posted on 08 September 2008 09:26
by
David Spear (Web Editor)
The Winter Gardens – Wasted Resource?
Is there a more wasted resource in the whole of Weston-super-Mare, neigh North Somerset, than The Winter Gardens? I don’t think so. In the 60’s and 70’s we were talking The Beatles, David Bowie, Pink Floyd, and T Rex; a never ending merry-go-round of events that I would kill to have access to on my doorstep. Whilst never exactly being home to ‘the scene’, Weston-super-Mare and The Winter Gardens could once attract some serious talent.
Whilst I’m sure that kept our Mums and Dads happy, the days of The Fab Four tearing up Weston are but a hazy memory, and the 2008 equivalent of The Beatles in their pomp? Quarterly visits by The British Wrestling Tour, a tea dance or ten, and the occasional “Record Fair”. In fact, it was a chance visit to the “Record Fair” on Saturday that prompted this little tirade! If I was a newcomer to the town and somebody told me that Pink Floyd had once played The Winter Gardens, I think I would have a sudden outbreak of bad manners and laugh in their face!
There was certainly not much in the way of cutting edge music at the “Record Fair”. It dismays me to report that a building, once temporary home to Ziggy Stardust and his Spiders, now found itself at the mercy of “eccentric” types, with dubious fashion tastes, requesting Dennis “write the theme tune” Waterman LP’s! I couldn’t make up my mind whether he specifically wanted LP’s because Dennis Waterman had never been released on CD, or if it was because he’d never actually heard of CD’s!*
I appreciate that Sir Paul McCartney’s touring schedule no longer has room for The Winter Gardens, but it is outrageous that Weston-super-Mare has been allowed to slip completely off of the musical radar, bar the annual T4 event. Although not to my taste, and only because Sir Paul can’t make it, I’d rather have McFly here than an endless succession of the same old non-events. Sadly, I fear it’s too late to rebuild a musical tradition that is frankly in tatters having not held a decent concert for decades.
If the town’s cultural decision makers have to constantly look at the past for direction and inspiration, let’s not allow Dennis Waterman and tea dances to be the sum extent.
* Apparently, for those of you interested in the outcome of The Great Dennis Waterman LP Hunt, the vendor didn’t have any on sale, but had some at home! Even worse, from his own personal collection!