The History of Loud Promotions at Wilbarston
Concerts
at Wilbarston Hall started when Mick MacLeod and Jed Stone and
their band Raw Deal played at Bill Tweedie’s wedding on 10th
June 1989.
It
was such a success that soon after on 2nd December 1989 the
first
‘self-promoted’ gig took place when Mick and Jed booked a band and
Loud
Promotions was born. The
name “Loud” was invented as a broken old rubber
stamp was used to stamp the hand of ticket holders at the door. The name
Loud being what was left of the MacLeod stamp! We still use the Loud
stamp to this day.
Mick
and Jed were helped by unpaid volunteers, who like them, loved
Blues-Rock music and wanted to bring it to our region. One such volunteer
was
local villager, young James (Jim) Smith, who enthusiastically helped Mick
run
the shows and gradually took over responsibility for running Loud
Promotions
when Mick decided to stop due to family commitments. The shows are still run
by
volunteers and are run for the music’s sake, and not to make any money.
Jim
had some grand and adventurous ideas and decided to go for bigger named
bands. His first really big name was Jools Holland who played at
Wilbarston.
Imagine Jools’ shock of playing in such a small hall, with his eleven-piece
orchestra
on stage, and Jools banging his elbow on the audience while he play the piano.
As
soon as he came off stage, he asked if he could come back as he had had
such a great time - and he did. More and more famous names began to appear with bands
and audiences coming from all over the world to the now famous Wilbarston
Hall concerts promoted by Loud Promotions.
On 10th May 1997,
a Saturday afternoon before a concert, Jim tragically died
in a car accident. The show went on that night but under a terrible
atmosphere.
The volunteers who help run the gigs organised a tribute show for Jim on
later
that year and the famous Bernie Marsden (the original Whitesnake member)
put
together an all-star band for the occasion. Such was the reputation and
respect
for Jim Smith and Loud Promotions.
The
end of Loud Promotions was imminent, but for Jim’s sister, Alison, who
decided to take over from her late brother and continue Loud Promotions,
which
is where we are today. The shows are still run by volunteers, and you still get
the
famous “Loud” stamp on the back of your hand when you present your
ticket
at the door.
The
unique friendliness and atmosphere of Wilbarston hall is the big
attraction
for both bands and audiences. The intimate nature of the small venue gives
the
audience the chance to see and hear their favourite Blues-Rock bands close at
hand,
and often meet them face to face after the concert for a chat and to sign
autographs.
www.LoudPromotions.co.uk
web site was launched in 1997 and contains full details
of up and coming shows as well as a list of the bands that have performed
at
Wilbarston over the years. Nearly 100 famous names such as Chris Farlow,
Canned Heat, Dr. Feelgood, Georgia Satellites, Hamsters, Jools
Holland,
Moody Marsden, Magnum, Nils Lofgren, 9 Below Zero, Peter Green,
Pat Travers,
Paul Jones Blues Band, Roger Chapman, Walter Trout and the
Radicals,
Wishbone Ash and The Yardbirds plus many more
have appeared at Wilbarston.
Blues-Rock
bands regularly come from Europe and America to this sleepy
little village. Even the audiences travel from as far a field as Scotland,
Kent,
Cornwall, Essex, and London to Wilbarston. There are regular visitors from
The Netherlands and we even had one fan come from Japan to see his favourite
band !
Due
to falling audience numbers during 2003 it looked like Loud Promotions may
close,
but we bounced back with two shows later that year. The sell out Walter Trout and the Radicals
on 10th October, followed by a festive and fun Christmas
show.
2004 enjoyed some great sell out shows and
we continued through to 2007 where we
ran our
"best of the best" year as a tribute to Jim Smith. The year was a
great success where we had
our "best of the best" ably supports by some great new bands to appear at
Wilbarston.
And as the Loud Promotions T Shirt says The Story So
Far...
Loud Promotions 2007
