On The Waterfront
On The Waterfront has become a regular feature on Liverpool’s musical calendar. It is a really special event and part of this, apart from the great artists booked to play it, is that you would be hard pushed to find a better setting for a gig than the Pier Head, on our gorgeous waterfront which is instantly recognisable against the backdrop of the world famous Three Graces.
The announcement of this year’s line up for On The Waterfront (and we will come back to that) made me cast my mind back to other great music occasions that have graced the Pier Head in recent years. Only last year Cunard chose to launch their latest ship, the Queen Ann, with a huge celebration at the Pier Head which included the Philharmonic Orchestra, brilliant DJ sets from Lauren Lo Sung and Craig Charles, and a couple of tunes from some fella called Andrea Bocelli. I predict a great future for old Andreas – he can definitely belt out a tune and the packed crowd seemed to like him.
In 2023 of course for a magical couple of weeks the Pier Head was the home of the Eurovision Village for almost two weeks and featured everything from the English National Opera doing Eurovision classic to the hilarious but truly awful Jedward and everything in between. We were hosting the competition on behalf of the Ukraine so there was lots of well received Ukranian music as well as appearances by artists competing in that year’s contest. You could tell that all the artists who played were wowed by the setting and particularly in the early evening the site was just beautiful. However the artists who seemed to appreciate it the most were the local musicians who knew the significance of the site and raised their game as they were inspired by the setting and the hugely appreciative crowd made up of locals, Eurovision fans, and those who were there because they knew something special was going on.
The Village was opened by a one -off incredible show Welcome to Eurotopia featuring an incredible array of musicians from Liverpool and the Ukraine all pulled together by Stealing Sheep and Natalie McCool but featuring an impressive array of guest performances. We made sure that young emerging artists from the city region had a chance to perform and they all loved the occasion. Michael Aldag never stopped smiling as he produced a storming performance supporting the Lightning Seeds who had all crowd singing along to their big hits. Sonic Youtha brought the fun as they always do and on the night that featured Liverpool artists as headliners Girls Don’t Sync showed exactly why they are one of the go-to names in the DJ world at the moment. Honestly if you aren’t dancing and smiling when Girls Don’t Sync are playing then I suspect you are probably already dead.
For one year only the Pier Head also hosted The Feis, brought to us by the late Irish promoter Vince Power. Vince had the genius idea of hosting a massive Irish festival with some of the biggest Irish music names in the world and holding it in Liverpool on the Pier Head. I have to be honest the day is a bit of a blur but I know that there were an awaful lot of Irish people in Liverpool that day, the sun shone very brightly, much Guinness was drunk, Van Morrison was very Van Morrissey, and Shane McGowan memorably appeared briefly as part of the finale. A good day was had by all. Possibly even Van Morrison enjoyed himself.
There is an Irish connection to this year’s On The Waterfront festival too with The Wolfe Tones headlining on the Friday night. They have been going for as long as I have been alive and everyone with any interest in Irish music should see them at least once. It is a guaranteed good night and you will be hoarse the next day from all the singing and shouting you did at the gig. Id say make sure you don’t have too much on for the Saturday
Elsewhere the wonderful Wombats are back in town for what will be their biggest hometown gig to date. They are always brilliant live and you will be surprised by how many Wombats songs you can sing along too. The band will always have a special place in the city’s history performing on top of St Georges Hall at the opening ceremony for our year of Capital of Culture in 2008. (Who decides to host a massive opening ceremony in January and then decides to take it outdoors?)
In even better news Cream Classical returns this year with the 50 Piece Kaleidoscope Orchestra, live performers and vocalists, guaranteed to deliver a spinetingling performance, taking us back to the heady days of Cream’s famed dancefloor, joined by some of the superclubs legendary DJ’s including Todd Terry, Seb Fontaine, Tall Paul, Danny Rampling, Chicane and more. If you have been to a Cream Classical show before then I know you will be at this one anyway. But if you have never been then I’ll let you off this time as long as grab all your mates and make them come with you. They will thank you and love you forever if you do because it is simply one of those nights that makes Liverpool the best music city in the world. Great music and a lovely crowd who want to dance and have the best night of their lives, every time!
Sting wraps this year’s extravaganza up on the Sunday.
Cream have brought us On The Waterfront for a number of years now and there have been some really special nights in that time. Jamie Webster was at his very best over two unforgettable nights. Even the deluge on the second night couldn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the crowd on the Friday night. The mighty Camelphat have headlined on two occasions and absolutely nailed it both times. There have been a great range of headliners from outside the city including the likes of Ben Helmsley, James, Nile Rogers and always popular Deacon Blue.
Dates for On The Waterfront 2025 are as follows:
Thursday 19th June The Wombats
Friday 20th June The Wolfe Tones
Saturday 21St June Cream Classical
Sunday 22nd June Sting
Further details and tickets go to www.onthewaterfrontfestival.com