Scintillating Bryan Adams puts Llangollen Eisteddfod on his live concert map

 

                            * Bryan Adams takes the Pavilion stage.

                       * Harmonising with guitarist Keith Scott. Picture:  

                                  * Adams and the band in the spotlight.

Towards the end of his storming set last night Canadian rocker Bryan Adams bellowed at a capacity Pavilion audience: “I didn’t even know this town existed!”

Well, after 90 minutes of sheer vitality and talent which was fully and rowdily appreciated by this local throng he shouldn’t have too much trouble locating Llangollen in future.

Thus ended the first of the eight headline concerts which are bookending the reinvented and rejuvenated Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod between now and July 13.

And it had been a belter from start to finish.

Warming up the audience for the Groover from Vancouver was electro-pop princess Cassyette who had them waving their wine bottles in the air with numbers like the fantastical Petrichor and the nightmarish Dear Goth.

Adams was preceded onto the famous main stage by something the Eisteddfod has surely never seen before – an enormous inflatable drone in the shape of an American car, bearing his name on one side and the title of his song So Happy It Hurts on the other, hovering around above the heads of the crowd.

* The car drone hovers above the crowd. 

* Fans from Canada show off the national flag.

* Excitement builds on the field before the concert.

* Making sure of a good view of the stage.

Some nifty graphics had the man nipping out of a similar car on a big screen behind the stage and into the red glare of actuality.

Then came a procession of hits, each of which had us stamping, cheering, arm waving and hoarsely singing along.

The likes of Kick Ass (he did), Can’t Stop This Thing We Started, Somebody, 18 Till I Die, One Night Love Affair, Please Forgive Me and Take Me Back tumbled out on after another.

There was a modicum of slower stuff with Heaven but it was back up to full blast again with Go Down Rockin’ and It’s Only Love with close assistance from his close guitar associate Keith Scott, no mean rocker himself.      

Adams had been a massive fan and friend of the late, great Tina Turner since he was a youngster, he told us, and that was why he included a rousing tribute to the Queen of Rock in the shape of her famous Simply the Best and What’s Love Got To Do With It?

It was with rockabilly smash You Belong to Me that the fun really began. Adams informed us that a video cameraman would be touring the crowd seeking out the best dancer who would immediately be shown on the big screen, adding: “And if you can’t dance just twerk!”

The winner was rapidly found in the small shape of an overwhelmed 11-year-old Dylan who was invited up onto the stage to meet the band and be presented with a couple of commemorative drumsticks by man on the skins Pat Steward.

Of course, the set had to include Adams’s massive chart-topper Everything I Do (I Do For You) which provided the theme to the 1991 film Robin Hood. That went down rather well too bringing the phone torches out in force.

As did Summer of ’69, Cuts Like a Knife and When You’re Gone.

Close to the end came a tribute to his 96-year-old mum, Jane, with the song Straight from the Heart.

All too soon Adams himself was gone. But, hopefully, now he knows that Llangollen Eisteddfod exists he will be back before too long.           

Bryan Adams kicks off biggest summer of Eisteddfod live music

Canadian rock star Bryan Adams will kick off the biggest ever summer of live music in North Wales tonight (Tuesday).

The multi-million selling artist is the first of 11 headline acts to head to Llangollen Pavilion over the next four weeks as part of the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod.

And final preparations are now underway to throw open the doors to welcome thousands of live music fans.

Bryan Adams – one of the most exciting live musicians in the world – will be supported by electro-pop singer-songwriter Cassyette.

Tonight's opening show will be followed by headlining sets from Simple Minds, Paloma Faith, Manic Street Preachers, Suede, Kaiser Chiefs, Nile Rodgers & CHIC, Jess Glynne and Madness.

In addition, a concert from Welsh legend Tom Jones will open the Core Week of the Llangollen Eisteddfod, which this year runs from July 2 to July 7 and will also include headline shows from Gregory Porter and Katherine Jenkins OBE. 

Between these dates, and in keeping with the traditions of the iconic festival, audiences can also enjoy a variety of evening events featuring award-winning folk band Calan, royal harpist Alis Huws, Britain’s Got Talent favourites Johns’ Boys Male Chorus, and West End and Broadway stars Kerry Ellis and John Owen-Jones.

The 11 headlining shows are part of a new partnership between the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod and Live Nation promoters Cuffe and Taylor.

Artistic Director of the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod Dave Danford said: “We can’t wait to get started on the biggest summer of live music ever held in Llangollen. This year we have truly global superstars such as Bryan Adams and Nile Rodgers appearing, alongside homegrown talent including Tom Jones, Calan, Alis Huws and Katherine Jenkins.

Working with our co-promoters Cuffe and Taylor has enabled us to secure the biggest names for our festival, and we can’t wait to welcome the world to Llangollen in larger numbers than ever before.”

Cuffe and Taylor co-founder Peter Taylor added: “We are very excited to be presenting what we hope will be the first of many summers in Llangollen. Not only are we working alongside a wonderful team at the Eisteddfod, but we have the pleasure in doing so in a beautiful location.

“This summer we have 11 outstanding artists coming to this incredible part of the world and we look forward to welcoming them, local residents and visitors from far and wide to this exceptional location.”

* For more information and to secure final tickets head to llangollen.net and www.ticketmaster.co.uk

Theatre group to present Shrek the Musical Jr at the Town Hall

* The cast of Shrek the Musical Jr line up.

A youth theatre group is taking over the Llangollen Town Hall stage later this week to present its new show based around everyone’s favourite ogre.

To The Stage Productions are a not-for-profit group offering opportunities to performers of all ages in Wrexham and the surrounding areas, with some performers travelling from as far as Anglesey to take part.

From this Thursday to Saturday, June 20-22, they are presenting Shrek the Musical Jr in Llangollen.

The hero and his noble steed lead a cast of fairy tale misfits on a royal quest to rescue a princess from a castle protected by a fiery dragon. 

The musical spectacular features dazzling costumes, songs, laughter and toe-tapping dance numbers.

* To book, go to: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/llangollen/llangollen-town-hall/shrek-the-musical-jr/e-ylqggg

Inner Wheel to host coffee morning at Memorial Hall

After their AGM earlier this month Llangollen Inner Wheel say they are pleased to have been able to donate more than £2,000 to international, home and local charities. 

They have also knitted 26 blankets for Hamlin Fistula UK, which is a charity that aids young mothers in Ethiopia. 

As well as the blankets members and friends have knitted a large number of baby clothes and blankets for children in Ukraine. 

To help continue with this work Inner Wheel are holding a coffee morning on Tuesday June 25 in the Memorial Hall. 

New recycling scheme has 'deep systemic failures' says county councillor

Llangollen county councillor Karen Edwards has issued the following statement about the troubled introduction of Denbighshire's new waste recycling system:

"I have been closely monitoring the unfolding issues related to the collection of waste after the introduction of the new rollout service across the county on June 3.

"Last Thursday, June 13 I attended an online Emergency Teams meeting with DCC officers along with many other County Councillors where the issues related to the rollout of the service were discussed.

"It is abundantly clear that this scheme has not gone as planned and what has been described as 'teething issues' are being created by deeper systemic failures which include but are not limited to a lack of adequate capacity for the segregated waste streams in the new collection vehicles as well as the significantly extended time spent by operatives having to manually handle and empty the new trolibocs containers and sacks into the vehicles.

"As a result collections are being stopped earlier than planned as vehicles reach capacity in one compartment and further collections for that day are often not completed due to time constraints and vehicles having to return to base. Attempts to clear the backlogs have not been successful either. This has been compounded by two of the vehicles resourced for the service breaking down in the first week and thus not being available for service. Additional collections are being planned and more resources are being sought to help alleviate the issues.

"I made my unhappiness, frustration and disappointment perfectly clear to the CEO and his officers at the meeting and expressed my concern that collectively they were not taking the systemic issues seriously and focussing simply on quick fix sticking plaster solutions to ease the current situation rather than seeking to identify the root causes that have resulted in the roll out of the service failing to deliver effectively for many residents, not only in Llangollen but the entire County, compounded by communication and reporting issues.

"DCC has indicated that they expect it will take around 12 weeks for the new system to be running smoothly, which is disappointing considering that despite several years of planning there are far more issues than the officers expected, notwithstanding the fact that the Lead Member has been on the project board for just over two years.

"County Councillors have now been assigned a direct link to a designated officer for each area in order to communicate local area issues with regard to failed collections. Whether this particular course of action actually results in clearing the backlog of waste remains to be seen.

"If you are still experiencing issues this next week after the designated collection days which are Tuesday and Wednesday, please contact me either via Ffon/telephone 07795652188 or Ebost/email karen.edwards@denbighshire.gov.uk"

Bids totalling over £2,000 made in fun auction in aid of Eisteddfod

* Auction assistant Mabli Lebbon with the guitar signed by the Manic Preachers which went for £350.

More than £2,000 was raised from lots that went under the hammer at an auction in aid of Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod in the Town Hall last night (Friday).

All 30 or so item which went up for sale were donated by well-wishers and bargain-hungry bidders paid £350 for a classic Danelectro guitar signed by the Manic Street Preachers who will star in an evening concert hosted by the Eisteddfod on June 28, £150 for a framed football shirt signed by Leeds and Wales international players and the same amount for a family portrait session put up by Neil Barrett Photography.

The hammer went down at £140 on a pair of tickets to see Tom Jones make his Llangollen debut on July 2 and at £120 for a four ball voucher including meals at the Vale of Llangollen Golf Club.

Other lots which stirred plenty of interest included packages of wine, spirits and beer, afternoon tea treats and a bread-making course in the winning bidder’s home offered by a local expert.   

* The masked singer was one of the auction lots.

There was also some intense bidding on a dinner, bed and bed breakfast stay for two people at a choice of hotels run by the group which owns the Wild Pheasant in town, That was eventually snapped up for £170.

Most novel lot of the evening came up when a masked singer clad in Sion Corn outfit gave an example of his vocal abilities to promote bidding on his offer to perform a 45-minute routine at the winner’s choice of venue – and bring along a bottle of champagne to get the party started. That went for a bargain £75.

Between the two halves of the auction, over which the gavel was wielded by Ian Lebbon chair of the Eisteddfod’s marketing committee, there was first class entertainment from a Wrexham-based ladies’ choir of Welsh learners, Côr DAW, who performed medleys of songs by the likes of Elton John, Abba, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson and Jersey Boys in both Welsh and English.

* Ian Lebbon wields the gavel.

Ian Lebbon said: “It was a fantastic night in which a total of over £2,000 was raised for the Eisteddfod from the many lots which went under the hammer,

“It would not have been possible but for the marvellous support we received from the people who donated items to be auctioned off and the volunteers and friends from the Eisteddfod who helped put the whole thing together.  

“I’d also like to say a big thank you to everyone who came along to join the very lively audience, which included guests from Australia and Ukraine.”

* Côr DAW perform one of their medleys.

* The football shirts on display before bidding commenced.

Council responds to candidate's claims about new recycling scheme

* One of the new Trolibocs.

Denbighshire County Council has responded to specific claims by a general election candidate about the new waste recycling system which he says has been “an unmitigated disaster” since being introduced on June 3. 

Paul Penlington, who is fighting Clwyd East for Plaid Cymru, says that refuse across the county hasn’t been collected for a week, refuse workers are quitting due to the risks to their backs, the majority of new bin crews are now agency workers many of whom have already left due to the workload and that a local construction firm’s drivers are being asked to help drive bin wagons. 

But the council refutes these claims.  

Mr Penlington said: “I objected to the implementation of this Trolibocs system from the outset. Primarily due to the huge cost and the fact there was nothing wrong with the existing system.

“The reality has proven to be even worse than I'd thought. Refuse across the county hasn't been collected for well over a week now, my own included, many bins have already been damaged by the weather and refuse workers are quitting due to the risk to their backs from the increased workload and constant lifting to head height. 

“This unwanted imposition from Welsh Labour  has already proven to be a costly failure, workers are at risk, our streets are an increasing mess and we are now looking at a 12% rise in council tax next year to pay for it. 

“DCC have now contracted the collection of the old wheelie bins to a firm from Great Yarmouth, so there’s no commitment to local businesses and the claimed savings seem to be highly inaccurate to say the least.

“The councillors who pushed this through, in the midst of a cost of living crisis, despite public opposition should resign now in disgrace. 

“The majority of the new bin crews are now costly agency workers, and a lot of them have already left due to the unrealistic workload. I have been informed the council are now so desperate they are asking a local construction firm’s drivers to help drive the bin wagons on a 10 am to 6pm shift.

“The pick-up timing previously was around 20 seconds from the pull-up to the bin, empty and move on, under this new system it's around two minutes. This six-fold increase in collection times wasn’t factored in and the electric wagons’ charge runs out before runs are complete. 

“The loading hatches on the wagons require head height lifting for the crew but are too low to cope with the volume the wagon is expected to take. The rubbish going in builds up quickly into a mountain-type heap; the rubbish then cascades down and falls out further increasing the workload and reducing the time they can stay out. 

“People dumping excess refuse into public bins is up by 60% with an increased need for more agency staff to deal with it.

“This system is a hugely expensive, unmitigated disaster and Labour-led DCC are now desperately trying to disguise that fact from the public. Incompetence is an inadequate word to describe this complete failure and irresponsible waste of public money.  

“Yet the Labour led Cabinet insist on ploughing ahead to avoid embarrassing their colleagues in the General Election.”

A council spokesperson responded: “We have had zero staff resign because of this system or since it has been implemented or any musculo-skeletal problems caused by the work.

 

“The collection contract for the old bins was secured via the contract award to IPL for the provision of the Troliboxes – this was a subcontract arrangement that offered significant cost reduction to the council.

 

“We do have a percentage of agency staff, as we always have within the waste collection team, but the vast majority of the team are direct employees. Requests to local firms for assistance have not been made.

 

“Electric vehicles are not currently in deployment by the service and we have no indication of rubbish cascading out of the vehicle due to the manual handling processes involved.

 

“The 60 percent increase in public bin waste is not a figure the council has calculated or released.”

* Meanwhile, in its latest general statement on the recycling situation the council says: Denbighshire County Council would like to sincerely apologise to residents for the impact on them of missed collections as we roll-out the new waste and recycling collection service. 

"We would also like to thank residents for the efforts made by them to ensure that their recycling is sorted correctly and placed in the appropriate containers. These efforts have greatly improved the quality of the recycling materials collected and this is really appreciated.

"While the majority of recycling and residual waste collections have been completed as planned across the county, we accept that a large number of residents have not had a collection and that this has caused difficulties for them.

"We have experienced a number of issues which is to be expected with a service change of this scale and to get to grips with these, the following temporary measures are being put in place: 

•   We have brought in additional vehicles and staff, so more crews are out each day

•   Extra shifts are being put in place so crews can stay out longer

•   We will have crews out on Saturdays focussing on key areas which have been missed

•   Staff from other services of the council are being redeployed to help with tasks to support the front-line collection crews.

"We are closely monitoring the situation and doing what we can with the resources available. We appreciate your patience, but also recognise your frustrations and apologise for the impact this has had on you. We expect that the difficulties will ease as the temporary measures set out above take effect and the new service is embedded. 

"Information about all aspects of the service is available on the website, including how to report a missed collection, and regular updates are posted on Denbighshire’s social media accounts."