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Looking for the latest lineup, date, ticket information or latest news about your favourite festivals, look no further. Summer Festival Guide’s Festival News section covers all your needs!
As the only artists to play Hyde Park four times, Blur will make a welcome return to the historic London park for a headline show on Saturday 20th June. Since announcing their arrival with debut album Leisure in 1991,Blur went on to revolutionise the sound of English popular music with five successive UK #1 albums (Parklife, The Great Escape, Blur, 13 and Think Tank) helping to propel the band to mass popularity at home and abroad. One of the biggest British bands of the last two decades, Blur have released seven studio albums and collected ten NME Awards, six Q Awards, five BRIT Awards and an Ivor Novello Award, and played live to thousands of devoted fans across the globe.
And 16 years since their last album as a four-piece, 27th April sees the release of a brand new album from Blur on Parlophone, titled The Magic Whip. The recordings, which began during a five-day break in touring in Spring 2013 – at Avon Studios in Kowloon, Hong Kong – were put aside when the group finished touring and returned to their respective lives. Last November Graham Coxon revisited the tracks and, drafting in Blur’s early producer Stephen Street, he worked with the band on the material. Albarn then added lyrics and the 12 tracks on The Magic Whip are the result
The full tracklisting for The Magic Whip is: Lonesome Street, New World Towers, Go Out, Ice Cream Man,Thought I Was a Spaceman, I Broadcast, My Terracotta Heart, There are Too Many of Us, Ghost Ship,Pyongyang, Ong Ong, Mirror Ball.
Other headliners already announced for Barclaycard presents British Summer Time Hyde Park are Kylie Minogue joined by Grace Jones and Chic feat Nile Rodgers on June 21st, The Who, with Paul Weller, Kaiser Chiefs and Johnny Marr on June 26th and Taylor Swift, joined by Ellie Goulding and John Newman on June 27th.
AEG Live, The Royal Parks and Barclaycard are proud to present the third year of this unique and world-class event. Having royally entertained hundreds of thousands of fans over the past two years, 2015 will be no exception. As well as the huge ticketed headliners, the midweek activities will return with free access for park visitors to enjoy film, music, sport and literature.
Jim King, Senior Vice President Live Events, says: "There are few things in life that are as brilliant and as quintessentially British as Blur playing an outdoor gig in London. With new material and the new and improved production at Hyde Park this show is set to be one of the best Blur shows of all time.”
Alun Mainwaring, Head of Events at The Royal Parks, said: “We can’t wait to welcome Blur back to Hyde Park! A lot has changed since the band were last here and we are excited to see their reaction as they take to the Great Oak Stage in what will be their first appearance at BST Hyde Park.”
This year Beat-Herder was crowned winner of the Extra Festival Activity Award at the UK Festival Awards, an award that recognises events that paid that extra bit of attention to detail that creates a magical and unforgettable festival experience.
Today, the first names for the special 10th anniversary edition of the festival are announced. Headlining the festival on Friday will be Basement Jaxx, the dancefloor conquering duo whose prolific output over the last 10 years is responsible for shaping UK dance music as we know it today. Considered by many to be national treasures, their back catalogue contains hit after hit and they were among the first to bring dance music to the mainstream with their progressive yet accessible sound.
Joining them are Saturday headliners, electro swing kings the Parov Stelar Band.Beat-Herder was the very first UK festival to debut the beloved Austrian pioneer of the electro swing movement, Parov Stelar, back in 2012 and the crowds have been crying out for his infectious and incendiary show with full live band ever since.
Also confirmed are true Motown legends Martha and the Vandellas, who are playing a rare UK date following a worldwide tour last year in honour of the 50th anniversary of their signature track Dancing in the Street. The traditionally dance-focussed Toil Treesstage will play host to the likes of legendary DJs like Andrew Weatherall and PaulWoolford, Krysko and Dirtybird stalwarts Catz 'n Dogz and emerging star Shiba San. Old friends and original headliners of the very first Beat-Herder Festival, dub legends Dreadzone are also confirmed to return a decade later for the tenth anniversary.
2015 LINE UP SO FAR ANNOUNCED:
Basement Jaxx
Parov Stelar Band
Martha Reeves and the Vandellas
Catz 'n Dogz
Shiba San
Paul Woolford
Andrew Weatherall
Plump DJs
Vanilla Ace
Dreadzone
Utah Saints
The Lancashire Hotpots
Krysko
Greg Lord
Mooqee
Jeramiah Ferrari
Moose Funk Squad
Horse Party
Captain Hotknives
Good Foxy
Eddie Earthquake & the Tremors
Ed Stones & the BD3s
Blissfields are proud to unveil the first wave of musical guests for 2015. The bill includes The Horrors, John Grant, Simian Mobile Disco (Live), Glass Animals, Public Service Broadcasting, Grandmaster Flash, Ibibio Sound Machine, The Correspondents, Songhoy Blues, Novelist, and Melé. Many more acts also confirmed, with a second wave still to be announced.
From a singularity in 2001, Blissfields has reached out into the cosmos inviting sold-outs crowds to its small but perfectly formed, 5,000 capacity, tree-lined mini wilderness in the Hampshire countryside. Music at Blissfields runs until around 4am each day, crafted to take its audience from clear afternoons of discovery and frivolity, through lofty main stage sets, into the heady wee small hours of the Blisscotheque and Hidden Hedge.
Eight years after The Horrors first appeared on the cover of NME, their fourth studio album Luminous marked them as one of the country’s leading, most consistent guitar acts. From their defiant early days of gothic garage-punk, they join Blissfields now as an internationally acclaimed headline act, with a truly unique sound and stage show, bringing a sense of the unreal to proceedings.
Following a string of sold out shows, including The Royal Festival Hall in London,John Grant will also bring his raw, emotional and frank take on music to Blissfields for the first time. Grant’s music has been met with universal critical acclaim, with his latest solo album, Pale Green Ghosts, garnering five star reviews and the accolade of ‘Album Of The Year’ by Rough Trade. His honest portrayal of life’s struggles have connected with listeners and even lead to Grant partaking in side projects, such as 2014 Blissfields alumni Hercules and Love Affair’s latest record.
Simian Mobile Disco will see in a late night LIVE slot on the main stage this year, their formidable set possibly including some of the remixes which bear their name – from the likes of Muse and Nine Inch Nails, to Bjork. Outside of the band, SMD’s James Ford has produced such records as Klaxon’s Mercury Prize-winning Myths Of The Near Future, Florence And The Machine’s Ceremonials, Arctic Monkeys last four ground-breaking records, and 2014’s gargantuan Jessie Ware album Tough Love.
In such a short space of time, Oxford’s Glass Animals have accosted the ear of St Vincent and Radiohead, landed a top-20 album release in Australia for their debut offering Zeba, and decorated some of the biggest stages in London including James Lavelle (UNKLE)’s curated Meltdown. Their hyper-intelligent take on guitar music has undoubtedly positioned them as one of the most sought after live acts of 2015.
Blissfields are pleased to welcome back Public Service Broadcasting. The duo’s original mix of electronica and indie with vocals hijacked from public information films has pioneered a new breed of dance-punk. Their stage show, complete with blinking TV sets, live strings and vintage suits, will beautifully join eras and attitudes together, fittingly into the festival’s 2015 “Somewhere In Time” theme suspiciously well.
Elsewhere and Bona fide DJ pioneer Grandmaster Flash will be serving his lessons in the lost art of hip-hop and turntable technique, bringing some legacy to the beats in 2015, while Eton Messy return in the slot previously occupied by the likes of Snakehips, Bondax, Alunageorge.
After seeing Eclair Fifi and Monki tear the festival apart in 2014, the Blisscotheque is once again looking at the brightest young stars, this year securing Novelist andMelé to headline the stage. Novelist has been riding high on a wave of success since being nominated for the BBC Sound of 2015 and will take the Friday slot with his own inimitable grimy sound whilst the Annie Mac endorsed Melé will close the stage on Saturday.
With a long history of welcoming emerging talent, from Bastille in 2012, Sam Smith in 2013, and Years & Years in 2014, attention will once again be on the festival to highlight the best in new music. Palace, Flo Morrissey, Gengahr, Loyle Carner, Kiko Bun, Alex Adair, Ekkah and Songhoy Blues are just some of the names already twitching the curtain of the internet in that respect.
Of course it wouldn’t be Blissfields without festival favourites Dub Pistols, returning this year to the main stage. Along with The Correspondents, who headline the Thursday night of the event, Ibibio Sound Machine and Hidden Hedge headliners Missill, they form a hazy heart of the festival – a mix of world influences and cross-genre infusions for the times when it’s okay to be lost in a field in England.
THE HORRORS / JOHN GRANT
SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO
GLASS ANIMALS / PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING
GRANDMASTER FLASH / IBIBIO SOUND MACHINE
SONGHOY BLUES / MELÉ / THE CORRESPONDENTS
NOVELIST / MISSILL / COSMO SHELDRAKE / GENGAHR
LOYLE CARNER / KIKO BUN / WE HAVE BAND / DUB PISTOLS
ALEX ADAIR / ETON MESSY / SUBGIANT / THE MISPERS
FLO MORRISSEY / PALACE / SPRING KING / EKKAH / MATTHEW AND ME
ANDY COMLEY / BIG CHILD MAN CHILD / BITR8 / BLACK FEATHER / CHOLOMBIAN
DAN MUNRO / DEADPROUD / ECHOTAPE / ESPAI / FABLE / FLOELLA GRACE
GYPSY DISCO / HEADSESSIONS SOUNDSYSTEM / JOHNNY BOXCARS / JOLTA
JOSH SAVAGE / K1R3Y / LIONFACE / MARY MISS FAIRY / MILLY UPTON / MINI DA MINX
MORGAN HISLOP / NOVATONES / ONE STEP TOO LATE / ØNLY / PACHANGO
POPOBAWA / RATZI / SCIENCE OF 8 LIMBS
SHUDDERVISION PRESENTS DIGITS MCPHEE & GUESTS
SOUL & FIRE / THE KINGS PARADE / THE SUBGIANT SOUNDSYSTEM
THIS CITY LIMITS / TRANSEND / WINTERHOURS
+ MANY MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED
Fatima and The Eglo Live Band, Romare, Matthew Halsall Quintent, Dorian Concept feat. Cid Rim & The Clonoious and The Elliptics feat. Vanessa Freeman are just some of the names confirmed for this year’s Southern Soul Festival which takes place over four days, June 25-28th, on one of the most beautiful stretches of sandy beach on the Adriatic Coast.
Additional live DJ acts include Jeremy Underground, Jamie 3:26, Max Graef, Mr Mendel, Alexander Nut, Lay-Far, Patrick Forge, Perry Louis and Philie P. With very special live acts and DJs still to be announced, the limited Early Bird tickets at ?55 are soon to be snapped up.
As Croatia’s cluttered festival circuit continues to saturate, 2015 is all about Montenegro and the intimate delights of Southern Soul Festival, as discerning travellers and music lovers alike discover an idyllic summer paradise. Immersed across two stages at The Dolcinium Kite Club on Copacabana Beach, this is hands down the most affordable, inclusive sun-drenched beach festival of the year in the stunning surroundings of a world famous kite surfing mecca, with regular pros on display.
The action stays on site across the four day festival until the early hours each morning, as guests take full advantage of this magnificent 13km beach and the many delights on offer. From yoga to volleyball, beach football and table football and of course the best in blissed out soul, jazz, funk, house and disco. With everything to play for there’s no stress about missing the boat or having enough money for must- attend after parties. Southern Soul is the ultimate after party. As attendees to last year’s festival raved, “Two stages on the beach and a third musical outlet via the beach bar all make the experience that extra bit special with only the abundance of scantily clad people and athletic kite surfers to distract you from the music. This festival ticks so many boxes we can’t wait for 2015!”
Festival organiser Petar Lazovic explains,
“You can dance or chill all day long and then enjoy one of the most amazing sunsets you have ever seen. And then pick it up and carry on into the night. You are also more than likely to be staying next to some of your favourite artists and DJ’s as the artist village is generally home to all for the duration of the festival. It’s a truly unique and wonderful experience with even more surprises in store this year so we’re all really very excited for 2015.”
Wilderness festival's fifth season awaits us this year, proving their ambition to reignite the arts with the lineup announcement. Rare and innovative musician Björk will attend as one of 2015s headliners with Wilderness expressing how blessed they are to host such an inspiring atrist:
"A true original, the breadth and richness of her art is breath-taking. She opens her heart in the name of art."
With the release of Vulnicura in January and her international portfolio of breathtaking performances, crowds at the main stage will be sure not the forget Wilderness 2015.
Joining Björk this year will be the wonderful folk singer-songwriter Ben Howard and R&B revolutionary George Clinton, Parliament & Funkadelic performing Return to the Mothership.
Other acts appearing are: Roisin Murphy, Nick Mulvey, Nils Frahm, Caravan Palace, Hercules & Love Affair, Brandt Bauer Frick Ensemble, Benjamin Clementine, Ibibio Sound Machine, Will & The People, The Travelling Folk Barn with Front Room Songs, Woodburner Music, Two for Joy, The Local & The English Folk Dance & Song Society, The Wilderness Orchestra, Karaorchestra, The Wilderness Choir, plus many more.
Hi all, yes thats correct, rock legends the Foo Fighters will headline the Pyramid Stage at this years Glastonbury on Friday!
Award winning Festival No.6 has today announced the first two headliners for this year’s festival – Grace Jones and Belle & Sebastian.
Headlining Saturday night are indie pop darlings Belle & Sebastian. Currently enjoying rave reviews for their ninth studio album ‘Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance’, their set promises to be an upbeat and eclectic journey through their 19 year career.
Belle & Sebastian said: “We’re very excited to be headlining No.6 on the Saturday night. We’ve always loved playing unusual, special places and Portmeirion definitely fits the bill.”
Also topping the bill is singer, songwriter, model, actor, enigma and legend Grace Jones. Her live sets are duly renowned as nothing short of incredible jinking from disco to funk, pop to punk wrapped in a visual spectacular as stunning as the musical artistry. It will certainly not be a performance to miss.
Also appearing on the bill are 2014 Mercury Prize Winners Young Fathers and feted Mercury nominated poet and spoken word artist Kate Tempest.
Other confirmed live acts include Rae Morris, Shura, Stornoway, The Bohicas and Fryars. The festival will be announcing a second wave of artists including the final headliner in the coming months.
Equally renowned for its electronic bill No.6 is proud to unveil it’s first DJ line-up including headliners DJ Harvey and a UK festival exclusive from The 2 Bears with a live set. A third headline DJ will be announced in the next wave. Other confirmed DJs include Bicep, Motor City Drum Ensemble, Gerd Janson, Andrew Weatherall, Optimo, Ralph Lawson, Justin Robertson, Maurice Fulton and Mark E.
We’ve reached the midway point of BoomTown’s eight district announcements and now it’s time for the bass heavy district of Barrio Loco. Headliners for garage and house in Circo Baile stage include: DJ EZ, Toddla T & DRS, Swamp 81 Presents Loefah, Paleman, Benton ft. Chunky, The Bug & Flowdan, Phil Hartnoll (Orbital) DJ Set, Critical Soundsystem (Kasra x Enei x Foreign Concept), Kurupt FM, Sherwood & Pinch, Cause & Affect. Whilst Poco Loco venue will be representing Hip-Hop with Kate Tempest, Jungle Brothers, Goldie Lookin Chain, High Focus Takeover, The Four Owls, Fliptrix & Verb T, Leaf Dog & BVA, Dead Players. See below for full Barrio Loco line up and all acts announced so far district by district.
As with all of BoomTown’s districts, Barrio Loco’s has a running storyline:
The vibrant community of Barrio Loco and current ruling district of BoomTown, love nothing more than to fiesta ‘til dawn!! That was, until Burrita turned her back on them and channelled all public funds into an outrageously ginormous Palace to prove her dominance and power… Unrest is stirring, the people are rising, what does Chapter 7 hold for the streets of Barrio Loco??