The Black Prince reflects on a successful year since music venue refurbishment

It’s been a year since The Black Prince re-opened its venue room following a major refurbishment which saw an increase in its capacity and a plethora of upgrades for both gig-goers and musicians alike.

Twelve months on, the Northampton pub and music venue has hosted sold out gigs by touring acts, dozens of shows by local performers and is well on its way to re-establishing itself on the live touring circuit.

Staff at the Abington Square venue are now hoping to overcome the challenge of rising energy costs as they head towards the end of 2022.

Looking back at the past year, events manager Phil Moore said: “It’s been pretty great to tell the truth.

“We’ve had more than 11,000 people through the venue room alone, which is easily the busiest year since The Black Prince launched in 2016.

“When you ignore the day-to-day stresses and stop and reflect, we should be proud that we’re attracting strong acts and so many people want to spend time here. And we’re growing.”

During the period of lockdown in 2021, The Black Prince returned the stage to the garden end of the venue.

However, this was only part of the refurb which included increasing capacity of the main room by removing a corridor into the venue and installing a new PA and lighting rig.

In the last 12 months, acts including The Lovely Eggs, The Sherlocks, Scalping, Press To Meco, The Lottery Winners, The Wytches, Andy Bell and October Drift have all played alongside local acts such as Sarpa Salpa, Maddox Jones, FFSYTHO?!, Big Loss and Bloody / Bath.

At the same time the indoor venue was being refurbished, the garden and outdoor stage were also overhauled – with Billy Lockett playing a sold-out summer show with hundreds also watching England games during Euro 2020.

The Black Prince is run by general manager Oliver Hepworth. He’s joined by bar manager Ashley Britten, technical manager Ollie Edwin, lighting engineer Jason Madeira and Mr Moore (all pictured above) as well as a team of bar staff.

Asked to pick his highlights of the last 12 months, Mr Moore said: “It’s a tricky one to answer, but the return of Twinfest for two nights here after three years off because of Covid was special for everyone. Having Joe Talbot from Idles DJ and slowthai join in was a blast.

“The Sherlocks and The Lovely Eggs filling the room and putting on superb shows went some way to prove we can cut it on ‘the circuit’, should anyone have doubted us.”

In recent weeks, the Music Venue Trust has called for urgent action from the Government to address rising energy costs and the impact they could have on the entertainment industry.

Many pubs and music venues have been openly sharing details of huge hikes in their monthly bills.

Mr Moore said: “You’re only one minor crisis away from turning success into failure.

“The proposed increases in October are nothing short of scandalous.

“Hopefully the Government will see sense and intervene, otherwise a big battle is coming and businesses will fall in all sectors.”

With the Roadmender and Royal & Derngate catering for larger capacity shows and the likes of The Lab and The Garibaldi hosting more intimate performances, The Black Prince hopes the money its spent on increasing its venue to around the 200 mark perfectly positions itself in Northampton.

Mr Moore said: “It’s not a competition, but I’d like to think we’re one of the first names on people’s lips currently.

“The music community of Northampton is a great ecosystem that complements each other, rather than trying to outdo one another.

“From free gigs in corners of pubs to the biggest funded spaces, Northampton has a strong reputation among music lovers for good reason. It’s a pleasure to be a part of it in any way.”

Turning to the future, Mr Moore adds simply “more shows and more people at shows,” singling out The Bellrays from California who are playing on Halloween as one of his picks as we head into Autumn.

Next month, initial details of February’s Independent Venue Week gigs are also expected to be announced.

For more information and gig listings, visit www.theblackprincenn.com