
Perth Christmas lights: Council wins claim for cancelled switch-on
Last year's event was scheduled for the weekend of November 23 and 24.
But it was axed over fears about the impact of Storm Bert.
Perth and Kinross Council later told The Courier it had spent a total of £114,941.51 on activities for the showcase.
The authority's chief finance officer has now confirmed its insurance claim has been accepted.
In a report to the council's finance and resources committee on Wednesday, Scott Walker wrote: 'The council has now received notification that the claim has been approved and the sum of £97,000 will be paid.
'As previously agreed by the committee, when received, this amount will be applied to an earmarked reserve for future events to augment activity in the future.'
German dance trio Cascada had been due to take to the main stage on Tay Street before Storm Bert blew in.
A firework and pyrotechnics display was also scheduled.
Entertainment was planned in George Street, St John Street, High Street, Mill Street,
and St Paul's Church.
And a lantern parade was also expected to take place before the decision was taken to cancel the event due to travel and structural concerns.
Perth was hit with heavy snow on the Saturday morning and roads around the city suffered disruption.
The Christmas cabins and Santa Grotto remained in place throughout the festive period.
The council said in January it had submitted an insurance claim.
Last year's Perth Christmas lights switch-on was destined to be a more modest affair than in previous years.
The council spent £126,092 in 2023, when X Factor star Chico and Boney M were the main attractions.
It spent £168,748 in 2022 and £102,950 in 2021 when activities were still restricted due to Covid.
The 2019 celebration cost £219,802 and featured acts such as Atomic Kitten and Basil Brush.
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The Guardian
41 minutes ago
- The Guardian
‘I got a nosebleed in minutes!' How the Wedding Present's indie banger classics inspired a musical
In 2009, Matt Aston was watching the Wedding Present frontman David Gedge perform a 'bizarre and brilliant' gig with the BBC Big Band when he was struck by a notion: that the combination of the singer's conversational lyrics and brassy, orchestrated new arrangements felt a bit like, well, watching a musical. 'I parked the idea,' says Aston, a theatre director and writer. 'Then some time later, I saw David's other band Cinerama with a 16-piece orchestra and thought, 'This could be musical theatre!'' Aston had had a few drinks and remembers sitting afterwards, trying to convince his mate – screenwriter and playwright William Ivory, who hadn't been drinking – that this wasn't the daftest idea ever. 'Billy said, 'You can't make a musical out of Wedding Present lyrics. It's not that kind of music.'' Aston laughs, aware that pop musicals tend to be vehicles for colourful, uber-mainstream acts such as Queen or Abba, not veteran indie rock bands. 'But I said, 'Oh yes you can.'' 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Reception isn't a biographical musical. It's an emotionally charged story about friends who meet at the University of Leeds and subsequently go through ups, downs and breakups. When I sit in on rehearsals, I instantly pick up on Gedge's impassioned lyrics. Lines such as 'I just decided I don't trust you any more', from the 1990 hit Brassneck, are delivered by characters in emotionally appropriate situations, experiencing love, betrayal, loss, you name it. Meanwhile, actor-musicians nail that head-rushing Wedding Present sound, something the singer sums up as 'the Velvet Underground – but faster'. The Wedding Present have been York-based Aston's favourite band ever since he saw them at Confettis nightclub in Derby on 20 October 1988. They were one of the foremost British indie rock bands of the late 80s and 90s, successors to the Smiths. 'I was 15 and really small,' he grins during a lunchbreak. 'Everyone had to huddle around me to sneak me in. 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When John Peel played it on Radio 1, the singer was so excited he ran all the way to bassist Keith Gregory's house to shout: 'Have you got the radio on?' As Gedge recalls: 'Peel played it 10 times. At that point, my life changed.' Although 1987 debut album George Best and 1989's Bizarro exemplify the band's inimitable, classic sound, Gedge insists the musical fits in with 'the Wedding Present tradition of going off at weird tangents'. Indeed. George Best was an indie No 1, making them such hot property that they signed to major label RCA for 'the sort of deal normally given to people like Annie Lennox'. And then their next release for their new label was an album of Ukrainian folk songs, instigated by guitarist Peter Solowka (who later formed the Ukrainians). In 1991, as the music world went baggy, the 'Weddoes' listened to US alt-rock and made the slower, darker album Seamonsters with 'a maverick engineer no one had heard of'. This was Steve Albini, who subsequently produced Nirvana. 'We literally lost half our fans,' Gedge admits. 'But now they all think it's one of our best albums.' In 1992, they released a single every month. 'That was such a great idea that we had it all planned within 15 minutes,' the singer laughs. 'All seven-inch singles, cover versions on the B-side, matching sleeves. To RCA's credit, they said OK.' All of which paid off when the band equalled Elvis Presley's record of 12 UK Top 40 hits in one year. There have also been some lyrical curveballs: 1987's All About Eve reflected on the year Gedge spent in apartheid South Africa as a child, while 1989's Kennedy dwelt on conspiracy theories. But Gedge insists that the overwhelming majority of his 300-plus songs are about relationships, meaning they're well-suited for drama. His early lyrics are particularly raw. The 2018 documentary Something Left Behind suggested they were all triggered by being dumped by his first love, but Gedge says otherwise. 'Jaz was my first proper girlfriend. 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In 2023, the PM – who studied law in Leeds – revealed that My Favourite Dress, which is beautifully reimagined in Reception as a piano ballad, is one of his favourite songs. 'David,' Starmer explained, 'managed to perfectly distil the tortuous agonising feelings of jealousy into three minutes of angst.' 'He came to a lot of our early gigs,' Gedge reveals. 'I don't remember him because there were loads of lads and girls, but he was a mate of a mate of Keith's and I'm told I have hung out with him.' The singer smiles broadly. 'But I'm still waiting for my invitation to Downing Street, like Noel Gallagher got from Tony Blair.' Now 65, Gedge carries his 'indie rock god' status lightly. When Aston first met him properly, after years of 'mumbled hellos at the merchandise stall', he found someone he could work with – and whose presence looms over Reception. 'There are many not-so-subtle references in the script,' the writer-director laughs. 'All the character names are from the songs. 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