Stars sing praises for future Queen's Hall

Lead singer Ricky Ross hailed the Queen's Hall as one of the best venues in Scotland and demanded it be saved from the axe.

Ross was today joined by former Runrig frontman Donnie Munro - a former rector at Edinburgh University - in supporting the Evening News-backed campaign to secure the venue's future.

Nashville singer Beth Neilsen Chapman, one of Sir Elton John's favourite musicians, also threw her weight behind the campaign today.

Leading music industry figures have rallied to the Queen's Hall's cause, demanding a U-turn by city council officials who want to see it replaced by a new venue on the city's waterfront.

The 27-year-old venue in Newington faces almost certain closure under plans to strip it of its 150,000-a-year public subsidy within the next three years.

However, bosses at the Queen's Hall have mounted a high-profile public appeal in a bid to raise awareness of the venue's plight and raise 500,000 for a programme of refurbishments.

Ross, who has played at the venue several times, said: "I give my wholehearted support to the Queen's Hall's campaign.

"I've seen both Randy Newman and Jimmy Webb in concert in recent times. There's no better venue in Scotland to see artists of this calibre.

"A new concert hall would be great for Edinburgh but not at the expense of a thriving venue like the Queen's Hall which is also an important venue for up-and-coming artists. Edinburgh lacks mid-scale spaces. Don't lose it!"

Donnie Munro said the Queen's Hall was a "very well-recognised" venue in the music industry and was important because of the programme of events it brings to the city centre.

He added: "The demise of the Queen's Hall on the basis of a fairly small public subsidy would be very sad and I'd hope that if they were to lose that the Scottish Executive would step in."

Beth Neilsen Chapman said: "The Queen's Hall In Edinburgh is one of the most magical places I've ever performed in.

"In a world filled with franchises and cookie-cutter repetition, the history and vibe of a place like the Queen's Hall is a rare treasure. I hope it remains in place as a cultural jewel of a place to hear music."

Ian Green, boss of Greentrax, the East Lothian-based record company which last month staged its 20th anniversary celebrations in the venue, said its demise would be "criminal".

And John Barrow, the Edinburgh-based promoter of household names such as Michael Marra, Bill Barclay, Bert Jansch and Dick Gaughan, said the Queen's Hall had to be saved.

Mr Barrow, who runs the Stoneyport Agency, which has its own venue during the Fringe at the St Bride's Centre, in Dalry, said: "I've been using the Queen's Hall for concerts since it opened in 1979 and it's a wonderful place.

"I'd be horrified if it was to close. The suggestion that it should is crass and ill thought-out. The council will be shooting itself in the foot if it allows it to happen."

Councillors are due to quiz culture and leisure officials, as well as representatives of the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Chamber Orchestra, who are in negotiations over a new waterfront venue, on Monday.