Published: Thursday, 12th June, 2008 10:43am

Nazareth home for rebirth of city venue

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AFTER 40 years touring the world, Nazareth came across a new experience on Saturday when rock fans from all over the world converged on their home city for the rebirth of the Alhambra.

Naz"s Pete Agnew said, 'I had to pinch myself up there on the stage and say "This is Dunfermline." It was a great night.'

Bars in the city centre were mobbed and hotels were full up as fans from Canada, Germany and Scandinavia arrived to see Naz perform hits such as "This Flight Tonight", "Bad Bad Boy" and "Love Hurts".

'It"s a great venue and there"s nothing to compare to it over in Edinburgh now,' said Pete.

'If they can get the right acts people will come to the Alhambra from all over. It was great to see Dunfermline so busy at the weekend. You couldn"t get a hotel room and it was like the United Nations with all the accents. And for a new venue, everything seemed to run perfectly and we were even on time for a change.'

Also on the bill was Stevie Agnew, Pete"s son and a well-established star in his own right.

'It"s a great venue and a real buzz to play before a crowd like that,' said Stevie.

Project director Paul Gudgin said, 'It was a great night and that kind of atmosphere is what we"ve all been working towards.

'It was the perfect launch and we"re now looking ahead to a sell-out concert by KT Tunstall and Roy "Chubby" Brown which is also close to being a sell-out.'

MP Willie Rennie made a speech before the event and said afterwards, 'It was a great night for Dunfermline. When I was elected to parliament I certainly didn"t think I"d be making a speech to 1400 rockers.'

West Fife councillor Gerry McMullan said, 'It was quite an emotional night as well especially for people like myself who can remember back to the days when the Alhambra was a cinema.

'It was fabulous to hear the accents of people from all over the world and there could have been no better band to launch the Alhambra than Nazareth who are such tremendous ambassadors for Dunfermline.'

* The public can sing on the Alhambra stage in a performance of Faure Requiem on Saturday.

Rehearsals take place from 1.30-5pm and the show starts at 7pm. The price is £10 and £5 for schoolchildren.