Month: Jan 2024

Devizes’ First Palooza DJ House Event at Exchange Nightclub

Feeel the melody that’s in the (Devizes) air! If the nineties house clubbing revival is what’s happening elsewhere around the nation, we have to admit, sadly it’s been a smidgen scarce in Devizes. That’s set to change, Greg Spencer from Palooza gladly informs us Devizes is on the verge of a groundbreaking shift in its nightlife scene. About time too, I might add, there’s still a bit of life in this rapidly ageing raver yet, y’know!

The inaugural Palooza DJ House Event is set to make waves at the Exchange Nightclub on Friday 8th March, offering deep house to soulful grooves, tech melodies to uplifting beats, and promising an extraordinary night of music, rhythm, and unparalleled community spirit….well, there’s a thing, that’s what it was always about.

Greg, who has previously owned a record shop and music venue, has been involved with festivals, and written dance music, signed to labels and remixed for other artists, tells me how he took a break from it all whilst raising a family, but like many of us feeling there’s something missing from middle-age, he’s aching to zip up his boots and go back to his roots, “for the fun,” he expressed. Yeah, I’ll go along with that!

This inaugural Palooza DJ House Event promises to redefine Devizes’ nightlife, creating a space to celebrate music, forge connections, and craft unforgettable memories. Palooza urges Devizes to “get ready for an introduction to a new world of rhythm, and become a part of it. Join us at Palooza, and let’s create memories, dance, and celebrate the beauty of music.”

They promise the event will have its share of surprises and special moments, making Palooza a truly unique experience each and every time. Palooza’s inception arises from a shared passion for the dynamic beats of house music. The event’s creators are dedicated to bringing this unique experience to the heart of Devizes, sharing their love for music with the local community.

The team has carefully selected a thrilling lineup that combines the infectious beats of our local DJs, known for setting the dance floor ablaze, with globally recognized music from the house music scene. Each performer will infuse the night with their distinctive style and boundless energy, creating an unforgettable musical experience.

“Palooza isn’t just an event,” they continue, “it’s an immersive journey into a world of rhythm and connection. The energy is palpable from the moment you arrive, drawing you in and making it impossible to resist the allure of the music. This event offers the freedom to dance without inhibition, lose yourself in the music, and connect with fellow party-goers who share the same passion for house beats. Whether you’re a seasoned clubber or a first-timer, Palooza invites you to a night of boundless energy and camaraderie.”

In a unique initiative, Palooza invites partygoers to suggest their favourite house music track before the event for the opening DJ set. Visit the Palooza Facebook page to contribute to the music poll selection and shape the unique atmosphere of the night.

Just one? Tricky, but, twist my arm, if I had to pick just one it would be Sunscreem’s Perfect Motion. Remember it? Oh, I do, vaguely! In a cloud of strawberry scented smoke, the dancefloor like an air hockey pitch, my feet gliding like two pucks, and, if you’ll pardon the puck pun, not giving a puck either, about any inhibitions, or cares, just you, and a fluffy crowd of smiling faces; If rhythm’s a drug, I’m hooked on you, So show me every move, We’ve got perfect motion…. Noooo, someone stop me, I double dare you!! I better sit down, have a cuppa and a bourbon biscuit, calm myself down a bit…. until March 8th, coincidently my birthday! 

Trending……

Ha! Let’s Laugh at Hunt Supporters!

Christmas has come early for foxes and normal humans with any slither of compassion remaining, as the government announced the righteous move to ban trail…

Rooks; New Single From M3G

Chippenham folk singer-songwriter, M3G (because she likes a backward “E”) has a new single out tomorrow, Friday 19th December. Put your jingly bell cheesy tunes…

Burning the Midday Oil at The Muck

Highest season of goodwill praises must go to Chrissy Chapman today, who raised over £500 (at the last count) for His Grace Children’s Centre in…

Weekly Roundup of Events in Wiltshire: 31st January -6th February 2024

Hey you, Feb already, here’s what’s happening over the coming week in the wilds of Wiltshire……

Everything listed here is on our event calendar; go there for links and more info. It may be updated with even more things to do than listed here, so check in later in the week. Oh, and accept no substitute, this is the definitive guide to what’s really happening around these parts!!

Ongoing until 17th February, two enlightening exhibits at Wiltshire Museum, Devizes, Lest We Forget: the Black Contribution to the World Wars in Wiltshire, and Eric Walrond: A Caribbean Writer living in Wiltshire. Reviewed HERE.

The Importance of Being Earnest is currently running until Sunday at the Wharf Theatre, Devizes. This is sold out, I’m afraid, reviewed HERE.

Wednesday 31st

Modern & Contemporary Art from the Collection of Chippenham Museum.

Acoustic Jam at The Southgate, Devizes.

‘Full Circle Part II’ – Phil Beer & Steve Knightley at Chapel Arts, Bath. Tight Lipped Combo at The Bell.

Truck at the Vic, Swindon, with the Belladonna Treatment and Nostomo. Viggo Venn at The Wyvern Theatre.

Thursday 1st Feb

The Tap Opening Night in Devizes.

Pound Arts, Corsham are screening Sherlock Jr. (1924) with live piano score by Meg Morley.

Cousins, Skiddy, Blair, Lynch at the Tuppenny, Swindon. Sebastian & Me, Talk in Code and Mirrored Faces feature at the Vic as part of Live Music Venues Week. Beyond The Barricade at the Wyvern Theatre.

All’s Well That Ends Well at Rondo Theatre, Bath. Nigel Wearne (AUS) at Chapel Arts, with support from Simeon Hammond Dallas.

Open Mic at The Winchester Gate, Salisbury.

Friday 2nd

Devizes Youth Action Group has their first event at the Devizes Corn Exchange. U18’s only, all-teen bands, Shox, Steatopygous, and BellaDonna play, with DJ Flam. Well done for organising, we fully support this initiative, and our own youngest reporter, Flo, will be there to give us the lowdown on it. Karaoke starts up at the Exchange nightclub below for the so-called grownups(!), with Karl Maggs on the wheels of steel. This will be a regular thing, the first Friday of each month. 

Also on upcoming bands, check the first heat of Take The Stage at Chippenham’s Neeld Hall, only costs a fiver entry.

Travis Waltons at the Pump, Trowbridge, with Marty’s Fake Family and The Earth & Me.

One Chord Wonders at The Boathouse, Bradford-on-Avon.

IVW 2024 Double Bill: Nuala Honan & Stevie Toddler at Pound Arts, Corsham.

All Ears Avow, Death is a Girl, Fluff and Ritual Divide all play the The Vic, Swindon. There’s a Swindon Old Town Comedy Club at Christchurch, Old Town. Calling Planet Earth, Duran Duran tribute at the Wyvern Theatre, Dire Streets at Swindon Arts Centre.

And the In-Cider Festival begins at Weston-Super-Mare! Weston-Super-Mare, Eddie!

Saturday 3rd

The Thomas Atlas Trio takes over from the postponed LeBurn Maddox at The Southgate, Devizes. A darn good replacement, expect some amazing blues. Our trusty duo, Funked up will be at The Three Crowns, guaranteed good night at either. DJ Stevie Mc is in the mix at the Exchange.

Kieran doesn’t know it yet, we’ll see if he reads this religiously, but I’m invited to the Pump by frontman Jamie, so for this reason and for many others, this gets my Editor’s Pick of Week!  

The Worried Men play the Pump, Trowbridge, with FuTuRe PlaN in support; anyone going up from Devizes? I needs me a lift!!

From the European Union Chamber Orchestra, Wiltshire Music Centre in Bradford-on-Avon presents Yuzhang Li.

Still Marillion at the Vic, Swindon. Apache Cats the Rat Trap. The Thinking Drinkers at Swindon Arts Centre, and The ELO Show at the Wyvern Theatre.

It’s Duckfest at the Duck in Laverstock, a Salisbury Live Beggar’s Bash thingy.

Phoebe Troup is at Chapel Arts, Bath.

Dylan tribute The Bob Villains at Tree House Frome Retro Electro at the Cheese & Grain.

Sunday 4th

All-family bike ride, Kidical Mass, from Hillworth Park, Devizes. Lewis Clark at The Southgate from 5pm.

Chasing Dolls, Lucky Number Seven, Better Heaven, Liddington Hill, and Oui Legionarries at The Vic, Swindon. Whitney Queen of the Night at the Wyvern Theatre. Ania Magliano at Swindon Arts Centre.

Monday 5th

Open Mic at the Lamb, Marlborough.

An Evening With Jasper Fforde at Swindon Arts Centre.

Tuesday 6th

Daniel Newberry Trio for Jazz Knights at the Royal Oak, Swindon. An Evening With Jeff Stelling at the Wyvern Theatre.

The Rob Auton Show at Rondo Theatre, Bath.

fOR WEEKLY RECURRING EVENTS CLICK HERE!

And that’s all we’ve got for now, other than some important things to say: Events listed here are subject to change, we are not responsible for cancellations, errors or postponements in anything listed. 

Important note two, events which come to our attention from now on in, will be updated on the Event Calendar and NOT HERE. So, be sure to check in from time to time, use the Event Calendar to find more info on everything listed on here, and for ticket links, etc. Use the Event Calendar to check for updates and planning ahead.

Did we miss you out? Did you tell us about your event? It’s not that we don’t like you, it’s because Devizine uses many sources to collate these listings, and sometimes we miss a few things. Listing your event here is free, but please make it easier for me by messaging or emailing the info, and then, and this is the really important part, make sure I’ve added it and let me know if not!

Have a good week- that’s the last important thingy to say!!   

Trending……

For Now, Anyway; Gus White’s Debut Album

Featured Image: Barbora Mrazkova My apologies, for Marlborough’s singer-songwriter Gus White’s debut album For Now, Anyway has been sitting on the backburner, and it’s more…

One Of Us; New Single From Lady Nade

Featured Image by Giulia Spadafora Ooo, a handclap uncomplicated chorus is the hook in Lady Lade’s latest offering of soulful pop. It’s timelessly cool and…

Large Unlicensed Music Event Alert!

On the first day of advent, a time of peace and joy to the world et al, Devizes Police report on a “large unlicenced music…

Winter Festival/Christmas/Whatever!

This is why I love you, my readers, see?! At the beginning of the week I put out an article highlighting DOCA’s Winter Festival, and…

N’Faly Kouyaté (Afro-Celt Sound System) Tour Includes Wiltshire Music Centre

Perhaps best known as the frontman of Afro Celt Sound System, the Belgium-based artist N’Faly Kouyaté will be hitting the road for nine intimate shows with his new solo project.  Beginning at Southampton’s Turner Sims on 8th February, the tour will include Bradford-on-Avon’s Wiltshire Music Centre on the 11th February….

N’Faly Kouyaté’s UK tour will be preceded by the release of a brand new single, “Premiers Pas”, a powerful, political track that finds the artist echoing Africa’s call for total autonomy. Offering a poignant reflection on Africa’s tumultuous history, the single will shine a light on the suffering, terror, and an unquenchable thirst for freedom the continent has endured. Merging French and Malinké languages, the lyrics reflect Africa’s fervent call for complete control, with N’Faly Kouyaté requesting the world recognise Africa’s right to shape its own destiny. It will be streaming on all services on 3 February 2024. 

The release of “Premiers Pas” will be accompanied by a striking official music video co-directed by N’Faly Kouyaté, his manager Sandra Werner, and their team. The metaphorical visuals will depict Africa’s journey to freedom, celebrating cultural diversity and the inner strength of its people. Filmed in South Africa, the choice of Nelson Mandela’s homeland as the filming location underscores continental solidarity in the pursuit of autonomy. In tandem, the artist sheds light on similar phenomena in daily life, such as workplace abuse of power, domestic violence, and many others. 

Speaking about the new single N’Faly Kouyaté says: “I am raising a cry with ‘Premiers Pas’ to demand total autonomy for Africa. This song is the expression of the determination of an entire continent to finally take control of its destiny.”

More than a song, “Premiers Pas” is the resounding cry of a continent seeking to reclaim its voice and place on the global stage, sung by one of its most passionate musical advocates. 

Originally hailing from Guinea, N’Faly Kouyate is a world-renowned Griot master musician and multi-instrumentalist. Moving to Belgium in 1994, he formed the ensemble Dunyakan (The Voice of the World), before joining Afro Celt Sound System in 1996. Frequently performing at WOMAD, the latter have released many albums through Real World Records and performed with stars including Peter Gabriel, Robert Plant, and Sinéad O’Connor. Owning an innovative sound that blends electronica with music from Ireland and West African countries, Kouyate prominently provides vocals, kora and balafon for the group.

Famed for his irrepressible energy and virtuoso performances on stage, N’Faly Kouyaté’s latest solo project will promise a spellbinding mixture of polyphony and electronic music in symbiosis with traditional instruments, called Afrotronix.

On his upcoming ‘Ré-Génération Tour’, N’Faly will be joined each night by his extraordinary ensemble, promising a unique opportunity for British audiences to experience this visionary artist like never before. He comes to Wiltshire Music Centre in Bradford-on-Avon on 11th Feb, Tickets here.

Trending…..

Devizes Winter Festival This Friday and More!

Who’s ready for walking in the winter wonderland?! Devizes sets to magically transform into a winter wonderland this Friday when The Winter Festival and Lantern…

Snow White Delight: Panto at The Wharf

Treated to a sneaky dress rehearsal of this year’s pantomime at Devizes’ one and only Wharf Theatre last night, if forced to sum it up…

Broken Shadows; New Novel from Wiltshire Author Sorrel Pitts

I arrived in a Wiltshire village aged fourteen from suburban Essex, anxious this was my new home. While my parents awaited keys from the estate agent, they sent my elder brother and I to the shop for milk. Wandering the lane an elderly gent wished us the customary “mornin’.” It left me bewildered; why was he talking to us, he couldn’t possibly know us?! This amusing archived memory of an introduction to the way of life in rural Wiltshire popped into my tiny mind recently, jogged by a book I’ve been reading……

You may’ve seen it on social media ahead of its release on 6th Feb. If you’re active on our music scene you may know the author, Sorrel Pitts, often found at open mics, accompanied by Vince Bell. I caught her at one in Great Cheverell’s Bell and was astounded by her songwriting ability; now I realise I was only skimming the surface.

Sorrel is undoubtedly well travelled but raised in Wiltshire, though if it’s not the picture-painting words describing our landscapes, culture and mannerisms giving this game away, it’s the characters reflecting on foreign lives they’ve built for themselves in comparison to the sensations of a homecoming which illustrates Wiltshire life so vividly, hence my jogged recollection.

The village in Broken Shadows is fictional, but believably set in the Marlborough Downs, west of the town; if you know the area you could hazard a guess to the inspiration. Sorrel was born here, and from the tracks to the primary school and pub, to sacred neolithic stones, and down to the wildlife and weeds defining a scene around a dilapidated barn, her remarkable proficiency of illustrative writing is abounded.

As Steinbeck paints an image of rural Oklahoma to the point you can smell the cotton on the drylands, Sorrel equals in building a visual environment we’re familiar with. Perhaps Hardy would therefore be a better geographical comparison, and like him, Sorrel exemplifies subtle differences between rural working class and the affluence of classic Brontë characters. Though this is modern, mentioning a lack of internet connection, covid tests, or housing developments in the village, as two characters return to the village they grew up in, to recollect their rural upbringings.

With the scene set superbly, you’re in a picture frame, prepped for fictional first-person narrative, building in intriguing layers, diary-like over a two character’s POVs, those of Tom and Anna. The pair begin unattached though schoolfriends, are reunited through a similar circumstance of returning there, Anna to recover from an operation, Tom to care for his dying father. In this connection there’s an archetypal narrative of forbidden love sidelining, the thrill of lust against commitment, amidst an unfolding mystery, Tom’s brother’s unsolved brutal murder in the village when they were children. Anything further might be considered spoilers, needless to suggest, Sorrel rocks the boat of the stereotypical tranquillity of rural Wiltshire, with this mysterious loss and the unveiling its developing backstory.

It takes time to unravel the truth of what really happened, the pace of reading steady, as characters are introduced through various other family or village happenings, and varying amounts of suspicion you will cast upon them. I certainly had my chosen suspects, but when the revelation arrived, the penny will not have dropped, and Sorrel accelerates to breakneck speeds as the climax unfolds, leaving you breathless and unable to put this book down. I swear, right, my wife had to take my Kindle off me so I could get on the school run!

Not sure I like the term “page-turner,” to describe a novel, and until halfway I wouldn’t use it anyway, but if the suspense building in layers will tempt you back to it, I recommend you go for it. Feeling you’re close to summit of the tale when all will be revealed will tie you to the characters and their circumstance personally, and that, my friend, is the sign of a fantastic novel.

It could be set anywhere and would be a great read, the fact it’s local makes it seem that bit more real. You’ll pick up on cultural references and geographic locations, identify with the surroundings, architecture and particularly, the mannerisms of the villagers; it’ll leave it convinced you know Tom and Anna. The stunning wordsmithery of Sorrel is elementary, being the account is written akin to diary entries, there’s nothing to confound you, but the juxtaposition shows that pure competence to weave a convincing, heartstring plucking, and edge-of-your seat story. Sorrel can write, and I was hooked, Sir Michael Parkinson too, apparently! Ah, at least I’ve one thing in common with Parky!

Sorrel has a book signing at Devizes Books on Saturday 17th Feb, find the book available there, or at White Horse Books in Marlborough. Find digital copies on Amazon here.

Trending….

Chatting With Burn The Midnight Oil

It’s nice to hear when our features attract attention. Salisbury’s Radio Odstock  picked up on our interview with Devizes band Burn the Midnight Oil…

The Lost Trades Float on New Single

I’ve got some gorgeous vocal harmonies currently floating into my ears, as The Lost Trades release their first single since the replacement of Tamsin…

Daisy Chapman Took Flight

Okay, so, if I praised the Bradford Roots Festival last weekend and claimed to have had a fantastic time, it’s all as true as Harrison Ford retelling Daisy Ridley about the Force, with one embarrassing hiccup!

Finally, for a brief moment between closing fire doors I met Trowbridge-based singer-songwriter extraordinaire, Daisy Chapman. She was going in, with her daughter badgering her for ice cream, and I was wandering out, assuring her I’d check the release date of the album she had kindly sent me for review. All a bit embarrassing on my part, I should’ve checked prior, She Took Flight came out in May last year, so opps, apologies, I’m late for the party, again!

Maybe this Daisy has equal power over the Force as Daisy Ridley, granddaughter of the Sith emperor Palpatine, or maybe she’s thinking, please don’t make Star Wars references when reviewing my album, you stupid fanboy! but wowzers, this is one magically epic and euphoric seven-track strong album only a Jedi could’ve made!

I wasn’t going in blind though, fondly reviewing her 2017 album Good Luck Songs, albeit belated again, in 2021. By way of comparing the two, I’d say while as the name suggests, Good Luck Songs is a sublime selection of songs with random muses, She Took Flight is concentrated on a theme and flows much better, with an overall narrative of life, motherhood, loss and love. Far be it to suggest it’s a concept album, but the thought, perhaps, is.

Dare I also suggest, akin to how Taylor Swift has financially benefited bending the folk rulebook to incorporate pop, Daisy folds similar, uniquely through dramatic piano and violin to define a confident euphoric and epic sound, like a musical classic. Though, with elements from so many sources and influences, to create something inspiring and enchanting, something she defines as “anti-folk,” I call it, in a word, enchanting. The uplifting musical reference is particularly true in the opening tune, Starlight, it’s a grand start.

Porcelain draws again on the epic, though incoming is Daisy’s refined and expertly crafted writing, often of arduous or dejected souls. This song drawn from a diary entry of the day her father died in hospital. Though there’s optimistic prose, as if life is starting over, only to be knocked back by the darker, probably most beguiling tune of the album, Womxn.

Over a subtle drumbeat the piano cruises like a well-oiled machine, and Daisy’s voice enchants like Kate Bush at her finest. Womxn’ chronicles a list of women
whose work was credited by men.

At the summit of the album lies the only cover, a perfect rendition of The Kinks’ Waterloo Sunset, this sunny side of the street against all odds concept is gallantly captured, and Daisy makes this song her own. I couldn’t think of another song so absolutely fitting for this journey, which mood changes with such gorgeous subtly, it’s breath-taking.

The Gashlycrumb Tinies will then twist the narrative of the theme. An abject abecedarian, inspired by Idilia Dubb, a girl who met her fate trapped up a tower in 1851, and various other historic tragedies. Herein lies Daisy’s writing influence, the likes of Leonard Cohen, and her ability to weave magic in her wordplay.

Wind Horses takes on the penultimate melancholic trip to insure you’re suitably impressed before this amazing album ends, a poignant piece, a cinematic nod to all who’ve attempted to climb the world’s highest peaks.

Then there’s something downhearted lounge-room jazz about the building layers of Ballad of a Distracted Mother finishing you off in no uncertain terms, Daisy Chapman’s voice is breathtaking, her writing astute and perceptive, and the dramatic string arrangements over her own ‘Nymanesque’ piano makes a this harmonic composition truly something to behold.

After forming bands at University in Bristol, Daisy released her first solo album
in 2004, a collection of sombre songs for just vocals and piano. Her cover of Cohen’s Halleujah proved hugely popular at the time on the iTunes chart and caught the attention of German label ‘Songs & Whispers’ who have since formed a 15 year relationship with Daisy, booking her shows across Europe and beyond.

Another cover song, Umbrella, received her an International Independent Music Award (USA) in 2009, which inspired a self-booked tour of coffee houses up and down Highway One on California’s Pacific Coast. Upon returning to the UK, Daisy was asked to be part of super-group Crippled Black Phoenix alongside members of Portishead and Hawkwind.

I’m sorry to have her performance at Bradford Roots, and wonder why they put an artist of this calibre on so early, but after hearing this I endeavour to catch her live as soon as, and I believe you will too.  Find out more about Daisy Chapman, here.

Trending……

Devizes Chamber Choir Christmas Concert

It’s not Christmas until the choir sings, and Devizes Chamber Choir intend to do precisely this by announcing their Christmas Concert, as they have done…

Steatopygous go Septic

If you believe AI, TikTok and the rest of it all suppress Gen Z’s outlets to convey anger and rage, resulting in a generation of…

The Wurzels To Play At FullTone 2026!

If Devizes’ celebrated FullTone Festival is to relocate to Whistley Road’s Park Farm for next summer’s extravaganza, what better way to give it the rustic…

The Importance of Being Earnest at the Wharf Theatre, Devizes

The Importance of Being Earnest is rather like a newfound interest in jazz, you must “unlearn” the four-beat pop you’re accustomed to, to fully appreciate it. You have to rewind, temporarily forget Rick Mayall and Ade Edmondson, forgo all farcical comedy from The Goon Show to Charlie Chaplin, and leave your Tardis in late Victorian England, then, you will laugh.….in a hoity-toity kinda fashion!

Opening Monday, it’s a sell-out at the Wharf Theatre in Devizes already, assuring me you know the plot and backstory; though I caught last night’s dress rehearsal, I’m not sure I need review it, only to assure ticket-holders they’re in for a good night, express, once again, why you gotta love our communal and hospitable town’s theatre, and maybe attempt to convince you I’m an intellectual!

One of the few plays I’ve read, I’m reminded how ironic and sardonic towards pomposity Oscar Wilde was, and how much trouble he got from it; surely making The Importance of Being Earnest a Victorian Men Behaving Badly, albeit written by a genius of twisting narrative the like I find unable to make a modern comparable.

I find myself wondering how, or even if it’s possible, to modernise it, as they did with Brewster’s Millions, for example. For it lambasts the snobbery of Victorian social etiquette as nonsensical, ridiculing the formalities of gentry as preposterous folly, and though it suggests insincerity and fabrications should be morally neutral, our protocols to be so feigned with social interactions has drastically improved through equality since, making this feel somewhat lost in time. Such is its ex-post facto beauty, concluding some things are best left the way they are. 

This leaves the happy ending scene questionable by today’s standards. In an unfeasible  modern twist it’s surely likely both Jack and Algernon would’ve been victims of their own circumstance; akin to a double-act of Basil Fawlty and Basil Fawlty. A modernisation of the play would end (spoiler alert) with the penultimate scene, where the ladies discover Earnest was a big, fat double-whammy fib to get in their knickers, and the boys would’ve been summoned to punishment for their deceptions, liable to sharp kicks to their respective groin-areas!

True, isn’t it? Modern girls wouldn’t have given these unsuitable and practically unhinged suitors the time of day! They’d receive only a two-finger salute, probably de-friended and condemned on Facebook, and they’d both be rung out to dry on Tinder, no matter how loaded they are! It is then, with a curiosity of Victorian ethics which makes this play so endearingly comical, classic and impossible to modernise; go tell Disney! 

Though, with a line in the play ironically defuncting happy endings I hadn’t picked up on till last night’s fantastic dramatisation of it, I strongly suspect that is precisely what Wilde was getting at, only leaving me ponder what he would think of our era today. There’s far more connotations to encrypt from this play than first meets the eye, but at least he wouldn’t be threatened with a bouquet of rotten vegetables from his boyfriend’s pop and in his attempt to sue the Lord, get banged up in the big house for it. More likely the Lord would get a wrap on the knuckles for a hate-crime; proving how far we’ve emancipated and why this play is so intriguing and poignant, if outmoded comically.

And it’s played out wonderfully, Rob Finlay plays steadfast Jack Worthing, Oliver Beech makes the perfect punster Algernon Moncrieff, and their conflicting characters ricochet off each other like they were performing this in Melksham’s Bounce House!

Sophie Kerr plays Gwendolen Fairfax, and Anna McGrail is Cecily Cardew, elegantly defining the constricted mannerisms of Victorian ladies, and Wilde’s attempts to satirise it. Comic gold from Debby Wilkinson as Lady Bracknell and Jess Bone as Miss Prism, particularly when the two finally clash. Rob Gill is the bumbling reverend, Tony Luscombe and Ian Diddams make the perfect butlers.

Lewis Cowen is one dedicated director who has made this play shine beyond the rafters of the Wharf. I think you’ll love it, being far more intellectual than me, and I finish with an oxymoron Oscar Wilde might be proud of me for; oh, awfully witty, what-what! Photographer Chris Watkins was there, trying to grab some images from him to illustrate this with, for now, I apologise for not taking photos, but guarantee you, it’s yet another stunning performance.

Trending….

DOCA’s Young Urban Digitals

In association with PF Events, Devizes Outdoor Celebratory Arts introduces a Young Urban Digitals course in video mapping and projection mapping for sixteen to…

Jol Rose’s Ragged Stories

There’s albums I’ll go in blind and either be pleasantly surprised, or not. Then there’s ones which I know I’m going to love before…

Vince Bell in the 21st Century!

Unlike Buck Rogers, who made it to the 25th century six hundred years early, Devizes’ most modest acoustic virtuoso arrives at the 21st just…

Deadlight Dance New Single: Gloss

You go cover yourself in hormone messing phthalates, toxic formaldehyde, or even I Can’t Believe It’s Not Body Butter, if you wish, but it’s…

New Nothing Rhymes With Orange Single

Friday is over, I’m a day late to the party, but there’s a new single from Devizes-own Nothing Rhymes With Orange, and you’ve not heard anything like this from the boys before…..

Starter for ten, Friday is Over sounds four-five notches more professional than anything which went before, a result of 91 Studios in Newbury and a push to obtain a crisper sound for radio by our very own skateboarding Vernon Kay, James Threlfall! (I know, it probably bugs him when I call him that!) But tech is nothing without the skill to use it to your advantage, and from the off Friday is Over twinkles with a surprising eighties synth-pop intro. There’s retrospective elements of what local indie bands like Talk in Code, the Dirty Smooth and Atari Pilot aim to achieve, but not without the archetypical NRWO sound in the forefront.

So, Don’t go off thinking the band are the new A-Ha, the guitars roll and Elio’s vocals build to something we’re familiar with, as Nothing Rhymes With Orange fans. Still though, we’re on another level with this, the bridges and hooks, all chartable stuff from our hometown boys; for crying out loud Devizes Town Council, lets a get a statue of these kids in the Market Place, pronto!

If past tunes filled me with hope for them, this one fills me with assurance, knowing how hard they’ve all worked towards this, and pride too, to say we’ve been following and supporting them since day dot. Friday maybe over, but this is the start of a great adventure and we wish them all the best…. take a listen.

Trending…..

CrownFest is Back!

Yay! You read it right. After a two year break, CrownFest is back at the Crown in Bishop’s Cannings. So put a big tick onto…

Six Reasons to Rock in Market Lavington

Alright yeah, it’s a play on band names and there’s only really two reasons to rock on Friday 17th October at Market Lavington Community Hall;…

Weekly Roundup of Events in Wiltshire: 24th- 30th January 2024

Hey frozen duckling, here’s what’s happening over the coming week in the wilds of Wiltshire……

Everything listed here is on our event calendar; go there for links and more info. It may be updated with even more things to do than listed here, so check in later in the week.

Ongoing until 17th February, two enlightening exhibits at Wiltshire Museum, Devizes, Lest We Forget: the Black Contribution to the World Wars in Wiltshire, and Eric Walrond: A Caribbean Writer living in Wiltshire. Reviewed Here.

Wednesday 24th

Acoustic Jam at The Southgate, Devizes.

Big Jam session at the Vic in Swindon. Rhod Gilbert & The Giant Grapefruit at The Wyvern Theatre.

Apricity Theatre Turns Ten The Rondo, Bath. John E Vistic’s Country Club at The Bell, Bath.

Screening of The Old Oak at the Athenaeum in Warminster.

Thursday 25th

Runny Snotts Acoustic Sessions at The Neeld, Chippenham.

Mark Simmons: Quip of the Mark at Pound Arts, Corsham.

Ellis Evason at the Tuppenny, Swindon, Adult Panto – Beauty And The Big Beast at The Wyvern Theatre.

Andrew Bird’s tour Taken Seriously is at The Rondo, Bath. Gordon Giltrap at Chapel Arts.

The Farewell Tour – An Evening With Sir Geoff Hurst at the Cheese & Grain, Frome.

Friday 26th

Lucky Number Seven are the Pump, Trowbridge, with LXRDVIRS and Notre Dame of Tokyo. John Law’s Re-Creations at the Civic.

BlueSoul at The Boathouse, Bradford-on-Avon.

Avalon Comedy Network: Stuart Laws, Lucy Pearman, Heidi Regan & Josh Weller at Pound Arts, Corsham.

This is Your (Improvised) Musical at The Rondo, Bath. Reggae vibes at St James Wine Vaults with the Biggle Sound System. Australia’s Ernest Aines at Chapel Arts.

King Awesome at The Vic, Swindon, Texas Tick Fever at the Beehive. Stranger Sings at The Wyvern Theatre.

Saturday 27th

Phereakers at The Southgate, Devizes, Don’t Frett at The Three Crowns.

Josh Kumra at the Bear, Marlborough. Broken Dolls at the Lamb.

Bo Walton Band at Melksham Rock n Roll Club.

A Big shout out to organiser John McConnachie, as Editor’s Pick of the Week is at Calne Liberal Club for the annual 7 Bands in 7 Hours. The Killertones, Real Cheesemakers, Mike & the Misfits, People Like Us, 6 O’clock Circus, Homer and the Chaos Brothers join forces for this fundraiser. This year it’s supporting two young children Hartley, diagnosed with Down’s Syndrome and Fletcher who suffers bowel disorder. The mini-festival comes with a suggested £5 donation, and starts at 4pm. If you can’t make it you can still donate here.

Marty’s Fake Family at Gloucester Club, Trowbridge. Samantics with Devil’s Doorbell at The Pump.

Junkyard Dogs are at The Consti Club in Chippenham.

Shakespeare’s Fool at Pound Arts, Corsham.

Band of Others at Warminster Conservative Club.

Stranger Sings at The Wyvern Theatre, Swindon. Papa Shango at The Vic with Here Comes The Crows in support. 

Ukrainian Benefit Evening at The Bell, Bath. Ania Magliano’s I Can’t Believe You’ve Done This at The Rondo.

Snuff at The Winchester Gate, Salisbury. Wilton Live all dayer at Wilton Community Hall, see poster. Sam Fraser is at Follow Comedy at Qudos.

Hugh Cornwell and special guests The Primitives at the Cheese & Grain, Frome, Bruce Juice, Bruce Springsteen Tribute at The Tree House.

Sunday 28th

Vince Bell at The Southgate, Devizes.

Screening of The Royal Opera’s Rusalka at Wiltshire Music Centre, Bradford-on-Avon.

South West Hotel and Careful Spider play a Schtumm at the Long Rooms in Box. Andy Burden Band at The Bell, Bath.

An Evening with Glenn Hoddle at The Wyvern Theatre, Swindon.

Monday 29th

Is the opening night of The Importance of being Earnest at the Wharf Theatre, Devizes. This is running until Feb 3rd, and we will bring you a review of it before it opens; watch this space!

Rock The Tots – ‘The 1990s’ at Pound Arts, Corsham.

Most Haunted Live at The Wyvern Theatre, Swindon.

Brooks Williams & Aaron Catlow at The Bell, Bath.

Tuesday 30th

Stop Making Sense at Pound Arts, Corsham.

Tom Clarke-Hill Quartet plays Jazz Knights The Royal Oak, Swindon. I See Orange at the Vic. Most Haunted Live at The Wyvern Theatre.

Pete Morton at The Bell, Bath.

And that’s your lot! Let me know if we missed anything, we can list events for free, but a chocolate muffin works better to persuade me! Lots to look forward to this month, I’ll lob a few posters below, but keep your best eye on the……

Event Calendar!!

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Lost Dildo in Quakers Walk Needs Reuniting with Owner!

If you go down to Quakers Walk today, you’d better go in disguise… and perhaps an open mind….

Who’d thought sharing a post about Devizes Town Council’s honest pledge to “reduce plastic waste and create a sustainable future,” would unearth such a remarkable and comical find as this ….a lost neck massager in Quakers Walk? Ooh matron!

We received an exasperated comment on the share, backed up by a second witness, politely claiming they’d possibly overlooked this discarded item, left abandoned for all to view, like a Soho apartment’s coffee table conversation piece, not forgoing a potential playful toy for pet dogs to play fetch with!

Note, though, Ruby and Monty in the picture seemed otherwise preoccupied. Their owners claim they were disinterested, but there’s a few other suspicious claims the dog’s owner made, like ‘I went with my friend and her two terriers to look at the bluebells, and for the dogs to have a run, when we came across it in a clearing and laughed…” Yeah right, likely story!!

Ah, but is this dipstick a single-use plastic I ask myself, among other concerns?! Surely, if returned to its rightful owner it can be reused as often as a milk bottle, though not necessarily for the same purpose, health and safety would warn us.

Just, you know, it might need a battery change.

Another commenter revealed they found a purple one in the Urchfont woods a few years ago, visible from the road, leading me to realise this is far from an isolated incident. Ladies, why can’t you keep control of these things? There must be easier ways to hint to your boyfriends that you need a larger handbag?!

If you think I’m simply after clicks with this saucy scoop, you couldn’t be further from the truth. Unless it’s intended for communal use, a possibility I am not willing to rule out knowing how filthy the population of Devizes can be at times, I firmly believe it would be just and right to publicise this lost item in hope it is reunited with its original owner. As a community, let’s see if we can do that. It feels like the right thing to do. To think, it’s likely sorely missed!

So, if you’re the owner of this lost item, wondering ‘what did I ever do with that’ it’s in Quakers Walk, Devizes. Do let us know if you find it again; it would make a great, feelgood conclusion to our story! (Please note, though, any images you may send us of yourself reunited with your long lost mechanical bestie may not necessarily be publishable.)

Way to Start the Year; Bradford Roots Festival 2024

Hibernating since Christmas, now I feel like a turkey, making up for it, stuffing eighteen bands into eight hours, such is the beauty of Bradford Roots Festival…..

Impossible to provide detailed analysis of each with such a sizable quota, not without an essay-length review, and there’s the handful I missed. Suffice it to say, every act I witnessed at Bradford Roots Festival was top notch, and locally-sourced, just as we like it here on the De-viz-ine!

Over two years from 2019, our man Andy returned from the annual convention and reported back. I skipped through it and published. I need not doubt his words, dedicating my time writing something else. I wrongly assumed at the time, likely from its name, that the Bradford Roots Festival was a folk festival, rather “roots” I now believe refers geographically; it’s the music of the here and now. I discovered this for myself attending last year’s and unexpectedly hearing jazz and youthful grunge bands you wouldn’t usually hear at a folk festival!

Open any fire door to the wonderful Wiltshire Music Centre in Bradford-on-Avon, and there’s another surprise behind it. The festival is an annual indoor feast of music over four stages, fundraising for the Centre itself, their Zone Club, a musical group for disabled adults, and a chosen charity, this year’s being Parkinson’s support. I like to define it as a convention of local musicians rather than a festival, only because it’s all indoors and winter, but it doubles up as either. Either way you view it, it’s a brilliant event for all ages. For the elders there’s a bar and food options, for the youngest there’s craft rooms, workshops and naturally for a festival in January, ice cream!

You could also see it as a taster for the wealth of musical acts we have on this circuit; you’ll find them performing in our local venues. Some I’ve previously tried and tested, others were new to me, and some essential to check off my ever-growing must-see list.

The latter true of the first, gutted to have been too late for Daisy Chapman at the acoustic Gudeon stage, Jol Rose followed. He’s the Swindon-based Americana soloist I met at a Swindon Shuffle of yore and been meaning to catch perform. Like all others, he didn’t disappoint, despite only catching his finale. Here’s a prolific acoustic magician with the experience under his belt to engage an audience. An open mic hour followed at this stage.

If Jol, though, came as no surprise, Thieves did. My next venture to the Wild & Woolley stage where blues is the order by day, and youth gather for indie by the eve, Thieves were playing an acoustic harmony not unlike the Lost Trades, and hey presto, I’m standing next to the one only Phil Cooper, one third of said Trades! He’s compere for this stage, and will perform at the bar stage later. As Thieves progressed through a sublime set of bluegrass I likened it more to Concrete Prairie, and of similar quality. I’m staring at the frontman from a distance, thinking, by Jove, that’s Adam Woodhouse, who I know as a soloist with a penchant for rock n roll covers. This new outfit, Thieves, only formed in June and is barking up his alley, you’d imagine the four-piece to have done this all their life. Adam tells me they’re playing a Sunday at The Southgate, Devizes, in April, well worth your attention.

The festival breaks for its foyer tradition of Holt’s morris dancers and children’s parade, known as the Wassall, then Phil Cooper takes the Bar Stage, kicking off with his own Road Songs, finding time to superbly cover Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.

Such is diversity on offer, when it’s time for some jazz hey presto, again, I’ve finally made my way to the Main Stage for The Graham Dent Trio. Jazz pianist with a double-bass player and Nick Sorensen on sax, this is divine melodic invention, contemporary and unique, though I knew what I was letting myself in for, I saw them last year.  

Drag myself away, for Bristol Uni indie four-piece, LilyPetals. New to me, confident youngsters with funky basslines over the archetypal rock, big tick from me. And a tick off my must-see list, Be Like Will on the main stage, a varied strong female-fronted three-piece pub circuit band who used the festival to play through their originals rather than their usual covers to appease a pub audience, which, either way, they’d accomplish with bells on. The new tune finale was a definite article to how rousing this band can take an audience.

The showstopper though, and it’s a big show to stop, came from Ruby Darbyshire at the Gudgeon. An absolutely spellbinding performance left the crowd in awe as others mingled outside praying someone would leave to replace them; few did. Ruby’s stage presence has drastically improved in a relatively short space of time, her talent to adapt from acoustic folk to jazz scat need not. With just the right balance of originals and covers, she held us in awe, was the only artist to get an encore, and through Sinéad O’Connor, Dylan, Bob Marley and Springsteen covers she nailed them all and made them her own. Particularly poignant, Ella Fitzgerald’s Misty, simply, wow!

Beguiling building layers of goth-rock were sounding from the Wild & Woolley, though, as Bristol’s female-fronted Life in Mono took to the stage. Evanescence in shape, yet solely idiosyncratic, here’s a euphoric original band to look out for. With Life in Mono indulgently ticked off my must-see, a new one on me rocked the main stage, the steady gypsy-dad-folk of The Mighty Rooster, prior to ensuring I was at the Bar for the unmissable Chippenham folk singer-songwriter, Meg. A passionate and thoughtful young artist, Meg delivers in such a unique yet proficient way I deem it impossible for anyone not to love her.

Such is the tight schedule though, should I need waiver artists we’ve seen and featured before in favour of ones I’ve yet to catch live? Trowbridge soul artist extraordinaire, Frankisoul is due on the main stage; anticipation brewing from the crowd while the band frustrate themselves with minimal setup times, resulting in a few technical mishaps, would, in any other circumstances be somewhat off-putting, but, fact is Frankisoul is such a character, and such a vibrant and sublime soul vocalist, hiccups were easy to polish over, still, they came up smiling and were my second showstoppers of the festival.       

Cliché is putty in Frankisoul’s hands, if his only cover, Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive is so, and they rinsed their originals with gusto and stylish proficiency, even down to a moment of hilarity upon Frankisoul mimicking the coat stage gimmick of James Brown. It’s these originals which gravitated me towards them, reviewed here, I shivered apprehension comparing him to likes of Luther Vandross, particularly Otis Redding, and yeah, live there’s a hint of eighties soul, of Kool & the Gang, but now I know he can live up to these.

Meanwhile the wonderful Courting Ghosts were unplugged at the Bar Stage, with their amazing blend of folk-rock, and Melksham’s finest youth band The Sunnies rocked the Wild & Woolley. One I’ve been aching to catch, yet I didn’t catch enough of due to Frankisoul gluing me to my seat, if I liken The Sunnies to Devizes-own sensation, Nothing Rhymes With Orange, I think it’s fair to now state, The Sunnies angle slightly to more indie-pop, their originals tinged with a carefree and indeed, sunny-side-of-the-street feel; a blessing to watch, bloomin’ marvellous!

With lively function band the Corporations attracting those left standing to the main stage, crowds lessened at the Wild & Woolley, sadly just when the epic finale was due. Yeah, it’s Devizes’ Nothing Rhymes with Orange’s headliner; those in the know and a few curious punters stayed to observe our hometown’s fever as the boys pulled out their typical energetic and competent show. Evermore is their attraction spreading, with gigs lined up as far as Manchester now, NRWO, I’ll be banging on about their brilliance for a while yet it seems!

Conclude this now, Worrow, in some manner, you’re sounding boring! I Know, but, over a colossal word-count only teetering on covering all the happenings at Bradford Roots Festival, and only the one day of it too, I struggle to find anything to grumble about. What a way to start the year, Bradford Roots Festival is amazing, the shell, The Wiltshire Music Centre is a blessing to our county, the value for money is righteous, the atmosphere is equable and convivial, and long may it be so.

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Talk in Code Down The Gate!

What, again?! Another article about Talk in Code?! Haven’t they had enough Devizine-styled publicity?! Are their heads swelling?!  Didn’t that crazy toothless editor catch them…

Devizes Youth Action Group Host U18 Gig at The Exchange

The first gig and club night exclusively for Secondary school aged youth in Devizes is set for Friday 2nd of February at the Exchange nightclub. In conjunction with St James Church, the Devizes Youth Action Group has organised this event for youth, run by youth and created by youth…..only making me wish I was a little bit younger, just a little bit you understand?!

Two local upcoming youth bands, Steatopygous and BellaDonna, of which we’ve heard great things about and will no doubt hear more, will play the night with Devizes School year 10 lads, Shox, headling the bill, and a DJ set from their drummer, Flam. The bar will be non-alcoholic, and here’s hoping this will spur on further youth gigs and club nights in Devizes.

This night is hosted by Devizes Youth Action Group (DYAG), a newly formed group of youth wanting to make things happen for young people in and around Devizes. It is supported by Devizes School and Devizes Town Council. If it’s one thing to see and hear of youth creating their own bands, it’s another to organise such events for them to play and for all to attend, and furthermore, all going well, Devizine’s brilliant young reporter Flo should be on hand to review it.

This night is exclusively for Secondary School aged youth only. No entry will be permitted for those younger or older. Online tickets are £4. Tickets on the door on the night are £6. All profits from the bar and ticket sales will be used to support future DYAG events. There will be professional security on the door during the event.

Devizes-based Steatopygous are Eliza, Poppy and Ewan, and define themselves as post punk/riot grrrl, BellaDonna are B on lead guitar, bassist Ems, and drummer Roxie, headlining are Shox, new to me, but then, I’m passed it! Please give them a follow on Insta. Well done to everyone for organising this, and good luck to the bands and Flam; we show Gen Z in a positive light and fully support your efforts!

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Learn the Art of Chocolate with HollyChocs 

Devizes-based chocolate engineer Holly Garner, 2023 Chocolate Champion for the Southwest, has launched her new chocolate classes for the first half of 2024……

From learning how to make her signature caramel (she was Queen of Caramel at Cadburys) to perfect hand-rolled truffles, her classes take place at her Beanery Cafe just outside Devizes. And as a mum and busy business owner, she knows all too well how challenging it can be to plan fun half term activities to keep the kids busy. That’s why she plans her kid-friendly classes to coincide with the school holidays, giving you a fun and chocolatey way to start the holidays.

Kids will learn how to make things like truffles, chocolate bars, and lollipops, and are suitable for kids 5+.  You get to take home your chocolatey creations, as well as enjoying one of Holly’s 12 tasty hot chocolates and a cheeky discount in the chocolate shop, too. 

All her upcoming classes, including the 2 family-friendly classes during half term on 23 Feb and the Easter Chocolate Class on the 29 March, can be booked on her website hollychocs.com 

Weekly Roundup of Events in Wiltshire: 17th -23rd January 2024

V busy week ahead, too busy to type the word “very,” (though I just did type the word “very,”) despite the cold spell, nothings gonna stop us now, reminding me somewhat of Ollie & Jerry’s theme “Breakin’, there’s no stopping us.”

Not that it takes me much to be reminded of Ollie & Jerry – I think about them all the time, I wonder where they are and what they’re…..okay, let’s push on, we don’t need you to be like Turbo, no one to dance with other than a broom, (youngsters pipe down and Google it!) here’s what’s happening over the coming week in the wilds of Wiltshire……

Everything listed here is on our event calendar; go there for links and more info. It may be updated with even more things to do than listed here, so check in later in the week.

Ongoing until 17th February, two enlightening exhibits at Wiltshire Museum, Devizes, Lest We Forget: the Black Contribution to the World Wars in Wiltshire, and Eric Walrond: A Caribbean Writer living in Wiltshire. Reviewed Here.

Artist Clifton Powell with Eric Walrond portrait at Wiltshire Museum

Wednesday 17th

The Melksham & Devizes Primary have a new year meet at the Kings Arms, Melksham; we recently did an interview with them, a really important issue, check it out here.

The regular Acoustic Jam at The Southgate, Devizes.

Lunchtime Recital Series at The Wyvern Theatre, Swindon, with Babatunde Aleshe in the evening.

Opening night of The Wind in the Willows at The Rondo, Bath, running until Sunday the 21st. Meanwhile, Starlings play The Bell in Bath.

British Lion are at the Cheese & Grain, Frome.

Thursday 18th

M3g plays The Tuppenny, Swindon, Zamba Lando at The Beehive, John Otway at The Vic, a memory sing at Swindon Arts Centre, and Get It On at The Wyvern Theatre.

Friday 19th

Borrowed Atlas plays the Pump, Trowbridge, with Ravetank in support.

Cara Dillon is at Pound Arts, Corsham.

Forbidden Nights at Melksham Assembly Hall, ladies!

Stompers at The Boat House, Bradford-on-Avon.

Littlemen at Chapel Arts, Bath.

Dark Prophecy at The Vic, Swindon, UK Pink Floyd Experience at The Wyvern Theatre. 

Saturday 20th

Day course: Wood Engraving with Robin Mackenzie at Wiltshire Museum, Devizes.

An album launch gig for Cracked Machine at the Southgate, Devizes, with Clock Radio in support. Siren at The Three Crowns. Real Music are at the Bear, with a Soul, Motown Disco.

Open Mic at The Barge Honeystreet.

Chippenham Record Fair, at The Citadel on Bath Road; free entry.

Editor’s Pick of the Week is Bradford Roots Festival at the Wiltshire Music Centre, Bradford-on-Avon; I’ve been saving myself since new year for this! Incredible line-up, all day Saturday and Sunday, preview here, hope to see you there?

Cara Dillon is at Pound Arts, Corsham.

Ian Diddams and Wendy Dopheide take Happy Jack to the Athenaeum, Warminster for a two night run, Saturday and Sunday; here’s a review from when this show was at the Wharf in Devizes.

The Korgis – Time Machine at Chapel Arts, Bath.

Apache Cats at The New Inn, Swindon, The Rolling Clones at The Vic. Abba Forever at The Wyvern Theatre, and an RPA Golden Ticket Show at Swindon Arts Centre.

Sunday 21st

Manos Puestas at The Southgate, Devizes.

Bradford Roots Festival continues.

Sing-A-Long-A Matilda The Musical (PG) at The Wyvern Theatre, Swindon.

Gordie Tentrees & Jaxon Haldane at The Bell, Bath.

Monday 22nd

Giovanni Pernice at The Wyvern Theatre, Swindon.

The Swing Vote at The Bell, Bath.

Tuesday 23rd

Vasilis Xenopoulos & Tom Berge Trio for the regular Jazz Knights The Royal Oak, Swindon.

Giovanni Pernice at The Wyvern Theatre.

And that’s your lot, let me know what we missed, we can list events for free, but a chocolate muffin works better to persuade me! Lots to look forward to this month, I’ll lob a few posters below, but keep your best eye on the……Event Calendar!! Also note, we have a new page for weekly events including clubs and activities, here: it’s new so we need to list some more, tell us what you know!

Trending……

How to Topple the Tories’ Melksham-Devizes Safe Seat Next General Election

Tuesday before Christmas I’m in New Society. I gazed across to a table by the window, recalling an optimistic response from local Labour candidate Rachael Schneider-Ross when I quizzed her if she felt she had a chance in this Tory haven, in 2019. “Never say never,” she replied, predictably, it was not to be.….

This time, though we’re talking local politics I’m not with a candidate or anyone affiliated with a political party. I’m with Anne Graham of the Melksham & Devizes Primary, not a school, rather a school of thought with an ambitious yet strategic plan to topple Conservatives from this supposed safe seat in the next general election; cross fingers, toes, whatever you’ve got spare!

In interviewing candidates, I’d always ask if they felt a coalition was a possibility, never with a positive response. If there no unification within the alternative parties, everyone here against the monopoly of Conservatives is divided. Anne and her colleagues in the Primary, Mike White, Felix McGrath, and Claire Gwilliam, call it “splitting the vote,” I call it “divide and conquer.”

“All my life,” she explained, “I have never once voted for anybody who’s become my MP. I think the current electoral system needs changing, though I don’t think that’s going to happen. But when you look at this constituency and other parts of Wiltshire, the number of people who don’t vote for the Conservatives outnumbers those who do.”

This is correct in the Devizes constituency for 2019, only when considering adding the 30.6% who didn’t vote, reducing Danny Kruger’s 63% win to 43.8%, which Anne was keen to point out with pie charts. Another displays the predictions for the next general election, estimating Conservatives to take only 20.8%. Though they’re still winning, if combined, the votes of the other big three weigh in at 37.6%.

Without a united strategy to challenge this plummeting majority while the iron is hot, there’s confusion as who would be best to strategically vote for to overthrow the Tories, virtually a two percent difference between Lib Dems’ and Labour’s predicted results; herein lies the issue. Yet more concerning is this general frustration that it’s unsolvable, and the idea there is no point in voting at all if it’s always a foregone conclusion.

“That’s a really important group,” Anne expressed. “There’s about a third of people who don’t vote, particularly an issue for people under thirty, something like a third of those people are not even registered to vote. If you look at the numbers of the people who don’t vote in this constituency, if all those people voted and they didn’t vote conservative, that would change the result drastically.”

The Melksham & Devizes Primary offers a possibility we should view as an opportunity, a silver lining, provided enough people gets behind it. Its beauty is you’re not signing up, aligning, or devoting to anything. All they ask is we’re conscious of it and take heed of their valid, professional, and in-depth research.

Anne puts a leaflet in front of me headlined “let’s be clever and vote together,” and graphically depicting fish. Akin to the most haunting of Bruegel’s images, Big Fish Eat Little Fish, yet unlike the doomed fish in the painting, the smaller fish in this diagram are joined within an even bigger fish. Diagrams are all well and good, but is this possible in reality? Is it possible to overturn this historically Conservative seat, and exactly how does the Melksham & Devizes Primary intend to try? I asked Anne, and by the end of our chat I felt more confident there’s a real chance than ever before.

“I think the only way to outnumber the Conservatives is to make tactical voting public,” Anne continued, “basically to get people to coalesce around one of the alternative candidates, the Green, the Lib Dem, or the Labour, based on the best person for this constituency. Maybe that’s a local person, somebody who’s got experience, somebody who’s young and dynamic, whoever people think is the best person. And then to publicise that, saying if you want to vote tactically, we’ve asked through public Q&A sessions to decide who you think is the best placed person to represent the constituency. The majority say it’s this person, so we would recommend if you wanted to vote tactically, you vote for this person.”

My concern: I may not personally agree with this “chosen one”, and in knuckle-dragger’s inane flaw of fighting far-right government with an even further right party, are they invited? Though my initial plan to play devil’s advocate backfired, upon Anne showing me the rightwing-free graphics, we’re clearly only talking middle-of-the-road and left parties, and now I’ve nothing left but to nod in agreeance; I like this idea, and even if I didn’t, a bad plan is better than no plan… even Baldrick had a plan!

I wanted to confirm they’re not asking for anyone’s allegiance or association, as in signing your name in blood that you will vote for this chosen candidate no matter what. They’re only asking people to sign up to the website so they can distribute this information, which, cometh the day, we will gladly publish the result of their findings.

“We’re looking for people who want to be kept involved in some way, though”, Anne extended. “People who would like to be actively involved – because I think there are a lot of people out there who are alienated – feel like their vote doesn’t count. And the other thing is that people are unaware of the new requirements on voter ID.”

We chatted politics for some time and discussed our reasoning for mutually feeling the Conservatives have lost their path of vison, are out of touch and unsuitable to govern. “I’m very wary of party politics because I don’t like the factional way people fight; I’m more cooperative,” Anne stressed.

I believe such reasons are widespread yet obvious, and going into them here is a distraction from the objective, to highlight the Melksham & Devizes Primary; it was merely to confirm we’re singing from the same song sheet. Though my personal opinions are unprofessionally formed, on the basics I know and consume, Anne’s interest in politics is more specialised. She recalled her inquisitive childhood, telling me of her mum driving around, how she’d ask her, “who designs this one-way system, who says this goes here, who puts these street signs up?!”

Anne studied for a degree in public administration. “From there I’ve worked a lot in the public sector. I’ve worked for some of the big accountancy firms. So going into the public sector, I’ve worked inside local government, and I’ve worked inside the NHS. My whole interest when I was doing my degree was around value for money and the accountability when you pay your taxes. How is that money being spent? How do you know it’s being spent to best effect? How do the policy decisions that politicians make then get translated into the budgets and financial plans that cascade down from the vote in the Houses of Parliament to the town council and the county council?”

Enough backstory, it’s only to show Melksham & Devizes Primary aren’t randomly pushing a pin into a map. “My starting point”, Anne reverted onto the subject, “is predictions from an organisation called Electoral Calculus. They’ve predicted the general election result correctly for something like seven out the last eight. What they’re currently predicting is a Conservative majority of about 2,000. So, if people carry on doing the same old thing, we will get the same old results, because no other parties are predicted to exceed the number of Conservative votes. However, if you could combine the people who would vote for the Lib Dem and Labour together, you’ve got over 24,000 people. Combine them with the Greens, you’ve got a potential majority of over 12,000. It’s possible, I think. The only way to make a difference is to do something different.”

“So, for me, trying to run this primary model is the ‘doing something differently,’ because I am really frustrated that nobody’s done this. Why is nobody doing this? Why are people not out there, shouting and making a fuss? Why are the parties not working together? And quite often, the answer comes back to, well, the Lib Dems were in coalition with the Conservatives, and they let you down, which is exactly what you just said.”

She’s right too, I did suggest this when discussing the Tories coming back to power in the Cameron era, casting my vote to LibDems, who sold it to the Tories. But on a local level I’m back in support of LibDems, alongside Labour and Greens, and I don’t know which way to turn. I’m only adamant the Conservatives need to be taught a lesson. “In my opinion”, Anne said, which is bang on the money, “we need to think about what’s best for this constituency, the people who live here, and try to get past the someone did this, and she said that, and they did this, and they did that, yeah? The top priority: you change something.”

“I’m no friend of the Conservatives,” she continued, “I disagree with a lot of their policies. I think they’ve done a lot of damage to the country in the past thirteen years, particularly they’ve underfunded public services, you can see it day-in day-out. You only need to drive around the area to see potholes, and the reason there are potholes on the roads is because they’ve underfunded local government. That goes under the radar because people don’t understand the government and how it’s funded. The only way in this area is to somehow get people to back a candidate against the Conservatives.”

Anne reverts my attention to the graphs, “This graph shows good gains for the Lib Dems: this number has been getting progressively bigger. But there are other polls which put Labour ahead of Lib Dems in this area, so it’s not clear cut: Labour and Lib Dems are always close.”

The other factor is the moving of the constituency boundaries. To maintain a greater chance of winning more seats, the government has shifted the goalposts, splitting their safe seat in Devizes, which Michelle Donelan is eager to sit upon. “If now is not the time, I don’t know when is”, Anne expressed. I was keen to ask how they get this message out.

“So, we’ve been out with democracy meters, asking questions, what people think about, is the NHS safe in conservative hands, for example. And then people put stickers on the board, like they did with the Brexit campaign. We’ve done one in Devizes and in Bradford on Avon so far, and we’re planning to take it to Melksham”. They also plan to go door-to-door. They have a website which, “explains how it all works, and then we will organise some public question and answer sessions before the general election. We invite the candidates. This is not Hustings. This is not us trying to interfere in the democratic process. All these people stay on the ballot. We invite the public to come and talk to these people. Ask them questions. See what you think. Who do you think is the best person for this constituency?”

Melksham & Devizes Primary plan to live stream the events too, and record votes on who should be this chosen candidate. “The question is not who do we recommend,” Anne concluded, “rather, who do the public think is the right person for the constituency? [The recommendation is by] the people who’ve come to the events who’ve asked the questions in public.”

The papers she gave me optimistically conclude thus: “lose separately or win together.” I wish it was this cut and dry. Anne tells me they use a model from South Devon primary, and there are others too, one in East Wiltshire, where Danny Kruger will be standing. I gave thought to the surprise result in a 2021 North Shropshire by-election, a one hundred and seventeen year Conservative stronghold which fell to Lib Dem candidate Helen Morgan. Anne pointed out that that constituency was far more yellow than red, whereas here the vote is much more evenly split.

“Those constituencies have an obvious second choice”, she explained. “A lot of the political system …and the way that elections are framed in the mainstream media where the constituencies are marginal… there’s a lot of focus. The mainstream political parties will focus their energy and their attention on marginals because those are where the elections are won or lost. We have a situation where we are not marginal and our vote is evenly split, so neither Labour nor the Lib Dems nor Greens are targeting this seat, so they are not putting any significant resources beyond what they normally do into this constituency. They’re just ignored, ignored from their [central offices]. Well, that’s not good enough. Then everyone here thinks, ‘oh, there’s no point voting because they (Conservatives) just will always be in’. And then you’ll get people who do go out and vote for the other parties, but [they will vote for] whichever one they may think is best, and so split the vote. So the Conservatives always win. It’s the definition of madness, isn’t it? If you always do as you’ve always done, you’ll always get the same result if you don’t do anything differently.”

This caused me to visualise an animal in a cage, disturbingly trapped and perpetually sauntering back and forth. “Yeah, that’s a good analogy”, Anne agreed. We shouldn’t hold hope for a fictious David and Goliath scenario: only if we have multiple Davids will this work; only if we take the data, collate opinion, and stand united to strategically vote will anything ever change. So, here’s your starting point: join in on this website and Facebook Here, to follow the progress of Melksham & Devizes Primary and, when general election time comes around, consider the strategic option they present.

Thanks to Anne at Melksham & Devizes Primary for taking the time to explain. We had a nice chat. I reckon it’s a great idea, but it is something I doubt the mainstream media will be willing to publicise, that’s why we’re here! Dunno about you, but I’m sick to the back teeth of the underfunding, the ignorance and self-entitlement, the disregard for important social and ecological matters, the partying while people died, the supporting of xenophobia and genocide, the daily scandals and utter selfish thievery from the ones supposed to govern us, the ones we pay to serve us; change is a necessity now, let’s hope this works, I don’t type two thousand words for the love of it, mate!!

Trending……

FullTone Festival 2026: A New Home

It’s been a wonderful summer’s weekend, in which I endeavoured to at least poke my nose into the fabulous FullTone Festival, despite being invited to…

REVIEW – Amazing Double-Header @ Long Street Blues Club, Con Club, Devizes – Friday 12th and Saturday 13th January 2024

What A Way To Start The New Year!

Andy Fawthrop

Long Street Blues Club didn’t allow the excesses of Christmas and the New Year to slow anything down, and kicked off 2024 in grand style with two amazing, but very different,  gigs on the same week-end.….

First up on the stage, on Friday night, we had the 4-piece Pete G & The Magnitones as a very worthy and hugely enjoyable support act, with their interpretation of the Chicago Blues.  But this was only the taster for the real thing to come, John Primer with the Giles Robson Band.  

This guy, an absolute legend, and King of the Chicago Blues, was back “by public demand” and that was no empty boast, as the room was rammed for a completely sold-out show.  He’s been Grammy nominated three times, and was inducted to the National Blues Foundation’s Blues Hall of Fame in Memphis last year. As the bandleader and lead guitarist for Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Magic Slim & The Teardrops, this guy’s virtuosity as a blues musician was forged by real blues legends.  He’s recorded more than 87 albums, with 17 of those in his own name. He’s written and produced more than 55 songs on more than six record labels including his own, Blues House Productions.

What a pedigree!  So there can be no doubting that this guy is the real deal, an absolute Chicago Blues icon, and here he was playing in our town.

Featuring Pascal Delmas on drums, Antoine Escalier on bass, and Giles Robson on harmonica, the 4-piece band delivered a single two-hour plus set of stunning Chicago blues.  Giles Robson is no slouch either.  He’s a multi award winning, internationally recognized Blues harmonica virtuoso, singer and masterful showman. He was the only UK or European artist to appear on Chicago’s legendary Alligator Records (who described him as “A blues giant, absolute master of the form”). He’s only one of three UK blues artists (alongside Eric Clapton and Peter Green) to win a coveted Blues Music Award in Memphis (the Grammys of the Blues). His albums are in the top of the world’s most prestigious music magazines critics’ polls.

No disrespect to Pete G, but this main band’s sound was just so much fuller and more solid.  Primer delivered gravelly vocals and some simply stunning guitar licks.  The atmosphere and feeling injected into the material was superb, particularly I thought on Rainy Night In Georgia and Hoochie Coochie Man.  The pace varied from fully-leaded driving blues, down to more sedate walking blues numbers.  And it never seemed to stop – interspersed with only minimal chat, the numbers just kept on coming.  Robson, meanwhile, played some beautiful, powerful, emotional and timeless blues with a deep groove and laden with intense feeling. His howling, growling, squealing sound, was imbued with rhythmic power and sensitive emotional expressiveness. Standing like a pair of giants at either side of the stage, and letting the rhythm section do their thing with great accomplishment in the middle, these two great artists played off each other, varying between a healthy competiveness and at other times a complementary tonal harmony.

The guy’s slogan is “You can’t paint the Blues without the Primer” and you could certainly see why.  Primer was indeed the real deal, and he delivered a fantastic show that went on long into the Devizes night.  Eleven out of ten on my Happy Scale!

So that was Friday done and dusted.  But there was still Saturday to go!  And so it was that Ian Hopkins’ LSBC combined with Paul Chandler’s Longcroft Productions to bring us another amazing, but completely different, show on the very next night.

Damian Wilson and Adam Wakeman were touring their brand new studio album, and Devizes was only the second stop on that tour.

Introductions first – Damian Wilson is an English songwriter and vocalist who’s known for his exploration into different genres and is considered one of the most versatile singers in rock.  To date he’s released six solo albums and three albums as a duo with Adam Wakeman. He balances his career as a singer-songwriter with being an energetic frontman for rock bands and guest vocalist. He’s toured all over the world fronting bands such as Rick Wakeman’s ERE and Threshold. He’s performed on the most prominent stages in the UK, during his two-year tenure as the lead in Les Misérables.

Adam Wakeman  is best known as the keyboard and guitar player with Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath.  He’s also released nine albums with father Rick Wakeman, and five solo albums.  As a classically trained pianist, his albums cross many genres and styles from classical to rock.  He co-wrote the 2010 platinum selling album Scream with Ozzy Osbourne and has also toured extensively with Ozzy, Black Sabbath, Rick Wakeman, Travis, Annie Lennox, Will Young, Slash, 10CC and many more. And, as a further feather in his well-decorated hat, he recently stepped in at short notice to play keyboards on tour for Deep Purple.

So yet again – a couple of impeccable pedigrees.  And yet again two guys who absolutely lived up to their billing as brilliant composers, musicians and singers.  Right from the opening piss-take chords of Smoke On The Water from Adam, and the belated comedy walk-on from Damian, we were in for a great night.  If anybody was in doubt, this was all very different from the previous night – the Blues it certainly wasn’t.  What we got instead was two hour-long sets of superb original songs, interspersed with an easy-going laddish banter between these two stars.

There were delicately-structured songs, soaring vocals from Damian, with sympathetic harmonies and fills from Adam.  There were romantic and uplifting melodies from Adam’s keyboard which permeated every song, and provided musical background to the chatty interludes.  The tracks they featured from the new album each had a backstory.  I was particularly struck with Can We Keep The Light On Longer and Multiplicity – fabulous songs. I was absolutely loving this.

What I liked slightly less – and this is my only note of old man’s carping criticism – was the frequent use of an old skool cassette recorder (with its own back-story) as a comedy device, and the sometimes overlong, extended rambling chatter.  I found it a bit self-indulgent and caused the occasional loss of momentum and atmosphere.  What I kept wanting them to do was to do what they did superbly – play/ sing the songs!  At times it felt a bit incoherent and under-rehearsed, but there were elements of a double-bluff as the comedy riffs ended and the next belting song came along.

But that’s a very minor criticism of what was overall a stunningly good performance from two very talented artists.  I was kept amused and well-entertained – a cracking night out.

So – once again – hats off to Ian Hopkins and to Paul Chandler for bringing what can only be described as world-class talent to our town.  This is why you should support live music and our music venues.  Brilliant.

Future Long Street Blues Club gigs:

Saturday 10th February 2024                       The Errol Linton Band

Friday 1st March 2024                                    The Cinelli Brothers

Friday 5th April 2024                                       Ben Poole Band

Saturday 4th May 2024                                  Beaux Gris Gris and the Apocalypse

Saturday 18th May 2024                               The Dirt Road Band

Saturday 22nd June 2024                              KOSSOFF The Band Plays On

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Devizes Dilemma: FullTone or Scooter Rally?!

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Park Farm; Mantonfest Came to Devizes!

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Ann Liu Cannon’s Clever Rabbits

Ann Liu Cannon is the Marlborough success story I hadn’t heard of until yesterday; thanks to local promoter and frontman of the Vooz, Lee Mathews…

First Line Up Announcement for My Dad’s Bigger Than Your Dad Festival 2024

The organisers of all-day music extravaganza My Dad’s Bigger Than Your Dad Festival have revealed the first acts on the line up for their fourth outing which is to be held at The Old Town Bowl, Swindon on Saturday 20th July 2024….

First to be announced is the return of local legend Gaz Brookfield, along with his band The Company of Thieves.

Gaz is shortly about to embark on ‘The Almost all Village Halls’ tour, after allowing himself a quick breather following a successful run of dates promoting his most recent album, Morning Walking Club.

The album, Gaz’s ninth, was released in August 2023 and was this week named 37th Best Selling Album of 2023 after going straight in at #1 in the Official UK Folk Album Charts, #3 in the Official UK

Indie Breaker Charts, #6 in the Official UK Download Charts, #10 in the Official UK Indie Album Charts, and even #37 in the Official UK Album Sales Charts.

Co-organiser Ed Dyer said: “It’s our absolute pleasure to be welcoming Gaz and the band back to The Bowl, especially after his recent success, and pleased he’s been able to squeeze us in around his busy touring schedule.”

In its first three years My Dad’s Bigger Than Your Dad Festival has raised over £32,000 for Prospect Hospice in tribute to Dave Young, the former landlord of The Victoria and 12 Bar who died in early June 2021 at Prospect Hospice after a hard-fought battle against cancer.

Dave’s last band, Calne’s legendary punk covers outfit, The Chaos Brothers, are also joining Gaz on the day, along with the Swindon based bluesy THUD, whose debut performance was at MDBTYD 2021.

Ed added “This is only the start of things to come for MDBTYD 2024. We can’t wait to show everyone who else we have in the pipeline!”

Festival tickets are available via the website mydadsbiggerthanyourdad.co.uk

MDBTYD Festival will again see plenty of activities for all the family, including the return of the popular indie market, as well as food and drink from a variety of locally based vendors. Prospect Hospice, based in Wroughton, provides palliative and end of life care for people across the region and has to raise the majority of its costs through fundraising.

For information about Gaz Brookfield’s upcoming ‘The Almost all Village Halls’ tour, visit gazbrookfield.com or check out his social media pages.

Shit Hits The Kennet; Local MP, Who Voted To Strip Legal Duty on Water Companies to Reduce Harm Caused by Storm Overflows Outraged by Water Company’s Inactions to Reduce Harm Caused by Storm Overflows!

On the eighth day of raw sewage gushing out of overflow drains into the River Kennet at  Stonebridge Wild River Reserve near Marlborough, like a gigantic diarrhoea-infected Oliver Reed relieving himself from the effects of a Special Brew and chlorinated chicken festival into the Buxton Spring, Thames Water has done 100% naff all, nada, and Danny Kruger, the local MP for the party who allowed this to happen, met ARK, a charity for the Rivers Trust for the Kennet catchment area, for a pre-election photo opportunity. The day after, today, no action has been reported to have taken place; let the poo flow free……

Yeah, Danny went onto his Facebook page to express his outrage, despite being one of the majority of Conservative MPs who, in October of 2021, voted with the House of Lords to reject amendments to reduce sewage pollution, basically allowing water companies to take whatever action they feel like when addressing the amount of raw sewage being dumped into our rivers, effectively passing the buck onto renowned callous profit-making private water companies. Surprised, given baby-faced Danny supported Prime Minister Boris Johnson when Prime Minister Boris Johnson held an inquiry to find out if Prime Minister Boris Johnson held a party during lockdown at Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s house?! Still the irony escapes Tory voters….

In a 2021 press release from ARK about the stripping out of the amendment in the Environment Bill, they said, “ARK and many other eNGOs are extremely disappointed by this result, as the government’s current plans, such as Drainage and Wastewater Management Plans (DWMPs), to address the issue do not compel water companies to take immediate action to tackle sewage pollution, meaning the state of our rivers could continue to decline indefinitely. DWMPs do not explicitly require the improvement of sewage infrastructure, nor do they require a reduction in the harm caused by sewage pollution. DWMP’s are also temporary. Whilst the current Ministers and Water Companies have the shared goal of eliminating the harm caused by storm overflows, there is nothing to say future incumbents will have the same view. Placing this duty on the face of the Environment Bill through this amendment will put it beyond legal doubt that it is the responsibility of all stakeholders to tackle sewage pollution.”

And here we are in reality, after a minor storm, raw sewage pouring into the Kennet, at Stonebridge, AND since New Year’s Eve, continuous discharging from Fyfield Sewage Treatment Works, and they’re continuing; I’ve seen prettier festival toilets. Widely reported as being one of the worst offenders of the new lack of regulations, Thames Water don’t hide it, in fact, after appointing a new CEO with a salary of £850,000, they say they “want to be open and transparent about our storm discharge activity,” and provide an interactive disaster area map, for all to see just how, quite literally, shit the situation is.

Here’s a map of all the outstanding issues of leaking drains Thames Water still hasn’t dealt with, provided by Thames Water themselves!

While we wait in hope, and poop, our local MP might pop back into his constituency once in a while, and tell us of any reply from his letter to Thames Water, I spoke to Peter Force Jones, True & Fair Party candidate for East Wiltshire, asking him where he thinks the blame for this shitshow should lie. “Thames water must take huge amount of blame here,” he expressed, “it’s clear they have continued to pay out massive salaries to those at the top, and are more than happy to mount up debts and pay out dividends despite failing to invest anywhere near adequately enough to update what is still often Victorian age infrastructure.”

Though Peter was adamant that equally was the government’s responsibility to, “put in tough and enforceable legislation (fully empowering regulators) to ensure water companies work hard to quickly see such overflows become a thing of the past. The other problems I currently see are MPs voting down sensible measures that could help, the Environmental Agency seeing a large exodus of experienced staff due to poor wages, and ill-equipped to take meaningful action against water companies. Also, a lack of consideration of capacity of sewers when some new developments are allowed, and sometimes the locations of these.”

Mr Jones also pointed to privatisation, or more accurately, the arrival of private sector monopolies, saying, “given we as consumers have no choice in the matter has not materially helped. Whilst the current government weren’t the ones who did this, they must still take responsibility for core basic services that everyone relies upon.” But, but, but Danny K visited Ark yesterday for a photo opportunity, isn’t this enough action from the government for you, Peter, or am I taking the piss?! After all, there’s plenty to take, a nearby river full of it. Least perhaps we should consider this come general election time. They’re trying to control shipping in the Red Sea, they can’t even control a popped drain cover in the Kennet.

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Live in Pewsey, at the First Oak-Fest

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IDLES’ at Block Party

With their only UK shows of the year quickly approaching, the 1st and 2nd August will see IDLES’ and music festival Block Party take over…

Richard Wileman on the Forked Road

Fashionably late for the party, apologies, the fellow I’m not sure if he minds me calling “the Mike Oldfield of Swindon,” though it’s meant as a high compliment, Richard Wileman, released his fourth solo album, yesterday (Friday 12th Jan,) The Forked Road. I’ve been lost in its gorgeous blend of prog-rock experimentation and acoustic folk goodness for a while now, perhaps too much to get around to telling you about it!

It is more usual for Wileman to separate his two defining subgenres into composing under the pseudonym Karda Estra, for the experimentally ambient prog-rock, those lush Pink Flyodesque vibes of deep instrumental, and using his own name for the more acoustic folk moments. Yet since Led Zeppelin’s debut in 1969, the two have been married, and here, Richard combines them to great effect. Indeed, it is the former style which draws you deep undercover as a way of a dawning, The Last Book of English Magic is four minutes of lush and gentle instrumental introduction, easing you into this album, the most diverse I’ve heard of Richard’s, playing it out with a reprise, the First Book of….

He takes vocals on the second airbourne tune, Butterflies, a floaty beauty you’d know already if you had just bought our compilation album for Julia’s House, as it was contributed to that project. Wileman describes the album as a “prog-folk horror concept album, rooted in his home county and charting the encounter of a comet with Earth, resulting in the undead rising and converging on The Ridgeway, all bookended by the last and first books of English magic.” If author Philip Carr-Gomm transports us across England’s vast scholaric of occult arts and explores its history of magical lore and practice, Wileman captures this in music as wonderfully as Zeppelin did with the fictional magic of Tolkien; only this Shire is Wiltshire.

The title track again find us on the experimental instrumental path again, and it’s enchantingly cobblestone, teetering with whimsical harps, from Chantelle Smith, like sorcery evaporating into mist, only to be followed by the summit of this adventure, The Children of the Sun, a duet with Amy Fry, which is blissfully sublime; dreamy is the benchmark here.

Just like the Horses of the Gods album, We Wish You Health, if you’re not whisked into a timeless magical realm within the mystics of your own county by now, seek medical attention! Avenue & Circle is more harp and melodica driftiness, like wandering into the crystal shop in Avebury. Finally, the scene is set, and Richard brings back Amy Fry to vocalise the diegesis unfolding. Comet Vs the Earth is Wileman’s Forever Autumn, if Justin Hayward was Jeff Wayne’s scene setter in his musical version of War of the Worlds, and what can be more of a Wiltshire related comparison than that?!

Harpist Chantelle Smith duets with Richard on the next tune, Old Bones, delicately resurrecting, never does this venture into anything horrifically jumpy, rather flows gently throughout, even if things are becoming spooky in the next instrumental piece, Spectres of the Ridgeway, which in its very name suggests the narrative of the concept.   

Alongside guest vocalist, Amy Fry, who also adds saxophone, and harpist Chantelle, and his daughter Sienna, who captured sound recordings of Avebury, Richard’s multi-instrumental skills are at the forefront, taking on guitars, vocals, bass, keyboards, percussion bouzouki, Appalachian dulcimer, accordion, melodica, and finalises his projects with artwork.

We’re nine tracks into this storyline, concluding with a dramatic ambient piece. Wileman’s faint lamentation leaves you wondering if the Inevitable Beast is metaphoric and you’ve missed a reality within the plot, and it’s followed by the aforementioned reprise. Combined this album is awash with the timelessness of prog-rock concept albums, of Bowie, and The Who, yet dreamy as Pink Floyd, all this I expected, but in listening to the past two sections, of Richard’s acoustic solo work largely with Amy Fry, and the more experimental angle of   Karda Estra, I’ve longed for the two to embrace, and here it is, and it’s all rather lovely, wrapped in mystical narrative; top marks!

Trending……

Lego Club at Devizes Library Announced

Everything is looking awesome at Devizes Library as they announce the Lego Club for six to twelve year olds will begin on Saturday 27th January!

With bookable sessions each Saturday  from the 27th, at 2-3.30pm, places will be limited so either call in or phone on 01380 826190 to book your place.

In addition, the library will be running a drop in session on Thursdays from 3.30-6pm from the 1st February. There’s no need to book for this session.

My only issue with this is that sessions are suitable for 6-12 years….bang goes my spaceship project! I love this idea, as I loved Lego, still do! Well done, and thank you, Devizes Library.

Weekly Roundup of Events in Wiltshire: 10th -16th January 2024

Christmas, a thing of the past, this in 2024; how’s that working out for you so far?! Never mind, Fishy Rishi is gonna make us all better off, apparently; sense a general election in the air, smell fresh dung pungently emanating from Downing Street?! Oh well, here’s what we’ve found to do in the wilds of Wiltshire this coming week, help take your mind off it…..

All info and links can be found on the event calendar, HERE, and it’s forever(ish) updating so plan ahead, with us!

Ongoing until 17th February, two enlightening exhibits at Wiltshire Museum, Devizes, Lest We Forget: the Black Contribution to the World Wars in Wiltshire, and Eric Walrond: A Caribbean Writer living in Wiltshire. Reviewed Here.

Wednesday 10th

The Southgate, Devizes re-opened Monday, after a well-earned rest, I’m assuming the  regular Acoustic Jam is on. There’s also a Devizes Salsa Beginners Class, at The Old School, West Lavington; work off all those Quality Street in style!

Regular big jam at The Vic, Swindon, and Bella Humphries will headline the Old Town Comedy Club at the Hop Inn.

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry screening at Warminster’s Athenæum.

Monkey Chuckle at The Bell, Bath.

Thursday 11th

Comedy Loft at the Civic, Trowbridge.

Peter Green tribute, Man of the World has sold out at the Tree House, Frome.

Friday 12th

John Primer Band at Long Street Blues Club, Devizes, Editor’s Pick of the Week.

Sleeping Beauty opens at the Civic, Trowbridge and runs across the weekend.

Hidden Comedy Club at The Neeld, Chippenham.

An Evening of Soul with Billy & Louie at Swindon Arts Centre, Pearl Jam tribute, Earl Ham at The Vic.

The Everlys & Friends at Chapel Arts, Bath.

David Olusoga at the Cheese & Grain, Frome.

Saturday 13th

Ceilidh with Random at Seend Community Centre. 

Jonah Hitchens Trio at The Southgate, Devizes, The Unpredictables at The Three Crowns, and Longcroft’s Damian Wilson & Adam Wakeman at Devizes Conservative Club.

Marty’s Fake Family at The Pilot, Melksham.

Wiltshire Jazz Academy showcase at Wiltshire Music Centre, Bradford-on-Avon.

Be Like Will at The Brewer’s, Corsham. National Theatre Live: Skylight at Pound Arts.

Just Floyd at The Vic, Swindon.

Jaz Delorean is solo at Chapel Arts in Bath.

Chemical Dance at the Cheese & Grain, Frome.

Sunday 14th

Jon Amor Trio at The Southgate, Devizes for 5pm.

Deadlight Dance at The Blue Boar, Aldbourne, again, 5pm start.

The Ska Mechanics at the Cider Barn, Draycott.

Panama Jazz Band at The Bell, Bath.

Monday 15th

Hedera at The Bell, Bath.

Jonathan Pie has sold out at the Cheese & Grain, both Monday and Tuesday nights…why? Because people like honesty, Fishy Rishi, take a leaf out the Pie! Tbh, I don’t think Fishy reads this, not regularly anyway, let me now if you’re out there Rishi; hands in the air!

Tuesday 16th

Jonny Henderson Organ Trio at Jazz Knights in The Royal Oak, Swindon. Legend – The Music of Bob Marley at The Wyvern Theatre; this is a brilliant show if you’re a fan of the Tuff Gong.

Barney Kenny at The Bell, Bath.

And that’s your lot, shut it and be happy! Oh, and let me know what we missed, we can list events for free, but a chocolate muffin works better to persuade me! Lots to look forward to this month, I’ll lob a few posters below, but keep your best eye on the……

Event Calendar!!

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Hotcakes, Wildfire, Shoes…. and Acid!

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I’ll Tell You What I’m Most Looking Forward to at Bradford Roots Festival, Opinions May Vary!

The longer I gaze in awe at the lineup for this year’s Bradford Roots Festival at the Wiltshire Music Centre the more tempted to break hibernation for an expedition to Bradford-on-Avon I get, even if it means in Robert Falcon Scott style. If it’s Antarctic conditions out there on Saturday 20th Jan, I’m hiring huskies!

Billy in the Lowground

Four stages of the crème de la crème of locally sourced music under one purpose-built roof ensures it’ll be warm inside. Bradford Roots Festival is a who’s who of local talent, more music convention than festival, and I don’t know if they took heed of some suggestions I made or we’re simply singing off the same song sheet, but, just, wowsers!

Frankisoul

One thing before waffling on those I do know, there’s much more that I don’t know, yet, which is equally gurt lush, and hope to shed some light on those once done and dusted. For now though, let’s virtually trek stage-by-stage, kicking off with the main stage. Graham Dent Jazz Trio I caught last year and look forward to, Be Like Will aren’t much after and we love those guys, but Trowbridge’s upcoming soul hero, Frankisoul is a must for me. Reviewing his debut EP left me at loss for a local comparison, and while I’d never use Otis Redding lightly, such is the strength of Frankisoul’s vocals I did, and that’s the highest compliment I can reward, surely?! Though I’ve yet to catch him live, I’m putting him on a pedestal I’m certain he won’t kick over.

Nothing Rhymes With Orange at Devizes Street Festival

Wild and Woolley stage speaks for itself, Mark Green’s Blues Band are worthy of attention based on last year’s stunning performance. Yet it’s the gen z takeover in the latter half of the day down there which is really going to go off. Foxymoron, Melksham’s finest The Sunnies, and Devizes homegrown sensation, Nothing Rhymes With Orange, are all must-sees. Nestled between them is Bristol’s Life in Mono, who, though slightly older, I’ve only heard great things about.

Courting Ghosts

Newly formed but brimming with experience and talent, Courting Ghosts are unplugged as a finale at the bar stage, which will be something else. It’s also grand to see one third Lost Trader Phil Cooper on the list, Phil was the mc last year, and one rising acoustic magician I beg you to catch, Chippenham’s Meg.

Meg

There’s another stage I can’t even remember them having last year, The Golden Gudegon, kicked off by Trowbridge’s incredible Americana artist Daisy Chapman, followed by the impressive force which is Swindon’s Joel Rose, and though the rest are new to me, Ruby Darbyshire is rightfully on that list, and I recommend you find the stage for these. 

Ruby Darbyshire

And that’s just Saturday! Though unless I win the lottery, or suddenly invent commercially viable cloning technology within a fortnight, Sunday, I’ll sadly miss it. Though Becky Lawrence, Billy in the Lowground, Karport Collective, and Ed Dyke are the ones I’ll be most sad to have missed.

Karport Collective

And there’s my take on it, I’m sure you may have a different opinion and can name drop a whole other set on this stunningly extensive lineup, that’s your prerogative, and I’ll always heed of your recommendations. But one sure thing, Bradford Roots Festival is on, and is a wonderful thing. Fundraising for Parkinsons UK, the Music Centre’s Trust and their inhouse Zone Club, a monthly music-making project supporting the creativity of learning disabled young adults. The Zone Club presents their work on the main stage at 11:30.

Becky Lawrence

Beer from Kettlesmith Brewing and plenty of food and drink. Tickets are just £32 for the weekend or £22 for Saturday and £17 for Sunday only….snap them up, it’s worth it for one of those acts recommended alone…or maybe two, maximum!

Tickets HERE

And the Full Line Up too!

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Clock Radio Turf Out The Maniacs

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Rootless; New Single Ushti Baba

Bristol’s fine purveyors of idiosyncratic folk-raving, Ushti Baba, who if you’re in Devizes you might recall played Street Festival in 2022, have a new single…..

Chucking Fairport Convention a human beatboxer is probably not the best idea, neither would handing Mr C a concertina; herein lies the genius of Ushti Baba.

 “A song about the brittle nature of art and of those creating it and the fragility of meaning; the stories we tell ourselves about who we are,” the band describe it, from an idea originating back in 2015 while jamming with other musicians around a campfire outside squatted garages.

I would never advocate anyone covering Sparks’ This Town Ain’t Big Enough For The Both of Us, but if someone’s life depended on it, and it was up to the Afro-Celt Sound System to save them, it might come off a tad like this! Though this remark might sound a smidgen critical, it really isn’t intended to be, because that would be one heck of a tricky number to effectively pull off, and while Ushti Baba’s sound is kooky, it’s avant-garde and beguiling, ergo apt for such a unnatural request. If anyone could make a good job of a cover like that, the Baba could, for which you’ve got to hand it to them!

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You; Lucas Hardy Teams With Rosie Jay

One of Salisbury’s most celebrated acoustic folk-rock singer-songwriters Lucas Hardy teams up with the Wiltshire city’s upcoming talent who’s name is on everyone’s lips, Rosie…

Timeslips; New Single from Sienna Wileman

With an album review in the pipeline for Dad which includes vocals from Sienna, our Swindon princess of melancholic poignancy has a new single, Timeslips…..

Capturing with certain ease dejected youthful pensiveness, rejecting a birthday cake through fears of ageing, this enchanting song hits its haunting intention and echoes the notion Sienna shouldn’t concern herself overly, as through time each song she puts out illuminates both her songwriting talent and power to deliver it with emotion.

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Bands At The Bridge

Organised by Kingston Media – to raise money for Dorothy House and Wiltshire Air Ambulance – the 3rd of May saw Bands At The Bridge…

Phil Cooper is Playing Solitaire

Trowbridge singer-songwriter and one third of The Lost Trades, Phil Cooper has actually been doing more than playing solitaire, he’s released a new solo album…

Hannah Rose Platt’s Fragile Creatures

If Whitney Houston set a benchmark for female vocalists many did before her too, but while others were influenced by them, they never felt obliged…

Gazelles: Follow-up Album from Billy Green 3

Our favourite loud Brit-popping local Geordie and gang are back with a second album. They’re calling it Gazelles, after the previously released single opener Endless Scrolling Gazelles, a sardonic rap on the overuse of social media. Yeah we reviewed that back in 2022, and it sure was a different approach for Billy Green 3, yet the breezy journey cruising interchanging archetypal indie styles dotted with experimentation puts them firmly back on the map…….

There’s three previously released singles on this eleven-track strong album which we’ve covered before, Garden being another stab at social media wrapped in quasi-rap poetry teetering with Geordie mockery, it holds an ironic slate against the charade of social media embodiment. “People posting inspirational memes in one post, and ruining people in the next,” Bill described its subject to me at the time.

Betwixt those, four tunes, Raised Scars is the dreamy side of indie, the Verve, the exotic hopeless romantic melody of I Don’t Really Sleep (‘til You Get Home) drifts more akin to Primal Scream, thumbs up for that, surely showing the trio at their finest. Back to the upbeat rock-rap with one called Not That Deep, swapping back to soulful ballad for With You.

Broken is the third, Britpop still, yeah, but with a melancholic riff drifting over a subtle Latino backdrop, I summed it as “Madchester in Ibiza” back in 2022. Four tunes follow, The Fire Works cherrypicks the euphoric element of the rest and embellishes it, there’s a spoken word section here, and the whole U2 album track feel displays yet another tactic that Billy Green 3 is no one trick pony.

Scars sends us carelessly drifting to shore, another previously released single, it seems, this technophobe must’ve missed due to all being on Spotty-fly these-a-days; hadaway and a shite, Bill, get in touch, oh and “up the toon!” (That’s the only saying I’ve got which sounds anything remotely Biffa Bacon.) Where was I? Lovesick, again a single release from 2023, fuses this hopeless romantic standard Billy Green 3 push, yet waivers between song and this spoken converse over a beat decidedly nineties indie-dance. 

And oh, another reference to the title, Gazelles plays out this beautiful album. Epic closure on the theme of the human disposition versus scrolling through endless media, this one encapsulates every angle explored on the album and rolls it into one conclusion, with a snippet Easter egg at the finale, and that’s my best gamer reference. Superb album, engineered at Potterne’s Badger Sett studio, especially for the wee brit-popper inside us all, though I expected as much, going on the debut Still.

Even if the second album is always a worry, Billy Green 3 can welcome in the new year confident. Put this on, grab yoorself a braan ale, n kick back like Guimaraes int nivvor leaving St James’ Park! But if you need further reading about Bill and his relation to Wiltshire, see here.

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Wiltshire Music Awards Website Goes Live

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Soupchick in the Park

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Family Easter Holiday Events

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The Magic Teapot Gathering

Okay, so there must be a truckload of local social and political ranting to cover, but it’s new year’s day, I’m going to waffle about magic teapots…..

When you put out a piece highlighting local festivals happening over the next year it’s inevitable you’ll miss a few, and good folk will email, hoping their shindig can be listed. Naturally, we’re always happy to hear from them, and will endeavour to add them to the list. But being this is such a fantastic concept, and besides, it’s called The Magic Teapot, how could I refuse a little extra attention?!

In the economic plight stationary music venues face troubled times, here’s a mobile venue, which goes from festival to festival, hosting its own little festival inside it; magic indeedy! The Magic Teapot, though, hosts its own annual festival too, happening in the Mendip Hills from the 3rd to 6th May. I put to its creator, the aptly named Joseph Peace, he could put a model of a festival inside the festive teapot, making it like those Russian dolls!

He replied he liked the idea and would ponder it, but more importantly, after I had calmed down from the excitement of hearing from a magic teapot, Joseph told me The Magic Teapot has been running since 2017. “We currently take The Magic Teapot to around 18 festivals each year,” he said, “The Gathering is the only event of our own we currently run, hiring a campsite to do it. It’s quite an undertaking so once a year is enough at the moment. When we get our own land we will be doing regular small events ourselves, hopefully that can happen sooner rather than later, fingers crossed.”

This is the third year of The Magic Teapot Gathering, why am I last to hear about these things?! A totally acoustic, amplifier-free festival in four Magic Teapot structures which can easily accommodate everyone in the case of poor weather. Headliners for 2024 are 3 Daft Monkeys, Noble Jacks and Mobius Loop; lovely. Lots of opportunities to join in with playing and singing and each venue features a real piano and a warming central fire.

You can help with building the wicker man, which burns Saturday night, or join the Maypole dancing on Sunday morning. Ticket price includes camping, car parking, showers, sauna and hot tub. Adult ticket, £100, teen ticket £25, kids free, campervan £15.

Make no mistake just ‘cos it’s new year’s day, I’m partially frazzled and 2024 hasn’t got off to a great start what with my daughter assaulting me with a teacake to the face last night, I absolutely love this festival with charms on, this whole Magic Teapot idea, and I’m all tingly with just how communal and beautiful it all looks; somebody put some dandelions in my hair, pronto!

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Situationships With Chloe Hepburn

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Ruby, Sunday at the Gate

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