{"id":139288,"date":"2025-05-28T17:45:12","date_gmt":"2025-05-28T17:45:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/139288\/"},"modified":"2025-05-28T17:45:12","modified_gmt":"2025-05-28T17:45:12","slug":"genius-dad-was-pivotal-in-bringing-major-music-event-to-liverpool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/139288\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Genius’ dad was ‘pivotal’ in bringing major music event to Liverpool"},"content":{"rendered":"

Friends and colleagues of Rob Casson paid tribute to his legacy as his final event was signed off for this summer\"RobRob Casson, who died aged 46, was a leading figure in Liverpool\u2019s events and music scene(Image: Skiddle)<\/p>\n

An electronic music festival coming to Liverpool is down to the work of a \u201cgenius\u201d dad who died last week, friends and colleagues have said. On August 9, Otterspool Park will host an open air festival thrown by No Art.<\/p>\n

Up to 10,000 people could be on site in the south of the city for the event based on a brand built by a Dutch DJ duo known as ANOTR. Liverpool Council<\/a>\u2019s licensing and gambling sub-committee gave the go-ahead for the show<\/a> to take place in the major green space after a lengthy hearing at the Cunard Building on Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n

The event was secured by Rob Casson, a leading figure in Liverpool\u2019s events and music scene. Mr Casson, 46, died<\/a> earlier this month, leaving behind a wife and four children.<\/p>\n

Those who worked with Mr Casson paid tribute to him as they sought to secure the required premises licence to see through his efforts to bring the brand back to Liverpool following a sold-out show in 2023. Karl Barry, licensing agent on behalf of applicants, The Grand Central Dome Ltd described Mr Casson as \u201cthe pivotal point\u201d of bringing the festival together, saying he was crucial in convincing No Art to choose Liverpool over Manchester to host the event.<\/p>\n

Dave Pethard, who is part of the promotional team, described Mr Casson as a \u201cgenius\u201d and said he had done an \u201coutstanding job\u201d in getting the festival to the city. Mr Pethard said it was \u201ctough\u201d to be carrying on without his friend and former colleague to get the plans over the line.<\/p>\n

\"OtterspoolOtterspool Park(Image: Andy Teebay )<\/p>\n

Mr Casson was best known for his work in the music scene, most popularly known as the enigmatic DJ behind Liverpool club-night Freeze. He also ran many other events across Liverpool at venues like The Asylum, Liverpool Cathedral and The Bombed Out Church and was a key part of the thriving music scene across the city.<\/p>\n

Mr Barry said his clients were \u201creally proud\u201d to be hosting the event for the “prestigious global brand\u201d which will host its only other UK event in London. The city council has granted permission for the festival to be staged later this summer for just under 10,000 people.<\/p>\n

The committee signed off on the staging of live music from 11am to 10.45pm. Alcohol sales would run until 10.30pm, with the site to be cleared by 11pm.<\/p>\n

In a bid to keep noise levels to an acceptable level, a management plan is being put in place during the festival with a staffed complaint phoneline. A single stage will be installed facing towards St Michaels in a similar setup to the Fusion festival previously.<\/p>\n

\"OtterspoolOtterspool Promenade(Image: Andrew Teebay\/Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n

Drugs amnesty boxes will be placed at the entrance to the festival site, with SIA door staff allocated per 100 people. Events stewards will also be employed for the over 18s event.<\/p>\n

Road closures will be in effect along Otterspool Drive for the duration of the festival with residents\u2019 parking measures being considered to avoid adverse issues. A bat survey will also be conducted next month to ensure no roosting animals are disturbed.<\/p>\n

Paying tribute to Mr Casson, Mr Barry – who had known the promoter for more than two decades – said: \u201cThis is an event that Liverpool has been able to acquire through Rob.\u201d He added: \u201cWe\u2019ll do our best to make Rob Casson proud and make sure the event is safe and secure.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Friends and colleagues of Rob Casson paid tribute to his legacy as his final event was signed off…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":139289,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8815],"tags":[748,393,4884,179,14487,11504,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-139288","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-liverpool","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-liverpool","12":"tag-liverpool-council","13":"tag-otterspool","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114586709300156377","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139288"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139288\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}