After the disastrous concert at the Winter Gardens the other night I felt inspired to write an article about the Blackpool music scene.
The Winter Gardens [occasionally] hosts some very good bands, I saw the White Stripes there at an excellent gig in 2005 but we seem to lack a regularity in the appearance of these bands.
Even our own homegrown Little Boots has yet to play for a home crowd always going to Pretend City instead (much to my great dismay as I am a big fan her album is excellent). But after getting annoyed about her choosing Preston instead, she does have a point when she says there is a lack of decent proper sized music venues in Blackpool.
West Coast Rock Cafe hosts some excellent local bands in its ‘Club Above’ and it is great to see local talent being championed which I have word to believe Radio Wave seeks no interest in doing!
But I would like to see more big bands and acts in Blackpool after all we have the perfect setting, we are an entertainment/leisure resort. The trouble is we do lack a proper venue.
In the ideal world I would like to see an arena like the MEN/Liverpool Echo, the latter which doubles as a convention centre (for all the ‘build a boring conference centre brigade’). I was at the MEN last week actually and it is a fantastic place, it would create new jobs, boost the economy and it is something locals and outsiders alike could use unlike a conference centre. It would open a new market of people coming for shows and events like me and my girlfriend or friends do in Manchester.
However I would also like to see a medium sized venue something like the Manchester Academy, then we could host all the mainstream bands which ‘don’t do arenas’ including our own Little Boots.
These are the sort of venues we need to host a wide range of bands that are either occasional visitors or never seen in Blackpool and would boost the economy too.
The trouble with the Empress Ballroom is it is too big for some acts and too small for other acts, so the acts will come there are relatively limited.
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I happen to know of a HUGE concert lined up for May at the ballroom.
I hope they have the roof sorted by then….
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Really, any clues as to who it is?
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After looking at the tour dates its no secret lol,
Pendulum
They played a year ago in the Tache when they were much less well known, and bits of the roof started falling off in there.
Looks like they would demolish the Winter Gardens
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lol Pendulum in the Empress?
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Just attended the opening of The Factory in Manchester on Friday. This a new venue for live bands and indie/rock music. I too would like to see something like in Blackpool but the licencing people need to help out here as well! Pretty much all the venues in Blackpool are only for over 18′s. If you have an under 18′s gig you can’t sell alcohol. There needs to be a compromise as they do in Manchester and other large towns and cities. The Enter Shikara gig was a joke! WTF have Blackpool Council been spending £1,250,000 a year for? I thought it was for the upkeep of the winter gardens? ESP the Empress ball room!
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Who are Enter Shikara lol
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It’s a cross between a latino diva and a Japanese martial arts movie
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With the WG being owned by Leisure Parcs, they didn’t invest the money so it’s not directly the Council’s fault – and you wont hear me saying that very often!
But I agree that we need to become far more flexible in order to accommodate the changing tastes of people. I’m not particularly arsed about going to watch live bands but I accept that it’s a massive plus if the facilities are there.
How do they handle the licensing in Manchester?
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My point exactly I am a huge fan of live music and it frustrates me that like most things I have to travel to Manchester or Liverpool to get it. I would love to see somewhere like The Factory in Blackpool. Good point about the licensing. I think the ‘saturation policy’ needs to be scrapped or at least clarified. I agree with clamping down on irresponsible establishments but some of the out of touch councillors on the licensing panel are acting as though it is a blanket ban on giving out licences. There are quite a few empty clubs and bars around the town centre especially on the ugly Palatine buildings. So what are they going to do say ‘no you can’t have a licence we are full’ it is ridiculous. The saturation policy should be a ‘quality filter’ on new establishments NOT a blanket ban.
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