AS the musical director of Malvern Samba Band, I participated in the Party in the Park on September 10.
The event was in aid of the Cancer and Leukaemia in Childhood (CLIC) charity and the TG's project, named after Tim Greenwood who died of non-Hodgkinson's Lymphoma, which aims to provide a local indoor skate venue, youth cafe and venue for music etc.
As a band, we played on the day with an age range from eight to 56-years-old, and were danced to and cheered by an audience of some 800 people of an even broader age range.
Other entertainment on the day was also drawn from the creativity of local people. Although "rock" is not my favourite genre, I was able to appreciate the well-rehearsed and varied talent on view, ranging from covers of current tunes to the melodic reggae of the closing act.
I was also made welcome (despite a 30 year age gap) in the drum and bass tent, where for anyone with open ears and mind there was again huge creativity, incorporating elements from popular music and jazz of the last 50 years.
I am proud to have been associated with the event, proud of the activism of the young people who helped make it happen and all the artists who gave of their time.
I was, therefore, sickened to read the narrow-minded and uncharitable letter from S Slack (Your Letters, September 23).
Whatever point was being made was lost in a sea of hyperbole, inaccuracy and distortion.
The amplifier rigs in use on the day were simply not powerful enough to "blare" or "boom" and while the music may have been audible outside the park in the evening, it did not even carry over the general town centre traffic noise during the afternoon.
The party was widely publicised for weeks beforehand and took place in a park attached to a major entertainment complex which regularly stages musical events of all kinds from the bandstand (it's what bandstands are for!).
Also, as the correspondent notes, the event finished in good order at 11pm not, I would suggest, an unreasonable hour for a town centre event. The comparison with Glastonbury is ludicrous.
I would also note that the Last Night of the Proms has regularly been berated as a noisy party itself, and that, in my opinion, the point of that event is to be there and participate, not to watch from the couch. It's a shame the correspondent could not get a ticket for the Proms, but they could have come and participated in a living cultural event just a third of a mile away...for free!
Finally, to quote the late great Douglas Adams: "Is that your mind? How can anyone live in something that narrow?"
Sam Ware, Orlin Road, Colwall.
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