Be Here Now for songs from British legends
Music festival rolling into the Grand Hall
Music from some of Britain’s most popular bands will fill Kilmarnock’s Grand Hall this weekend.
Tributes to Kasabian, Oasis frontman Noel Gallagher and The Stereophonics will take to the stage alongside top local acts and DJs.
The all- day festival is the first of its kind from organiser Rory McEwan, who plays drums in Noel Gallagher tribute God Like Genius.
Members of his band have roots in Ayrshire and they encouraged him to book the historic Kilmarnock venue for their festival.
He said: “We did a tribute show last year in Glasgow and found the more you give people to watch the more interested they were in coming along.
“We thought the summer season is chock full of outdoor festivals so we wanted to take that out of the equation. The venue have been great from the moment we started talking to them.
“They are pretty experienced at getting big bands in there so it was the perfect venue for us.
“It means people can come and go as they please.”
Doors for the event open at 2.45pm, with the first band taking to the stage at 3.10pm – and with the festival scheduled to run until midnight, rock fans will have plenty to feast on.
And Rory hopes he has the perfect plan to keep the crowd’s spirits up throughout the day.
He said: “Another thing that we’re hoping will bring people along is the Fool’s Gold club night DJ set. He’s very popular, and seems to sell out wherever he goes, so it’s something else to add to the day.”
The Grand Hall’s reputation as one of the best music venues outside Glasgow is growing, with recent performances from rock icons Kasabian and Johnny Marr.
Influential Madchester outfit The Happy Mondays and legendary Scottish band Hipsway have already signed up to perform in the venue later this year.
And joining the top tributes on Saturday will be local groups Heeby Jeebys and Dukes and Poets. Organisers are hoping a successful first festival can help them to take Be Here Now to more towns and cities around Scotland.
Rory said: “Ticket sales have been good so far and we’re expecting even more to come on the day.
“There’s definitely a market for this kind of thing.
“I was speaking with the guy from Fool’s Gold and there’s definitely a market outside of the big cities.
“Kilmarnock works well for us because there’s so many outlying towns and villages.
“It’s hard work promoting events these days – even in smaller towns you’re up against a whole host of events.”
Tickets are still available from eastayrshireleisure. com or the Palace Theatre box office on 01563 554300.
A limited number of tickets will be available on the door on Saturday.