The Forum is an independent
music venue in
Royal Tunbridge Wells
Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Rocks. ...
,
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
, England, with a standing capacity of 250. The venue opened in 1993, the building having previously been a
public toilet
A public toilet, restroom, public bathroom or washroom is a room or small building with toilets (or urinals) and sinks for use by the general public. The facilities are available to customers, travelers, employees of a business, school pupils ...
.
Location
The Forum is located on Tunbridge Wells Common, close to the junction of the
A26 A26 or A-26 may refer to:
Roads
* List of A26 roads
Transportation
* Douglas A-26 Invader, a light attack bomber built by Douglas
* Aero A.26, a Czech reconnaissance aircraft of the 1920s
* Focke-Wulf A 26, a German Focke-Wulf aircraft
* Blekinge- ...
London Road and Frant Road, opposite the
Church of King Charles the Martyr and
The Pantiles
The Pantiles is a Georgian colonnade in the town of Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England. Formerly known as "The Walks" and the (Royal) "Parade", it leads from the well that gave the town its name. The area, developed following the disc ...
. It is approximately five minutes walk from
Tunbridge Wells station.
History
The Forum was the brainchild of four friends: Michael Oyarzabal, Peter Hoare,
Jason Dormon
Jason Dormon (born 2 May 1969) is a British bassist and venue owner. He is most noted for his work in Joeyfat and also for his running of the Tunbridge Wells Forum.
Early life
Dormon was born in Tunbridge Wells and educated at Bethany School. ...
, and Mark Davyd, two of whom had previously been involved with the Rumble Club,
an irregular music event that took place in a variety of locations in Tunbridge Wells during the period 1988 to 1992 – bringing bands such as
The Boo Radleys
The Boo Radleys are an English alternative rock band who were associated with the shoegazing and Britpop movements in the 1990s. They originally formed in Wallasey, England in 1988, with Rob Harrison on drums, singing, singer/electric guitar, g ...
,
Lush and
Green Day to the area. It was the success of The Rumble Club that prompted them to seek a permanent location for their own venue.
The Forum opened as a new music venue in January 1993 in a building on Tunbridge Wells Common which had been built as a public cold bath and was subsequently a public toilet and then a
brass rubbing
Brass rubbing was originally a largely British enthusiasm for reproducing onto paper monumental brasses – commemorative brass plaques found in churches, usually originally on the floor, from between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries. The ...
centre. It has since hosted a number of acts who have gone on to achieve significant commercial success.
In 2007, The Forum produced a parody of the cover of ''
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'', showing a selection of the better known acts that had played at the venue.
In 2010, The Forum and one of its founders Jason Dormon were featured in ''
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
s "Happy List", profiling people who make Britain a better place to live.
In 2012, the ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' voted the venue as Britain's Best Small Venue.
The Forum has been credited as a key influence by people from the local area who have become successful in the music industry - including Jeremy Pritchard of
Everything Everything
Everything Everything are an English art rock band from Manchester that formed in late 2007. Noted for their eclectic sound and complex, sociopolitical lyrics, the band have released six albums to date – 2010's '' Man Alive'', 2013's '' Arc'' ...
and
Slaves.
Notable acts
Many acts have appeared at The Forum, towards the beginning of careers that saw them go onto significant commercial success. These have included
Adele
Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a rec ...
,
Biffy Clyro
Biffy Clyro are a Scottish rock band that formed in Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, composed of Simon Neil (guitar, lead vocals), James Johnston (bass, vocals), and Ben Johnston (drums, vocals). Currently signed to 14th Floor Records, they have r ...
,
Coldplay
Coldplay are a British rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and creative director Phil Harvey. They met at University ...
,
Ellie Goulding,
Green Day,
IDLES,
The Libertines
The Libertines are an English rock band, formed in London in 1997 by frontmen Carl Barât (vocals/guitar) and Pete Doherty (vocals/guitar). The band, centred on the songwriting partnership of Barât and Doherty, has also included John Hassall ...
,
Mumford & Sons
Mumford & Sons is a British folk rock band formed in London in 2007. The band currently consists of Marcus Mumford (lead vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, drums), Ted Dwane (vocals, bass guitar, double bass), and Ben Lovett (vocals, k ...
,
Muse
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...
,
,
Royal Blood,
The Vaccines
The Vaccines are an English indie rock band, formed in West London in 2010. Band members Justin Hayward-Young (lead vocals, guitar), Freddie Cowan (lead guitar, vocals), Árni Árnason (bass, vocals), Timothy Lanham (guitars, keys, vocals) and ...
,
We Are Scientists
We Are Scientists is a New York City-based rock band that formed in Berkeley, California, in 1999. It consists primarily of guitarist and vocalist Keith Murray and bass guitarist Chris Cain, with drummer Keith Carne joining the band in the studi ...
and
Wolf Alice
Wolf Alice are an English rock band from London, England. Formed in 2010 as an acoustic duo comprising singer Ellie Rowsell and guitarist Joff Oddie, Wolf Alice have also featured bassist Theo Ellis and drummer Joel Amey since 2012.
Wolf Ali ...
.
In addition, The Forum has been used as a venue for more established acts who are playing warmup or smaller shows. These have included
Ash,
The Divine Comedy
The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature an ...
,
Enter Shikari
Enter Shikari (stylised as enter: shikari and occasionally as ΣΠΤΣ℞ SΗΦΚ∆℞Φ) are a British rock band formed in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England in 1999 by bassist Chris Batten, lead vocalist and keyboardist Rou Reynolds, and dr ...
,
Foals,
Frank Turner
Francis Edward Turner (born 28 December 1981), is an English punk and folk singer-songwriter from Meonstoke, Hampshire. He began his career as the vocalist of post-hardcore band Million Dead, then embarked upon a primarily acoustic-based sol ...
,
Graham Coxon
Graham Leslie Coxon (born 12 March 1969) is an English musician, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and painter who came to prominence as a founding member of the rock band Blur. As the group's lead guitarist and secondary vocalist, Cox ...
, Joeyfat,
Keane,
Rag'n'Bone Man
Rory Charles Graham (born 29 January 1985), better known as Rag'n'Bone Man, is an English singer and songwriter. He is known for his deep baritone voice. His first hit single, "Human", was released in 2016, and his debut album of the same nam ...
, and
Wheatus
Wheatus are an American rock band from Northport, New York, formed in 1995. They are known principally for their 2000 single " Teenage Dirtbag", which appeared in the films '' Loser'' and ''Bully'', as well as the HBO miniseries '' Generation ...
.
References
External links
Official Forum websiteTWForum myspaceTwitter pageFacebook page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Forum, The
Music venues in Kent
Buildings and structures in Royal Tunbridge Wells
Music venues completed in 1993