Local bands will have chance to play at St George's Hall, thanks to a new scheme called BD1 LiVE, aimed at bringing younger audiences into the venue.
The team behind local music fanzine Mono and gig promoter Granadaland recently met with representatives from Bradford Theatres to discuss the possibility of expanding the range of gigs on offer at the concert hall.
Following the talks, a series of gigs under the name BD1 LiVE is being launched next week giving local acts chance to perform at the venue, working with a full stage crew. A pot of funding has been provided by Bradford Council, enabling up-and-coming local bands to stage the kind of large-scale gigs they wouldn't normally be able to afford.
The concerts will expand the range of music at St George's Hall, pulling younger audiences in.
Gerry Clifford, deputy manager of Bradford Theatres, says the scheme is building on the success of gigs held in the city last summer as part of Bradford's first youth festival.
"We held rock concerts at St George's Hall and the Alhambra Studio, that's when the idea initially started for a regular series of gigs," says Gerry. "We became conscious that locally we weren't doing anything to get younger audiences in. Working with Mono and Granadaland, we developed the idea of getting local bands involved.
"The first gigs will be held as a pilot season in May, June and July with the intention of putting on regular gigs in the autumn, when we'll build on it even more. It's a great chance for local bands to play on the St George's Hall; stage-wise they'll be working on a full capacity and they'll have the experience of working with our stage crew and technicians, just as professional bands do."
With most big name and rising indie bands bypassing Bradford to play at Leeds, Gerry hopes BD1 LiVE will help to attract bigger rock and pop bands here too.
"We're looking at using the venue in a different way," he says. "It's true that some bands go straight to Leeds venues like the university and the Cockpit at the peak of their career. Hopefully this new direction will put us on a different footing so we can attract some bigger names to Bradford."
Anthony Neeshaw, aka Neesh, from Mono says BD1 LiVE marks a "new era for live music in Bradford".
"The main aim is to get some national, signed touring bands to headline the shows while simultaneously giving local unsigned acts an opportunity to play on a bigger stage and so to a wider audience," he says. "It's a tremendous opportunity for Bradford artists. At each of these initial events there will be local and national press and other assorted music industry types in attendance."
The launch night is Friday, May 25. Headlining the gig is Leeds-based five-piece Duels, who released critically-acclaimed debut album The Bright Lights and What I Should Have Learned last summer.
The other acts are Shipley folk pop singer-songwriter Laura Groves; Bradford indie rockers Analog Bombs, whose influences range from Squeeze to New Model Army; and Monty Casino, a Bradford three-piece who write likeable pop songs about subjects as diverse as cycling races, ageing, comedians and communist icons. Their influences include The Futureheads, Forward Russia, The Research and broken synths'.
"We want to make this concert a very special event," says Neesh. "We see this as marking a new era for live music in Bradford and we've tried to make it as accessible as possible by keeping the ticket price low.
"We think £4 to see four bands, with Duels headlining in this beautiful and historic concert hall, is a bargain in anyone's wallet. But we need the support of Bradford gig-goers to make this work. So if you care about the future of live music in the city, come down."
BD1 LiVE is at St George's Hall on Friday, May 25 from 7.30pm. For tickets ring (01274) 432000.
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