The Liberty’s indoor music festival hits all the right notes

Click here to view the image gallery of the event

Thousands of music fans from across the region beat a path to The Liberty shopping centre in Romford last weekend for a unique indoor music festival that saw shopping malls turned into a hotbed of eclectic musical talent.  Over 20 regional, national and international artists performed throughout the weekend across four stages throughout the centre.  The festival is part of a summer-full of live in-centre performances at The Liberty as part of Liberty Live 08.

The action packed event was a massive hit with shoppers and music lovers of all ages who enjoyed the vibrancy of a live music festival for free and also enjoyed some shopping along the way.  Visitors also took advantage of the variety of exclusive festival trade stands within the special ‘Traders Village’ where top retailers Linzi Shoes, Lush, Beauty Republic, Footlocker, Itsa and Thorntons sold a variety of ‘festival essentials’. To add to the festival feel there was also face painting, chocolate fountains, ice cream and popcorn and a PMT Music shop area where people got the chance to live out their rock star dreams with real instruments!

Susan McCall, Marketing Manager of The Liberty said:

“This year’s festival was another great success.  It’s fantastic that we’re able to bring the music of international artists and new talent to local and regional shoppers and share the experience of a real music festival with all our visitors, whether they’re one or 100!”

Topping the bill were two international bands and 1970s legends, Mungo Jerry and The Real Thing, who wowed festival-goers with their classic hits ‘In the Summertime’ and ‘You To Me Are Everything’.  They both whipped up the crowds and got everyone’s feet tapping, creating a real buzz around the centre.

Following their set, The Real Thing commented:

“Playing a shopping centre is a strange experience as your audience is made of passers by so you have to work hard to win them over, but by the end everyone was singing and dancing along and we had a great day.”

The best of the region’s talent also made a big impression.  The Liberty’s Battle of the Band’s (BOTB) winners Lost & Found rocked out to an eager crowd on Saturday, proving why they won the coveted headline spot and Urban Reverb opened the festival on Sunday, creating a chilled out vibe for equally keen onlookers.

Commenting on the experience, Urban Reverb told us:

“We’ve had an amazing time!  So many opportunities have come out of winning BOTB and opening the festival was awesome – it was great to be able to play our music to so many new people.”

The event also showcased some of the region’s best unsigned artists from Brentwood, Colchester, Maldon, Southend and Barking including Dave Stannard, Medicine, Songs from the Blue House, Navacross, The Shy and last year’s Battle of the Bands winner, Francesca Bassenger.  

The summer of live music at The Liberty isn’t over yet though!  Sounds of the Summer will be taking place every weekend in July and August, when visitors to the centre will get to join in with interactive performances, dance workshops and listen to the musical stylings of Battle of the Bands runners up, David Stevenson, Surface to Air, High Compression and Secret Members.

To find out more about Sounds of the Summer and to catch more pictures and action from The Real Music Festival, head to The Liberty’s MySpace page, www.myspace.com/thelibertyrealmusicfestival.