A Bolton acoustic night is back with more talent than ever.
Once a month, in Bolton Little Theatre’s intimate black-box Forge Theatre, punters can watch eight musicians play unplugged for £3.
And from September 27, the night will re-launch as Forged in Bolton.
It will have local musicians, but also poets and spoken word performers.
Bolton Little Theatre’s acoustic night has been on for 14 years without much promotion.
Dean Lane, co-organiser of Forged in Bolton, said: “Singer-songwriter Tony Walsh and his daughter Cami have been running it, but only now has the theatre started to push it officially.
“It started out very popular.
“But, in recent years, we’ve not had many people coming in.
“The theatre seats 60. And over the past few months, the audience has been about half that.”
Dean, a singer-songwriter, has performed on the acoustic night around 20 times and volunteered with Bolton Little Theatre for years.
He said: “It struck me that people coming to see plays at the theatre and even volunteers didn’t know about the night.
“And a lot would be interested.”
He said: “When people have come [to our night] for the first time, they were surprised at how good the show is.
“I’ve heard people say, ‘How have I not heard of this place?’
“It’s quite tucked away.”
And Forge Theatre was a small, active stage.
Dean said: “It often had plays in production.
“Sometimes on the acoustic night, the wall was painted with a prison or kitchen pattern.
“It felt like we were just using the space and not meant to be there.”
When he joined the theatre’s board of directors, he wanted to do what he could to promote the night and “give it a push”.
He said: “I got the go ahead to relaunch it and give it a new name, Forged in Bolton.
“I offered my help because I know quite a few acts and am pretty experienced with mixing a bill.”
He and co-organiser Cami Walsh decided to expand.
He said: “We wanted more artists to perform, not just music but spoken word, band duos, artwork, anything they wanted to show.”
And they wanted to give them opportunities.
Dean said: “There are spoken word artists in the North West who can't go to an open mic night because they can't play guitar.
“We wanted every show to have one poet or spoken word artist.”
The night would have cosmetic changes, too. Artists would no longer perform in front of a painted set.
He said: “The theatre would have a backdrop with the Forged in Bolton logo.
“We planned to record the night with performers’ consent and put the videos and clips up on our new YouTube channel.”
He knew the venue would increase artists’ confidence.
He said: “Usually, you play in a loud pub and nobody’s really listening. It can make a new artist very self-conscious.
“Here, the audience is very respectful as they are watching what the singer-songwriter or poet has to offer.
“It's a perfect place to take a new song or idea.
“When you know you have people’s attention, it makes you perform ten times better.”
On September 27, Forged in Bolton will have seven acts and headliner Finding Gaz on at Bolton Little Theatre’s Forged Theatre at 7.30pm. Doors open at 7pm.
Forged in Bolton will be on November 22 and December 20 and February 21, April 11, June 13 and July 4 of next.
For more information, go to https://www.facebook.com/ForgedinBolton
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