Martin Elbourne

Martin Elbourne
Born 19 January 1957
Carlisle, Cumbria,
England, UK
Nationality English
Citizenship UK
Occupation Promoter of The Performing Arts
Years active 1972-present
Known for Performing Arts promotions, Glastonbury Festival, The Great Escape
Title Martin Elbourne

Martin Elbourne (born 19 January 1957 in Carlisle, Cumbria) is an English performing arts promoter. Elbourne was brought up near the village of Knebworth, Hertfordshire. His first job at age 15 was working for the local stately home Knebworth House which in the mid seventies became the biggest venue in the UK for outdoor shows and hosted bands such as Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd

He is best known as promoter of rock concerts[1] and is a well known figure in the UK music industry in particular live music and festivals. He has been advisor and one of main bookers for Glastonbury festival[2] for 30 years and helped advised numerous other festivals.

Career

Born on 19 January 1957 in Carlisle, Cumbria, Elbourne started out as a Economics student in Bristol University, South West England. He attended University in 1976. 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 becoming the main venue in Bristol for punk and post-punk bands.

The main bar is still named after the Epicurean movement. He started promoting bands outside of the student union and got involved with 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[3]( a combined Vinyl LP and Magazine) This lead to meeting local resident Peter Gabriel.[4] Elbourne and Gabriel ended up co promoting the first Womad[5] 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 in Booking(later all trade) as an agent. His most famous clients were New Order[6] and The Smiths.[7] His relationship with New Order continued until the death of Rob Gretton. He managed various bands including Green on Red, David Rudder,[8] Gaye Bykers on Acid and gradually became more involved with Glastonbury festival[9] ending up as its main booker.

Recent career

2003 co founded The Great Escape[10]

2004 cofounded M for Montreal [11]

2006 cofounded Barcardi NH7 Weekender (India)[12]

20012-2013 official thinker in residence(Don Dunstan foundation / South Australia) [13]

References

  1. ↑ "Music Power 100: The full list". http://www.theguardian.com. Retrieved 2014-07-27.
  2. ↑ "Jersey bands on playing the Glastonbury festival". http://www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-07-27.
  3. ↑ "The People - Martin Elbourne". http://www.bristolarchiverecords.com. Retrieved 2014-07-26.
  4. ↑ "festival info: womad uk". http://www.festival-calendar.com. Retrieved 2014-07-26.
  5. ↑ "Martin Elbourne: the festival king". http://www.theconcordian.com. Retrieved 2014-07-27.
  6. ↑ "Chief Booker Of Bands For Glastonbury Festival To Revive Adelaide Live Music". http://musicfeeds.com. Retrieved 2014-07-27.
  7. ↑ "Laurie Levine signs with top UK Booking Agent and announces UK Tour". http://www.sheergroup.com. Retrieved 2014-07-27.
  8. ↑ "Industry Profile: Martin Elbourne". http://www.celebrityaccess.com. Retrieved 2014-07-27.
  9. ↑ "2013 Winners’ Blog". http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-07-26.
  10. ↑ "Martin Elbourne speaks about creating the Brighton based festival". http://www.efestivals.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-07-26.
  11. ↑ "Martin Elbourne". http://www.mformontreal.com. Retrieved 2014-07-26.
  12. ↑ "BACARDI NH7 WEEKENDER Bangalore". http://www.nh7.in. Retrieved 2014-07-26.
  13. ↑ "Meet Adelaide's new musical Thinker in Residence Martin Elbourne". http://www.adelaidenow.com.au. Retrieved 2014-07-26.

External links