THE Arctic Monkeys, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and The Killers are just a few of the bands to have graced the stage of a music venue preparing to celebrate its 30th birthday next year.

Since opening in 1993, The Garage, in Highbury, has hosted a “roll call of talent” along with a variety of emerging artists.

“It seems like it was just the indie venue – basically every band you could think of that were big played here,” said gig booker Conrad Rogan.

Mr Rogan says more must be done to the protect small venues that act as a springboard for tomorrow’s stars.

The Garage is split over two floors. While established artists traditionally play downstairs, emerging artists “on their way up” tend to perform in the upstairs room.

“We still champion proper new artists,” he said. To mark its 30th anniversary, Mr Rogan has been tasked with trawling the venue’s archives. He will be putting together a programme of “sporadic events to celebrate the history of the venue”, he said, inviting artists who have performed there in the past to return.

During his “deep dives” into the archives, he has uncovered “fundamental things” about the Garage that would otherwise have been lost to history.

Conrad Rogan

“We knew Arctic Monkeys played here, but when we did a bit of research, we found the flyer and it says on it ‘debut London show’ – it was their first time in London ever,” Mr Rogan said. But it is Arab Strap who will be kicking off the celebrations this August – the Scottish indie band first played at The Garage in June 1997.

They said: “We’d be in London a lot back in the day, and there always seemed to be something happening at the Garage while we were there. We must’ve seen loads of gigs there, including two of our favourite of all time: Plush and The For Carnation. We played there a few times too, including one particularly awful drunken night that may well have earned us a reputation for being a risky ticket.

“Rest assured we’re all sorted now, and can promise 100 per cent professionalism and around 80 per cent sobriety. Looking forward to it!”

For Mr Rogan, the celebrations mark a particularly historic moment for The Garage. “Thirty years is a real milestone for a venue these days,” he said. While The Garage has been enjoying one of its busiest periods in years, Mr Rogan warned the picture is not so rosy for other venues across the country.

An advert for a Pulp gig in The Garage’s early days in 1993

“Live music venues are just so important to so many people and the fabric of life in cities,” he said. “It’s getting harder and harder to run a venue financially. There’s just so many obstacles you’ve got to constantly jump over, and obviously Covid was a huge hit.”

Mr Rogan celebrates the “great work” of organisations like the Music Venues Trust who lobby the government to protect venues.

“There’s some great venues doing fantastic stuff, but there’s lots of struggles to overcome when it comes to rent, and all sorts of things like licensing.”

Venues are particularly under threat as landlords change them into residential blocks, Mr Rogan said, adding: “I know a lot of venues where the landlords who own the building have realised they can make more money as flats.”

He would like to see more robust protections for live music venues put in place by government and councils.

“We just had Glastonbury and [the performers] all started in small venues: everyone starts in a small venue and they’re so important for the artists. Arctic Monkeys are such a good example in the upstairs room,” he said.