Obituary
I’ve just read of the sad death of Vince Power, a man to whom I owe a lot for the vast amount of musical experiences I had in my rock’n’roll years in London (87 to 00) since you ask.
For anyone who doesn’t immediately recognise the name, he was the founder and driving force behind the Mean Fiddler Empire that dominated the London music scene in those years. From the Mean Fiddler itself he expanded his range of venues to the Jazz Cafe, the Forum, the Clapham Grand, Subterranea, the Powerhaus and others that escape my recollection right now. He also founded the very enjoyable*rish flavoured Festival in the heart of London. As my friend Brian just put it “we owe him for so many unforgettable nights that we can’t remember. I’ll leave it at that for now and raise a glass to him. The indie, country, jazz and other scenes in London have a lot to thank him for. I have another angle on those days that I promise to share on here soon but I don’t want to divert from any tributes you might like to pay to the man. RIP.
Ah, that is a huge shame. I agree about owing him so much for the good times. Hadn’t he recently taken over Dingwalls? I always hoped the Fleadh would return.
Yes, Dingwalls and also Nell’s in West Ken.
Clapham Grand was a really good venue. It was a nice size (1200??), had decent acoustics and a good view even from high up at the back. I saw a couple of superb shows by Jack Bruce there and a really memorable one by Kirsty MacColl. There was also a truly wretched evening watching Al Stewart supported by Pooka but that wasn’t the venue’s fault.
Was also instrumental in the re-brand of The Reading Festival in 1989.
First step, drop the word “Rock” (and stop booking The Enid and Dumpys Rusty Nuts)
The Reading Festival was always a misleading name anyway – there wasn’t a single book in the place etc.
Indeed. Were it not for Vince Power, I’d have seen Bonnie Tyler, Meatloaf in a hail of piss bottles and Deacon Blue get booed off again. Reading fest was brill for about five years.
I’m sure he was a lovely fella, but it seems an awful lot of his ventures were unsuccessful in the end. What I hadn’t known is that he was the father of the estimable Brenda-Mae Power.
Is my memory playing tricks, or did he run Glastonbury one year and wasn’t asked to do it again?
Are you thinking of the Phoenix festival on an airstrip outside Stratford? I went twice, including the year Glastonbury was having a recovery and it took all afternoon and evening to get on site.
96 was a hell of a festival, blazing hot, Neil Young, Bowie, Prodigy (twice), Leftfield, Bjork, Massive Attack, Foo Fighters and great sets from Cypress Hill and surprisingly Macy Grey and Coolio.
I seem to recall that.
It was when Michael Eavis was having a lot of trouble getting the festival licensed, due to violence between rival drug-dealing gangs the previous time.
It was before Emily Eavis got involved in running things.
I don’t think there were any major problems when Vince ran it, they just decided they didn’t need him for the next one.
IIRC it was when it noticeably lurched towards the cash, swerving away from its alternative vibe towards the arch-commercial vibe it has these days.
It co-incided with the death of the little amateur-hour foodie stalls and the arrival en masse of the usual suspect identikit rip-off vans you see everywhere else as well, at Silverstone, at the big Air Days, at Goodwood, at Cheltenham, at various 3 Day Events etc etc.
He undoubtedly did a lot of good for live music but I saw somewhere that he could be difficult to work for. He also said to a mate of mine, who was trying to get big screens into one of his festivals something like, “people turn up without the screens, why would I pay for screens?” So not always had the audience’s experience at the top of his priorities.
I was told many years ago that when The Town & Country Club were trying to renegotiate their lease on what is now The Forum in Kentish Town he was playing hard ball.
It was mentioned that if they closed they would have to cancel Johnny Cash.
Apparently Power was a JC fan and the venue was able to continue for another year or so as The T&C so that he could see Johnny Cash.
I loved the T&CC. I lived in Chalk Farm for a year and it was my local venue.
Did that gig ever happen? I had a ticket for JC at the T&CC but it got postponed a couple of times because of JC’s illnesses. Eventually it was cancelled and ultimately the next time JC played in London it was at the Kilburn National.
One of the most memorable gigs I’ve been to was, however at the Mean Fiddler in Harlesden the night it hosted the Carter Family…. with guests for the encores including JC on his own, then with Elvis Costello until finally Nick Lowe & Joe Brown were on the (tiny) stage as well.
I think his track record proves he was a music enthusiast, but not so great at the business/customer relations side of it all.