A Nottingham group is helping strangers make new friends through going to live music events.
Nottingham Gig Buddies is a group which started on the app Meetup and has grew into a thriving community both there and on Facebook that regularly gets shout outs on 6Music.
It started in 2009 and has over 6,000 members on Meetup and over 2,500 on Facebook which is where people are most active.
In the group, organisers set up get togethers for anything from global megastars putting on gigs in cities miles away, to local bars doing a TV show theme tune sing along.
Craig Chambers, 52, is an admin of the Facebook group and an organiser of meetups and has been an active member since 2015 and attending over 830 events.
He said: “There’s just so much on in the city, its so easy to organise a meetup because there are so many people who want to go to gigs, but not alone.
“It’s really wrong that people would miss out on seeing bands you would quite like to see because nobody is going.”
Many of the group make life-long friendships and Craig added: “I’ve met so many great people through the group, people I’ve met through gig buddies are now my main social circle”
“It’s a really decent group of people.”
People also travel in from other places outside of Nottingham to go to gig buddies events.
Cathi Mckillop, 48, went to her first Nottingham gig buddies meetup on Saturday May 10.
She said: “Its good to get out and meet new people.
“I live in Loughborough and I want to go to watch live music, but there’s just not a lot of nightlife like there was when I was younger but Nottingham is great for that kind of thing.
“I suppose it is a bit weird and different, when I told my family where I was going they were a bit shocked.
“Meeting up with 10 or so people you don’t know is a bit strange but its good to be out of your comfort zone.”
Many different people from different backgrounds attend events put on by gig buddies.
Craig said: “There’s a massive range of people, especially age wise, with the some people under 20 and some in their mid 60’s, but everyone is welcome.”
Nottingham gig buddies have an average of 25 events per month on Meetup, with 27 planned so far for the month of May.
You can join their Facebook group to get involved in their activities at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/NottsGigBuddies/
Or join their Meetup page at: https://www.meetup.com/nottinghamgigbuddies/
