Second biggest Independent Venue Week comes to a close

Amelia Jones

Independent Venue Week 2026 came to a close in south Wales with a fittingly intimate and high-energy final show at Port Talbot’s Afan Ales.

Rock band Black Havana headlined the last Welsh date of the nationwide celebration of grassroots live music.

Now in its 13th year, Independent Venue Week once again shone a spotlight on the importance of independently owned spaces to the UK’s music ecosystem.

Across the week, 236 venues took part, hosting more than 700 gigs and events at a traditionally quiet time of year for live music. In Wales alone, 11 venues opened their doors to IVW shows, from Cardiff and Swansea to Mold, Narberth and Port Talbot, reinforcing the strength and diversity of the nation’s grassroots scene.

Afan Ales has become an increasingly important part of that landscape, and the Port Talbot venue proved an ideal setting for Independent Venue Week’s Welsh finale. With little distance between performers and audience, the space offered the kind of close-quarters atmosphere the week exists to celebrate.

Opening the night were The False Idols, who set a brooding and atmospheric tone early on. They set gradually drew the crowd in, until it became almost impossible to open the door to the venue.

 

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There was a quiet assurance to their performance – no rushing or overplaying – just a band clearly comfortable in their own sound.

It was a measured and confident start that laid solid foundations for what followed, establishing the mood for the night and proving a strong fit for the close, intimate setting of Alan Ales.

The Sporks took over next, shifting the energy up several gears. Their sharper, more urgent sound injected momentum into the room.

Mid-set their frontman abandoned the rest of the band entirely, weaving through the tightly packed crowd with a tambourine in hand as the rest of the band carried on behind him.

As the set grew looser, tops came off and the line between the band and the audience completely disappeared. The closeness of the room was summed up perfectly when his tambourine got briefly caught on my belt buckle in the crowd.

After that crisis was averted, their performance came to a crashing end. It was chaotic, good humoured and completely in keeping with the spirit of Independent Venue week.

When Black Havana finally took to the stage, they delivered a driving no-nonsense performance that leaned heavily into raw energy and crowd connection.

A riff-driven rock band at heart, they wasted little time locking into a groove built on thick guitar lines and momentum.

In the tight confines of the venue, their riffs landed with extra force, bouncing off the walls and pulling the crowd closer.

As the set reached its climax, singer Camryn Thomas climbed up onto the bar. Delivering the closing moments from above the audience as they looked on and roared back. A reminder that moments like these only really happen in independent venues like Afan Ales.

The Port Talbot show marked the final chapter of a week supported by partners including BBC Radio 6 Music and Beavertown, alongside wider backing from Arts Council England and The National Lottery.

Across the UK, fans turned out in force to support their local venues, with IVW continuing its mission to fill rooms, build audiences and create opportunities for artists at grassroots level.

As the final notes rang out at Afan Ales, the importance of Independent Venue Week felt especially clear. In a live music landscape facing ongoing pressures, the week served as both a celebration and a reminder of what’s at stake. From city centres to smaller towns, independent venues remain the life of the scene.

You can find out more about Independent Venue Week here.