New Year’s Eve 2012. I asked various people how they intended to celebrate. Mostly, it seemed, this was to be the year of the “quiet night in”. How boring, I thought. I need to go out and do some dancing, maybe rolling back home as dawn creeps in. I’ve always been drawn to The Trades,…
Read More
The Troubadour at Earls Court. Upstairs is the quirky coffee house and restaurant which I don’t think has changed in appearance since I first visited it in the 70s. Downstairs is a venue at the heart of London’s music scene, a cramped cellar which has seen the likes of Bob Dylan grace its stage. Last night…
Read More
The Little Noise Sessions in aid of Mencap are now into their seventh year. Curated by Jo Whiley, the gigs take place over six or so nights, with a choice of lineups designed to please most music lovers. The artists give their time free to the Mencap charity, which is struggling with the government’s further cuts…
Read More
This week’s post is a bit different, but there’s something exciting happening next weekend in my neighbourhood so I’d like to give it a heads up. It’s a mini music festival called The End, and its happening in Crouch End, north London. The End takes place Friday 16th and Saturday 17th November, starting at 7pm…
Read More
2012 has not been an easy year for festivals. The economic situation and the depressing wet weather took their toll. The season kicked off with a disastrously sodden Isle of Wight, followed by similar problems at Creamfields dance weekender, and Wakestock in Wales. Even Morrisons, the supermarket chain, was due to get in on the…
Read More
Some artists bob around on the fringes of your radar for ages, and so it has been the case with Richard Hawley. Those lovely ballads, the chocolatey voice, the Pulp connection – yet he’s remained a bit niche somehow. But things have gathered apace, and September 8 this year saw the Radio BBC 6Music collaboration…
Read More
Like most height-challenged people (5ft), I’ve always found standing-only gigs a bit hit and miss. So the news that one of my favourite bands, the mighty Alabama 3 are to do an Alabama 3 acoustic, complete with rather elegant sounding three-course dinner, is music to my ears. And so to the Jazz Cafe in Camden. Downstairs is…
Read More
This is a fantastic small festival. In 2011 it featured the Cornish folk band 3 Daft Monkeys, and the hauntingly beautiful Saltfish Forty. Here is a review of Towersey Village Festival 2012 by guest blogger Tessa Gordziejko. Towersey Village Festival in Oxfordshire – now in its 48th year- has something special that brings people back year after year. I’ve been…
Read More
Into this post-Olympic, rain-drenched mid summer, the tenth Green Man festival burst into life. Nestled in the Black Mountains of mid Wales, Green Man’s arena on Friday is a wonder to behold; still at this point a green and pleasant land with its beautifully positioned main Mountain Stage – a natural amphitheatre, with a convenient steep…
Read More
Tuesday night was almost rain free – that’s saying something for this washout of an English summer which has so far plunged festivals and outdoor events into a maelstrom of mud and near bankruptcy. So it was a pleasant experience to sit on dry paving stones in the courtyard of Somerset House, drinking a ubiquitous…
Read More