ROCK AT THE BOWL, 1980
Not content with establishing the UK’s most successful and influential music festival, Harold Pendleton and his NJF/Marquee team set their sights on developing a new event and saw potential in the site of a former clay pit in the Buckinghamshire new town of Milton Keynes.
Once the 120 foot deep void was filled with surplus soil from road building work and housing developments, an amphitheatre was created and, in September 1979, The National Bowl hosted its first open-air concert – the NJF/Marquee-promoted Soul In The Bowl, starring Desmond Dekker and Geno Washington, with Entec providing full production services.
The big launch for the Bowl, however, came in 1980 with July 26th’s Rock At The Bowl MK1, a.k.a. Rockatta De Bowl, headlined by The Police with guests UB40, Squeeze, Sector 27, Skafish and DJ John Peel. Described by The Guardian as “Knebworth for the young generation”, ‘MK1’ attracted an audience of 25,000 on a day marred by relentless rain and mudslides.
MODEL
While the inclement weather dampened some spirits, the Pendleton team had every reason to believe in the event model. The following year, on August 8th 1981, Rock At The Bowl MK2 saw Thin Lizzy matched with the Ian Hunter Band, Judie Tzuke and Q-Tips featuring Paul Young. After Queen took over the Bowl in June ’82 with their own production, the Pendletons and Entec returned in the October for their fourth and final event at the site.
That summer, Peter Gabriel co-organised the first WOMAD festival with logistical help and advice from NJF/Marquee. Triggering greater appreciation of world music, WOMAD was a huge artistic success but, behind the scenes, the costs involved in organising the festival took Gabriel and his colleagues to the brink of financial ruin.
Harold and Barbara Pendleton came to the rescue, agreeing to promote him and the remaining members of Genesis for a single show: Six Of The Best, Gabriel’s first performance with his former band since 1975.
On a very wet October 2nd (spot the running theme!), the support acts were Entec regular John Martyn, The Blues Band and Talk Talk. The show rescued Gabriel’s company and made it possible for further WOMAD events to take place. [In 1990, Harold moved the festival to the old Reading Rock site where it stayed until 2006.]
The NJF/Marquee organisation’s strengths and Entec’s technical prowess set Milton Keynes Bowl up to become one of the UK’s leading outdoor event sites. Under the direction of subsequent promoters, landmark events headlined by David Bowie, U2, Michael Jackson, Bon Jovi, Bruce Springsteen, Metallica, Black Sabbath, Robbie Williams, Oasis, Foo Fighters and many more would follow… along with more rain, mud and, arguably, far too many roundabouts.
The Police, Milton Keynes, 1980 (audio only)
Queen, Milton Keynes, 1982
Genesis, Milton Keynes, 1982 (audio only)
