Review: BST Hyde Park Barclaycard, Arcade Fire
The hottest day of the year turned into a beautiful evening, and at Hyde Park, Arcade Fire gave a truly inspired performance. No doubt the band were making sure that this, their last night of the successful Reflektor tour, would be one for us, and them, to remember. Win Butler was more engaging, and more humorous, than…
Read MoreTrentemoller, bringing dark Danish sounds to Meltdown
There’s so much going on over the summer at the South Bank ‑or Southbank Centre, as it’s now renamed. On this night alone there’s raw, dirty blues from The Amazing Snakeheads and a comeback set from Edwyn Collins. I’m off to see Trentemøller. The last time I saw the Danish electro multi instrumentalist was at 2am in…
Read MoreKing of the Mountains: a music festival for the Tour de France
Yorkshire has never been shy of blowing its own trumpet. “God’s own county” (country?) and all that, as its citizens never tire of reminding us. So it was fairly inevitable that the first stage of the Tour de France happening on God’s own doorstep – Leeds to be more precise – would herald an extravaganza…
Read MoreReview : Beards, dreads and mud, Bearded Theory Festival 2014
Everything looks sparkly and fresh at Bearded Theory’s new venue at Catton Hall. The grass is lush, green and springy. The main stage stands at one end of the remarkably flat new site, with a dance tent and the more intimate Tornado Town tent just far enough away to be out of earshot, while a secret stage lies hidden…
Read MoreThe best festivals for 2014 – an update
Here’s an update of some of my top festival recommends for 2014 and as of the time of posting, still have tickets available. These are all small to medium-sized gatherings (no hour-long trudges to the arena). All these festivals have plenty of well thought-out activities for children and a fairly broad age range of attendance, so whether…
Read MoreNearly gone… Bowie’s Space Oddity video by Chris Hadfield to be wiped from the internet
Space Oddity, David Bowie’s enduring, sad and wonderful song, immortalised on video by astronaut Commander Chris Hadfield, is to be removed from the internet tonight. There is every chance it will re-emerge here and there, but it may be difficult to find – at present, who knows. There was an agreement with David Bowie that it…
Read MoreMusic news: Phildel and Metallica (but not together)
Phildel has just won Pop/Top 40 category for Moonsea in the International Songwriting Competition where she was up against over 20,000 entries. A fantastic result from a multi-talented and extremely hardworking performer. This prestigious songrwriting competition was judged this year by such luminaries as John Mayall, Black Francis (The Pixies), Robert Smith (The Cure), Tom Waits and Imagine Dragons.This is…
Read MoreReview: Kurt Vile at St James’s Church
St James’s Church, Piccadilly, it’s a beautiful jewel of a church designed by Christopher Wren, and like several London churches, moonlights as a music venue. Nothing of the Metallica variety, obviously. We are here to see Kurt Vile do a solo set which is more in keeping. Despite its beauty, the church’s viewing experience is only just adequate;…
Read MoreEvent: The Second Breath. Take to the streets for a mystery tour
The Second Breath will be happening for one day in May, bringing together clubbing culture, circus skills, a mystery tour and climate change stories. The Second Breath is a walking mystery tour of Leeds, with dazzling circus acts and daring stunts, projections, stories and psychedelic dance music. The soundtrack was especially written for the performances by local DJ, KWAH and the projections are by…
Read MoreBe part of the process: crowd funding helps artists like The Bedroom Hour achieve their goals
There are several funding sites out there operating in slightly different ways, but they all have the same objective; offering fans an attractive way to contribute towards a chosen artist’s creative process. This gets you, the fan, closer to the band. And it gives the musicians a chance to exercise their PR and marketing skills by dreaming up…
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