Bearded Theory Festival has got its mojo back. Not that it ever really went away, it just went through a dip last year with the new site to adjust to, coupled with relentless rain. But for 2015, the weather smiled down on Bearded Theory, the festival site was looking all new and improved and the confidence was back. Arriving at Catton…
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Sunday is unabashedly fun day at Bearded Theory. Proceedings kick off with Mr Motivator and a mass exercise session at the Woodland stage at the unearthly hour of 12 noon, and the place is packed out – Mr Motivator’s appeal is clearly undimmed. There’s so much to celebrate today. Firstly those threatening rainclouds are beating a retreat. It’s also Pirate…
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Parastatic played at The Sebright Arms, an East London venue which is one of my top ‘most welcoming’ pubs in London. The Tyneside outfit Parastatic came to my attention via Radio 6 Music, when I just happened to catch the tail-end of a track which delivered an utterly euphoric guitar riff. I felt a ‘here’s a new addiction’ moment coming on.…
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On first hearing that jagged, fractured guitar intro to Intuition, I was transported back to the days of the late 70s band Gang of Four, my former university colleagues. Indeed Julie Ann Campbell, aka LoneLady, is a bit of a fangirl for the group, and for that era of spiky, spare post-punk. More recently her performance at Oslo, Hackney, saw her supporting…
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It’s The War on Drugs’ second and final performance at 02 Academy Brixton. The venue is freezing cold and audience members are swathed in coats and gloves. After an impressive set by New York trio Amen Dunes, The War on Drugs take their place on the stage, Adam Granduciel’s personal front-of-stage territory delineated by a Turkish rug. Under the Pressure from Lost…
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As far as festivals are concerned, winter is the new summer. Take SHHH Quiet music festival organised by The Local.TV and visual artist Luke Drozd – a musical feast lasting from noon to nearly midnight, in a cosy church in north London. SHHH is now in it’s 8th year, with much involvement from music promoter and…
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With each album and with each collaboration, Mark Lanegan’s star ascends another notch into the firmament. He’s a man with an impeccable rock backstory, American bad boy incarnate, equally at home as a character from Butcher’s Crossing to Twin Peaks; his is a world seen from the wrong side of the tracks. His voice is raspy, capable of wistfulness…
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The Trades has been buzzing all weekend with one sell-out gig after another and by now the Heavenly merchandise table is looking fairly depleted, but fortunately the beers are still flowing.
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REPOSTING FROM 2015! Heavenly Records are celebrating their 25th anniversary by taking over the Trades Club for the weekend with a packed programme of shows. In order to cram it all in, they’re adding matinee performances as well as the usual evening ones. It feels slightly odd and indulgent to leave the snow, busy shops and cafes…
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Alabama 3 had plenty to celebrate last Saturday night. The band were scheduled to play the final gig of their 2014 tour back on their home turf in Brixton, at the Electric. Then, for those of hardy constitution, there’s the after party at Brixton Jamm. For some reason, Alabama 3 have always stayed slightly under the radar. Not…
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