“Stay safe at home this New Year, and let us entertain you!” with special live stream from 9pm tonight

A free to watch live stream will be held tonight to celebrate New Year’s Eve featuring the local party band Rhythm Train.

The band have teamed up with ORB Sound & Lighting, aiming to “raise spirits of the local community who have undoubtedly had a tough year.”

The production consists of a three and a half hour live stream comprising three 45 minute sets, interjected with adverts from local sponsors and performances from local community groups.

Other artists, which will be pre-recorded, include The Fron Male Voice Choir, Ifton Colliery Band, Delta Academy Ladies Choir, Lleisiau’r Afon Ladies Choir, and The Hollywood Swingers as well as comedy, solo acts and a firework display courtesy of Bright Spark Fireworks.

ORB Sound and Lighting are a Llangollen based company providing equipment, staging, and technicians for the International Musical Eisteddfod and Llangollen Fringe Festival each July.

Director Rachel Bentley said: “I think the livestream will go down well. The live band (Rhythm Train) are great and we’ve worked with them on numerous events over the last few years.

“We’ve also got a wide variety of pre-recorded acts too from the local community, so there’s definitely something to fit everyone’s taste! The whole aim of the event is to try and lift people’s spirits and go into the new year on a high.”

ORB’s ‘usual work’ has been cancelled this year due to the pandemic, so Rachel says the company will look forward to getting back to “some sort of ‘normality’”.

This will be their first New Year’s Eve live stream as they usually work on the night every year, but they have experience with live streaming due to adapting to new surroundings this year.

Since May, the company has live streamed for private events such as weddings and funerals as well as producing for theatre, Christmas concerts, community events and school concerts.
“We’re hoping to put a smile on people’s faces whilst encouraging them to stay safe at home.” Rachel said. “We will also be encouraging people to send in messages on the night through Facebook for us to display across the stream and taking donations to help us cover the event costs.”

Said donations, called ‘Pay What You Can’ tickets, can be made at via the EventBrite page here.

ORB also has local businesses sponsoring the event, Kenrick Motors and Westminster Stone, which Rachel says the company is grateful for and, if interested, people can contact ORB to see if they are still taking on more sponsorships.

Rachel added: “It’s also a great opportunity for the artists to get a bit of exposure as all of their concerts and work will have been cancelled this year too.

“We have been a strong supporter of the ‘We Make Events’ campaign to support the struggling events industry during the pandemic and have been the North Wales coordinator for the ‘Light It In Red’ events.”

The event will be broadcast live from 9pm across Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/events/3587611921284666, Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=JsGlTEsAzLI – or embedded below – on the company’s website at www.orb-sl.co.uk/donate and on air at Radio Deeside.

By Jordan Adams