Vince Power

John Vincent Power CBE (29 April 1947 – 9 March 2024) was an Irish music venue and festival owner, and the founder of Mean Fiddler who lived and operated mainly in London.

John Vincent Power from Kilmacthomas, County Waterford was born on 29 April 1947.

Power was expected to go to his local agricultural college at 16, instead he took the ferry to Britain and travelled to Hemel Hempstead where his aunt lived.

He found work at Woolworths but became homesick and returned home to Ireland.

A few months later, returning with a friend, he arrived in Kilburn, London during 1963, the time known as the Swinging Sixties, a decade that saw an estimated 100,000 Irish people, travel to Britain seeking employment.

Power worked in various manual labour jobs before his move into the demolition of tenement slums, where he often came upon abandoned second hand furniture and identified an opportunity that he could profit from.

He branched out into house clearance, his flair for advertising helped give him regular sales and turnover of stock.

His several shops by now, were stocked with affordable and used furniture for a ready market in North West London.

The success of the businesses and the income they generated allowed him to also pursue his main passion, music, more specifically country & western music.

By the late 1980s, it had become a showcase venue for new and established talent within the capital's expanding live music scene.

It was the springboard for expansion into other venues and bars and created an opportunity for the Mean Fiddler Group (MFG) with Power at the helm, to dominate the UK outdoor music festival market as well as owning the Finsbury Park Astoria, the Kentish Town Forum, the Highbury Garage, the Camden Jazz Café and the Subterania in London.

Aside from the Reading and Leeds festival, the organisation also promoted the London Fleadh, Glasgow Gig On The Green and the Homelands dance festivals.

A trip to Tennessee triggered his desire to bring the sound of Nashville to London, prompting Power to acquire and open the original Mean Fiddler, his first country and western club, which opened in 1982, within a former boxing gym in Harlesden.

It soon became a key music venue attracting up and coming talent, Irish music and country stars.

It was there that his music empire was founded and was soon expanded to eight major music festivals, 14 live music venues and a string of successful nightclubs and restaurants, once valued at £60 million.

Power's background in authentic music saw him promote, book and re-book many famous artists of the rock and roll era including Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Roy Orbison, Paul Weller Johnny Cash, Paul McCartney and Neil Young.

Power was seen by some as a controversial figure and he was in a hurry to shake up the British live music scene of the time.

His hands on approach to business, opened doors and his skill at spotting niche gaps in the market, saw him outpace his competitors.

Building his reputation he formed productive relationships with brewers and financiers.

He had earned the affectionate nickname 'The Godfather of Gigs'.

The venue quickly gained a reputation for its Irish music nights, showcasing new bands such as The Pogues and Billy Bragg.

Within five years The Mean Fiddler was staging high-profile gigs with big name artists such as Roy Orbison, who was to play his last ever UK gig there, in 1987.

In 1989, Mean Fiddler took over the organisation of the Reading Festival; acts included New Order, The Pogues, The Wonder Stuff and The Sugarcubes.

Power is credited with reversing the fortunes of the long-established event, turning Reading into a highly anticipated and successful fixture on the annual festival calendar.

In 2001, Home a multi storey venue, in Leicester Square was acquired for £18.5m.

Between 2001 and 2005, Power saw a significant share dilution of his holding in MFG, in return for at least £13m of payments.

In May 2021, he became involved in the running of Dingwalls in Camden using his management vehicle PowerHaus.

Power was the father to eight children.

He had moved to London and had worked lived in the capital for most of his life.

He died on 9 March 2024, at the age of 76.

Power helped popularise festivals in the UK through the rise of Reading, Leeds, The Phoenix, The Fleadh, Madstock, and numerous other one offs including the first Sex Pistols re-union in Finsbury Park.

Power sold his stake in The Mean Fiddler Music Group plc in July 2005, and went on to set up Vince Power Music Group.

Power acquired one of Europe's most celebrated festivals, Benicàssim in 2005.

Held in Spain, in a port town and beach resort located in Castelló, on the Costa del Azahar in Spain it is much more than just a music festival.

Benicàssim Festival (FIB) sees over 100 acts perform over the four days; with four stages and eight days free camping.

The festival is beach by day, music by night and is popular with thousands of UK festival goers who travel to Spain for the 'Glasto del Sol' experience each year.

Hop Farm Music Festival was launched in 2008 by Power, and has been held annually since at The Hop Farm Country Park in Paddock Wood, Kent, England.

After its first year it was nominated for 'Best New Festival' at the UK Festival Awards.

The Hop Farm Music Festival was born after a survey conducted among festival fans revealed that they always felt the lowest in priority and importance.

It was voted Best Overseas Festival in 2012 (UK Festival Awards), and features a line-up of international live acts, with a main focus on pop, rock and electronica artists.