2018 marks a special landmark for The Forum in Tunbridge Wells as they celebrate their 25th anniversary. They’ve been there through rise of two and a half decades of bands, thousands of musicians have performed on their stage, and have seen many of the biggest acts in the UK and worldwide cut their teeth and learn their craft on the top of the tiny hill on the Common.
The late 1980s and early 90s saw an increased interest in the music scene in Kent and a lack of places to house live music events, performances or the hundreds of fans that came with them. Michael Oyarzabal, Peter Hoare, Jason Dormon and Mark Davyd were aware of demand and issues after successfully putting on shows under a venture called The Rumble Club which was an irregular music event that took place in a variety of locations in Tunbridge Wells. Without any venue to put on events consistently, the success of The Rumble Club meant a lookout for a more permanent venture was on and henceforth The Forum opened on Fonthill in January 1993 with a standing capacity of 250 people.
Britpop icons Oasis performed at the venue just over a year later supporting Scottish band Whiteout, the Gallagher brothers and co were paid £75 to play and tickets for the night were just £3.50 each. Adele, Coldplay, Muse and Mumford & Sons are just a handful of other acts who have played to half-empty rooms at The Forum and all of which have gone on to win critical acclaim in the music industry, selling out countless arena tours on national and international stages.
In addition to this, The Forum now attracts established acts who use the venue as a warm-up for larger shows such as Foals, Blur guitarist Graham Coxon and Wolf Alice. Frank Turner, who has played at The Forum five times since 2005, has also played at the O2 Arena in London – a venue that can fit 80 times more people than the Forum can.
While the beer-soaked, sticky floor brought a certain amount of charm to the place, improvements to the venue started 2011 with a recording studio added backstage, the stage entirely rebuilt, the walls stripped back to the original brickwork and the garden completely re-landscaped. The next set of renovations were to the green-room, moving the bar making it more streamlined and also offers bands an improved area to sell merchandise.
2012 marked the year that The Forum was voted the Best Small Live Music Venue in Britain by a panel of music industry experts meanwhile local punk duo Slaves, consisting of singer and drummer Isaac Holman and guitarist Laurie Vincent, recorded their debut mini-album Sugar Coated Bitter Truth in the Forum’s basement studio. This prompted their first booking at the Reading and Leeds festivals, where they played the BBC Introducing stage, and paved the way to being snapped up by major record label Virgin EMI two years later.
For the 25th anniversary as well as bringing in established acts to celebrate all year long The Forum will be putting on The Stable, an evening which sets up opportunities for unsigned bands and musicians to have a platform to play original music until April.
Stand: The best place to stand at The Forum in our opinion is towards the back of the venue. From a technical point of view, the sound is generally by the mixing board. After all that is where the sound is being mixed, so you’re hearing what the sound engineer is hearing which we estimate is three quarters of the way back and plus when you’re standing here there’s also easy access to the bar too. Everyone’s a winner!
Drink: Many music venues up and down the country offer standard beer and wines to enjoy during the show, but The Forum has kept ahead of the curve and stocks a range of craft beer from breweries such as Beavertown and Tiny Rebel as well as commercial beer on draught. There’s also wine on offer and if you’re really wanting pushing the boat out, bottles of Prosecco are available for £25 each.
The Common, London Road, Tunbridge Wells TN4 8YU
www.twforum.co.uk
