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Hundreds attend opening of new entertainment venue

Jodi Law & Asha Patel
BBC News, East Midlands
BBC Michele Pollard, a middle-aged white woman with short, mousey-brown hair and red highlights. She is smiling and wearing denim shirt.BBC
Michele Pollard said she was looking forward to attending gigs closer to home

Hundreds of people have attended the opening of a new £46m entertainment venue in Derby.

Four acts from the city - The Whiskey Brothers, Dorothy Ella, Terrianne and Riley Marsh - took to the stage of the newly-named Vaillant Live on Saturday.

The venue, which has a capacity of 3,500 people, teamed up with BBC Radio Derby and BBC Introducing for the free opening event.

Michele Pollard, from Ripley in Derbyshire, was among those who attended and said: "I've been waiting for Derby to have somewhere else to have events so I think it's going to be really good."

The exterior of a large arena venue in Derby. It is glass fronted with black cladding around the sides. Ring-shaped lights can be seen through the windows at the front of the building.
Derby City Council owns the arena and handed it over to operators ASM Global in February

"We come to gigs a lot so we're having to travel to places like Nottingham and other places - to be able to have somewhere in Derby would be really beneficial," she added.

Jackie Banton, from Shelton Lock in Derby, praised the venue's accessibility and "easy" parking.

She added: "I'm really pleased with it - it's what Derby needs. We've waited for it for a long time."

Lewis White said: "It's certainly nice to have something a bit different around - especially since the Assembly Rooms shutting."

Left to right: Jake Widdowson, Callum Gunn and Lewis White. Three young, white men. Jack has dark brown hair and a short beard. He is wearing a grey, zip-up sweater. Callum has light-brown, medium length hair and has a moustache. He is wearing glasses and a khaki over-shirt with a black t-shirt and silver pendant necklace. Lewis has short ginger hair and a short beard. He is wearing tortoiseshell rectangular-framed glasses and a dark blue, half-zip jumper.
Jake Widdowson, Callum Gunn and Lewis White were happy to see a new addition to Derby

The derelict Assembly Rooms venue in the city has been unused for 10 years following a fire in 2014.

BBC Introducing presenter Dean Jackson added: "Derby is an important city for music and has been underserved since the Assembly Rooms went.

"There's been a gap in the market for a really big venue."

Acts including John Bishop and Wet Wet Wet have been booked to perform at the venue later in the year.

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