Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Summer gigs will go on – if allowed
THE promoter behind some of D u ndee’s most hotly anticipated gigs has pledged the shows must go on – unless the authorities tell them otherwise.
The Pussycat Dolls and DunDee 80s are due to be held at Slessor Gardens in July and August respectively.
And LHG Events has said the two events will go ahead as planned unless the ban on public gatherings is extended through the summer.
Meanwhile, George, a show celebrating George Michael at the Caird Hall, is still scheduled for May 4.
In an exclusive interview with the Tele, Liz DooganHobbs, chief executive of LHG, said she wanted nothing more than to be able to bring this year’s planned gigs to the city.
Liz said: “At this moment I am planning for everything to go ahead.
“However this is a very difficult situation we are in and things could still change.
“Until I am told otherwise I will still be bringing the Pussycat Dolls to Dundee in July and the 80s festival will still go ahead.
“Obviously the George show is much closer and I would expect to know by the end of the week if that can still go ahead or not.”
Liz said she had spoken with the artists and they were all still keen to come to Dundee to play if at all possible.
The chart-topping Pussycat Dolls are scheduled to come to the city on July 26 as part of their UK comeback tour, in one of the biggest concerts to be held in the City of Discovery in recent years.
Meanwhile, artists like Marc Almond and M People’s Heather Small had joined the line-up for the 1980s celebration in August.
Liz added: “Our first priority has to be the health and safety of everyone involved, from the public, to the acts to everyone who puts on the show.
“The safety of my own team is very important to me and we all have to be aware and take on board government guidance.
“However if we get the goahead the shows will go on. It is my heartfelt wish that things go ahead as scheduled.”
Liz said that if it wasn’t going to be possible to hold the gigs on the planned dates she would be looking to reschedule as many events as possible.
She said: “I have already managed to reschedule other gigs that haven’t been able to go ahead so far for either later this year or for next year.”
In recent years LHG Events have brought names such as Tom Jones and Little Mix to the city.