A MUSICIAN from Stevenage is appealing for sponsorship in order to bring a popular city centre venue to life again. Andrew Budge, 28, who lives in the Pin Green area of town and performs in the band Misguided Missiles, is keen to hold over-18 gigs at Bowe

A MUSICIAN from Stevenage is appealing for sponsorship in order to bring a popular city centre venue to life again.

Andrew Budge, 28, who lives in the Pin Green area of town and performs in the band Misguided Missiles, is keen to hold over-18 gigs at Bowes Lyon Centre, in St George's Way.

He said: "I came up with the idea about a year ago. I have seen other people try and do gigs around Stevenage and it hasn't really worked because a lot of places won't give up their Friday and Saturday nights. But I think this would be an ideal venue and at the moment The Den at the venue is not being used for what it was designed for and that is to hold gigs. It's got everything there - a bar, a stage and a sound box.

"The only problem is that it's going to cost £500 to hire the venue on each occasion so I am looking for people to sponsor each gig night. And hopefully if we can get regular gigs performing at the venue, we will be able to get the cost down.

"The venue has a lot of history. My uncle remembered The Who playing there in the early 60s and now we want to revive it. It had a good running in the 90s but then all the music events just stopped.

"We want to put on specific over-18s gigs to get the older crowd in. We're not saying that young teenagers shouldn't be allowed to enjoy live music as well. So that's why, in time, we're planning to put on under-18s gigs on a different night of the week to give new, young bands the opportunity to experience playing live.

"We want to meet genuine music fans, local to Stevenage who are tired of having to get taxis and trains to another town just to watch local bands, or to play a gig themselves.

"To start off with, we're looking for local bands, within 15 miles of Stevenage, to play here."

Stevenage-based funk rock band Gekko will be the first band to play at the venue on April 5 from 7.30pm but future events depend on whether funding can be secured.

For more information or if anyone is interesting in sponsoring future events visit www.mys pace.com/bowes_lyon_gigs