Smoking ban not a drag in UK live music survey
40% of under-24s think smoking ban is good for live music
Queen and the King still reign supreme
1 in 10 over-55s desperate to crowd surf!
12th September 2007
Two-fifths of under-24s in Britain believe that the smoking ban has improved their live music experience in the UK according to a survey released today to mark the second Vodafone Live Music Awards on 19 September.
Overall, 20% of those surveyed believed the smoking ban had produced a positive effect for live music gigs, but the number doubled to 39.5% in the 16-24 age group. And the smoking ban could be a winner at the Vodafone Live Music Awards after it was nominated in the Live Impact category.
The online research, carried out for Vodafone*, looked into British music fans’ preferences including gigs they wished they’d been at, and fantasy duets they would like to hear as well as revealing the county’s top crowd surfing city.
Queen remain the top live performers with the British public. The group’s historic Live Aid gig tops the Most Wanted Performance chart while the group also features with Muse as the most popular fantasy duet.
Most Wanted Performance
The momentous Queen Live Aid gig in July 1985 is the one the British public most wish they had seen with over a quarter (26.3%) voting for it. After Queen comes ‘The King’, as Elvis is not far behind with 13.2% of the public wishing that they had witnessed Mr Presley swing his pelvis at Pearl Harbour back in 1961.One in 10 people, however, would have loved the chance to see the legendary Jimi Hendrix headlining the Woodstock festival in 1969 with his performance of the Star Spangled Banner remaining a seminal moment in music history.
Fantasy Duets
One in 10 UK music fans would most love to see Queen and Vodafone Live Music Awards 2006 winners Muse sing together if they had the pick of their music heroes joining forces. Amy Winehouse and David Bowie came a close second in the poll with 9.5% of the vote while Justin Timberlake and Prince followed in third place with 7.7% of Brits voting for them.
Crowd Surfing
The Midlands has beaten the music capitals of Manchester and Liverpool to the title of the most popular crowd surfing region in the nation! Home to The Charlatans, UB40 and Black Sabbath, the Midlands tops the poll with 7.4% of residents admitting they crowd surfed during a gig. Despite a fifth of the UK admitting they have never crowd-surfed, they revealed they would definitely love to try it and it is not just the youngsters in the live music scene. A tenth of the over 55s would also love to surf the crowds given the chance!
UK Smoking Ban
Smoking has gone hand in hand with rock and roll from day one so what effect has the smoking ban had on the live music scene since it was put into place in the UK this year? The Vodafone Live Music poll reveals that a fifth of the British public believe that the ban has improved their live music experience at gigs, particularly amongst 16-24 year olds with 39.5% giving the thumbs up to the ban. Time will tell if it will top the votes in the Vodafone Live Music Awards on September 19th as the ban goes head to head with Arcade Fire, The Gossip and Prince for the Live Impact 2007 Award.
Taking place at London’s Brompton Hall on 19 September and featuring performances by a host of international artists including 50 Cent, Stereophonics, CSS, Enrique Iglesias, Kate Nash, The Manic Street Preachers, Calvin Harris, Athlete and The Enemy, this year’s Vodafone Live Music Awards look set to be bigger and better ever than before, featuring new categories including Best Live Male and Best Live Female this year.
For those not lucky enough to attend the Vodafone Live Music Awards, the show will be broadcast on Channel 4 at 11pm on 19 Sept and then repeated that weekend on T4 between 1-2pm. Voting for the winners is now open to the public at www.vodafone.co.uk/music and by text to BAND to 61500. Fans will have the chance of winning exclusive tickets to the Vodafone Live Music Awards by entering their details now on the Vodafone Live Music website (www.vodafone.co.uk/music). Tickets to the Awards are free and available to all, not just Vodafone customers.
*Tickbox.net, September 2007
posted on: 12 Sep 2007
