Tartan Heart 2008

[somerled]

they should be bringing Mr. Lakeman back for starters

[smack]

I know this is off topic but ticket for the Kaiser Chiefs at strathpeffer pavilion are on presale now, thought some of you guys would like to know....

[saraha]

Absolutely Sahara, we saw him at Skye last year and are going to see him next week at the Liquid Room.

Ach Bella will be what we make it - should be good then eh!

[Red Day]

Not much going on in this thread. Not sure if there's any Bella excitement with anyone. Hate to harp on about the line up but could it be so poor that people have given up.

Hope this (once) great weekend is losing it's appeal

[somerled]

Hope this (once) great weekend is losing it's appeal

[Red Day]

Why?

[thedementedpoppet]

Cause if it loses it's appeal then ppl won't go and it'll end up like Skye.

No idea how ticket sales are going but the lack of chat on this thread maybe indicates that all is not well with Bella goers.

Might be wrong though

[Da_J_Doc-~]

I think the lack of chat shows what repeated negativity can do and speaks more about the forum than it does belladrum.

[ben_cosmia]

does anyone remember if last year, citylink put on buses to and from the site on the saturday morning and night?

[bryanb]

does anyone remember if last year, citylink put on buses to and from the site on the saturday morning and night?

[ben_cosmia]

If I remember correctly there were 2 buses on the way out (11am ish and 4pmish) and one return journey about 11pm(ish) after the headline act finished

[Solero]

Surely there will be more folk there on the Saturday?

How many Saturday day tickets are normally sold?

Surely they should spend more on Saturday's line up if there's a larger budget and more tickets for sale

£50 for a day only ticket... last time I went to Belladrum it was that for the whole weekend!

Looking like rain on the Friday and blistering Scottish sun on the Saturday

Limited bus service aint great, I assume we should be looking at buying tickets for this bus service as we are staying in Inverness... or perhaps we should be looking at taxis... or organising our own bus...

[perthperson]

Looking like rain on the Friday and blistering Scottish sun on the Saturday

[saraha]

are you really psychic?

[Aha_Shake]

Apologies on the lack of relevance but its for a good cause...

Love Music Hate Racism Gig

Stereo

Glasgow

Saturday 3rd May 2008

2pm - 6.30pm

The Dirty Hepburns

Eryka

John B. McKenna

The Way

(Over 14's)

Tickets £4 on the door

[smblythe]

Uft, this is a shame. I thought the lineup last year had a really unique, different setting from all the other festivals I was at - (I was working at 12 of them).

It was the first time I'd been to Belladrum, and it had a nice atmosphere, lots going on, and decent smaller bands in the side-tents and stages (1990s, SFG etc), and on the mainstage had some great medium sized bands - Hoosiers, Magic Numbers, as well as a lot of up-and-coming bands dotted around the place.

It seems really weak this year. Scouting For Girls as Headliners is seriously warped, and it's a shame.

I'll still be there anyway, I like Belladrum, and I'm working - but I'm just a bit gutted that overall the lineup is a bit.... well, pish.

[rauri]

im slightly confused,the line up listed here on efests states jefferson for sat but the bella site says friday........

[Starcraft]

I'm certainly not happy so with this years line up. if anyone wants to buy 3 tickets for £160.00 leave a reply here and i will be in touch.

[Helzibob]

Don't go selling your tickets just yet. It's still over 3 months away and there is bound to be some decent additions to the line up.

[rauri]

im slightly confused,the line up listed here on efests states jefferson for sat but the bella site says friday........

[ben_cosmia]

anyone got any idea?

[Solero]

JS website says the 8th

http://www.jeffersonstarshipsf.com/

[Starcraft]

Don't go selling your tickets just yet. It's still over 3 months away and there is bound to be some decent additions to the line up.

[irons]

I get what your saying but it's only a couple of weeks after the Wickerman and they're about done with their line up.

[bryanb]

Very interesting article in Scotland on Sunday today............

http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/lates...-the.4049171.jp

Festivals in battle of the bands

One night only: exclusivity deals are the norm for promoters, which means fans at smaller festivals may miss out on seeing top acts Photograph: Getty Images

Date: 04 May 2008

By Jeremy Watson

IT IS usually the bands who are squabbling, but the scramble to secure a slice of Scotland's booming rock festival business has sparked an angry row between up and coming festivals and the well established, hugely successful T in the Park.

Promoters of the smaller events have complained that T in the Park is signing deals with bands which prevent them playing any other outdoor festivals that summer.

Geoff Ellis, the promoter of T in the Park – which in its 15th year will boast REM, Kaiser Chiefs, Kings of Leon, Amy Winehouse and KT Tunstall – denied he was trying to put other events out of business.

Exclusivity deals are the norm and the best way for festivals to maintain their success, added Ellis, who runs DF Concerts and also promotes HydroConnect in August at Inveraray, featuring Franz Ferdinand.

Squaring up against Ellis is Joe Gibbs, who promotes August's Tartan Heart Festival at Belladrum, near Inverness, and has signed up Scouting for Girls, The Waterboys and Idlewild. He is backed by Robert Hicks, who has lured Fatboy Slim, The View and Razorlight to next month's RockNess on the shores of the famous loch.

Gibbs, who started Belladrum on his family estate five years ago, said: "It's been a long hard struggle because you are up against corporate giants, particularly DF, who put exclusion clauses on the tiniest bands and artists, and tell them they can't play our event.

"In the end, it is audiences and artists who will lose out if the small independents like Belladrum disappear."

Gibbs said he had held talks with 30 acts this year who said they were unable to play Belladrum because DF Concerts would not allow it. "If they were right up the top of the bill, it's understandable, but for smaller acts it's crazy. They range from high-profile acts down to small Scottish breaking acts who want a wider platform and have been denied it."

DF launched Connect in the grounds of Inveraray Castle last year with the help of a three-year £230,000 start-up grant from public funds. "With T in the Park in July and Connect in August, bands are being taken off the market for the whole of the summer," Gibbs said. "That has further put the screw on the smaller independents."

As well as RockNess, Hicks runs the smaller Loopallu festival in Ullapool. He said: "When it comes to acts low down on the bill that haven't even been announced when tickets have been sold out, then it is doing the bands and the gig-going public a disservice."

Ellis, when asked if it was his intention to put other festivals out of business, replied: "Absolutely not. We invested loads of money into T in the Park in the early days and that has created a marketplace for all these other festivals to exist.

"I'm not trying to stop them happening, but when I book a line-up and spend a lot of money, our audience spend their money on a great line-up.

Other promoters would be annoyed if they announced an act and then I booked it a week later. It would harm their ticket sales."

Ellis insisted agreements that prevented bands from playing other festivals, sometimes for up to a year, were an industry norm. "That's standard," he said.

Mark Mackie, who runs Regular Music, which promotes concerts mainly in the major Scottish cities, said such agreements were "fair enough" in relation to headline and breakthrough acts.

"Geoff isn't doing it to scupper other promoters," he said. "He's just protecting his own business."