Roadmender (also Northampton Roadmender or the Roadmender Centre) is a live music venue in Lady's Lane,
Northampton
Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...
, England. Set in a former school building, the venue has left an indelible print on generations of the town's teenagers as the only major live venue in the town and the most recognised indie club remaining in regular operation following the closure of Bass Clef in 1999 and the Irish Centre in 1997.
History
The Roadmender started life as a youth club built in an entirely different location to the one on which it operates today. Named after the 1902 book by Michael Fairless, the club was established to cater for the "no-collar" bits and girls of the Boroughs area of Northampton. Jill Harrold wrote:
In the 1980s The Roadmender hosted a community arts programme that included printing, textiles, music and theatre activities on offer primarily for those same disadvantaged young people for which The Roadmender was established in the first place.
The Roadmender was the preeminent music/arts centre in Northamptonshire from the early 1980s to the late 1990s. The largest venue for touring bands between London and Birmingham, the Roadmender was an essential stop for the likes of
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass) ...
,
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...
,
Oasis
In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.”
The location of oases has been of critical imp ...
,
Travis and
the Manic Street Preachers until the refurbishment in 1999/2000 reduced the capacity of its main hall from 1000 to 850.
Formerly a county council funded arts centre with a remit for arts, dance, live and recorded music; The Roadmender has had a varied history facing closure and bankruptcy several times during a long and complicated history.
Its most recent closure occurred in late 2005 when it lost several hundred thousand pounds of council funding which forced its then owners Roadmender Ltd into liquidation. After several failed rescue attempts the brand and building were sold to Purplehaus, the owners of a nearby nightclub The Soundhaus, who rebranded it New Roadmender. Notable performances since its reopening have included
Idlewild,
The Maccabees,
Marillion
Marillion are a British rock music, rock band, formed in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, in 1979. They emerged from the post-punk music scene in Britain and existed as a bridge between the styles of punk rock and classic progressive rock, becomin ...
,
Kate Nash,
Biffy Clyro,
Finch,
We Are Scientists,
Little Boots (supported by
Ellie Goulding
Elena Jane Goulding ( ; born 30 December 1986) is an English singer and songwriter. Her career began when she met record producers Starsmith and Frankmusik, and she was later spotted by Jamie Lillywhite, who became her manager and Artists and ...
),
Deftones,
Enter Shikari,
Happy Mondays,
The Dead South
The Dead South is a folk- bluegrass musical ensemble based in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. The band was initially formed in 2012 as a quartet by Nate Hilts (vocals, guitar, mandolin), Scott Pringle (guitar, mandolin, vocals), Danny Kenyon (ce ...
and the
NME tour.
Senegalese musician
Youssou N'Dour played the Roadmender on 18 December 2002.
References
External links
Roadmender website
{{Authority control
Nightclubs in England
Buildings and structures in Northampton