Snoop Dog – Sexual Eruption,
Wilco – Impossible Germany,
Paralamas – Onde quer que eu vá,
The Charlatans – Oh Vanity.

Emissão 03 – Aonde quer que eu vá

Casa Zezinho’s Podcast

nu stiam ca the charlatans sunt atat de valabili.

This past weekend, Bubble Punch teamed up with Caro from Hi Hi Caro!, to create a set for promotional spots for the Hero:108 series, produced by Cartoon Network.

the Klaxons

The Charlatans

This week, bands such as the Klaxons and The Charlatans will be shooting in this space to create promotional spots to be aired on Cartoon Network!

Throughout the year, this set will also be used to tape other celebrity personalities in conjunction with the animated show.

Because the animated series “Hero 108″ is set in ancient China, we incorporated that feel for the set. We poked around Chinatown and the fabric district in downtown Los Angeles to gather materials, and here’s what we came up with!

Completed Hero 108 Set

Detail shots, progress photos, and ridiculous posing after the jump!

Browsing stores in Chinatown

Our bare set, after we'd just begun to hang fabric

Our goodies we collected from downtown

Scattering of Chinese New year money envelopes on the ground

Close up of props on set

Close up of the awesome firecracker hangings we found

Hat and Chinese straight sword we purchased for bands to pose with... and ourseves... haha

Very pretty Chinese straight sword

We had a lot of fun working with Caro on this set! Poking around Chinatown made us very nostalgic for our childhoods…!

Hoy apenas vimos el comunicado que nos mando noiselab. Ni hablar otro show que se cancela

El comunicado pueden verlo al darle click en

The Charlatans CANCELADO

Por problemas de salud, The Charlatans suspenden su visita.

En lo que sin duda es una mala noticia para la agenda de los buenos conciertos de los próximos meses, lamentamos anunciarles la cancelación del concierto de The Charlatans programado para el próximo sábado 10 de octubre en el Lunario del Auditorio Nacional. Debido a problemas de salud de su baterista Jon Brookes, el legendario grupo inglés de britpop decidió suspender la gira programada en Estados Unidos, lo que afectó directamente su presentación en la Cd. de México. Antes de dase a conocer la noticia oficial, la banda se comunicó con nosotros externando su decepciòn y enviando una gran disculpa para todos sus fans ante una situación que evidentemente está fuera de su alcance. Esperemos que el hombro lastimado del baterista mejore y que podamos verlos tocar en nuestro país en un futuro muy cercano. Las personas que compraron boletos podrán ser reembolsados en el mismo lugar donde los adquirieron.

Para mayores informes, favor de comunicarse al 5325 9000. Gracias.

MySpace blog – Saturday 8 September 2007

A few years ago, there were just a handful of music festivals held around the country during the summer months. This summer it has felt like a handful have taken place every weekend. Alongside all of the established large festivals, so many smaller ones have started up. Some have grown to become regular occasions themselves and you must be a pretty terrible band if you have not been asked to perform out in the great outdoors during the last few weeks

The increase in festivals logically means more people are interested in pitching a tent in some remote farmer’s field and enjoying two or three days of cider, music and unpredictable weather. While it’s fair to say that not all festivals prove to be successful (a friend of mine had the misfortunate of attending an inaugural dance festival where barely any tickets were sold, 98% of the acts pulled out at short notice and the soundsystem was ridiculously quiet. The festival had to be abandoned when sewage spilled onto the site. As if that was bad, the only music still available was Phy-trance!) many others were only spoiled by disappointing weather. TV channels have also provided unrivalled coverage of many festivals. Watching bands live, from the mosh pit or the sofa, appears to be a huge pull at present.

So it was nice to see some of this influx of live music find its way to my part of the world in the shape of Bingley Music Festival (well actually it’s one of at least five festivals held in the area this summer). Funded by the often-maligned Bradford Council, two days of quality live music was available and easily accessible, with Saturday’s music free of charge and even Sunday’s was only £7.50 – a price that even this tight Yorkshireman was happy to pay. With the weather largely dry and plenty of mates in attendance, the festival provided us all with a great weekend.

If taking a harsh view on things, Saturday felt a little like has-beens day with The Jam and The Bluetones headlining. Firstly, at least when I arrived with a belly full of beers supped at home and at the pub on the journey, were a couple of Bradford bands. Neither particularly excited, with the band dubbed ‘Bradford’s next big thing’, White Light Parade, showing a disappointing lack of local knowledge by coming on stage and saying ‘good evening Bradford!”

Still The Bluetones put in a decent performance that included their old classics and some reasonably okay sounding new ones. “We hear this is free for you all, we’re playing for free too” lead singer Mark apparently said (or was I just drunk?). Why are they playing for free? A) Because they’re such good people. B) Because no one would pay to have them on these days or C) they’re lying (or I’m too drunk!). I hope it’s C.

The Jam minus Paul Weller sounds like a tribute act. You can almost imagine the remaining musicians in the band appearing in the ‘guess the identity’ round of Never Mind The Buzzcocks. Still, they’re very entertaining and their new singer does a very convincing impression of Paul Weller. The Jam are on for over an hour and a half and provide great entertainment. If only there were a few less prats around us going a little too crazy. “Isn’t Paul Weller the best songwriter EVER!” declares one ageing skinhead. As the song finishes, he then shouts out “Paul Weller is a w**ker! He’s a rich t**t!”. Indeed.

On the Sunday the line up looks far stronger. We arrive early evening in time to see Sheffield band Milburn impress. Cue opportunities to chant “Yorkshire! Yorkshire!” With a new album out soon (well worth checking out) I expect to hear more about this rocking band in the near future.

And I wouldn’t be disappointed if I never heard about The Twang again. The brummie outfit sound a bit like Happy Mondays but they’re not worthy of tying Shaun Ryder’s shoelaces. While it might be churlish to dismiss a band attempting to copy Ryder’s legendary Mondays on the grounds that they can’t sing to save their lives, their lyrics lack wit, their humour is weak and their tunes are bland. The entertainment comes from seeing the Chavs in the crowd worship their heroes.

“Aren’t the Twang the best band ever?” asks one. I was tempted to dash home and lend him my CD collection to put him straight, if it wasn’t the fact the next time I would see them would be while he flogged them at Bingley’s Carboot sale the following Sunday.

The Twang clear off and with them their fans, so it’s left for the best band on the two day bill to end the show. The Charlatans may not be the major festival headlining force they were a few years ago, but their experience and back catalogue of great songs guarantees a great show. Old classics go down brilliantly and they road test new stuff that suggests their new album will be a worthy purchase. The only disappointment is that, with other bands running behind schedule, they are not allowed to do an encore.

Still it’s a great way to end a really good weekend. The only major complaints been the ridiculous bar system that is wholly inadequate to serve the needs of 5,000 people. Queuing up for two hours for a pint of Carling is no one’s idea of refreshing.

The bizarre decision to ban umbrellas also meant that, as people arrived on a rain soaked Sunday, they had to hand in their brollies to a left luggage place. I could only feel sorry, as we left the park, when I saw the queue to retrieve their umbrellas at the end.

Still a great effort by the Bradford Council. Here’s hoping for an equally brilliant festival weekend next year – but hopefully with more adequate bars.

When The Streets and Dananananakroyd pulled out of Friday’s Summer Sundae line-up, the organisers of the Leicester festival must’ve been quaking in their wellies praying it wouldn’t rain on the parade.

They needn’t have worried – the sun still shined on the Sundae and melted many a music fan’s heart.

We were all pre-warned of Dananananakroyd’s none-appearance and once it was announced that Mike Skinner & co were also deleted from the main stage list, there was simply an echoing sigh and a collective shrug of the shoulder. No bottles hurtled through the air at the poor slumped-shouldered announcer as he stood on the pedestal of disappointment.

In fact everyone seemed quite contented to hear that Idlewild would be moved to pole position, with Beardyman replacing their tea-time slot. And it is this acceptance which in part illustrates why Summer Sundae is such a feel good festival. Spanning a small area across De Montfort Hall and part of Victoria Park, big named bands are simply an added bonus to the event. Festival goers are not forced to make many decisions between clashes of must-see acts, so this means people spend a huge chunk of their time lounging around in the sun, often staying at the main stage all day with a Mojito and an organic burger. As it is built on a smaller scale, you don’t have to walk miles to get to each end of the site and this means you find yourself wandering to alternative stages to check out other bands, only to be magnetically pulled back to the main stage within a two minute walk.

On Friday, it was Filthy Dukes who stole the show with their mid-evening indoor stage set. Although the gig begin with a small crowd, by the end the venue was packed full of dancing revellers who had gravitated to the room after glimpsing the party within. Highlights were In Rhythm and Messages, but the Dukes’ set was riddled with tracks to dance to and their enthusiasm and love for what they do got the sea of hands raised to the ceiling.

Filthy Dukes @ Friday's Indoor Stage

Headliners, Idlewild, showed why they always should have been placed further up the bill to begin with, reeling off sing along tracks from 100 Broken Windows to the present, but there is still nothing like hearing, When I Argue I See Shapes, played at maximum volume with maximum heart as the Scottish rockers always do.

Idlewild headline Friday's Main Stage

Earlier, Oi Va Voi had taken to the main stage violins akimbo, with a brand of Jewish and Eastern European inspired pop which was a great backdrop, although not to everyone’s tastes.

London beatboxer, Beardyman, used loops to cleverly mix in his sounds and created a DJ set which induced many of the crowd to a gentle bop. And although the formula ever so slightly tired towards the end of his slot, his best moments were when he broke into freestyle beatbox rap, mainly because people were able to actually see and hear for themselves the range and perfection of sounds he could make with his mouth.

Dan Black graced the indoor stage, drawing an ample crowd of people curious to hear whether after all the hype, his album, Um, really did stand up to the test. And whilst he entertained, it became clear that his two most well known tunes, the Rhianna Umbrella-sampled Symphonies and Wonder were the true gems of the bunch.

The re-hashed line up meant Mystery Jets were thankfully back on the personal bill after previously written off due to clashes. However, as on previous performances, though their tunes have a happy sing along quality, little about their set draws enough excitement for the band to be memorable.

And so to Saturday, where the Main Stage line up boasted Saint Etienne, The Charlatans and Bombay Bicycle Club and The Rising Stage offered heavier choices including Frank Turner and Future of the Left, whose latest album, Travels With Myself And Another, has gained much critical acclaim. Meanwhile, the Indoor Stage occupiers included Mr Hudson and Chipmunk.

During the day there was also time to check out the kids area in the gardens, where a huge mattress had been put up for pillow fighting, a library for storytelling and a huge 3 metre high scarecrow amongst other attractions. Other attention grabbers included the Comedy, Phrased and Confused and Cinema Tents.

It was the Main Stage though which held much of the gaze. Nottingham band Minaars, were a great mid-afternoon inclusion, with a catchy brand of indie saturated with Foals-style guitars and beats.

Then followed The Joy Formidable, a band hotly tipped for next year who have already racked up top notch support tours this autumn with Editors and Passion Pit. The Greatest Light Is The Greatest Shade and Cradle amongst others from EP, A Balloon Called Moaning, hit the mark perfectly and the goose bump-inducing wall of sound they produced did not go unnoticed by an ever-gathering crowd.

Throughout the afternoon and early evening Bombay Bicycle Club proved their status as one of the most promising bands of 2009 and amidst the humid heady haze at the Rising Stage, James Yuill’s folktronica collected a new music-hungry crowd. The dancing feet and smiling faces said it all, as the unassuming artist performed what can only be described as Jose Gonzalez meets Justice – a highlight of the day.

James Yuill @ the Rising Stage on Saturday afternoon

Perhaps the best accidental surprise of the weekend was Saint Etienne. The band were stumbled upon on a walk back to base camp and kept everyone mesmerised by their hit-filled list of indie dance-pop tunes. They were the perfect sunset band and delighted young and old, as well as the twenty and thirty somethings who were sailing on memories of club nights peppered with the band’s hit like the Neil Young cover of Only Love Can Break Your Heart.

As Saturday drew to a fitting close with former Britpop kids, The Charlatans, the main stage packed itself out and Tim Burgess did just what he does best – simple, Oasis and Stone Roses-tinged indie with sing along choruses.

The Charlatans close Saturday @ the Main Stage

The first two days of Summer Sundae left me on the kind of relaxed high which is rarely experienced with its larger counterparts. There were no aching feet, nor were there any feelings of exhaustion. In fact, the feel good factor of this carefully balanced family friendly yet hip festival had thoroughly won me over.

The organisers do an amazing job at Summer Sundae, cleverly weaving in classic names, buss artists, local bands to champion and music across the genres – all of whom are happy to play this boutique festival on the strength of its reputation.

My only gripe was that I wished I had opted for a weekend ticket.

The sun decided to shine and after the despair of yesterday’s cancellation by The Streets things looked much brighter. On the main stage local band The Minaars impressed as did The Kabeedies on the Rising Stage. Pop bands seem to be heading back and mining the gold fields that were the 80s, well done to them for that.

The Kabeedies

Moving indoors Emmy The Great was just fantastic and certainly lived up to the bold claims in the name of the band.

Emmy The Great

Sadly in the real ale tent, the Trashy Blonde was on its last legs so we took our chances and headed off to the Musician Stage to witness a cracking rock and roll set from the wonderfully named Jim Jones Review.

Back outside we settled in to watch St Etienne, never my favourite band in the 90s but live they certainly were good. Sarah Cracknell still gets into my top 5!

St Etienne

The most anticipated act was Frank Turner and his show on the Rising Stage did not disappoint. He played an absolutely electric set. So full of energy. Frank takes his place alongside Billy Bragg as one of the music businesses best lefties.

Frank Turner

Frank Turner Overdrive

Finally we headed back to the main stage to see The Charlatans. Despite the years and all the partying they can still rock and played a storming set to an appreciative audience.

The Charlatans

Si mi amigo el de la música de comercial de productos para el cabello ya levantó la mano y afirmó que el blog está bien vivo seguramente es por mi culpa. La neta es que si ando un poco atareado y creo que lo he hecho quedar en mal, pero aquí está también mi confirmación de que el blog está vivo, aunque no del todo gracias a mi.

Ha sido un año lento, pero bueno, y promete cerrar en nuestro país con mucho poder; por ahí a final de año la banda podrá ver a una buena selección de bandas en vivo de primer mundo y primer nivel. Yo sólo podre ir a uno de ellos, pancho, por estár en cancún también; así que díganos ¿a cuál  deberíamos de ir? AC/DC, The Killers, Depeche Mode, Placebo, Massive Attack, Mew, Pet Shop Boys, The CHarlatans, Duran Duran y por si fuera poco se rumora sobre Coldplay.

Si tuvieras que escoger sólo uno ¿Cuál escogerías y por qué?

Hello Good People who read this blog ,

(to anyone who read my Guilfest post, I have just added a video clip of Alice Armstrong at the end of it)

Just a note to say  that I just got an email from my son telling me that “The Big Green Gathering“, probably the official festival most like the older style alternative free festivals of the eighties , has been cancelled.

The Big Green Gathering really does represent  alternative hippie counterculture in all its creative and political forms, so it’s very sad.

Some footage of the Big Green Gathering one of many clips to be found on youtube but this one is particularly well put together.

Here is the notice from the BGG website:

This is a very last minute decision. I don’t fully understand why the festival has been banned by the local council and police.

According to the BBC , the festival is cancelled for safety reasons as well as crime. Is this the whole reason? Or is it to stop political subversives from meeting in large quantities?

see BBC website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/8169477.stm

is it really that dangerous that it must be closed down?

It looks like a great way to socialise kids and help them to build for the future when the world will change through our abuse of it.

Here are some more highly dangerous and criminal activities at the BGG.Young people making their own films of the festival. These are fantastic.

**********************************************************************************************************

Meanwhile I should be going to Solfest in Cumbria at the end of August( 28th -30th) ,after going to Hawkwind’s 40th Anniversary gig at Porchester Halls in London the night before.

It’s a long way from London but still my favourite festival, the atmosphere is much friendlier than festivals in the south and people go there not to see any particular band but for the festival experience.Everyone is co-operative and creates a good atmosphere, Saturday is “Fancy Dress” day,which is always spectacular and inventive.

I recommend it for any hippies out there who can no longer go to The Big Green Gathering, but get your tickets early.

It only costs £85 for the weekend  including camping  and car with very limited tickets. You can get there easily from Carlisle by train and minibus.

from the Solfest website:

“Tickets for Solfest 2009 will be available from the following outlets:

• The Carnegie Theatre, Workington, 01900 602122 (telephone and counter sales, cash and cards accepted)
• The Cumberland Building Society, Aspatria (over the counter cash sales only)
• The Cumberland Building Society, Wigton (over the counter cash sales only)
• The Cumberland Building Society, Silloth (over the counter cash sales only)

For Solfest 2009 there will be a total of 6500 adult tickets available. There will also be a total of 750 children’s tickets and 750 Young people’s tickets. When they are gone, they are gone!”

Although I said that it isn’t the bands that matter, the line-up includes The Charlatans who I saw do a great live gig at Guilfest. Other acts include The Orb, Kula Shaker, Adrian Edmonson and the Bad Shepherds, The Beat ( who I was told did a great set at Guilfest too), The Buzzcocks, the  Blockheads, Nerina Pallot, and many more.

Solfest has all the things lacking at Guilfest in terms of quality of festival-going experience.

A sample from last year’s Solfest , as part of the goings-on in the all night Dogs in Space chill out tent featuring a bit of  Tetchi who are billed to play again there this year (this film makes the tent look a lot darker than in real life, it was actually fairly bright in there).

Any comments on why you think The Big Gathering was cancelled?

Love and Peace

Born2rant

p.s. thanks to the UK Hippie Forum, I have found this update about what to do if you have a ticket.Is there a UK Beatnik Forum? and a UK Crusty Forum? and if not why not?

Next time a radio show I made about the songwriting communities of Open Mic clubs in London.

From BGG website ( note that Gong are playing the Big Chill keep referring to the BGG website for news, the Big Chill is a good place if you want a holiday but it’s nothing like the BGG experience in terms of  green anarchy, still I think  it’s good that they’ve done this, better that than leave people totally stranded)

Several other festivals have already approached us, offering to accept BIg Green Gathering tickets for their events. Some have placed no limit on the number of our ticket holders they will accept. Others have offered us a quota… and have told us that they will announce, on their websites, how many they can accomodate and how many places for BGG ticket holders they still have left. So far, if you have paid for a ticket (whether full price or concession) you will find it is definitely good for full admission to SUNRISE 2010 (late May 2010, Somerset) See website for details of how their BGG swap quota is standing and we are hoping, soon, to announce similar swap options for several festivals. Watch this space please.
ALSO
If you are willing to pay an extra £20, you can swap your Big Green Gathering ticket for a ticket to the BIG CHILL. All you have to do is turn up at the gate of the Big Chill with your BGG ticket and your extra £20. We’ll have a stall there, and some of the same speakers who were on our bill (including Jonathan Cainer) will be in their Words In Motion tent. Also on the Big Chill bill are Max Romeo, Gong, Pharoah Sanders and Music from the Penguin Cafe, plus comedy from Noel Fielding, Tim Minchin, John Hegley, Josie Long and Rob Deering.
Click here for the link. Please note; the Big Chill is not yet a Green event but they do have a long history of supporting honourable causes including Amnesty International… and they are now starting to use more solar and wind power. Solar Aid have a presence there this year.
OR
If you really want to make a gesture of faith and support… you can hold on to your ticket and we will honour it at the next Big Green Gathering, wherever and whenever it will be.
If we can avoid having to give too many straight refunds, it will help us survive. And if you are feeling extra-ordinarily generous, you can simply write to us telling us that you are ‘donating’ your ticket towards our survival fund.

Single released on 17 August 2009

THE CORDELS’ debut release sees the Warrington three-piece digging deep for their lyrical themes whilst deftly crafting an anthemic, indie-pop classic. An early demo of the track found its way to top producer, Jim Lowe [Stereophonics, Foo Fighters, The Charlatans], who immediately offered his mixing skills to polish it into the gem it is now. THE CORDELS have won airplay in some well-respected quarters. Radio 1’s Zane Lowe gives early support, as does Tom Robinson for BBC 6 Music and Loz Guest at Kerrang! Radio. THE CORDELS are drawing comparisons with the early days of that other classic three-piece, The Police, with each band member bringing a simmering passion and an effortless cool to an incredible live show.

 Single released on 17 August 2009

Within months of forming THE VANGUARDS found themselves recording in The Charlatans’ studio with legendary production duo Dave Tolan and Jim Spencer (Primal Scream, The Charlatans) – the result is Regress – a gritty blast of raw energy blended with a genuine pop melody. It’s a rock/pop hit in the making. THE VANGUARDS’ style of hard edged, sub pop is garnering fans right, left and centre – so much so that Regress became Radcliffe & Maconie’s record of the week, further recognising the bands raw talent.

Listen to Regress:

Also check out Little Sparks…

Hello Good People who read this blog…

I’ve been away some more and then was ill and then was in hospital with pipes up my nose and much more horrible places, but I am making it all sound far more dramatic and less conventional than it is…

However it provides a bloody good excuse for not having promptly written a review of Guilfest 2009 .

Why write a review of Guilfest anyway? After all it’s not a hippie festival! I hear you cry ( in my imagination that imagines that someone out there in cyberspace apart from MI5 and MI6 reads this).

Well two reasons:

1. I was there ( see previous entry for reason I was there)

2. I talked to Alice Armstrong ( see end of this entry for some footage in “The Laundry”..not a club but really in laundry) to ask her for her name for  a review. Both her and her guitarist were very enthusiastic and wanted the address of my blog , so now for them,because I like to keep to my word, rather than to gratify Lemmy or anyone else, I will write a review of my impressions of the festival and intersperse it with some of the music.

On the first evening, I missed Eat Static as I couldn’t find the dance tent hidden away in a corner of the festival, but I heard The Stranglers from my tent. I was resting preparing myself for Motorhead .I had a headache followed by a cough. There was a bloke at the gate,selling T-shirts saying “ I’ve got swine flu” with a big pink pig on it. I thought of buying one but didn’t.

By then I had realised that the festival was basically a gig in a field complete with modern Britain’s  fascist rules and regulations . To go into the main site, you had to endure young people randomly grabbing and tugging  at your wristband without warning , followed by the “customs” inspection, having everything in your bag, opened, sniffed, even tasted. I’m surprised they stopped short of a cavity search.But the British public, like apathetic sheep, just seemed to succumb to this kind of treatment without fuss. I don’t think ID cards will be hard to bring in, that’s nothing!

The reason for this behaviour was to stop people bringing in alcohol, drugs, and re-selling tickets and wristbands. However within sight and earshot of this procedure about ten ticket touts were relentlessly buying and selling tickets and wristbands. In the camping field several hundred under 16s and their “flu friends” were drinking hundreds of cans of beer , bottles of spirits and taking nitrous oxide, in full view of the same stewards so anxious to check everything in your bag. What a farce!

Entering into the main festival site was always a bit like going into a  strange concentration camp with no human rights or freedoms but with lots of good music and where  you could still smoke at a live gig.

Friday night :Motorhead as viewed from the position of adoring fans “Ace of Spades” Guilfest 2009

some Motorhead  choreography

Motorhead did a blinding gig, sometimes their energy waned for a minute or two but then they were back on form. Lemmy threatened to stop at one point because so many things ( mainly frisbees) were being thrown on stage . There was even a spectacular stage invasion. There was some excellent lead guitar playing, though I can never hear Lemmy’s lyrics and I got bored during the drum solo ( time to get a beer). Lemmy’s son, Paul ,came and played guitar on some songs with Lemmy on harmonica ,they did some acoustic blues. All in all a great gig with lots of energy and variety.

Motorhead with Fire-eaters on stage Guilfest

After Motorhead my second favourite gig came as a surprise to me . It was these guys , The Charlatans, far more psychedelic than I expected, also very dynamic and energetic.I liked all of their songs and they were “in the zone” performance-wise.
Saturday night:The Charlatans at Guilfest

The Only One I know

The Charlatans again (includes vibrant keyboard part):

They were followed by Brian Wilson who I missed due to monsoon type rain, poor guy playing sunny music in the dark with everyone running for cover. Good Vibrations ( note pools of water on the front of the stage)

Another one of my gripes about this festival was that there was nowhere you could sit indoors and have a cup of coffee, the cafes were grim and not run by hippies . Since it rained a lot, sitting indoors was important, a lot of people brought their own chairs and giant umbrellas, gazebos etc… but being ecologically minded ( and without enough dosh to run a car) I bring the bare minimum to  festivals. At other festivals I go to there are hippie run cafes under big tarpaulins where there are old sofas, carpets, or at least bales of hay to sit on while you drink and eat out of the rain.

Also the programmes which cost £5 , a lot of money when you have none, was the only way of finding out who was on stage when.

At the information point when I asked who was on stage, they deliberately hid the programme from me as they gave out information, like I was some kind of free-loading thief, explaining to me that I had to buy a programme if I wanted to know anything more. I paid £120 including postage for a bloody ticket, I don’t want to have to be  robbed of another fiver to know who is performing. Pah! I say in disgust!

Plus the real ale I bought there was the worst pint I have ever drunk in my life and their measures of vodka seemed to be very mean. There were no showers on site, these were some distance off the site at a swimming pool. No one I talked to could be bothered to walk there.

Anyway at least there was some good music.

During the daytime around the festival I spotted Fezheads in a tent not just dancing but playing some excellent surf music with their band. Highly entertaining although a couple of young blokes pulled up behind me and watched them  saying that they were crap as they were making mistakes with their dance steps. I think they missed the point.

Surrey University was one of the sponsors. The head of Popular Music there used to be my lecturer years ago and created some very interesting courses , he didn’t mind my writing essays on the Ozric Tentacles and Stonehenge. (I have a sneaky feeling that the Prof. in question could be the person with long red hair lurking at the back of the stage on the Motorhead and Charlatan clips but I may be totally mistaken).

However the Uni produced a brochure with some truly horrific pictures of Jimmy Page and George Martin.I had to throw the brochure away as I was so freaked out by a photo of Jimmy Page grinning with extra-whitened teeth,wearing full graduate garb including silly hat ,looking like King Henry the VIII’s skinny cousin.
Whatever happened to your tight satin snake trousers Jimmy???

I saw quite a bit of music on Sunday, having sussed out my camping situation and accepting that there would be no sleep till Notting Hill ( i. e. in my own bed) due to the loud tent/bar next to me running all Saturday night, Sunday morning and well into the afternoon when they left . This large tent run by some of the younger attendees, was stacked with big amps, lights, and a big bar. At four a.m. I heard about a hundred people sing “woo-hoo” along to Blur , and shortly afterwards they all shouted repeatedly ” Naked Bar!” and could hear them stripping .Their music was often louder than the main stage, most people moved their tents away after the first night but I have ear-plugs and have camped next to 24 dance music stages.
On Sunday morning I got up and saw The Rock Choir, the less I say about them the better.There were so many of them, that they were performing on both main stages simultaneously, another strange decision made probably by either by a crazy fan or a committee. Committees should NEVER run a festival ( I speak from experience) leave it to a couple of driven individuals who know what they are doing.( arrogant opinionated ranting from me but that’s what I’m here for! )
Motorhead and Will Young headlining at the same festival?????What were they thinking? ( Ker-ching  ££££££ let’s maximise our audience possibly).

I watched the Rock Choir, on both stages but had to leave urgently, as two terribly nice young white boys backed by about two hundred white suburban housewives sang a rap song to Jesus in a very earnest fashion. ( just as well Lemmy wasn’t around).

Later, fortunately I caught The Hamsters, who initially seemed a bit jaded, but warmed up nicely and soon attracted a large crowd when playing Hendrix and AC/DC covers and their usual antics of swapping instruments went down well.

The Hamsters are one of my favourite live bands, who I go to see once or twice a year.So even though I can’t find Guilfest footage of them I have to put up a clip of them anyway.The Hamsters play Purple Haze ( but not at Guilfest!) Rock Against Ageism!

Later that evening,The Happy Mondays were pretty boring after a couple of songs although they had a fab female vocalist with twenty times the singing ability of Shaun Ryder ( bet there are some interesting ego clashes backstage!).

Bez ,clearly no longer on the wagon, addressed the audience like some demented mute traffic cop. He threw a maraca to a member of the audience close to me and then gesticulated madly that the wrong person had caught it, then indicated he wanted it back, then once it was thrown back to him on stage, he delivered it to the person who was meant to receive it ( or at least this is what I understood at the time  but who knows what motivates him?)
Here he is when he still had both maracas.( but possibly not all of his marbles).

Earlier in the day I’d seen “Goldie Looking Chain” and realised that  I was going to see two ex-Big Brother contestants in one day ( Bez and Maggot, whatever happened to “street cred”?).
“Goldie Looking Chain” are a great  bawdy leaping hip-hop act, very entertaining but so inapropriate to bill them on a Sunday afternoon full of families with young children, many of them waiting to see Will Young in the evening.

There were lots of little girls looking quite puzzled and disturbed when GLC explained in great detail the basis for their song ” Can I F*** your sister?“,  thereby making some lads laugh but traumatising parents and daughters alike.

Apart from Motorhead, the band I saw most beloved by the crowds, including families and people of all ages and backgrounds, were “The Wailers“. The dancing  audience knew all the words and the vibe was fantastic.
Amazingly I can’t find any Guilfest footage of The Wailers even though they were hugely popular, so here’s a clip of them in Saint-Petersburg earlier in the year, imagine the same scenario but in blazing sunshine with a couple of thousand people dancing and singing along .

But the reason why I wrote this entry was after talking to one young woman from Guilford and her guitarist friend in the acoustic lounge. She has a stunning big powerful blues/soul voice. Her name is Alice Armstrong and she was accompanied by American guitarist Jack Kristiansen. They did a couple of interesting jointly-written songs including “Roll-Up” ( i.e. “Skin-Up”) on Sunday. Her stage presence and that big and mature-sounding voice of hers is begging for a big band behind her. I asked for her name, and the name of their act which is simply “Alice Armstrong” . They were definitely the best act on compared to the other stages at that point. I was dismayed to find no trace of her music on the net.

In the late sixties or early seventies, Alice’s voice would have been ideal for a loud raunchy rock or blues band but musical fashions change,  she has a great voice  and I  hope she finds her niche.
It’s a big shame that I cannot find her singing  online but here are some pictures of her from her myspace profile and hopefully, she may be persuaded to record herself or film herself ,so it can go online. But Alice, my advice is to develop your own style, don’t copy anyone else, trust your instincts!

I will email her to check she doesn’t mind me using these photos . ( note the troll behind the window)

Alice Armstrong from Guildford

Anyway got to go now…my next project awaits my attention…

UPDATE! 27/07/09 Alice has uploaded a couple of home vids on youtube, however I’m not sure they do her or her voice justice, she still could do with a band and an attentive audience, however you can hear the essence of her voice on the youtube clips at the following address:http://www.youtube.com/alicearmstrong

( I quite like the one in the laundry with beer) …so I’ll put it up here.

Alice Armstrong with Jack Kristiansen “Roll-up”

Will do another unusual blog entry soon.

Love and Peace

Born2rant

p.s. 19/7/09 A lot of  Will Young fans are coming to read this review. Sorry there is no Will Young here, you need to write your own review and ranting  from  a Will Young fan point of view!

Otro evento mas??? Así es, este es otro mas de los que se suma a la lista de eventos, conciertos y demás shows que nos esperan para este cierre de año así que si les interesa y tienen baro para caerle pues cáiganle este 10 de Octubre al Lunario, ya que The Charlatans estará presentándose para festejar su décimo aniversario.

Black Francis and Kim Deal, originally uploaded by emily.power.

Pixies played at the Isle of Wight Festival this year and though I only saw the first three tracks, as is usual when you’re taking photos from the pit, it was a pleasure to see them perform live nevertheless.
The highlight for me however was catching The Charlatans, the only band whose full performance I managed to see the whole weekend, in the Big Top on Sunday night – it made me feel like I was a teenager all over again.

They say that Sunday is funday and there was certainly a celebratory air present as sunshine greeted the final day of this years Isle Of White installment, not least due to the heady double bill headlining the main stage that would see Neil Young following the mythic Pixies.

Before that though there was a world of entertainment to be absorbed. Not least the exciting prospect of the Bog Top Stage being curated by Tim Burgess of The Charlatans. The wily old fox has managed to snare an incredible line up of buzz bands including the likes of The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, S.C.U.M., The Horrors and topped it all off with a turn from the Charlatans themselves.

Over on the main stage events kick off with the local jazz ensemble Papa Do Plenty, who do enough and feature a spectacular brass section.

One of the highlights of the afternoon is the return of Goldie Lookin Chain who leave the crowd on a feel god high after versions of Your Missus Is A Nutter and rousing closer Your Mother’s Got A Penis. They carry on the frivolity backstage after hijacking several golf buggies to race around at terrifying speeds dangerously close to frank Black.

8 months ago The Script were, they freely admit, playing in shitholes to 40 people who had mostly been forced to come down after the playing of the friends guilt card. However today they walk onto stage to be greeted by 20,000 enthused mid afternoon fans knowing that in the immediate future they will be supporting the likes of U2 and Macca. Breakthrough single ‘The Man Who Can’t Be Moved’ creates one of the moment of the festival with the band declaring “sometimes a song just comes along that’s bigger than you and bigger than the band…”. From the word for word rendition that the crowd hurl back at them they aren’t far off the mark.

Following on from the Script Leeds boys The Pigeon Detectives turn in a blistering set of their octane indie. The band are currently working on their new album and the initial signs are highly promising for fans.
Over in the Big Top Tent The Horrors are proving why they are everybodies new favourite band. New album Primary Colours has been attracting plaudits from every quarter, including the likes of NIN frontman Trent Reznor, and there’s certainly no doubting Farris and Co’s commitment to their new set. They can only be happy that they are in the Big Top and not having to rock the lords of the night look in the blistering sunshine.

Preceeding the Pixies is never anyones idea of easy, but Simple Minds and Jim Kerr roll back the years to deliver a crowd pleasing set.

Taking to the stage to a rapturous response The Pixies deliver on every level. Hearing Frank Black scream “I am the son of a motherfucker!” is as vital as ever. They rip through versions of Debaser, Velouria, Gouge Away and the Kim Deal led Gigantic. There is some friction between Deal and Black which seems to have grown since the refored properly last year, the two baiting each other on stage. Not that it diminishes the power of tracks like ‘Where Is My Mind, and when the cry of ” This Monkey’s Gone To Heaven” goes up across the Isle Of Wight night heaven seems like a place on earth.

Neil Young is almost certainly a living legend. He also seems to have discovered the key to eternal life. Strolling on stage with an acoustic guitar Young doesn’t seem to have changed on iota since the Live Rust era. Kicking off with From Hank To Hendrix Young begins with an acoustic set that includes Heart Of Gold and Old Man before bringing out Old Black and cranking up the volume, breaking out the opening riff to Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black). It’s the start of a raucous set that includes a staggering 15 minute version of Rockin In The Free World, that caps off a 25 minute blast that included Cinnamon Girl and Fuckin Up. Compared to Youngs recent tours it’s a rock heavy set that shows when he wants to he can still wind it up. After pumping out Down by The River Young closes out the night and the festival with a cover of the Beatles Day In The Life. It’s a fitting end to an eclectic and superlative weekend 2010 has a lot to live up to.

Ahora que los seguidores del Barça celebran su flamante victoria, hay que suponer que los del Manchester United intentarán asimilar su derrota. Yo, que no soy aficionada al fútbol, tengo una cosa clara: en cuanto a la música ganan los ingleses por goleada.

La revista NME está eligiendo los himnos musicales nacidos de la prolífica ciudad de Manchester. Para mí, están las canciones imprescindibles nacidas en esa ciudad y que deben pasar a la historia de la música. Me he dejado muchos grupos, algunos que me gustan (The Hollies, James,  Starsailor, Badly Drawn Boy, Marion…) y otros no tanto (Simply Red, M-People, Take That, The Chemical Brothers…). Lo que está claro es que la escena musical de esa ciudad impresiona siempre, en el fútbol parece que sólo a veces…

1.-oasis-live forever

2.-the stone roses-I wanna be adored

3.-the verve-bittersweet symphony

4.-Joy division-love will tear us apart

5.-the smiths-There’s a light that never goes out

6.-the charlatans-the only one i know