'Best of the Marquee' CD may be released

MUSIC PROMOTER Peter Aiken says he is considering releasing an album to mark the success of the Live in the Marquee series of…

MUSIC PROMOTER Peter Aiken says he is considering releasing an album to mark the success of the Live in the Marquee series of concerts in Cork which have attracted close to 400,000 music fans to the city over the past five years.

Aiken said he is considering a live Best of the Marqueealbum for the Christmas market capturing the best of the acts who have performed at the Cork venue. He has predicted that sales for this year's 21 concerts will hold up well despite the economic downturn.

The Live in Marquee series was first launched in 2005 to coincide with Cork’s tenure as European Capital of Culture.

The concert tent has a 5,000 capacity and already several of the acts have sold out, with several more expected to do so in the coming weeks. Virtually all acts were expected to attract at least 3,000 people to provide a €10 million plus boost to the local economy, Aiken said.

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“Lady Gaga is the No 1 selling artist in the world at the moment and she sold out in a matter of minutes, while James Taylor and Rod Stewart also sold out very quickly and I would expect quite a number of the other gigs to follow suit.

“The Prodigy, Shayne Ward and Christy Moore, who is doing his fifth year in row here, will all sell out, and Crosby, Stills and Nash will also sell out,” Aiken added.

Barry Roche

Barry Roche

Barry Roche is Southern Correspondent of The Irish Times