Sat 26 July
Peace & Ecology Festival
St Luke's Church (bombed out church)
Top of Bold St, Liverpool
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Alun Parry Blog
What Did I Tell You About The Culture Company
So the city council and the "culture" company have axed Liverpool's Mathew Street Festival with only three weeks notice. Sarcastic applause!
I wasn't personally booked to play at the festival as I had other commitments with the release of the album being on the 25th.
So I can say this without there being any sense of personal sour grapes.
What a bunch of bloody morons!
All the doubts I had about The Culture Company that you can read about in a recent blog are now confirmed.
How many tourists had booked hotels and flight tickets to visit our city for this great event? What happens to them now?
And all this on the bank holiday weekend that directly leads into the precise date of Liverpool's 800th Birthday. All this on the 50th anniversary of John meeting Paul!
How apt that this is as a result of building work! I've seen plenty of that in the run up to 2008. But what of the culture?
Let's put it this way, I organise almost 400 music nights in Liverpool every year. I've not heard a jot from anyone at The Culture Company. And any advances I've made to them have been rebuffed or lost in a maze of being passed to the wrong people who then pass me onto the wrong people until one can only give up and scream.
I've even heard reports from one senior local trade unionist that plans for a Liverpool Trade Union trail were ignored. What idiocy. The history of the labour movement is a key part of the social history of the people of Liverpool.
A history trail based on our struggles will be a fantastic addition to the capital of culture celebrations, but they didn't want to know. Thankfully the union movement is planning to go it alone on this one. A lesson for us all in my view.
The Mathew Street Festival is a flagship event, this year more than any. And it's cancelled because of building works.
Can someone drag Ricky Tommo out to yell Capital Of Culture My Arse!
I think those of us involved in grassroots organisation of the city's cultural events, and those performers and artists who actually do it, should take this as a signal that no longer should we leave this kind of stuff to this incompetent elite.
It's time for us to ignore these buffoons and do it for ourselves.
Who is up for it? WE are the people. WE are the reason this city is what it is. Let this be the start of a movement for a People's Capital of Culture that goes from the grassroots, is organised by US, and bypasses these balloons and their fancy titles who clearly cannot be trusted to do it properly.
5:19 PM | Permalink
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Total wankers !!
I approached them , when they first set up ,
to put my company in the hat for work in 2008
and run up .
I have a great track record in the city as ClearCut PA and have supplied the Phil and Bluecoat
and dozens of other venues with PA since 1998.
I was told .. the person concerned has recently 'left' the culture co ...
that if I wanted work I would have to pay
a £5000 bond ( non returnable ) to them
to prove that I was a BonaFide company !!!
Now none of this is provable ..
as it was a telephone conversation ..
& I don't wanna get sued ..
You decide ... does it ring true or is it fiction ?
So now the Culture co has so far destroyed
the River Festival ,
the Shanty Festival ,
and
the Mathew St / Beatles Festival ..
Put 99.95% of all PA work ...
out to a Manchester PA co ...
But hell we're Scousers ..
why should the 2008 Capital of Culture
benefit Liverpool and Liverpudlians ??
I hope they all rot in hell !
Tim Tapling
Posted by
Tbone |
Friday, August 03, 2007
Well said Al you might want to get people to sign petition at
http://www.petitiononline.com/mattfest/petition.html
All the best
Steve C
Posted by
Anonymous |
Friday, August 03, 2007
I left Liverpool Just over a year ago and moved to Cornwall to start a course. The Matthew street festival is one of those times when Liverpool seems to bond and not just with fellow scousers but with people from around the world who come to visit specifically for that weekend. One of my favourite times in Liverpool which I was dissapointed to have missed last year and wanted to come to this.
Living in a small part of Cornwall the community spirit here has blown me away, something I've seen die away in Liverpool over the few years I've been alive. However certain occassions such as the Matthew street festival re-create that carnival/street party feel especially over a sunny bank holiday when everyone is just up for a good time. I'd go so far to say there is less violence over that weekend than a standard weekend out.
Cancelling the festival is a step to far Capital of culture, by the time 2008 is here all of Liverpools culture will be dead, to be replace with what?? New buildings and a lingering memory of our history??
But y'know what the hell do locals matter when there is international money to be made...
Posted by
Chris |
Friday, August 03, 2007
Well it was almost inevitable that the Mathew srtreet festival was cancelled with three weeks to go! The overated,overpaid,Culture company couldn,t run a sweet shop!
There are several sites in around the city centre that this festival could take place! eg-
St Georges plateau, Otterspool park,Sefton Park,Calderstones(utilising the stage), LIPA,tHE ALBERT DOCK floating stages,The Ferrys, etc the CC people have no vision or thoughts on the musicality of the area,it's just another quango of rip off money oriented parasites QED! the Vigilate man.
Posted by
Anonymous |
Saturday, August 04, 2007
Mathew St festival being cancelled is an absolute joke, its made a mockery of the city and the fact that these people are in charge of displaying liverpool's culture is a disgrace.
you'd surely pull out all the stops to make sure it went ahead? i'm sure they'll make it up to us by building another fountain
Posted by
Dave Smither |
Saturday, August 04, 2007
I couldn't agree more, Al. Calling it a fiasco doesn't do it justice. As you know, I run a monthly poetry and acoustic music event which has been going since 1998. I also host a podcast which helps to promote (amongst others) Local acoustic musicians. The things that we do are the real culture in this great city of Liverpool. Maybe we should turn our backs on the Liverpool Kulcha Kumpany and start a Fringe Festival. Anyone up for it?
Posted by
Graham Holland |
Saturday, August 04, 2007