Liverpool's Culture cracker thrills watching world

Jan 14 2008 by Vicky Anderson, Liverpool Daily Post

THE official launch of Liverpool’s Capital of Culture year was “a world-class start to a world-class programme in a world-class city,” city leaders said last night.

Civic figures last night hailed the first of the 2008 celebrations as an unprecedented success – and said the weekend was just the beginning.

Tens of thousands of people descended on the city centre to enjoy Friday night’s “People’s Opening” and Saturday’s musical spectacular at the Echo Arena, Liverpool – leaving an overjoyed culture supremo Phil Redmond to declare: “We did it, didn’t we?”

And alongside the crowds were the world’s media, with hundreds of journalists from across the globe reporting on the action, including Americans, Iranians and Argentinians.

Ringo Starr led a cast of hundreds from the roof of St George’s Hall on Friday night, while Saturday saw the former Beatle at the heart of Liverpool: The Musical, featuring a wealth of Mersey talent including the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Pete Wylie, Echo and The Bunnymen, and The Farm.

As he left the stage Ringo said: “It’s a great night for Liverpool, it’s going well so far. The Arena here is great, it’s certainly the best in Liverpool.”

He told the delighted crowd he was “this close to moving back”.

Leader of Liverpool council, Cllr Warren Bradley, said: “I doubt any other Capital of Culture has had the scale of global interest that the launch generated.

“Tens of millions were tuned in across America to watch Ringo Starr on CBS, and I have been interviewed by scores of journalists from across the globe.

‘EQUALLY important for me, though, was making sure ordinary people were involved and we saw that with the 40,000 strong crowd on and around St George’s Hall on Friday and the 10,000 who were in the Arena on Saturday.

“Both were truly world-class shows which would make any city envious and I was immensely proud. We have succeeded in sending out a hugely powerful positive message about Liverpool – and this is only the beginning.”

Liverpool: The Musical – The Greatest Story Ever Told traced the 800- year history of the city.

Creative director of the Culture Company, Phil Redmond, who introduced Ringo on stage, described the night as “brilliant, truly brilliant”.

The Lord Mayor of Liverpool, Cllr Paul Clark, said: “Wasn’t that fantastic? It really told the city’s story and linked with our music, too. I have had one of the best weekends of my life. If this carries on this year, the Culture year will have been a real success and the city will really take off.”

Culture Company chairman Bryan Gray said: “Clearly, we were very keen to get the Capital of Culture year off to a good start, and although it is but two days in 366, it is the two most important in terms of the spotlight of the world being on Liverpool.”

Culture minister James Purnell had been “hugely impressed” by Friday and Saturday night’s events, Mr Gray added.

Marketing director Kris Donaldson added: “It was beyond our expectations. It was just fantastic to see the reactions of so many different parts of Liverpool, from the artists, to the people out at St George’s plateau, from the politicians and business people – a whole cross-section of Liverpudlians, thrilled and excited.

“We had been wanting to make sure the opening weekend was really special, and we know how important it was to set the tone for the whole year.

“The wall walkers on Friday night really had that wow factor, and on Saturday, seeing the orchestra revealed for the first time was incredibly moving and I think the city needs to pay special tribute to Vasily Petrenko and the orchestra.”

Jayne Casey, one of the co-directors of the weekend, said of Friday’s crowd: “We looked at photographs of the football cup coming home outside St George’s Hall and thought, if we can get half as many people there, it will look great – and on the night there was so many people it was incredible.

“Ringo has been amazing all the way through. He always had faith, and the thing about him is he integrated himself. The show involved hundreds of artists and he became just another artist.

“Saturday was a fantastic experience, and working with the Phil over the last few months has been one of the highlights of my career. And it was great to see Riuven, a young Toxteth lad, owning the stage and representing his section of the music industry.”

Fiona Gasper, executive producer of the 2008 programme, said: “It has been a great start, and I think it was a real moment for all those people who had been involved right from the start, and for the city, to take great pride in the weekend.

“I don’t think there can be any doubt that the scale and ambition of the weekend has put Liverpool on the map around the world.”

Celebrities spotted in the crowd at the Arena on Saturday night included Kenny Dalglish, the actors Joe and Paul McGann with friend David Morrissey, and Ken Dodd, looking fully recovered from his recent operation.

Martin King, director of tourism at The Mersey Partnership, said: “It’s been a thrilling and historic weekend for the destination.

“A world-class start to a world-class programme in a world-class city.

“The watching world has shared our excitement to see Capital of Culture launched in a spectacular fashion.

“Liverpool: The Musical was a fantastic way to open the Echo Arena and this superb facility together with the BT Convention Centre opening in April will deliver a £100m boost to the visitor economy this year alone.”

Labour leader Joe Anderson said: “It’s the first time I’ve been in the Arena and what a great venue it is. I’m sure it’s going to be a real positive for Liverpool and its future. I enjoyed the night, but I’m disappointed we reminded people of everything we are trying to get people to forget.

“The whole idea is to use Capital of Culture as an opportunity to market ourselves and rebrand, not remind people of the dark days.”

Jack Stopforth, chief executive of Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, said: “The weekend was fantastic. I have been around the arena three or four times during construction, but on Saturday I was knocked out by it. What an amazing asset it is going to be for Liverpool.”

Steve Broomhead, chief executive of the North West Development Agency, said: “The whole weekend was superb. It was a celebration of the past and the struggles that Liverpool have been through but very much looking to the future.”

For more on the culture weekend launch - click here

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