HebCelt festival nominated for prestigious events award
Ticket sales have been increasing since the opening of an official shop while the hot weather that is expected is also seeing more people buy their weekend passes.
Work is already underway on the festival site with the main tent being readied while new look hospitality bars are also in place, and a new contactless payment system.
Headliners for the festival include Tide Lines, Lulu and Skerryvore while other acts include Beluga Lagoon, Nina Nesbitt and Eddi Reader.
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Iain Macphail, HebCelt Director and Chair of the Board, said: 'To be shortlisted in what are widely regarded as the region's event Oscars just days before we open the gates to this year's festival is utterly brilliant news.
'It's amazing recognition for our team, our volunteers, supporters, sponsors and every single person who plays a part in what we do every year.
'We're all thrilled, it's put a real spring in our step as we continue to put the finishing touches to this year's event which promises to be one of the best yet.
'The queue has been out of the door pretty much constantly since we've opened. We can hardly catch our breath - it's been amazing.
'Sales have been going crazy, everyone says they are so excited to be coming along, they are buying all our new style t-shirts and other merch too.
'With the weekend forecast as it is, we'll be lucky if there are any bucket hats left by the time the first concert begins.
'It's going to be brilliant, we can't wait to get out there.'
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The Herald Scotland
7 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
The best pictures from HebCelt as Skerryvore delight the crowds
It was a crowd already entertained with Nina Nesbitt showing her talents earlier in the day. Skerryvore are celebrating their 20th anniversary and they kicked off to huge cheers with Path to Home followed by Beasts and Lucky Ones. They also introduced guests throughout the night with Grant Cassidy, Cassie and Maggie, Elias Alexander and the Lewis Pipe Band all performing alongside them. The crowds watching Skerryvore (Image: HebCelt) Samba Sene during the festival (Image: HebCelt) Skerryvore on stage (Image: HebCelt) Skerryvore Co-Founder Daniel Gillespie said: 'What an amazing feeling to know that it's a sell out. Congratulations HebCelt, and everyone who is here tonight. You've done Stornoway proud again and we're so delighted to be a part of it.' Festival organisers believe it could be the most successful festival in its 28-year history thanks to Skerryvore, Lulu, Tide Lines, Laura Silverstone and many more. Early-bird tickets for next year's festival go on sale next week, with the event to take place between July 15 and 18. Carol Ferguson, Operations Co-Ordinator, said: 'We're over the moon that so many people have chosen to join Skerryvore's 20th anniversary party and enjoy so many other great performers across our sold out Saturday. 'We're still crunching the data, and totting up the numbers, but it looks like a very good year indeed, which is testament to the hard work of the team, our funders, sponsors and all the artists who have made this such an amazing success.' Chair Iain Macphail said: 'That the whole HebCelt family can come together like this and put on a world class event on this scale is simply amazing, and we're grateful to every single music fan, performer, volunteer, contractor and business for making it happen.' Ahead of Skerrymore, Nina Nesbitt also delivered a scorching performance for the final night in Stornoway amid baking temperatures. The 'I'm Coming Home' star, who wrote that song about heading back to Scotland, told fans: 'We are so excited to be here in Stornoway for the first time. 'I recently released a new album called Mountain Music. It feels very fitting to be here because it's definitely the kind of imagery to go alongside the album. Stornoway is very much on brand." Nina Nesbitt was a big success at HebCelt (Image: HebCelt) Fans enjoying themselves at the festival (Image: HebCelt) Crowds enjoying the festival (Image: HebCelt) Crowds enjoying the festival (Image: HebCelt) The 'Best You Had' singer was picture perfect throughout as she performed tracks from her latest album including Pages, Anger and I'm Coming Home and also debuted a cover of Mazzy Star's Fade Into You for her visit. Astro Bloc, Samba Sene and Iona Mairead also performed throughout the day along with Gaelic children's TV legend Donnie Dòtaman who led an army of homemade hat wearers in song as he took to the Lewis Wind Power Island Stage. HebCelt Artist Programmer Michelle Shields said: 'This has been one of the most exciting, diverse and popular line-ups we have ever had and we're ecstatic that so many great performers were able to join us. 'From legends like Lulu and Skerryvore, to Tide Lines, Beluga Lagoon, Donnie Dòtaman and others, we couldn't be happier with the reaction they have had. It's been a massive success and their music has been out of this world. 'We just can't wait to do it again next year.'
The Herald Scotland
a day ago
- The Herald Scotland
Best pictures as Lulu delights HebCelt crowd with rousing performance
But it is Scotland where her 'soul is' and she entertained the thousands in attendance at the festival in Stornoway. Her 90 minute set began with Shout and it whipped the crowd into a frenzy that did not stop throughout the rest of the night. She sang songs from throughout her six decade long career with other tracks including Boom Bang A Bang, Golden Gun, To Sir With Love, and We've Got Tonight before ending on a flourish of Relight My Fire, Still Standing and a final full reprise of Shout, winning her a massive roar of approval from fans who packed into the main tent. Read More Artist Programmer Michelle Shields said: 'Lulu was sensational, the crowd lapped up every single moment to make this one of the most special HebCelt nights ever. It was such a beautiful moment to see people young and old singing along.' Lulu – who is changing up her style of touring to promote her memoir If Only You Knew which comes out in September - was also on hand to meet 18-year-old Isla Scott and give the Isle of Harris youngster so Isla said: 'She is such an inspiration, really amazing. It's for sure a night I'll never forget.' Lulu with Isla Scott ahead of her performance (Image: Handout) Lulu during her performance (Image: Handout) It was another successful day for the festival with acts such as Beluga Lagoon, Laura Silverstone, Trail West, LUSA, The Tumbling Souls, Josie Duncan, El Sartel and Madison Violet all entertaining the crowds. Saturday's final day will see headliners Skerryvore close out the festival with special guests to be revealed on the night as part of their 20th anniversary celebrations. El Sartel also performed (Image: Handout) Other big name acts performing include Nina Nesbitt, Kassidy, Astro Bloc, and Gaelic childhood favourite Donnie Dòtaman. Carol Ferguson, the festival's Operations Co-Ordinator, said: 'The smiles on people's faces say it all, it's been a tremendous day, ticket sales have been busy all day long, and the choice of music across the site has been incredibly diverse. 'It's just part of what makes this festival so uniquely special.'
The Herald Scotland
a day ago
- The Herald Scotland
When a teenage Lulu became the toast of Swinging London
Eventually, she and the band – rhythm guitarist James Dewar, lead guitarist Ross Nelson, drummer Dave Mullen, bassist Tommy Tierney and singer Alec Bell – drove down to London to audition for record companies. The first label, Columbia/EMI, declined, but the next one, Decca, offered them a record contract on the strength of two songs: Shout, a raucous number written by the Isley Brothers (Lulu had been blown away when she heard Alex Harvey singing it), and Twenty-Four Hours from Tulsa, a Bacharach and David hit for Gene Pitney. After the band had recorded Shout, Marie's manager, Marian Massey, hit upon 'Lulu' as a new name for the 14-year-old, and Lulu and the Luvvers as the band's new name. The single was released by Decca in April 1964, by which time Lulu's name was everywhere. Fabulous magazine interviewed her, together with Cilla Black, Sandie Shaw and Cathy McGowan (host of TV's Ready, Steady, Go!), for a piece about pop's new female stars. Maureen Cleave interviewed her for the London Evening Standard; "When I sing I tingle all over and I can see the people's faces lighting up', Lulu told her. 'I'm so thrilled at it all; life's so thrilling." Shout spent 13 weeks on the charts, peaking at number seven. John Lennon, guesting with Paul McCartney on Ready Steady Go!, discussed the latest singles and declared that his favourite was Shout!, 'by a girl called Lulu'. That same year, after a gig in Glasgow in June 1964, Lulu invited The High Numbers – The Who, as they would shortly become – back to her old family home. She met the Rolling Stones, too. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards wrote a song for her, called Surprise Surprise. It was released as a single early the following year, with a prolific session musician named Jimmy Page on guitar. Things were beginning to pick up speed. As Lulu recalls in her book I Don't Want to Fight, 'there were radio and TV appearances, magazine interviews, photo shoots and concerts … We appeared on TV shows like Thank Your Lucky Stars, Juke Box Jury and Ready, Steady, Go!, as well as performing on local radio and TV shows in England, Ireland and Wales'. The hit record saw the band increasing its fee for gigs from £30 to £100. And in a posh Knightsbridge restaurant, Bobby Darin, the American singer and actor, made her blush when he told her that she had been 'fabulous' on Ready, Steady, Go! The money began rolling in and Lulu's schedule had barely any gaps for rest and relaxation. She moved into a flat in St John's Wood owned by Marian's parents. And she certainly picked the right time to find herself in London. Even ahead of its coronation in April 1966 as 'The Swinging City', courtesy of Time magazine, it was a vibrant, adventurous place. Lulu and Rod Stewart at Glastonbury (Image: Yui Mok) "London was the centre of the world', Lulu writes in her book. 'Whether it was music, fashion, art, film, photography or design, the rest of the world was taking its lead from London. The streets were full of bright colours, short skirts, jackets without lapels, tight trousers, psychedelic swirls, platform shoes, Cuban-heeled boots and big hair. Pop music and rock'n'roll dominated the airwaves'. This is certainly a line echoed by Graham Nash in his memoir, Wild Tales. Describing the London of 1965, when he was still with the Hollies, he writes: "A full-scale cultural revolution was in progress, with youth and music dominating the scene, top to bottom. The boutiques on Carnaby Street catered to our lifestyle. Mary Quant was introducing miniskirts and Biba was around and Cecil Gee.... Darling and The Knack spoke to us from the screen, cynical and sexy and angry, and Radio Caroline was broadcasting off the coast". Read more: Lulu and her band were still in demand but their chart performance was sagging, causing her to worry that they might just be one-hit wonders. Two singles, Can't Hear You No More and Here Comes the Night (with Page again on guitar) made little impact, though Van Morrison's Them would have a number two hit with the latter song. It wasn't until Leave a Little Love reached number eight in June 1965 that Lulu felt that she had finally arrived. That September she gave a candid interview to Rave magazine, during which she admitted that she felt older than when she first came to London, and that the friends she used to know "suddenly seem worlds away from me. When we meet I am at a strange disadvantage". "My career is important to me," she added. "The first thing I think of when I wake up is, 'What is on today?' It may be TV or radio, or a live show somewhere. Whichever, I decide what to wear and whether to get my hair set. Sometimes my hairdresser, Vidal Sassoon, thinks I'm mad getting it re-set, because it looks O.K. But I feel awful if my hair isn't just right. I suppose when you are the instrument of your business you get self-centred in some ways. Anyhow, once I've sifted through the day, I relax, and things run smoothly enough." However, as Scots music historian Brian Hogg has noted, moves had long been afoot to prise Lulu from her 'backing' musicians, the Luvvers. TV slots for the singer alone, added Hogg, "already outnumbered those for the group as a whole. Although useful live, they were deemed superfluous in the studio where subsequent appearances were strictly limited'. This was illustrated by the line-up of musicians on Lulu's 1965 debut album, Something to Shout About; the Luvvers appeared on just three tracks, one of which was Shout. 'Lulu, with the Luvvers on some tracks, and a positively glittering showcase for her voice…', began an approving review in Record Mirror that October. The album's 16 tracks combined to show Lulu's sheer versatility as a vocalist beyond her gutsy performance on Shout. Try to Understand, Not in This Whole World, Tell Me Like It Is, and Holland-Dozier-Holland's Can I Get a Witness, previously a hit for Marvin Gaye, were among the highlights. As a calling card for a young woman in her teens, still relatively new to the recording business, it was pretty good. 'One of the most versatile voices on the scene', Record Mirror's review continued. 'Big bash for 'You Touch Me Baby', but the mood switches all the way. Main thing is the clarity of the punchiness Lulu injects all the way. A variety of backings, choral and instrumental, behind her. 'Can I Get a Witness' gets a brisk new reading. 'Shout' is in, of course, and Lulu's new single, 'Tell Me Like It Is'. 'Chocolate Ice' is a gas …. 'Leave A Little Love' is another stand-out. But then the overall standard is very high'. As Lulu notes in her book, the album had been successful, 'but session musicians had been used on some of the latest recordings. Although nothing had been said, I knew the boys were unhappy'. And there was also the undeniable fact that media attention had alighted on her, not on the boys in the band. Read more On the Record: James Dewar was first to leave the Luvvers, in 1965 – he went on to play with Stone the Crows and with the brilliant guitarist, Robin Trower. The other band members soon followed, retreating to Glasgow. 'I tried to hold us all together', Lulu recalls, 'but Decca had wanted this all along and did nothing to help me'. Her profile continued to rise. Magazine and newspaper writers sought her out. There was a groundbreaking package tour of Poland with the Hollies, and there were gigs in support of the Beach Boys in 1966. 'Lulu proved conclusively to me that she should be allowed to close the first half by virtue of the fact she is so beautifully professional', Keith Altham wrote in the NME after a Beach Boys/Lulu concert at the Finsbury Park Astoria in London. 'Five numbers from her were not enough — 'Blowing In The Wind', 'Wonderful Feeling' and 'Leave A Little Love' which Spencer Davis — who joined me to see the second house — was still raving about half an hour after the show, were her best numbers!' Lulu had also bought a car, and a townhouse in St John's Wood. At seventeen, she was 'hanging with the coolest, hippest crowd. Cynthia Lennon, Maureen Starkey and Pattie Boyd were my girlfriends'. In 1966 she had a role in a Sidney Poitier film, To Sir With Love, and the title song, sung by her, became a huge hit in the States in 1967, selling two million copies and sitting atop the Billboard Hot 100 for five weeks. Her sudden fame in the US led to an appearance on the top-rated Ed Sullivan Show. Media attention in Lulu was proving to be relentless. In November 1968 Disc and Music Echo caught up with her at her plush St John's Wood home, and the journalist was most taken with it all - the four-poster brass bed from Heal's, the pined kitchen, the huge pine chest housing a gigantic collection of albums, the small room that combined Lulu's office, [[TV]] room and general "flop out" space. "My house is my little refuge', Lulu told her. 'Whenever I get a moment I fly straight down to London and collapse inside its four walls!' * Lulu's latest book, If Only You Knew, is published on September 25. Dates for her series of 'intimate conversations with songs and stories' can be found on her website, lulu
