Martin Elbourne (born 19 January 1957 in
Carlisle,
Cumberland) is an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
performing arts promoter. Elbourne was brought up near the village of
Knebworth, Hertfordshire. His first job, at age fifteen, was working for the local stately home
Knebworth House
Knebworth House is an English country house in the parish of Knebworth in Hertfordshire, England. It is a Grade II* listed building. Its gardens are also listed Grade II* on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. In its surrounding park is t ...
which in the mid-seventies became the biggest venue in the United Kingdom for outdoor shows and hosted bands such as
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...
,
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...
and
Pink Floyd.
He is best known as the promoter of
rock concerts
A rock concert is a performance of rock music.
During the 1950s, several American musical groups experimented with new musical forms that fused country music, blues, and swing genre to produce the earliest examples of "rock and roll." The co ...
and is a well-known figure for his work in music and music festivals in the UK. He has been an advisor to, and one of main bookers for, the
Glastonbury Festival for 30 years and has helped and advised numerous other festivals.
Career
Born on 19 January 1957 in
Carlisle, Cumbria, Elbourne grew up in
Hertfordshire, north of London.
In 1977, he set up his own political party the Epicurean (ethical hedonist '0' movement) which won the student union elections. One of the election pledges was to open up the student union venue to non-students, leading it to become the main venue in Bristol for punk and post-punk bands. He studied
Economics
Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...
at
Bristol University, in South West England earning an Honours B.A. The main bar at the university is still named after the Epicurean movement.
He started promoting bands outside of the student union and became involved with the
Ashton Court Festival, then the largest free event in the UK, and started going to Glastonbury. Upon leaving university he founded the award-winning ''Bristol Recorder'', a combined vinyl LP compilation and a magazine. This led to his meeting local resident
Peter Gabriel. Elbourne and Gabriel among others ended up funding and co-promoting the first
WOMAD
WOMAD ( ; World of Music, Arts and Dance) is an international arts festival. The central aim of WOMAD is to celebrate the world's many forms of music, arts and dance.
History
WOMAD was founded in 1980 by English rock musician Peter Gabriel, w ...
Festival. Whilst critically acclaimed, the resultant financial losses led to Gabriel playing a reformed Genesis Concert and Elbourne relocating to London.
Elbourne ended up working for
Rough Trade as a booking agent. His most famous clients were
New Order and
The Smiths
The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. They comprised the singer Morrissey, the guitarist Johnny Marr, the bassist Andy Rourke and the drummer Mike Joyce. They are regarded as one of the most important acts to eme ...
. His relationship with New Order continued until the death of
Rob Gretton
Robert Leo Gretton (15 January 1953 – 15 May 1999) was the manager of Joy Division and New Order. He was partner in and co-director of Factory Records and a founding partner of The Haçienda. For ten years until his death in 1999, Gretton ra ...
. He managed various bands including
Green on Red
Green on Red was an American rock band, formed in the Tucson, Arizona punk scene, but based for most of its career in Los Angeles, California, where it was loosely associated with the Paisley Underground. Earlier records have the wide-screen p ...
,
David Rudder
David Michael Rudder OCC (born 6 May 1953) is a Trinidadian calypsonian, known to be one of the most successful calypsonians of all time.
He performed as lead singer for the brass band Charlie's Roots. Nine years later, Rudder stepped outside ...
, and
Gaye Bykers on Acid
Gaye Bykers on Acid (GBOA) are an English psychedelic rock band from Leicester, and one of the founder members of the grebo music scene. They later released both thrash punk and dance music albums under various aliases.
Personnel
* Mary By ...
, and gradually became more involved with the
Glastonbury Festival, ending up as its main booker.
In 2003, Elbourne co-founded
The Great Escape Festival
The Great Escape Festival is a three-day music festival held in Brighton and Hove, England every year in May. It is operated by MAMA Festivals and showcases new music from a variety of genres. The festival was founded in 2006 and roughly hosts ...
, held in
Brighton, which has music industry related conferences during the day and features live music in the evenings.
Sébastien Nasra collaborated with Elbourne and, in 2006, co-founded
M for Montreal, a platform for showcasing local musicians and helping them expand their international networks.
U.K.-based artist manager Stephen Budd, Jon Mac, who co-founded The Great Escape; Vijay Nair, the managing director of India-based promoters and artist management company
Only Much Louder; and Elbourne organized the
NH7 Weekender
NH7 Weekender is an annual, multi-city and multi-genre, music and comedy festival held in India. It is created by Only Much Louder (OML) and is among the largest South Asian arts festivals. It began in Pune, Maharashtra, India, as a three-day, m ...
Rock Festival in India in 2010.
In 2012, the
Don Dunstan Foundation
Donald Allan Dunstan (21 September 1926 – 6 February 1999) was an Australian politician who served as the 35th premier of South Australia from 1967 to 1968, and again from 1970 to 1979. He was a member of the House of Assembly (MHA) for th ...
, in partnership with
Adelaide City Council, the
Australia Council
The Australia Council for the Arts, commonly known as the Australia Council, is the country's official arts council, serving as an arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia. The council was announced in 1967 as the Austr ...
,
Arts SA,
Adelaide Fringe
The Adelaide Fringe, formerly Adelaide Fringe Festival, is the world's second-largest annual arts festival (after the Edinburgh Festival Fringe), held in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. Between mid-February and mid-March each year, ...
, the
Department of the Premier and Cabinet and Regional Development Australia Barossa hired Elbourne as a
thinker-in-residence on a project named "Reverb". The project aimed "to create collaboration and unified action for a healthy, more sustainable music scene" in
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
. A report based on his recommendations was produced in 2013, entitled ''The future of live music in South Australia''.
References
External links
Martin Elbourne interviewat virtualfestivals.com (2006-01-18)
Martin Elbourne profileat britishcouncil.org (2013-07-24)
at rockforpeople.com (2013-07-24)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elbourne, Martin
English music people
Music promoters
1957 births
Living people
People from Carlisle, Cumbria
People from Knebworth
Music festival founders