Love Music, Hate Racism - Who do you want to headline the Britannia Stadium in May?

The Sentinel has today posted a report that there will be a Love Music, Hate Racism gig at the Britannia Stadium in Stoke on May 30.

That's got to be a good thing for Stoke-on-Trent, and it's good that the council does recognise the power that such events can have. Not just in tackling racism, you understand, but also raising the profile of the city's music venues.

The timing is no coincidence, coming before the European elections, at which the BNP is hoping to win its first seats.

But it's to be hoped that both the line-up and the event organisation allow the city to benefit to full effect.

The only reason for my fears is past experience of LMHR gigs in the city.

Just remember the Axis Festival as an example of where the organisation was good, but the line-up was not strong enough to pull in Stoke's punters.

The first night had been promising with Sandi Thom comfortably filling the Sugarmill. And it was good for a while, particularly when she namechecked Rockerman's furniture store.

But after the first couple of songs, the crowd simply stopped listening.

Similarly, a lot of the acts I got to see over the next fortnight simply weren't strong enough over a two-week event.

The Britannia gig, of course, will only be one day so that shouldn't be an issue.

And it's to be hoped that the organisers can pull together an event which can prevail over an eventuality.

After all, I remember when Kasabian were to stage a gig at Central Forest Park in 2004 (or was it 2005?)

Anyway, Stoke-on-Trent's now legendary indifference to up-and-coming bands combined with the Great British weather to spoil what could have been an absolutely belting day out in the city.

I remember being one of 200 fans who waited in the park before the band were supposed to play.

Wind and rain rolled in as the afternoon rolled on, and the attractions of the bar outweighed the fact that the lack of shelter meant I was damp, cold and less up to jump around to the band.

Eventually the state of the stage meant the outdoor gig had to be rescheduled for the Sugarmill in Hanley.

Even though it was a great gig, it didn't cover for the fact that the weather had led many people to just go home.

Of course, staging the latest gig at the Britannia Stadium means this is unlikely to be a problem.

And if that's the case, there's only one question to ask: who would you like to see headline the Britannia gig???.

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