The curtain is finally about to go up at Swansea Arena - a few weeks earlier than originally expected.
The 3,500 capacity venue in Oystermouth Road is to host two separate 'housewarming' events before it officially begins its launch season in March.
The announcement comes after it was revealed that the act initially expected to perform first at the venue had been forced to postpone the date. Brit Award-winning rock duo Royal Blood, which was due to tread the boards on Tuesday, March 8, has switched the date due to Covid.
READ MORE: Welsh band's River Thames fundraising gig cancelled because of 'Boris Johnson' banner
However, the very first entertainment will be the housewarming events, co-promoted with Swansea Music Hub.
The first is a show featuring four local bands, The Vega Bodegas, Inscape, and The Now. It will be headlined by Trampolene whose critically acclaimed debut album was named one of the best of 2017.
Frontman Jack Jones said: "Hopefully, it’s going to be a historic and memorable night for Swansea, and for Trampolene.
"We’ve played in big arenas when we’ve been supporting people like Liam Gallagher and The Libertines, but this is the first time we’ll be headlining one ourselves, and it’s in our home city. Swansea always needed a venue like this to put us on the map. Now we have it. Our first gig was at Dunvant Social Centre - when we were underage and asking people to buy cider for us, after that all we wanted was to play in the Uplands Tavern, so we've come a long way.
"We met in school and playing football on the streets of Swansea, so it sort of makes sense that we get to open the place up. And we’re re-joined by our original drummer Kyle Williams for the first time in seven years - I’m chuffed it’s coming together. I'm smiling from ear to ear. Let’s show the world how we do things in sunny south Wales".
The show will be followed by a 'micro-festival' featuring further local talent, including King Goon, The Orange Circus, Lost Tuesday Society, Cities, Fallen Temples, Pearler and Prosperina.
Prosperina frontman Gethin Woolcock said: "We never imagined we’d have an arena in Swansea when we did our first ever show 15 years ago and we couldn’t be happier to be part of an awesome local line-up that is breaking the champagne bottle on the side of this new venue.
"It feels like the arena is the start of a new chapter for the city and we can’t wait to get in there and make some noise”
Because the shows are test events they will include house emergency system trials, such as fire alarms, and the venue may not look finally completed. Access will also be restricted to strictly necessary spaces.
A Swansea Arena spokesman said: "We are really looking forward to finally opening Swansea Arena, and these two test events will give us a chance to fine-tune everything for when we open with our launch season in March. Visitors will get a real flavour of what the venue has to offer even if it might not be quite the full Swansea Arena experience.
"It also provides a platform for, and shines a light on local, homegrown talent. It feels right that some of Swansea's finest musicians will put on the first shows at this incredible venue in their own city".
Find out about things going on where you live:
A series of stars are due to appear at Swansea Arena during its launch season, including Alice Cooper, The Cult, Katherine Ryan, Rob Brydon and Diversity.
The dates for the warm-up events are due to be announced on Monday, February 7.
Swansea Council leader Rob Stewart said: “Test events for new venues of this kind are standard practice so everything can be assessed, fine-tuned and improved ahead of the arena officially opening in March. They’re a key part of the process that leads to the arena being able to operate at full capacity.
“These events will give Swansea people the chance to take part in the testing of their arena, while enjoying some of the best local musical talent. This is yet another step forward for the arena, as part of the Copr Bay phase one development led by the council that’s made incredible progress throughout the pandemic.
“Worth £17.1m a year to Swansea’s economy once open and operational, the Copr Bay district will also create hundreds of high-quality jobs, boost city centre footfall and attract further investment to our city.”
Tickets for the housewarming events are £5 and will be on-sale on Monday, February 7, from swansea-arena.co.uk and ATGTickets.
Get Swansea stories straight to your inbox with our newsletter.
