Warwickshire News Mine

The bands were the latest acts to play Rugby Library as part of the national ‘Get it Loud in Libraries’ tour, which Warwickshire Libraries have welcomed into the county.

Monday night’s gig, at which the bands played to a very enthusiastic Rugby audience, followed another successful performance at the library by Plan B back in March.

As well as playing tracks from their latest EP, Dreams of Another Day, The Crookes held a Book Swap for their fans and stayed around after the gig to sign CDs and have their photos taken.

Prior to the Rugby gig, the bands had been travelling around the country to play in other libraries – but this was The Crookes’ first ever visit to Rugby and to Warwickshire.

Crookes front man, George Waite, said: “The library’s lovely – one of the best we’ve seen. One of the best things about doing gigs in libraries is they’re open to all ages, so people who are usually turned away from gigs because they’re not old enough can just walk in, come with their mates.

“For them, it’s just amazing that a band is playing somewhere they can watch them. The audiences have been really enthusiastic, which is wonderful for us. It’s a lot of fun playing to people who enjoy what you’re doing.”

The Crookes met as English Literature students at the University of Sheffield, making the library tour particularly special for them.

Crookes guitarist, Alex Saunders, said: “Our music’s informed as much by other musical inspirations as well as it is by literature. Danny (Hopewell, guitarist), who writes the lyrics, really takes a lot of inspiration from different types of literature. So to actually come and do libraries is a real hands-on way for expressing our love for both books and music.”

“We are really excited to get two popular bands so soon,” said Paul MacDermott, Audience Development Manager for Warwickshire Libraries.

“Rugby Library works really well as a live music venue and the staff there are fantastic - so enthusiastic.”

The brainchild of Stewart Parsons of Lancashire Libraries, the ‘Get it Loud in Libraries’ project proved so popular it won national support from the MLA (Museums, Libraries and Archives) and is being rolled out across the country.

Brit Award winners Florence and The Machine and Adele as well as Bat For Lashes and Juliette Lewis have also played in local libraries since Get it Loud was launched in 2005.

‘Get it Loud in Libraries’ aims to get young people (14 to 25) - who are the lowest users of libraries - through the doors via their love of music.

Stewart explained: "The aim is to present the best of pop culture and new music in the traditional library setting, months before many of the acts break through, and also allow young people a great, often ‘first time’ time in a library."

To find out more about Warwickshire County Council’s Libraries and Information Service including details of your nearest library, visit http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/libraries.

Link to WCC