Stars are lining up for town’s biggest concert
Last updated at 16:45, Wednesday, 01 April 2009
NOT just one but SIX massive stars are coming to Whitehaven for a mammoth pop concert.
The incredible line-up will feature Eighties legends Belinda Carlisle, Midge Ure, Paul Young and Rick Astley as well as Toyah and Curiosity Killed the Cat.
It will take place at Whitehaven’s sports stadium, Hensingham, on August 15 and tickets are now on sale.
The hugely successful Here And Now shows have sold out big arenas such as Wembley and the likes of Ascot. They bring the best of the stars of the Eighties together for a night of pure, feel-good nostalgia.
It is a massive coup for organisers, Whitehaven Festival Company, who wanted to build on last year’s successful Status Quo gig.
Promoter Gerard Richardson said: “It is going to be absolutely incredible, a complete and utter party night.
“We looked at a number of different acts and different styles such as classical or rock and in the process of talking to agents we heard about Here and Now,” he said. “They are selling out stadiums all over the place and we could not resist it. They had one spare date and said they would come up to Whitehaven.”
The main six acts will perform separately between around 7.30pm and 10.30pm, and there may also be some support bands.
“They are really classic acts and we wanted to do something really out there – it is about as strong a line-up as you can get from the Eighties,” said Gerard, chief executive of the Festival Company.
“You can book the artists individually but to get all of them is superb. It will be one act on, one act off, the crowd will be dancing all night long,” he added.
All the artists will be playing their major hits at Here and Now at Whitehaven.
The crowd can expect the spine-tingling Vienna, from the legendary Midge Ure. He will also perform a host of other Ultravox and solo numbers such as Dancing With Tears In My Eyes, Reap The Wild Wind and All Stood Still.
Heart-throb, Paul Young, will be firing out hits such as Wherever I Lay My Hat, Love Of The Common People and Every Time You Go Away. Rick Astley, who enjoyed a revival recently thanks to internet trend, Rickrolling, which led him to win Best Act Ever at the 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards, will be performing the UK's best-selling single of 1987 Never Gonna Give You Up as well as the likes of Together Forever and Hold Me In Your Arms.
Curiosity Killed The Cat will be performing their singles Name and Number, Hang On in There Baby, Down To Earth and Misfit.
And colourful Toyah will belt out classics such as It’s A Mystery and I Want To Be Free.
From the first Here And Now in 2001, the shows have become a runaway success and have been attended by more than a million people worldwide.
After selling 32,000 tickets and going down a huge success at last year’s Ascot, they have been booked for the venue once again.
The Whitehaven gig is nicely timed, coming the week after Whitehaven Festival which promises its own star attractions including top celebrity chef Jean Christophe Novelli.
Tickets are now on sale online, priced £35 plus booking fee, from the festival website www.thefestival. org.uk (just click on the Ticketmaster button).
A limited number of tickets will also be available from Richardsons’ wine shop on Lowther Street, Whitehaven, from this weekend.
First published at 15:47, Wednesday, 01 April 2009
Published by http://www.whitehaven-news.co.uk
Great news for Whitehaven,but despite living in Liverpool, Whitehaven has the special magic of a community,it will be something to remember.
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Have your say
If I was still living in Whitehaven, I would definitely go to this gig - a fun cheesy night out with some blasts from the past. Beter than some of the navel-gazing pretentious rubbish or reality-TV spawned pop the chart's filled with nowadays!
Posted by Carl on 4 April 2009 at 12:47