The roots of Newport’s place as a culturally significant centre for live music and musicians run deep, far into the beautiful mixing pot that is this city, reflecting the Port's wonderfully diverse and rich culture that runs back centuries.



In the 90s, the Newport music scene became particularly prevalent with the dawn of Brit Pop and the nationalistic vibe of the Cool Cymru movement. Propped up with an exquisite mix of live music venues like TJ’s and Le Pub, Newport Centre also played its part, catching bands on the rise to stardom, offering not only support opportunities for local bands, but much like the grassroots venues, offering inspiration for budding musicians from Newport and the wider south Wales area.



As the new century dawned, many of the bands that were spawned from the city were retreating to their day jobs and as record deals ran their course. Still, the music scene continued to grow and evolve, with the children of the kids of the 90s passing on their cultural heritage, creating the next generation of bands, performers, and artists.



Still standing from the grassroots venues of the 90s remains Le Pub. Now in a bigger home, as a 120-capacity live music venue, its part in the continuing growth of the Welsh music scene as a live venue and a place championing and giving space to local bands and talent is almost unquantifiable. It continues to provide a venue for national and international bands on the rise, for local bands both new and established and a welcoming space for the arts community of Newport and the wider Gwent area.



It's grassroots venues like Le Pub that have kept the music scene alive, and from this, we now see a new burgeoning music scene here in Wales – a new era of Cool Cymru, with a new generation of bands springing up in the principality.



However, these bands and so many others from across the UK and further afield are getting too big for Le Pub, drawing audiences of 300-500 at every gig. Of course, there are still plenty of bands to fill the calendar of Le Pub, but keeping and attracting these well-known bands with larger audiences is important for Newport for so many reasons both culturally and economically – so, let us introduce you to Corn Exchange, Newport.