Look Who's playing at Murrayfield in summer

MURRAYFIELD Stadium is to stage up to five major concerts this summer as it attempts to establish itself as a serious rival to Glasgow's SECC.

Rock legends The Who and Aerosmith are among the acts being lined up for full-scale stadium concerts for crowds of up to 55,000.

But the venue's capacity will be cut to below 20,000 for some of the concerts in a bid to compete directly with the SECC.

Welsh classical singer Katherine Jenkins is being lined up for one such concert.

Talks are also believed to be ongoing with Snow Patrol, one of the best-selling acts in the UK last year, with the Zutons and Kaiser Chiefs possibly also in the frame.

A stage will be built across the running track in front of the West Stand, which will house the crowd, for the smaller concerts.

The restricted capacity will allow Murrayfield to go head-to-head with the SECC in a bid to attract some of the biggest acts touring the UK.

Edinburgh has often lost out to Glasgow in the past due to the lack of a venue with a capacity of 10,000 to 20,000.

The concerts are being planned for between May and August.

Organisers are also looking to host other events at the stadium, which can hold 67,500 for rugby internationals, with one possibility being a boxing match being staged on the pitch.

The gigs are being planned by Murrayfield Sports and Leisure, a sister company of Edinburgh Rugby, which has been given exclusive rights to stage events and concerts at Murrayfield over the next five years by the Scottish Rugby Union.

The firm's managing director, Dean Lewis, said the full summer line-up would be announced next month but admitted it is in talks with a number of major UK and international artists. He said: "There is a dearth of suitable venues in Edinburgh for live music and the city is losing out to places like Glasgow - this is something we aim to change.

"Changing the configuration of the stadium for gigs opens up new opportunities and I think it gives Edinburgh the chance to attract the types of bands and gigs that are going to venues such as the SECC right now.

"The West Stand configuration will of course only work for some types of concerts so we will use the rest of the stadium for bigger concerts. The bands we are talking to are household names and we are working on the basis of putting on something for everyone during the summer months.

"The other thing we want to ensure is that the organisation of the actual events is first class. We want to create a better relationship with the community around Murrayfield as we know there has been problems in the past with concerts such as the Oasis one.

"Looking further down the line, we would be looking at trying to fit in with the Edinburgh Festivals when we know there is a demand for live music."

Mr Lewis, a former policeman who has played a role in planning for events as diverse as G8 and Birmingham's New Year celebrations, said another event being planned was "Edinburgh Rocks Day".

This would see up and coming Scottish bands line up alongside more well-known Scots acts such as The Proclaimers.

Nick Sutherland, of Ripping Records at South Bridge, which is one of the city's biggest concert ticket outlets, said: "From our experience I think the key thing would be to make going to Murrayfield more of an occasion than people just going there for the concert.

"With the bigger events we see people buying tickets but not necessarily because they are a big fan of the music but rather because a friend at work is going or they just want a night out. The smaller capacity would work for some gigs. I remember seeing Frank Sinatra at Ibrox in the 1990s where they only used one stand and it worked well then, but for the likes of Razorlight or Radiohead then the fans want to be standing."

Graham Bell, spokesman for the city's Chamber of Commerce, said: "This is an excellent idea if they can make it work.

"It has been well documented that Edinburgh needs a concert venue that can compete with the likes of SECC but Murrayfield also needs to play to its strengths and look at the full stadium gigs."

Milton Park, chairman of Murrayfield Community Council, said he hoped concert organisers will learn from the problems with other concerts held at the stadium.

He said: "In the past it really has been intolerable with people trampling over gardens and generally making life unbearable for residents.

"The only concert where we didn't have any problem was G8 and if they could all be like that then there wouldn't be any issues.

"I do hope they take their commitment to the local community seriously or I would imagine we will be beating the war drums again if they don't."