Festival
Camden Rocks Festival Update
JOHNNY BORRELL & ZAZOU, FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS, DEVIL SOLD HIS SOUL AND A HOST OF OTHERS SET TO JOIN LONDON’S ROCK N’ROLL STREET PARTY ‘CAMDEN ROCKS FESTIVAL’ 31ST MAY.
On the 31st of May the Camden Rocks Festival will see over two-hundred high-energy bands perform across Camden Town. It’s a one-mile run of thrilling music, exploding across twenty different venues on London’s most hallowed rock n’ roll streets.
The festival is proud to be able to mix established acts from the world of rock and indie alongside a wealth of new talent from the UK, aiming to give much needed exposure to the incredible new music pouring out of the UK right now. Britain’s got talent, but it isn’t being televised alongside the karaoke singers and performing animals for Simon Cowell. In light of this, Camden Rocks Festival is announcing a competition that gives more bands a chance to perform on the day. Check http://camdenrocksfestival.com/ for details on how to enter.
The more times a bands name is submitted, the bigger chance it has of going into the votes that kick off THIS SUNDAY! So bands & fans, GET SHARING & SUBMITTING!
Further acts are confirmed this week as Johnny Borrell & Zazou, Fearless Vampire Killers, Devil Sold His Soul and Mixhell (featuring legendary Sepultura drummer Igor Cavalera) join Toseland, A Plastic Rose, Zoax, Little Barrie, Rubylux, Empress, Longy, Money For Rope, Vuvuvultures, Under The Influence, Flagship, The Carnabys, Tax The Heat, The Ratells, The RPM’s, Audio Whores, Adam French, Shooting Stars and Remote View who are also added to the bill this week.
"We're super excited about coming back to Camden Rocks this year,” exclaims Fearless Vampire Killers frontman Keir Kemp. “It's a real family vibe. Best acts from across all genres coming together with the mutual intension of melting faces… amen!"
These artists join already announced acts such as The Subways, Reverend & The Makers, Gnarwolves, Blitz Kids, Nine Black Alps, Turbowolf, The Blackout, Orange Goblin, Ginger Wildheart, Hacktivist and The Virginmarys plus a host of others, see flyer for full details.
Organiser Chris McCormack says “I’m really excited to showcase some of these great new bands I’ve been working with this year. We’re going to set Camden alight (not literally) with the best new music in the UK.”
Camden Rocks Festival is going to be the rock n’ roll street party of the year. Over two hundred of the best new and established guitar bands performing across twenty venues in Camden Town, celebrating everything that is vital, exciting and life-affirming about rock music right now in 2014.
Last year’s event was a sell-out success with over 150 bands taking over Camden. Bands such as Therapy? The Rifles, Hawk Eyes, Rise To Remain, Turbowolf, Fearless Vampire Killers, The Computers, Lost Alone and many more joined forces with legends such as the Sex Pistols guitarist Glenn Matlock, Carl Barat from The Libertines for a day of essential rock n’roll fun and action.
£25 tickets are now available from the link below subject to booking / transaction fees
Over 200 bands for £25 playing in twenty different venues, that’s roughly 10p per band!
Venues include:
ELECTRIC BALLROOM *UNDERWORLD * PROUD * BARFLY * JAZZ CAFE * DINGWALLS * PURPLE TURTLE * BLACK HEART * HAWLEY ARMS * MONARCH * THE GOOD MIXER * THE ENTERPRISE * CAMDEN HEAD * THE CUBAN * BREW-DOG * THE RECORD CLUB * DINGWALLS CANALSIDE BAR * THE BEATRICE * THE FORGE * THE BLACK CAP
Hotly tipped breakthrough acts join the T in the Park line-up
Slam Dunk Festival More Announcements
Just when we thought all the artists and guests had been annouced Slam Dunk knock out other surprise with Sean Smith from The Blackout who will be making an appearance as a guest DJ and the main stage compere!
Slam Dunk have also announced their annual T-shirt design competition. Basically, you could be in the running of designing the official shirt that will be sold across this year’s festivals! Not only will you get your design idea produced, but the winner will also bag 4 tickets to the festival of their choice! So why not give it a try get your creative juices flowing and get designing! More details can be found on the poster below:
Tickets still available here
http://www.slamdunkmusic.com
Bestival Unveils Boundary Breaking Acts And The Best New Bands
This years Bestival unveils breaking new acts and some of the hottest bands around including:
Tune-Yards / Factory Floor / Mnek / Wolf Alice / The Amazing Snakeheads / Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats / The Wytches / MØ / Fat White Family / Say Lou Lou / Glass Animals / John Wizards / Ezra Furman / Joel Compass / Woman’S Hour / Pional / Rosie Lowe / Childhood / Kate Tempest / Jessy Lanza / Melt Yourself Down / The Front Bottoms / Hockeysmith / Wild Smiles / Black Orange Juice / Rag N Bone Man / Vaults / Ftse / Tourist / Sivu / God Damn / Happyness / The Correspondents / Bo Saris / Congopunq / Indiana / The Bulletproof Bomb / FÉ / Cousin Marnie
With a cavalcade of big hitters, including OutKast, Foals, Chic featuring Nile Rodgers, Beck, Busta Rhymes, Candi Staton, Sven Vath, Chase & Status and many more already lined up to take Bestival’s Desert Island Disco to stratospheric new heights, Rob da Bank and the Bestival crew have been beavering away behind the scenes, rooting out gleaming talents to ensure we bring you the freshest acts around. With a long history of championing the next big thing, unearthing the incredible and showcasing the best new sounds, both on his Radio 1 show and at Bestival, these are the cream of the acts getting the man like da Bank all hot under the collar. From boundary pushing mavericks to hip young chaps in this year’s slacks, we’re set to announce a ton of the most exciting bands in the world, who will be dropping in to Robin Hill on the Isle of Wight this September 4-7 to blow you away!
Rob da Bank says: “So in our humble opinion these are the breaking acts of 2014 from the worlds of rock, indie, electronics and pretty much any genre – a delve inside the musical brain of Rob da Bank to find the ones to watch, the ones who'll make records you'll love this summer and the ones who'll make you dance ya socks off in September”.
With her third album Nikki Nack out this week, we’re pretty darn chuffed to announce Merrill Garbus AKA tUnE-yArDs will be heading across the Solent to bring her uniquely kaleidoscopic collision of aural extremes for your collective listening pleasure. Smashing buckled cheerleader chants into punk riffs with razor-sharp melodies and colossal beats, Merrill, alongside long-time cohort Nate Brenner, is a force of nature when it comes to performing live, so don’t miss out.
Riding a wave of critical acclaim for their eponymous debut album, released late last year, we’re very pleased to say that Factory Floor will return to Robin Hill with an all out assault of mind-melting sequences, crashing rhythms and twisted vocals, plus there will be sets from Grammy nominated singer-songwriter and sometime Rudimental collaborator MNEK, deliriously unabashed indie-noise merchants Wolf Alice, exhilarating Glasgow trio The Amazing Snakeheads, critically acclaimed psychedelic doom purveyors Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats, apocalyptic surf rockers The Wytches, Danish electropop chanteuse Mø, and scuzzy rock n roll six-piece and all-round incendiary live behemoth Fat White Family.
We’re not stopping there though, we’ll have live music from BBC Sound 0f 2014 nominees Say Lou Lou, Paul Epworth protégés Glass Animals, genre-swerving pan-global types John Wizards, gritty rocker Ezra Furman, atmospheric soulster Joel Compass, archetypal indie quartet Woman’s Hour, Spanish vocalist and sometime John Talabot collaborator Pional, twisted R&B nightingale Rosie Lowe and hazy pysch dudes Childhood.
And the new music keeps on coming with appearances from Kate Tempest, Jessy Lanza, Melt Yourself Down, The Front Bottoms, Hockeysmith, Wild Smiles, Black Orange Juice, Rag N Bone Man, Vaults, FTSE, Tourist, Sivu, God Damn, Happyness, The Correspondents, Bo Saris, Congopunq, Indiana, The Bulletproof Bomb, Fé and Cousin Marnie.
There’s still plenty more incredible music, mayhem and madness to announce, so make sure you join us at the Desert Island Disco this September for an escapist weekend of off the chain behaviour!
Secret Garden Party 2014 early bird tickets go on sale TODAY
Following an absolute classic SECRET GARDEN PARTY last weekend organisers have decided to put EARLY BIRD TICKETS on sale today.
Organiser Fred Fellowes summed up :
‘I think this year had the best atmosphere yet. A lot of love came to the Party this year and I like to think we returned it with some great content, so a big thank you from the bottom of my heart to all our Gardeners for making it an outstanding event. Definitely a classic.’
Dates for next year are 24-27 July 2014. Tickets will be same price as Tier 1 tickets this year. (£137.50 plus booking fee). They can be purchased from Ticket link: http://sgp.seetickets.com
Wychwood, Beer, Cheer and Bubbles.
This is the 9th Wychwood festival to take place, which is a tragedy for me as it means I have missed 8 years of this fun filled, family friendly, yet modest event, that gently launches you into the summer festival period. Set in the grounds of Cheltenham race course and overlooked by the Cotswold Hills, this venue is used to horseplay of a four-legged nature, but with neigh a nag in sight, Prestbury Park comes alive with a wide spectrum of characters.
The first days sound track set the pace for what would shape up to be quite the eclectic mix. Early evening The Beat proved how they secured their rightful place high up the Ska tree. With Rankin Roger & Son getting the crowd stomping to the ever popular Ska beats. Toploader followed with their breezy, sing a long songs, that keep the crowd on a high. Friday night headliners Soul II Soul with their blend of R&B, Soul and Electronica, surprised many who thought them a one song band (Back to life). With each song played you couldn’t help regret not paying more attention 25 years ago. But better late than never!! They exit the stage, leaving the crowd craving for more.
Saturday sees the music shift to a broader range. Unfortunately the delectable Kate Nash pulls out poorly. The Wedding Present are a crowd pleaser as they work through some of their phenomenal body of work. A French twist next from festival favourites The Caravan Palace, who’s zany Gypsy Jazz, Electro swing, is a sight and sound to behold, a big band wall of music fronted by the mesmerising stage presence that is Zoé Colotis a must see. The night’s headliners are 80’s Electro New Wave sensation The Human League and with a catalogue of hits, the crowd were on their feet from the opening “Mirror Man” to the ever popular “Don’t You Want Me” ending another great night with “Together in Electric Dreams”. The set and backdrop pay homage to the futuristic approach of the 80’s, that seem just as futuristic and relevant today, Little wonder so many artists since, have voiced this Flamboyant and eccentric group as an influence.
Sunday becomes a field of laughter with the humorous yet skilful take on classical and popular songs by the Ukele Orchestra of Great Britain. Smiles a plenty but with admiration from this musically talented troop. The laughter continues as Bill Bailey and his side splitting comedy take over. Nobody being prepared for the music, jokes and insanity of this middle-aged madman. This massive force could have easily have been the finale for the main stage, but the organisers decided to bring the evening to a close by treating an appreciative crowd to the Dub Powerhouse that is Dreadzone. This reggae tinged set was the perfect end to a fabulous weekend, having the crowd bounce and groove out the evening.
A couple of standout performances on the smaller but no lesser stages included Becky Rose, with her one gal, synth based beats and Craig Charles funk and soul show, where the crowd were whipped up in to a frenzy to match that of the energetic, multi-talented showman.
When the main attractions have finished and the majority of the crowd have turned in for the night, one stage is determined to party on regardless. As I approach the big top tent with strobes escaping from the entrance I can’t help but think that there is something missing? Upon entry I am handed a pair of wireless headphones and as I walk on through to a sea of crazy revellers it is apparent that I have entered a nut house. This is the silent disco, a room full of clubbers and two DJ’s but no music through the loud speakers. I put the headphones on and find myself instantly condemned to the madhouse as I flick between the two DJ’s and adjust my dancing style accordingly.
Music for all genres means that young or old you will at some point find your dancing shoes and at the very least discover new and exciting sounds. There are over 100 workshops to choose from, complimented with cuisine from the four corners of the world.
A lasting memory of the festival will be that of a man releasing another wave of bubbles they glisten like the northern lights as they pass over the light filled stage. Wychwood really captures the essence of what a festival is about with a great energy and atmosphere.