Blackpool based Almost Acoustic Club announce first live gigs inc Dave Sharp
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to devastate lives across the globe, the knock-on effect to nation economies being brought on by the various lockdown options are being felt – whole industries are struggling to adapt.
One of the hardest hit being the creative sector, all forms of theatre, and live performance was effectively shutdown in or around March and there is no real sign of an ease in the current restrictions. The live music sector has been devastated, multiple venues have already permanently closed, others are barely surviving via support from the Music Venue Trust and crowd funding initiatives. Sadly there seems little support from the Government, certainly here in the UK.
Various options have been trialled; drive in gigs, gigs where audience members are confined to pods etc, at this stage the best option looks to be limited audience seated gigs, gig goers are seated at tables to ensure social distancing rules are complied with etc.
Enter Alan Taylor, some of you will be familiar with the name; Alan is the Production/Festival Manager for the Rebellion Festival.
Rebellion 2020 was forced online, however the dates have already been confirmed for the 2021 event, this will be the festivals 25th Anniversary and organisers are working overtime to ensure the festival will be an appropriate celebration.
Alan is starting the Almost Acoustic Club at The Winter Gardens, Blackpool, the first artist to appear being:
Dave Sharp on Saturday 17th October 2020
Almost Acoustic
The Gallows Bar
Winter Gardens, 97 Church Street, Blackpool, Lancashire, FY1 1HL
Tel 01253 629600
Doors 5.30pm
Support Catlow, 6.00pm
Dave Sharp 7.15pm
10pm Curfew
Capacity is limited to just 90, based on tables of 4.
Dave Sharp has a long musical history, initially joining Seventeen in the late 70’s up until disbanding in 1980, alongside Mike Peters they formed The Alarm and went onto both national and international success. Dave currently performs solo to audiences across the globe, and has two full albums to his name; “Hard Travellin” (1991), and “Downtown America” (1996).
Support for the debut event comes from Blackpool based singer/songwriter Catlow, who has been involved in a number of bands and projects over the years (including Pink Hearse, The Poly-Esters), and is currently creating noise with punk rock band Death Trails. Pre-lockdown she regularly hosted a locally loved jam night, and in recent months has taken her folk/punk/blues style to the world of live stream gigs.
We spoke to Alan regarding Almost Acoustic who stated “I’m doing this for artists, punters and the Winter Gardens, so if it sells out, then the artists get more money, the venue sells more beer and I might be able to afford a taxi home! This is work in progress, but I want to somehow keep the live music scene going in some form” before adding “It’s not about the money, it’s about the music and the punters having somewhere to go to see it happening live, and to retain some sanity”
Further gigs are scheduled including a two night run in November with a very special headliner.
For ticket prices and booking information go to: Almost Acoustic Club
COVID POLICY APPLIES
The following is a Covid announcement from The Winter Gardens. For more information please go to the Winter Gardens web page.
The Winter Gardens Blackpool is Good To Go. We have been awarded the Visit England Were Good To Go Industry Standard. This confirms that Winter Gardens Blackpool meets the Government and Public Health Guidance on COVID-19 measures being in place to ensure a safe visit for our Guests.
