ONE of the many outdoor musical events that Cumbrians can look forward to this summer is Whitehaven Live – featuring Bob Geldof & The Boomtown Rats, The Stranglers and Big Country.

But behind these big names is one of the county’s unsung, behind-the-scenes musical heroes – Event Consultant Andrew Lennie, of Penrith-based Worldwide Events (WWE).

Andrew has become one of the leading event organisers in the UK, and his impressive work with WWE includes planning concerts for Elton John, Bon Jovi and McFly, among others.

His long career in the music industry can be traced back to his teenage years, living next door to a converted garage/recording studio occupied by a producer to The Stranglers.

“He used to get me tickets for concerts,” explained Andrew, “so by the time I left college I was hooked on music and desperate to work in the industry.”

He was offered just two jobs – a tenuously music-linked job at a vinyl pressing plant in Wales, and the one he unsurprisingly took at a folk record label in London.

A fascinating career at several labels followed, in which he did everything from playing football with Rod Stewart to buying a burger for Madonna.

After 10 years he decided to move onto the live side of the music business, describing it as ‘a natural progression’ and moved to Cumbria around the turn of the millennium.

WWE specialises in large-scale outdoor shows, festivals and concerts – helping to source the right location, plann the site, procure contractors, provide traffic management and make sure the event runs safely.

“What tends to happen now is one of the organisations we work for will phone up and say ‘We’ve just confirmed five stadium dates for Bon Jovi, here are the dates – can you do it?’” Andrew explained.

For six consecutive years, WWE have been extensively involved with Elton John’s outdoor summer shows, and say ‘probably the most amazing’ shows they have worked on were the stunt-filled events at Pink’s Funhouse Summer Carnival Tour.

One of the things Andrew is most proud of is the company’s involvement in the 2012 London Olympics Opening Ceremony, where they provided health and safety expertise for the Dove Bikes, which performed as the Arctic Monkeys played.

He has also been involved with the Whitehaven Festival for 14 years, and described it as a ‘complex’ event with almost a mile of activity to manage around the harbour.

The Festival is taking a break this year and Andrew has been involved in planning Whitehaven Live - one of several events going on in its stead – which takes place on July 5.