Bund concert rocks village (From Worcester News)

Bund concert rocks village

4:00pm Friday 10th July 2009 in

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VILLAGERS have flooded the airwaves with music and rocked out for a good cause.

The first ever live rock music concert, at Kempsey, near Worcester, was billed as Bund Aid 2009 and went off with a successful bang in the residents’ latest bid to raise cash for new flood defences for the village.

More than 200 people attended and more than £1,000 was taken on the night with entertainment from jazz singer Jenny Harwood, and rock groups including Avarus, No Exit, the Colne House Trio, Mudball and Bash: Roland.

Organiser Simon Smith, whose music credentials include following prog-rock outfits Emerson, Lake and Palmer in his younger days, was surprised by unprecedented interest from bands wanting to take part.

“We had six groups on the night but had enquiries from between a dozen and 20 groups beforehand,” he said. He thanked all those who turned out to support the event.

“We had a lot of families down earlier in the day and then with the band we had the groupies turning out. It was great, really enjoyable,” he said. All the money raised is going towards the group that organised the concert, Kempsey Flood Action Group (FLAG), which is collecting cash to put towards a bid for a new bund. It is hoped the bund will prevent a repeat of the flooding which hit 180 households in the village in 2007.

A final decision on funding the £1.45 million flood defences for Kempsey will be taken by members of the regional flood defence committee in September. The village missed out on the last tranche of funding.

The concert at Kempsey Primary School on Saturday, June 20, was such a success that it could become a future fixture said Mr Smith.