The Forum was the brainchild of four friends: Michael Oyarzabal, Peter Hoare,
Jason Dormon, and Mark Davyd, two of whom had previously been involved with the Rumble Club, an irregular music event that took place in a variety of locations in Tunbridge Wells during the period 1988 to 1992 – bringing bands such as
The Boo Radleys,
Lush and
Green Day to the area. It was the success of The Rumble Club that prompted them to seek a permanent location for their own venue. The Forum opened as a new music venue in January 1993 in a building on Tunbridge Wells Common which had been built as a public cold bath and was subsequently a public toilet and then a
brass rubbing centre. It has since hosted a number of acts who have gone on to achieve significant commercial success. In 2007, The Forum produced a parody of the cover of ''
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'', showing a selection of the better known acts that had played at the venue. In 2010, The Forum and one of its founders Jason Dormon were featured in
The Independent's "Happy List", profiling people who make Britain a better place to live. In 2012, the
NME voted the venue as Britain's Best Small Venue. The Forum has been credited as a key influence by people from the local area who have become successful in the music industry, including Jeremy Pritchard of
Everything Everything and
Slaves. ==Notable acts==