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Sundae has been working on the launch of Swansea Arena since the project broke ground in 2019, throughout the campaign we’ve had to adapt and use digital techniques to introduce the venue to its new audiences, so it was a landmark moment for all involved to deliver the live opening weekend.
As Royal Blood became the first music act to play as part of the brand-new state-of the-art Swansea Arena’s launch season, we were honoured to invite journalists and reviewers to attend this special event ahead of their biggest European tour to date that also sees them take to the stage at such illustrious venues as London’s O2, the AO Arena Manchester and The OVO Hydro in Glasgow.
Over the same weekend, we delivered ‘From Swansea, With Love’, a show-stopping visual art project featuring words of love and welcome from well-known musicians, actors, comedians and presenters from Swansea and beyond. These artworks and animations popped up on poster sites, digital screens and hoardings across the city, in addition to screens at Swansea Arena and two hand painted murals from Swansea’s own, Fresh Creative, as the city started to welcome the millions of new visitors to the city that the Arena will attract.
After the last two, extremely difficult, years for the live entertainment industry, we wanted the launch of the brand-new, state-of-the-art Swansea Arena to be a beacon of hope, as the first new large-scale venue to open post-pandemic.
We worked really closely with the amazing Arena team to announce Royal Blood as the opening music act for the venue and invite our wish list publications to come along and experience the venue, and review the show.
In addition, we created and produced ‘From Swansea, With Love’, a show-stopping visual art project that popped up around the city, featuring beautiful phrases, celebrating Abertawe and its music, sunshine, art, creativity, memories and, of course, the gilt edged coastline, from contributors including Cerys Matthews, Keith Allen, Luke Evans, Michael Sheen, Rachel K Collier and, friend of the venue, Huw Stephens.
We also completed the Huw Stephens fronted video series we have produced throughout the build and opening of the venue, which started with a tour of Swansea, with insights into the music scene and impact of the Arena, and closed with a tour of the venue and a sneak peek at Royal Blood’s show.
Across the launch week, we achieved 224 pieces of coverage across a range of key national, regional, trade and genre titles with Royal Blood coverage appearing in gig reviews from The Times, The Express, Classic Rock Magazine, Total Production International, Wales Online, South Wales Evening Post, Wales 247 and Buzz Magazine all heading along to take in the performance and, naturally, everything that the venue has to offer.
The ‘From Swansea, With love’ launch also garnered huge press support on a national and regional level with coverage appearing in The Independent, Evening Standard, Wales Online, ITV.com and hundreds more news titles from around the UK, while Broadway and Hollywood’s Luke Evans was posting about it live on the day, and Cerys Matthews and Rachel K Collier also offered some lovely social media support.
Photos By: PhotoManJohan
"With its rugged interior walls and needle-sharp acoustics, the cavernous 3,500-capacity hall felt tailor-made for the band’s architecturally striking stage production."
“Let the music play, right through this beautiful place!!”
