Wiltshire Music Centre Announces First New Season Under New Leadership

Wiltshire Music announces a new season for Autumn Winter: and the first under the new leadership of Daniel Clark, Artistic Director and Sarah Robertson, Executive Directorโ€ฆ.

Since first opening in 1997, Wiltshire Music Centre has been a musical hub, bringing the best in live performances to the area as well as providing a home for local orchestras, choirs and music groups. The upcoming season will feature returning WMC favourites while also spotlighting exciting new artists and expanding the programme, signalling a fresh direction and commitment to musical discovery.

Audiences can look forward to internationally recognised artists including a first visit to WMC by Kingโ€™s Place resident ensemble and Southbank Resident Orchestra,โ€ฏAurora Orchestra (21 Nov) a rare UK appearance by the phenomenal Bill Frisell Trio (22 Nov), classical season opener by Roderick Williams, one of the UKโ€™s most sought after baritones, alongside theโ€ฏCarducci Quartet, (28 Sep) and experimental folk singer-poet Richard Dawson (9 Nov), among others.

Other classical season highlights include celebrated Baroque violinistโ€ฏRachel Podgerโ€ฏperforming withโ€ฏBrecon Baroqueโ€ฏ(8 Oct) and returns to the WMC stage by virtuosic pianist,โ€ฏJeneba Kanneh-Masonโ€ฏ(Sun 26 Oct) andโ€ฏI Fagiolini, who bring their musical storytelling back to the stage with leading local choir, Bath Camerata (13 Dec).โ€ฏThe Young Artist Programme supporting the brightest young stars is back with Classic FM 2024 Rising Star and violinist Nathan Amaral (17 Dec) and Syrian-British pianist, Riyad Nicolas (12 Nov), exploring piano works from Bach, Beethoven and the Arab World.

A season of sensational jazz kicks off with Giacomo Smith and an all-star line-up celebrating 100 years of Louis Armstrong (27 Sep), a tribute to Nina Simone by Lady Nade, contemporary jazz and inventive improv from Danish Jazz Awards winners Jasper Hoibyโ€™s 3Elements, and much more.โ€ฏ

Alongside traditional folk offerings of Gypsy, folk inspired music by Budapest Cafe Orchestra (15 Nov) and โ€œworld-folkโ€ by Dallahan (31 Oct), the line-up also features contemporary sounds, including spellbinding Welsh triple harpist and vocalist Cerys Hafana (18 Oct), the critically acclaimed duo The Breath (2 Nov), and London folktronica band Tunng (19 Nov). 

Families can look forward to CBeebies Musical superhero and Podcast host, Nick Cope and his festive themed show (7 Dec) while earlier in the year, thereโ€™s a Halloween special for all the family with The Paper Cinema (1 Nov) and their immersive puppetry and visuals.

Referring to the Centreโ€™s rich history, Daniel Clark says โ€œWith these concerts, we have aimed to honour the spirit of musical curiosity so present in those early days, with a diverse programme spanning past, present and future. In our next season, you will find a collection of extraordinary musical experiences, handpicked for our wonderful auditorium and marking the start of our own journeys as stewards of this special venue.โ€ 

Daniel Clark joined in January this year, alongside Sarah Robertson. Sarah was previously Director of Communications and Special Projects at Bristol Beacon, leading the marketing and rebranding of the venueโ€™s ยฃ132 million transformation. Daniel, with over 25 years in the arts as a Creative Director, composer, and musician, formerly led the Creative Programme at the Story Museum in Oxford.

Highlights:

Aurora Orchestra: one of the most innovative and boundary-breaking ensembles in classical music make their WMC debut performing Mendelssohnโ€™s much-loved โ€œItalian Symphonyโ€, and Prokofievโ€™s expressive Violin Concerto No 2 with Chloe Hanslip โ€“ all performed from memory. (21 Nov 2025) 

Bill Frisell Trio: Wiltshire Music Centre welcomes legendary jazz guitarist and composer and his acclaimed trio featuring Thomas Moran on bass and Rudy Royston on drums. This will be just one of a handful of UK performances, that includes the London Jazz Festival. (22 Nov 2025) 

Artist Residency: Groundbreaking clarinettist, active educator and composer Giacomo Smith performs a series of concerts: โ€œThe 1925โ€ (27 Sep) celebrating 100 years of Louis Armstrong featuring UKโ€™s jazz talents, Joe Webb and Laura Hurd; Giacomo Smith + Wiltshire Youth Jazz Orchestra (12 Oct), a special afternoon of brilliant big band magic with talented young musicians; Giacomo Smith & Mozes Rosenberg โ€œManoucheโ€ (14 Nov), a special quartet project paying homage to Djanjo Reinhardtโ€™s musical legacy.

Penguin Cafe Plays Music from Penguin Cafe Orchestra: The sounds of Music from the cult avant-pop band of the 80s & 90s is played by group founded by Arthur Jeffes, son of the original creator, Simon (18 Nov)

Little Rituals presents Heliocentrics: Special event presented by Bradford on Avonโ€™s coolest coffee shop, Little Rituals: an evening of psychedelic-funk-jazz, audio-visuals, pop- up vinyl shop run by Melkshamโ€™s indie record shop, Doubles and cocktails. (29 Nov)

Tickets are now on sale from HERE.ย 


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Rooks; New Single From M3G

Chippenham folk singer-songwriter, M3G (because she likes a backward โ€œEโ€) has a new single out tomorrow, Friday 19th December. Put your jingly bell cheesy tunesโ€ฆ

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Announcing The Top Ten Nominees of Wiltshire Music Awards 2025

Yeah, I hear you! An update on our inaugural Wiltshire Music Awards is overdue. So my partner on this monumental project and the guy doing all the work while I take the credit, Eddie Prestidge of Wiltshire Music Events, has taken off his shoes and socks and provided a top ten shortlist for each categoryโ€ฆ.drum roll, and perhaps a generous spray of Febreze!

Excited? I know I am, but then I’m easily excitable. Firstly you should know by now, despite the umpteen โ€œwhere can I voteโ€ questions still fired online at us daily, that the voting has closed; closed, people; pay attention!

We are now in the process of collating those thoughtful public votes, and handing the top three winners of each and every category to an expert panel of judges either selected for their keen involvement in the Wiltshire music scene, sporting a purple goatie, or both.

We thank those who took the time to cast their votes. We had over 700 votes, proving the music scene of Wiltshire is vast and enjoyed by many, has more talented people than a night out with The Venga Boys, and there’s a few Swifties and generally silly people who didn’t get the memo that this is Wiltshire Music Awards and not the Pennsylvania oneโ€ฆ.unless you can find me a suitable connection between Wiltshire and Taylor Swift?! 

Hey, look, let’s be honest, I’d be happy to hand her an award, perhaps in exchange for her phone number, but we have to keep things in perspective.

On our Facebook group over the past week or so, Eddie has been listing the results, precisely as they were written in the boxes by the voters, so you can see, warts, spelling mistakes, and those spoiled ballots by a minority of silly sausages were included. We’re aware, due to stage names, variations, and the state of the education system, some names appear twice or more, and it’s been a task to collate them.

The thing is, and always was, that the voting boxes should be left blank rather than those annoying drop-down option thingies. While the combined minds of Ed and I is both something to behold, and a virtual encyclopedia of the Wiltshire music scene, we can’t pretend to know everyone, and therefore some of the choices made by you, the voters, we were unaware of. And that’s the beauty and ethos behind these awards, networking foremost. Making the scene competitive is the bottom of our priorities, Wiltshire Music Awards is about recognising and celebrating local talent, and showcasing it.

Personally I reckon anyone with the guts to get out there and entertain Wiltshire folk deserves a big shiny medal of bravery, and perhaps one of those right posh giant Toblerones! Thereโ€™s a number of artists and bands missing that Iโ€™d personally liked to see up there, I guess thatโ€™s the way the cookie crumbles.

So, enough of my warbling, cue the Gregory Isaacs song, โ€œThough she isn’t in my top ten, still she is on my chart, Sitting in the back bench still she’s a student of my class,โ€ or not perhaps; political correctness! Here, anyway, is the Top Ten from each category; fill yer boots, no squabbling, and the very best of luck to everyone mentioned belowโ€ฆ.

Listings are alphabetical. Those eagle-eye Action Men might notice not all categories contain ten; where the final one or two contains multiple entries with the same amount of votes, they’ve been omitted.


Come and help us celebrate the winners and runners up with a star-studded lineup of music, announcements, perhaps even yours truly as host (a polished turd in a tuxedo,) and a special celebrity guest or three, by grabbing some tickets for the grand ceremony at Devizes Corn Exchange on Saturday 25th October. 


Best Male Solo Artist

Vince Bell

Giles Halski

Lucas Hardy

Josh Kumra

JP Oldfield

John โ€œIllingworthโ€ Smith

George Wilding

Adam Woodhouse



Best Female Solo Artist

Harmony Asia

Ebony Bell

Chrissy Chapman

Sammi Evans

Ruby Darbyshire

Chloe Hepburn

Rosie Jay

Tamsin Quin

Rachel Sinnetta


Best Originals Band

All Ears Avow

Be Like Will

Burn The Midnight Oil

Dark Prophecy

Deadlight Dance

Cephid

The Jon Amor Trio

Nothing Rhymes With Orange

Talk in Code


Best Covers Band

Be Like Will

The Britpop Boys

Martyโ€™s Fake Family

The Midnight Hour

No Alarms And No Devizes

Pinky & The Slapcats

Static Moves

The Unpredictables


Best Duo

Deadlight Dance

Fly Yeti Fly

Illingworth

Jolyon Dixon & Rachel Sinnetta

Lauren & Hardy

Matchbox Mutiny

Millers Daughter

Rackham

The Sylvertones


Best Rising Star/Newcomer

Sam Bishop

Burn The Midnight Oil

Cephid

Chole Hepburn

Sammi Evans

Fran Daisy

JP Oldfield

Koerie Willsdon

Rosie Jay


Best Tribute Artist/Band

The Bowie Show

BC/DC Breakcover

The Britpop Boys

50 ft Queenie

Mick Jogger & The Stones Experience

Just Elton

Painted Bird

Plastic Fantastic

Rebjorn 


Best Music Venue

The Pump, Trowbridge

Qudos, Salisbury

The Royal Oak, Pewsey

Stallards, Trowbridge

The Southgate, Devizes

The Three Crowns, Devizes

The Three Horseshoes, Bradford-on-Avon

The Victoria, Swindon


Best Original Song

The Bitter Mass – Iโ€™ll Wrap You

Burn The Midnight Oil – Lock Up

Butane Skies – Innocence

Gaz Brookfield – Hook Village Hall

Lucas Hardy – The Below

Rob Sadler – I Wrote a Country Song

Rosie Jay – I Donโ€™t Give a Damn

Talk in Code – All In

The Vivas – Saint Swithens


Best Vocalist

Amber Coleman

Tom Corneill

Elijah Easton

Lucas Hardy

Chloe Jordan

Rachel Sinnetta

Chris Stevens

Tom Thornton


Best Guitarist

Jon Amor

Nick Beere

Joe Burke

Jolyon Dixon

Andy Hill

Howard Hughes

Jack Lowe

Innes Sibun

Alister Sneddon


Best Bassist

Mark Turner

Nick Gowman

Nick Beere

James Hinsley

Lucianne Worthy

Jerry Soffe 

Ed Docherty

Richard Hunt

Thomas Noke


Best Drummer

Dean Creighton

Ed (Solar Bird)

Tom Gilkes

Andy Naish

Jamie O’Sullivan

Thor Porter

Callum Rawlings

Jane Truckle


Best Instrumentalist

Mike Barnett

Nick Beere

Jolyon Dixon

Claire Hopkins

Cailien Hunt

Andrew Hurst

Chris O’Leary

JP Oldfield

Sara Stagg

Wade (from Brakelight)


Best DJ

Paul Alexander

Mark Anthony

Chloe Grist

Guy Griffiths (DJ Bong)

Kevin – (Odstock Radio)

Mark Lister

Maurice Menghini

Andy Saunders

James Threlfall


Lifetime Achievement Award

Jon Amor

Nick Beere

Vince Bell

Jolyon Dixon

Colin Holton

Ruth Jones

Michael Johnson

Pete Lamb

Darren Simons

Talk in Code


Outstanding Contribution to the Wiltshire Music Scene

Jo Baines

Nick Beere

Colin Holton

Ian Hopkins

Tom Mallard

Solstice Sound Music Studio

Talk in Code

The Three Horseshoes

Darren Worrow


Outstanding Contribution to Music in the Community

Jo Baines

Robb Blake

Jemma Brown & Fulltone Orchestra

Saun Dobson & The Three Horseshoes

Ross Gooding

Colin Holton

The Royal Wottonn Bassett Dementia Choir

Talk in Code

West Wilts Radio

Darren Worrow


That’s all folks, save the most important part for you; come and help us celebrate the winners and runners up with a star-studded lineup of music, announcements, perhaps even yours truly as host (a polished turd in a tuxedo,) and a special celebrity guest or three, by grabbing some tickets for the grand ceremony at Devizes Corn Exchange on Saturday 25th October. 

To make this as glitzy as we want it to be, you can help us also by sponsoring a category, more information about this and everything else to do with Wiltshire Music Awards, see HERE.

Devizes Rising Star Jess Self in Final for West End Kids

If youโ€™ve seen Jess Self performing at the Wharf Theatre, singing at the FullTone Festival or elsewhere Iโ€™m certain youโ€™ll agree with us; Jess has that star quality which lights up the stageโ€ฆ..

At 13 Jess won Vernon Kayโ€™s Talent Nation, studied performing arts at Trowbridgeโ€™s Stagecoach and has appeared in many productions including Devizes Music Academy’s Six:Teen, The Railway Children and lead roles in more pantomimes at The Wharf Theatre than I could name!

Weโ€™re delighted to hear Jess has made the final seven hopefuls for West End Kids, the UKโ€™s renowned pre-professional company for musical theatre training and elite performance. From hundreds of entries, the final seven young contestants are decided by public vote, to win a scholarship for their training programme.

Jess said, โ€œthe first show I ever went to watch was Matilda when I was 9, after the show I said I want to do thisโ€™ and I haven’t stopped singing since. This would be a dream come true for me!โ€

Now, this is where you come in, interactive which we are! Please help Jess reach the dream, vote for her and support local talent. Vote HERE by entering your name, and confirming by email. Voting ends this Sunday, 3rd August, so donโ€™t delay.

We wish you the very best of luck, Jess! 


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 cover Devizes Scooter Rally, Trowbridge Festival and My Dad’s Bigger Than Your Dad festival in Swindon as well! I either need cloning technology or more people willing to write for peanuts; apply within, monkeys!

What I did discover on the Devizes Green was the usual exceptionally high standards of entertainment, amidst the equally usual quality of sound and light engineering.


Friday night was great, and showcased students of Devizes Music Academy. I’ve covered it here, Saturday I caught another glimpse of the magnificence; The FullTone Orchestra playing out Vivaldiโ€™s Four Seasons with glitter-faced violinist Katy Smith, and was held spellbound, other than perhaps sipping my delicious Muck & Dunder piรฑa colada!


I’m sorry I cannot bring you more, as I dropped into the Rally afterwards and stayed until the finale. The date clash of these two monumentally important Devizes events is a dilemma I’ve mentioned before. But no longer!

I’m glad to hear FullTone has announced a new date for 2026, 10th-12th July, as it cannot possibly clash with the rally,, as it’s being moved to the same site as the rally and recent inaugural and aptly named Park Farm Festival, at Lower Park Farm off the Whistley Road.

It’s a splendid site, plentiful for camping, and this will mean big changes for the FullTone Festival we can only speculate right now….and I’d get in even more trouble with Jemma then I already am!!


Devizes Scooter Rally; Best Yet, Ranking Full Stop!

If there’s been hearsay and ballyhoo about the date clash of two major but individually different events in Devizes this week, I hold my hand up for stirring the pot, yet try to attend both and find fair balance. But at the dawning of them, as magical as the FullTone Festival is, it cannot be argued, Devizes Scooter Rally was the success story this weekendโ€ฆ..

My afternoon was spent, Muck & Dundar piรฑa colada in hand, in the magnificence of FullTone’s mighty stage, Vivaldiโ€™s Four Seasons striking out with the acoustics of the gods, in awe at glitter-faced violinist Katy Smith and the orchestra behind.ย 

It is unquestionably a fantastic event. Though Devizine isn’t my employment, neither a public service, it’s a hobby, its opinions driven by the personal preferences of the authors. As much as I pretend to be classically cultured, there’s another gig I’m impelled by preference to explore; Devizes Scooter Rally.ย 

Handbags and gladrags for a cider guzzling retrospective camping adventure on the future site of FullTone, Park Farm. The scope for expansion for FullTone is available here, even if townsfolk accustomed to a freebie from their deckchair on the small green might whinge, at least the date will not clash and Devizions can enjoy both next year, if they so wished. Yet if the clash must remain, my devotion is towards the Rally, because it’s more my cuppa.

I’m standing upfield with the โ€œColonelโ€ of Devizes Scooter Club Adam Ford and his partner Lauren Gibbs, watching the sun setting across the vast expanse of tents, campers and scooters; neither sure nor fussed over stats, but the site is at least 25% fuller than last year, which was recordbreaking too. They, club members, and volunteers have been here all week, setting up this magnificent spectacle, now feeling the fatigue but maintaining smiles, and the bar staff continue regardless of lost voices and aching feet. The club built the fantastic bar themselves, and once the rally is opened this testament to their conscientiousness never creates a dull moment.

The sound reputation the rally has built, both locally and nationwide has boosted attendance figures, the headlining of Ranking Jnrโ€™s incarnation of The Beat assisted. A bold move to introduce a renowned name, but the Club needs to discuss just how willing they are to expand the rally, the issues it may raise, but in general the consensus seemed to be that in fear of losing the communal and hospitable atmosphere, this yearโ€™s Rally might be as large as they are willing to take it. I like this, for the atmosphere is sublimely buzzing, yet it retains a friendly, family vibe.

The spirit of the attendees, or the overall โ€œvibeโ€ is key to its success, and something no matter how much dosh you throw at the mechanics or promotion of an event, you canโ€™t manufacture. It just happens, via the altruism and motivation of the organisers, presenting an affordable occasion welcoming all. The scooterists flock here from every corner of the country, the locals are now keen to come too, because thereโ€™s no boundaries or prejudices dividing them. It is also, undoubtedly the nostalgia they all love, a merger of youth cultures of yore, and, for the younger attendees, its influence on today. This, and the certitude ska, reggae, and soul is irresistibly danceable, and for the locals, genres something rarely provided here.

Devizes Scooter Rally is top of its own class. Other largescale rallies have debatably lost their communal atmosphere through their expansion, and those at the lower end of the scale do not pack the same powerful punch. Five bands are booked, thereโ€™s lengthy breaks between them filled with the renowned DJ Terry Hendrick, and no one batters an eyelid in botheration. This isnโ€™t exactly a festival even though it might appear so, more a gathering of likeminded, out to party like thereโ€™s no tomorrow! They gather to chat, drink and be merry; thatโ€™s the motto reflected.

The Butterfly Collective, the penultimate Saturday night act seemed far more polished and diverse than last year, and took us on a grand historic musical journey of covers, relevant yet era-spanning and anthemic. What would finalise the live acts was bubbling the anticipation and excitement of the crowds jamming themselves into the marque.

Two-Tone pioneering bands striving towards chart success in the early eighties attempted it in different ways. The Specials upheld politically-motivated teenage anguish, The Bodysnatchers used their frontgirl for feminist awareness, Madness locked into a carefree fairground sound to appease the youngest, but The Beat achieved it by combining musical styles which would change the nature of pop. Punk, ska, soul and reggae, even Latino influences were not off the cards for The Beat. Though, as seemingly mandatory of the Two-Tone style, an Afro-Caribbean toaster was provided, and his unforgettable name was Ranking Roger.

2019 Ranking Roger sadly passed away aged just 56. We heard a heartwarming homage to him in both speech and song from his son Matthew Murphy, aka Ranking Junior, and though subtle not to sombre the mood, it was emotional. The remaining time was spent absolutely and categorically rocking the crowd with a combination of self-penned songs in the skanking fashion of The Beat yet updated with subtle dancehall and obviously classics from the original lineup when the concentration leaned on his father rather than Dave Wakeling. In so much we weren’t treated to tunes like Canโ€™t Get Used to Losing You, but at the height of the party mood, Mirror in the Bathroom, Full Stop, Hands Off…She’s Mine and an updated Stand Down Margaret did more than suffice. 

It was off the scale, a perfect balance of testament to his father and his own progression, akin to Ziggy Marley, a high but deserved accolade. Through his youthfulness was the drive in the show, the same zest and raw energy his father wouldโ€™ve delivered in his prime, and that was simply delicious, respectful and infectious.

Once the steam had lessened and the night bit in, Terry would supply the other end of the musical difference of contemporary scooterists, Northern Soul. So if the soul dancers were persuaded by genre to hover outside while Ranking Junior’s The Beat took on this timeless extravaganza, the dancefloor was now theirs to show off their fancy moves, and they did!

What a fantastic, peaking blinder on our doorstep, I only hope Iโ€™ve done it justice trying to express how bloody marvelous it was, especially the afternoon after the cider I consumed! Devizes Scooter Club, friends and family sure know to throw an unforgettable shindig, and maximum respect to them for the diligence and efforts they put into putting this rally firmly on the map, again. It just gets better each time! 


FullTone Gets Underway With Devizes Music Academy Showcase and Something About Jamie

Devizes annual orchestral festival, FullTone got underway yesterday afternoon with a showcase of local talent from Devizes Music Academy,ย  and finalised Friday night with their recent musical Thereโ€™s Something About Jamieโ€ฆ.

If today the stage is filled with the sixty-plus piece FullTone Orchestra and guest singers, Friday night was all about Jamie ….or something about Jamie! A contemporary set musical akin to Billy Elliott, save tap dancing is replaced by a desire to become a drag queen.


Prior, students of the Academy took to the colossal stage to sing solo, a tenfold more nail-biting experience than any open mic! At least, I’d imagine it would be, still waiting for the call!

Bravely and with confidence, Emma Nailor, Annie Coleman, andย  Joe Thomas sang, and I’m sorry I missed them. I did arrive fashionably late to catch Braydon-Lee, who delivered an awesome set of pop covers from the likes of Ed Sheeran and others.

Brewing with confidence and stage presence blossoming, Braydon sang over backing tracks. His tenor voice is rich and expressive, able to handle the likes of Sheeran and Capaldi, but this boy needs a band as he’s got star potential.


Something About Jamie was fun. Humorously scripted, poignant, and contemporary. Both the acting and, particularly the singing was first class, kudos to the students of Devizes Music Academy.

Of course, FullTone Festival continues today with the orchestra in full flight. Classical beginnings, including Vivaldiโ€™s Four Seasons at 2pm. Then, the songbook of the Beatles, a recreation of Enya’s groundbreaking album, followed by the popular dance anthems taking the crowds into the night. I’m heading down there now!

Static Moves Crawling Back With Debut Single

In a way itโ€™s more intriguing when a cover band sends an original song than one already producing originals. For if original bands can sometimes be critical of the desire of pub venues to value cover bands over them, yeah, your average cover band is heeding the call for their bread and butter, but are often equally passionate about music, and turn to recording some of their own wares. And when they do itโ€™s natural to pay homage to the particular style they play in, as guaranteed, thatโ€™s their calling and influenceโ€ฆ..

Certainly true of Marlborough-based Static Moves, who released a debut single today, full of the retrospective energy theyโ€™re celebrated for at live shows. They turned a cold February night at the Three Crowns in Devizes into a volcano, as they regularly warm crowds at a plethora of local venues with a repertoire of welcomed new wave to Britpop covers.

The concern is that the raw energy doesnโ€™t transfer to the recording, but you have no worries here; it’s the dog’s bollocks. Crawl Back, as theyโ€™ve called it, belts out an accomplished potential anthem of precisely what theyโ€™re loved for on the circuit. A matured and modern indie-rock spliced โ€œTurning Japaneseโ€ by the Vapors, with a carefree attitude of the Merton Parkas. Itโ€™s got the new wave mod-punk crossover of the early eighties splashed across it like two-tone trousers and Fred Perry T-shirts never went out of fashion. And it didnโ€™t, because you can hear its influence crying out for attention in contemporary indie-rock bands, ergo, the appeal of Crawl Back reaches beyond nostalgic middle-aged to youths today.

With a theme of the tail between your legs sympathy vote, forgiveness is key when you still fancy the wrongdoer, forget the three minute hero, this weighs in at four and a half, and it waits for no man to catch up with it. In a way the length of this whopper is more indicative of modern punk bands, but you cannot help but imagine youโ€™re at a musky gig in 1981, it costs two quid to get in, youโ€™ve only got one and half a packet of fruit Polos to trade with the glue-sniffers hanging outside drinking tins of Tennents!

Static Moves promises more of their, indeed, moreish raw energy captured, and if thereโ€™s more in the pipeline, an EP would be welcomed, an album worth would be knockout, because they could, and should, slip this into their covers set and no one would be any the wiser it wasnโ€™t an album track from Modern English or a nineties influenced crew like The Coral or Supergrass; itโ€™s on that level of excellence too, and that’s why they’re all over our local circuit like Dr Martens were in 1981.


Salisbury Musicians Record Fundraising Single in Memory of Thom Belk

A feast of Salisbury musicians have recorded the single Edge of Reason, a powerful tribute to the irreplaceable Thomโ€ฏBelk, a champion of Salisburyโ€™s music scene who sadly passed away at the end of 2023….

โ€œThomโ€™s passion for local talent lit up this city, and this song is our way of keeping that flame burning bright,โ€ explained Salisbury punkers Lump, organisers and main artists of the single.

You can download the track for ยฃ2 from Bandcamp, and every penny goes straight to The Roseโ€ฏGale Trust & The Thomโ€ฏBelk Community Fund, helping young people in Southโ€ฏWiltshire follow their dreams. Tickets to the Salisbury Victoria Park fundraiser on Saturday August 16th are also available from this link, by Salisbury Live.

Wilton based former Salisbury FC staff member, DJ and chef, Thom Belk passed away in December 2023, aged just 36. A firm supporter of the Salisbury music circuit, and the Salisbury Music Awards.ย 

โ€˜Edge of Reasonโ€™ย  was written, recorded and performed by Lump, with a rap section written and performed by Gavin Roberts (MC Daytripper.) Other vocalists featured on the track areย Alex Morgan-Wardrop, Helen Maple, Mr H, Ruth Jones, Matty Priest, Becs Marchant, Cam Walker, Ellie & Emerson andMC Daytripper. The single has fiddle by Wen Archer and Andy Boulton as lead guitarist.


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Devizes Food & Drink Festival Programme of Events Released

Devizes Food & Drink Festival launched their 2025 programme of events today. Running from Saturday 20th to the 28th September, the Box Office opens online and at Devizes Books on August 11th; can you wait that long or is your tummy rumbling already?!

The free Street Food and Artisan Marketย will take place in the Devizes Market Place on Saturday 20th, opening the festival. There’s tales and food of Greece, cheese & wine tasting, a teddy bear’s picnic, an exploration of the culinary traditions that have bound French and Russian cuisine together, ย lunch in the Menโ€™s Shed,ย local nutritionist and personal trainer Matt Fruci, lunch of Indian street food at Indigo Antiques, Polly’s lunch on the Water Gypsy, The great Foodie Quiz, a Wadworth tour, a murder mystery dinner, Come Dine With Us, and lots more.

The festival ends with the usual World Food Day, something I very much enjoyed last year when I got my fill! That’s free entry at the Corn Exchange on Sunday 28th September. 12.30 they say, but get there early as the queue will be huge and so might your appetite!

More info on the events HERE.


Strange Days Festival Brings Brian Blessed and Henge to The Barge on HoneyStreet in September

With your standard festivals two-to-a-penny, some consisting of not much more than a bloke with a guitar in a pub selling undercooked and overpriced hotdogs, folk are hunting for the unique and often quirky exceptions. Accept The Barge at HoneyStreet always goes the extra mile as a fact. With camping and weekly events so good it’s like a little festival there most of the time, and their homemade HoneyFest still looming on our calendar this September one caught both my eyes and ears; it’s not just unique, it’s otherworldlyโ€ฆ..

Our legendary and beloved Barge Inn, long considered a nexus for crop circles, cosmic curiosity, and canal-side wonder, will host the inaugural Strange Days Festival, a bold new gathering of curious minds, music, and mystery; intrigued huh?!

And leading the charge into the unknown? They’re truly blessed to have none other than the inimitable Brian Blessed, Britainโ€™s booming-voiced national treasure. As a headline speaker on the Saturday afternoon, Blessed, known for his larger-than-life presence and deep fascination with both earthly and cosmic exploration, not to mention his own real-life cryptid investigations, is surely worth the ticket stub alone. If “Gordon’s alive,” let’s hope he’s not moored at the Barge in September!

โ€œStrange Days Festival is a celebration of the unexplained, rooted in the Fortean tradition: a space where the strange is taken seriously, but not solemnly,โ€ organiser Matt Page of Area 51 explained, and he should know. Area 51 Design provides world-class performances, costumed characters, and cutting edge themed decor to events worldwide, from Glastonbury to the Seychelles.

I had a gander at their Facebook page and was left in awe at their quality bizarre installations, pioneers in this art movement to create feasts for the eyes of festival-goers. But back to Strange Days, indeed.

There’s talks and panels on cryptozoology, folklore, the paranormal and other such shenanigans. This includes legendary underground cartoonist Hunt Emerson, an inspiration to me in my scribbling days of yore, cryptozoologist Richard Freeman, Ian Simmons, editor of Fortean Times, and various other podcasters, artists, authors and researchers.

The festival’s ethos invites attendees to question the world around them, with curiosity, critical thinking, and a sense of cosmic humour. But we’ve only just got started, for when day turns to night, the mystery turns to music. With an electrifying line-up of live bands, DJs and performance art, our interstellar heroes Henge headline. 

If you’ve not witnessed their high-energy, intergalactic spectacle before, what planet are you on? I trekked to The Cheese and Grain to investigate them, here’s my take on it, and the bonkers support I mentioned, Paddy Steer is also playing Strange Days. With their message of peace, rave, and galactic unity, Henge are the perfect sonic ambassadors for the spirit of Strange Days.

Plus, naturally, if QTV’s Quentin Smirhes and Comfrey aroused your unnatural senses and turned your head towards social distancing worm helmets during lockdown, you’ll be concerned Sean Reynard will be there, along with Calne’s Real Cheesemakers, with or without their tortoise.

โ€œThis isnโ€™t a conspiracy circus or a sci-fi cosplay,โ€ Matt promises. โ€œItโ€™s a space for real inquiry, meaningful discussion, and a very good time. We’re bringing together the serious and the surreal, the cerebral and the celebratory.โ€ Okay I get that, but you know those human fans of Henge will bring the plasma ball hats anyway!!

If aliens are to visit us, this is surely the best weekend to do so. Therefore I’m going above and beyond our usual local network, calling all galactic lifeforms, space cadets and fortean fans, for this, on our doorstep, looks more like a porthole to another world rather than the typical half-baked efforts at a festie!

Strange Days Festival is at The Barge on HoneyStreet from 5th to 7th September 2025. Tickets and info HERE, or at your nearest interstellar space port, located near Alpha Centauri.


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Schools Out For Summer: Here’s Some Things to Do in Wiltshire!

Schools out for summer, yelled a man called Alice, but that was in 1972. We’re about what you can do THIS school summer holiday with those little munchkins; here’s what we’ve found…

Please note as soon as we publish this we’ll be bombarded with events we have missed; at least that’s what usually happens! So, bookmark this article as it will update, as will our event calendar, as soon-(ish) as they come to us! Do not fear, we’ll help you through this period, parents, and prevent you having bored kids and compulsory wine-o’clock!

WC says school hollibobs begin Thursday 24th July and parents are freed on Monday 1st September, but we’ve found stuff from Monday 21st, so let’s get this ball rolling from there…..


Ongoing throughout the summer hols….

Boomerang, Melksham

Kids Activities at Bowood House

Longleat Summer Carnival

Friends of Jesus Children’s Summer Holiday Club @ Southbroom School, Devizes


Mon 21st July


Wed 23rd July

BSO On Your Doorstep Concert @ Wiltshire Music Centre, Bradford-on-Avon

Fitzgraham Academy of Dance โ€“ Mythos @ The Wyvern Theatre, Swindon

(26th July)  The Jungle Book @  Salisbury Playhouse


Fri 25th July


Sat 26th July


Mon 28th July


Tues 29th July

Summer Chocolate Experience (Adult & Child/Teen) @ HollyChocs, Poulshot

Thurs 31st July

Wiltshire & Bath Air Ambulance Teddy Bear’s Picnic @ Semington Base, Trowbridge


Fri 1st August

Kidโ€™s Summer Art Club @ Wiltshire Scrapstore, Lacock

Origami Aeroplanes Workshop @ Trowbridge Museum

(-6th Aug) Devising Drama @ Wiltshire Music Centre, Bradford-on-Avon

(-8th Aug) PLUK Song-Writing Club @ Wiltshire Music Centre, Bradford-on-Avon

(-8th Aug) LEGO Stopframe Animation Workshop @ Wiltshire Music Centre, Bradford-on-Avo

The Most Perilous Comedie of Elizabeth I @ Old Town Bowl, Swindon


Sat 2nd August

Brick Creative Club with Trowbridge Library

Circus Skills Workshop @ Wiltshire Music Centre, Bradford-on-Avon

Friends Summer Tea Party @ Wiltshire Music Centre, Bradford-on-Avon


Mon 4th August


Tues 5th August

Craft Day @ The Shires, Trowbridge


Wed 6th August

Drama Tots @ Wiltshire Music Centre, Bradford-on-Avon

Little Piccolos @ Wiltshire Music Centre, Bradford-on-Avon


Thurs 7th August

Summer Pirate Cruises From The Wharf, Devizes

Kidโ€™s Summer Art Club @ Wiltshire Scrapstore, Lacock

Childrenโ€™s Tie Dye T-shirt Workshop @ Trowbridge Museum

Rock The Tots Summer Party @ Wiltshire Music Centre, Bradford-on-Avon


Fri 8th August

Kidโ€™s Summer Art Club @ Wiltshire Scrapstore, Lacock

Mermaid Dance Party @ Wiltshire Music Centre, Bradford-on-Avon

Paddingtonโ€™s First Concert @ Wiltshire Music Centre, Bradford-on-Avon


Sat 9th August

Curious Kids: Under the Sea @ Wiltshire Museum, Devizes

Seend Fete

Story Time @ Trowbridge Library

Swindon & Wiltshire Pride


Tues 12th August


Wed 13th August

Junk Modelling (ages 5+) @ Trowbridge Museum


Thurs 14th August

Kidโ€™s Summer Art Club @ Wiltshire Scrapstore, Lacock

Balloon Modelling @ The Shires, Trowbridge

(-14th-16th Aug) Annie @ The Wyvern Theatre, Swindon


Fri 15th August

Kidโ€™s Summer Art Club @ Wiltshire Scrapstore, Lacock

Fearlessly Taylor @ Town Gardens Bowl Town Gardens, Swindon


Sat 16th August


Sun 17th August

Mon 18th August


Holiday Club at Southbroom St James Academy, Devizes

A Churches Together in Devizes Holiday Club is taking place from Monday the 18th to Friday the 22nd of August at Southbroom St James Acadamy in Nursteed Road. The sessions are from 9.45am to 12.30pm each day, and itโ€™s for children going into school years one to seven in September. Go along and make new friends this summer. Thereโ€™ll be Bible stories, games, activities, crafts, songs, drame, and much more. Thereโ€™s a suggested donation of ยฃ1 per day. Email devizeschurches.holidayclub@gmail.com for further information and booking details.

(-22nd Aug) Musical in a Week! @ Wiltshire Music Centre, Bradford-on-Avon


Tues 19th August


Crafting with Leather @ Wiltshire Scrapstore, Lacock


Wed 20th August

Horrible Histories: Gorgeous Georgians and Vile Victorians @ The Wyvern, Swindon


Thurs 21st August

Kidโ€™s Summer Art Club @ Wiltshire Scrapstore, Lacock


Fri 22nd August

Kidโ€™s Summer Art Club @ Wiltshire Scrapstore, Lacock


Sat 23rd August

Summer Fete at Devizes Scout Hall

In The Night Garden Live@ The Wyvern, Swindon


Sun 24th August


Mon 25th August

Balloon Modelling @ The Shires, Trowbridge


Tues 26th August


Wed 27th August

Flowers And Friendship Bracelets โ€“ The Ultimate Pop Concert @ The Wyvern, Swindon


Thurs 28th August


Fri 29th August

Hot Air Balloon Weaving (ages 5+) @ Trowbridge Museum


Sat 30th August

Kennet & Avon Summer Floating Fayre @ the Barge, HoneyStreet

MELKSHAM FOOD & RIVER FESTIVAL

Calne Food Festival

Malmesbury Carnival

West of England Youth Orchestra with Leia Zhu @ Wiltshire Music Centre, Bradford-on-Avon


That’s all Folks! Back to school. Parents, breath out and relax!

Devizes Dilemma: FullTone or Scooter Rally?!

Contemplated headlining this โ€œClash of the Titans,โ€ but that evokes the idea of a dramatic power struggle with fierce consequences rather than proof Devizes can peacefully contain two major events on the same weekend, and, potentially, everyone comes up smiling because they attract different target audiences. But if the practicalities and ethos of both events differ enough for townsfolk to calculate a decision on which they’d prefer to attend, when you think about it there’s also some striking similarities between the twoโ€ฆ.

Next weekend sees two major Devizes events happening simultaneously, FullTone Festival and Devizes Scooter Rally. Me? My eclectic tastes and desire to impartially cover as much goings-on as possible puts me in a dilemma, but for most it’s a no-brainer which they’d rather go to. FullTone, central in town, celebrates our homegrown orchestra, with classically trained and theatrical musicians and singers. Though it leans towards representing pop too, classical is the root, and you can chill among friends on a deckchair absorbing the magnitude of something akin to Last Night of the Proms, whilst close to both home and some lardy cake! 

Whereas The Scooter Rally, out on the Whistley Road, appeases scooter enthusiasts from near and far, though not exclusively, but either usually have a retrospective penchant for soul, reggae, and dancing to it like there’s no tomorrow! If production is slighter here, it’s ample for its needs; technically engineering sound for ska bands with a brass section, keys and all other gubbings can be nearly as challenging as an orchestra, but the Rally has never failed us yet with precision and high quality output. You. Will. Have. A peaky blinder, guaranteed!

Slide and Decide!

On cost, yes, FullTone comes at a price, but as I’ve stated many times before, when you’re held spellbound in the epicentre of that domed stage, captured by its acoustic magnificence, you’ll soon see where the money is spent; on matchless production, coordination, planning and the highest quality performances. The Scooter Rally prides itself on affordability, but somehow doesnโ€™t skip on quality, which is miraculous in itself. There you will feel like part of something really rather communal and will never be left feeling anyone is out to rip you off; similar to FullTone under the premise โ€œyou get what you pay for.โ€

The ambience this creates at the Rally is second to none; drinks prices match the fairness of the ticket stub, camping is included, showers are provided free, and unlike any preconceived notion, mods and skinheads would rather cuddle you than nick your purse!! As an orchestral event it goes without saying, Fulltone also has the hospitality Hagrid would get returning to Hogwarts. Still, the music offering and type of crowd are vastly different, we could suggest by social class, but again, thereโ€™s a good mix at both too. 

Fulltone Festival 2023 Day Two Image: Gail Foster

So, where’s the other similarities, you ask, or I’d imagine you might, as they sound completely different kettles of fish, agreed.

I’ll tell you the easiest comparisons first, both are in Devizes; yay! Secondly, both are blooming fantastic, worthy of your hard-earned cash. Both are about the same age, and  have become stalwart and beloved annual occasions, both locally and further afield. The attraction nationally of both benefit the town financially.

The other major similarity is uniqueness; if there’s nothing else quite like either in Devizes, it’s fair to argue there’s not much quite like either nationwide. Where else would you find an entire magical weekend covering every aspect of the capabilities of a seventy-piece orchestra, theatrical productions and additions catering for a wider demographic? I cannot think of another event anything like FullTone.

Similarly, scooter rallies tend to only come at two ends of the extreme. There’s long established overpriced rallies of glorious magnitude, and then there’s a pub selling undercooked hotdogs for a tenner, with an uninspiring local mod band perpetually playing Wonderwall. Devizes Scooter Rally sits between the two. You might pay the same price as the lower end of the scale, but you’ll receive all the glory of the upper end, and with a hospitable, local feel to it. I’m not making this up. I’ve spoken to folk who travelled up from Cornwall and folk who trekked down from Manchester to attend Devizes Scooter Rally simply because, and I quote โ€œthere’s nothing quite like it.โ€

And โ€œhighest quality performances,โ€ did I state about FullTone? This year Devizes Scooter Club has only gone and booked The Beat! Yes, The Beat, the legendary Two-Tone popsters remembered for hits like Mirror in the Bathroom, Hands off Sheโ€™s Mine, and Canโ€™t Get Used to Losing You. Although Ranking Junior, son of the late Roger Charlery, aka Ranking Roger has settled into the shoes of his father and fronts a reformation of The Beat, itโ€™s a welcomed addition for the Rally to pull in a big name. They are joined by four other bands including Specials and Small Faces tributes, and top northern soul DJs. Devizes Scooter Rally has the space to expand, booking such a renowned headliner suggests theyโ€™re willing to take it on.

Meanwhile, FullTone this year has concentrated efforts on exhibiting the orchestraโ€™s projects, which theyโ€™ve exported to other towns and cities, such as a homage to Enyaโ€™s Watermark album, and Vivaldiโ€™s Four Seasons, rather than introducing local acts outside of the sphere of orchestral music. Although Friday offers a youth showcase and organiser Jemma Brownโ€™s Devizes Music Academy production of Everybodyโ€™s Talking About Jamie, Saturday hosts the Big Sound Choir, and Sunday finds the Gloucestershire Youth Orchestra on stage at 1pm. If FullTone feels a tad more inclusive this year, it doesnโ€™t need nor has the capacity to expand, it is an incredible experience within itself, as it is.

Fulltone Festival 2023 Day Two Image: Gail Foster

Tickets for FullTone next weekend (25th-27th August) are HERE. For Devizes Scooter Rally, also next weekend (26th-27th July) Facebook message the Devizes Scooter Club, or call 078088 49965.

Not forgoing both The Trowbridge Festival and Swindon’s My Dads Festival are also next weekend and come highly recommended from us. Wiltshire Soul & Blues Club have Owlfest at their secret Lacock location on Sunday, and Tidworth have a freebie festival. And if you cannot make your mind up, or gawd bless you cannot afford any of these, on Friday 25th find The Elvis & Orbison at Devizes Corn Exchange. Saturday sees The Reason at The Three Crowns, Barney Kenny is down The Southgate, thereโ€™s an Elton John tribute in Potterne, and Verdiโ€™s La Traviata at Seend Community Hallโ€ฆ.but youโ€™d know all this if you checked the Devizine event calendar, and youโ€™d be informed of everything going on!

Clashes over summer months are inevitable, weโ€™ve a busy schedule around here and it is an honour to bring them all to your attention. Yeah, thereโ€™s similarities between these two giants, but at the same time, theyโ€™re different enough to not affect the sales of each in these trying times, I hope, and whatever you choose itโ€™s better than staying home, crying into a bag of cheap cheesy puffs and watching โ€œPointless Celebrities;โ€ (thereโ€™s a clue in itโ€™s very name!!) 

Or am I being too nice and impartial for Devizes with this article?! It’ll never get a Facebook share without some conflict. No, the secret is out, we all know which is the better of the two, โ€œthere can be only one;โ€ let the fight to the bitter end commence!


Goodbye to The Beanery but Hollychocs Lives On

Popular award-winning artisan chocolate business Hollychocs has announced that its Beanery Cafรฉ will close on Saturday 23rd August, marking exactly two years since its opening in Poulshot, near Devizesโ€ฆ.

Founded by award-winning chocolatier Holly Garner, Hollychocs has become a much-loved fixture in the local community, known not just for its handcrafted chocolates but for creating a warm, welcoming space for chocolate lovers to connect, indulge and experience the very best chocolate in the Southwest.

โ€œThis decision hasnโ€™t come lightly,โ€ said Holly. โ€œSam and I have poured so much into the cafรฉโ€”working long days, championing other small businesses and suppliers and welcoming thousands of people through our doors. The support from our community has meant everything.โ€

The closure comes amidst rising costs that have impacted many small businesses across the country. โ€œWeโ€™ve tried everythingโ€”from constantly creating new menu offerings, to introducing special offers,โ€ Holly added. โ€œIn the end, the increased labour costs paired with price increases across the board, have made it time to focus our energy on a future thatโ€™s sustainable for us, our chocolate, and the people behind it.โ€

Yet this opens a new chapter for Hollychocs. Although the cafรฉ will no longer offer drop-in visits, Hollychocs will continue to host a wide range of bookable chocolate experiences from their studio just outside Devizes. These include guided tastings, chocolate-making workshops, and sit-down afternoon teasโ€”already popular with locals and visitors alike.

Hollychocsโ€™ full product range will also remain available for UK-wide delivery and click & collect. Sheโ€™s just released a Hollychocs version of the viral sensation Dubai Bar and has plans to increase her postbox-friendly chocolate gifts which are an increasingly popular way of sending a thoughtful gift.

They will also be focusing more on Corporate Gifting and Wholesale opportunities both locally and nationally.

โ€œWeโ€™re not going anywhere,โ€ Holly assured. โ€œWeโ€™re simply shifting focusโ€”putting our efforts into the parts of the business we know can sustain us in the long term.โ€

The final day of trading at the Beanery Cafรฉ will take place on Saturday 23rd August, and the team welcomes the community to pop in for one last drink or treat.

โ€œWeโ€™d love to see some familiar faces before we close the doors,โ€ said Holly. โ€œWeโ€™re so proud of what weโ€™ve builtโ€”and incredibly grateful to everyone in Wiltshire whoโ€™s supported us on this journey.โ€

Devizine wishes Holly and the team all the best with progressing this delicious brand. It’s a shame to hear about The Beanery but I believe they’ve made the sensible decision.


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PREVIEW :โ€œGlasshouseโ€ at The Mission Theatre, Bath, July 21st 2025.

by Ian Diddams
images by Sandcastle Productions

A very new addition to Bath based theatre companies, Sandcastles Productions brings their self penned piece of theatre to The Mission Theatre next week. Playwright Charlie McGuire describes โ€œGlass Houseโ€ as a mix of โ€œTwelve Angry Menโ€ with the defendant in the room, regarding some human beings that are viewed as a problem to be solved, rather than aided. He adds that this is a provocative play, that asks many questionsโ€ฆ but provides few answers. Theatre is meant to challenge us, and this play should do that, leaving us all to make up our own minds.

Glass House is a one-act, boundary-pushing piece of mocku-theatre, inter-spliced with pre-recorded interviews with the โ€˜real-lifeโ€™ inspirations for the on-stage characters. These interviews take us through the nail-biting events of February 14th 2011. On a night of unrelenting rain and flooding in the countryside, a stand-off between a bus driver clinging to the rules and a homeless man who canโ€™t afford a ticket inexorably stirs up an enthralling mire of tension and social conflict amongst the passengers.

Sandcastle Productions are a collaboration of school and university friends, many currently in their second year of courses around the country. Charlie noted he heas been heavily influenced by Robert Icke.

Backed by The Mission Theatre itself who were very receptive to them, this is a world premiere of โ€œGlass Houseโ€ before it transfers to The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where it can be found at โ€œGreenside@George Streetโ€ between 18th-23rd August at 7.30pm.

Mission Theatre tickets from https://www.eventbrite.com/e/glass-house-at-the-mission-theatre-bath-tickets-1246930525769
Edinburgh Fringe tickets from https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/glass-house

“The Motherโ€ at The Mission Theatre, Bath, July 16th-19th 2025.

by Ian Diddams
images by Ian Diddams, Next Stage Theatre Company and Mike Stevens

Florian Zeller is a contemporary French playwright and screenwriter, who received critical acclaim for his films, โ€œThe Fatherโ€ and โ€œThe Sonโ€ in the early 2020s. The films were both adapted from his stage plays of the same name, and it will not therefore be a surprise that he preceded both of these original plays with a third โ€œThe Motherโ€. Next Stage Theatre Company bring this first Zeller play to The Mission Theatre, Bath this week, with its time slipping, reality questioning story of a post-menopausal empty-nester whose raison dโ€™etre has gone.

Anne โ€“ the titular character role โ€“ played by Hayley Fitton-Cook, lives a lonely, insular and empty existence in a home dominated by her favourite colour, red. Her children have grown up and left home, and are somewhat estranged to her; her husband she suspects of having an affair. Her life is meaningless and she dulls the tedium with increasingly larger doses of pills, and booze. The play is her experienced life, the other characters being puppets to enact her perceived reality, though we very quickly start to question which is real, which is fever dream, and which is just unreliable memories. Hayley plays the character honestly – as written, straight, she explained, playing The Mother in each scene as if that is the time and place in the real world. Her uncompromising, incessant performance really strengthens the delivery as we wonder which of the almost repeated scenes with minor changes and nuances is the actual real one โ€“ they are all real to Anne as they happen.

The Father, Pierre, is played by Mayur Bhatt, as the slightly lost businessman trying to keep a connection to his wife, and failing dismally. He is kind and gentle in his own way but his work life is either overtaking his own existence, or is providing a cover for extra-martial nefarious activities. Mayur delivers his confused, hurt, but also self-centred character sublimely, delivering a perfectly crafted Willy Loman style businessman, looking forward to the next exciting convention on microcredits, while achieving not much at all โ€“ except an opportunity to avoid Anne.

Nicholas, The Son, is played by Oliver Manners. The Son represents Anneโ€™s confidence crisis โ€“ he is mid twenties and has left home to live with his girlfriend, and hardly communicates with The Mother now, finding her too stifling of his life. His own relationship crisis brings him back to the family home and the inner tensions and loss of mutual support are exposed all too obviously. The Mother tries to mother him, which he is rejecting; his relationship with his father is at best strained, and Nicholas knows โ€œthingsโ€ about Pierre that Anne doesnโ€™t. Its a tightrope of a plot line to follow for an actor โ€“ neither too close to his parents but equally not totally dismissive of them either; their remains some inklings to family ties but they are stretched. Oliver’s perfection of this fledged offspring counterposed by his critical encapsulation of Nicholas’ insecutorites belies the fact that this is his first role with Next Stage.

Finally the fourth character of The Girl is played by Perrine Maillot; the girl is a melange of various female characters within the story. The is certainly Nicholasโ€™ girlfriend, Elodieโ€ฆ but she is โ€“ in Anneโ€™s confused mind โ€“ also her husbandโ€™s lover, and a mental health nurse arranging treatment for Anne. And there may be a thought amongst the audience that maybe Elodie/lover is actually Nicholasโ€™ sister who is continually referenced but never seen, and has no contact ever with her family. Perrine is strong in her characterisation of Elodie, the girlfriend that doesnโ€™t like the Mother, who in turn doesnโ€™t like Elodie โ€“ though they both like red dressesโ€ฆ.

The mastery of the play is its continual time slip/alternative reality of scenes, often repeating themselves in a ground-hog day scenario, leaving the audience to work out their own understanding of what is going on. There are no right or wrong plot lines here โ€“ Zeller has deliberately set up the play with multiple answers and endings, leaving us to decide which narrative fits our own understandings. Is Anne mad? Is this all a repeating nightmare? Is some of it actually reality surrounded by alternatively recollected situations and outcomes in Anneโ€™s addled mind. Is Anne depressed? Menopausal? Has she dementia? Are some of the characters Anne interacts with actually dead? Are they all dead? Do some of the characters actually ever exist and are just figments of her imagination in her Walter Mitty world?

The set is simplistically perfect โ€“ Anneโ€™s favourite colour red abounds in the bedroom/diner open plan set. Even the scene changes are done to a lowered red wash of light. Created by Director Tiana James it is the perfect reflection of Anneโ€™s mind. Lighting and Sound is provided between Rowan Bendle and Kris Nuttal with Nicky Wilkins as fight choreographer.

Its a challenging play โ€“ it will likely raise emotions, query oneโ€™s own visions of what is real and what is pretend, and some aspects may well be triggering. But art should challenge us โ€“ and Zellerโ€™s play so well delivered by Tiana James on her directorial debut ably assisted by cast and creatives certainly provides the chance to be challenged in all the best ways.

โ€œThe Motherโ€ is showing at The Mission Theatre from July 16th-19th 2025, at 7.30pm. Tickets from https://www.missiontheatre.co.uk/tickets/the-mother


Right Here, Right Now; Fatboy Slim Tribute at Salisbury Fundraiser

A smidgen fuddled over a tribute to a DJ, but Fatboy Slim is no ordinary DJ, heโ€™s a superstar, constructing hits from samples and remixes, rams Brighton beach and is loved for larginโ€™ it. So, when Salisbury Live and The Sounds of Salisbury radio get together for a live summer extravaganza at the cityโ€™s Victoria Park, you might fancy being right there, right then; Victoria Park, Salisbury on Saturday 16th Augustโ€ฆ..

The extravaganza boasts nine acts across two stages, Norman Cook tribute Fatboy Tim, The Absolute Stone Roses, and Salisbury bands In Colour, Love is Enough, Southbound, Signature Vision and Corellian, with Rob Clamp. Thereโ€™s a bar, food stalls and stuff for the kids promised.

Tickets available for ยฃ10, Under 12s free. The event supports The Rose Gale Trust and the Thom Belk Community Fund.ย 


Park Farm; Mantonfest Came to Devizes!

The first Park Farm Festival happened Saturday, it was fabulouso, and in some way Mantonfest came to Devizes; conveniently for me as I had to unfortunately miss Marlborough’s gem a fortnight agoโ€ฆ..

Weather and festival organisers aren’t besties. Organisers quiveringly check forecasts months prior, usual concern being moisture. Daytime at the inaugural Park Farm Festival just outside Devizes, where they positioned a professional looking stage some distance between where punters took shelter in beer tents and sun-shaded tables, Southwestโ€™s premier Chicago blues replicators, aptly named Chicago 9 blasted a wonderful set to distant onlookers whilst the zone between better resembled an African savanna where no man dare tread from fear of being frazzled!

I suspected many events this weekend subtly suffered from the heatwave despite the prospect favoured over torrential downpours, and one look during the day might suggest placing the stage so far away was an error. But by sunset that area will be filled with a selection of locals particularly from surrounding villages, heavy rock or grunge fans, regular Mantonfest attendees knowledgeable these guys have 25+ years of experience at hosting the most hospitable and welcoming local festival we could namedrop, or perhaps those who ticked more than one of those multiple choices. It was at this point you realised, despite July’s event clashes, a flooding of the festival market, and Park Farm being a first timer, numbers in attendance was averagely high and everyone was up for a good time.

I met with Mantonfest’s organisers some months ago where I was concerned replicating Mantonfest this side of Devizes might have a dubious impact, yet it seemed all was alright on the night, tribute acts are welcomed once the beer flows and Park Farm Festival set a high bar, recreating the friendly atmosphere expected at Mantonfests of yore, where everyone had an amazing day. It now takes me to blow the secret, this intends to return annually and I would seriously consider jotting it onto your calendar.

If Lower Park Farm will be a camping site for freewheeling soul and ska mods and skins in a fortnight, when the Devizes Scooter Club’s celebrated annual rally takes hold, this weekend is dedicated to a range of rock aficionados. Sadly I missed Essex’s finest Jamie Williams & The Roots Collective, welcomed regulars to The Southgate, though, I’m safe in the knowledge these guys know what strings to pull.

Barrelhouse followed Chicago 9, keeping the blues flow with the unique yet highly entertaining hoedown of  groovy vintage blues, standard issue at Mantonfest now adored throughout the county.

Double-booked as usual, at this point I took advantage of the free shuttle bus, headed into town to poke my nose into The Three Crownsโ€™ fundraiser, details set to follow. Meanwhile here, Josie & The Radiotones played and I returned for sixties heroes The Swinging Blue Jeans.

Seen these before, legendary rock n rollers who make universally entertaining a crowd look like childsplay, blasting their timeless hits and others which influenced them, as even the younger dared to dance under the beating sun.

Legends ticked it was time for the evening’s tributes, and judging the amount of Nirvana t-shirts against those of AC-DC ones was tight. A sudden quantum leap forward three decades and Nirvana UK did the most accomplished task of recreating those pioneers of grunge, loudly and proudly. Yet if you came here for authenticity in a tribute, AC/DC.UK mightโ€™ve thrown contemporary sound engineers with their usage of original eighties amps, but they sublimely recreated the heavy metal sound of the period and knocked it out of Park Farm!

Personally, heavy metal was never my bag, and through Swindon’s modern grunge scene, bands like I See Orange, The Belladonna Treatment and Liddington Hill have turned my head onto something I also sorely missed in the ravey nineties. Therefore my preference lay in Nirvana UK rather than the headliner, but judging on doing what it says on the tin, AC/DC.UK absolutely rocked that finale.

Yet the whole shebang must be hailed as putting this inguinal festival on the map for following years. For anyone who winces at the price tag, it’s standard in this era of hyperinflation, blame a government not organisers, and know, just like big sister Mantonfest, you’ll see where your money was spent if you attend; quality tried and tested acts, the highest quality production and nice touches like clean toilets and the shuttle bus.

For Grist and his team, financial risk is a thing in any competitive market and it can be surprising how narrow festivals can be; it’s a five-year plan minimal where research is crucial, and the reward is  you’ve created enjoyment. Hats off to them, for this was an amazing beginning.


Pitstop at Air Ambulance Fundraising Mini-festival at The Three Crowns Devizesย 

Rude to walk into an event sporting another event wristband but the welcome was friendly as ever at the Three Crowns in Devizes. It’s mid-afternoon, Park Farm Festival‘s shuttle bus took me into town, cheekily I used it to poke my nose into the Air Ambulance fundraiser here, their first real multi-act day, I believe, save perhaps my 50th birthday, which if you remember any details of, you could always fill me in!

It was a necessity, if only to see Ruby Darbyshire, as it’s been a while, not a long while, but long enough for me. First time playing the venue and she went down a storm, unsurprisingly. Such a rich, natural talent, vocals made from silk, expressive and  forever a joy to listen to; be they either covers, a Portishead one being a particularly breathtaking one, or her intelligently constructed originals, of which she dropped a couple of new ones I’m eager to review here in good time.

There were hugs all round upon my entrance; Ben Borrill and Pat Ward finished a set as Matchbox Mutiny, a shame to miss, because those gorgeously talented guys pull a crowd and hold them. At the moment I did arrive I was delighted to catch Rachel Sinnetta & Jolyon Dixon doing their thing with Andy Fellows accompanying on guitar, as itโ€™s always impressive and highly entertaining. It was a stellar lineup with cupcakes, lollipops, childrenโ€™s face-painting, and tried and tested acts at the Three Crowns, save Ruby, who Iโ€™m assured would be welcomed back.

Rumour was Devizes Male Choir was intending to do a flash mob bit between Ruby and the grand finale, the ever lively Funked-Up. Unsure if this happened, as unfortunately, I was duty bound to return to Park Festival, but you can rest assured Funked-Up got the crowds dancing the night away. I wish I could’ve stayed.

The spirit of The Three Crowns remains toppermost in town; the go-to pub in Devizes for a good night, an unpretentious, friendly atmosphere with the widest age demographic which never clashes. Itโ€™s trouble-free fun, itโ€™s live music program set to enthral, and not forgetting gourmet burgers; itโ€™s an all-round winner on any night, but more of this all-day stuff, please kind sir!  


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 for the tip off! Her debut album  Clever Rabbits was released today, and itโ€™s a mustโ€ฆโ€ฆ.

Brit Award winning Paul McCartney and Tom Jones producer Ethan Jones spotted Ann Liu performing at Camden’s Spiritual Bar, leading her to a publishing deal with BMG. Ann, who now lives in London, represented Whispering Bob Harris at The Great Escape and Black Deer Festivals, featured on Beans on Toast’s stage at Bearded Theory and on his UK tour. She opened for Lewis Ofman in Mexico, played prestigious venues like The Clapham Grand and The Hotel Cafe Hollywood in LA, but delighted to tell me she schooled in Marlborough and grew up in a nearby village; and I thought St Johnโ€™s girls just sat around the Priory Gardens smoking menthols!

Okay, calm yourself. That was just an eighties joke, and you know this! But remain calm for Clever Rabbits because itโ€™s a breathtaking ride, a tapestry of Anglo-Celtic folklore, sacred texts, sonic binaries of modern digital synthesis and Ann Liuโ€™s classic singer-songwriter roots. โ€œI am the rabbit that knows how to kill the hill, and I have only just begun,โ€ she expressed.ย 

Experimentally playful, with two piano-based ballads opening Clever Rabbits, there’s an ambience of musical theatre about them, then with an irresistibly simple drum and bass the title track runs akin to a Mardi Gras iko-iko chant. Lost Ways has the shuffle of South America rhythms, and weโ€™re halfway through these ten uplifting masterpieces with a bittersweet psychedelic swirl called Tangle.

No You Donโ€™t is acoustic blues with a hint of lounge jazz, as gorgeous as the ultimate Norah Jones song. Another tune in, and rather Iโ€™m now pitching this alongside Joni Mitchell; itโ€™s that strong, naturally raw, and yeah, folk, fundamentally.

The album continues in a similar fashion, uplifting jazzy folk under sublime soundscapes and broken wonderfully with snippets of humorous band banter, which usually are outtakes. It lifts in tempo with False Hope, and chills for the penultimate Movement of Standing Stones, which builds in layers of atmospheric spiritual ambience, and finally a minute and half of bizarre with Gobbleknoll, breaks the concept this isnโ€™t really a book by Richard Adams and Ann Liu is not a rabbit after all!

Exploring limits of prescribed identity in a timeless, brave and sensitive challenge of the zeitgeist, the album is inspired by a Chinese idiom โ€œclever rabbits need three burrows,โ€ and the imagery of three rabbits found in Devon’s churches and China’s caves. Clearly, with profound narrative, you would need to dive deeper into this warren to explore. After one listen, though, you will feel it criminal not to. Everything in this melting pot of influences is subtle, the overall feel is a mellowed thoughtful prose sitting somewhere between the exploratory of Kate Bush and punch of Alanis Morissette, both jamming under the aura of Steeleye Span.ย 

This isnโ€™t an album for streaming. This is a take my money album. The attention to detail is divine. The unedited recordingsโ€™ background goings-on authentically puts you in the room. In promoting it, Ann Lui revealed the backstory. โ€œWhen I was ten,โ€ she explained, โ€œmy father gave me records by Ethan. When I turned 21, I got a call from Ethan after Raf sent my music to him. We began capturing these songs, and my father began dying. Today I turn 26, my father is dead, and the record is born.โ€

โ€œIn the first 25 years I found powerlessness in slow, bad, unwanted death. In limbos and dependency. I found power in wilful endings. In choice. Love ran underneath in a welcome riptide, contextualising the hurt and loss. I nursed wounds, read my stories, read other peopleโ€™s stories, broke away, reflected, mourned, rejoiced, set free. The first quarter century has been about endings, leavings, dying, and dying well. This album is a good death. The bin men are smiling. I am smiling, too.โ€

A launch for Clever Rabbits is at Londonโ€™s Lexington tonight. Ann Lui returns to her roots, as she regularly does, with an Instore at Sound Knowledge, Marlborough on Thursday 17th July at St. Peter’s. Entry is FREE but please do let them know to expect you if you’d like to attend, or pre-order a copy of ‘Clever Rabbits’ from them to guarantee your place.

LinkTree Website


Striking Photographic Portrait Exhibition Celebrates Five Years of Impactful Creative Workย with Older People at Wiltshire Music Centre

If youโ€™ve popped into Wiltshire Music Centre recently; for a concert, workshop, screening orย even a meeting, you might have noticedโ€ฏchanges in the foyer: recorded music, the cafe-barย open at peak times during the day, and currently, a strikingโ€ฏphotographic exhibition of black and white portraitsโ€ฆ..

The โ€˜Men in Conversationโ€™ exhibition presents portraits of members of the Trowbridge Creative Conversations Menโ€™s Group, a creative arts and heritage group for men aged 65+ held in Trowbridge Library. Facilitated by professional artist practitioners, Creative Conversations sessions bring together isolated older people to share their experiences and creative ideas in a friendly and welcoming environment.โ€ฏSo, when Stuart Brook, one of the members of the Trowbridge menโ€™s group shared his interest in photography, it wasnโ€™t surprising that it inspired the participants to take portraits of each other. The results were so impactful, uplifting and moving, that theyโ€™re now on display at Wiltshire Music Centre until the end of July, before moving to Trowbridge Library, all made possible by funding from The Trowbridge Town Trust.

The free-to-visit exhibition contributed to a Celebration event, marking the impact of theย Celebrating Age Wiltshire partnership from 2020-2025. The event, attended by partners,ย funders, artists and community champions, showcased some of the many outcomes achieved through this project, funded by the National Lottery Reaching Communities Fund. Artworks, as well as the exhibition included songs, spoken word, and art and heritage pieces, introduced by Creative Producer, Rebecca Seymour.

It was an opportunity for Wiltshire Music Centre to thank everyone that has contributed to this project to this point, including funders, The National Lottery Reaching Communities Fund, Wiltshire Council Area Boards, Town Councils, Wiltshire Community Foundation, Arts Council England and other Trusts and Foundations. Partners, Pound Arts, Wiltshire Creative, Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre, AgeUK, Wiltshire Council and Libraries and Community First, Creative Producer Rebecca Seymour and our staff team, volunteers, community champions and community organisations past and present, and, of course, the sixty-five artists!

In August, Wiltshire Music Centre will hand over the leadership of this award-winning, countyย wide project to AgeUK Wiltshire, who will continue to reach isolated older people throughย creative arts and heritage events and workshop groups. We look forward to continuing toย partner in this incredible project, as it continues to grow.ย 

More Information HERE


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The Lost Trades Float on New Single

Iโ€™ve got some gorgeous vocal harmonies currently floating into my ears, as The Lost Trades release their first single since the replacement of Tamsin Quinโ€ฆ

Barrelhouse are Open for Business with New Album

Rolling out a Barrelhouse of fun, you can have blues on the run, tomorrow (7th November) when Marlborough’s finest groovy vintage blues virtuosos Barrelhouse releaseโ€ฆ

Wendy James Tour Coming to Fromeโ€™s Cheese & Grain

Photo credit: David Leigh Dodd

Pioneers of the indie-rock sound which would lead us into the nineties, Transvision Vamp lead singer Wendy James has announced a UK tour in October in support of her recently released tenth solo album The Shape of History, which includes Fromeโ€™s Cheese & Grainโ€ฆ..

Wendy will be accompanied on tour by a full band, featuring Transvision Vamp’s bass player Dave Parsons, Jim Sclavunos from Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds on drums and Alex Ward (Thurston Moore Group) on guitar. They will be playing songs from across all of her albums, from TVV Pop, to New Wave Punk to Lo-Fi Racine No.1, through to the big productions of Queen High Straight and The Shape Of History, picking off favourite songs from each.ย 

For full tour dates see here, but closest to us is Tuesday 14th October at the Cheese and Grain, and The Fleece, Bristol on Tuesday 28th October.

While The Shape of History doesnโ€™t begin with a sound akin to Transvision Vamp, thereโ€™s underlying echoes of it as the album builds. Layers of electronica envelope the familiar vocals, so while itโ€™s not what you were expecting, the effect is as The Independent described, โ€œlike a patchwork of memories โ€“ victories, heartaches, the feeling of racing down a California highway, no destination in mind.โ€ And Classic Rock expressed that 

โ€œThe Wendy James of 2024 is an older, wiser and far more intriguing prospect. The Shape of History, never dull, and certainly never predictable.โ€ 

 โ€œMy songwriting has always been a wide mix of sounds, which naturally reflect the different music and references I have and love,โ€ Wendy explained, โ€œThe Shape Of History was recorded on Scrubs Lane, West London with Alex Ward, Harry Bohay and James Sclavunos. I then went off to NYC and Brooklyn to record the pianos and organs with Dave โ€˜The Mooseโ€™ Sherman. Overdubbing continued with Al Lawson at the engineering helm in his Shepherdโ€™s Bush studio and then I went back to Berkeley, CA to mix with Jesse Nichols before mastering with Fred Kevorkian in Brooklyn NY. I have spent so much time with this music, I know it note-for-note and love it and am so happy for you to make it your own now”.

 โ€œThe Shape Of History has a lot about love in it, a lot about appreciation of oneself, oneโ€™s life and importantly, of others. It is lifeโ€™s arc of starting out, blooming into something and in some ways maturing. I donโ€™t think my music has got older, I know Iโ€™ve not gone mellow! My attitude can be more ferocious and fearless than ever, but there is an acquired wisdom, which naturally comes after having been alive for a few decades! โ€˜The Shape Of Historyโ€™ is a love letter and a Thank you note to life so far. The culmination of my tenth album is the result of co-musicians and engineers who Iโ€™ve worked with previously and with whom I share a language. We know each other, we choose to work together. We enjoy each otherโ€™s talents and personalities. There is a happiness, a belonging, when we meet up, and an open and determined desire to achieve what we know we have to.โ€

โ€œFrom meeting Nick Christian Sayer and forming Transvision Vamp, the two of us walking into EMI Records, and demanding to see the head of Artists and Repertoire, Dave Ambrose. Getting signed and making our hits of the late 80โ€™s and 90โ€™s. From collaborating with Elvis Costello and mixing that album at Sunset Sound in Hollywood where The Stones mixed โ€˜Exile On Main Stโ€™, then moving to NYC to start writing and recording as a solo artist, all the gigs Iโ€™ve played and the friends Iโ€™ve made around the world, the astounding, incredible, wonderful people whose lives Iโ€™ve crossed paths withโ€ฆ I am so grateful for it all.โ€

Buy Shape of History HERE


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Ruzz Guitar Swings With The Dirty Boogie

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Joyrobber Didn’t Want Your Stupid Job Anyway

A second track from local anonymous songwriter Joyrobber has mysteriously appeared online, and heโ€™s bitter about not getting his dream jobโ€ฆ.. If this mysterious dudeโ€™sโ€ฆ

Devizes Chamber Choir Christmas Concert

Itโ€™s not Christmas until the choir sings, and Devizes Chamber Choir intend to do precisely this by announcing their Christmas Concert, as they have doneโ€ฆ

Steatopygous go Septic

If you believe AI, TikTok and the rest of it all suppress Gen Zโ€™s outlets to convey anger and rage, resulting in a generation ofโ€ฆ

The Wurzels To Play At FullTone 2026!

If Devizesโ€™ celebrated FullTone Festival is to relocate to Whistley Roadโ€™s Park Farm for next summerโ€™s extravaganza, what better way to give it the rusticโ€ฆ

โ€œlove you, byeโ€ at Ustinov Studio, Bath, July 7th-10th 2025.

By Ian Diddams
Images by Luke Ashley Tame of Acadia Creative

Around 2 million women are victims of violence perpetrated by men every year, thatโ€™s 3,000 offences recorded every single day.

A year ago, Uncaged Theatre brought their work in progress production โ€œFaithโ€ to the Rondo Theatre. Its review can be found here. A year later they are about to take its completed version โ€“ now entitled โ€œlove you, byeโ€ – to the Edinburgh Fringe and are warming up with a four-night run at Ustinov Studio, Bath. It has indeed come a long way since that nascent concept and has become a more rounded, holistic production โ€ฆ  which is still sphincter clenchingly, seat squirmingly uncomfortable watching at times โ€“ especially if you are male.

The number of offences has grown 37% in the last five years and violence against women and girls accounts for 20% of all recorded crime. Thatโ€™s recorded. Not total, only what is actually told to the police.  

The fundamental premise and action of the play remains the same โ€“ four friends, a missing woman, the ramifications. The external pressures on the group of trial by social media and finger pointing, and on the missing woman of asking for it, being out alone after dark. The mediaโ€™s gloss-over reporting with its own inherent racial and societal biases, the groupโ€™s individual coping mechanisms, personal even selfish concernsโ€ฆ  and collapse of trustโ€ฆ  all remain in this final product. But while โ€œFaithโ€ was a work in full, โ€œlove you, byeโ€ uses the play as a glorified MacGuffin to the real message of the production.

A woman is killed by a man every three days in the UK. Thatโ€™s 168 women murdered at the hands of a man every year.

As writer Meg Pickup โ€“ who plays Colly โ€“ says โ€œWe didnโ€™t want to write a play just about the victim – we wanted to write about those still standing, and how they carry the weight. We wanted to create something that doesn’t just speak to grief, but to the fierce loyalty and messy beauty of a chosen family. The group at the centre of the play acts as a microcosm of societyโ€™s response to violence against women and girls.โ€

In the year ending March 2022, there were 194,683 sexual offences, of which 70,330 were rape. Thats reported rape, again not total, only what is actually told to the police.

Is the performance a lecture? Is it โ€œentertainmentโ€? These are the questions asked by Colly/Meg directly to the audience. The characters reflect people we all know. Some reading this review and seeing the production will have shared in the charactersโ€™ own experiences. It uses real audio of the likes of Trump, Marilyn Manson, Andrew Tate interspersed with real voicemails of ordinary people wishing each other well, saying โ€œI love youโ€, saying โ€œโ€™byeโ€. The social imagery is stark, uncomfortable. How do we as a society that individually expresses love to partners and friends combine to create monsters that prey on the vulnerable? Why is it those that are in positions of authority to protect, instead abuse that position. We all know these cases โ€“ and also not those cases that the selective media with its own biases omits from our newsfeeds.

Only 3.2% of reported rape is even prosecuted. Then of that 3.2% only 62% are convicted.

The play part of the production includes two new characters from โ€œFaithโ€. Firstly, a collective female character โ€œEverywomanโ€ who is represented by the three female protagonists in their drinking game of โ€œNever Have I Everโ€ requiring a downed shot for every challenge that has happened to them which quickly becomes increasingly dark outlining their shared experiences of violence as females. And there is now โ€œNot-All-Menโ€ –  a, it must be said, loathsome character insisting that itโ€™s all somewhat overblown and not widespread, and whose own words condemn himself for his self denial and lack of collective responsibility and empathy, while wallowing in the words of Richard III and King Lear to justify his position.

The broad indication is that, during the last year, of the 70,330 rapes reported to police only 1,378 led to a conviction…

“love you, bye” is performed by four actors with six parts. Meg Pickup – who also co-wrote the piece – excels as the bullish and frankly bullying Colly who in some ways actually – unbeknownst to her – reflects some of the toxically masculine traits she so despises, in her relationship with Kaia, played by Taruna Nalini. Both portray their failing relationship with skill, neither overegging the tragedy that is happening to them externally and internally nor shying away from the difficult concepts of the story. Taruna’s vulnerability is the perfect foil to Meg’s bullishness and in so doing they reflect the wider society the premise of the play explores. Taruna combines the pain and pleasure of a relationship that isn’t always equal, while carrying a secret from her youth in a different culture, different social mores that nonetheless has a profound lifelong effect – her ability as an actress to mix these emotions and repressed fears is masterful. Billie-Jo Rainbird plays the pivotal role of Mercy, slightly on the outside of her friendship group but devoted to them all and they to her. Her strength is subtle, not worn on her sleeve but she is clearly supportive of not only her friends but also her partner’s anxiety back at their flat, all played sweetly and calmly, a unifying force. Billie-Jo also designed the sound and lighting for the show as well as the digital program. These three also represent collectively “Everywoman”, a combined edifice of womanhood sharing their abuses in a drinking game. These are fast paced scenes delivered perfectly with all the hidden menace in their reported words starkly evident while externally they just blankly down their shots. That just leaves Mercy’s flatmate, the promiscuous devil-may-care gay friend, played by Nicholas Downton-Cooper. Nicholas captures the sexually blithe character of Theo with ease – then the unsure, worried, slightly selfish man concerned at how the world later perceives him. He flip flops this role with the strident, I’m-all-right-Jack delivery of the Not-All-Man character, the polar opposite of Theo’s character in many ways. Flip-flopping between two such opposite characters takes care and skill and Nicholas achieves this seamlessly, aided and abetted by just a pair of spectacles and a yellow shirt in his role changes. Evie Osbon is the directorial genius behind the show and between them all they deliver sixty-eight minutes of gripping, compulsive viewing. It is something everybody should see; the writing is precise, pertinent and pulls no punches.

… This is a conviction rate of less than 2%.

So โ€“ is this a lecture?  Is it entertainment? Are you uncomfortable? Find out for yourself – the show runs until Thursday 10th at Ustinov Studio Bath, and then at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe from August 19th-25th at 12:30 daily at the Bedlam Theatre (Venue 49), 11b Bristol Place EH1 1EZ.

Tickets from www.theatreroyal.org.uk/events/love-you-bye/ (Bath)
                          www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/love-you-bye (Edinburgh)

Henry Aldridge and Son to Move Into Devizes Old Town Hall

Family run premier auctioneers of antiques and collector’s items, Henry Aldridge and Son announced a move into The Old Town Hall on Wine Street, Devizes; a move which will see them return to their rootsโ€ฆ..

Alan Aldridge started Henry Aldridge and Son from the first floor of The Old Town Hall thirty-five years ago. Theyโ€™re delighted to be coming home having completed the freehold purchase of the property. โ€œIt means so much to us as a family,โ€ Chrissie Aldridge told us.

โ€œThe Old Town Hall, a stunning Grade II* neoclassical property will serve as the principal location for the collation of our Titanic, Liner and iconic memorabilia auctions. We will also host weekly free valuation days on Thursday market days.โ€ 

โ€œThe first stage of our move will take place next month with our main operation relocating to the Old Emporium in October.โ€

Henry Aldridge and Son host free valuations in Devizes every Friday with their Head of Valuations, TVโ€™s Paul Martin. Paul, who hosted BBCโ€™s Flog It for nearly twenty years is available to cast his expert eye over your prize possessions.

The Old Town Hall dates to 1752, first commissioned as a market hall, the ground floor was the town’s cheese market. By 1785 the first floor was an arsenal for the Royal Wiltshire Militia, and has also been the mess hall of the Devizes Loyal Volunteers, and a Sunday school. 

Why is it called Wine Street? By 1836 the building was leased for commercial use, acquired by wine merchants, Messrs Cunnington, who used the basement and the vaults below for storage. The building has also been the museum, library and reading rooms of the literary and scientific institution. But many will remember its use by TSB, Hen House and the Wine Street Gallery.


โ€œMuch Ado About Nothingโ€ at Cleeve House, Seend, July 7th-12th 2025.

By Ian Diddams
Images by Ian Diddams and Shakespeare Live

Is it post watershed? Then I shall beginโ€ฆ  The etymology of the word โ€œNothingโ€ is quiteโ€ฆ  interestingโ€ฆ aside from meaning โ€œzeroโ€ such as is today, historically it has had other meanings and pronunciations including โ€œnoting,โ€ the writing down of musical notesโ€ฆ  and in Shakespeareโ€™s era it had another totally different meaning, that being a slang term for female genitalia. So, with this in mind, Willโ€™s comedy about the pursuit of female companionship and the alleged capriciousness of the distaff members of the human species, โ€œMuch Ado About Nothingโ€ takes on a somewhat slightly different nuance โ€ฆ

Trawling the web for relative popularity of Shakespeareโ€™s plays holds few surprises with regards which gets performed the most etc.  Unsurprisingly maybe โ€œRomeo & Julietโ€, โ€œMacbethโ€ and โ€œMidsummer Nightโ€™s Dreamโ€ feature highest (google is your friend here), and that trend continues with other โ€œobviousโ€ plays until we reach number seven in the list and โ€œMuch Ado About Nothingโ€, his tale of marital pursuit, deceit, jealousy and spurned love that all comes good in the end. The plot of such a Shakespeare standard needs no explanation here and YouTube can easily fill in the blanks for you, and so we move onto the beautiful background of Cleeve House, Seend, for this weekโ€™s performances by โ€œShakespeare Live.โ€

Directed by Gill Morell, her vision has set the play in preโ€“English Civil war times where tensions were rising and familiesโ€™ split along royalist and parliamentarian lines. This is wonderfully portrayed here with the familyโ€™s soldierโ€™s clearly cavaliers, with the opposing Don John and his entourage as parliamentarians. This is perfectly and simply set by some sumptuous costumes revelling in the brightness and pageantry of the Royalists, and the simplistic, wide collared black clothing of the Roundheads. The physical setting is regal too โ€“ with Cleeve House as a backdrop to the stage area we feel we really could be back in time, including use of the houseโ€™s own windows for the bedroom scene.

The entire play of course is premised on spying and eavesdropping โ€“ some for comedic value of course as both Beatrice and Benedick are spoon fed falsehoods as they eavesdrop on the knowing conspirators, but also surreptitious spying in the bedroom scene which in itself is a subterfuge akin to the likes of โ€œOperation Mincemeatโ€. After all, the first casualty of war is truth.

There are three basic groups of characters in Much Ado โ€“ the family, the soldiers, the villagers. The family is portrayed by Alison Paine as a strong Leonata, the matriarch, Jeremy Reece as her brother, Antonio, Sarah Horrex superb as Hero, Leonataโ€™s daughter, the wonderfully tempestuous and feisty niece Beatrice by Phobe Fung, and Kerensa McCondach as Margaret the gentlewoman and erstwhile friend to Hero.

The soldiers are more than well provided by Laurie Parnell as Don Pedro the prince, Peter Emuss as lovestruck Claudio, Oli Beech as Claudioโ€™s best friend and Beatriceโ€™s sparring partner and love-hate interest, Adam Sturges as Balthasar and Napoleon as the sneaky, jealous and conniving Don John, aided and abetted in his fifth column activities by Roger Hames as Borachio and Lucy Perry as Conrad.

That just leaves the villagers made up of the unflappable Simon Reeves as the ย equally unflappable Father Francis, and of course, the best part of the show (personal opinion here! ) the Watch consisting of Paul Batson as Dogberry, Graham Paton as Verges, Penny Clegg as Seacole, Caroline Emuss as Pyke, and David Morrell as Oatcake,

Tech is provided by the ever resourceful Rich Carter, Alex Latham and Ellen Read, the previously mentioned wonderful costumes by Hermione Skrine, Caren Felton, Helen Holliday and Ellen Williamson, Music by Laurie Parnell. This was all kept running smoothly by the dream team of stage management James Dennis and Connor Palmer.

The play finishes with all loose ends neatly tied up and for those that don’t know the plot, no particular spoilers here though following a brief discourse at the eventual wedding scene I was reminded that as Tina Turner once sang… “We Don’t Need another Hero

This is a well delivered rendition of Much Ado in a stunning setting โ€“ it really doesnโ€™t get any better than this. The show runs all week until July 12th, including a Saturday matinee, and tickets are available from https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/shakespearelive

Live in Pewsey, at the First Oak-Fest

Amidst another packed summer weekend’s schedule laid that lovable large village Pewseyโ€™s turn to shine; always a law unto itself, things went off; if itโ€™s good enough for King Alfredโ€ฆ..

The Royal Oak has filled a gap, hosting quality regular music nights under the production of Wiltshire Music Events, but this Saturday was the true test, transforming it into an inaugural carpark-festival, an icing on an already delicious lardy cake, though equally a learning curve.

Programming by Eddie Prestidge, so passionate about spreading word of musicians south of the county, inevitably overbooks, as is his desire to showcase as many as feasible. He called me Friday, delightedly informing me George Wilding was added to the already jammed schedule; but how will he fit him in?! 

Thinking big; quality stage production, security, generous VIP hospitality, two food outlets, and hopeful punters would flood the site. The latter being the only dubious thing about the event. All the right ingredients there, comparable, the price reasonable, certainly got your money’s worth, but to debate only a sprinkling were attracted is opening a Pandora’s box to a general plight of austerity, flooding the festival market, or a combination of the two; every man and his dog are putting them on and there’s only so many individuals can reasonably attend.

Therefore, established festivals may well appeal over the risk of testing a new one, but I was assured here, as I suggested you should be too; Wiltshire Music Events has hosted many great ones in various locations; your money goes on production and ensuring musicians are paid their fair share, something sadly overlooked by other organisers. CrownFest and Salisbury Market Place were the most memorable, plus, whenever The Marley Experience is in the area that’s where I’m gonna be, sir! 

A win-win for me, who was due to attend the fantastic Minety but work and family commitments shadowed this; possibly an argument supporting pub mini-festivals over larger established festivals. Convenience for the middle-aged wrought with unpredictable employment culture or family commitments, above the intense arrangements necessary for a three-day camping extravaganza, such as the beautiful Minety. The mini-festival goer can be spontaneous; it’s Saturday, my only day off, sleeping in a tent is for younger nutters. Iโ€™ve  been otherwise occupied on recent weekends, so, like Peter Pan in spirit but not in body, I’m determined to make up for it this weekend!

There I be, Pewsey, dammit, in an apt Bob Marley tee, watching the grand finale ignoring the timetable; Bird is The Word captured the moment on camera! The Marley Experience professionally captivated and caused the slight crowd to appear larger, with their infectious and irresistible homage to Bob Marley & The Wailers; a matchless show, the band tight, expressive and clearly adoring the limelight of what a decade of dedication has perfected into a sublime tribute act.

But there was magic in the air prior, which opened with Pewsey-own The Little Big Band, and was followed by Rosie Jay and Leon Daye, all of which, due to aforementioned commitments, I missed; and I love Rosie Jay. Though her last single we reviewed was a duet with Salisburyโ€™s award-winning newcomer Lucas Hardy, and on that ground alone I was delighted to catch the end of his superb set. With George Wilding penultimately added, I saw a similarity in Lucas to George’s early years, a natural and unpretentious talent who can engage an audience with a guitar and smile.

Returning from cruising tours, George Wilding doesnโ€™t plan, doesnโ€™t need to, he just charms as usual; if heโ€™s an interactive human jukebox, heโ€™s one of those polished decorative American ones from the fifties. Shout your requests, George knows it, or will give it a try, make it his own, and youโ€™ll love him for it, you wonโ€™t be able to help yourself!

Between those two, then, a basic four-piece setup from Andover with a repertoire of rock classic covers sprinkled with a folk tinge, called The Tipsy Gypsies. Their music commanded Iโ€™d come to the right place. The premise sounds simple, the effect was far from it. They owned the stage with accomplished showmanship, stylised renditions, and a barrelful of fun.

Gypsies tipsy perfect for what would follow, a Somerset Pogues tribute known as The Phogues. Now things were going to really liven up, as, warts, a spilled round of whiskey shots, and all, were divinely caricatured. The Pogues uniquely blended Irish folk with punk, others mimicked it, overshadowing the blueprint. When Phogues return to the originators, you recall why it was copied aplenty; a stern yet fun reminder to the heyday of Shane and bandโ€™s drunken skullduggery, and the music which somehow spawned from it!

Despite being off-season, they told me they had to do โ€œthat song,โ€ and I supposed they did. So, between Streams of Whiskey, Fiesta, Sickbed of Cuchulainn and just about every favourite Pouges song of mine, they drafted in the assistance of unsuspecting Claire Grist, singer and self-proclaimed โ€œright titโ€ of Bird is the Word music promotion, to be Kirsty MacColl, and who made a good job of it. Was their female vocalist absent? No, itโ€™s a gimmick to invite anyone from the audience to take the position, they explained to me, but hey, they didnโ€™t need gimmicks, they did a fine job of bellowing out the beloved Pogues songs far sober than the originals ever did.

Time for a change of direction, as local indie-pop favourites Talk in Code rocked up for a lengthy set of eighties-inspired synth-rock bombs, ate complimentary curry, and lit up the stage with their electric presence. If youโ€™ve come to an event expecting cover bands, Talk in Code donโ€™t go there, but their infectious originals cause you to wonder if youโ€™ve heard them before, on some Now, Thatโ€™s What I Call Music compilation album from 1986. Hereโ€™s the lads in perfect sync, jumping, flaunting their perfection, as ever, doing what they love and engaging any audience from roughneck boater to FullTone Festival punter; they never fail to obtain admiration.

Time pushing on, George Wilding entertained while The Marley Experience prepared, and did their amazing thing, exploding the finale with irresistible reggae vibes. Oak Festival, Pewsey Live, or whatchamacallit, couldโ€™ve been more affordable, by skipping on some of the magic, but they chose to showcase the lot, that paid off to those there, but I suspect, as videos and images emerge, folk not there will be wondering how and why they missed it. They could have overplayed their social media promotion, and a striking poster mightโ€™ve been advantageous, yet I believe thereโ€™s a delicate balance which sees one event sellout and another left threadbare, and itโ€™s debatable what causes this. For what itโ€™s worth, I’ve seen lesser attended first time festivals, much less, and the slight crowdโ€™s merriments made for a population tenfold from the reality!

There was a kebab van, but the delicious waft of curry from a stand, by Tale of Spice on Pewseyโ€™s North Street, twisted my arm. There was little in alternative entertainment, insufficient pub loos, but with concentration on the lineup, this was a welcoming, fun and lively occasion, a showcase of Wiltshire Music Eventsโ€™ quality and varied artists, and petty issues one can shrug off uncaringly when the vibe is this alive. 

Pewsey rocked into the cooling night, possibly later than planned, but no one whined on social media, because this is Pewsey, not Devizes; a carnival village where rather than rant you cannot hear your pin drop, you get your slippers on and join in! 


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No Surprises Living in Devizes: Juneโ€™s Hypermasculinity Speeding Solar Farming Rave Sinkhole

Harold Wilson said, โ€œa week in politics is a long time.โ€ Lesser within local politics, but weโ€™ve a month to lambast, so no messing aboutโ€ฆ. okay, maybe a little. With the promise to reduce satire to this monthly causerie, Iโ€™ve been biting my lip till soreโ€ฆ Calne Councillors for Rape campaign, Potterne Hates Solar, to a five- or six-million-pound โ€œsinkhole,โ€ in other words a Wiltshire councillorโ€™s offshore account; itโ€™s all been happeningโ€ฆ…

Pride month too, where we embraced freedom of expression and equality, or got triggered. โ€œWens strait pride munth?โ€ thick slices of gammon inquired on social media, and theyโ€™ve a point. When weโ€™ve progressed from centuries of heterosexuals beheaded, to imprisonment, onto ridicule, and now more agreeably just obtaining angered emojis on every Pride Facebook share simply for loving someone, maybe. Until then just stay home, itโ€™s not law to attend a Pride, you know? I suspect the sunny but rainy start to the month triggered them too; โ€œeven the skyโ€™s gone woke!โ€

Last month Wiltshire Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Wilkinson was on weed, this month it’s speed; he’s right, dammit, it is a gateway drug! What is a gateway drug anyhow, one you can buy in a supermarket? And if so, can you mix them with Somerfield drugs?!

Ah, Wiltshire Police were cracking down on speeding, raving, weed, and anything else causing misinformed Wilko sweaty underarm patches; brutally ripping foxes apart for fun, heโ€™s fine with. When twenty-seven fruit-bats were clocked speeding in Wilton and a further thirty-three in Harnham at the beginning of the month, Wilko told The Wiltshire Times, โ€œSpeeding is dangerous, it can kill and leave others seriously injured.โ€

This is shocking, a shocking piece of clickbait. No shit, Sherlock Wilko. Like a football commentator, overpaid to state the bleeding obvious. Peep from your office window and realise selfish pricks have cars; theyโ€™re hoodies-up driving gung-ho like theyโ€™re escaping the wrath of Steppenwolf, else parking them wherever its most inconvenient for emergency services.

This is something we cannot blame those in positions of power for, it is every driverโ€™s responsibility; Google the word โ€œresponsibilityโ€ in this era where no one is held accountable, not even councillors โ€œlosingโ€ six million smackers, of which we will move onto when convenient. Just thought Iโ€™d mention it under the premise of โ€œsetting a good example.โ€

Thereโ€™s no social grouping either; young, old, male, female, black, white; so many drivers have got headless chickens going โ€œyou’re erratic, pal;โ€ French headless chickens.

Yet Wiltshire done away with stationary cameras, too expensive, but Wilko’s salary isn’t, apparently. A salary the average copper wiping up bits of brain left on the highway could only dream of. โ€œWe havenโ€™t got the resources,โ€ Wilko whinges, then deploys intelligence to break up kids having fun. Yep, on the 19th of June Melksham Police were โ€œaware of a planned large gathering due to take place in Lacock.โ€

โ€œThe event,โ€ they bragged on Facebook, โ€œwhich was being organised via WhatsApp, was set to occur without the landownerโ€™s permission and was expected to attract a significant number of young people. We have engaged directly with the individual believed to be organising the gathering, and they have now cancelled the event.โ€

God forbid, young people, gathering, throwing away their cares and stresses of a business-like education system where theyโ€™re the products, for just a few hours, enjoying themselves without profiteering festival organisers hosting middle-class festivals they cannot afford; if it ends in anarchy, itโ€™ll be of the governmentโ€™s own making. Iโ€™m not going to pretend Iโ€™m hip with the kids, Iโ€™m a 52-year-old grandad, but have we not been here beforeโ€ฆwith glowsticks?!

One tip, young urnโ€™s; we had raves of 40,000, and we did it by word of mouth; try it, cos WhatsApp can be infiltrated. โ€œWe didnโ€™t โ€˜ave all thart inter-web thingy bark wen I be argh right raver, yer nose!โ€

Ah yes, lessons of the nineties forgotten, now unarchived. If you donโ€™t provide entertainment for youth, theyโ€™ll make their own. Does this fake Labour government want this? Keep supporting genocide, silence objectors, set that example, and watch this backfire into massive civil disobedience, why donโ€™t you?!

โ€œThe safeguarding of young people remains a top priority for us,โ€ the police said, didnโ€™t matter about Calne, something else to move onto.

I recall a time when official “pay” raves were no better organised and safer than their illegal counterparts. I cannot say if the same goes now, but unrestricted from the rules of society the majority looked out for each other, even tidied up after themselves. Other than perhaps the noise, they really werenโ€™t the massive problem the media and government would have had people believe, but police would turn up anyway, while their town centres were wrought with drunken troublemakers.

Why not praise their initiative and police it accordingly? Because itโ€™s illegal? Donโ€™t make me laugh, foxhunting is illegal too, but you turn a blind eye to that.

Promoting hate speech isnโ€™t entirely legal either, but police didnโ€™t intervene in Calne when rogue Reform councillor Violette Simpson mistook hypermasculinity and rape culture for โ€œfreedom of speech.โ€ Because thanks to Calne Town Council, who unlike Trowbridgeโ€™s, swallowing Farageโ€™s strawberry milkshake cum bucket at the Civic Hall, they sensibly refused her event to go ahead in council property. Some call it โ€œwoke,โ€ others, with a braincell, call it common sense; I believe theyโ€™ve similar meanings.

Ah, Violette again, who, seemingly so frustrated in South Africa about the abolition of apartheid, took it out on the wildlife, proudly posted her gunning an innocent antelope as her Facebook profile picture, and still manged to obtain a seat on Calne Town Council. Weโ€™re so indoctrinated Reform candidates could shoot Hello Kitty and still win a by-election.

She invited Carl Benjamin to Calne for a nice chat about โ€œBritish Identity and the Modern Male,โ€ which roughly translates to how to progress your hatred for women into violence, it seems to me. Carl, though egotistically calls himself Sargon of Akkad after the first ruler of the Akkadian Empire, is rather a YouTubing Swindon answer to Andrew Tate, just with a smidgen more hatred for feminism.

Simpson whimpered about the cancelation like the hurt puppy she probably wouldโ€™ve shot, calling it an โ€œunprecedented move,โ€ by Calne Town Council, and claimed they were โ€œscared of genuine open and honest dialogue.โ€ Benjamin got a wrap on the knuckle when he Tweeted to Labour MP Jess Phillips, โ€œI wouldn’t even rape you,โ€ meaning it as an insult, to say she was so unattractive to consider raping, ergo if he was to pay her a compliment the precise reverse would be, โ€œI would rape you,โ€ and Violette thinks this is โ€œhonest dialogue?!โ€

It’s not really, is it? Itโ€™s twisted mindfuckery intended to evoke and encourage the kind of hypermasculinity which leads to scenarios akin to Jack Thorne and Stephen Grahamโ€™s celebrated drama Adolescence. Being Calne suffered a real-life comparable situation just six years ago, when a seventeen-year-old boy stabbed the girlfriend who left him, was an event like this respectful to the family of Ellie Gould?

Then again, does Reform understand respect? โ€œWe need strong healthy men to maintain a strong healthy society,โ€ Simpson waffled, has she not seen what this lovechild of Henry VIII and Minecraft Steve has been preaching from Satanโ€™s scrotum?! Iโ€™m a red-blooded British modern male, and to me that means having self-control, accepting patriarchy has been rightfully replaced by equality, and life is not Grand Theft Auto.

Strangely, Benjamin himself is a family man, living masked in a fantasy world like heโ€™s Sauron, inspiring boys to take up arms against girls in some imaginary gender war, and I think thatโ€™s worse than him being a masturbating loner in a bedsit, because heโ€™s normalising this medieval rhetoric. Not to mention, if he did bash the bishop more, he might be less tetchy; you cannot replace a knob with a game controller, for whilst it may satisfy the male craving for fiddling, it does nought for sexual satisfaction.

Yet in a youโ€™ve not heard the last of this yet notion, Violette vowed to host more controversial events. I wonder what they might be. Matthew Hopkinsโ€™ Witch-Burning Festival on International Women’s Day, or a homage to the work of Sir Jimmy Saville on Mothering Sunday?

She even encouraged another Reform town councillor, Augusta Urquhart-Nicholls to jump this bandwagon and bleat to Calne News about how their freedom of speech is unhinged by not allowing them to promote hate. โ€œReform are here now,โ€ Urquhart-Nicholls told Calne News, โ€œwe have been elected, did you really think I would make this easy for you?โ€ Sounds like a Trump-like threat to anyone with empathy, unsurprisingly.

Okay, if sheโ€™s an advocate of free speech despite backed by a fascist company posing as a political party, she might not go as far as sucking off Bob Vylan, but she cannot object to me stating the bleeding obvious, that though Iโ€™ve not met the bloke, or have any desire to do so, he sounds like an utterly vile doggie doing, typical of Reform, and the only event he should be speaking at is a how to drop your soap in the shower for kudos at HMP Belmarsh.

Can we move on now, because if there’s any positive to be obtained from these women promoting hatred towards women, it’s surely proof that Reform councillors are as thick as a Boxing Day turd.

Things are nicer in Potterne, they’re just in dying need of a Green Party parish councillor. I supported Potterne Against Solar as I agreed One Tree Hill was an unsuitable location for a solar farm, but now they’re raging against another, proposed on Whistley Road, because it’s a blot on the landscape between the cesspit and breakers yard. It might just be me, but I’m kind of thinking they just don’t like renewable energy.

One legend suggested on Facebook they put them on the roofs of carparks, because yeah, dammit, all those multistorey carpark roofs in Potterne are just going to waste! Roughly translated, โ€œnot in my backyard.โ€ I’m mistaken to assume we all had to do our bit, before One Tree Hill is One Tree Island. But itโ€™s nice to know I can still walk my dog there when all life on Earth is extinct.

Carpark? Donโ€™t make me laugh; on the same day, the trusty Gazelle & Herod reported on the uncertainty of St Stephenโ€™s multi-storey carpark in Trowvegas. Under review from structural engineers, โ€œthree months after a swathe of parking bays were closed off.โ€ Carparks here cannot hold their own weight, let alone a solar farm on top; almost symbolic of the shambolic Wiltshire Council, huh?

Oh, bet you thought I wouldnโ€™t mention it, didnโ€™t you? Hope and pray this will be pushed under the carpet as quickly as it crept up on us; the ยฃ5 million, or maybe ยฃ6 million, (whoโ€™s counting the odd million?) โ€œsinkholeโ€ opened in Wiltshire Councilโ€™s finances the new Lib Dem administration revealed, and corporate director of resources Lizzie Watkin informatively said it was โ€œa very big number.โ€ Good point on a Wilko grading system, thatโ€™s like a dayโ€™s cash-in-hand work for Jeremy Clarkson.

Stranger Things; no-one has been able to explain what caused it, no-one saw it coming, and some doubted whether the hole exists at all. Using a monkey climbing a tree idiom, I favour the latter; a โ€œsinkhole,โ€ is that another name for a councillorโ€™s offshore account?

The Lib Dems claimed the dosh was missing when they took over, the Conservatives claimed it was there when they left, (blame Pickfords?) The councilโ€™s chief executive said both things were true, and the shoemaker looked suspiciously at the elves.

ยฃ5.5 million was laughed off like it was a box of pencils. All we know is ex-Conservative leader Richard Clewerโ€™s favourite song is Shaggyโ€™s It Wasnโ€™t Me. Typical Tory who doesnโ€™t understand the buck stops at the top, and it isnโ€™t the Demogorgon from the upside down.

The scapegoat for the deficit, which must be replenished, but how that might be achieved is the final unsolvable Scooby-Doo mystery, but you can bet your bottom dollar the taxpayer will involuntary be involved, is pointed at an overspend in adult social care. The budget of which is conveniently something as much spiralling out of control as my waffling, yet unarguably a necessity in a world gone bonkers. The Care Act 2014 moved the goalposts, they reckoned, and everyone got confused at the complicated process, very professional till the end.

Imagine the state of social care if there was no overspend, as itโ€™s currently more like Mad Maxโ€™s Thunderdome rather than Huxleyโ€™s Brave New World. Hereโ€™s an unrelated report about severely autistic Darren Jones, about to be evicted from a Warminster care home; thereโ€™s many comparable stories, and we know from the Furlong Close scandal, when councillors look at care homes they see real estate.

Though, Iโ€™d rather fetch ยฃ6 million out of my own pocket than imagine what adult social care would be like if Reform won the majority and deported the immigrants; and the next in line for adult social care is most of the Reform voters! Chew on that fat until next month when we return for more shit hitting the fan. You can negatively comment, but frankly, Frank, I donโ€™t give a Frank.

International Reggae Day: Ten Reggae Songs You Might Not Know, But You Doโ€ฆ.

1st July marks International Reggae Day, and I want to jam it with you. Why? Because as something of a reggae connoisseur I cringed when someone once asked me if Eric Clapton or Bob Marley recorded I Shot The Sheriff originally. It didnโ€™t deserve an answer! 

It occurred to me, going on this, old ravers with no idea who Max Romeo was until he sadly passed in April, and the amount of songs wrongly listed as being by Bob on YouTube, that your average Joe Bloggs doesn’t know as much about reggae as they should!

Pop music was born on the American railroad construction where slaves mimicked the overseersโ€™ folk dances for their sarcastic amusement. Simplicity was key and the quadrille, or French square dance was popular, initialising a four beat system which will stick like mud to pop forevermore. But the 1950s changed the template slightly; experiments in jump blues by rock n roll pioneers like Fats Domino, discerningly skipping the last beat, effectively created the offbeat.

The offbeat was the kind of thing the Jamaicans loved, as the radio masts left by American troops became essential to their musical expansion, away from their traditional folk, mento. Already accustomed to jazz, and recording studios on the island creating their own, now the Jamiacans were exposed to rhythm & blues and country music from the States. The studios recorded their own beatbop, jump blues, doo-wap, even country. At Duke Reidโ€™s Treasure Island one ex-boxer producer called Prince Buster was passionate about the shuffle rhythms of axemen like T Bone Walker, and instructed his band to copy this over an offbeat. When Buster cut the rehearsal the guitarist strummed the shuffle backwards to bring it to a stop, and behold Jamaica had their own pop music, ska.

Duke Reid himself never liked ska, and it was up to rival Coxone Dodd at Studio One to popularise the homegrown style with his in-house band The Skatalites, classically trained students of Mary Ignatius Davies, a Sister of Mercy at Kingstonโ€™s Alpha School for wayward boys; yep, a pioneer of reggae was a nun! 

Searching for any gimmick to promote tourism, The Jamaican government exploited their new musical export, sending artists to New York to promote ska, but in the shanty towns the music would become associated with gang culture, the rude boys. An enforced curfew, a blistering hot summer, and the expense of brass sections, all caused the music to mellow, concentrating on vocal harmonies; rock steady, arguably Jamaicaโ€™s most creative musical period.

Ever-progressing, the bass increased as rival sound systems battled it out and awareness of Rastafari grew; reggae spawned from rock steady. Reggae will slowly spread worldwide, but no more felt than in the UK, as record labels producing cheap music intended for the Windrush generation, were also brought by British mods. Though in England, reggae at the time would still be seen as novelty. It would take Chris Blackwell endorsing Bob Marley & The Wailers, subsequently signing artists like Toots & Maytals, and, in competition with Bobโ€™s popularity, Richard Branson sending Johnny Lydon to sign as many emerging reggae singers to Virgin as he could discover, to put reggae into a respected international market.  

Meanwhile Jamaica was moving away from roots reggae, noting instrumental sections where the crowd danced, pioneers like King Tubby and Lee Perry progressed to dub. Techniques in dub were transferred to New York by Jamaican immigrant DJ Kool Herc, who used them in funk and electro mixes to found hip hop. While the world embraced the success of Bob Marley and the Wailers, reggae progression was kingpin to pop in general. From punk and Two-Tone to hip hip, onto the breakbeat rave era, reggae was fundamental in shaping pop music. I believe this is sorely overlooked; one good reason to have International Reggae Day! The second is the very reason why itโ€™s so influential and the reason why I love it so much; the offbeat, which makes you jump, be in ska, dancehall, or all the styles in between, they all work on the simple offbeat, and itโ€™s irresistible!

So, you know a little bit more about the history of reggae, now you need to listen to some! But I reckon, even if you donโ€™t know many reggae songs outside of the Marley classics, you know more than you think you do! Hereโ€™s some examples, some songs you might recognise from the pop songs they influencedโ€ฆโ€ฆ


1: I Shot The Sheriff- Bob Marley & The Wailers.

Obvious first. Blackwell was adamant reggae would inspire the rock aficionados, but when Eric Clapton called Bob, history was made which would seal the deal. Ericโ€™s version was his only US number one, and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Nineties kids might also recall Warren G, oh well!

2: Rivers of Babylon – The Melodians. 

Lord producer of music thievery Frank Farian manufactured pop crime in a manner unheard of at the time, but is standard protocol now. Boney M was his first infringement, their 1978 smash hit is one of most popular songs, ever, but the original was recorded eight years previous. A Rastafari prayer, meaningful verses were sacrilegiously altered for the pop version. 

3: The Tide is High – The Paragons

With the silk voice of John Holt, this beautifully crafted 1967 Paragonsโ€™ track was at the beginning of rock steady, but you know it either as a Blondie song or, if you cringe the feeling, by Atomic Kitten in 2002.

4: Kingston Town – Lord Creator

Donโ€™t get me wrong, I loved UB40, but once Red, Red Wine hit number one, they rarely wrote their own songs, rather dug into the reggae back catalogue for covers. Originally recorded by Neil Diamond, Red Red Wine was a popular reggae hit for Tony Tribe. But if many reggae tunes UB40 covered were rare beauties, none so more than Kingston Town by Lord Creator on Clancy Eccles’ Clandisc label in 1970. And donโ€™t get me started on Paris Hilton!  

5: Rudy, A Message to You – Dandy Livingstone

Two-Tone was everything in 1979, in the UK, and The Specials were the kings of it. The original message was sent by British Jamaican Dandy Livingstone in 1967. We canโ€™t argue with this, all the reggae covers were respectfully done at Two-Tone, the Specials version even featured the same trombonist, Rico Rodriguez. Even if Dandy himself didnโ€™t know about it until he saw Top of the Pops, many of his songs were eyed for Two-Tone hits, such as The Bodysnatchersโ€™ Let’s Do Rock Steady

6: Chase The Devil – Max Romeo and The Upsetters 

Max Romeo might be seen as the naughty reggae singer who recorded a song called Wet Dream, but nineties ravers will know this 1976 tune only too well. Just like Two-Tone, the breakbeat house of the nineties homegrown rave scene was hugely dependent on reggae. Where would the Prodigy be without Max Romeo, certainly not in outer space. But hey, SL2 also borrowed from reggae, Jah Screechy’s Walk and Skank became On a Ragga Tip, and I could go on!

7: Reggae Merengue – Tommy McCook & The Supersonics 

This. A calypso riddim over a reggae beat in 1970 became the unlikely sound of London circa 2006, when Lily Allen recorded LDN. Itโ€™s instrumental, Tesco wasnโ€™t mentioned!

8: Cherry Oh Baby – Eric Donaldson 

Winner of the 1971 Jamaica Song Festival, Cherry Oh Baby was by Eric Donaldson with backing by Inner Circle, and produced by Bunny Lee and Tommy Cowan, but you might remember it as a Rolling Stones song five years later, or UB40 in the eighties.

9: Nimrod – The Skatalites

Studio One in-house band, The Skatalites recorded this in 1965, yet in 1998, when big beat was the thing, Justin Robertsonโ€™s Lionrock seemed to have something striking similar in the charts, their only massive hit. Rude Boy Rock was big in FIFA ’99, and in it was also the toaster sample, “this is a new skank, get ready;โ€ it wasnโ€™t a new skank at all, was it? Lionrock, you fibbers, it was thirty-three years old at the time!! 

10: Stalag 17 – Ansell Collins

Okay, you should know Sister Nancyโ€™s Bam Bam, everyone sampled it, Lauryn Hill, Groove Armada, Chris Brown, Kanye West & Rihanna, Beyoncรฉ, and Jay-Z. It is the most sampled reggae song, but the title was taken from a Toots & The Maytals song of the same name and the riddim itself was ripped from this wonder, Ansell Collinsโ€™ Stalag 17, released by Winston Riley’s Techniques record label in 1973.


Yay! I might tag Ansel on the Facebook share, because he sent me a friend request a few years ago, because thatโ€™s the unity of reggae. Without the racially segregated charts of the US, Jamacians could be influenced equally by any genres the radio stations threw at them, and in many ways, reggae can be a bridge between them. We might assume reggae was inspired by American music of black origin, but thereโ€™s plenty of examples where country music also inspired them, so in reverse to our list, Iโ€™ll drop some more reggae below, clearly influenced by countryโ€ฆ. And then we can all celebrate International Reggae Day!