The End of Live Music in Tavistock?


by Rebecca Morley


RECENTLY, I’ve been reminiscing about the music scene in Tavistock over the last 15 years and wondering what the future holds for live music showcasing in the town.


The Wharf, the headline act being Rootjoose, a Cornish funk band who had made some leeway into the UK charts, supported by a local band called Stevenson’s Rocket. My best friend and I had got the bus from her house in Calstock and were really excited about seeing the band especially going to the gig by ourselves (we were about 15 years old and had become best friends when we both discovered that the grunge band Nirvana were so much better than Take That; it was a mutual understanding of proper music that created our special friendship.) I still remember the feelings that I had that night, having seen and revelled in my first “proper” live gig and experienced for the first time the thrill of powerful bass speakers and the feeling of unity with the other audience members. There really is nothing quite like hearing live music!


This was the first of hundreds of gigs I would go to throughout my teenage years. My weekends were spent finding the best venues around the Tamar Valley (and beyond, when money would allow!) and experiencing all and any live music we could find. We would often go to the larger festivals such as Reading and Ozzfest and travel into Plymouth and Exeter to see the bigger name bands, but still, my most memorable and favourite live moments were always found on my own doorstep at Tavistock. On a Friday night a group of college


11 In 1997 I saw my first live gig at


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