Meadowlands Festival has announced the launch of a brand new stage at its much-anticipated city centre event at the Victoria Embankment on Friday, June 3. Headliners include Scottish chart-topping indie star Gerry Cinnamon, The Kooks, The Mysterines and Black Honey.
The festival, over the Jubilee Bank Holiday Weekend, is set to be one of the biggest live music events in the city this summer with thousands of tickets already sold. The organisers of the festival have also announced an additional stage which will feature up-and-coming bands curated by BBC presenter Dean Jackson. The BBC Introduction Stage will also include some Nottingham bands.
Mr Jackson said: “I am thrilled to curate a BBC Introducing stage at Meadowlands and delighted that the team there are showing support for incredible local musicians to perform alongside rising national artists. Vona Vella and Catmilk are just two of the Nottingham artists who have my national colleagues really excited at present and Merseyside’s Michael Aldag is an exceptional performer found on TikTok with perceptive emotional songs reflecting life in 2022.
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"But there are plenty more; it will be a day to remember with The Embankment the perfect backdrop for this incredible event.” Event promoter Daniel Ealam has organised many live music events, some of the more notable shows having featured Ed Sheeran and Adele. He spent many years working with DHP Family, who are behind Rock City and the Rescue Rooms, and, while he has organised large events like this before, it will be a first for the city.
He said: "I lived in Nottingham for a long time and I always thought what we were missing was a big contemporary music event that could draw people in from all over the city. Nottingham has one of the best live music scenes in the UK but yet it hasn't got one of those events where the music is current and contemporary."
Daniel added: "Victoria Embankment is a perfect location for the event as its very accessible for people but also, it is a beautiful location right by the river. This has the potential to be one of the biggest shows ever in Nottingham as we are estimated to sell 25,000 tickets for the event. Gerry Cinnamon is not doing many shows across the UK this year but he specifically chose Nottingham as the last show he did here was in Rock City."
In April 2020, Gerry’s second album The Bonny shot straight to Number 1 in the UK Official Album Charts. The album went on to become the third biggest selling UK album released that year.
The singer-songwriter and acoustic guitarist is known for popular tracks including Sometimes and Belter. The Kooks are another well-known band with top 10 success.
Daniel said: "Gerry's songs speak to people and it's an amazing word of mouth thing. The Kooks are also a classic indie band with four top ten albums so we are excited to have them play. The Reytons are joining from Sheffield who are similar to Gerry but earlier in their career. They have a great following in Nottingham and will be joined by Black Honey from Brighton and The Mysterines who had a top ten record."
Daniel urged festival fans to turn up early in order to check out the new stages and explore bands they may not have seen before. There will be plenty of food and drink available at the event too.
"We want everyone to have a great day and there will be plenty to do. We urge people to turn up early and check out the new stages. walk around and soak up the vibe on the day. We will have a lot of food concessions on site and bars. We want everyone to have a great day. There will be plenty to do the day."
