2023: A Year in Gigs at The Queens Hall Narberth

After another whirlwind of a year, it feels great to sit still for a few minutes and remind ourselves of what we have achieved in the past 12 months. Since January we have brought 75 gigs, hosted over 17,000 wonderful audience members and sold over 32,000 drinks! Not bad for a small community venue in Narberth.

JANUARY

After an absolute monster of a December in 2022, we started January off with our first ever Staff Party which saw our staff, trustees and incredible team of freelancers come together for a very well deserved knees up.

We followed quickly on with modern old-time musicians Lonesome Ace Stringband all the way from Canada, and then we were thrilled to see the return of Narberth institution, The Aquarian Party, wih Shanna on the ones and twos and The Turbans bringing the Balkan beats to our corner of Wales.

FEBRUARY

February came through thick and fast with an eclectic bunch of events. First up was the Independent Venue Week gig with local rising stars Hidden Shackles, Tits Up and RUDI. We also hosted The Heartbreakers Ball, our first Emo Night of the year with Karaoke and debut show from local band One Time At Bandcamp, plus Kill For A Seat comedy was back with added burgers and beer, making sure to get rid of those post-Xmas blues!

Attila The Stockbroker paid us a visit with an intimate, seated show and Whitland Male Voice Choir came back to the venue for the second year running to much acclaim. We were also thrilled to host our first Awards ceremony of the year too – The Bluestone Awards.

Finally, we were very chuffed indeed to be awarded funding for new, soundproofed windows from the Music Venue Trust Pipeline Investment Fund.

MARCH

March saw the return of Span Arts’ Narberth Acapella Voice Festival one more, plus our very first £1 Bangers Club Night in celebration of the Hall’s 65th Anniversary. After a string of Conferences during the week, we rounded off the month with the return of the History of Soul touring show to much excitement and buzz from our audiences!

APRIL

April started with a giggle as we announced our name change to ‘The King’s Hall’ (April Fools anyone?).

Rock-greats GUN pulled off a fantastic show to kick start the month, all the following weekend saw the first 2-day Wellbeing Fair of the year AND the hugely successful Barber Expo event by Barber Expo Wales.

Exquisite musicians Dan Bettridge and Rona Mac polished off their Wales-wide tour here at the Hall to an enraptured crowd, and international superstar Kosheen tore the roof off the place to a completely sold out crowd.

Ceri Dupree graced us with a hilarious cabaret show and Made In Tennessee returned to another sold out venue – safe to say this was a great month!

MAY

May saw the first of our new, free, community watch party events with both the King’s Coronation and the euro-pop fest that is Eurovision Song Contest.

Global Productions brought LEGEND to the venue for the first time, and Limehouse Lizzy triumphantly returned to a full house and a crowd ready to Rock!

We rounded off the month with the whole bunch of fun that was our second Emo Club Night of the year, Dance Dance 2.

JUNE

With thanks to the Arts Council Night Out scheme, we were able to bring international star RASHA to the Hall for an intimate and beautiful event. We were also thrilled to collaborate with Out & Wild Festival on a very special LGBTQ event at the venue for Out & Wild festival-goers.

Our first Dining Experience of the year was an absolute GIGGLE with the James Bond Spoof show, Live & Let Dine, and LiveWire: ACDC Show made their annual pilgrimage to Pembrokeshire much to the delight of a thrilled crowd. Finally we welcomed The George Harrison Project, a new and engaging touring show.

JULY

July saw another beautiful production arrive at the Hall courtesy of Arts Council of Wales Night Out scheme. The Gods The Gods The Gods was a poignant, in-the-round, intimate show delivered by 3 talented musicians. We also held our very first (and very successful!) Vegan Fair and The Jerseys arrived just in time for Narberth Carnival, thrilling a sold out audience with a spectacular show.

AUGUST

August was quieter on the gig front as people enjoy the incredible festivals and sunshine Pembrokeshire has to offer but as ever, the big news was the annual Cheese Festival! It is such a joy to bring together local food producers to such a busy space – and we really do like to sample all the cheesy goods.

August also saw our very first Wedding at the Hall which was a very special day for all involved. We were also thrilled to welcome GRAV, the touring theatre production.

SEPTEMBER

September is always exquisitely busy at the Hall and 2023 was no different. We started the month off with local film Translations, quickly followed by Pink Floydian, who played so convincingly to a sold out crowd.

We were thrilled to work with local promoter Boia Gigs to bring Ariel Posen to Narberth mid-week, and then rounded off the weekend with a full-on Wrong Jovi and Foos Fighters double bill, followed by the beautiful sounds of local upcoming show Divas & Decades.

We were chosen by Music Venue Trust’s United by Music scheme, which meant we were able to create space for the most beautiful, intimate show from Sister Bodhi with Tomos Newman as support. The month took another very different turn when we hosted No Mercy Wrestling for a very professional and absolutely thrilling Wresting show!

Next up was the ABBA Legacy + auction fundraiser in aid of Air Ambulance, Sandy Bears and MIND Pembrokeshire which raised a whopping £11591.64 from a completely sold out audience.

We rounded off the month just as we started it, with two, back-to-back and absolutely packed, shows. Friday saw The Bavarian Bash, which has become one of our iconic annual events with more beer, more people, more music and more fun than ever before, and this was followed by a Saturday knees-up with Swing ‘n’ Bass Legends MistaTrick.

OCTOBER

Local Ska Legends Sorted Ska Band started October with a top quality gig, much to the delight to their loyal and supportive audience, and The ELO Encounter gave us the most perfect, immersive show to yet another sold out crowd.

Metallica Reloaded and Fistful of Rage delivered a premier rock experience to a delighted room full of people, and the biggest show was saved to last – with International Reggae Star (and son of Bob Marley) Julian Marley travelling to our corner of Wales for an exclusive, sold out show.

NOVEMBER

Dutty Moonshine kicked off November in a whirlwind of Big Band/DnB madness to yet another sold out audience with their brand-new Villian Tour. History or Rock returned to the Hall with their spectacular guitar-heavy show plus we were thrilled to host the PAVS Volunteering Awards, where our very own Liz Rogers won the ‘Lifetime Service’ Award.

Our annual 3-day Christmas Market was the festive fun many people were looking for and we were thrilled to sell out 2x shows in record time for Welsh comedian and legend, Rhod Gilbert.

DECEMBER

Our sold out 2-night run of Faulty Towers Dining Experience returned with howling laughs and much Christmas hijinx, followed by the unbelievable/mind-blowing Hip Hop interactive show by the one and ONLY Grandmaster Flash, who flew from New York to celebrate 50 years of Hip Hop with us. With thanks to Kaptain Barrett who brought 3 Decades of Welsh Hip Hop royalty too as support – it’s safe to say that the memory of this incredible show will stay with us for a long time!

Next up we had our community film night with lots of free hot chocolate and hot dogs for the kiddos, then the ferocious 9-piece Slipped Disco dished out disco bangers with support from Nathan Worm or Worm Disco Club. It was one heck of a disco-glitter Xmas party.

December also saw Nearly Elton grace our stage and finally, we had a busy last week of the season working alongside Vision Arts to deliver a 2 day run of Elf The Musical with Narberth CP School, plus working with Gryffs Mindspace on their annual memorial event.

So as this monumental year draws to a close, all that’s left to do (other than raise a glass for the New Year) is to extend a huge and heartfelt thank you to all our incredible volunteers and staff for their hard work passion and belief, the exciting, talented, mind-blowing artists who have played here at the Hall, and the thousands of wonderful audience members who have supported us this year – we cannot wait to see you in 2024!