm!
please dont close.. i love it there and have so many awesome memories there! i love it! ->why fix sumut that is broken?
Northamptonshire Needs the Roadmender! What are they doing?! Every county needs cultural epicentres - and The Roadmender is ours for contemporary and alternative music, arts and youth culture. If the County Council are trying to support young people - which I agree in principal a good plan - is this really the way to do it? Is this really the only way they can think of to raise the funds? - To closedownthe place that stands for all that is about youth culture? Expression, Freedom, Belonging, Difference,
Respect.
You will not be respected for doing this!
the roadmender is a crucial part of the culture of northampton and the rest of the country! shutting it would be another scar on the face of northampton and what makes it a great place. Rather than cut funding, let's give it a kick up the ass and inject some more life into this town...
If it wasn't for the Roadmender, many people wouldn't get (or wouldn't have had the chance) to see some of the most influential UK bands. Why spend all that money on doing the place up to close it down! I'm a musician from Northampton and am appalled to see one of the town's most important cultural landmarks shut down. Anyone considering shutting it down is probably the sort of complacent, apathetic person that's content to sit on their backside watching telly all evening. I don't live in the town anymore, so I guess you wonder why I care. Well you'd care too if you have any sense of culture about you
There is already lack of venues for live music and to lose another would be a great shame. The RoadMender acts as an entertainment venue and also a valuable resource for younger people and the arts scene.
What a shame it would be for Northampton, music makers and their audiences (many of whom travel from the rural midlands and beyond to see their favourite artists in Northampton). Please reconsider.
This threat by the council demonstates the short sighted, politically correct attitude they have adopted of late. Some of us actually want to enjoy the arts and not just drink!
This is a very important part of Northampton, somewhere for the young to go where it is safe ,also a good learning venue for the music industry. this must not close.
It needs to stay open there is already a massive shortage of 'real' music venues. Dont let the cheesy chain pubs & clubs take over! as if they already havnt.....
Roadmender is the best we've got around here for keeping kids safe and keeping music and the arts in their vision. (If it becomes a purely commercial venture drink and associated problems will be pushed rather than having an ace time with the best that modern culture is producing and inspiring, limited vision to take away support at a crucial time!)
Northamptonshire is basically a cultural wasteland if it goes. Jon is doing a great job and giving young people access on a regular basis to pop art in all its forms (ask the NME and all the class bands who play here)What great shame!Just give it a lifeline to supporting itself and try to encourage charitable orgs who care for the kids to get on board. The Roadmender really has the possibility to be exemplar in caring for our kids; not an open cheque, just a hand from the new adninistration until it can really sort itself and be self supporting. Hope you hear this!
In many countries in Europe most music venues are Government funded.Why can't our Government/councils manage it???They have no idea of the real world.I bet most of the council members have never even been to Roadmender.It is our flagship venue and known throughout the country.Another nail in the coffin for Northampton then......
Don't let this place go so easy, many a good time had over the past 20yrs in the new and old building. To many good bands been and gone and let's hope we see many more plus all the other local activities that are held here.
What the hell are the Council thinking of closing down the Roadmender! The Council should be supporting venues like this. Used to hang out at the RM many years ago when I was younger & recently returned there for an evening. What an excellant nite it was! Norhtampton doesn't have many decent places to go to as it is. GO ON NCC DO EVERYONE A FAVOUR!!
It was not until i started working at the roadmender that i realised its importance. This is not only a venue for up and coming talent, its a safe place for the youths to come. i sit in the box office every week and get to see the number and diversity of the people that attend. where would these people be without the roadmender?? especially the youths, they get moaned at for being out on the streets, yet you threaten to take away one of the places that keep them safe and out of trouble. and im sure the parents appreciate knowing that once they are inside the doors of the roadmender that they are within a safe environment. If you look at some of the bands that have played here recently for example, the magic numbers and Hard-Fi,(who both recently appeared on Friday Night with Jonathon Ross) you can see the kind of talent passing through. also i am about to show my first exhibition here in feb, what other place in northampton offers this kind of leg up for emerging talent, and the people of the town.
