I can recall my jaunts into Royal Tunbridge Wells in the 1980’s and early 90’s and was always intrigued by an unusual U-shaped single storey building that would suddenly appear over the rise on my left hand side at the edge of The Common on the opposite side of The Pantiles. Back then it was a public toilet, but clearly had seen better days.
Then four friends (Michael Oyarzabal, Peter Hoare, Jason Dormon, and Mark Davy) had the opportunity of totally renovating and repurposing the sad looking building and turning it into a grassroots live music venue. I remember thinking “Would the posh people of the Kent border town be up for such a venture?”. It was a big gamble, but the town arguably didn’t really have anything like this. Would it work?
Wind the clocks forward three decades and Tunbridge Wells’ iconic music venue, The Forum (located at Fonthill, The Common, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN4 8YU) is celebrating its 30 year anniversary this year! At 8pm on 15th January 1993, its doors first opened and the first performance to grace the Forum stage was Director Jason Dormon’s own band, Joeyfat. As part of a programme of new emerging bands supporting well known local artists, his teenage sons will be first on the very same stage three decades later. Clearly it tapped into the psych of the concert goers and has been a success.
As Jason says “There’s so much to celebrate so rather than focusing on a particular week or month, we are turning next year into one long almighty celebration of The Forum. We will be bringing what we believe will be the strongest and most varied lineup the venue has ever seen. “
A lot has changed in 30 years – “When we first started vinyl was in, then it was CDs and downloads and now it’s streaming, but the one thing that has stayed the same all these years is the live music element. The way people purchase music has changed but the way we engage with it hasn’t and I don’t think that format will ever change. You cannot beat that shared, visceral experience of seeing live music in an intimate venue”
Down the years, The Forum has hosted a number of artists on their way to fame. These include Green Day (3rd May 1993), Cornershop (21st May 1993), Oasis (26th March 1994), Reef (26th May 1995), Placebo (18th November 1995), The Divine Comedy (18th May 1996), Stereolab (22nd June 1997), Muse (15th January 1999), Coldplay (12th November 1999), The Libertines (2nd October 2002), Frank Turner (4th November 2005), Bombay Bicycle Club (16th August 2008), Mumford & Sons (3rd October 2009), Ash (14th November 2009), Ellie Goulding (27th January 2010), The Vaccines (21st February 2011), Keane (25th October 2013), IDLES (22nd November 2017), Rag’n’Bone Man (23rd August 2021) and Adele has played The Forum as well.
As well as all the exciting new acts that The Forum showcases, they also will be bringing back some classic acts they have had at the venue. OK, so Green Day, Adele, Oasis, Muse and Coldplay may have other commitments, but there will be plenty more big names to keep everyone entertained throughout 2023.
What would their 30th anniversary be without their old friend Frank Turner coming down to play. He is taking a day out of his crazy schedule of Sleeping Souls big shows to join in with the celebrations in January. Also coming back for 2023 are Goldie Lookin Chain, Toploader, Dub Pistols, Dreadzone, The Skatonics and The Beat ft Ranking Jnr.
Top Hip Hop and rap artists appearing at the Forum stage in 2023 are US superstars Slum Village from Detroit in April, Brooklyn’s finest Jeru The Damaja in June and Huey Morgan’s NYC Block Party returning in April after a sell out party last year at The Forum. English hip hop favourites Stereo Mc’s will be appearing in April plus General Levy, a true veteran of the UK urban music scene and one of the most in demand MC’s in the country, will be leading the dance party in February.
Alongside these established names, they will be hosting loads of exciting new acts, just like Welsh indie punk band, Panic Shack who are permanently on Radio 6 and just toured with Yard Act. In April, Benefits, an issues-based music collective from Teesside, North East England will perform songs about the urgencies that concern them and play them loud. See them at an intimate show before they are massive!
The Forum’s annual festivals will be back – ‘Unfest’, ‘TW Literary’ festivals (both in May) and ‘Local n Live’ – even bigger and better for 2023.
They will also be hosting some of the most influential bands and artists who have been plying their musical craft for over 4 decades:
Jah Wobble (Public Image Ltd) has entranced the world with his hypnotic bass riffs combining global music, reggae, fusion and punk influences will be playing in November.
Southern rock legends Molly Hatchet are playing a show this summer. Alongside Lynyrd Skynyrd, ZZ Top & The Allman Brothers band, these guys defined that 70s road fuelled and country-firing rock n roll that folk have all grown to love. They will be playing an intimate show in July.
There are tons of other things in the works so keep an eye on listing at www.twforum.co.uk or their social media pages as other top shows and surprises will be announced soon.
