Sound City

Sound City was an annual music festival organised and broadcast by BBC Radio One between 1992 and 2003.

Beginning in 1992 in Norwich, the format of Sound City comprised a week of gigs, events and seminars, hosted by a different city each year. Although appearances by national and international bands were a feature of the lineups, an important element of the festival was to publicise the host city's venues and promoters and give exposure to local talent.

Sound City was initially held in April but from 1997 onwards the festival was moved to October. In 2000, the event was rebranded as One Live. There were three “One Live” festivals that year: a mini event held in London over a weekend in April, another small-scale happening in Birmingham in May and then the usual week-long festival in Cardiff in October. 2003's visit to Brighton appears to have been the last such event.

Thereafter, efforts and resources seem to have been concentrated on the smaller but twice yearly One Big Weekend events that commenced with a visit to Manchester in May 2003. Cardiff was the next host, in September 2003, followed by Londonderry in April 2004 , Birmingham in September 2004 and Sunderland in May 2005.

Rebranded as Radio 1's Big Weekend, the festival was restored to being an annual event the following year. Dundee was the host in May 2006, followed by Preston (May 2007) , Maidstone (May 2008) , Swindon (May 2009) , Bangor (May 2010) , Carlisle (May 2011) , Hackney (June 2012) , Londonderry (May 2013) , Glasgow (May 2014) , Norwich (May 2015) and Exeter (May 2016).

Links to Peel
Although there was no broadcast element with the inaugural Sound City in Norwich in 1992, Peel was involved personally. On 21st April, along with son William, he attended the gig at the Waterfront that was broadcast live on Radio One, featuring performances by House of Love, Jacob's Mouse and The Fall. Invited to select a film to be shown during the festival, he picked Richard Lester's 1962 effort It's Trad, Dad! He personally introduced the film before the screening on Thursday 23rd April at Cinema City.

Peel had no involvement with Sound City in 1993 or 1994, but he immersed himself in the next event in Bristol in 1995, broadcasting his programmes live from the city and including recorded performances from the festival in his shows. The following year's event in Leeds followed a similar pattern.

For three years from 1997-99, weekday evening coverage of the Sound City events were co-hosted by Steve Lamacq and Peel, with the Evening Session and the John Peel Show running into one four-hour long special. From 2000 onwards, festival content was included within the scheduled John Peel Show in the usual timeslot.

Sound City

 * 1992
 * Norwich
 * No broadcast involvement.


 * 1993
 * Sheffield
 * No known Peel involvement.


 * 1994
 * Glasgow
 * No known Peel involvement.


 * 1995
 * Bristol
 * 21 April 1995: Live sets from Pulp, Dreadzone, Bluetones.
 * 22 April 1995: No live recordings but interviews with Bristol bands and other local luminaries.


 * 1996
 * Leeds
 * 12 April 1996: Live sets from Orbital, Wedding Present, Bis.
 * 13 April 1996: Records only show from Leeds.


 * 1997
 * Oxford
 * 27 October 1997: Four hour show co-hosted with Steve Lamacq. Live sets from Ultrasound, Scarfo, Travis, Gene, Embrace.
 * 28 October 1997: Four hour show co-hosted with Steve Lamacq. Live sets from Radish, Prolapse, Supernaturals, Dubstar, Sleeper.
 * 29 October 1997: Four hour show co-hosted with Steve Lamacq. Live sets from Broadcast, Cable, Spiritualized, Echobelly, Hurricane.
 * 30 October 1997: Four hour show co-hosted with Steve Lamacq. Live sets from Lo-Fidelity All Stars, Egg, DJ Shadow, Fluke, Bentley Rhythm Ace.


 * 1998
 * Newcastle
 * 26 October 1998: Four hour show co-hosted with Steve Lamacq. Live sets from Tiger, Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, Rocket From The Crypt, Super Furry Animals, Clinic.
 * 27 October 1998: Four hour show co-hosted with Steve Lamacq. Live sets from Six By Seven, Kelly, Terrorvision, 3 Colours Red, Gomez, Bluetones.
 * 28 October 1998: Four hour show co-hosted with Steve Lamacq. Live sets from Magoo, Gene, Hefner, Symposium, Stereophonics, Solavox.
 * 29 October 1998: Four hour show co-hosted with Steve Lamacq. Live sets from Wagonchrist, Plastikman, Dub Pistols, Freestylers, Fatboy Slim.


 * 1999
 * Liverpool
 * 25 October 1999: Four hour show co-hosted with Steve Lamacq. Live sets in Peel's segment from Clinic, Hefner, Flaming Lips.
 * 26 October 1999: Four hour show co-hosted with Steve Lamacq. Live sets in Peel's segment from All Seeing I, Marine Research, Appliance, Coldcut.
 * 27 October 1999: Four hour show co-hosted with Steve Lamacq. Live sets in Peel's segment from Plone, Tarwater, To Rococo Rot.
 * 28 October 1999: Four hour show co-hosted with Steve Lamacq. Live sets in Peel's segment from Salako, Stereolab, Pavement.

One Live

 * 2000
 * London
 * 20 April 2000: Live sets from Luke Vibert and BJ Cole, Beulah, Super Furry Animals.


 * Birmingham
 * 23 May 2000: Live DJ set from Surgeon.
 * 24 May 2000: Live sets from Magnetophone, Plone, Broadcast.


 * Cardiff
 * 24 October 2000: Live sets from Melys, Reviver Gene, Gorky's Zygotic Mynci.
 * 25 October 2000: Live sets from Topper, Murray The Hump, Derrero.
 * 26 October 2000: Live sets from PJ Harvey, Tystion, Clinic.


 * 2001
 * London
 * 12 April 2001: Live sets from Stephen Malkmus, Calexico with Neko Case.
 * 19 April 2001: Recording of live set from Lift To Experience (recorded 12 April).


 * 2001
 * Birmingham
 * 30 October 2001: Live sets from Regis, Surgeon, Richie Hawtin.
 * 31 October 2001: Live sets from Pulp, Meanwhile Back in Communist Russia, Appliance.
 * 01 November 2001: Live sets from Hefner, Seedling, Ikara Colt.


 * 2002
 * Nottingham
 * 29 October 2002: Live sets from Datsuns, Wolves! (Of Greece), Mclusky.
 * 30 October 2002: Live sets from Bays, P Brothers, Echoboy.
 * 31 October 2002: Live sets from Six By Seven, Bearsuit, Miss Black America.


 * 2003
 * Brighton
 * 28 October 2003: Live sets from Black Keys, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, Clearlake, Themselves.
 * 29 October 2003: Live sets from Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, Electrelane , Nina Nastasia.
 * 30 October 2003: Live sets from Melt Banana, Coin-Op , Cat On Form , Michael Mayer.