Punks headline Bootleg's Independent Venue Week shows

Joining the initiative for the first time, the Topping Street bar and music club will host Glasgow band Baby Strange tomorrow and East Londoners False Heads - who count Iggy Pop among their fans - on Saturday.

Bootleg manager Milo McManus said: “Independent Venue Week is a great idea; getting massive bands into grass roots venues.

“We were in talks with IVW, and it just happened that Baby Strange got in touch as they were putting on an IVW tour and they wanted to play Blackpool; it was a perfect coincidence.”

Bootleg hopes to build on these gigs to stage a full week for IVW next year, but Milo said their lone position as a gig venue in the town centre was a challenge.

“The band scene is hard in Blackpool,” he said. “It’s not actually a good thing to only have one venue, as you need to build a music scene around a few places. And there’s not that many bands locally to be part of a scene either.

“Those we have had recently, for example Strange Bones, they want to push into bigger places but there isn’t anywhere for them and they have to go to Manchester... But the lack of venues is part of the lack of bands.”

Catch Baby Strange with fellow Glaswegians Rascalton and Blackpool’s own Nana White Pepper tomorrow and False Heads with locals The Slumdogs and Tiger Tribe on Saturday.