Gray makes stand at Trafalgar

Singer David Gray is to play a free open-air concert in Trafalgar Square, the first in the £25 million new-look plaza. The multi-million selling songwriter will perform to 10,000 fans on Sunday 31 August.

The revamped Trafalgar Square was unveiled in July after 18 months of building work. Pedestrianisation of the north side now means people can walk freely between the National Gallery and Nelson's Column.

The concert - staged by Visit London - will kick-start the next phase of the Totally London tourism initiative and is funded by Mayor Ken Livingstone's London Development Agency.

Gray, 35, has gone from being a virtual unknown to an awardwinning star in three years. Tourism chiefs chose him for an event they believe will highlight the capital as a major tourist attraction.

Gray will be joined by dance act Morcheeba, whose hits include Part Of The Process. A third act will be announced later this week for the concert, which will start at 5.30pm and end at 9.45pm.

Gray, whose hits include Be Mine, The Other Side and Babylon, lives in London with wife Olivia and their one-year-old daughter, Ivy.

Last year his album A New Day At Midnight beat Gareth Gates's debut to the top spot and his fans include Coldplay's Chris Martin. For years, Manchester-born Gray had a small band of admirers, but his 2000 White Ladder album - his fourth - became a sensation thanks largely to word of mouth. It was recorded at the house in Stoke Newington where Gray was living at the time.

He ended up remortgaging the property and releasing White Ladder on his own label at a cost of £20,000. It went on to sell five million copies around the world.

Mr Livingstone said: "I'm pleased we've got such a great line-up for the Trafalgar Square concert. David Gray and Morcheeba are hugely popular in the UK, but they're also major international artists, which makes them perfect to show off the new Trafalgar Square."

Morcheeba singer Skye Edwards said: "After we were asked to do this, I happened to get off the bus just round the corner from Trafalgar Square and it suddenly dawned on me that it would be an amazing place to do a show."

Masterminded by architect Lord Foster, the landmark's new style includes a grand central staircase linking the National Gallery to the main part of the square, public lavatories, a disabled lift between the two levels and a café under the north terrace.

Chief executive of Visit London, David Campbell, said: "Trafalgar Square is the London stage for gaining international profile for the city.

"This event is therefore an excellent way of starting the next phase of Totally London, our campaign to recover tourism, which will target Londoners, people from the rest of the UK and near-Europe."