Legendary festival promoter talks up Scotland's summer of live music ahead of Stirling Summer Sessions

This is Scotland’s summer of live music, says legendary music promoter Geoff Ellis.

The CEO of DF Concerts is fresh from coordinating a massive gig by US punk legends Green Day at Bellahouston Park, with thousands streaming through the gates on the night.

And this week work turned to bring the popular Summer Sessions series of concerts to Stirling for the first time - the eighth UK city to host the event.

Country icon Shania Twain, Welsh legend Sir Tom Jones and pop superstar James Arthur are among the acts set to play in the shadow of Stirling Castle at the City Park venue.

It all begins tomorrow (Thursday) with Arthur taking to the stage alongside double Eurovision winner Loreen, Kilmarnock alt-rockers Fatherson and former Britain’s Got Talent semi-finalist Cammy Barnes.

Speaking to us ahead of the first night, Geoff said: “I was up on the site in Stirling on Monday evening and it is looking magnificent with the castle looking down on the stage.

“The weather has been really kind to us on the build, so we’re looking forward to having a really great series of shows and particularly pleased with the strength in depth of the line-up we’ve managed to build.

“We’ve actually had to increase the capacity for Shania on Tuesday night (July 2) and she sells more tickets in Scotland than she does in London for example

“This will be her biggest selling outdoor show of the summer outside of Hyde Park and I don’t think we’re that far behind Hyde Park at this stage.”

Scotland’s live music scene is thriving this summer, he said, marking a comeback from the dark days of lockdown.

Geoff said: “I’ve never actually known a summer as busy as this one in terms of the breadth of shows, mainly in Glasgow and Edinburgh but now Stirling is being put on that map.”

“People really love the live music experience; they value it and they miss it when it is taken away.

“In lockdown, a lot of people struggled with mental health because of that - and that’s before you take into account the economic and cultural benefits of big shows like this.”

And Scotland is set to be the place to be for live music fans, with the Summer Sessions and Transmt joined this year by a number of concerts from mega-stars, with Taylor Swift’s Murrayfield gigs followed up by shows from The Killers, Pink and Foo Fighters.

But the promoter admits the challenges of running large-scale events in 2024 are growing in strength,

“It has got more costly for doing outdoor events such as this”, he continued.

“It’s not just festivals, something like the Taylor gig at Murrayfield or even the Royal Highland Show would be the same; the costs of staging things have gone through the roof.

“Brexit has had an impact for sure, but even the prices for things like steel and wood are important, hiring in the toilets and the staff - these costs have gone up globally and there is more competition out there with gigs, especially this year.

The Summer Sessions gigs will be joined by another concert from Scottish band Young Fathers alongside Self Esteem on Saturday night (June 29) at the festival site.

Tickets can be purchased for the Summer Sessions at smmrsessions.com/locations/stirling