Tony Parish (http://www.liverpoolsubculture.blogspot.com/ ) relates that the latest inquiry into the Matthew Street fiasco has been kicked into the long grass after allegations that Jason Harborrow, soon to trouser a £250,000 pay-off from the city council, pulled a few strings to ensure a local act got a prime slot at the 2006 festival:
"It is alleged that Jase abused his position and authority as chief executive of the Culture Company to unfairly ensure that the band were given the gig.
"A second senior city council official was also being investigated after he was implicated in bringing pressure to bear on staff to make sure that the band appeared.
"It is alleged that both Jason Harborrow and the senior official intervened to make sure the band appeared."
Tony notes that local acts at the 2006 festival had to go through a vetting procedure, widely viewed as exacting, by an independent panel. However, the band at the centre of the allegations were seemingly not put through this.
A quick Google search for "Matthew Street Festival 2006" produces this webpage from the BBC Liverpool site:
Tony hasn't yet named the band, but the link seems to do just that.
[The Lightning Seeds' frontman, Ian Broudie, started out in the Liverpool punk band, Big In Japan. One of his bandmates was a certain Jayne Casey, now one of the bigwigs involved in the Culture Company. Among the Lightning Seeds' hit singles in the 90s was the aptly named "Lucky You".]
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