Over the last 5 and a half years, Bivouac has played host to, amongst others:

22-20s, British Sea Power, The Killers, Biffy Clyro, Cinerama, The Others, McClusky, X is Loaded, Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster, Dimestars (featuring Roxanne Wild), Jackie Leven, Ariel X, The Brakes, Sam Roberts, Tribute To Nothing, The Nothing, Selecter, The Supernaturals, Voodoo Glow Skulls and The Wedding Present.

Friday 2nd June 2000 saw the first ever Bivouac night upstairs at The Duke of Wellington pub in Lincoln, UK. The night featured three regional Lincolnshire bands which spanned the local music spectrum at the time.

• Laurie Bennett and The Models (from Lincoln), Kinks inspired original indie combo.
• The Blue Dots (from Grimsby and Lincoln), awe inspiring good time rockabilly.
• Sandfly (from Sleaford), indie folk crossover.

The night was a glorious success, and put in motion the beginnings of a new Lincoln (Bivouac based) music scene. The night was part recorded, and released by the Blue Dots as a live Blue Dot Album.

"Lets do the show right here!"

The City of Lincoln is approx. 35 miles North East of the city of Nottingham, and 35 miles South East of the city of Sheffield. Mentally, it's a lifetime away. 85,000 population. It's rural, and insular in outlook. This venue venture of ours was always going to be hard. We have had to fight the local's 'small town' vision, low expectations and unbelievable slowness. If you're a young musician in this town, the cry must have been 'Get Out If You Can'. But instead of losing yourself in London, or drifting into middle age by the time your twenty two, we decided to offer them a third route. Let's make it happen here first, and NOW!

We believe that every town/city needs a small cradle/nursery 'live music' venue. A venue to be a focal point for songwriters. The budding success stories of tomorrow, as well as, the 'have a go' teenagers and their mates, need a space to try things out. We decided to supply an intimate open room, with a decent stage, good sensible facilities and a professional attitude. The Bivouac, like all the other long term, small 'toilet circuit' venues in the UK (e.g. Glasgow's King Tuts), has been the natural home for both the local scene, and signed touring groups further up the ladder. On the Bivouac stage, the world can come to Lincoln, and Lincoln can learn to play to the world.

Over the years, the Bivouac has managed, despite local indifference or hostility, to maintain a regular program of gigs. Stuck to it's guns over 'Original Music Only Please'. Built up it's PA and Stage Lights. Played host to bands from America, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, Sweden, and of course, from all over the UK. And that had simply never happened before in Lincoln. We had a complete room and building 'make over' in Sept/October 2003. Finally, featuring heavily in a BBC 2 tv documentary, broadcast prime time at the end of November 2003, but shot intermittently throughout spring and summer.

The Bivouac has gone from

• the hostility of locals who refused to pay to see live music,
• to the belief that nobody famous would ever come and play here,
• to nobody here can ever manage to become famous,
• to this is the best thing ever and it just might work.

Hey, Mickey Rooney was right after all. "Lets do the show right here!"

The Bivouac has succeeded and will continue to succeed because it is based on sound principles, and it never gives up. Steve Hawkins (the promoter/sound engineer/proprietor of the Bivouac) never gives up. Byron and Lindsey (the Duke's Landlords) never give up, and as for Paul (the Barman), he wouldn't know what to do with himself if he was ever forced to give up! Winston Churchill's speech to the American Congress, during the second world war, still applies!

• June 2000 and we could only name 6 local bands playing original material.
• June 2004 and the number has risen to more than 42.

The Bivouac's Steve Hawkins would like to thank the following people who have contributed to it's development and ongoing success, as of Dec 2004:

Byron and Lindsey, Paul Andrews (the Duke's barman), Aidan Cooney, Richard Chesebrough, Simon Dowd, Barry Darra, Mo, James Fuller, Charlotte, Clare, Helen Hill, Anna Brown, Sarah Andrews, Alexandra, Sonja Jones, Simon Ward and Kiri, Chrissy and Lurch, Sam and Ben, Mick Benton, Naomi Wilding, MCD (Mad Crowd Disease), Rides The Bus, Kurt (Firin Blanx/Cockyerleg), Lincoln Brown, The Elusive Mr Hunt, Throne's Mike and Mark (DIY), Harry Johns (Eustacia Vye), High Society, Stabbed in Autumn, Vincent Ramsey (Planet of Sound), Jim (Sonic Sounds), Arthur Bassick, Wigley, Nathan Fairweather, Damo Waters (without whom 18 bands would have disbanded earlier than their allotted time), Steve Zapp (ITB), Ross Warnock (The Agency), Ed (The Agency), Garry and Paul (Smelt A Noise), Mark Ngui (Primary), Doug (Value Added Talent), Ian Armstrong, Harry Farmer, Dan and James (Free Trade Agency), Nick Mirsky, Pippa and all of the BBC 2 film crew, Lach and The Secrets, British Sea Power, Lockjaw Records, My Deaf Audio, Colorpool, Tim Young (Metropolis), Gemma Freeman (Underdog PR), Access To Music (Lincoln) for concentrating our young audience, Dave Mallet (Monks Rd College), Ye Olde Crowne Pub (Hot Food always available), Mike Lyon (Lincoln Chronicle), the 50% of Lincoln's Black Cab Drivers who will still take my fare, Office World (Lincoln) sadly deceased, every single band that has ever played the Bivouac over the last four years, every single audience member, and finally, but most wonderfully, Laurie Bennet (who showed me the empty, unused, upstairs function room at The Duke of Wellington in November 1999). Priceless!

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