June 27, 2006
Sussex Elton John Concert hits all the right notes
On Sunday 25th June an audience of over 18000 witnessed a spectacular event as Sir Elton John played at The County Ground, Hove. Not only was it a success in front of show but also the behind-the-scenes running of the event.
This was a major project taken on by Sussex County Cricket Club, Marshall Arts, Brighton & Hove City Council and the Emergency Services and it was a massive achievement for all concerned.
Inspector Kevin Claxton of Sussex Police said, “We are very pleased that the Elton John concert was a huge success. Many parties were involved and consulted, from Sir Elton’s management and the promoters, to the Cricket Club, various City Council departments, Stewarding and the emergency services. It is clear that all agencies worked excellently together, in planning and running the event. This resulted in an absolute minimum of disruptive behaviour, no arrests, and a first-class event for those attending. It demonstrates to us the value of successful multi-agency working in running top-rate events in the city, in a safe and crime-free way.”
A council spokesperson said: “The event went smoothly and was a great success . The council received only very few number of noise-related complaints in comparison to the large number of people who enjoyed the evening.”
Barrie Marshall of Marshall Arts said, “Elton John is a superb artist of whom there are very few. He has attained an extraordinary level of achievement both musically and as an entertainer throughout his career.
“His performance yesterday at the County Ground gave a crowd of 18,000 the opportunity to experience this for themselves.
“As promoters we have been very privileged to have been able to promote Elton John at such a wonderful ground, whose staff, led by Ian Waring and Brian Jeffries, have worked tirelessly with us to make the show a success. We look forward to being able to bring more artists of this calibre to Hove in the future.”
This concert is the first that Sussex CCC has ever staged and to have such a high profile performer as our inaugural guest artist was an ambitious move. Having been so closely involved with the set-up, the event and break down we can see exactly what such an event entails. For example: there were over 150 workers on site for six days, nine kilometres of cabling was used and on the day itself 500 gallons of Pimms was consumed, 4000 punnets of strawberries eaten and over 1000 buckets of ice used.
