Latest news with #Geoff
BBC News
4 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
'Brentford have a process - it works!' Fans on moving forward
On Thursday, we published your thoughts on a difficult summer of change at Brentford given the departure of Thomas Frank for Tottenham and key players linked with moves away from west London. Today, we hear from you on how the Bees can still move forward this are some of your comments:Kim: A bit dumbstruck after such a positive season, however the club are shrewd and not governed by sentiment. I believe the best will be done and having followed Brentford for over 40 years I won't be going anywhere. New challenges? We'll meet them head on and it will be a tough season but I've always been entertained by the Bees and love the spirit of this As it stands, we have a new £30 million striker starting this season, two established full-backs to return after a season out and two exciting young signings. This is without the likely additions. Brentford have a process. It works - we will be We have an exceptional group of youngsters at the club who can step up. So player sales do not worry me too much. We will also have money to spend on reinforcements. Tim: The owner knows a thing or two. He will have planned for these exits and will not let the club Very disappointed that Frank left the club and now players are deserting the club. It's going to be a long hard season unless Brentford sign a qualified coach not Frank's assistant and they need to replace outgoing players. The Brentford project could go backwards unless issues are sorted out sooner rather than later. Bryan Mbeumo for £60 million? We'll spend that on quality players. Don't bank it and sit on it.
Daily Mirror
23-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Truth about King Tut's Glasgow gig that got Oasis signed finally exposed
The boss of Glasgow venue King Tuts has explained that Oasis were not full of attitude the day they played and got signed by Alan McGee Oasis were polite and 'not very rock'n'roll' when they begged to get onstage the night they landed a record deal. The night the Gallagher brothers were signed to Creation Records by Alan McGee at King Tut's Wah Wah Hut is part of rock 'n' roll folklore, but the legend that they threatened to smash up the venue if they didn't get to play has been debunked by the venue's owner Geoff Ellis. The date was May 31, 1993 and Oasis turned up to the Glasgow live venue with fellow Manchester band Sister Lovers but had no place on the bill. The story goes that Liam and Noel Gallagher made it clear they would wreck the place if they didn't get to play and the promoters relented and their four-song set - which included Rock 'n' Roll Star - impressed the watching McGee so much that he told Noel he wanted to sign them on the spot. Now, Geoff - who is the CEO of DF Concerts which has owned and run King Tut's for 35 years - says that is a rock 'n' roll myth to make Oasis seem like a dangerous band and actually Liam and Noel politely asked if they could play too and accepted a few beers as a fee. Appearing on The Money Trench podcast, Geoff said: 'I got a call from our venue manager, Ali Murdoch who said, 'Look, there's an extra band turned up for tonight, they've turned up with Sister Lovers who are from Manchester as well. And they want to play as well. Are you okay with that?' "And I said, 'Well, yeah, I mean, you know, can our sound engineer cope with four acts? 'He said, 'Yeah … So it's no issue, we just need your acquiescence really.' No pun intended. So I just said, 'Well, yeah, you know, but we're not paying them by the way.' But I said, 'Give them some beers, look after them.' 'Then Andy Saunders - who I had been at Middlesex Poly with - who was Creation's press officer at the time, he came up with a good story of them threatening to do whatever to the venue if they didn't get on the bill, you know, but that made a great story because them politely asking, 'Is it OK if we go on?' didn't sound as rock and roll!" Geoff also defended the pricing of tickets for the Oasis Live 25 shows - some of the most expensive and sought after tickets for gigs this year. Geoff, who is promoting Oasis' shows in Scotland, insists the pricing was fair as demand was more for the Oasis then it was for Taylor Swift 's record-breaking Eras Tour. He said: "Demand wise there's been nothing like it. I was told that the demand for tickets massively exceeded Taylor Swift, which was phenomenal demand as well, you know. 'Artists need to earn money and should earn money, and that money goes into the ecosystem. With ticket prices, you know, they are higher across the board than there were a few years ago. But that money is staying within the industry. 'It's staying, the PRS are getting their share, HMRC is getting their share. And there's less leakage going to the secondary market and people clearing up there. So and that money, you know, trickles down to the rest of the ecosystem as well.' The promoter says the Oasis shows are going to be a music event like no other because you are going to see generations of music fans coming together to see the Gallagher brothers perform for the first time in 16 years. He said: 'What's exciting, I think, is all the new people who haven't seen Oasis, you know, they were either born after they split up or were too young to go. And to hear those kids be excited, you know, people are 18, I mean, my son's 22, daughter's 21, they've bought tickets to go and they're really excited. They've never seen Oasis. They've seen Liam, they've seen Noel, never seen Oasis. So, they're excited and that's great because that keeps people invigorated with live music.' Noel and Liam will walk on stage for the first time together in public, since the band split nearly two decades ago, on July 4 at Cardiff's Principality Stadium. There will also be dates in Manchester, London, Edinburgh and Dublin as part of the tour.
Daily Mirror
20-06-2025
- Automotive
- Daily Mirror
Citroen - News, views, pictures, video
'We tested the best automatic cars on sale in the UK and one model stood out' Cars 'There was £1million in my unlocked car for months and I had no idea' Lottery winners Rolls Royce PLC Weather Dangerous driving Protests Woman says 'heart is in bits' after twin sister dies in crash before their 19th birthday Car crashes Stalker and his mum set up 'operation spycam' WhatsApp group to terrorise woman for seven weeks WhatsApp Car crashes Couple forking out £650 a month for electric van haven't driven it in 7 months Electric cars Vauxhall boss warns Brexit could kill car industry - as plant may be set to close Jobs Parking warning as woman fined over broken meter - and she even left a friendly note Parking tickets 'Incensed' grandad travels to Ukraine FOUR times to donate aid and plans to go again Russia Ukraine war Unstoppable Citroen is still on the road with nearly a million miles on the clock Cars Girl, 17, dies in front of dad as car smashes into wall when she started engine Inquests opinion From Russia with love: Geoff tries out Soviet machines almost as old as he is Motorbikes Savvy student couple save thousands living in van to dodge expensive university rent Students Citroen 'Lifelong friends', both 20, killed in horror crash on way home from Christmas shopping Cheshire Police Dad fined £273 for 'genuine mistake' of falling 20p short of parking ticket Car parks Court case
The National
15-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The National
I knew I needed Sir Geoff Palmer in my documentary instantly
Little did either of us realise that we would be meeting numerous times in that location over the next five years and how the footage we would create would have such an impact. I was on a mission. As a Scottish-Persian filmmaker, whose family members had experienced racism, and witnessing the damaging impact of countries being colonised, I wanted Scotland to own up to its past. I had been meeting numerous inspirational people in Scotland who knew about Scotland's links to transatlantic slavery, who were reaching out to the public in many ways. READ MORE: How Niamh Jobson's life is inspiring bone cancer treatment fundraising But it was still not mainstream. I wanted Sir Geoff in my documentary because he was excellent at communicating his wealth of knowledge about slavery in a personable way. But I soon found out from attending his lectures that his skill came at a cost. Geoff emailed me after a lecture saying 'on the night someone stabbed my back tyre … £216 later I don't mind, the response at the lecture was worth it.' At a similar time to meeting Sir Geoff I also met Adam Ramsay, a journalist who had submitted a petition to Edinburgh City Council. Adam was challenging the brief inscription on the Melville Monument that had no mention of Henry Dundas's impact on Britain's transatlantic slave trade. Sir Geoff had been lecturing about British generals and politicians linked to slavery including Dundas. I knew if I told Geoff about Adam's petition and connected them up there could be the potential of a good story. I was right. Geoff and Adam clicked, the dream team was formed and filming began. What I then witnessed was that the depth of Geoff's knowledge of Dundas would go to stratospheric levels due to his amazing aptitude for focus, his enviable intellect and his unbelievable persistence that was needed to make change. This is what made this a Bafta-winning documentary. There were so many highs and lows, long lulls of no action and by 2020 a stalemate. Then there was the murder of George Floyd. The frustration Sir Geoff felt about this stalemate and Floyd's murder pushed him to make his seminal speech at Holyrood Park in the summer of 2020 and action was finally taken. What I really appreciated was the trust and faith Geoff had in me, an emerging filmmaker, as I filmed him time and again. The initial footage we did was for YouTube and socials. There was a time I interviewed him and realised that the Costa Coffee signage was in the background. After apologising profusely and asking for a re-interview he accepted it graciously and agreed to drive back to Edinburgh from Penicuik. Our trust and bond developed over time. He opened up about his cancer when I witnessed him experiencing side effects during filming. I let him know about my father, also battling cancer, and we realised they were attending the same hospital. Admiration for Geoff continued as he excelled and revelled in high-pressure situations I set up, such as the group debate I created for Channel 4 News in 2018 where Sir Geoff, Adam Ramsay, Bobby Dundas, and Michael Fry attended. These were the four people battling it out about the inscription at council meetings and they were now battling it out on screen. READ MORE: 'Naked and Unashamed' cements Nan Shepherd's place in Scotland's literary canon As his cancer developed by 2022, he still managed to attend a screening and Q&A at Edinburgh Filmhouse despite his obvious side-effects. The broadcast of the first Channel 4 News film on the Dundas debate had a big impact in Scotland and the interest in Dundas and Scotland's slavery past started widening. This interest kept building as more journalists covered the story. It also sparked a petition on Dundas in Canada. Sir Geoff was starting to reach a bigger audience with a massive uplift in social media followers. This kept going. I produced another Channel 4 News film in 2020 and then the BBC broadcast my one-hour documentary Scotland, Slavery And Statues numerous times from October 2020. After these broadcasts, Sir Geoff chuckled to me about how many were speaking to him in the streets and supermarket in Penicuik. He was becoming a household name. Another serendipitous outcome for me was that Sir Geoff's son Ralph noticed my name on the end credits and realised there was a family connection. I have focused on Sir Geoff's involvement with the Melville Monument and the legacy of the new plaque and its educational benefits for those who visit it. But in parallel to this we all know the many other causes he has been involved in, the organisations and charities he has been part of, the people he has helped, the awards he has been given. It is outstanding. I was in awe of his levels of energy and drive and this was while he was battling cancer. He was a powerhouse that has left an amazing legacy. Geoff asked me to keep sharing footage I took of him to keep his message going and to keep educating and this I will do. In his final message to me he said: 'It was a delight to work with you, and you should take pride in your award … you gave a fair stand to us all to bring Scotland's honest history of slavery to Scotland' and I responded saying 'it was your grit and persistence that played a big role in making the documentaries successful…' Rest in Peace Sir Geoff. Condolences to Sir Geoff's family. Parisa Urquhart is a Bafta-winning documentary maker. Scotland, Slavery And Statues can be watched here in tribute to Sir Geoff.
The Courier
14-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Courier
T in the Park founder Geoff Ellis on his love of Dundee, missing Balado and making business fun
Scottish music legend Geoff Ellis has a strong affinity with Dundee. It was in the City of Discovery that DF Concerts first flourished, with Geoff putting on shows at Fat Sam's and Bar Chevrolet with founder Stuart Clumpas. And Courier Country is where DF's T in the Park festival would expand into the world-renowned behemoth it became on the fields of Balado in Kinross. So, it is fitting Geoff will take centre stage at this year's Courier Business Conference as keynote speaker. This month's event takes place at Chris van der Kuyl's ground-breaking The Big Real at Water's Edge — a £9 million Hollywood-standard production studio. The conference is once again held in partnership with Henderson Loggie, with the theme of powering Scotland's creative economy. Geoff's company DF put on concerts in Dundee in the 80s, and he fondly recalls those early shows at Fatties and Chevy's — a 50s-style diner complete with an American muscle car built into its walls. He said: 'I feel a connection with Dundee as well, because the company started there, up in Denhead of Gray. It's where Stuart Clumpas formed the business.' 'Somebody wiser than me once said, 'if you do something you enjoy for a living, you'll never work for a day in your life'. 'But I think the fun comes from you enjoying what you do. 'And there's aspects of what you do when you're running an entertainment business, or a creative business, that can be fun as well. 'Because you work with a team of people who, by nature, are fairly creative, fairly inspirational and then you all gel together and that helps make work — even the boring stuff — enjoyable. 'That's because you're working with a team of people who have a spark and an enthusiasm for what they're doing. 'Nobody who works in the company doesn't like live music and events — they all love it. 'So while there might be aspects of the job that are not exciting, like with any job you have to pay the bills, raise invoices, deal with admin… there's plenty of enjoyable aspects of it as well.' T in the Park enjoyed its most successful years at Balado. It moved from Glasgow to the disused Kinross airfield in 1997, where it stayed until 2014. In that time, everyone from Oasis to Beyonce came to the festival. The festival was held for two years at Strathallan, in Perthshire, in 2015 and 2016, and was 'retired' by DF Concerts to make way for TRNSMT and Summer Sessions. How people attend festivals has changed in recent years, Geoff points out, not helped by global events like the Covid-19 pandemic. A shift in what people want from their music and gig experiences has contributed towards this too, he adds, as well as having to leave their beloved Balado site. When asked if he missed putting on Scotland's largest festival, T in the Park, at Balado, Geoff said: 'Oh yes! I think we always will and we look back very fondly. 'The most successful years T in the Park had were at Balado. 'It was a great event. There's a great community in Kinross and Milnathort, who really supported the event from day one 'I mean, everything has its day and it's really regrettable we were forced to move from the site and it was never quite the same once we had moved. 'That's not to say we'd still be going had we stayed on the site, but it was a perfect festival site and we had many great years there. 'I think the days of having 10 or 12 stages is probably not what people want so much these days. 'Tastes have changed a little bit, they want to see more of their favourite artists and want longer sets. 'And people like being at an event in the city too. They like having somewhere to go afterwards now.' Geoff agreed to be involved with The Courier's Business Conference after speaking with long-time friend Chris van der Kuyl. He and Chris, one of the city's leading lights in games design through his involvement with Minecraft, had discussed working together for a while. Geoff will share unique insights gathered from 40 years 'and counting' in the creative industry. 'Dundee is a great city, a creative city, with all of its design and history,' he said. 'And more recently, its gaming achievements, which obviously Chris has been at the forefront of. 'For me, I think it's important that you put something back in as well. 'I've been fortunate enough to have a career for a few decades and I'm not giving up any time soon. 'It's a privilege to work in the creative industries and we need to sell the creative industries to younger generations and help them be regarded as serious businesses. 'I think we're quite often viewed as people just having fun. When you see people like Chris, it's hard to deny he always seems to be having fun, but there is a serious business element to what we all do in the creative industries. 'Whether that's running a venue, being an author, a designer, or whether it's putting on concerts and festivals.' Held on June 24, The Courier Business Conference 2025 brings together pioneers of gaming, music, fashion, design, media, and digital innovation to explore the future of one of Scotland's fastest-growing sectors. Dundee games entrepreneur and Water's Edge owner Chris van der Kuyl will talk about the new virtual production facility and explain why it will draw businesses to the city. As the co-owner of 4J Studios, which helped make Minecraft a global phenomenon, he will also give his views on the games and tech sector. Jade Robertson, owner of Perthshire business Little Lies, which counts Taylor Swift among its customers, and Livehouse boss Angus Robb will also present to the captive audience on their experience as business leaders in Tayside. The Courier's editor David Clegg will chair a panel discussion featuring local businesses on 'monetising creativity in Scotland'. The conference runs from 8.15am to 2pm. Tickets are still available through the conference website
