City's art venue celebrates 25 years

Feb 28 2008 by Katie Norman, South Wales Echo

A FIRE at a Whitesnake concert almost prevented St David’s Hall from ever reaching its 25th anniversary.

The Cardiff venue, which celebrates the milestone this year, has hosted shows by the likes of U2, Elton John, Tina Turner, Tom Jones and Shirley Bassey since it opened in 1983.

But a stunt by glam-rockers Whitesnake nearly burnt the stage to the ground about 20 years ago.

Technical manager Richard James is one of eight St David’s Hall staff members who have worked at the venue since it opened.

He said: “Whitesnake wanted to do pyrotechnics but we didn’t have a licence for it so they had to do a demonstration for the fire officer. In the end he said OK.

“On the actual night they must have trebled the quantity of pyrotechnics. It burnt the stage and all the fire alarms went off.

“Luckily we had put some vinyl over the stage, but that had all melted.”

Speaking to the Echo two years ago, The Whitesnake’s lead vocalist David Coverdale said the band was kicked out and asked not to return because of their misbehaviour.

“We ended up singeing the first few rows,” he said.

“It was like that bit at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark where Indy opens the ark – with weird smoke and blue flames everywhere.”

Whitesnake’s stage fire is just one of the events that helped shape the history of St David’s Hall.

Many world-class stars have helped create memories of incredible performances as well as behind the scenes gossip.

Technical manager Richard remembers an encounter with renowned Russian ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev during a rehearsal.

“I fell off the stage and onto a bass player in the pit,” he said.

“Nureyev came over, looked at me, and said, ‘It’s OK, it’s not one of the dancers’.”

When it first opened its doors in 1982, 21,000 people visited St David’s Hall in just one day. Since then more than 10 million people have attended events there.

The Hall, as it is affectionately known, has come a long way since it was officially opened by the Queen Mother in 1983.

Richard said: “The opening was a big TV event so we were knocking holes in walls to get cables through and cameras up and running.

“One of the first concerts after we opened was Hot Chocolate. Instead of having security, we all had to stand in front of the stage to stop people getting through. We were pinned against the stage!”

Over the years the staff have served many stars and even handed out cups of tea to Tom Jones fans sleeping outside overnight waiting for tickets.

These days, most ticket sales are done online and over the phone.

But while some things have changed, other aspects of St David’s Hall have remained the same.

Senior house manager Jane Bailey said: “Even after 25 years, I still get that initial excitement of being in the auditorium before a big show. It’s always there.”

Many of the hall’s famous guests hold it in equally high esteem.

Jane said: “When the Manic Street Preachers were here they were reminiscing about how they used to busk outside St David’s Hall and how they saw The Alarm here.”

Dozens of stars have signed the Hall’s guest book – a giant autograph book in which performers have paid tribute to the venue.

This year a special programme of events has been organised to mark the venue’s 25th birthday starting with a St David’s Day show on Saturday.

katie.norman@mediawales.co.uk