Opportunity of a lifetime
MUSIC talents in the North East are in with a chance of sharing the stage with the Happy Mondays at this year’s Lindisfarne Festival.
Organisers are inviting up-and-coming acts to enter an online competition to win a slot on the main stage supporting the ‘Madchester’ favourites at their headline gig there on August 31.
And the Happy Mondays themselves will be helping to pick the winner, who will experience star treatment by being flown in to the festival by helicopter to perform in front of a thousands of music fans.
The unique opportunity for budding talents will also include a further career boost for the winner in the form of a photo and video shoot as well as promotion on social media.
With 12 weeks to go until Lindisfarne Festival, now in its fourth year, the event has joined forces with the Musicians Against Homelessness campaign to launch the talent contest which is open to people nationwide.
It is expected to generate huge interest among bands and musicians trying to make their way in the notoriously difficult world of music.
Festival founder Conleth Maenpaa said: “This is an opportunity of a lifetime for unsigned artists, and we hope that for the lucky winner we can help springboard their career in the music industry.”
The competition is open to any unsigned acts who are being invited to submit an online entry form with a video clip showing them performing. A judging panel will draw up a shortlist of 12 from the competition entries which will then be open to public vote from July 1-8 to whittle down applicants to a final five. The Happy Mondays, including Shaun and Paul Ryder and Bez, will become involved in the latter stages of the contest to help pick the winner who will join them at the festival which attracts a 4,500-strong capacity crowd. The home-grown coastal event – which takes place at Beal Farm in Northumberland, overlooking Holy Island – runs from August 30 to September 2 and the Happy Mondays are to be the headline act on the Friday. As well as enjoying a high-profile arrival at the site, courtesy of Northumbrian Helicopters, the competition winner’s name will be added to the main stage line-up – alongside the likes of The Showhawk Duo, Dub Pistols and Skinny Lister – and the VIP prize perks will also include an interview with radio platform BBC Music Introducing; a photo and video shoot before and during the performance and then a feature on new music site Northern Exposure. The festival always likes to showcase a mix of established acts and new music talents and, in all, there will be more than 150 live acts and DJs playing across the weekend, with The Levellers due to headline Saturday’s programme. Conleth Maenpaa