大象传媒

The Rockhouse name sits fondly in the memory banks of many music fans in Derby.

Of course the venue has always been synonymous with rock music but times change and all venues have to broaden their offer in order to survive.

Nottingham's Rock City

This was something we had to think about when we re-opened the venue in December 2008. So as well as catering for the venue's traditional customers, we've also tried to reposition the club as a credible live venue for music from a variety of genres.

We've set ourselves the challenge of changing the national perception of Derby as a city for live music.

Many touring acts put Derby in the secondary market, particularly compared to Nottingham which has long been seen as the established centre for live music in the East Midlands.

It feels like Derby hasn't had an awful lot to shout about in recent history and music fans have grown accustomed to travelling to Nottingham and beyond for their live music fix.

Our aim is to reverse that trend so that we see people from Leicester and Nottingham postcodes travelling to Derby for live music instead. The early evidence is this is already happening.

Since opening we've had shows from a number of high profile touring bands including The Pigeon Detectives, British Sea Power, The Rumble Strips, The Datsuns, Goldie Lookin' Chain and Hundred Reasons.

Foals

And just last week we pulled off something of a coup with appearances from Foals and Idlewild.

Our focus now is on meeting with music industry professionals to help spread the word about the emerging live scene in Derby.

We think our first few months represent a major achievement against a background of venue closures and general economic uncertainty.

Now we must continue that work to help take Derby even further as a credible centre for live music in the future.

Ian Evans, Rockhouse promoter