Wolverhampton Halls CEO excited about future of venue as big launch approaches
The future of the new-look Civic Hall is looking bright, according to the boss of the company running it.
Steve Homer, the chief executive officer of AEG Presents, has been speaking about the potential for the Halls Wolverhampton, the newly-revamped Civic and Wulfrun Halls, following several years of work to modernise and update the building.
The venue will reopen its doors with a show by Blur on May 26, starting off a summer of live music and entertainment at a venue Mr Homer said had real character to it and artists had enjoyed playing at.
He said: "It certainly has an energy and a character to it and there are other factors, as artists have played in Birmingham and other locations and come here and said that the audience here were far more energetic and enthusiastic.
"Speaking to a number of acts that I now work with and who have been touring for a while, there's a lot of fond memories of this venue, which is really encouraging and not prompted because bands have come here and enjoyed it and want to come back."
Mr Homer, who grew up in Wordsley, Stourbridge, said he had a long history with the Civic Hall, having attended his first gig there in December 1978, describing a cold, snowy night and a volley of spit as he saw The Clash play.
He said it was special due to a mixture of factors, including a large standing floor and a good sound in the room.
He said: "It's difficult to nail down what makes it work, but it can be a mixture of the standing floor, which is very unique as there's not many venues which have a 3,500 capacity and can have so many people on the floor.
"It also has good sight lines, meaning you can see and hear from anywhere and the sound is always good, and you couple that with the enthusiasm of the audience.
"You need all the bits to come into play as it's not just the room, it's the way people respond to it, it's also the way the audience play in it, so there's lots of positives to the room."
It has been a venue that many artists have spoken of loving, with Mr Homer saying that Suzy Quatro had said it was one of her favourite venues and she had wanted to play it once it reopened.
The first big show on May 26 sees Britpop legends Blur play one of their four warm-up shows for their appearance at Wembley Stadium.
Mr Homer said the band had done previous warm-up shows at the Civic before, with Damon Albarn speaking of his own fondness for it, and said the band had been very keen to come back.
He said: "Blur are currently looking at a stadium run in the UK and Europe across the summer and they always do a number of warm-up shows to whatever they are doing and I promoted them for shows before their Hyde Park and Glastonbury shows.
"One of the warm-up shows back then was the Civic and they've played here a couple of other times and there's a connection with the band that they've always had favourable shows here as they've liked the audience and liked the venue.
"They actually approached us and asked us about doing a warm-up show, to which we told them our plan was opening on June 1 and they said they wanted to do it on May 26, so we said, yes, we will be open for them as we're not going to turn them down for the sake of a couple of days."
Mr Homer said the show was a big one for AEG Presents, which has around 150 staff and does touring and outdoor events and runs about five venues across the country, and was part of a big schedule for the summer.
Bands such as James, the Script and Europe will perform at the Halls alongside magicians Penn and Teller during 2023, with Mr Homer saying he was still looking down the line at other acts, including a legend from the area.
He said; "I'm very keen to and we've had discussions with Robert Plant, because of his history with the city and the venue, but he wasn't available at the time, but that's one for later on.
"A lot of the acts have played here before and want to play here again, so the challenge is to to appeal to a broader audience as there will be people who are aged 20 and under who have never been here.
"We plan to look at younger programming to make sure cover every age group and genre and the venue is not just for live music, but for all types of entertainment and for hire for corporate events as it's all for the community."
