United By Music

And here’s the really great news: every National Lottery player who buys a ticket to a United By Music gig can bring a 'plus one' for free^†. To get your friend in on the action, just bring a National Lottery product to the show along with your ticket to the show.

Tickets for The National Lottery’s United by Music Tour will be live on 15th May 2023 at 10am. Just go to www.unitedbymusic.live for information, tickets and a schedule of gigs.

The tour, which also includes shows by The Dirty Nil, Opus Kink, Luke La Volpe, Prima Queen and more, will provide vital support to live music venues. It all kicked off with a special free concert for 15,000 people in Liverpool’s Eurovision Village on Wednesday 10th May 2023.

If you don’t live in or near Liverpool, we’ve got you. The National Lottery and Music Venue Trust will also be staging live music events in all 17 UK towns and cities that bid to host Eurovision. In total, more than 20 bands and artists – established names as well as rising stars – will embark on national tours as part of the initiative.

Sleeper will play 12 gigs from Dumfries to Dover as part of the United By Music tour. The band’s Louise Wener said, “All those amazing grassroots venues allowed Sleeper to grow. Touring the country, crowds right in front of our faces, it’s how we learned to be a live band. They’re part of our history. Part of every great band’s history. You can’t have one without the other. There’s nothing like the intimacy and buzz you get in a smaller venue. Reconnecting with clubs we played coming up in the 90s is exciting. Supporting them now feels more important than it’s ever been."

Ian Broudie’s band The Lightning Seeds performed as part of the Liverpool leg of the United By Music Tour as well as the 10th May 2023 gig in the Eurovision Fan Village. He said, “The atmosphere in Liverpool has been incredible and it’s been great to see old and new fans alike come down to not only support us, but the music venues we’ve performed in. Grassroots music venues are integral to the future of music and need to be supported, which is why I’m delighted that The National Lottery and Music Venue Trust have extended the tour to the rest of the UK.”

This is the third year The National Lottery has partnered with Music Venue Trust to help support the grassroots music sector by underwriting the full touring and production costs of the artists taking part in the United By Music Tour. The announcement takes The National Lottery contribution to grassroots venues through the United By Music Tour to £1.5MMillion and comes at a crucial time when many venues are still suffering the fall out from the pandemic and the impact of the cost of living crisis.

Mark Dayvd, CEO of Music Venue Trust said, "Following the success of the Liverpool Tour, which saw us host a week-long series of music gigs across the city, we are delighted to be partnering with The National Lottery again to extend the celebrations to the rest of the UK. Supporting grassroots music venues has never been more important and we're delighted to be using venues across the country to highlight new and established artists the world will come to know and love."

11th May 2023

^†Use any retail or online National Lottery ticket, Scratchcard or Instant Win Game ticket purchased from 1st January 2023 to get free entry for one guest accompanying a full-price ticket holder. Subject to availability. Players must be 18+. Venue has ultimate discretion on entry.