Local singing sensation, Kristy Gallacher
A THIRD year Coventry University music student has organised a 12 hour rock musical festival on the outskirts of the City on Saturday, May 9th, running from midday until midnight at the Spencer Sports and Social Club in Earlsdon, writes Adam Manning.
21 bands have confirmed their presence for the event with a few more yet to join the list of local bands. These will include LP45, a band full of ex-Coventry University music students, and female singer song writer, Kristy Gallacher – also an ex-Coventry Uni student, with both artists having supported well known music sensations, Nizlopi.
A former guitarist of local band Pressure Pill, Johnny Ross has managed to create the event in aid of the charity, ‘Missing People’. Although doing something for charity is an admirable gesture, Johnny’s other aim is to encourage musical interaction in the area, with opportunities like this providing the perfect platform for future successful bands that have originated from Coventry over the years, such as The Specials and The Enemy.
“From my own experiences playing in Pressure Pill, it seems that for new upcoming bands it can be difficult to get a foot in the door as it were, as a lot of the established local events and venues seem disinterested when it comes to putting on and promoting new types of local music,” Ross said.
He continued: “Hence why I wanted to personally pick bands that I thought would put on a great show, and also to give some bands that are just starting out the experience of gigging with some more well known local musicians.”
With renowned music festivals in the city that run for similar amounts of time, such as the three year old ‘Covfest’ festival and the charitable music event ‘Covstock’, what makes this festival different from the others?
Ross is trying to experiment in order to try and find another ultimate festival experience for the hardcore music fans of Coventry to attend
“My concept was to get all the artists together under one roof for a day of music, so that people could come down, spend the day and not have to leave the venue to trek around town to see different bands.”
Ross is trying to experiment in order to try and find another ultimate festival experience for the hardcore music fans of Coventry to attend. Students shouldn’t be fooled by the event title ’12 hours of rock’ either, with fans certainly getting value for every penny that they pay to see the event.
“There are a wide variety of musical acts playing, from acoustic acts of the folk and singer-songwriter variety, through to punk, metal, indie, alternative, classic rock and more.” Ross confirmed.
Admission is £2 to the main hall where the electric stage is and all main acts will perform, but the entry to the acoustic and bar room is free. Food and drink will be available throughout the day and all money raised will be given to the charity Missing People.
The charity has shown its importance in society for trying to reunite loved ones and the potential to grow on the difference it can make to the families of 220,000 people that go missing on average in any one year, with Missing People receiving around 20,000 enquiries a year on average for advice.
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