Posted June 14, 200718 yr Teenage pair fix Girls Aloud show Two teenagers who started organising rock concerts in their spare time after school have now booked Girls Aloud, one of pop's biggest attractions. Alex Darlington and Aaron Kirkhouse, both 19, hope to attract more stars after the talent show winners play at Pembrokeshire's Oakwood Theme Park. They run Mint Gigs full-time and have booked the five-piece band on 21 July. They said it was hard to persuade bands to travel to the county but they aim to bolster its live music scene. With private financial backing, the friends have hired Oakwood on the night and are aiming to attract up to 7,500 people. Mr Darlington said the chart-topping band formed after winning ITV's Popstars: The Rivals were the biggest name to play the county that he could recall. We are trying to build up a reputation and demonstrate we can make a success of it Alex Darlington "It's very hard to get bands to come here and it's the first time a band of this size has come here for a long time," he said. "I think Wales - not just Pembrokeshire - is sometimes overlooked. There are a lot of people living here." Mint Gigs started life when the business partners were still in sixth form. "We were doing small rock nights at a local club with a 500 capacity," added Mr Darlington. Since then they have staged gigs around Wales and as far afield as Liverpool but nothing on next month's scale. "We have brought signed bands to Pembrokeshire - they are starting to realise it's not at the end of the earth," he added. "Sophie Ellis-Bextor is going down to the Queen's Hall in Narberth - it's nothing to do with us - but it's good for us that it's happening." Rides The theme park will be open to visitors as usual on 21 July before shutting at about 1700 BST. It will then reopen for concert-goers an hour later and they will be able to enjoy the rides before the show starts at 2100 BST. "To book them we went through the normal boring process of contacting the agents and making an offer - having Oakwood gave us a lot of weight." He said he hoped it would become an annual event and further down the line there are plans for a festival in the county. "When you are talking about something like this it's a struggle to get the local authority convinced it can happen - that's why we are trying to build up a reputation and demonstrate we can make a success of it."
June 17, 200718 yr Stars sing at cardiff all the time? I know that's what I thought when they said that GA are the biggest act the COUNTRY has ever seen.
