The History of Loud Promotions at Wilbarston



Concerts at Wilbarston Hall started when Mick MacLeod and Jed Stone and their band Raw Deal played at Bill Tweedie’s wedding on 10th June 1989.

It was such a success that soon after, in December 1989, the first ‘self-promoted’ gig took place when Mick and Jed booked a band and LoudPromotions was born. The name “Loud” was invented as a broken miss spelt rubber stamp was used to stamp the hand of ticket holders at the door. The name Loud being what was left of the MacLeod stamp! We still use the Loud stamp to this day.

Mick and Jed were helped by unpaid volunteers, who like them, loved Blues-Rock music and wanted to bring it to our region. One such volunteer was local villager, young James (Jim) Smith, who enthusiastically helped Mick run the shows took over  the responsibility for running Loud Promotions in 1991 when Mick decided to stop due to family commitments. The shows are still run by volunteers and are run for the music’s sake, and not to make any money. Regular volunteer Richard Boyles also helped Jim from 1991 and others to help are Tony Rawlinson and Ian Hemming.

Jim had some grand and adventurous ideas and decided to go for bigger named bands. His first really big name was Jools Holland who played at Wilbarston. Imagine Jools’ shock of playing in such a small hall, with his eleven-piece orchestra
on stage, and Jools banging his elbow on the audience while he play the piano. As soon as he came off stage, he asked if he could come back as he had  such a great time - and he did. More and more famous names began to appear with bands
and audiences coming from all over the world to the now famous Wilbarston Hall concerts promoted by Loud Promotions.

On 10th May 1997, a Saturday afternoon before a concert, Jim tragically died in a car accident. The show went on that night but under a terrible atmosphere.
The volunteers who help run the gigs organised a tribute show for Jim on later that year and the famous Bernie Marsden (the original Whitesnake member) put  together an all-star band for the occasion. Such was the reputation and respect for Jim Smith and Loud Promotions.

The end of Loud Promotions was imminent, but for Jim’s sister, Alison, who decided to take over from her late brother and continue Loud Promotions, which is where we are today. The shows are still run by volunteers, and you still get the famous “Loud” stamp on the back of your hand when you present your ticket at the door.

The unique friendliness and atmosphere of Wilbarston hall is the big attraction for both bands and audiences. The intimate nature of the small venue gives the audience the chance to see and hear their favourite Blues-Rock bands close at hand,
and often meet them face to face after the concert for a chat and to sign autographs.

www.LoudPromotions.co.uk web site was launched in 1997 and contains full details of up and coming shows as well as a list of the bands that have performed at Wilbarston over the years. Nearly 100 famous names such as Chris Farlow, Canned Heat, Dr. Feelgood, Georgia Satellites, Hamsters, Jools Holland,
Moody Marsden, Magnum, Nils Lofgren, 9 Below Zero, Peter Green, Pat Travers, Paul Jones Blues Band, Roger Chapman, Walter Trout, Wishbone Ash and The Yardbirds plus many more have appeared at Wilbarston.

Blues-Rock bands regularly come from Europe and America to this sleepy little village. Even the audiences travel from as far a field as Scotland, Kent, Cornwall, Essex, and London to Wilbarston. There are regular visitors from The Netherlands and we even had one fan come from Japan to see his favourite band !

Due to falling audience numbers during 2003 it looked like Loud Promotions may close, but we bounced back with two shows later that year. The sell out Walter Trout and the Radicals
show on 10th October, followed by a festive and fun Christmas show.

2004 enjoyed some great sell out shows and we continued through to 2007 where we ran our "best of the best" year as a tribute to Jim Smith. The year was a great success where we had
our "best of the best" ably supports by some great new bands to appear at Wilbarston. 



In 2009 we celebrated our 20 year anniversary

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In 2010 we hit financial problems and had to close with a final SELL OUT concert by Walter Trout.



Two years later we are up and running again with another     SELL OUT Walter Trout and Laurence Jones concert.

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As the Loud Promotions T Shirt says



"The Story So Far..."

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Loud Promotions 2013