Take Note: As venues decline, we take odd detour

Lately, rather than having my feet glued to the carpet in some underground bar, I’ve visited some more salubrious locations.

Top indie act De Rosa performed amid steam engines and cranes at Summerlee Industrial museum, and then a folk gig in Roslyn Chapel. – yes, the 15th century church frequented by Tom Hanks in the DaVinci Code.

And The Damned’s Rat Scabies in his quest for the Holy Grail (which is a whole other book).

But are we steadily running out of ‘proper’ gig venues?

Katie Melua once gigged 303 metres below the sea and even The Beatles were forced to play on the roof of Abbey Road when they discovered that the O2 hadn’t been built yet.

Promoters Detour are renowned for their shows in odd places – on top of Ben Nevis, a snowy Scottish/English border, libraries (shhh), even a river (actually IN a river – wellies supplied).

But most impressive was death metallers Unfathomable Ruination’s who played in a six-foot, air-tight, soundproof cube until they ran out of oxygen.

Best of all, it was inaudible to the public.

Now, if Katie runs short of inspiration…