Shakenstir » Liverpool 2008: A New Arena!

Liverpool 2008: A New Arena!

Liverpool 2008: A New Arena, A New City!

Much has been said and written about Liverpool over the years, the balance tips one way and then another, but sometimes the focus can be on the wrong things!

Now I don’t care what you the reader feels about the city - you may love it! You may hate it! But that’s part of the point; there are few cities in the world that divide opinions like Liverpool, 2008 Capital of Culture!. Sure it’s a bitter pill to swallow for many, but for me culture is about people, places and therefore Liverpool deserves its title. It’s a city built from the sea inwards and I’ve never felt so at home anywhere else, apart from New York City!

For me growing up in North Wales, Liverpool was the capital (Heresy!) Cardiff was and is further away from where I sit than London (and bloody harder to get to, nothing’s changed!). So the two major cities that I could reach within an hour where Manchester and Liverpool. Hell, even Dublin was easier and faster to reach than the Welsh capital. So I cut my teeth in the two cities of the North that boast a richer-than-most musical heritage. In 1976 I saw Chuck Berry play the Free Trade Hall in Manchester with my father, and The Ramones tear a new hole at Eric’s in Liverpool. This was the start of a rich vein of visits to both cities over the last 40 years, through The International, Apollo and M.E.N. Arena in Manchester, through The Empire, Royal Court and err, ah yes, Liverpool does not have an Arena… That is about to change…

January 2008 will see the opening of the Liverpool Echo Arena

It’s more than just a concert venue mind; it’s a multi purpose convention centre; but more about what they have coming on the inside later on. It’s the outside that’s the place to start. I went down to the O2 Arena in London to see Prince and as the former Millennium Dome, it’s an impressive building, just as Madison Square Gardens is in New York City, but I have been to Sheffield Arena, Birmingham NEC, Manchester M.E.N. etc, and they all seem soulless and lifeless from the outside & sound wise, a couple of them leave something to be desired…

So I got out of my car one day last week, the sun was setting as I stood on the banks of Birkenhead looking over the Mersey river at Liverpool, and The Echo Arena is stunning. It rises like a beacon on the edge of the city and first impressions are important. Well, the first here is one of magnificence. I drove through the tunnel, along the dock road up to this mammoth new building and the closer you get to it, the more impressive it becomes - even in the dark! So lit up and active it’s pure class. After going to one of the opening events at the new arena i can safely say that the inside is just as impressive as the outside!

I am so excited about there finally being an Arena in Liverpool. We have some amazing clubs where bands cut their teeth (Barfly, Zanzibar, Krazyhouse, etc.) Through some great mid-size venues up to 2,500 capacity (Carling Academy, Mountford Hall) but once an artist has become too big for them, we never see them again.

I’ve seen and promoted some of the biggest acts in the world in Liverpool (including Oasis, Korn, The Verve, Stereophonics, Rage Against The Machine, Travis, Moby) but I’ve then had to go see their ‘Full’ production tour somewhere else. I also produce a weekly Alternative radio show called The A-Train on Liverpool’s 107:6 Juice FM and it’s going to be really great to be telling people about The Foo Fighters and Coldplay playing Liverpool for it’s those Alternative Rock and Indie giant act’s that really are going to set this arena on fire and i can’t wait…

So the Liverpool Echo (& The Bunnymen) Arena has announced its opening line up and an impressive array of pop superstars await, along with the first visit to the city by the WWE (I Love Wrestling) and The Mighty Boosh bring mayhem to the city. But the jewel in the crown is the MTV European Music Awards coming from Liverpool in November 2008. The rest of Europe and the World will see a first class event at a first class venue in a first class City…

50 years ago two young boys met for the first time, (John met Paul), they became half of the four lads who shook the world, 50 years later, Music is coming home! I’ll see you there!!!

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