Everyone wants to know the friend of the stars

Les Kidger of CK Events

LES Kidger has found himself very popular.

His mobile phone has been ringing red hot, old school friends have been getting back in touch and even his four-year-old daughter has been trying to use her influence on dad.

Les’s new venture has certainly been catching people’s imagination in a way neither his printing nor building firms ever could.

Les is a partner in CK Events, the music promotion company that brought Rod Stewart to Caledonian Stadium and Westlife to Cawdor Castle and this summer will bring Simple Minds and Big Country to the Northern Meeting Park in July, followed by Boyzone in August, as well as hosting a JLS concert at Hopetoun House near Edinburgh.

Born in Newcastle, but brought up in Alness, Les’s prior experience of the entertainment business extended no further than organising dinners or boxing nights as Caley Thistle fundraisers.

Now he deals with the agents of international stars and is sent contracts signed by "the guy off the telly", Boyzone and Westlife manager and "X Factor" judge Louis Walsh.

Though an avid fan of live music, it was Les’s football interests that led him into music management.

As chairman of the Caley Thistle Supporters Trust, he and business partner Kenny Cameron, the club’s operations director, were looking for ways of generating income for the SPL side.

With Elton John having already played a sell out show at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium in 2007, the pair turned to another music star and football fan, Rod Stewart.

"Myself and Kenny went to Plymouth where we had an audience with Rod just before he went on stage," Les said.

"The conversation was 98 per cent football. We shook hands, mentioned Caley Thistle, and that was it."

They were still talking when the star’s intro music began and Les had one final chance to get Stewart to talk business.

"He turned to us and said: ‘OK then, if you can get 17,000 (people) we’ll do it.’ The rest is history," Les said.

In the event, the concert sold 19,500 tickets and Rod Stewart was so pleased with how the show went that he wanted to work with Les and Kenny again and this summer CK Events is putting on Stewart’s shows in Aberdeen and Swansea.

By the time of Stewart’s Inverness concert, CK Events had already been approached by Cawdor Castle and agreed a five-year deal to stage concerts in the grounds of the 13th century castle. That resulted in August’s Westlife concert, preceded the day before by a show by stars from "The X Factor".

"I suppose most people would have started out doing the small gigs," Les said.

"We did it the other way round, but that was solely down to the opportunities."

When their first show was announced on MFR, interest was so great that the station’s phone lines went down and an hour and a half later the Inverness concert was confirmed as the fastest selling Rod Stewart show of that year. It sold out officially nine days later.

"The same thing happened with Westlife, but now we have so many shows going on that you kind of forget about that," Les said.

What could also be forgotten is how busy Inverness was on the day of the Rod Stewart concert with several local hotel and restaurant owners since pledging to buy Les and Kenny drinks in gratitude.

"Something like this is great for the city and for the area," Les said.

"The Rod Stewart concert also proved to touring artists that Inverness is a place to do business. Now more and more people are coming north."

The success of that first show was followed by Westlife’s Cawdor concert and as CK Events looked at how the business could be developed further, "everyone with a house and four acres of land got in touch with us."

Among them was Hopetoun House, described by Les as an absolutely stunning venue.

"Having Hopetoun and the venues in Inverness gives us the opportunity to bring artists into Scotland and offer them a few dates," he said.

"The question we get asked all the time is: why don’t you bring up this band or that singer? Because of the demographics of the Highlands, we have to go for the mainstream. For an artist who specialises in punk rock or heavy metal, there wouldn’t be the demand for our size of venue."

That does not stop people — including Les’s own family — from asking for their favourite acts.

"I have a four year-old daughter who’s asking: ‘When will I be seeing Justin Bieber?’" he laughed.

"She’s already met Westlife, Olly Murs and Stacey Solomon. I’ve had to explain that’s not usual for a four-year old!"

This year CK Events will stage six shows across the UK. However, with no shows at either Caledonian Stadium or Cawdor Castle, Les points out that the company will actually be selling 17,000 fewer tickets in 2011 than in 2010, even with the addition of the Northern Meeting Park and Hopetoun House.

Next year should be different.

"2012 is an opportunity for most of the UK outside of London," he said.

"The backbone of the touring industry is London, but because of the Olympics they can’t use places like the O2 or Wembley Area, so they are going to have to look at venues outside London."

Now Scotland’s biggest independent music promoter, CK Events have artists call them — no sooner had Westlife appeared at Cawdor than Boyzone were on the phone — and have even turned down one international artist who had expressed an interest in playing Caley Stadium.

However, rumours abound about the next act the partnership might bring north, with Take That and Michael Bublé top of the list.

"If we were bringing half the people we hear rumours about, there would be a concert in Inverness every other day," Les declared.

Les and Kenny are busy enough as it is and in a month’s time are off to the US for another round of meetings, but Les says a good team, including his wife Claire who works with him, allows him to juggle his business interests.

Despite the pressures, he makes every effort to be home in Balloch by 6pm so he can spend a couple of hours with his daughter before hitting the emails.

Les adds there is another question he and Kenny are regularly asked — why do they do this?

"Our usual answer is: ‘When we find out, we will let you know,’" Les laughed.

"I think the truth is that we have both found something we enjoy and can develop. It can be stressful, but it can also be fun. But where we go next, I don’t know."

Which stars would Les like to bring to the Highlands?

"Personally — Stevie Wonder. Not everyone’s cup of tea, but a brilliant performer.

"For popularity it would have to be Take That or Robbie Williams. But for the likes of Take That, even filling Caley Stadium wouldn’t pay their food bill.

"But never say never — the last time Rod Stewart played a stadium in Scotland was Hampden, but then he came to Inverness."