Live music set to return to Northampton venue’s garden stage this weekend

Live music is returning to one Northampton venue this weekend after the Government gave the green light for outdoor performances which meet certain criteria.

The Black Prince in Abington Square is one of the town’s main venues for up-and-coming homegrown acts as well as touring musicians from across the country.

While music usually takes place in the venue’s 200 capacity back room, it also has a large garden and outdoor stage.

Promotions Manager Phil Moore said: “The Government allowing socially distanced outside performances caught the industry a bit on the hop but as we're one of the lucky few who can provide such a thing, it meant all ‘hands to the pump’.

“We’re happy to be able to provide a portion of what we generally do, but there's a long road to travel still.”

On Saturday night, Maddox-Jones – who recently returned with his debut solo EP Headspace – will be playing a launch show at the venue from 7.30pm and joined by guitarist Dave Crawford.

Prior to this from 3pm to 6pm, Hannah Faulkner will be hosting the Ni Ni Sessions which will feature Laura Baker & Bob, Cameron Grace and Andy Clarke.

To comply with Government guidelines, the performances will be ‘lower volume’ and seated shows.

Currently, performances will only be by solo or duos who fit into the ‘quieter and seated’ classification.

The garden is covered by large marquees and there is capacity for 150 people to sit socially distanced in their ‘bubbles’.

Mr Moore added: “We’ve had a good response so far and dozens of messages from people wanting to play.

“Personally, I’m pleased to see Maddox Jones playing – his EP is a great collection of songs.

“He's coming out of his isolation bubble as an artist, so it’s nice to have him on opening night as we do similar.

“And then we have a Ni Ni Sessions event in the afternoon for acoustic singer-songwriters.”

Former Born Stranger and Departure man Maddox Jones released his debut solo EP earlier this month.

The EP reached number four on the UK iTunes singer songwriter chart while his latest single My House has clocked up more than 10,000 views on YouTube.

He said: “Even before lockdown I hadn’t played live for a while so this is a bit of an occasion for me.

“I’m really happy to be doing it at The Black Prince, it’s really important to be supporting small venues in these crazy times and it’s a great place to perform so we need to make sure it is given the support it needs.”

Anyone musicians interested in playing future outdoor shows at The Black Prince can email [email protected]