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Music festival idea to replace failed Shrewsbury Quarry concert
Friday 3rd June 2011, 2:52PM BST.
A music festival featuring Shropshire bands could be organised at Shrewsbury’s Quarry to replace this summer’s cancelled 80s concert.
The show had been due to feature the likes of Kim Wilde, Marc Almond and Kid Creole and The Coconuts on July 16, but it was called off by the organiser IML Concerts with the company blaming “circumstances beyond our control”.
The recreation and leisure committee of Shrewsbury Town Council has been discussing the possibility of a replacement show as well as taking steps to help prevent future events being cancelled.
Councillor Jon Tandy said he would like to see a music festival which focused on bands from the Shrewsbury area take place on the day.
- Who would you turn out to see in the Quarry?Are you a member of a local band that would be interested in taking part? Send us an email at newsroom@shropshirestar.co.uk or call (01952) 241456. And if you are in a band, why not include one of your songs as an mP3 and we’ll put it on shropshirestar.com
“We have got this day free and local bands and local people could make use of that area.
“We have got the perfect venue. We could do a brilliant festival of music and it would be a sell-out,” he said.
Councillor Tony Durnell said organising a concert could be dependent on whether the council could make use of the sound and stage equipment due to be used for the Status Quo concert on July 15 and would have been used for the 80s gig.
He added: “This is the second year running where the Saturday’s night entertainment has been cancelled by this promoter. That has let the town people down.”
Councillor Durnell said he would like to see a festival aimed at a younger crowd arranged for next year.
The committee agreed that the bond required by concert organisers should be increased from its current level of £2,000 to £4,000 to afford the council greater financial protection should future cancellations take place.
Councillor Dean Carroll said there may not be enough time to organise a replacement event for this summer.
“If we do something at the last minute, it might not be of the quality we desire,” he warned.
The Status Quo concert will still be going ahead, with organisers anticipating a crowd of about 7,500 people for the gig.
The rockers will be supported by 10cc.
Tickets have been priced at £35 for adults with children aged between five and 15 years old able to enter for £15.
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Easy:
get some local radio presenters down and run a shrewsburys got talent night.
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There’s at least two local band music events still due to take place this summer already!
Never Mind The Bullocks takes place at the County Showground on June 25th and Shrewsbury Fields Forever is being held in September.
Never Mind The Bullocks is raising money for Midlands Air Ambulance so it would be a great chance for people to hear some great local bands (Rattlesnake, Kenobi, Someone Else, The Greens, Scripted Youth…) while raising money for a great cause.
http://www.nevermindthebullocks.org
Not that I’m plugging it or anything… ;-)
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So long as there isn’t another trashy ‘ funfair ‘ parked in the quarry I couldn’t care less. Let’s see how the middle aged soft rock fans get on with status quo before the council book up a hardcore death metal act.
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Status Quo and 10cc! I bet da kidz really dig that.
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“We have got the perfect venue. We could do a brilliant festival of music and it would be a sell-out”
This is a good idea, but with respect, in order for the event to be a sell-out, you’d need to book a at least couple of diverse headline acts. Tickets will not sell out if the line up is soley made up of local talent.
Please see… Shrewsbury Fields Forever Festival in September. A mix of big names and local talent; perfect ingredients for a successful Shrewsbury festival!
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with just 5 weeks to go before any such event would be staged and with clearly no concept of what else is happening music-wise in the town, are the councillors mad or something? The costs of taking on the infrastructure, security, staffing, power, marketing, clean up, etc cannot be covered from ticket sales at this stage and it would be a case of following in the footsteps of the failed gig. If its local bands, who you can see for free or next to nothing, are enough people going to fork out for such an event. I’m all for a music festival in the town but not one that’s rushed through and not thought out properly.
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I read with great interest about possibility of Festival featuring local artists following the Status Quo / 10cc show.
With respect;
If the intention is to ‘sell out’ a concert, then ok.. It’s not likely to happen without a ‘named’ artist or two offering their services for free.. (Something which I might be able to help with.. – but that’s an aside)
Local artists might not sell out a concert at £15-£20 a pop, this is true..
But if the intention is to make the most of a facility and opportunity which is already in place, and which would otherwise go to waste..
Well..
It would be a terrible shame to let an opportunity like this go to waste, with the staging all set up!
Most especially from the point of view of the wealth of talented local songwriters, musicians and bands who would leap at the chance of playing, and also the goodwill and good feeling that an impromptu music day would engender in the local populace.
It’s eminently do-able.
Make it a free festival, or nominally charged to cover any overheads the council may incur.
The hardware’s in place, – I know technical and staffing help would be offered in volume, and freely, from Shrewsbury’s musical community, not to mention my own extensive list of professional contacts.
I have 27 years experience of organising, promoting and running live music,
especially one day events. I’ve organised, promoted and run one day festivals
for one of the most progressive music and entertainment groups in the Midlands, as well as putting on regular one day festivals
for a large West Midlands Council.
I’d be more than happy to do whatever might be helpful to see this happen.
(Including playing!)
Maybe give it an acoustic leaning. It would be easier to deal with, recruit and stage manage.
I’d be happy to use my experience and knowledge and contacts to recruit and create
a great bill of artists that would I would personally guarantee would make for
a most entertaining show, or stage manage, man the mixing desk, whatever!.
Someone Do please let me know if I can help!
Barrie Jones
jamplant@hotmail.co.uk
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Hi Guys, I am the area fundraiser for Hope House Childrens Hospices. This year we have got our first ever music festival in the Quarry on the 3rd September ‘Quarry Fest’ we wanted to bring something different into Shrewsbury for the Summer. We have got loads of amazing local bands performing from 6-10. The funds raised will go towards the costs of running Hope House as we have to raise £4.5 million pounds every year. If you need any more infomation or would like to buy tickets contact the fundraising office on 01691 671671 or go to our Hope House page Quarry Fest.
Thanks so much.
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