Found: the festival that feels like coming home
Jun 4
Lucy Wainwright Roche & Suzzy Roche, and Holly Lerski, at the Water Rats
The Water Rats, five minutes’ walk from King’s Cross station, has undergone a refurbishment and now has a stylish and minimalist interior – but what the venue is to be congratulated over is its commitment to live music. The intimate music room, which is in the back room, has been similarly upgraded and offers a very welcoming…
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May 28
Review: Bearded Theory Friday/Saturday 2015
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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May 28
Bearded Theory Sunday 2015 – pirates, beards and bands
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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May 21
Summer in the city: festivals with urban appeal
Festivals are going through big changes and the newer breed of events are more often taking place in the very cities we’re usually so keen to escape from.The formula we’ve traditionally enjoyed, three days or so camped out in the fields of an obliging farmer with enough bands and DJs to keep you happy, has shifted to encompass a new…
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Apr 21
Blue Zoo Interview with Andy O: upcoming gig in north London
Prior to Blue Zoo’s upcoming gig at Nambucca 15th May 2015, I interviewed their front man Andy O.
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Apr 13
Steampunk bands, Electroswing and Goth DJs: Sharon Robinson’s vision for Crouch End Festival
Steampunk bands, cabaret artists, Electroswing and Goth DJs: put them all together for DecoDanse this June
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Apr 3
Review: Parastatic at The Sebright Arms
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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Mar 27
Focus on Manchester: LoneLady at Rough Trade mini gig; Shirley Baker photography retrospective
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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Mar 18
Goodbye Bedroom Hour: when bands split up
I’m still shifting from one emotion to another as time passes and the reality of their disbanding sinks in. Disbelief at first, and sorrow over a band who seemed on the face of it to be making strides musically
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Mar 3
Review: War On Drugs in Brixton, haunting and dreamy
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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