TODAY: 1,200 shows and 5.4 million visitors later, Liverpool Echo Arena marks its 10 year birthday, having been a staple of the city’s live music scene since 2008.
Liverpool Echo Arena and its parent company ACC Liverpool (who also run the convention and exhibition centres next door), are major players for Liverpool’s live gigs, being a huge draw for gold-standard, bonafide global superstars looking to add dates to UK tours, as well as events, conferences and shows that simply would not have the space to be hosted by Liverpool otherwise.
Just a few of these events include the European MTV Awards, the Davis Cup, Sir Paul McCartney, the MOBO Awards and BBC Sports Personality of the Year, which returned for the second time in December 2017.
To celebrate, they have put together a short film from footage made professionally and by attendees of some of Liverpool Echo Arena’s many big nights out.
The film is made by BAFTA nominees Hurricane Films, a Liverpool film company recently lauded for their feature films A Prayer Before Dawn and A Quiet Passion.
Accompanying the film, Echo Arena continues to show it’s support for home-grown talent by commissioning a piece of music from Liverpool songwriters Katy Alex and Cameron Warner.
Katy Alex, a well known singer in Liverpool’s music scene, is a LIPA and LIMF Academy graduate who has graced the stage of many of Liverpool’s festivals, including LIMF (Liverpool International Music Festival) itself.
Michelle Kemp, Assistant Director (Marketing) at ACC Liverpool said this of the project “We really wanted to celebrate the arena and the people it belongs to, with the footage focusing on the […] audience perspective.”
“We commissioned Hurricane Films to capture this during arena events and Katy and Cameron to write and perform a song to accompany the edit.”
“Everyone involved in the project has […] an emotional connection with the city’s arena and creative music sector. We are thrilled with the result which we feel perfectly reflects our creative route of 10 years of us and you.”
Liverpool Echo Arena launched its year-long celebrations with ‘Celebrating Sgt Pepper: Live’ in January – a collaboration between the award-winning Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the nation’s premier Beatle group The Bootleg Beatles. This marked a decade since the venue hosted the opening ceremony for Liverpool’s year as European Capital of Culture.
For the rest of the year Echo Arena is looking ahead towards many more exciting events, including John Bishop, Cirque du Soleil Ovo, Katy Perry, Roger Waters, Def Leppard and Queen of Pop, herself – Kylie.
You can keep up to date on Liverpool Echo Arena’s superb 2018 programme here, and check the ACC Conference and Exhibition Centre here.
