Legendary Ipswich venue to reopen for Independent Venues Week
The Baths in St Matthew’s Street famously hosted Led Zeppelin in November 1971
Last updated 24th Jan 2022
An historic Ipswich venue resurrected for the first time in years in 2021 will host a week of gigs to celebrate Independent Venue Week.
The Baths in St Matthew’s Street – which famously hosted Led Zeppelin in November 1971 – was brought back for the Sound City Ipswich festival last autumn years after it was last used as a music venue.
Now, the team at The Smokehouse – which usually hosts a week of gigs – have opted to make the most of the reborn Baths and showcase it for a string of gigs for Independent Venue Week from Tuesday, February 1.
Smokehouse founder Joe Bailey said: “We’re really excited to move all of our Independent Venue Week gigs to the iconic former Baths Halls.
“It’s going to be amazing having live music back in there even if the swimming pool is long gone!
“We have also been able to release more tickets for Andy Bell which sold out quickly.
“We look forward to bringing these amazing artists to Ipswich and hearing music back within the building which went down so well at Sound City Ipswich.”
The venue was historically a pool with boards placed over the pool itself to host gigs, but the arrival of Crown Pools in the 1980s saw it change use afterwards to a social club. In more recent years it had been a gym.
Independent Venue Week is a nationwide celebration of grassroots venues and those who run them, and encourages people to support the venues in their communities.
In Ipswich, music kicks off on Tuesday, February 1 with The Baths hosting electronic-post-rock crossover artist Bad With Phones.
On Wednesday, space-rock outfit The Orielles will perform with support from Roscoe Roscoe and Anna’s Bones.
Andy Bell will be performing with his new project, Andy Bell Space Station on Thursday, February 3 – with the venue confirming more tickets have been released after the original run were snapped up quickly. Esme Emerson and Under the Sun will also be playing.
On the bill for Friday is disco-inspired house collective Girls of the Internet, who will then stick around for a DJ set. BBC 6 Music’s DJ Nemone will open for the evening.
The week concludes with Field Music supported by Susan Bear on Saturday, February 5.
Elsewhere, The John Peel Centre in Stowmarket has a series of gigs on for IVW. Tuesday, February 1 features folk duo Vicki Swan and Jonny Dyer who utilise Swedish and Viking-originated instruments.
Wednesday, February 2 is the venue’s local band showcase evening, Emerge. IVW’s Emerge event features indie duo Collars, singer-songwriter Phoebe Austin, Ipswich three-piece Ward of Iron and Under the Sun (before their Thursday Baths gig).
Fans of English folk can catch John Kirkpatrick on February 3, who has been in Steeleye Span and Richard Thompson’s band.
The week concludes on Sunday February 6 with a comedy night comprising Jarlath Regan, Ray Badran and Jacob Hawley.