Give it a Name was a new indoor festival concept launched in 2005 at London's Alexandra Palace This year the festival developed to run over two days, in two cities (London 's Earls Court and Manchester 's MEN Arena ), with two stages in the two venues.
Lost Prophets and My Chemical Romance headlined 26 bands that gave tens of thousands of fans ten hours of non stop music, with two stages allowing quick change-overs, creating a great atmosphere at both venues.
Showsec manager Paul Joy ran a team of 120 trained crowd management professionals at the MEN Arena, looking after the fans front-of-house, the pit area and the backstage. Steve Reynolds ran the FOH Showsec team of 200 staff at Earls Court, and the two managers liaised through-out the weekend to make sure they were prepared to meet the various band's requirements. Joy said: "The event ran very smoothly and the relatively young crowd were very good natured. It was well organised by SJM, and even with 13 bands a day moving through the backstage area, vehicle movements and logistics were all executed very smoothly."
The success of this years' event has led SJM confirming they are planning to hold the event in 2007.
(Chris Henry)
