WHERE have all the music venues gone? So asks Bullo Pill member Ben Jones. Tonight (Thursday) the Pill – www.bullopill.com – play live at the Stevenage Plaza s Hogshead alongside new kids on the block Look At It Go and town legends Gekko. But despite find

WHERE have all the music venues gone?

So asks Bullo Pill member Ben Jones.

Tonight (Thursday) the Pill - www.bullopill.com - play live at the Stevenage Plaza's Hogshead alongside new kids on the block Look At It Go and town legends Gekko.

But despite finding somewhere for his band to create some noise Ben believes there are not enough venues in Stevenage that are open to hosting local talent.

He said: "If I don't try and run the gigs then no-one will. Stevenage has only two live band venues, both of which are pubs and one of which isn't regular.

"I am not getting paid for running the gigs and the bands aren't really either, apart from a few drinks, so I'm not really a promoter. I just wanted to try and get another live music date going in Stevenage."

There are a few venues which host live music, most notably The Red Lion in the Old Town. However Ben thinks there are a lot of bands out there that would jump at the chance of finding more venues in which to play.

He said: "I have tried to set something up like this is so that bands can showcase their music without their friends having to pay £10 to go to a London venue and then pay £5 just to get in.

"Cobarnas was the only Stevenage club to try live music once a month and since that's gone we've been left with nothing.

"If more venues took a risk and put on live band nights, acoustic nights or even open mic nights just once a month then people might start to appreciate what a fantastic music scene we actually have here in Stevenage with some of the best bands in the country.