The Edinburgh concert venue rock bands cannot play in summer

The Herald Scotland

a day ago

The Ross Bandstand has been a permanent feature of Princes Street Gardens since 1877, yet its stage is almost always empty and the gates to its concrete spectator bowl rarely unlocked.
Tightened restrictions on staging events in the gardens, a dramatic increase in the cost of putting on open-air concerts and the current condition of the bandstand are all said to have led to a dramatic decline in its use in recent years.
Recently approved new curbs introduced by the city council for the summer festival period state that they will only allow free,' low-impact' events to be staged at the bandstand.
Experts say this amounts to a ban on the all-ticket pop and rock concerts that have packed out the gardens on summer nights as far back as the early 1990s.
Previous acts to appear during the summer include Franz Ferdinand, Belle and Sebastian, Orbital, Nick Cave, BB King, Tony Bennett, Bryan Ferry, Steve Earle, Joan Baez, The Waterboys, James and The Flaming Lips.
The only major pop and rock concert to survive this year is the Hogmanay concert in the gardens, which has fallen victim to bad weather three times during the history of the new year festival, most recently last December.
However, organisations of the new year celebrations have raised concerns over the increasing cost of staging shows at the bandstand, suggesting the lack of suitable facilities and access problems around the arena were making it increasing difficult to put on major events every year.
The possibility of replacing the existing bandstand was explored after the first Hogmanay cancellation in 2003-4, but the idea was shelved due to the lack of available funding.
The Ross Bandstand in West Princes Street Gardens is closed to the public for most of the year. (Image: Colin Mearns) A more ambitious vision emerged 10 years ago when a former owner of the Edinburgh Playhouse offered to help bankroll a new outdoor arena.
Norman Springford's vision won the backing of the city council, which agreed to support an international design competition which was eventually won by a team led by an American architectural practice.
Roddy Smith is chief executive of the city centre business group Essential Edinburgh. (Image: Colin Mearns)
However, concerns began to emerge over the level of development that would be needed in the gardens to deliver the £25 million project, which attracted opposition from heritage organisations, including Historic Environment Scotland and the Cockburn Association, before it was quietly shelved by the council during the Covid pandemic.
Although some basic infrastructure improvements have been carried out within the bandstand over the last decade, the venue has largely remained the same since it was built in 1935.
Large-scale concerts have been staged in West Princes Street Gardens since the early 1990s.Music industry insiders draw a contrast between what the Ross Bandstand is used for now and Kelvingrove Bandstand in Glasgow.
The latter is playing host to 20 shows this summer from acts as varied as Elbow, Billy Ocean, Camera Obscura, Beluga Lagoon, Midge Ure, Hue & Cry, Anastacia, Teenage Fanclub and Karine Polwart.
Ambitious plans to create a new open-air concert arena in Princes Street Gardens were shelved by the city council during the Covid pandemic.
Del Amitri, King Creosote, Echo & The Bunnymen, Ocean Colour Scene, the Hothouse Flowers and Glasvegas will be among the acts playing in Queen's Park, in Glasgow's south side.
However high-profile performers are conspicuous by their absence from the forthcoming calendar of forthcoming events at Edinburgh's historic outdoor gardens venue.
Crowds have flocked to open-air events in Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh since 1877.
The line-up includes a Polish National Day celebration, a Nepalese Cultural Festival, visits from two American choirs and a performance by a Norwegian folk band.
The Ross Bandstand arena was used in summers by promoters DF Concerts for shows by Scottish favourites Lewis Capaldi, Primal Scream, Simple Minds, Chvrches and Travis.
The Ross Bandstand was opened to the public for a screening of the coronation of King Charles and Queen Camilla in Princes Street Gardens in 2023.
Other acts who have appeared under the Summer Sessions banner in recent years have included Tom Jones, Paloma Faith, The 1975, Simply Red, James, Florence & The Machine and Madness.
DF Concerts chief executive Geoff Ellis said: 'The Ross Bandstand is one of the most iconic venues in the world. It is our equivalent of the Hollywood Bowl. Artists love it and audiences love it. We had people of all ages at our shows.
'But the only way we could make them work was to do a run of shows because of all the infrastructure that we put in. We effectively put a stage over the bandstand, which costs a lot of money to do.
'The council used to count the run of concerts we did as one event, which was great as it allowed us to put on multiple nights.'
Roddy Smith, chief executive of city centre business group Essential Edinburgh, admitted the future use of the bandstand is a divisive issue in the city, but insisted it was not acceptable for the facility to sit locked up for all but a handful of events.
He told The Herald: 'There is a lot of conjecture and argument in the city about what the Ross Bandstand needs to be going forward.
'It is an old, pretty ugly-looking structure which has seen better days, there is no doubt about that. The issue is what we do about it.
'There needs to be a real conversation about what we can do to improve things and turn it into a real community amenity that everybody can enjoy and which can be upscaled for the odd event.
'It should become a far more open space, with a lot more greenery, that visitors and residents of the city can use all the time, not just for five or six events a year.'
Al Thomson, director of Unique Events, said a revamp of the Ross Bandstand arena was around 20 years overdue.
He pointed to the success of a revamp of Kelvingrove Bandstand, which was relaunched in 2014, five years after the west end venue was closed down due to its poor condition.
He said: 'We would not be having this discussion now if that work had been done. We would have a performance space that is fit for purpose.
'Most cosmopolitan European cities have functional outdoor spaces for performance and art. You only have to look at the Kelvingrove. There wasn't a radical change and it's a smaller space, but you only have to look at how it is used now.
'Thankfully there was some work carried out at the Ross Bandstand to upgrade things a few years ago, but it is still really lacking in terms of how it could be and what it could be used for.
'The big issue with the gardens now is access. For an event like Hogmanay, when we are building infrastructure of scale we are really limited in terms of what vehicles we can actually bring into the gardens, which impacts on costs, as it takes longer to build anything. You also have the rail network right next to the bandstand.
'The most recent bandstand redevelopment project was looking at how to make it easier to bring in that kind of infrastructure, which would have saved time, impact and money had it gone ahead.'
The Cockburn Association, the city's most influential heritage watchdog, insists it recognises the 'historical significance' of the bandstand and would fully support a refurbishment, as long as the venue is only used for 'low impact activities".
It has stepped up its opposition to the gardens being used as 'a major performance hub,' citing concerns over the impact of large-scale events on public access to the gardens and its landscape".
Mr Ellis said: 'The council has come under a lot of pressure to change things from some of the residents who live in the area. They don't like the park being used for events and want it to be their back garden.
'The fact is these are Victorian pleasure gardens which were created for public enjoyment and entertainment. They were not built for the pleasure of rich people.'
Edinburgh-based broadcaster Vic Galloway said: 'I really like the Ross Bandstand and wish there were more concerts and events in there during the year.
'Aside from Hogmanay and occasional summer events, it's a shame it lies empty most of the time.
'The location of the venue is perfect, as it's in the dead centre of Edinburgh and near transport links, plus it has the greatest backdrop in the city. Having more events there may even bring more footfall to businesses on Princes Street too.
'As a cultural city and a capital city, Edinburgh should be hosting more outdoor events, as most other European capital cities do.'
Mr Thomson said: 'It would be great for the city if we could get large-scale concerts back in the gardens in the summer.
'We have seen how Edinburgh has established itself as a go-to venue for stadium concerts in recent years. The shows at Murrayfield are delivering a huge boost for the city. People are travelling from all over the country and beyond for those shows.
'There are no other cities which have a concert venue with the backdrop like the Ross Bandstand has.
'We take a lot of what we do as a city for granted in terms of the scale of events that we are lucky enough to have on our doorstep and the variety of culture we have that is accessible to it all. But it is getting harder and harder every year to deliver that in the city centre.
'To do these concerts now and make them financially viable when you have to bring in all the additional infrastructure is really difficult for anyone to make work.
'The only way to make it add up would be through an extended programme. Unfortunately, I don't think it is going to happen again anytime soon.
'There are a lot of parties and organisations that are very vocal about large-scale events taking place in the city.'
A recent consultation carried out by the city council found majority support for using the gardens for a 'major event' in August, however, there was far more support for smaller-scale 'low impact' events being staged there in the summer.
The council's new rules will allow both the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival and the Edinburgh International Festival to stage large-scale events in the summer in future, but only as long as they are free of charge and do not restrict access to the gardens.
One of the few all-ticket events given the green light to be staged in the gardens over the next few months is the electronic music festival Fly, which is due to be held in September.
Festival founder Tom Ketley has been encouraging the council to allow smaller-scale events to be staged at the bandstand throughout the year, an idea that has been taken forward by councillors and could be introduced for 2026.
Mr Ketley said: 'We recognise that the council needs to strike a balance, particularly where events may impact on residents and businesses, but an opportunity definitely exists to enhance the bandstand's future as a vibrant, well-managed cultural venue within the city.
'We would like to see some smaller low impact community led events taking place at the bandstand throughout the summer months, especially when the weather is nice as this would see the bandstand used rather than the gates chained shut.'
Mr Smith suggested the council needed to rethink its policies to ensure the gardens were able to be used more in future for events of all sizes.
He added: 'I'd like to see events being staged throughout the year as well as an agreed number of larger events. We have to get away from the idea that Edinburgh is all about August and Christmas.
'We need to keep the city centre moving all the time. Edinburgh has undergone a huge change over the last 10 years. The city is transforming and I see the Ross Bandstand as being an important part of that in future.
'I think it has huge potential. Very rarely do you get somewhere as potentially good as this right in the heart of a city centre.'
Margaret Graham, who was recently appointed as the council's convener of culture, told The Herald: "All events which take place in West Princes Street Gardens must adhere to our standard conditions and working parameters.
"Event organisers can book the Ross Bandstand for a range of events including ticketed music concerts.
"All bookings are assessed to ensure the activity proposed is suitable for the site and the plans are further scrutinised by the council and our partners to ensure that those attending and the park itself are well looked after.
'The Ross Bandstand is both a key piece of Edinburgh's cultural history and an important element of our future plans for the city centre. We want all of our parks and facilities, including West Princes Street Gardens and the Ross Bandstand, to be fully enjoyed by our residents and visitors.'