In the latest of his regular Blog's, Hillary Street-Ender takes a look at yesterday's massive announcement that Sir Elton John will be staging part of his much anticipated European Tour at Banks's Stadium next year.
Back in the summer, as we began in earnest to
look forward to the new season and made plans to attend pre-season friendlies,
I particularly wanted to be at the game against Wigan Athletic at Leigh Sports
Village. The game offered the chance to visit a stadium we’d never played at
before and probably never would again with the place being a bit of an oddity
in that it’s neither league nor non-league. Tickets were purchased and travel
plans made in vain, as the venue for the game was changed a couple of days
before the due date with the added frustration that the match would now be
played over three thirty minute periods behind closed doors meaning that we
wouldn't be able to see it at all. It turned out that the change of venue had
been necessitated by damage done to the Leigh playing surface during an Elton
John concert, something that brings us nicely around to the news coming out of
Bescot this week that Reggie and his rug will be stopping off to play a show
from his European tour on our hallowed turf in the summer of ’15. To be given
the opportunity to stage a show by such a major star – and they don't come much
bigger – is quite a coup for the club considering that he could probably have
chosen any outdoor venue he wanted although it has to be said that you'd probably have expected him to choose somewhere with a larger capacity. Maybe
it’s just that we’re cheaper? Of course, this isn’t the first time in recent
years that a musical event at Bescot has been announced. Anyone remember the
proposed UB40 show of a few years ago? The one where the acts dropped out one
by one when ticket sales didn’t take off and that ended up being cancelled when
it looked likely that there’d be more catering staff than fans present if it
were allowed to go ahead. I found it surprising that a show to be headlined by
a major band from just down the road had to be shelved like that considering
that Bescot is fairly small as football stadia go. Okay, UB40 aren’t the
Strolling Bones but you’d still have expected them to have little trouble
pulling in a decent crowd near their home town, so maybe nothing is absolutely
guaranteed.
The show stands to be quite a money-spinner
for the club and if staged with no major problems could well lead to more shows
in future years if WFC can build a reputation for staging large shows
successfully. If the club can pull off an Elton John show smoothly then why
shouldn’t other major acts follow? I can’t see any way in which this can be
anything other than a smart move by those running the club. This will be a show
by a man who’s a star on a worldwide scale so will be a real chance to put the
club on the map when it comes to staging major events of this ilk. Ticket sales
shouldn’t be a problem as EJ is one of those acts who seem to be recession
proof – are we still in a recession? You tell me – and there ought to be no
reliance on rapid sales during the week before the show. The announcing of the
show at this time of year proves that those behind it aren’t daft as a fair few
sales will no doubt be made with Christmas in mind with prices comparing
favourably with those for a Premier League game, particularly those of the PL
clubs in this area who seem to be offering precious little in terms of
entertainment and rapid costume changes.
Some will probably be concerned about
possible damage to the pitch and it’s probably true to say that staging the
event isn’t going to do it any good but the club will have factored this in
when making their pitch to stage the show which is due to take place on
Saturday 13th June, leaving almost two months until the start of the
2015/16 season which ought to be more than enough time to have the pitch looking
pristine in time for the big kick-off. Putting on such a show is a very big
deal for a club like ours so I feel that those who’ve made it possible are to
be congratulated both for impressing EJ and his people sufficiently for the
concert to be given the go-ahead and for being confident enough to take a step
into what’s pretty much the unknown. There are probably times when those
running WFC feel they can do no right but landing such a prestigious deal
reflects well on those involved, so they deserve a lot of credit.
Well done to all.
By: Hillary Street-Ender.