SS Great Britain says it 'will do better' after claims summer music series lacks diversity

Bosses at one of Bristol’s leading visitor attractions have vowed to ‘do better’ after the city’s night-time economy tsar pointed out none of the musical acts booked for a series of summer concerts there were black or from a minority ethnic background.

The SS Great Britain has acknowledged the line-up for this year’s ‘Summer Lates’ series of concerts, to be held in the evenings on the dockside next to Brunel’s iconic ship, ‘does lack visible diversity’.

The charity trust that runs the visitor attraction said the line-up ‘is not reflective of the SS Great Britain Trust’s values and behaviours on diversity and inclusion’, and ‘nor does it reflect our broader programming, events or offer to visitors’. The admission comes after Bristol City Council ’s night-time economy adviser, Carly Heath, said it was ‘disappointing’ to see ‘not a single person of colour’ in the line-up.

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The Summer Lates series of concerts at the SS Great Britain have been a successful addition to the ship venue’s programme events in the last few years - the attraction is open later in the lighter midsummer evenings, and the dockside becomes a music venue with the ship as a backdrop. This year, events are scheduled across four Thursdays in June, July and August, with the first this Thursday, June 27.

A total of seven different local music acts are appearing in the Summer Lates series, from solo artists to large bands.

The line up includes Sugarmoon, Long Tonic, Gusto Gusto, The Xaviers, Pretend Friends, Eve Appleton Band and Old Moll. “The 2024 Summer Lates Series line up will include a range of genres, from the sweet, soulful sounds of Sugarmoon to the ‘head bangers and knee bucklers’ of Long Tonic, plus loads more!” the SS Great Britain said, when presenting the line up ahead of the first gig. Of the total of 32 performers in those seven bands or acts, all are white.

“Disappointing to see not a single person of colour in this lineup for Summer Lates at SS Great Britain,” said the council’s night-time economy adviser Carly Heath, in a post on X/ Twitter. “C’mon Bristol, we’re better than this,” she added.

Her post was backed by Marti Burgess, a prominent figure in the city’s music scene, whose family own Lakota nightclub. Marti, who became the first black person to join the Society of Merchant Venturers, played a key role in the Bristol Music Trust’s decision to change the name of Bristol Beacon, from the Colston Hall. She described the line-up as ‘poor’.

It was a sentiment acknowledged by the SS Great Britain in a statement issued to Bristol Live. The Trust said it is ‘listening to valuable feedback’. “The line up for our dockyard gigs has always aimed to give emerging artists the chance to perform in front of an iconic landmark, but we realise that the series of four gigs this year does lack visible diversity,” a spokesperson said.

“This is not reflective of the SS Great Britain Trust’s values and behaviours on diversity and inclusion. Nor does it reflect our broader programming, events or offer to visitors. We programmed the bands in collaboration with our neighbours Coffee Club who run gigs year-round and share our values of diversity and inclusion which is notable through those year-round line-ups.

“We both acknowledge that, despite challenges programming a short series of early evening gigs during the summer, we can and must do better,” he added.

“The Trust’s broader events programme has included - last Saturday – a Windrush evening onboard attended by over 120 people from Bristol’s black communities and featuring the Bristol Windrush Reggae Choir – their second gig here.

“Collaborations over the May half term with Bristol Institute for Performing Arts and Bristol Improv Theatre introduce more diversity to our visitor offer, and underpin the Trust’s ongoing commitment to community engagement. As an education charity, the Trust is actively working to tackle barriers to visiting the site with schemes such as our Golden Ticket programme, and empowering young people considering careers in science, technology, engineering, and maths, regardless of postcode, ethnicity and family income,” he said.

“Providing visitors with open, honest storytelling of global travel, innovation and migration is key to what we do, and sharing those stories so that everyone feels welcome remains pivotal. Much progress has been made and – as winner of the 2019 European Museum of the Year Award for ‘most welcoming museum in Europe’ – we will not rest on our laurels,” he added.

“We are listening to valuable feedback, and we will do more. We hope people take a look at the wider events and offers from the Trust and give us a chance to welcome them to get involved and continue to give us their feedback and ideas,” he said.

After the 2022 Harbour Festival in Bristol, a report to the city council's cabinet recommended changes to the event because it had become 'too white and middle class', and not appealing or accessible to people from working class and/or ethnic minority backgrounds. That report, and the way it was reported, sparked a fierce debate in the city.