BOOKING a top quality headline act is the priority for organisers of Jersey Live as they try and bring a similar event to Guernsey. But it won’t be called Guernsey Live. They tried in vain to put on a music festival at Saumarez Park last year but were unable to book a headline act. There were problems with the venue.
But an application has been put in to Environment to hold the music festival in May at the Track.
‘It won’t be called Guernsey Live because we want to give it a different theme in Guernsey,’ said Warren Holt, Jersey Live co-director.
‘But it will be along the same lines as what we did in Jersey.’
Last year’s Jersey Live was a massive success with top UK acts including Kasabian, The Fratellis, The Super Furry Animals and DJ Format wowing the crowd.
‘We tried to put on an event in 2007 but it was a little bit difficult because there are residential restrictions at Saumarez Park,’ Mr Holt said.
Finding a suitable headliner is still a problem for organisers as there are so many other festivals throughout Europe which Mr Holt claimed pushes the artist’s fee up.
‘We are just at the preliminary stage at the moment but everything has been positive so far,’ he said.
‘The problem with finding a headliner is that the market is so saturated. There are so many festivals about at the moment and they all have much more buying power than us.
‘Artists get much bigger offers from other festivals.’
But Mr Holt said he was confident of securing an act of the same calibre as Kasabian or The Thrills, who headlined the first Jersey Live.
‘We are trying to put a few things together and push forward with trying to get a headline act,’ he said.
‘We know we can please the authorities in terms of safety because of the experience we have, but getting a headline act is our priority.’
He added some British bands commanded a six-figure appearance fee.
‘A band such as the Arctic Monkeys are probably out of our reach because they are too big now,’ he said.
‘You are talking really big figures for them.’
Mr Holt said there seemed to be a lot of support from islanders in wanting a live music event, big enough to attract UK acts.
‘We get feedback through our website and it just seems as if it would be a great thing to put on in Guernsey,’ he said.
‘People said there was nothing in Jersey before Jersey Live and the kids have absolutely loved it.
‘It has now become like an institution and we are really looking forward to doing the same in Guernsey.’
The Track is owned by Belgrave Wanderers Football Club and Hilary Sarre, secretary of the Amalgamated Committee, said the committee still had to grant permission for the event to take place.
‘In principle, we think it would be good for the island and the Track is the right venue for it,’ he said.
‘We are used to handling big crowds and we think youngsters in the island need this sort of concert because the rest of the world has them.
‘We are fully supportive of this event, it just needs the permission of different committees.’
Article posted on 9th January, 2008 - 12.00am
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