Fightback! tickets went on sale at the earlybird price of £10 before any line-up was announced. About half the tickets sold out, and around 800 acts came forward to offer their services to play at the gig, which was set up by the Music Venue Trust as a protest against the recent astonishingly high number of…
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Desert Trip festival, in the California desert: some of the heavyweights from my teens in one palm-tree-fringed, sun-soaked paradise. Normally I steer clear of anything of this ilk but nevertheless this sounded somewhat appealing. I reminded myself that I’d far rather hang out at my sort of UK festivals, hearing plenty of emerging artists in a friendly atmosphere, all…
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The Trades, Hebden Bridge 2017. Dreary old January. Dark rainy nights, empty bank account, buddies off the alcohol… is there anything the wretched first month has going for it? Well, yes! A Heavenly weekend at The Trades in Hebden Bridge, where the esteemed venue hosts a mini fest of musical delights. Last January 2016, we saw…
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If you care about live music, it’s time to put your full support behind it – which means going to as many live gigs as you can! The amount on venues which are closing countrywide is truly heartbreaking. The Roundhouse is hosting a Music Venue Trust gig at The Roundhouse in Camden on 18th October…
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The good, the bad and the muddy… On a positive note, Festival Number 6 yet again had its moments of music, magic and discovery. The location is Portmeirion, the beautiful and quirky Italian village in north Wales. And it was commendable to note just how many of the artists appearing on Festival No 6’s various stages were from…
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Forecasts were for gales, thunder and torrential rain. What we actually got were tantalising peeks of sun, and showers which floated down with clockwork regularity like a sprinkler system. If you’ve ever wanted a quiet word with the Met Office when they get things wrong, by fortunate coincidence there they were, at Einstein’s Garden, Green Man’s science /…
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If the TV programme Location, Location, Location were to feature festivals instead of houses, I imagine the following would be selected. These have a magic location ingredient, being either gorgeous, rural, coastal or just unique. A festival in a great location can inspire you in the way a good holiday does. Blue Dot (above) 22 – 24 July A new…
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An unassuming terraced house in north London transformed into an exciting, experimental art project proved to be one of the most intriguing and original events in the calendar of a local festival. Entitled The Secret Life of no:36, the project, shown as part of Crouch End Festival, was inspired by the history of the house and its…
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I was tempted to call this review of Field Day, in its 10th celebratory year, “A Tale of Two Festivals”. Saturday was primarily populated with a youthful crowd, offering plenty of dance music and DJs. The centre of the site featured the festival’s delightful Village Mentality area where games and general silliness were in full flow on the ‘village green’,…
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The weather gods smiled down on Bearded Theory again this year: I can only imagine it was at the sight of so many hirsute individuals disporting themselves in the Magical Sounds dance tent, stomping along to The Levellers on the main stage, or maybe it was the giant pink puppets prancing about the festival site. Each year, Bearded…
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