Tag: somerset

Pet Shop Boys, Actually with Talk in Code at the Tree House

Having to unfortunately miss Devizesโ€™ blues extravaganza on Friday, I crossed the borderline on Saturday to get my prescribed dosage of Talk in Codeโ€ฆwith a Pet Shop Boys tribute thrown in for good measureโ€ฆ..

Two classic tracks into their set at Frome’s little sister venue to the Cheese & Grain, The Tree House, Pet Shop Boys, Actually from Shropshire hailed their support act as better than them. Self-deprecating isn’t unheard of, rare for music acts, but the bottom line is, I’ve heard far worse tributes than The Pet Shop Boys, Actually, actually.ย 

For Talk in Code, though, it was an accolade fully deserved, as they did what they do as fantastic as ever, and thrilled more than their fanbase at the modest venue. The other attendees, there for classic pop they cherish, found Talk in Code fitted like a glove, despite their songs being original, because they have a timeless universal appeal, and their uniqueย synth-pop spin on indie provides it with a defining eighties feel.

Itโ€™s an ideal opportunity to reopen the perpetual debate I have with myself over the worth of tribute acts, even cover bands too, against those producing original music. Like any tribute act, the value of their performance hinges predominantly on the individual and their association with the act theyโ€™re attributing. Whether a tribute act is good is far more subjective than an original act; based upon personal reflection. โ€œItโ€™s comfort music,โ€ Talk in Code guitarist Snedds expressed to me outside the venue; agreed, personally Iโ€™m impartial to The Pet Shop Boys, therefore passably comforted.

They broke through in the middle of electronica. I brought and loved my 7โ€ of West End Girls in 85, others did too as it hit number one, and the duo walked away with awards. Though the Pet Shop Boys created their own take on electronica, much like Madness did with Two-Tone, were hugely successful with it, and again like Madness, they continued the template way past the trend fizzling the competition out. Such a practice causes division, you attain a fan following, whereas mild observers tend to consider if the uniformed style gets repetitive, especially over decades. Iโ€™m of that mindset, hence my impartiality.

So here at this rather snazzy tree house, carpeted and significantly more congenial, hospitable than the big cheese, but smaller and rather more conventional than Fromeโ€™s hipster and counterculture reputation, being situated within a housing estate fashioned sports bar, The Vine Tree, a fair crowd of Pet Shop Boys diehards gathered amidst regulars and โ€œTalkersโ€ for a cracking night in a nice, welcoming and universal pub.

Often to miss the support act is unfortunate, for this gig it wouldโ€™ve been sacrilege. Talk in Code were on fire as ever, blasting out their cheerful tunes, frontman Chris wiggling moves in his Adidas uniform and rightfully boasting of their success at The Wiltshire Music Awards, outside our county! Itโ€™s a lively show I will never tire of, and if I have to witness tribute acts too, if by some miracle I make eighty, will someone please wheel me over to a tribute act show to Talk in Code?!

As for The Pet Shop Boys, Actually, prior I considered if The Pet Shop Boys is quite a simple act to make a tribute from, compared to other eighties acts; call up a proficient keyboardist, buy him a BOY cap, don a tuxedo and white scarf and play musical statues! Although they tended to lightheartedly play their accomplishment down, they made a brilliant job out of it. As those pop classics came through adept and nimble, I paused to consider if my opinion of the Pet Shop Boys isnโ€™t a smidgen harsh; through the splendour of this tribute I saw them in a refined light, and that is a true sign of a proficient tribute act, and their worth. 

Interestingly, they adopted a female singer too, to soften the vocals to match Neil Tennantโ€™s camp tones, and to play the incredibly tricky part of Dusty Springfield for What Have I Done to Deserve This? Likely the trickiest part of the show. To my approval, Pet Shop Boys, Actually covered a Beloved track too, a kind of raverโ€™s answer to The Pet Shop Boys, and they thumped out the newer, technologically progressed tunes after a workout of eighties classics, and returned to the hits for an outstanding finale; someone get me one of those jackets that looks like I got stuck in a carwash!

If you go to see a tribute act with expectations of precisely recreating the magnitude of the original act, youโ€™re an idiot and will be let down in most cases! If you go to see a tribute act open-mindedly, with your priority on having fun, nine times out of ten you will, especially if you hold a passion for the act being attributed. Use your noddle, donโ€™t see Pet Shop Boys Actually if you’re hoping for a tribute to Slipknot, but do if you like The Pet Shop Boys, and youโ€™ll find theyโ€™re really rather good!

Trending…..

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

Keep reading

Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.

Florence & The Machine Harpist Among Musicians at Frome Festivalโ€™s Fundraising Launch

Featured Image: Lillie Eiger

Frome Festival is launching itsย โ€˜25 for 25โ€™ย fundraising campaign with a very special concert featuring three locally based acts:ย Tom Mothย โ€“ best known as the harpist for multi-platinum-selling bandย Florence + The Machineย โ€“ alt-folk duoย mฤsa, and brand-new soul/funk collectiveย The Juice.…

The event, taking place at The Tunnels on Saturday 29th November, kicks off Frome Festivalโ€™s ambitious campaign that aims to raise ยฃ25,000 before the start of next yearโ€™s festival in July. Founded in 2001, Frome Festivalโ€™s silver anniversary offers an opportunity to celebrate 25 years of creativity while securing the future of this much-loved community arts event for the next generation.

Followingย Tom Mothโ€™sย sold-out Festival performance at Rook Lane Chapel this summer, theย โ€˜25 for 25โ€™ย fundraiser provides an additional chance to hear his own original work. Tom explains, โ€œI enjoy crafting sounds using various acoustic and electronic devices, so whilst the harp will be involved, the performance wonโ€™t strictly be a harp recital!โ€

Tom is a big supporter of Frome Festival and is carving out some time between a busy international promotional schedule for Florenceโ€™s newly released album,ย Everybody Scream, and their upcoming European/US tour, which starts in February. The lauded harpist moved to Frome a couple of years ago as he felt it was somewhere he could exist happily. He says of the town, โ€œI love that thereโ€™s such a welcoming and proactive creative community. It seems like thereโ€™s always something happening, whether itโ€™s a gig, an exhibition, or community-based activity.โ€

Sisters Faron and Merle ofย mฤsaย are returning from a hiatus to support this fundraiser, sharing their beautiful harmony based alt-folk compositions. Merle said, “Weโ€™ve lived in Frome for a few years now and really value its creative and independent spirit as a town. This aspect of it seems to be growing and getting even stronger as time passes.” ย mฤsa have played at Frome Festival several times over the years, including a headline slot at the Silk Mill, and have also collaborated on a sonic guided walk of the town, calledย We Are All Sonambulistsย – โ€œThis was a great way to learn about the townโ€™s history and feel inspired by its ghosts and stories”, explained Merle.

Faron added, “We were really pleased to be invited to play at this fundraiser, because itโ€™s so important to keep community driven events that support the arts going. Now more than ever we need creativity and connection to unite us, and keeping Frome Festival alive and kicking is one small way of doing so.”

As to their future plans, mฤsa have recently been recording and plan to release new songs next year.

Ending the night with party vibes is The Juice, a fresh five-piece soul outfit who made their debut with a secret set during Sofar Sounds at Frome Festival in July. Drawing their members from a collective of local musicians, they write tunes which draw on 70s soul, pop and funk, โ€œwith a sprinkling of Juicified coversโ€.  Members of The Juice have also featured in The Enrichments, Mighty One, Samuel Jack, Twin Falls and Littlemen.

Joe James, The Juice frontman, stated, “As a local band, supporting Frome Festival means a lot to us. We can’t wait to bring The Juice to our hometown and share our new musical project with the people who shaped us”. Bass player, Jack Opie, added, “The community spirit and artsย scene in Frome is a huge reason that it is such a wonderful place to live, and the Festival is obviously a critical part of this – it’s massively important to us all that the Festival keeps on going, and we’re all really excited to be playing our small part in helping its future.”

Sarah Swales, Frome Festival Manager, said, โ€œIโ€™m constantly amazed by the incredible talent we have here in Frome, and Iโ€™m thrilled that these performers are generously donating their time and remarkable skills to support the Festival. Each of the three acts brings a unique musical style, and all are outstanding in their own right.โ€ She added, โ€œWeโ€™re also hugely grateful to Baz, Josh, and everyone at The Tunnels for hosting the event. In the current climate, itโ€™s more important than ever to support our venues and keep live music thriving.โ€

Frome Festivalโ€™s โ€˜25 for 25โ€™ campaign will celebrate a quarter of a century of being at the heart of Fromeโ€™s creative community with special events throughout the year. All monies raised will support growing the organisation, developing an education strand and maintaining the rich programme of free and low-cost activities across Frome Festival.

Supporters can help by attending fundraising concerts and activities in the lead up to Frome Festival 2026, become a Friend of Frome Festival to receive priority Festival booking and exclusive year-round perks, or donate directly to the charity.

Adam Laughton, Festival Director, explained, โ€œIt is remarkable to see how Frome has embraced Frome Festival across the last 25 years โ€“ everyone I speak to has a story to tell about their favourite moments. Across the next year, we aim to capture that spirit and celebrate Fromeโ€™s deep love and support of the arts, looking back at a quarter of a century of amazing work and plotting a course for the next 25 years. Through a campaign like this, we are looking to ensure the next generation can continue to experience the unique benefits of accessible, local live arts.โ€

โ€˜Frome Festival Fundraiser with Tom Moth / mฤsa / The Juiceโ€™ย takes place on Saturday 29 November at The Tunnels, doors 7.30pm.

Advance tickets are ยฃ18 available through the Frome Festival website or ยฃ20 on the door.

More info can be found on:ย https://fromefestival.co.uk/25years/

Trending…..

For Now, Anyway; Gus White’s Debut Album

Featured Image: Barbora Mrazkova My apologies, for Marlboroughโ€™s singer-songwriter Gus Whiteโ€™s debut album For Now, Anyway has been sitting on the backburner, and itโ€™s moreโ€ฆ

Butane Skies Not Releasing a Christmas Song!

No, I didnโ€™t imagine for a second they would, but upcoming Take the Stage winners, alt-rock emo four-piece, Butane Skies have released their second song,โ€ฆ

One Of Us; New Single From Lady Nade

Featured Image by Giulia Spadafora Ooo, a handclap uncomplicated chorus is the hook in Lady Ladeโ€™s latest offering of soulful pop. Itโ€™s timelessly cool andโ€ฆ

Large Unlicensed Music Event Alert!

On the first day of advent, a time of peace and joy to the world et al, Devizes Police report on a โ€œlarge unlicenced musicโ€ฆ

Winter Festival/Christmas/Whatever!

This is why I love you, my readers, see?! At the beginning of the week I put out an article highlighting DOCAโ€™s Winter Festival, andโ€ฆ

Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.

Wither; Debut Single From Butane Skies

Whilst dispersing highly flammable hydrocarbon gases into the atmosphere is not advisory,  Butane Skies is a name increasingly exploding on local circuits. The young and aspiring Frome โ€œa little bit emo, a little bit notโ€ four-piece released a debut single Wither last month (while I was on my jollies.) So, even though this mention of it might be belated, itโ€™s worthy of your attention, as I predict Butane Skies is a name youโ€™ll be hearing a lot more ofโ€ฆ..

If the name suggests an all-out fireball of frenzied rock you should note itโ€™s taken from a line in the My Chemical Romance song Skylines & Turnstiles, and akin to their emo influence thereโ€™s delicate rising and falling sections of emotive outpouring in Wither. With a dystopian themed desperation, perhaps metaphoric, this is intense yet melodic, as exquisitely composed as Evanescence, and as genius as Frank Turner.

Thereโ€™s an intricate piano, blessing it with a sense of optimism above the emo melancholy of the subtly placed fuzzbox riff and the powerful vox harmonies of a double-Alanis Morissette. Iโ€™m thinking Iโ€™ve not heard local emo quite as good as this since Life in Mono, but not to typecast within the emo pigeonhole, thereโ€™s something more universally indie about them too, Muse-fashion.

Such high accolades deserved, Wither firmly places them on the first runner of the local recording artist ladder, and while an impressive kick start, itโ€™s moreish and patent theyโ€™ve more tricks up their sleeves. Butane Skies established themselves in 2022 after school duo Amaya and Ash collaborated at just 14 years old, and bassist Mia and drummer Alex joined. Theyโ€™ve notched numerous gigs and festivals since Future Sound of Trowbridge at the Pump, and winning Riverbankโ€™s Take The Stage in 2024 with the prize to perform at Minety Music Festival.ย 

Other appearances at Festival on the Farm, Figglefest, Bradford Roots, Corrfest, Chippenham Pride and Sounds at the Ground, and at venues such as The Boathouse, The Neeld, Fromeโ€™s Tree House and a number of local stages at Glastonbury sees them Bristol-bound for The Louisiana and Komedia Bathโ€™s Electric Bar soon. They are nominated for our Wiltshire Music Awards, and now top of never-ending must-see list!

Hereโ€™s a band with a track you must listen to, but the ambience feels something wonderful is blossoming; Butane Skies are yet to hit their magnum-opus, be there when they do.  

LinkTree

Stranglers Frontman Hugh Cornwell Coming To Cheese & Grain

Image: John Kisch

Legendary songwriter and original Stranglers frontman Hugh Cornwell has announced a run of UK dates this November, accompanied by special guests The Courettes, and it includes Fromeโ€™s Cheese & Grain on Saturday 15thโ€ฆ..

Golden Brown, Strange Little Girl, Always The Sun… sound familiar? All big hits, all great songs, all penned and performed by Hugh Cornwell, the songwriter behind the legendary early eighties punk band The Stranglers.ย 

 When future historians of music draw up a list of the movers and shakers who changed the modern musical landscape, Hugh Cornwellโ€™s name will no doubt be amongst them. As a pioneering musician, songwriter and performer, his pervasive influence persists in the record collections of music aficionados, across this spinning globeโ€™s radio waves, and on stages around the world. Hughโ€™s presence is unquestionable.

 As the leader of The Stranglers, Hugh was the main songwriter of all of the bandโ€™s most memorable songs across ten stellar albums. After their 1977 debut Rattus Norvegicus, follow-up albums such as No More Heroes and The Raven consolidated Cornwellโ€™s stature as a unique songwriter and musician. His multi-layered lyrics to Golden Brown, from La Folie, remain a songwriting masterclass.

Hugh embarks on his Come And Get Some tour in November, appearing at Fromeโ€™s Cheese & Grain on Saturday 15th. A full band show with Stranglers choice cuts and solo delicates, plus support from The Courettes, an explosive group from Denmark and Brazil. With Flavia Couri on vocals and guitar and Martin on drums, they provide the perfect blend of Wall of Sound, Girl Group Heartbreaks, Motown and R&B. Imagine the Ronettes meeting the Ramones at a wild party in the Hitsville echo chamber, thatโ€™s the Courettes!

โ€œCornwellโ€™s still doing things his way and often with striking results,โ€ said Mojo, โ€œThunderously tribal garage rockโ€ฆ the ex-Strangler not yet gone soft,โ€ Uncut provided. 

Kicking off at Epic Studios in Norwich on 6th November, Hugh Cornwell will be playing favourites from his time with The Stranglers as well as a range of solo material, including his 1979 album โ€˜Nosferatuโ€™ in full. The record saw Cornwell teaming up with Captain Beefheartโ€™s Robert Williams to create a record as gothic as the film it takes its name from.

Throughout November, Cornwell will make stops at beloved venues up and down the country including Hangar 34 in Liverpool, Concorde 2 in Brighton and Islington Assembly in the capital. Heโ€™ll be joined on the road by retro-inspired punk rock duo The Courettes, helming from Denmark and Brazil. 

Tickets are on sale HERE

Hugh Cornwell UK 2025 Live Dates

6th Nov – Norwich, Epic Studios

7th Nov – Holmfirth, Picturedome

8th Nov – Liverpool, Hangar 34

13th Nov – London, Islington Assembly

14th Nov – Coventry, Warwick Arts Centre

15th Nov – Frome, Cheese and Grain

16th Nov – Brighton, Concorde 2

20th Nov – Glasgow, St Lukeโ€™s 

21th Nov – Dunfermline, Carnegie Hall

22nd Nov – Newcastle, Digital

Alberta Cross Frontman Joins Line Up for Frome Festival Fundraising Gig

Alberta Cross, along with the up-and-coming local bands Something Moves and BroccoliBoy, will perform at a charity gig on Saturday 30th November at 23 Bath St. All part of a new generation of vibrant and talented musicians calling Frome home, they are helping raise funds to support the costs of running the annual Frome Festival in July…..

Swedish-born Alberta Cross frontman, Petter Ericson Stakee, will be playing an intimate solo set of his anthemic Americana-tinged songs, hot on the heels of his latest UK tour. Alberta Cross has toured extensively across the globe as a headline act and has supported bands such as Oasis, Mumford & Sons, Johnny Marr and Neil Young. They have also appeared in the USA as musical guests on The Late Show with David Letterman and their tracks have featured on hit TV shows Sons of Anarchy and Californication.

Something Moves, the latest project from Chris Briden and friends Matt Ball and Al McNamara, blends influences reminiscent of Radiohead and Nick Drake, resulting in layered, textural, and introspective music. As a primarily studio-based band, this offers a rare opportunity to catch them live. Chris has been a successful musician for many years, with distribution deals and festival slots. Raised in Dorset and spending most of his career in Manchester, Chris settled in Frome a few years ago, starting Something Moves as a solo lockdown recording project. Matt and Al then became part of the writing and creative process further developing the sound.

And BroccoliBoy are a young indie pop trio known for their heartfelt and infectious melodies. Frontman Ted met bassist Eli when they were both working at the Cheese & Grain Bar, whilst drummer Rob has known Ted since ACM music college in Guildford. They recently supported Entitled Sons on the main stage at the Cheese & Grain and are steadily gaining an enthusiastic following.

BroccoliBoyโ€™s bass player, Eli White, who was born and raised in Frome, shared, โ€œI have such fond memories of the Frome Festival from my childhood – The Food Feast especially. I have a very vivid memory of getting up on the stage, when it was held in the town centre, after all the music had finished and pretending I was in one of the bands!โ€ Eli continued, โ€œIโ€™m very thankful to have been brought up in Frome as it is genuinely an amazing place to live. The opportunities for creatives of all ages here to share, learn and grow are immense. The Frome Festival is one of the main reasons for this as it inspires so many people every year, without the Festival we would lose such a big platform to showcase all of the amazing talent we hold in this town so I believe itโ€™s very important to do everything we can to keep it running for many more years to come.โ€ 

Petter from Alberta Cross said of supporting this fundraiser, โ€œI love Frome Festival. It makes the town come alive! I also love the diversity of it with so many different cultural events and music gigs in the short time it runs. It is important for the town and will and should keep building.โ€ He added, โ€œI remember when we just moved here and the Festival was on, we walked through town quite late in the evening after dinner and heard flamenco guitar music coming from the Silk Mill so we stopped in and caught the end of the show and I just remember thinking how amazing that felt to have these kind of things happen in my new hometown.โ€ Petter travels extensively for his work but enjoys coming back to Frome, which he describes as โ€œa small cosy town with a lot to offer, located in one of the most beautiful parts of the world in my opinion.โ€ He recently recorded his new album โ€˜The Thief and The Heartbreaker (Re-imagined)โ€™ at Fromeโ€™s Bert Jansch Studio and it was mastered at Abbey Road Studios. It is a reworking of classic songs from Alberta Crossโ€™s critically acclaimed 2007 debut, including fresh collaborations with Ed Harcourt, Katie Melua, Band of Skulls, Jack Savoretti and others.

Ted Prendergast, who provides vocals, guitar and ukulele for BroccoliBoy, remarked, โ€œFrome Festival is a time to celebrate all things Frome and all the diversely creative and unique people we have living here. My parents took part in Hidden Gardens for the first time this year and loved it!โ€. He added that the band is supporting the fundraiser because โ€œwe believe in the importance of keeping these brilliant creative opportunities alive,โ€ emphasising, โ€œThere is a massive community spirit here and I havenโ€™t seen anything quite like it anywhere else!โ€ 

Chris Briden of Something Moves concurs, โ€œFestivals are a really important way to celebrate community and be part of your local area. Without them, life is just a little bit more grey. Frome is a fantastic place to be creative, and offers more than your average Somerset town, but you can’t take this kind of opportunity for granted, and we want to make sure we hold the door open for loads more artists and bands, writers and creatives who come after us.โ€ Chris noted, โ€œOpportunities like this are more important than ever with many live music venues and festivals closing downโ€.

The Festival team are hard at work preparing for next yearโ€™s programme, taking place on Friday 4th โ€“ Sunday 13th July 2025, with fundraising also playing an important role during the year. Frome Festival is a registered charity that must fundraise ยฃ35k per year to deliver the programme and with recent cuts to arts funding, organisers say the environment is increasingly difficult. Festival Manager Sarah Swales explained, โ€œWe are offering tickets at ยฃ10 to make them accessible to everyone, but we urge people to donate what they can. Another way to support us is by becoming a Festival Friend for ยฃ20 per year, which provides priority booking during the Festival and other perks.โ€

Organisers were keen to thank the performers for their help and urged people to buy their merch on the night. They were also very grateful to the venue 23 Bath St who will be shutting their doors for the last time after the New Year due to the difficult economic climate. “23 Bath St. has really championed live music over the years, and itโ€™s truly sad to see them go. Please support their venue and bar before they close, so they can go out on a high note!” Sarah added.

Festival Director, Adam Laughton concluded, โ€œThis promises to be a superb night that will raise much needed funds for Frome Festival. Weโ€™re very grateful for 23 Bath Street and all the musiciansโ€™ help in making this event possible. Come and enjoy this sensational line up and support our cause as we continue to plan for July 2025. Every penny makes a difference!โ€

Tickets are ยฃ10 from here: https://fromefestival.co.uk/product/fundraiser24/

All proceeds support Frome Festival Ltd. (Charity Number โ€“ 1120329)

Trending…..

Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.

The Skimmity Hitchers V Monkey Bizzle: The East/West Somerset Agricultural Hip Hop Turf War!

Forget the feud between Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur, this is England’s West Country rivals The Skimmity Hitchers and Monkey Bizzle in a vicious rap confrontation which can only end one way; best guess, a drive-by cream tea headshotโ€ฆ.

Seems shameless merch tarts and purveyors of self-dubbed โ€œidiot music,โ€ Monkey Bizzle started it, Mrs McClusky. They put out a T-shirt with their monkey logo copulatory abusing the Skimmity’s badger at the beginning of the month, claiming they were โ€œbetter than the Skimmity Hitchers.โ€ Real hardcore insults, but not an incredibly high pedestal to pop yourself onto.

Offensive on a Carry-On Camping level

As psychologically offended as a millennial watching George & Mildred, and in the spirit of big girl’s blouses, five days ago those bonkers as badgers vegetative veterans of deliberately naff scrumpy and western hip hop, The Skimmity Hitchers hit back, waxed lyrical by what appears to be their mum’s garage, filmed it like the dicks they are, and basically tore apart Monkey Bizzle. In the Facebook video the Hitchers claimed Bizzle stole the term โ€œagricultural hip hopโ€ from its originator, Malmesbury grandmaster Corky, not very famous for the parody track Ginsters Paradise but a legend in his own Tweed nonetheless.

The Skimmity Hitchers laying it down

Factually accurate, Corky possibly coined the term and invented the subgenre, but shared the Hitchersโ€™ post on the issue without comment, therefore best to assume he couldn’t give a wurzel’s combine if โ€œagricultural hip hop,โ€™ as a term,ย  is plagiarised by either of them. Updated: Corky aligned a non-opinion on the usage of the term, but enlightened that “Agricultural hip hop has been around for years before me, and if Monkey Bizzle want to do agricultural hip hop then that’s lush. I haven’t actually heard any agricultural hip hop from them – at the moment they’re doing Scrumpy & Western rap and West Country hip hop, and I do love em.”

While this indicates it’s unclear at this time if Monkey Bizzle have ever even used the term, until they did today in a mock interview pretending this tiff was serious enough to warrant a news channel picking the story up. The interviewer has an earring, for crying out loud, itโ€™s kind of obvious they just scrubbed up a crusty mate, paid him a teenth and put him in a suit.

Corky; staying the fuck away from it all!

The only fact we must face is neither the Skimmity Hitchers nor Monkey Bizzle have progressed hip hop as a genre any further than The Holiday Rap in 1986, and MC Miker G & DJ Sven could’ve put them both, and their legal advisors/drummers on their arses, direct into the moistest cowpats in all of Somerset; thatโ€™s the point, and that’s why we love them both equally and feel it necessary to state the blinding obvious that the whole affair is banter, and a shameless and mildly amusing self-promotion for both parties. Yeah, impressive crusty dreadlocks or not, I’ll rise to that occasion, fill your muddy jump boots.

Monkey Bizzle at a barn

As fans and keyboard warriors jump the bandwagon to side online with either band, unconcernedly call for peace, complain their T-shirt is sleeveless, or conspire both bandโ€™s members are actually the same people, the war shows no sign of resolution yet. When fans conspire about the musician’s members they know they have a little problem in their hands.ย 

At the time of publication, the tempestuous testicle is in the Skimmity Hitchersโ€™ court, Monkey Bizzle hitting back from the video with their own rap video, performed by a fluffy monkey puppet, and calling for the Hitchers to stick to supporting B*Witched, which is also not fact checked. As of yet The Hitchers have not responded in song, using a Japanese proverb in a Facebook post calling the Bizzleโ€™s lyrics โ€œvinegar strokes,โ€ and mocked their usage of the stuffed toy, as โ€œhiding from the camera,โ€ and โ€œrambling randomly like a Yeovil Donald Trump.โ€ Seemingly wanting closure, or just the final word, they asked fans if โ€œany further response from The Skimmity Hitchers is really necessary?โ€ย 

Monkey Bizzle retort with puppet

As a Wiltshire-based blog, we at Devizine Towers are duty bound to remain impartial, and only bring the stupid subject up as a warning to take all necessary precautions not to bum rush the show if youโ€™re planning to cross the border anytime soon to ring-rang-a-dong for a holiday. Though if we had to pick sides in a sinking boat scenario, at least we share a common ancestor with monkeys, whereas badgers are only good for one thing around here; blaming for bovine TB when thick slices of gammon deliberately dilapidated their dairy farm in order to backhand their compensation to their building contractor bestie for a new housing estate on their landโ€ฆoopsy, too much? Of course, that Pandora’s Box is total fabrication and falsehood which would never happen around here, and I take it all back.

Wiltshire Police have published an announcement that any Wiltshire based agricultural hip hop artists living in Somerset, even Frome, should leave now for their own safety and for the sake of their pasties.

We rebuke the concept thereโ€™s any agricultural hip hop artists from Wiltshire currently residing in Somerset, or any at all save Corky. Itโ€™s simply not something we do here. Theyโ€™re not like us over the cider apple border are they? Weโ€™re all โ€˜real ale,โ€™ barbed wire fences and henges, theyโ€™re all dry stone walls and tors. Theyโ€™re as stir crazy as Shelbyville residents in The Simpsons, weโ€™re refined, donโ€™t you know, and thanking you kindly.

We may teeter on the edge of chap hop, but usually if itโ€™s not a folk or electric blues driven wet blanket weโ€™re not interested. Yet, as war often produces positive repercussions, we hope this feud will allow international attention to West Country born scrumpy & western and agricultural hip hop, cos it’s dope, literally. In the manner of fairness, though, tunes both bands are laying down are something simply worth putting up with the agro for, and Iโ€™ll drop links to them here, so we can twitch our curtains in disgust at their antics but still enjoy their porangi poetry and wackadoodle wabblings from a safe distance.

Monkey Bizzle, ready for court!

We live in hope freestyled spontaneous peace raps will commence, least The Wurzels will intervene, knock their bleeding heads together with a goldie looking chain, and they can settle the issue over a skull shaped bong, or some wacky-baccy laced fudge; you know the sort, with a postcard of the bogs at the Bridgewater drive-thru KFC poorly glued to the box.

โ€œWe love our skimmity badger buddies like brothers,โ€ Monkey Bizzle showed the love like a fucking Disney adaption of Fergie and Will I Am, indicating its all showy banter. โ€œSome of them even contain a little monkey DNA in them.โ€ This just eggs the keyboard warriors further into the conspiracy theory theyโ€™re one and the same, but even if theyโ€™re not, theyโ€™re probably related in some form or fashion; weirdos, build a dry stone wall to keep them from gigging in Trowbridge or closer, I say!

What else is up?

Chatting With Burn The Midnight Oil

Itโ€™s nice to hear when our features attract attention. Salisburyโ€™s Radio Odstock ย picked up on our interview with Devizes band Burn the Midnight Oil andโ€ฆ

Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.

Frome Festival Presents a Bumper Programme for All

From the 5th to the 14th July 2024, Frome Festival plans to up the game of this wonderful and lively town with a bumper programme for allโ€ฆ..ย 

In over sixty-one venues across Frome and surrounding villages, Frome Festival is gearing up for its biggest ever programme, with 250 events taking place over 10 days. This yearโ€™s theme celebrates 60 years of Roald Dahlโ€™s โ€˜Charlie & the Chocolate Factoryโ€™, featuring artwork by illustrator Sholto Walker depicting Willy Wonka striding down the streets of Frome. To celebrate this theme, five Golden Tickets will be hidden at various Festival events with winners receiving a scrumdiddlyumptious spending spree at Fromeโ€™s local chocolatier and cafรฉ, Choc et al.

The community arts festival has been a popular fixture in the town since 2001 and aims to offer something for everyone, young and old, including different types of music, theatre, comedy, spoken word, art, dance, film, workshops, childrenโ€™s events, and food or drink experiences. Expect a dash of Fromeโ€™s signature quirkiness!

Children can enjoy bouldering workshops, comic art masterclasses, science exploration of pondlife, theatre productions, a Willy Wonka Rave, outdoor shows and so much more.

And Frome Festival is teaming up with the popular Frome Independent Market on Sunday 7th July, taking over their entertainment stages with music, street theatre, and dance.

Sir Willard White

Headliners for 2024 include internationally acclaimed bass-baritone, Sir Willard White, Jenny Eclair, Richard Herring, Paul Mason, Old Time Sailors, Swinging at the Cotton Club, Alberta Cross, Raghu Dixit, Peatbog Faeries. Alongside one of Fromeโ€™s favourite free events, the Festival Food Feast, returning for a celebration of amazing international street food, live music and entertainment. Sponsored by local Frome company Lilleyโ€™s Cider.

Other highlights include hilarious stand-up comic Jenny Eclair at the Merlin Theatre, the first woman to win the coveted Perrier Award at Edinburgh Festival in 1995 and hasnโ€™t stopped banging on about it since. Indiaโ€™s biggest cultural & musical export, Raghu Dixit is returning to the Cheese & Grain for the Frome Festival after his triumphant debut last year. 

Jenny Eclair

The spectacular Swinging at the Cotton Club is a visual and musical feast paying homage to legends such as Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, and Count Basie with breathtaking dance routines. In the atmospheric setting of Holy Trinity Church, renowned organ virtuoso David Bednall will provide an improvised soundtrack to the classic 1922 horror movie, Nosferatu.

Thereโ€™s raucous Old Time Sailors, former economics editor of Newsnight and Channel 4 and a regular Guardian contributor, Paul Mason presenting this yearโ€™s Bob Morris Lecture, a keynote speech that is an annual highlight of the Festival programme. Legendary stand-up comic Richard Herring presents his brand-new tour show where he talks bollocks about his recent experience with testicular cancer, at the Cheese & Grain, and Scottish trailblazers Peatbog Faeries also appear at the big Cheese, with a glorious mixture of traditional sounds and dance-floor grooves creating a hypnotic sound that no-one can resist dancing to.

Tickets go on sale from Sunday 19th May at 10am through www.fromefestival.co.ukย 

BROCHURES detailing all events are available to pick up from the Cheese & Grain, local libraries, information points and many other locations across Frome and the surrounding area. An online version of the brochure is available here.

Trending….

Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.

โ€œSkylightโ€ at the Rondo Theatre, Larkhall, Bath, April 24th-27th.


by Ian Diddams
images by Jim McCauley & Bath Drama

Its 3 a.m. You are tired. You are still going round and round in circles in a discussion with a partner, lover, friend about a lover, their lover, a friendโ€™s lover.

Sound familiar? Flashbacks? We have all been there โ€“ well, anybody that has any friends and has reached the age of eighteen anyway.

David Hareโ€™s play โ€œSkylightโ€ is all so reminiscent of those long, dark tea times of the soul (to paraphrase Douglas Adams). Over the course of this riveting two and half hour play we are witness to the post match analysis of two ex-lovers (their โ€ฆ  โ€œloveโ€ โ€ฆ briefly rekindled over the course of half time a.k.a. the interval) exploring their previous, illicit, relationship and the potential for the future.

The play opens, set in the mid-1990s in Kyraโ€™s (Phoebe Fung) flat in Kensal Rise as she returns from work, as a teacher. It is an unglamorous property, and that is being kind. She is soon joined as a total surprise by Edward (Samuel Elliot), a confident eighteen-year old on his gap year. We learn that Edward has had an argument with his father, Tom (Jeremy Fowlds), and has moved outโ€ฆย  that Kyra was part of his family household for years. That his mother, Alice, had died. That Kyra had inexplicably left one day. Then a while after Edward has left, Tom arrives. It transpires Kyra and Tom havenโ€™t seen each other for three years. Were ex-lovers. That Alice had found out. And so, Kyra left.

And the talking starts.

โ€œSkylightโ€ is fundamentally a triple duologue, a play in three parts over two acts. Kyra is on stage aside from brief periods out of sight in her bedroom for the entire play. Tom is on stage for much of that too. Edward has what may be called a cameo role by some but still has a hundred lines to deliver, over the prelude (as above) and an epilogue.

The playโ€™s title is derived from a feature from the bedroom of the playโ€™s fourth character that we never see, Alice, who was dieing of cancer. The bedroomโ€™s sloping glass roof is the โ€œSkylightโ€ โ€ฆ and its existence sums up succinctly Tomโ€™s perception of life. Tom is an extremely wealthy self-made restaurant owning businessman (allegedly modelled on Terence Conran) where life is smoothed by the presence of the โ€œYellow Pagesโ€ (remember that?). Everything can be paid for and thatโ€™s all that matters. Kyra once lived in this bubble of financial ease but now chooses a life of social fulfilment โ€“ passionately too.

And so, to the set. What a set! Hare once apparently said he doesnโ€™t write plays set in a room but as the exception (?) that proves the rule this one is โ€“ it is quite literally a kitchen sink drama. All the action is in Kyraโ€™s kitchen/diner/lounge. Anyone reading this that lived in cheap rented accommodation in the 1980s and 1990s will recognise it immediately. Peeling and patched wallpaper, mould on the walls, gas boiler safety certificate so old its ripped mostly off the boiler, scratched lino floor, rusty doored fridge-freezer, grubby paintwork. You can SMELL the lack of upkeep. Delve deeper into the flat and the attention to detail is superb. Mixed library of books from Freud to Shakespeare to Phillip K. Dick to Salinger to Verne. A working sink. Yes. You read that correctlyโ€ฆ a WORKING sink. Water comes out of the taps. Goes down a plughole. And the piรจce de resistance, the cooking hob. That works. And on which Kyra cooks, on stage, in real time, a spaghetti and sauce dinner. (Incidentally, it smells divine โ€“ do make sure you have eaten before you go and see the show because you will be feeling hungry if not!)


Full kudos must be given to the set designer here. Rich Canning, take a HUGE bow, along with your build crew.ย  You could give guided tours of this set. I WANTED to be able to see the bedroom. I WANTED to see the flatโ€™s front walkway and stairs. Absolutely amazing.

Which brings me onto sound and lighting.ย  Once against at the Rondo, Alex Latham has pulled out all the stops. From the โ€œwhoomphingโ€ gas boiler to traffic sounds as doors and windows are opened, to running baths, day turning to night turning to day. Another sublime performance in the tech box.

Andy Cork directs, assisted more than ably by Stephanie Richards who also produced the show. Andyโ€™s program notes expand on this, but he has perfectly helped the cast capture the societal divide post-Thatcher, pre-Blair that resonates so much with contemporary Johnson/Truss/Sunak 2020s. So much so that if we were told this was set in 2024 it would be as valid, as meaningful. Possibly even more so. Social bigotry, monetary divide, Iโ€™m-all-right-jack, anti-woke, no-lives-matter.

This is all encapsulated in the plot and characterisation, expounded so brilliantly by Phoebe and Jeremy. Tom is one step from the โ€œsmelly homeless should be finedโ€ brigade โ€“ if that far even. Kyra has a social conscience โ€“ or has developed one once freed of Tomโ€™s wealth when she was much younger. And that is the crux of their non-relationship. Despite each otherโ€™s strong love for each other still it becomes increasingly clear there is no future. They are poles apart โ€“ at one stage I even thought โ€œWhy/How do these two even get on? Like each other?โ€ They are the antithesis of each otherโ€™s perspectives. Tom crashes though life with a plan that is so focussed he has lost focus on everything else; while he had provided a โ€œSkylightโ€ for his dieing wife he is just Gaslighting constantly. And mainly himself. Maybe even only himself. Kyra has no plan, is drifting, but cares. Passionately cares. About social injustice and Tomโ€™s obvious lack of social conscience. At one point as Kyra rages against the unfairness of society, I was struck by the Jonathan Pie-esque rhetoric, deliveryโ€ฆ quite superb. And letโ€™s not forget Samuel as Edward. Edward demonstrates another side of his family. The lost nephew almost for Kyra that arrives in the epilogue, so to speak, to raise Kyraโ€™s spirits, to display tenderness.ย  Tom makes a point that he, Tom, genuinely GIVES because his gifts are without ulterior motives. But in reality, he is not giving at all, he is gifting. Whereas Edward is giving of himselfโ€ฆย  such that he isnโ€™t really even giving, he is sharing. A sweet portrayal by Samuel.

I could continue in similar vein for pages. I wonโ€™t though. The best thing would be for you, dear reader, to grab a ticket and get yourself to the Rondo and see this amazing show. See David Hareโ€™s words come to life through Andy, Stephanie, Phoebe, Jeremy, Samuel, Alex, and Richโ€™s creativity. We are so blessed with great community theatre in Wiltshire and Bath, but this may well be the best show you see this year.

โ€œSkylightโ€ runs from April 24th to 27th at 1930 each evening at the Rondo Theatre, Larkhall, Bath.

Tickets available from https://rondotheatre.co.uk/skylight/


โ€œRENTโ€ at The Rondo Theatre, Bath, March 13th-16th 2024

Ian Diddams

Written by Jonathan Larson
Presented by Maple Theatre Company

It’s always hard reviewing a show that one has seen multiple times before, performed by differing companies. Itโ€™s also hard reviewing a show that is one of oneโ€™s favourite shows EVAH. And if that wasnโ€™t hard enoughโ€ฆ  Its far too hard to review a show that one has performed in oneself. Itโ€™s wrong to compare โ€“ its unfair and meaninglessโ€ฆ  differing companies, differing directors, differing theatres.  So, ignoring the seven other productions Iโ€™ve seen including the one I bummed around in (quite literally โ€“ if you know you know) โ€ฆ.  Here goes…..


For those that know the story of โ€œRENTโ€ โ€“ you can skip this paragraph. Otherwise, Jonathan Larsonโ€™s story โ€“ a glorious homage to Pucciniโ€™s โ€œLa Bohemeโ€ – revolves around a group of bohemians in the lower east side of New York City and deals with topics such as homelessness, drug addiction, betrayal, and AIDSโ€ฆ as well as love, friendship, recovery, and hope. All wrapped up with a stunning score of often poignant, sometimes funny, always beautiful singing with six-part harmonies. If you want to know more โ€ฆย  duck go go is your friend as ever.

RENT on stage is usually set in a quasi-industrial area โ€“ and Maple Theatre Company donโ€™t buck that trend (I doubt RENT heads would allow it to be honest!). Scaffolding creates multiple levels which are used excellently throughout the show and frames several areas for the action. ON stage props and setting is minimal, but I raise my hat to the wonderful use of moveable music flight cases with wooden tops that represent beds, side tables and THE cafe table (if you know, you know). Quite brilliant also was the use of 40-gallon steel oil drums โ€ฆย  where โ€œdrumsโ€ covers two definitions of that word.ย  Chapeau to Luke Hocket, set designer (who also produced the show) and his set team of Tom Courtier and Milly Hayward.

Directing a show like โ€œRENTโ€ is no easy task (not as hard as reviewing it obviously ๐Ÿ˜‰) as the show is basically โ€œthe sameโ€ whoever does it (as it is so iconic โ€“ maybe after 400 years, like Shakespeare, some aspects will be changed, and we will get a RENT set on a spaceship โ€ฆ)ย  but Dionna Kate-Hargreaves set her own stamp on it in subtly brilliant ways. I mentioned the use of multiple levels already but the piece de resistance of the show is in many ways โ€ฆย  the drumming.ย  (If you know you know).

And speaking of drumming that brings us to the music โ€“ a six-piece band led by MD Kris Nock rocked out the show hidden subtly off stage but in full view (once you know, you know). I wonder if Krisโ€™ toughest task (not as arduous as reviewing obviously) was teaching three actors to hit a large piece of metal in time with two sticks for some considerable time (if you know, you know).


Tech is as ever hidden away where no one can see them up in the attic of the Rondo, and technical director Tom Courtier and his crew slid their sliders and pushed their buttons andย  lit their lights to full effect. (Iโ€™ve got a deep and meaningful understanding of tech). Rule number one in a theatre is never hack off the tech guys โ€“ they have hammers, and saws, and unlimited access to 240v at all times (if you know, you know) so โ€“ GREAT WORK GUYS!!!

Thatโ€™s about it then. Set, Tech, props, direction, music.ย  Yup. Thatโ€™ll do.


Ah.

Yes.ย  That lot that cavorts upon the stage.ย  Nearly forgot them. Starting with cavortingโ€ฆย  choreographer and dance captain Grace Egginton and Grace Shobbrook whipped the cast into a frenzy of whirling limbs when they werenโ€™t singing.ย  And often when they were come to that. It must be said the Rondoโ€™s stage is quiteโ€ฆ.ย  Bijouโ€ฆ particularly when by necessity a good half of it is taken up by aluminium scaffolding poles that donโ€™t bend if you collide with them (if you know, you know) so the tightness of choreography is impressive.

And so โ€“ the cast. Iโ€™ve used the line about โ€œstrutting and fretting his hour upon the stageโ€ before so I wonโ€™t use it again.ย  Ooops.

It takes a dedicated cast to work โ€œRENTโ€ โ€“ it is emotionally draining (if you know, you know), taking its toll on the actorsโ€™ own emotions. And this cast did Jonathan Larson proud. The ensemble – they always get listed last so here they are first cos thatโ€™s important (if you know, you know) so bravo Daisy Wilson, Morgan Hames, Georgi pepper, Steven Hockett, Jasmine Lye, Sophie smith, Milly Haywood, and Sarah Easterbrookโ€ฆย  All of whom also starred in the all-important cameo parts that just make โ€œRENTโ€ simply โ€œworkโ€. Special mention must be made though for Jasmine, who stepped up to play the role of the harassed waiter in the cafรฉ scene due to cast unavailability this evening.ย  Cometh the hour, cometh the Jas!

I suppose that leaves the principals. *sigh*.ย  OK. Wellโ€ฆย  ummm…ย  errrโ€ฆ

Well in all honesty they werenโ€™t good. Nope. Not at all.

THEY WERE BELTING!!!ย  FANTASTIC!!!ย  MAGNIFICENT!!!

and other superlatives.

In no particular orderโ€ฆย  Bryan Houce played Markโ€ฆย  his portrayal got stronger and stronger throughout the performance as the middle-class wannabe with no confidence (thatโ€™s Mark โ€“ not Bryan!). Mimi was played superbly by Grace Egginton who quite rightly as a choreographer played the part of a striptease dancer very well.ย  (Hmmmโ€ฆย  that maybe came out a bit wrong?) ๐Ÿ˜‰Roger Davis, all angst, and anger was quite phenomenal played by Josh Phillips.ย  Absolutely fantastic. Liberty Williams probably stole the show for โ€œmost likely to break a wine glass at forty feetโ€ with her incredible top note harmonising as Joanne, and Naomi Marie as Benny (dรฉjร  vu here โ€“ if you know, you know) as the brooding, mean turncoat-comes-good ex-flatmate.

If I appear to be rushing through these principals, itโ€™s because I could write war and peace about them otherwise. Next up โ€“ in her first ever principal role (which is hard to believe, if not as hard as reviewing of course) playing Maureen was Sarah Askew.ย  Now Sarah is no mean belter of a top noted harmony as well, as befits a rock band vocalist (if you know, you know) but โ€ฆย  well.ย  If you need a top MOO-ERR then Sarah is your girl (if you know, you know).ย  And then we have Davey Evans as Collins. Another wow moment.ย  Collins is a complex character to play especially with the range of emotions demanded of it, and Davey perfected them all. Great voice too. Which leaves last, but of course NEVER leastโ€ฆย  Angel. George Friend. I had the pleasure of speaking with George before and after the show โ€“ he is reprising the role he played in 2017 โ€“ and he claimed (yeah right ๐Ÿ˜‰) he couldnโ€™t believe he could still reach the high notes he needed but they were well reached, another great performance.

So thatโ€™s it. Iโ€™ve reviewed a show thatโ€™s hard to review. A show that for an opening night was quite wonderful. And let us not forget either the debut show for a brand-new Bath based community theatre company.ย  Top job.


โ€œRENTโ€ runs until Saturday 16th March at 1930 each evening with a 1430 matinee on the 16th. Tickets can be bought from
https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/bath/rondo-theatre/rent/e-mdxlbz

and I urge you to go.

And โ€“ donโ€™t forget to MOOOO!  (if you know, you know).

You always said how lucky you were that we were all friends. But it was us, baby, who were the lucky ones.

Trending……

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

DOCAโ€™s Young Urban Digitals

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

Jol Roseโ€™s Ragged Stories

Thereโ€™s albums Iโ€™ll go in blind and either be pleasantly surprised, or not. Then thereโ€™s ones which I know Iโ€™m going to love before theโ€ฆ

The Magic Teapot Gathering

Okay, so there must be a truckload of local social and political ranting to cover, but itโ€™s new yearโ€™s day, Iโ€™m going to waffle about magic teapotsโ€ฆ..

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

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

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

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

You can help with building the wicker man, which burns Saturday night, or join the Maypole dancing on Sunday morning. Ticket price includes camping, car parking, showers, sauna and hot tub. Adult ticket, ยฃ100, teen ticket ยฃ25, kids free, campervan ยฃ15.

Make no mistake just โ€˜cos itโ€™s new yearโ€™s day, Iโ€™m partially frazzled and 2024 hasnโ€™t got off to a great start what with my daughter assaulting me with a teacake to the face last night, I absolutely love this festival with charms on, this whole Magic Teapot idea, and Iโ€™m all tingly with just how communal and beautiful it all looks; somebody put some dandelions in my hair, pronto!

Trending……

Vince Bell in the 21st Century!

Unlike Buck Rogers, who made it to the 25th century six hundred years early, Devizesโ€™ most modest acoustic virtuoso arrives at the 21st justโ€ฆ

Deadlight Dance New Single: Gloss

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

Things to Do During Halloween Half Term

The spookiest of half terms is nearly upon us again; kids excited, parents not quite so much! But hey, as well as Halloween, here’sโ€ฆ

CrownFest is Back!

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

New Single from Billy in the Lowground

The third single from Billy in the Lowground in as many months was released today, they’ve been ploughing their own furrow since 1991, been meaning to mention them, no time like the present….

No Chance for a Slow Dance sees no chance of slowing down for this Bristol folk rock collective, it’s a foot-tappin’ hoedown of Scrumpy & Western incorporating everything awesome with their live show. No doubt this the most up-tempo yet, arguably the best yet.

With comparisons to the Waterboys and the Levellers, thereโ€™s a distinctive tone to this six-piece we love ’em for. Earlier this month’s release, Fallen Queen mellows the pace slightly, the first single since summer, So The Story Grows nips that bluegrass twang, and together they make a fine collection, hopefully a new album in the works; please check them out, you’ll be pleased you did.

Trending……

Six Reasons to Rock in Market Lavington

Alright yeah, itโ€™s a play on band names and thereโ€™s only really two reasons to rock on Friday 17th October at Market Lavington Community Hall;โ€ฆ

Oh Danny Boy!

Oh Danny Boy, oh, Danny Boy, they loved your boyish Eton looks so, but when ye was voted in, an all democracy wasnโ€™t quite dying,โ€ฆ

Ed Byrne: Tragedy Plus Time

SYNDICATED INTERVIEW

By Jason Barlow Images: Roslyn Gaunt

Is there no end to the manโ€™s talents? A staple of revered panel show Mock the Week, Ed Byrne has also sledded down the side of a volcano for Dara and Edโ€™s Great Big Adventure, upstaged Martin Sheen and Robert Downey Jr on The Graham Norton Show, and demonstrated his driving skills on Top Gear and The Worldโ€™s Most Dangerous Road. He’s also proven himself to be quiz show dynamite on the likes of The Chase: Celebrity Special, The Hit List, Pointless Celebrities and All-Star Family Fortunes. Never agree to attend a pub quiz with Ed Byrne. You will lose.

But for all his dalliances with the world of television light entertainment, Ed remains at heart one of the worldโ€™s truly great stand-up comedians. He has honed his craft for a remarkable 30 years now, garnering a hatful of awards and a constant, borderline bewildering stream of five-star reviews along the way. Whisper it, but itโ€™s tempting in 2023 to take story-telling skills and a wit as sublime as Edโ€™s for granted. However, while he prepares to take his 14th show, Tragedy Plus Time, to the Edinburgh Fringe and onwards for a comprehensive UK tour, audiences need to ready themselves because Ed Byrne is heading into highly emotional new territory.

โ€œItโ€™s something of a departure, and Iโ€™m slightly worried about that,โ€ he concedes. โ€œIโ€™ve never really had the desire to write a show that had an overly serious element to it. I got a lot of five-star reviews on the last show [2019โ€™s If Iโ€™m Honest], but some four-star ones that opined, โ€˜well itโ€™s funny, but thatโ€™s all it isโ€ฆโ€™ As if thatโ€™s not enough these days. Frankly, just being funny is a furrow Iโ€™ve been happy to occupy. But this new show features some heart-wrenching, soul-bearing stuff.โ€

That much is indisputable. For Tragedy Plus Time, Ed bravely ventures into the world of grief and loss, a decision prompted by the passing of his younger brother Paul, aged just 44, in February 2022. Comedy that takes death as its cue is not unprecedented, but itโ€™s a path that takes considerable creative courage to explore.  

โ€œI was in two minds about whether to do a show of this nature,โ€ Ed explains. โ€œThen I decided this was the subject I was going to tackle but I wasnโ€™t quite sure how to go about it. But once I started down that road, that was itโ€ฆ Then my main worry was, how funny is it going to be and is it going to work?โ€

These were legitimate concerns. Of course, thereโ€™s funny and thereโ€™s funny. In Tragedy Plus Time, Ed consistently delivers the latter while expertly locating the poignancy that sits at the intersection of sadness and loss. This isnโ€™t gallows humour; this is something else altogether.

โ€œThe first time I performed it,โ€ he continues, โ€œit lasted more than an hour. That surprised me, but it was too long, so I had to decide whether to cut funny jokes or material thatโ€™s meaningful. That kind of decision was new to me, and whatโ€™s really annoying is that the one person I would have asked for advice on that is the guy the showโ€™s about. Itโ€™s like when you get dumped by someone and youโ€™re heartbroken. The one person youโ€™d usually want to talk to about it is the very person who dumped you.

Says Ed, โ€œIโ€™ve spoken to people who worked with Paul, who was a comedy director, and theyโ€™ve said that his thing was, โ€˜you can be as emotional as you like and as serious as you like, but there has to be a jokeโ€™. So the idea of saying something purely for the emotional gut punch was off the table.โ€

Nor is Tragedy Plus Time unrelenting by any means. The genius of it is that it takes the most difficult of subject matter and encourages the audience to laugh in its face in a way they would otherwise simply never do. Ed has also deliberately eschewed a linear narrative structure in favour of an approach that mirrors the unpredictable nature of grief itself.

โ€œObviously I donโ€™t want the whole thing to be an onslaught,โ€ he says. โ€œThatโ€™s partly because of the digressions, and thatโ€™s why theyโ€™re there. But they also illustrate how grief works in that you can still have a good time, you can still be happy, you can still have a laugh about other things and be frivolous. But grief is always there waiting for you when youโ€™re done with being silly.

Image: Roslyn Gaunt

โ€œThe show does elicit a very pure emotional response in the audience. Thereโ€™s something about the fact that when somebody dies, everyone else carries on like nothingโ€™s happened. Because nothing has happened to them. So thereโ€™s an anger in grief, tooโ€ฆ how can everyone else carry on as though nothing has happened?โ€

Ed candidly admits that mining his familyโ€™s bereavement for comedic effect would challenge his performing skills โ€“ and emotional bandwidth โ€“ in a unique way. Is this a nightly catharsis for the Irish comedian? To an extent, yes.  

โ€œDeath is universal. We will all lose someone. So the best thing to do is laugh at it,โ€ he says. โ€œAlthough I was aware, when I was first writing and performing this new show, that there was a danger I might, you know, lose it onstage. I did a work-in-progress at the Museum of Comedy and there was an audible crack in my voice. On the third performance I did actually cry on stage, and Iโ€™m sure for anyone who was there [assumes a very theatrical voice] โ€˜it was a very powerful experienceโ€™. But I donโ€™t want it to be the sort of thing where I rip my heart out and stamp on it for the audienceโ€™s delectation. Iโ€™ve been able to throttle back my emotions and keep them in check.โ€  

What of the origins of the concept that comedy is Tragedy Plus Time? Itโ€™s widely credited to American writer, humourist and quote machine Mark Twain, as many of these things are. Having researched it, Ed says thereโ€™s no conclusive proof that he coined it. Twainโ€™s contribution to the arts might have benefitted from an audio/visual dimension, if such a thing had existed in the 1880s, but itโ€™s something Ed has avoided. Until now.

โ€œThere are WhatsApp messages from Paul that I wanted to share and I could have just read them out. But that wouldnโ€™t have the same resonance, and you have to see them to fully appreciate the context. Then thereโ€™s a video of a weird guy who produces celebrity obituariesโ€ฆto be honest, Iโ€™m still tinkering with the audio/visual aspect, so there may well be more of that in the show. Itโ€™s a supplementary element, though, itโ€™s not integral. I donโ€™t want anyone to worry unduly about the introduction of technology to the proceedings.โ€

Tragedy Plus Time isnโ€™t Ed Byrne deconstructing comedy or going meta. Thatโ€™s not what he does. Nonetheless, this is a satisfyingly left-field move from one of the undeniable masters of comedy. It is as moving as it is funny, and vice versa.

โ€œIs it OK to talk about this stuff? Iโ€™d say this. Every night hundreds of people who didnโ€™t know who Paul Byrne was will leave the theatre knowing who Paul Byrne was. Iโ€™m happy with that, and I think I give a good account of him on stage. I wouldnโ€™t say heโ€™s up there with me every night, but heโ€™s there every time I think about the show, and Iโ€™ve got to make sure I do right by him. I briefly entertained a notion of writing a one-man play, with me sitting and talking to him towards the end of his life. But you know, Iโ€™m a stand-up comic. Itโ€™s what I do. I said to the audience in one of the early previews, โ€˜yes, it is sad. But donโ€™t worry because the show is funny. Because believe it or not, Iโ€™m actually quite good at this.โ€™โ€

Ed Byrne is touring nationwide. For more information, please visit http://edbyrne.com/

Ed Byrne is at The Wyvern Theatre, Swindon on 27th September and The Cheese & Grain in Frome on the 28th September.

Trending…..

A Quick Shuffle to Swindon

Milkman hours with grandkids visiting it was inevitable a five hour day shift was all I was physically able to put into this year’s Swindonโ€ฆ

Swindon Branch of Your Party is Growing

Following the excitement and success of the first meeting of โ€˜Your Partyโ€™ in Swindon, a second meeting has been arranged for 18th September 7.30 -โ€ฆ

No Rest For JP Oldfield, New Single Out Today

It’s been six months since Devizes-based young blues crooner JP Oldfield released his poignant kazoo-blowing debut EP Bouffon. He’s made numerous appearances across the circuitโ€ฆ

DOCA’s Early Lantern Workshops

Is it too early for the C word?! Of course not, Grinch! With DOCA’S Winter Festival confirmed for Friday 28th November this year, there willโ€ฆ

Weโ€™re Going on a Bear Hunt to The Cheese & Grain!

The first day of the school summer holidays will be marked with a very special performance at The Cheese & Grain in Frome, with one of the worldโ€™s best-selling childrenโ€™s authors and poet, Michael Rosen, on Monday 24th Julyโ€ฆโ€ฆ

With over 140 books published to his name, including the classics โ€œWeโ€™re Going on a Bear Huntโ€ and  โ€œA Great Big Cuddleโ€, plus 55 million views on his YouTube Channel โ€˜Kids Poems and Stories with Michael Rosen’; the Number 1 selling children’s author is all set to come to the Cheese and Grain. 

Recently seen on BBC Breakfast and The Repair Shop, the visit also follows Rosen receiving the prestigious PEN Pinter Prize just last week, an award honoured to those whose work is committed to a fearless exposition of truth about contemporary life. 

Michael Rosen is one of Britainโ€™s best loved writers and performance poets for children and adults. His first degree was from Wadham College, Oxford and he went on to study for an MA and a PhD. He is currently Professor of Childrenโ€™s Literature at Goldsmiths, University of London where he co-devised and teaches an MA in Childrenโ€™s Literature. 

Michael is also a popular broadcaster and has presented BBC Radio 4โ€™s acclaimed programme about language, โ€œWord of Mouthโ€ since 1998, as well as regularly presenting documentary programmes for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 3, including the Sony Gold Award-winning โ€œOn Saying Goodbyeโ€. 

Michael has published in the region of 200 books for children and adults, including โ€œThe Sad Bookโ€ with Quentin Blake (Walker Books) – a meditation on bereavement written after the loss of his son, Eddie; โ€œWeโ€™re Going on a Bear Huntโ€ with Helen Oxenbury (Walker Books) – made into an animated film for Channel 4 broadcast Christmas Day 2016 – and โ€œA Great Big Cuddleโ€ with Chris Riddell (Walker Books) . His poetry for adults includes โ€œDonโ€™t Mention the Childrenโ€ (Smokestack) and โ€œSelected Poemsโ€ (Penguin). Non-fiction work for adults includes โ€œGood Ideas: How to Be Your Childโ€™s (and Your Own) Best Teacherโ€ (John Murray), โ€œThe Disappearance of Emile Zola, Love, Literature and the Dreyfus Caseโ€ (Faber), and his memoir โ€œSo They Call You Pisher!โ€ (Verso). 

He has written a book for children and teachers on writing poetry โ€˜What is Poetry?โ€™ (Walker Books) and has done three booklets for teachers on writing and reading. These are available through his website http://www.michaelrosen.co.uk. He writes up a monthly news page on the website and a blog for teachers giving ideas for writing. 

Michael writes a monthly open โ€œletterโ€ to the Secretary of State for Education in The Guardian where he critiques Government policy on schools from the standpoint of a parent. He visits schools, teachersโ€™ conferences and university teacher training departments where he is in demand to give performances, workshops and keynote addresses. He also appears regularly at literary festivals all over the UK and Ireland. 

Michael has received several honorary awards, including degrees from the Open University, the University of Exeter, the University of London Institute of Education and the University of East London/Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust. For outstanding contribution to childrenโ€™s literature he received the Eleanor Farjeon Award and was Childrenโ€™s Laureate 2007-2009. In recognition of his contribution to the profile of French culture in the UK, he was made Chevalier de lโ€™Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. 

There are two shows on 24th July:

Show 1 doors at 10.30am – TICKETS

Show 2 doors at 13.30pm – TICKETS

Info: www.cheeseandgrain.com

Trending…..

I See Orangeโ€ฆ.And Doll Guts!

There was a time not so long ago when I See Orange was the most exciting new band in Swindon. Their latest offering released atโ€ฆ

Talk in Code Down The Gate!

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

Recommendations for when Swindon gets Shuffling

Swindon’s annual colossal fundraising event The Shuffle is a testament to local live music, which raises funds for Prospect Hospice. If you’re ever going toโ€ฆ

Thirty Years in the Dreadzone

Dreadzone, the Phoenix rising from the ashes of Big Audio Dynamiteโ€™s success, when drummer Greg Roberts and keyboardist Dan Donovan teamed with Julian Copeโ€™s sound engineer Tim Bran, were the prolific electronic dance triumph of post-raveโ€ฆ.

Owing their accomplishment to the fine blend of reggae into the contemporary melting pot of dance culture, harking back to Two-Tone yet too encompassed the burgeoning breakbeat house scene which in turn would fuel drum and bass. But Dreadzone never went there, the final piece of the jigsaw was bringing in vocalist Earl 16, and they stuck to their guns producing memorable anthems of techno-reggae dub bliss, particularly unforgettable being Little Britain sampling Carl Orffโ€™s Auf Dem Anger.

But if you, like me, were bouncing around a muddy field like Zebedee on a day out from the magic garden to a 1937 classical symphony you might not appreciate me reminding you, Dreadzone celebrate their thirtieth anniversary this year; but it might cushion the blow by letting you know you can join the party at Fromeโ€™s Cheese & Grain on Friday 21st April.

Still in the forefront of the festival scene, in 2022, Dreadzone refocussed their show after MC Spee was forced to step back from touring and they explored different aspects of their history and catalogue ahead of their 30th anniversary this year. With a reconfigured line-up for 2023, the bandโ€™s live shows will feature core members Greg Dread and original bassmaster Leo Williams, plus legendary reggae vocalist Earl 16, as well as Bazil on technology and Blake Robert (Gregโ€™s son) on guitar.

They have been releasing albums and progressively bettering, refining, and perfecting their own unique and inimitable take on dub since their inception in 1993. Dreadzone opened the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury in 1994, though if memories of that are hazy at best, I fondly recall a night at Shepardโ€™s Bush Empire in 1995 when I was still dancing to an imaginary dubplate in the cloakroom queue!

With plans for their 30th Anniversary firmly underway, standby for a new studio album later in the year too.

Tickets are on sale now and priced at ยฃ25.00+BF, available here.

Live at Esquires: Belated Christmas Pressie from Gaz Brookfield

Featured Photo credit: Jus Carroll

Itโ€™s been far too long since Bristol-based singer-songwriter Gaz Brookfield has had a mention on our pages, so hereโ€™s a belated Christmas present from this amazing performer, a name-your-price download of a live album youโ€™ll be sorry to have missed out on otherwise.

Of course, I only say belated because Iโ€™ve failed to mention it between munching on Quality Street until only toffee pennies and empty wrappers remain, and putting batteries in things, for Gaz released this Christmas Eve. Itโ€™s recorded live at Esquires in Bedford, back in November as part of a tour whereby his Patreon page members chose the setlist. So, expect a mixture of the best songs old and new, but be safe in the knowledge theyโ€™re accomplished acoustically. Without backing from The Company of Thieves, here is Gaz, warts, and all, as he apologises for a sore throat but, as you could imagine if youโ€™ve seen this character before, still manages to pull a blinder.

I honestly didnโ€™t expect to pick up on tracks Iโ€™d recall, but was reminded of one particularly adroitly written chef-d’oeuvre, The Tale of Gunner Haines, a true story of a solider assigned to Somersetโ€™s Brean Down Fort, who was reprimanded for reporting in late from an unauthorised leave, due to a flat tyre on his bicycle, and promptly took 5,000 lbs of gunpowder and blew himself and the barracks to smithereens.

If this comes across rather Ralph McTell or Eric Bogle, historical narratives are a scarcity in Gazโ€™s repertoire, rather drawing influences from everyday observations and personal reflections. And to argue these subjects are clichรฉ, Iโ€™d nod, but allow me thus, Gaz does it so incredibly well, the thoughts and observations of many others pale by comparison. So, as every good live album should, thereโ€™s abridged chat, confidently amusing and relative, and then thereโ€™s these ingenious prose pieces of aging and his youth, of medical issues, his affection for the ordinary from maps to gardening, and much to deliberate on the matter of being a musician on the road, self-deemed a “land pirate,” and particularly amusing when character assassinating drunks at his gigs.

Within it, Gaz states he follows a serious song with a โ€œsillyโ€ one, but the lines between sentimental and amusing are blurred, you take what you want from each, for if a good sign for the performer who uses the tenet of personal reflection as topic is that you come away from listening thinking you know the person, Gaz will seem like your best mate. This open fellow is a lively Billy Bragg at his peak, a West Country Springsteen of storytelling, with the carefree attitude to pigeonholing of James Taylor and the coolness of Leonard Cohen. The sum of these parts is a highly entertaining show.

If this live recording shouldnโ€™t be treated as comprehensive, but a teaser for you to explore more of his discography, I guarantee youโ€™ll come away from it wanting more.

Trending…

A Busy Week For Lunch Box Buddy!

It was great to bump into Lunch Box Buddy in Devizes today. Last week was hectic for him; first BBC Wiltshire stopped by his standโ€ฆ

Wither; Debut Single From Butane Skies

Whilst dispersing highly flammable hydrocarbon gases into the atmosphere is not advisory,  Butane Skies is a name increasingly exploding on local circuits. The young andโ€ฆ

Black Uhuru UK Tour Cancelled; The Plight of International Touring Post-Brexit

“They can get no time to press,
Because of all the distress that the society leads. What I’m a longing for is some happiness,”

Black Uhuru “Happiness.”

Fromeโ€™s Cheese & Grain today annouced the booking of The Counterfeit Beatles in November, which is all fine and dandy, but yesterday it sadly had to notify ticket holders for next monthโ€™s appearance of legendary reggae band Black Uhuru that the show had been cancelled.

In fact, after numerous postponements, the entite UK leg of the tour has been axed, due to a backlog in visas. The Cheese & Grain expressed their sorrow, explaining theyโ€™ve “been assured that the band and their representatives have tried everything in their power to make this work, but unfortunately there is now no option but to cancel this show.”

Kinda reminded me of my favourite upcoming ska band, Girls Go Ska, from Mexico, proudly posting their European tour dates on Facebook, without a single date on England’s green and pleasent land. I commented, “I wish you could come to England.” And though the South America ska scene developed separately from the retrospective niche of Two-Tone here, the girls are fully aware of our nation’s importance within the roots of international ska, and replied with sad emoji, “so do we.”

Now the tour is reality, all I get is fantastic looking video clips from Germany, of crowds enjoying the pinnacle of contemporary South American ska, when I’ve no hope in hell of ever seeing them live.

Not to moan too much about the divided issue, and as much as I enjoy a Beatles tribute, I have to ponder, is this what Brexit Britain has become? Barricaded in from outside influence, regurgitating archived moments of British achievements in the form of tribute acts, much less, extremely unlikely for upcoming UK artists to export their wares in the same method the flagwaving-idolised achievers of yore once did?

Ironic in considering if we had Brexit in the sixties, we wouldn’t have had The Beatles. Derry and the Seniors were doing well in Hamburg for booking agent,ย Allan Williams, whilst the young skiffle band on his books, who had recently rebranded from The Quarrymen were paltry amateurs, lost amidst the flooded market of the Merseybeat circuit. So Williams sent the young hopefuls on a similar path, to Hamburg, and what came out the other end was the greatest band ever; every gammon wave your union jack now.

Everything about the Beatles was honed and shaped in Germany, from their performance skills, their association withย Brian Epstein, and even the famed hair-do. The ability for UK musicians to tour other countries, particularly in Europe was paramount in shaping pop music, and equally, from Buddy Holly to Kraftwerk, the influence of international acts touring the UK.

I have to tip my hat to Fromeโ€™s Cheese and Grain, how such an average sized Somerset town can attract the standard of act usually reserved for cities. On Beatles, the venue has built the kind of reputation whereby Paul McCartney will pitstop for an intimate gig on his way to Glastonbury. But for want of an influx of international artists seems reserved for megastars on the Springsteen level, of which you need a stadium-sized venue, and you’d need to morgage your home for a ticket.

Longleat hosted a Diana Ross concert, and a number of other household names this summer, in the kind of conservative thinktank arrangement which took an average three hundred notes off each punter then told them they couldn’t bring in a folding chair. As if anyone who had amassed that kind of wealth to wantingly throw three hundred quid at one gig, and who would be eager to see a heronie of 55 years past would be of a suitable age to stand like a teenager for four hours; you can bet your bottom dollar a few deckchair hire conpanies rubbed their hands together that night. The young get tetchy when being herded like cattle, I can only imagine the disappointment from their elders.

Live music is big business, I get that, the hospitality industry was bought to it’s knees through lockdown, I get that too, but relaying the deficit onto the punter will not bring a stream of genuine fans, it will only bring an inequality culture of those who can afford to will, those who can’t have to suck it up.

But it’s not just about way to go to whack up the price of a Womad ticket, but more about the missed opportunities for amateur and semi-professional artists to export their talent further afield. What’s the point of extending a reputation internationally online, if you cannot follow it up by appearing live without an unaffordable bill, a financial advisor and a year’s worth of paperwork to fill in just to take a tambourine on a continental flight?

And what do we get in return for this supposed will of the people? An oil rig dragged into Weston-super-Mud and decorated with taxpayer’s much needed banknotes to resemble a pathetic play on words, “See Monster.” Yes, I do see a monster, as I swig from my crown embossed pint margo, pointlessly waving my blue pissport; it’s stranded us on this island with a bunch of self-serving, ignorant bastards.

Best we can do right now, is support the little man, to show our love and support to the burgeoning DIY ethos promoting local live music. This is where fervour remains, in the enthusiasm of imending talent, and pray for a better day when the red tape of
welcoming international acts will be cut.

Popped my Frome cherry; a Morning in a Somerset Freetown

Without certified limitations on Devizine, I freestyle the boundaries of listing events upon the ethos if itโ€™s conceivable and practical to drive to from our Devizes base, then what the hell, Iโ€™ll list it. While itโ€™s laborious, and often impossible to include every Wiltshire pub with a man with a guitar yodelling Wonderwall in, I try my upmost, but the wider we journey the vaguer it obviously gets; Iโ€™m not flipping omnipresent.

Iโ€™m partial to listing events in Frome, though, despite it bordering my ruling, for two reasons; 1: The Cheese & Grain; the non-profit, community led, all-purpose venue, punches well above its weight, booking the quality of acts youโ€™d expect to trek to a city for.

And 2: I get this overall perception of Frome being this little Somerset haven of alternative arts and culture; like a West Country Brighton, without a pier. But in all honesty, itโ€™s hearsay; it could have a pier for all I know, for other than dropping in on my previous employment as a delivery driver, and to navigate its bypass on my way further west, I confess, Iโ€™ve never actually explored the centre of Frome; what-cha gonna do? I donโ€™t do urban rambling, and deplore the mechanical faรงade of orthodox window-shopping.

In a weekend where I decided to bunk gigging, as previous weekends Iโ€™ve golloped three apiece, realise Iโ€™m addicted to writing and have to knock some-waffling-thing up for the sake of my sanity, even if it comes across school holiday assignment. Up until Sunday options were slim, Britainโ€™s Got Talent the epicentre of entertainment ingested, followed by a surprisingly tricky quiz show hosted by the Not Going Out comedian, in which questions mightโ€™ve been easier if BGT hadnโ€™t previously fried my cranium.

So, with Dadโ€™s taxi booked to Longleat Forest with an approximate three-hour interval, I start contemplating how to kill said three hours. With strict satirical nonstarters like โ€œkeep driving,โ€ โ€œcatch the first bus out of there,โ€ and โ€œend it all now!โ€ being the responses to a Facebook post requesting ideas of how to kill three hours on a drizzly spring Sunday morning in Warminster, I made a note to reconnoitre why itโ€™s considered so dismal and cultureless, other than its discouraging namesake relating to war, which is never much fun, coupled by my discovering a Warminster community hub website which, when you click their event guide comes up โ€œpage not found,โ€ and perhaps sought to rectify this if possible, another time.

It was a no-brainer, head to Frome, Sunday mid-mornings arenโ€™t the liveliest of times anywhere, so if I could find some hippy-chick knocking up a bowl of humus barefoot on the street, at least itโ€™d be something. Noted Iโ€™d crossed state line as drystone walls envelope fields, hills get that bit steeper and road systems are purposely designed to ward off, or merely confuse the shit out of grockles.

To save diverting in circles, I implored myself to dump the car at the next available carpark and pray it was walking distance to the town centre. Clichรฉ mainstream shop Marks & Sparks Food Hall and the Frome Job Centre provided clues, unimpressively. I mean yeah, theyโ€™ve got the archetypical charade of chain stores, though the borderline acceptable Subway being the only fast-food joint, if Greggs is endurable, and yay, they robbed me two quid to park on a Sunday to ascend vertical cobblestoned streets like Dale Winterton mountaineering, only to browse closed shops wondering why I didnโ€™t slouch in the car playing WordLots on my Samsung.

What upped my spirits, other than a bakery sign saying Cornish pasties for ยฃ2.50 (I mean, who does that? Have I slipped through a wormhole to the nineteen-nineties, or is this the Isle of Wight?) was a window display of an arty emporium sardonically mocking Brexit and the travesty of the Conservatism regime through decorated mugs and other handmade merchandise. I smiled at the audacity of a shop which would be petrol-bombed by our knuckle-dragging majority of Daily Fail readers back in Devizes before it opened; Iโ€™d fit in here.

For want of getting lost, I wobbled back down the hill, locating The Sun Inn, one watering-hole with a Tardis for a door Iโ€™d noted for holding the odd live music event; perhaps that was my route back in time but without a rainbow scarf I couldnโ€™t gain access, ramming the door only woke the dog and I assessed I was too early. Though by the time Iโ€™d detoured once more, governed by a broken compass, found another closed boozer Iโ€™ve listed as a music venue, uninventively named 23 Bath Street, I went on a hunch the side road by The George would be the way to my mecca.

Sure enough, over a bridge in a carpark a visage appeared, the golden wooded entertainment cathedral of The Cheese & Grain. With a cafรฉ, The Grain Bar, on the side it was lively already, as a regular childrenโ€™s clothes market, Little Pickles was just closing, allowing me to sneaky peak at the impressive venue. I could just imagine some great acts playing, who have in the past graced this stage. It was no Albert Hall, it was functional, yet in by modernism standard it was chic, alluring nonetheless.

I considered my tummy, at the cafรฉ, but wandered off as on the way over to it, Iโ€™d seen another attraction beckoning me. Black Swan Arts is another point of interest, and I sheepishly entered, as a stranger does in a gallery shop. With some lovely art, you usually browse the circuit, make your excuses and go the way you came in, cos as much as I adore art, my wallet doesnโ€™t.

Yet this was such a charming gallery, hosting plenty of workshops, it just fizzled into the Frome life already blossoming from its slumber outside. But I didnโ€™t go out through the out-door, I sauntered to the rear of the shop to appear next in queue for the cafรฉ, The River House, conveniently.

Handsomely expedient and adorably unpretentious, they kookily handed me a mini-figure of Batmanโ€™s Robin, rather than a spoon with a number on (which I secretly wanted to keep,) and proceeded to knock me up a hunky-dory mug of tea and perfectly toasted sausage ciabatta for a mere seven quid.

Thatโ€™s when I got the bat-signal, sadly, my time was up and Dadโ€™s taxi was back on call; just as I was getting into sharing my table with middle-aged beatniks far cooler than me. I pondered upon my return to the carpark, as a fellow sat on a bench practising his flute, Frome is a wonderfully original, outlandish place, deffo. If I was a younger, unattached lad, I could be persuaded to settle there, become part of the furniture at the Cheese & Grain.

But as it is, aging rapidly, rooted here with a settled family, and I must say, content with Devizes, I could only wish that our town council, our event organisers, and the great doers in town could take a leaf out of Fromeโ€™s books, shake off the partial frumpiness of Devizes, the discreditable tory grasp, and think outside the box. For all the great amenities we have in Devizes match Frome, yet our ability to utilise them as effectively, to accommodate everyone and their ways no matter how eccentric they might appear to others, sometimes, and I stress, only sometimes, falls beneath our potential; in, ha, you know, my honest opinion.

Though, Iโ€™ve returned home, added listings for The Cheese & Grain to our event calendar, as usual, but I mean, look, it falls within the ruling, really; theyโ€™ve got The Beat, The Feeling, Zion Train, Stiff Little Fingers coming up, theyโ€™ve even got Public Image Ltd, and thems worth driving the distances for, worth crossing border control into the land of somersetting for, if we canโ€™t have Johnny Lydon here, punking up the Corn Exchange!

Trending…..

FullTone Festival 2026: A New Home

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

Bathโ€™s Bell Pub Hits Back at 1Star TripAdvisor Review!

The Bell in Bath is an outstanding pub, we know this, you know this, but how theyโ€™ve turned a grumpy cretinโ€™s one star review on TripAdvisor on its head is nothing short of geniusโ€ฆโ€ฆ

Finding your apposite pub is akin to shoe shoppingโ€ฆ. no, hear me out; I can waste time trekking a shopping centre, browse a zillion other stores, but once Iโ€™ve settled on a pair of shoes, which are usually in the first shop I visited because I bloody loathe shopping, there is no compromise, itโ€™s those shoes or Iโ€™m walking barefoot. I never, however, feel driven to go onto ShoeAdvisor and discredit every other pair of shoes simply because they didnโ€™t suit my tastes.

Iโ€™m game finding a suitable pub in Bath, but aware, as with any unfamiliar city, Iโ€™m likely to make a blunder and land in one which just isnโ€™t for me. Familiarity, and want of a pint with a degree of urgency, I know full-well satisfaction will be nigh sauntering along the sunny side of Walcott Street, because for as long as I can remember, the Bell has been that stable institution with my name all over it, and then there is no compromise.

Historically The Bell has been lively, the comfy type for the hedonistic alternative. It sells pizza from a bicycle-themed hut, it hosts craft and artisan markets as well as being an upstanding music venue for musicians and DJs alike, with poetry slams and anything else which might tickle their fancy; itโ€™s simply popular because itโ€™s such a darn lovely place.

Their method to dealing with a bad TripAdvisor review though, tips the wanna-be Jay Raynersโ€™ intentions on their heads. As a badge of honour, they post such reviews on their Facebook page for their customers in the know to belittle and laugh at. On this particular occasion the unhappy couple downgraded them from two stars to one, just for mocking their hypocritical review on their own Facebook page; itโ€™s a social media thread which keeps giving!

They blamed the pub for the City Councilโ€™s lack of parking facilities, seemed to hate that the pub was popular, on its busiest weekend night, and for want of a quiet pub, with music(?) they hunted elsewhere, but their abhorrence of students prevented any success.

Laughable it may be, but it illustrates the danger in trusting opinions cast by unprofessional critics on these pathetic excuses for websites. Take me, for example, craving my pen mightier than my sword, if I wanted to slag off the Bell, or anywhere else, I would, but I donโ€™t, because ultimately the Bell is a blindingly brilliant pub, always has been, and I hope always will be. Might take a fair attempt at slagging off the reviewer though, but to be fair, the reviewer was nice, and I’m sure on another review it would’ve suited me!

The audacity to downgrade a review simply because they laughed it off only increased the hysterical element to their hypocrisy; as they added โ€œto be fair the place was nice, and Iโ€™m sure on another night it wouldโ€™ve suited usโ€ฆI am not slating the place or the people there!โ€ Butโ€ฆ. oh, you still downgraded your already appalling review to the lowest star rating possible? Okay, makes sense if a tavern with padded walls is what youโ€™re after.

They had our very own guitar virtuoso Innes Sibun playing that very same night, for crying out loud; I strongly suggest he swaps his sublime guitar melodies for a cassette of whale song for want of appeasing these imbeciles, or continue unperturbed if not; of which I fancy the latter! Innes himself asked, โ€œwould it help if I offered to do a solo acoustic gig especially for them? I feel really guilty youโ€™re getting slated for providing a night of live music which is what was promised.โ€

For The Bell have far from โ€œtaken it on the chin,โ€ as suggested by the keyboard warrior, with 357 likes, laughing or wowed emojis from the original Facebook post, 140 comments to-date supporting the establishment, and equally blossoming on the latter post telling of the downgrading, rather itโ€™s had quite the opposite effect the critic desired, and their audacity to appear fair-minded has collapsed in a pitiful heap.

Business as usual for the Bell, the Pizza Bike fired its oven and blessed drinkers with sourdough specials, Uncle Boo took to his guitar for some soul and blues grooves, and the staff prepare for a weekend of vinyl DJ sessions, an artisan and pre-loved market, and local country-rock indie from Breakfast Recordsโ€™ Langkamer; much ado about nothing, but then some people can never let it lie. If your head is stuck in TripAdvisor, youโ€™d never get the right shoes for you.

I could send you a packet of corn plasters for your blisters, but next time have faith in me, who gets or wants nothing from this or any other pub or venue, other than their continuation to support local creatives and musicians, and generate the awesome atmosphere in their establishment they always have.

Trending…..

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 canโ€ฆ

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 openingโ€ฆ

Bit of a Shindig; The Most Luxurious Festival in The West?

Glamping and other plush extras add to the allure of a modern-day festival, but how far are you willing to go to make your festie experience that bit more luxurious? Established dance festival Shindig, which takes place 26th-29th May in the glorious grounds of the Dillington Estate in Somerset, boasts the only festival in the UK with a hotel on site, and I donโ€™t mean slumming in a Travelodge!

โ€œYou can either stay in the beautiful main 18th Century Dillington House,โ€ they announced, โ€œor in the incredible contemporary Hyde complex.โ€ The Superior Rooms are the largest and most luxurious, which are mostly found in the Hyde. Many come with their own private decking or balconies with views over the stunning Somerset countryside. Plus, hotel guests have their very own entrance straight into the festival, so you wonโ€™t miss any of the action.

And that action is headliners De La Soul and Roy Ayers, with a massive host of live acts and DJs, including Nightmares on Wax, and Don Letts with Terry Hall, its own after-hours nightclub with Goldie playing among others, and a general good vibes atmosphere where the entire family is catered for. Thereโ€™s the Kids Kingdom, which will be fully programmed with activities to keep them busy during the day, and performance shows and cinema for kids.

Okay, big question, yeah, hotel rooms start from ยฃ1,000 for four nights bed & breakfast, but this includes secure parking, room service, bar and restaurant. Other boutique camping options are bell tents, yurts and squirts, airstreams, or bring your own camper with a ยฃ70 in advance ticket.

All this wows me, how far the festival scene has come, and Shindig truly is a testament, for the glitzy side of dance music. But in this, it got me reminiscing of the downside to festivals of yore, lying flat in the cheapest prism one-man tent money could buy, with a burnt-out tealight, a little pond of muddy Special Brew and grass blades, telling myself it was all part of the festival experience!

Once, camping halfway up the side of an Andalusian Mountain, graduated to a dome tent, yet having to anchor my feet in the sleeping bag in a bottom corner and fasten myself diagonally across, supported either side by my rucksack and other paraphernalia, in order to prevent waking to find myself, and all my gear too, slumped into the bottom corner like I did on the first morning!

I find myself thinking back to people-watching at a bygone murky Glasto, where within the mud-drenched surrounding akin to an apocalyptic movie, I perchance to spot a glamorous young girl dressed totally in white, white leggings, white top and trainers. She was just standing there, in the midst of it all, spotless and looking horrified at the desolation around her. With frazzled mind I had to ponder how sheโ€™d even got that far, I mean, without resembling everyone else, who were covered head-to-toe in mud and shit.      

The only conclusion I could muster was teleportation, but Iโ€™m now certain of one thing, that chick needed Shindig, possibly more than anyone! Phew, if I were her, or you, Iโ€™d get my ticket here, forget the past and relish in the festival indulgence of a new era!

Trending……

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 toโ€ฆ

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 Mathewsโ€ฆ

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€™sโ€ฆ

Bath Reggae Festival Ticketholders Still Await Refund

Ticketholders for the hugely publicised Bath Reggae Festival still awaiting a refund after the festival was cancelled in August last year are getting understandably disgruntled, as the organisers are reportedly unresponsive to emails and messages….  

Like many others, I jumped on this when first announced in November 2020. With a real community feel to their reggae scene, and Fairfield House, where Emperor Haile Selassie I spent five years in exile, what location in the southwest could be more apt to hold a reggae festival than Bath?

Wowed but slightly dubious when I saw the inaugural festival announce their line-up later in the month, for a first-time festival it seemed too good to be true. Legends of reggae were billed; Maxi Priest, Aswad, Big Mountain, Dawn Penn, Hollie Cook, Sister Nancy and more. Due to Covid restrictions the event was postponed from June to August, but over 2,000 reggae fans were disappointed to learn, due to the organisers being unable to source port-a-loos, the festival at Kensington Meadows in the city was again called off.

Spokesperson for event organisers, VIP Productions, Jack Wilkinson told the BBC at the time, โ€œthere has been a mention of September but again that can’t be guaranteed.โ€ VIP put out a plea on their Facebook page, encouraging ticketholders to retain their tickets as they would be honoured once a future date was arranged, but promised a full refund if not. This was the last post published on their Facebook page in August, as punters rally to inquire to their refund, and receive no response.

Some managed to obtain a part-reimbursement from their bank or PayPal, but Iโ€™ve yet to find anyone who actually received a refund direct from the organisers. I emailed the festivalโ€™s website and the messaged VIP Productions, to no reply either, but since discovered, according to the .gov site, the company dissolved in October. VIP also presented another similar reggae festival, same month, in Huddersfield, called Sunup, of which I can find no evidence of it happening either. Going on this, Iโ€™m sad to say, I wouldnโ€™t hold out much hope, guys.

I would not go as far to suggest the whole shebang was a scam; the festival industry is not a swindlersโ€™ market, as it is not enormously profit-making. An event of this scale takes hard work, dedication, experience and a huge pot of funds long before stages are erected, and folk are downing cider and chewing on falafels. Admin, marketing, council permissions and insurance are just some of the mountains of red tape you need to get through just to get your foot on the first run of the ladder, therefore thereโ€™s far easier methods of defrauding people.

Just one day prior to the event in August, Somerset Live reported VIP were โ€œcriticised for their last-minute approach and lacking basic information in the application, making it โ€˜extremely difficultโ€™ for Bath and North East Somerset Council.โ€ Somerset Live also spoke to a senior environmental health officer, Sara Chiffers, who expressed concerns, โ€œweโ€™ve had extensive dialogue with the organisers about elements of the event management plan that were unclear, contradictory.โ€

This would suggest my initial hesitancy was justified; perhaps their intentions were honourable, but they tried to run before they could walk. For to have one of these big names booked would have been enough for an inaugural festival, as you need to start small and build. You cannot run off looking at Glastonbury, Reading or Bestival, these are well established with generations of experience, if they book Bowie, or Bruce Springsteen itโ€™s because they know they can, they know tickets will cover it. Festival organising is a massive risk, and fundamental organisers get an event co-ordinator with experience. But to fail over a trivial aspect like toilets is, aptly, a bit shit!

More so it looks bad, creating a riff between punter and organisers in general, and right now, this is the last thing the hospitality industry needs. I know of one festival organisation shut up shop because they depended on advance ticket sales to host the next event. An honourable, trustworthy little festival, and while Iโ€™d rather advocate folk entrust such organisers, stories like this are bound to create understandable uncertainty.   

My advice would have to be, in order for the festival scene to thrive and especially for new-comers to become established, folk have to put their trust in events and buy tickets in advance. Yet I urge punters to use their noodle, be wary of festivals promising too much at one time, especially the first time, or events which may have sister operations elsewhere in the UK under a similar banner. But it is detrimental for the future of festivals that organisers remain faithful to their customers, that they insure thereโ€™s reserves for refunds should it fail, and that they keep in communication with the ticketholders in such an occasion, as it is not only the customers you are bothering, but other event organisers too; common decency really, isn’t it?

Trending…..

IDLES’ at Block Party

With their only UK shows of the year quickly approaching, the 1st and 2nd August will see IDLESโ€™ and music festival Block Party take overโ€ฆ

Monkey Bizzle Supports Boot Hill Xmas Bash at The Southgate

Not as greater deal of options for entertainment as recent weekends gone, I still had a double-booked dilemma. As much as nipping to the Sham for Train to Skaville appealed, I can rest assured this gig would go off based on past experience. Similarly, though, whenever those crazy canal-type Boot Hill All Stars are chalked on the Southgateโ€™s board, their unique and often comical frenzy of gypsy-folk-ska is a hoedown not to be missed, despite seeing them plenty before.

I opted for the latter, partially being anything longer than a fortnight without attending the Southgate and I get withdrawal symptoms, but more so because The Boot Hills were supported by Monkey Bizzle, who Iโ€™ve yet to witness live. Aware of this bunch of bananas too, though, after fondly reviewing their debut album Idiot Music, back in July, a fine primer to convince anyone checking them out is a must.

So, it was to be, a rare thing; a single record deck united with conventional instruments awaiting a show at the ever-dependable Southgate Inn, Devizes, and intrigue set in on how some of the, shall we use the term conventional again(?) punters would react to this. Our own reviewer, Andy looked ominously at the addition, even when Monkey Bizzle kicked proceedings off, and I wagered he was pleased to see me, knowing Iโ€™d cover anything more my cup of tea than his. To mark its greatness though, it must be said, aside from not busting into crazy legs and finishing off with a back spin, Andy reported how much he unexpectedly enjoyed it.

Though just like the Southgate, we are limited to suggest anything about both bands in this double-header are anywhere near conventional, and with corsets, props and handmade geetars from recycled produce, the Boot Hills did their own thing, in their own tried and tested way, and itโ€™s something to behold.

But not before Monkey Bizzle set the scene alight with their outrageous brand of rib-tickling hip-hop. In many ways, despite a different pigeonhole, the two bands complement each other with west country folk background similarities; even sharing drummer, Cerys. If The Streets injected something of urban capital life into UK hip-hop witty commentary, and Goldie Looking Chain did likewise for Cardiff, Monkey Bizzle do it for the west country. Though we mayโ€™ve hinted comparable before with the utterly fantastic Corky, while this one-man band offers pastiches of hip-hop classics via an acoustic method, five-piece Monkey Bizzle subtly fuse rock, reggae and ska into original compositions, scratching and rapping over hip-hop beats.

As self-confessed when waxing lyrical, the result is โ€œidiot music, for stupid people,โ€ and โ€œif you think this is stupid, then youโ€™re a fucking idiot,โ€ yet all presented here is tongue-in-cheek. The mocking irony of the egotistical rapper bigging himself up isnโ€™t something entirely new-fangled, neither are pot smoking, blagging mates or akin subjects covered, but Monkey Bizzle boons the concept with an agreeably local touch, and it works so very well.

Was it enough to delight da Southgate posse, hardly being the rock steady crew and all? I believe it was, and kudos to Deborah and Dave for bringing them, something different, to town.

Yet the show was only half-baked, and despite a few sounds hitches and the missing member due to sickness, professional rebels the Boot Hills came on to do what they do best, bring the house down with this insatiable zest for energetic folk rock, as danceable as ska, as cavernous as blues and as west country fun as the Wurzels in Toy Town.

Yes, itโ€™s rude and crude, comically entertaining, with anarchistic, often blasphemous themes where female masturbation references, puking on a night bus and frenzied Dolly Parton and Toots & the Maytals covers come under banjo turmoil goodness. If it sounds like madness, it totally is, but I wouldnโ€™t have it any other way, and it has become something of a personal Christmas treat tradition now; a predictably, but still absolutely fantastic night at the Southgate.

For the Boot Hills, the Xmas party continues next weekend closer to home, at Bradford-on-Avon leading pub venue, The Three Horseshoes. Meanwhile The Southgate hosts Phase Rotate next Saturday, the 18th, followed by Sundayโ€™s unmissable Christmas party with Itโ€™s Complicated. Anything succeeding this will be stuffing Quality Street and cold turkey sandwiches.

Trending…..

Sheer Music to Host Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls UK Tour at Bath Forum

Featured Image by Clair McAllister

Little doubt Frank Turner is the top of his game, the prolific indie-rockerโ€™s ninth studio album, โ€œFTHCโ€ is highly anticipated….

The previously released lead single, โ€œThe Gatheringโ€ only gives a small insight into the new direction of the record. Though Frank is not only able to feature guest appearances from Muse, Nine Inch Nails, Biffy Clyro and more, the supporting tour allows him to cherry-pick venues and promoters.

Frank will be doing a unique tour playing all thirty-nine English historic counties, plus nine districts of Scotland, eight counties in Wales, six in N. Ireland and a further eight counties in Ireland. The ambition is to reach all of his fans with his new record and play where most artists will not go.

Sheer Music is the obvious choice for the west country, and promoter, Kieran J Moore is delighted to have been asked. Frank has chosen The Forum in Bath for his Somerset date, which will be Friday 18th February 2022.

The beautiful art-deco Forum gave Frank one of his last shows from his previous album tour, just prior to lockdown. The venue remains a firm favourite with artists and fans alike. It will be Sheerโ€™s first show at the historic venue, Mr Moore says, โ€œitโ€™s an opportunity weโ€™re truly honoured and excited about being given!โ€

Image: Clair McAllister

Given the nature of the show and the current climate, (itโ€™s as if no one was allowed out for a year or more!) tickets will be snatched quickly, so a heads up for Turner fans, that tickets will be available in the following structure;

Album Pre Order for Pre-Sale: Tuesday, 21 September @ 5PM BST

Album Order Pre-Sale: Wednesday, 22 September @ 12PM BST โ€“ Friday, 24 September @ 12PM BST

Promoter Pre-Sale: Thursday, 23 September @ 12PM BST

General On Sale: Friday, 24 September @ 12PM BST

WIN 2 TICKETS HERE

Trending…..

Clock Radio Turf Out The Maniacs

The first full album by Wiltshireโ€™s finest purveyors of psychedelic indie shenanigans, Clock Radio, was knocked out to an unsuspecting world last week. Itโ€™s calledโ€ฆ

Idiot Music, is the Monkeyโ€™s Bizzle

This is isnโ€™t the favoured way to start a review, but this is idiot music for stupid people, if you think this is stupid then youโ€™re a fucking idiot, and thatโ€™s a quote, from the opening title tack, which ends on, โ€œoh, there it is, up my bum; can I eat it now?โ€

If Goldie Looking Chain is all too millennial, but hip hop, for you, should be served with massive chunks of deadpan sauce, west country tongue-in-cheek sarcasm and general silliness, Monkey Bizzleโ€™s debut album, Idiot Music might just be the thing to pick off the menu.ย ย ย 

Through the Pythonesque nature of Idiot Music though, wailing guitars, proficient drumming (from Cerys of the Boot Hill All Stars), and substantial dope beats means this is far from amateurish, and will rock the festival circuit. In fact, the Somerset five-piece sold out the album launch party at The Barge on Honeystreet a fortnight ago; I see why. This drips with Scrumpy & Western charm, like Gloucestershireโ€™s Corky, Wurzels meets the Streets, the elements of โ€œagriculturalโ€ hip hop make this apt for our local crusty scene. Yet with wider appeal, it is, simply, parental advisory fun.

Primates tend to be a running theme, a particularly danceable funky signature tune named Monkey Funk, a King Kong themed rap, another including David Attenborough samples. There are also drug references aplenty, the reggae-inspired Heavy, or Doves (Methylenedioxymethamphetamine) needs no explaining, but in it, it mocks the chav culture in such a way you mayโ€™ve thought only Goldie Looking Chain could. Something itโ€™ll inevitably be compared to, but more so than the humour drafting this side of the Seven, what makes this so appealing is its nod of respect to hip hop rather than mocking it, is greater than that of Goldie Looking Chain, in a similar way thereโ€™s was with Beastie Boy satirists Morris Minor and the Majors, if you get as old skool as I!

One thingโ€™s for sure, Monkey Bizzle isnโ€™t to be taken seriously, but for the most part itโ€™s listenable to as a hip hop album rather than pure novelty too, unique rappers Skoob and James make this so, especially as the album trickles on, both CU Next Tuesday and Ha Ha Ha being particularly entertaining, Oi Mate ripples with The Streets’, Give Me My Lighter Back but under a ska riff.

Nothing here is going to become next summerโ€™s banging anthem on Radio Oneโ€™s Big Weekender, an honour theyโ€™re clearly not bothered by or striding towards. To face facts, what you get is a full album of highly entertaining flip-flop and amusing lyrics of daring themes, wrapped by gifted musicians only playing the fools. And for which, Idiot Music has got my name all over it!

Sheer Reveal Frank Turner at Cheese & Grain

To celebrate the release of his new single โ€œthe Gathering,โ€ featuring Jason Isbell and Museโ€™s Dom Howard, multi-award-winning Frank Turner, one of the UKโ€™s most successful solo artists of the past decade, selling over one million records worldwide and playing to over two million people from small venues to a sold-out show at Londonโ€™s famous Wembley Arena, announces a UK tour. The good news for Turner fans is, Sheer Music nabbed the man himself for two dates at the Cheese & Grain.

Out via Xtra Mile Recordings of Polydor Records, The Gathering is his first new solo music in nearly two years. That said, we did review his Buddies sequel album with Jon Snodgrass not so long ago.

Launching today, The Gathering is available to stream now across all platforms, alongside are the exciting details for a series of nine live show โ€˜Gatheringsโ€™, headed by Frank and Xtra Mile Recordings and running over summer 2021. Tickets for all shows on sale from 10am BST on Friday May 7th.

Itโ€™s said Frank Turner didnโ€™t want to write a lockdown song. Over the past year heโ€™s written and rewritten songs, trying to steer himself away from the subject that will no doubt dominate the charts for years to come. But for a man whose life and career are so intrinsically linked to live music, not referencing the dearth of festivals and gigs started to prove impossible. Not least since Turner himself has spent much of lockdown playing virtual shows from his living room, raising over ยฃ250,000 to support endangered grassroots venues up and down the UK, many of which might not have otherwise survived the pandemic.

So, itโ€™s fitting that Frankโ€™s new single โ€˜The Gatheringโ€™ is an upbeat, Glam-esque stomp. It puts a positive spin on things, anticipating a return to normality. โ€œItโ€™s about that moment when you come together in a room full of people, and you lean on a stranger and sing along with the chorus and get the words wrong,โ€ explained Frank.

Produced by Rich Costey (Biffy Clyro, Foo Fighters), who Frank worked with on 2013โ€™s Tape Deck Heart, โ€˜The Gathering’ features pile driving drums courtesy of Museโ€™s Dom Howard and a triumphant guitar solo from Jason Isbell, who recorded remotely from Los Angeles and Nashville. The new track follows a number of huge life changes for the star, who left his beloved London for the Essex coast, also getting married after the release of 2019โ€™s No Manโ€™s Land. โ€œThe biggest thing for me about the lockdown experience was about identity,โ€ he says. โ€œI am the guy who tours, this is who I’ve been since I was sixteen. This is the longest period of time I’ve slept in the same bed continuously since I was seven.โ€

Set to change this summer, when, in celebration of the ethos behind โ€˜The Gatheringโ€™ Frank and label Xtra Mile Recordings will present a run of outdoor shows, helping to kick start the return of live music. Itโ€™s been a catastrophic year for the Industry as a whole, with the Covid pandemic dealing blow after blow for everyone in the sector. In true punk rock style, Xtra Mile and Turner want to take matters into their own hands with a set of versatile events that can either be socially distanced or full capacity depending on the maximum safety of the audience, performers and crews and in accordance with any national restrictions in place at the time of the event. Frank says; โ€œAt a time when the pandemic has wreaked havoc all across the live music industry, I feel like it’s important to get back to the basics – playing live music to entertain a crowd. This summer, with Xtra Mile and friends, I’m taking the punk approach – do it yourself, find a way. I can’t wait.โ€

2021 UK โ€˜Gatheringโ€™ Live Shows include Bideford in June, and Fromeโ€™s Cheese & Grain on both Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th June. The tour continues through July with dates in Liverpool and Gloucester, August at Manchester and Hull will need to wait until September.

The Guvโ€™ of Sheer, Kieran Moore is keen to point out the Sunday is his birthday, so if you are going, take him a cake. I dunno, good question; add about 50ish candles I reckon!

Trending…..

Thieves Debut EP

Adam Woodhouse, Rory Coleman-Smith, Jo Deacon and Matt Hughes, aka Thieves, the wonderful local folk vocal harmony quartet of uplifting bluegrass into country-blues has aโ€ฆ

Horses of the Gods; We Wish You Health

I once reviewed a cassette with a photocopied punk-paste zine style picture of Mr Blobby as the cover, where a distraught male voice screeched, โ€œtake an overdose, ginseng!โ€ continuously over some white noise. Thank heavens thatโ€™s in a long-lost past!

Fortunately, Iโ€™ve never had anything quite so bizarre to review since, not even this week when, Erin Bardwell messaged; โ€œone of the drummers I do things with, Matty Bane, has a side duo project and wanted to let you know about their latest album.โ€

Sure, Iโ€™ve heard of Matty, seen him listed as one of Erinโ€™s collective, trekking with them to Jamaica in 2003 to record with Recoldo Fleming at Dynamic Sounds. Further research shows heโ€™s drummed in Bad Manners for over ten years, and is now part of Neville Stapleโ€™s From the Specials setup, headhunted from days as part of the Special Beat tour with the original rude boy.

Given this, I was naturally expecting said side-project to be reggae, stands to reason. What mightโ€™ve eased the surprise was to have pre-known of Mattyโ€™s own band The Transpersonals, a minimalistic, psych-rock outfit lounging somewhere between Pink Floyd and Spaceman 3. Still, nothing was going to prep me for what I got; We Wish you Health by Horses of the Gods.

Thereโ€™s only one reason for facetiously mentioning the eccentric Mr Blobby cassette, because this is unusual too. The likeness ends there, though. โ€œBizarreโ€ can connote excruciating, as with the cassette, but, as with We Wish you Health, can also imply uniquely stimulating and inimitably disparate. So much so, itโ€™s astonishingly good. For those seeking the peculiar, those at their happiest dancing barefoot in Aveburyโ€™s morning dew, or for whom reaching the summit of Glastonbury Tor before sunrise is priority, will adore this, with jesterโ€™s bells on.

Matty teams up Mike Ballard, a media and games lecturer with a penchant for folk. And essentially this is what we ought to pigeonhole Horses of the Gods as; Somerset folk, is as near in modern terminology youโ€™re going to get. But for comparisons Iโ€™m going to have to max my flux capacitor way beyond my usual backtracking.

If I relish in music history without the technical knowledge, I understand one has to either accept four-time pop, or untrain their ear to acknowledge other musical metres, in order to appreciate folk, classical, even jazz, but particularly the kind of sounds We Wish you Health is embracing. Thereโ€™s something medieval, least pagan mysticism about the influences here, of shawms and hand-cranked hurdy-gurdies, miracle plays, and Gallican chants of plainsong. And itโ€™s swathed with chants and poetry as if in variant West Country Brittonic tongue.

We have to trek beyond futurist Francesco Balilla Pratellaโ€™s Art of Noises theory, to an olden ambience of nature, of birdsong, storms and waterfalls. The opening track starts as a spoken-word toast and ends akin to medieval court jester entertainment, over a haunting chant. Equally passe but equally amicable is a sea shanty called Down in the Bay. Then a clocktower chime follows; left wondering if this was Dark Side of the Moon recorded in 1648. Sow In uses mellowed hurdy-gurdy to mimic what the untrained ear might deem an Eastern ambience. With a solstice theme, itโ€™s so earthy it makes the Afro-Celt Sound System sound like Ace of Base! (Joke; I love the Afro-Celt Sound System!)

In many ways the next tune Ostara follows suit, more eastern promise yet slightly more upbeat. Consider George Harrisonโ€™s collaborations with Ravi Shanker. As the album continues, experimentation with traditional abound, obscure instruments are thrown into the melting pot; the Victorian circus sound of The Thing and I, the rural west country ditty of Diggerโ€™s Songs, in which you can almost smell spilt scrumpy as folk rise from haystacks to jig.

Throughout youโ€™re chopping randomly at influences, this medieval court running theme, blended with an oompah band styled sound on The Whole World Goes Around, will make you want bells on your shins like a drunken Morris dancer at the village fete. Else youโ€™re haunted by the chill of evocative soundscapes, unable to pinpoint an era this falls into. Iโ€™ll tell you now, it was aptly released at Samhain last year.

We Wish you Health may be bespoke, and some wouldnโ€™t give themselves adjustment time, yet Sgt Pepper and Pet Sounds were famed for pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable in contemporary pop. This is a fissure to the norm, a testimony of yore, for while thereโ€™s a demonstration of newfound passion within ancient realms, it is fundamentally timeless. Though I suspect thereโ€™s myth and history behind each track, which extends the album from a set of songs to a research project for the listener.

The finale, for example, has a reference in Wikipedia; John Barleycorn, a personification of the importance of sowing barley and of the alcoholic beverages made from it, beer and whisky. Though in the House of Gods, cider gets a mention. John Barleycorn is represented as suffering indignities, attacks and death that correspond to the various stages of barley cultivation. It goes onto reprint a Robert Burns version from 1782, though stating countless variations exist; Matty and Mike use an earlier version:

There was three men come out o’ the west their fortunes for to try, And these three men made a solemn vow, John Barleycorn must die, They ploughed, they sowed, they harrowed him in, throwed clods upon his head, Til these three men were satisfied John Barleycorn was dead.

Iโ€™ve rushed out this review to make you aware of it, and because Iโ€™m so utterly astounded by its uniqueness, but fear Iโ€™m only teetering on the edge of its fascinating historical references myself. Thus, is the general nature of folk music, to dig out lost fables which once wouldโ€™ve entertained young and old, and bring them to new audiences, and The Horses of the Gods does this in such a way, the negative confines and stereotypes commonly associated with folk music just melt away.

Link Tree to album

Trending……..

You; Lucas Hardy Teams With Rosie Jay

One of Salisburyโ€™s most celebrated acoustic folk-rock singer-songwriters Lucas Hardy teams up with the Wiltshire cityโ€™s upcoming talent who’s name is on everyoneโ€™s lips, Rosieโ€ฆ

Bands At The Bridge

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

Phil Cooper is Playing Solitaire

Trowbridge singer-songwriter and one third of The Lost Trades, Phil Cooper has actually been doing more than playing solitaire, heโ€™s released a new solo albumโ€ฆ

Haunted House Party; Chatting with Ill Literate of The Scribes

I caught up with Ill Literate, one third of Bristol hip hop trio, The Scribes, to chat about their new single, how they, and in general, writing a rap is composed, a bit of their backstory, on diversity and where theyโ€™re headingโ€ฆโ€ฆ.

After the unnerving atmosphere of their mind-blowing previous single, Stir Crazy, Bristol hip hop ground-breakers The Scribes release Haunted House Party today, featuring Mr Teatime and DJ Steadi, which will act as a double-A-side with Stir Crazy. Somewhat slighter in neurotic ambience than its flipside, still it maintains a lingering disturbed undertone, an eerie mood weaved by the intensely hypnotic lyrical style which weโ€™ve come to expect from the Scribes.

Despite the haunting opening piano solo, thereโ€™s nothing tongue-in-cheek with this haunted house, as might be wrongly perceived by clichรฉ pop songs with similar themed titles. The Scribes arenโ€™t doing the Monster Mash, donโ€™t even go into this expecting something similar!

But you know me, I showed my age with the trio, jokingly citing a lampooning track, The Haunted House of Rock from the debut EP of eighties hip hop trio Whodini. Why one third of the trio, Shaun Amos, aka Ill Literate agreed to chat is beyond me, but he did, and hereโ€™s the awkward questions I threw at him, and his answers!

Hopeful heโ€™d humour me, I went wrangling on a technicality with the groupโ€™s name. I reckoned it should be โ€œScribes,โ€ and not โ€œTHE Scribes,โ€ as the first denotes a copyist, i.e., anyone who writes, prior to the printing press and can be traced back to ancient Egypt, whereas the latter usually relates to a particular group from biblical times who were largely critical of Jesus, probably contributed to his crucifixion. โ€œWhatโ€™s in a name,โ€ I asked!

โ€œWow man, I’ve got to say I don’t think we’ve ever thought about it to that extent!โ€ Shaun acknowledged, โ€œwhen we first came up with the name, we did have a list of possibilities, including some genuinely terrible ideas like “Guttersnipes”. When we settled on “The Scribes” we did quite like the vaguely iconoclastic undertones going with the main thrust of writing. We already knew we wanted to write music by our own rules rather than by going with trends or scenes.โ€

Iโ€™m glad he didnโ€™t bite at my absurd logic, as likely it matters not one iota, rather there was reason. Being scribes are writers, it leads us into my intrigue at how they, and rappers in general go about writing and composing a track, if they have a set formula?

โ€œIt really does vary hugely, we work with a lot of producers and the process of getting a track completed is different every time,โ€ he replied. โ€œWhen I’ve composed the music, myself I tend to bring it to the rest of the group with an idea of what I want the song to be about, maybe even with a hook already written and recorded. Sometimes we’ve got a topic we want to write about and we’ll seek out music that will fit with it. Quite often producers will make a selection of pieces for us to listen to and mess around with and we’ll get a vibe off a particular track, sometimes by jamming it out in the studio, sometimes on the road between gigs listening to bits on the car stereo.โ€

I see the writing process for a solo, say acoustic musician, usually being a lone affair. Whereas scripting an episode of the Simpsons, for instance, is a group affair, the best writers gather around a table and knock the jokes and narrative about, which is more how Iโ€™d envision they work a song, because thereโ€™s three of them and the subject has to harmonise, as they bounce lyrics off each other. Unless, one contributes an idea and the others adlib their parts?

โ€œWe do bounce our lyrics off each other a lot,โ€ he confirmed, โ€œchecking they make sense mostly!

Shaun Amos.

โ€œWe do bounce our lyrics off each other a lot,โ€ he confirmed, โ€œchecking they make sense mostly! Whichever one of the aforementioned routes we’ve taken to write the track, it’ll almost always end up with us all agreeing a hook together, that then tends to set the topic of the track in stone. We then go off and write our verses separately before coming back together to record. So, while the hooks/theming is generally a group effort, the verses are much more of a lone affair!โ€

But what of adlibbing rappers freestyling, Iโ€™m guessing theyโ€™ve set templates to fuse with a running theme, but usually this consists of a simple premise; boastfully bigging themselves, or criticising the opposing rapper. Yet tracks from the Scribes meld like crochet, tackling tricky subject matter, they weave in and out of notions, rather than repeating words or thoughts. How does this process start, with a subject, or with a set of words which flow?

โ€œIt pretty much always starts with a subject,โ€ Shaun elucidated. โ€œMaybe not even something as specific as a subject, sometimes it might just be a feeling or an emotion or a general statement. Either way it’s enough for us to aim our verses at, and I think doing the actual verses as individuals does mean we end up with maybe a couple of different takes on each topic, or at least a couple of different ways of expressing it. Having said that, in hip hop there’s always room for a bit of bragging wordplay and head nodding crowd pleasing!โ€

That said, I guarantee The Scribes could freestyle the ass off most!

โ€œThat’s not really for me to say!โ€ he laughed. โ€œI think our freestyle game is pretty tight, we crack it out at most performances!โ€

Does Ill Literate find a trio is, as De La Soul say, the magic number, when it comes to composing a rap? โ€œWhere,โ€ I asked, โ€œand when did it all start? I mean, were you all separate artists who assembled, or have you always been a trio?โ€

โ€œI don’t know if it’s the number of people involved that’s important, more that the people involved are on the same wavelength and get along well. Both for the writing process and for the amount of time you end up spending together on the road! Me and Jonny have been best mates since we were five, and have basically always rapped together, we met Lacey during the early days of gigging and he got onboard straight away!โ€

While on the backstory, I asked Shaun for his first musical memory, particularly his introduction to hip hop, feeling it was time to remind him when I cited buying Whodiniโ€™s โ€œHaunted House of Rock,โ€ in, shit, 1983, though this was not my first hip hop record!

Ah, there it is! I remember it well; and owe it all to Mr Magic’s wand!

โ€œWe do have some pretty old school influences,โ€ he chuckled, โ€œthough Whodini may be a bit old school even for us! I think my first introduction to conscious hip hop, as opposed to mainstream hip hop which was very gangster back in the day, was through friends at school. We used to listen to records at each otherโ€™s houses, a lot of the early Rawkus Records compilations like Lyricist’s Lounge and Soundbombing. Bristol has a pretty big scene for hip hop so there were also a few local records shops with a good selection of underground releases that we could dig through, though a lot of the time we’d just look for instrumentals we could rap to! I think that late 90’s boom bap hip hop sound is pretty much the backbone of all The Scribes’ tracks!โ€

I confess; had to Google the subgenre boom bap, certain it wasnโ€™t an explosive breast, as I originally fathomed! I discovered while unfamiliar with the term, many of my personal hip hop likes relate, pioneers like Marley Marl, and acts such as LL Cool J and A Tribe Called Quest. But Iโ€™m going to throw Shaun off subject, ask him if he liked English Lit at school, if teachers accepted anything he mightโ€™ve have wrote as credible by their formal standards, and if he sees his writing as poetry.

โ€œI never really liked it as a subject, but I have always read a lot, I love books! It’s probably the main thing I do outside of music. That and watching pro-wrestling. It’s a heady mix! I don’t think I ever showed any verses to teachers in school, not sure what the reaction would have been to be honest. I’ve never really found it important to label anything we do but I would personally say it is a form of poetry, just a very rhythmic and flexible one that’s written to be performed rather than read.โ€

The Scribes

Iโ€™ve likened, in previous reviews, The Scribeโ€™s sound, the way they intertwine lyrics and alter voices with accents and intonations to create a certain mood, be it fearful or humorous, to the Fu-Schnickens, but the way its composed, like the magic of Tribe Called Quest, as I reckon, they mastered this best. โ€œThat a fair evaluation?!โ€

โ€œWe will always happily take ANY comparison to Fu-Schnickens or Tribe!โ€

Shaun Amos.

โ€œWe will always happily take ANY comparison to Fu-Schnickens or Tribe!โ€ Ill Literate contently responded, โ€œthat’s good company to be in!โ€

 Yet nothing Iโ€™ve heard from their album, Quill Equipped Villainy, or the Totem Trilogy and singles, unless Iโ€™m mistaken, use recognisable samples. Itโ€™s an easy gimmick to include beats or a riff which people will recognise, whereas everything they seem to do is original. I asked him if I was right, and if so, if thatโ€™s something important to them.

โ€œI guess this is something that varies from producer to producer. I personally don’t use any samples in my production, I just play/compose everything myself in the studio on guitar/bass/keys. I know a lot of producers who pride themselves on using only incredibly unknown and niche samples, spending a huge amount of time digging through obscure vinyl to find tiny little elements. I also know a lot who don’t really mind how “known” a sample is, as long as they switch it up so much it ends up as something unrecognisable from the original. I guess including a sample that is well known, so that the song becomes essentially a hip hop version of the original track, almost like a cover, is an easy way to get a bit of traction. Same as if you sample a movie theme song and do a song about the movie. But having said that I’ve heard some great tracks that do just that, so who knows?!โ€

On multiplicity, the album sees a number of collaborations; Akil from Jurassic 5, and Leon Rhymes. How far would they take diversity; โ€œwould it be acceptable to you for a producer to create a drum n bass, or house track from your lyrics? What about a mainstream artist asking you to fuse a rap into some cheesy pop? Because itโ€™s a tricky balance isnโ€™t it, not being seen as selling out to the ethos and genre, but creating publicity and notice?โ€

โ€œWe’re always up for anything,โ€ Shaun replied, โ€œI love hearing remixes people do of our tracks, be it Drum and Bass, Funky House or anything else. Even if someone did want to take our work and turn it into cheesy pop, I think I’d be cool with that. More just so I can hear what they do with it, rather than for any publicity or fame! I’m always interested in seeing what other musicians do and how they work and the different techniques used by different genres.โ€

Haunted House Party is released today, and yeah, it rocks, but whatโ€™s next for the Scribes?      

โ€œWell, hopefully we’ll be back gigging before too long, at least in time for the festival season this summer! Til then we’re working on keeping the releases and videos coming! Hoping to do a few more special one-offs on The Get Down Records, like transparent 7″ vinyl for “Stir Crazy”/”Haunted House Party.โ€ People can keep up to date by signing up to our mailing list at QuillEquipped.com and on all the usual social media bits, Facebook and Instagram. It also helps a lot if you follow us on Spotify so we can make sure you know when we drop new tracks!โ€

Trending…

No Alarms No Devizes, Aptly in Devizes!

If I’ve been galavanting recently, gorging on other local townโ€™s live music scenes, what better way to return to Devizes than a visit to theโ€ฆ

Wiltshire Music Awards Website Goes Live

Last month we were pleased to announce our involvement with the new Wiltshire Music Awards in conjunction with Wiltshire Events UK, details of which areโ€ฆ

Soupchick in the Park

And there was me thinking nothing good comes out of a Monday! Today local bistro Soupchick, popular in the Devizesโ€™ Shambles opened their second branch,โ€ฆ

Hoping for a Summer of Local Music Festivals

Presented a punter-based cautionary piece on the hopeful move forward for live music this year, and how chancy it all is at this stage. If the playground remains uneven, I never intended the article to be pessimistic, though it mayโ€™ve been perceived that way. I just advised applying caution may be necessary prior to a compulsory detonation of over-excitement.

The other side of the coin of this vicious circle is that, without ticket sales there will be no show. While many organisers have cancelled their regular events, some keep their fingers and toes crossed, others are trying to work through it, and are dowsing a silver lining to this cloud with a summer of festivals planned.

Letโ€™s hope and pray it pays off. Festival websites report that it is, and tickets are selling fast, which agreed, could be a sales pitch. So, you’re left to risk the call, and snap up tickets, especially for the most popular ones. I have faith most festivals will refund you if it either goes Pete Tong, or Pete Tong is booked to DJ, or else ask to retain your ticket for another year, because they organise festivals, and festivals are all about openness and sharing. Booking agents on the other hand, might be another story.

Personally, I’ve done gone got the festival t-shirt many moons ago, and the jester’s hat too, come to think about it; I can bide my time from power-napping in a spinning canvas pyramid, paying over the odds for a baggie of basil, and sliding headlong into a ditch of piss. For many though, particularly younger generations, festivals are essential, and vital, for their wonderful feeling of togetherness. For the music industry it’s crucial to maintain this notion; ignore my aged rant, there is no ditch of piss, not really, not in this clean-cut era!

Letโ€™s run through the locally based choicest ones, which sound too good to miss… but remember to check the individual planned conditions of entry, some will ask you to provide evidence of licensed vaccination or negative PCR test within the previous 48 hour period.

June

11th โ€“ 13th: Kite Festival

Kirtlington Park, Oxfordshire

Born from a Kickstarter campaign in January 2020, but cancelled for the obvious reasons, itโ€™s this festivalโ€™s maiden voyage this year. KITE aims to combine incredible music and breakthrough ideas in a unique programme of live performances and interactive discussions. โ€œWe wanted to bring together contemporary and legendary performers, thinkers, writers and public figures from the world of music, politics, business, technology and the arts and give you the opportunity to engage with the people who are influencing the way we live.โ€

Cultural icon Grace Jones, multi-Grammy-Award winning jazz singer Gregory Porter and gospel legend Mavis Staples were set to lead the music programme for the original date last year, we wait in anticipation to hear the line-up now, as Kite announce theyโ€™re working on their 2021 programme. Sign up for their newsletter for updates.

18th-20th: Bigfoot Festival

Ragely Hall, Warwickshire

Another first outing cancelled last year sees its debut this June. Just the map is enticing enough, with a boating lake and woodland and all that stuff. Local breweries and bands, who share the stages with a great line up, including Primal Scream, Fat White Family, Hot Chip Megamix, Maribou State (DJ) Baxter Dury and Dinosaur Pile-Up. Thereโ€™s also an intersting wellbeing programme with hip hop yoga, boxercise, Let’s Talk About Sex Meditation & Mindfulness, and biscuits & burpees; Iโ€™ll just have the biscuits, thank you! Find Bigfoot here.

July

2nd โ€“ 4th: Minety Music Festival

Hornbury Hill, Malmesbury

Fourth outing for this popular do. A community non-profit triple day extravaganza, run entirely by volunteers which raised funds for the Wiltshire Air Ambulance, and local schools and charities last year. Guaranteed excellent music, a great, wide range of food and a well-stocked house Bar, Gin & Prosecco Bar and Cocktail Tiki Bar! There will also be a range of FREE activities in the Kidzone, including rock climbing wall, rock climbing digi-wall, an inflatable slide and assault course, bouncy castles, circus skills workshops and kids craft workshops, plus many more activities.

Line-up includes, Dr & The Medics, Space, Jesus Jones, Dreadzone, Crikey Minogue & Six Packs, a Ministry of Samba workshop, and a great local roster of Devizine favourites The Tribe, Talk In Code, The Dirty Smooth, A’La-Ska, Navajo Dogs, Sloe Train and Plucking Different. This is going to be a brilliant one, make sure thereโ€™s room in your backpack to sneak me in! Info Here.

Should get you in the mood…..

8th-10th: 2000trees Festival

Withington, Cheltenham

A largely rock and indie festival, 2000trees has a good reputation and won awards. This year sees Jimmy Eat World headline, with Thrice, Creeper, The Amazons, Dinosaur Pile-Up, The Menzingers, The Get Up Kids and many more to make me feel old!  Tickets & info Here.

9th-11th: โ€“ Cornbury Festival

Great Tew, Oxfordshire

Still in the planning stages, this ever-growing festival in the most beautiful Oxfordshire Cotswold location think itโ€™s enough just to announce on headline act, yeah, but it is Bryan Adams; show offs! Should be good though. Info here.

22nd-25th Womad (?)

Charlton Park, Malmesbury

Still hopeful, Womad are holding off announcing acts, but you know, I know, we all know itโ€™ll be the crรจme de la crรจme of world music on our doorstep, if all goes well, theyโ€™ve secured the date and tickets are here.

31st Mfor 2021

Lydiard Park, Swindon

A family orientated, affordable, one day pop-tastic festival I’ve only heard good things about, could be just the thing to introduce kids to festivals. And with Craig David, Rudimental, Ella Henderson, Phats & Small, Mark Hill (Original Artful Dodger), Lindy Layton on the line-up, itโ€™s easy to see how this party is going to go down. I believe local acts will also be on agenda, certain our friends Talk in Code feature. Thereโ€™s even an over 18 Friday night special additional event, with Five, S Club, Liberty X, Baby and Rozalla; everybody is freeeee, to feeeel gooood, apparently. Info & Tickets.

August

5th-8th: Wickham Festival

Fareham, Hampshire

New one on me this, but The Wickham Festival is an annual four-dayer of music and arts. Boasting three stages, and rated as one of the safest, most relaxed and family-friendly festivals in the UK, Wickham was voted ‘Best UK Festival, cap. under 15000’ at the Live UK Music Business Awards in October 2015; so, they know their stuff; I mean, theyโ€™ve got Van the man, and The Waterboys. Note also, Devizine favs, Beans on Toast, Gaz Brookfield, Tankus the Henge along with Nick Parker on the agenda; sweet! Tickets & Info Here.

6th: Love Summer Festival Devon: SOLD OUT.

7th- 8th: The Bath Festival Finale Weekend

And what a finale it is, Saturday; McFly, Scouting For Girls, Orla Gartland, Lauren Hibberd, George Pelham, Josh Gray, Novacub, Dessie Magee and Luna Lake. Sunday; UB40 featuring Ali Campbell & Astro, Billy Ocean, Fun Lovin’ Criminals, Seth Lakeman, Bloco B, Hannah Grace, Casey Lowry, Port Erin Life, and Life In Mono, with more to be announced… Tickets HERE.

21st: Mantonfest

Manton, Marlborough

Any closer than this and itโ€™ll be in your back garden! But thatโ€™s not the sole reason to grab a ticket for MantonFest! Just thirty notes for adults, a tenner for teenagers, and a fiver for kids, but thatโ€™s not the only other reason. Reports on this family, broad ranging charity fundraising annual do has never been negative, and weโ€™re glad to hear itโ€™s back for 2021. Number one Blondie tribute Dirty Harry headline, along with Dr. Feelgood, Ex-Men (five members of original 60’s bands), Barrelhouse, Jo Martin with his band, Devizine favs Richard Davies and The Dissidents, Josie and the Outlaw and homegrown Skeddadle. We previewed it last year before shit hit the fan; tickets bought in 2020 are valid for 2021. Mantonfest say, โ€œwe may have to introduce some anti-covid restrictions. These will be announced nearer the time and will be in line with the latest developments and best practice;โ€ letโ€™s hope this goes off this time. Tickets & Info here.

21st: Live at Lydiard

Lydiard Park, Swindon

Anneโ€Marie, Sean Kingston, Roman Kemp [DJ set] Artful Dodger, Chaney, Fabian Darcy on the line-up over four stages for this day festival at Lydiard, with a dance tent, boutique cocktail bar and food court. Info & Tickets here.

21st: Bath Reggae Festival

Now pushed back to August bank holiday, this is the maiden voyage for the Bath Reggae Festival, and we bless them with the best of luck. With a line-up this supreme though, Iโ€™d imagine itโ€™ll sell itself. Legends Maxi Priest, Aswad, Big Mountain, Dawn Penn, and The Slits solo extraordinaire Hollie Cook, Laid Back and lovers rocker Wayne Wonder, this is a must for reggae fans. Tickets & info here.

September

4th-5th: Concert at the Kings

All Cannings, Devizes

For locals little more can be said about how awesome this ground-breaking festival raising staggering funds for cancer research is. Since 2012 it has bought international headline acts to the sleepy village outside Devizes; legendary fables and the fondest memories have been had there. No difference this time around, save for some social distancing. Billy Ocean, 10CC, Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, Sweet, Strawbs, Lindisfarne and Devizine favs Talk in Code, with more to be announced; twist your arm anymore, sir? No; no need to! Tickets & Info here.

9th-12th: Swindon Shuffle

Venues across Swindon

A later date for this annual extravaganza of local live music, spread across Swindonโ€™s premiere venues and hugely supportive of original homegrown talent, this is weekend to head for the railway town. Since 2007 the Shuffle raises funds for MIND, and is largely free to attend. Ah, thereโ€™s plenty time to arrange a line-up, which is underway, but you can guarantee a truckload of our local favourites will be there, somewhere! Info.

10th-12th: Vintage Nostalgia Festival

Stockton Park, Near Warminster

The mature place to glamp this summer if you want to get retro; classic cars is the concentrate, but thereโ€™s no shortage of great bands from rockabilly, doo-wop, blues to mod skiffle, boogie woogie jazz and beyond. Sarah Mai Rhythm & Blues Band, “Great Scott,” Shana Mai and the Mayhems, The Bandits, Junco Shakers,The Flaming Feathers, The Harlem Rhythm Cats, Little Dave & The Sunshine Sessions, The Rough Cut Rebels, Riley K, The Ukey D’ukes and loads more. Info & Tickets Here.

You know, this one could be for me, rather than trying to look youthful clutching onto a marquee pole for dear life while a hoard of sugared-up teeny-boppers check Instagram amidst a soundtrack of dubstep! But look, I reckon thereโ€™s something for everyone here, but if I did miss yours, let me know, for a squashy cup of cider at the festie bar, I must just add your do here too!

โ€‹

Trending….

Family Easter Holiday Events

Devizine isn’t only about music and gigs for grownups, y’know? It’s about events for everyone. This Easter we’ve lots of things to do over theโ€ฆ

Sunset Remedy with JAY

Is it still fashionable to be late for a party, or are we conversant enough to realise this refined art is solely perpetrated by egocentrics pretending to be too popular to be punctual? Rather, Iโ€™m am obsolete slob who can only apologise to Jay and Wise Monkey for my delay in reviewing his debut single featuring the vocals of Ben Keatt, but what excuse can I give? Hereโ€™s where fatherhood comes in handy, being too candid to be vain, least I can blame it on my kids and their perpetual school holiday! That said, Iโ€™ve gained some experience on Minecraft and, if I really try, I can do more than two keep-me-upsies.

Sunset Remedy is the track, released last Friday. Jay, Bathโ€™s first external artist of Wise Monkey Music is a producer and instrumentalist, defined as โ€œa bright shining light in the future of DIY and Bedroom Pop,โ€ and I can only but agree. In the fashion of the classic neighbouring Bristol downtempo sound of Massive Attack and Portishead, it came as a surprise to note the soulfulness beats of this sublime track, as it melodically traipses with funky guitar, poignant lyrics and an uplifting air.

jay1

If Pink Floyd came after Morcheeba, they might have sounded a little something like this; neo-soul, the kind of song you wish was physical matter, so you could pluck it out and give it a cuddle! Itโ€™s breezing with nu cool, with a melancholic plod and would blend between tracks on Blue Lines unnoticed, save for perhaps this backdrop guitar riff, providing scope of multi-genre appeasement. Benโ€™s vocals are breathtakingly touching and accompanies the earnest lyrics and smooth beats perfectly. Yeah, this is a nonchalant chef-d’oeuvre, crossing indie pigeonholes and one Iโ€™m going to be playing until I hear more from Jay.

And don’t run away with the idea I’m singing it’s praises simply because of the delay in getting to reviewing it! So not me. You trust I speak my fractured mind, and anyway, time is an illusion to this aging hippy. If punctuality was money I’d be happily broke; procrastination rules, ok. No, I urge you grab this beauty, and show some love to Jay’s Facebook page.

Adverts & Stuff

yardsalettranstxtsuperheroholdclubwp-15952278837674305734103090329981.jpgeatout1

Indie Networking and Long Coats

If social media is the rearguard in musicโ€™s battle against the Coronavirus lockdown, thereโ€™s plenty of battalions networking at this last stand, and physical location is no issue. A virtual realm is borderless, and for this reason, while Devizine is concentrated on content local to Wiltshire, there are many avenues worthy to waiver the rule for. So, expect us to cover some bands and artists without borders, ones Iโ€™ll connect with through social media, such as the Facebook group Iโ€™m here to mention, as is the groupโ€™s tenet.

That said, Ollie Sharp is a young performer from within our geographical catchment, Bath, who recently set up said Facebook group for indie music, called, aptly, The Indie Network. Its welcoming and dynamic attitude is gaining attention. I joined, they cast a thread of introductions; made me feel old! Funny cos itโ€™s true, pipsqueaks by comparison. Young enough to have to Google my antiquated phraseology, like cassette tapes and Danny Kendal. Some poor guy confessed he was older, at 43, at which he faced compassionate reassurances such as, โ€œitโ€™s only a number.โ€ I knew then to keep my gob shtum, so I stated I was โ€œold enough to know better, too old to care.โ€ Least itโ€™d do no good for our Kieran from Sheer Music, who also joined, to grass me up as an old skool raver, historical to those barely an itch!

indie7

Though weโ€™ve jested before about the era of yore where never the twain would indie kids and ravers mingle, Mr Moore and I, and come to the conclusion Iโ€™m exempt on account of my eclectic taste. Let it be known now, I like the sound of Ollieโ€™s recently formed band The Longcoats, and itโ€™s just the sort of thing which allows Kieran to win the genre argument! Itโ€™s breezy, placid indie, acceptable on a larger scale than predecessors, much least my aging preconceptions, bit like what our Daydream Runaways and Talk in Code are putting out; and I like them. I even refer to them as โ€œour,โ€ see, like a northern working-class family. Shoot, pass my Smiths tee Mr Moore, Iโ€™m an indie kid! (kid used here in its most unlikely definition.)

indie4

Anyway, I digress. Weโ€™ve reached the part of the show where the artist mumbles โ€œis this codger going to actually review my single?โ€ Apologies for my Uncle Albert moment, ha, there was me thinking Boris had made arbitrary tangents trendy. Thereโ€™s no telling some, heโ€™s a bastard. However, weโ€™ll never get going if I branch into politics.

โ€œUsed to Being Usedโ€ is the single I was sent, the earlier one of two on their Bandcamp page. It follows a blueprint of indie-pop, thereโ€™s a trudging guitar riff, a theme of dejected ardour, yet itโ€™s done with skill, catchiness and promising aptitude. The latter single, Drag, which came out in March takes a similar tempo, and cool attitude; there is no need to be angry in an era which accepts the genre, so ever with edge but only enough, The Longcoats create a beguiling and entertaining sound to appeal wide.

indie5

Last year guitarist Arthur Foulstone and drummer Kane Pollastrone added to frontman Sharpโ€™s lone act, which bridged the gap between band and solo artist. The final piece of the puzzle came upon recruiting permanent bassist Norton Robey. With the assistance of producer Jack Daffin, The Longcoats have created a defining sound which is appealing and instantly recognisable.

indie6

There is nothing about this Bath four-piece indie-pop-rock band here, Iโ€™ll be honest, which will act as their magnum opus, but an auspicious start dripping with potential. Hereโ€™s one to watch, with their debut EP โ€˜Octoberโ€™ in the pipeline, hereโ€™s hoping itโ€™ll reach us before the month of its namesake.

But itโ€™s not so much about the individual band here which maketh this article, rather the conscious efforts to unite and network, thus creating a scene. Even through this era of wishing for a live gig, the networks thrive, perhaps even more so. Ollie also created Wise Monkey Music, a multi-media music and events promotion company based in the Southwest, of which we look forward to hearing more of; attention, the like Facebook group The Indie Network is likely to bring. They even let this aging raver in, dammit; though my white gloves and whistle must be in a box in the loft somewhere, itโ€™s a deceased stereotype, of which Iโ€™m glad.

indie2

I do find though, as someone who glued and photocopied zine after zine, aside the mass media driven pop tripe, the underground thrives as it ever did, the internet only creates an easy route in. Just like the bands of the now, such as The Longcoats and others rapidly joining the group, whatโ€™s not to like about it?

indie3

Adverts & Stuff!

covidcampInDevizes-Logo-e1585760867966plankshead1

Back Wood Redeemers Squash into the Southgate

Yet another blinding nightโ€™s entertainment at the Southgate, as Fromeโ€™s Back Wood Redeemers came, saw and kicked ass….

 

His banjo to one side for a beer break, Flounder Murray perched on the step as I defined the live music scene in Devizes as thriving. As most Saturday nights we were spoiled for choice; People Like Us, I explained, popular locally, playing the Three Crowns, and thereโ€™s Britpop trio Billy Green 3 heading the Crown, rock n roll at the Rotaryโ€™s sixties-themed Presidents Night at the Cons Club, an Elvis tribute at the Cavalier and a gin and bourbon festival at the Corn Exchange. Not even touching upon various village gigs, such as Splat the Rat who played the Cross Keys in Rowde. I really need a clone, or five!

The areaโ€™s population is approximately 31,000, Iโ€™ve researched now, but returned the question on the night with a blank stare. Inevitable if youโ€™ve not heard of Fromeโ€™s Back Wood Redeemers, this one passed you by. Alas, you missed out on what was a no-brainer for me, since Flounder last appeared here as part of the band The Boot Hill All Stars and blew the roof off with an original blend of grinding, upbeat folk and gypsy ska. It was one sweaty night. Though a quieter Saturday at the trusty Southgate didnโ€™t damped the atmosphere, just rather more intimately contained.

bakcwood2

An altogether unusual seven-piece band squeezed into the tight space, I expected no less then crusty beards, the circus attire of vintage suits, bowler hats, clown trousers and stripy tights and anything goes. Armed with an electric guitar, harmonica and drums, nothing unusual there Iโ€™ll grant you, but throw in a banjo, two, yes two double basses, a pink electric mandolin made to look like a mini guitar, and a fellow propped in the alcove with a trombone, might just invoke an appropriate image as to how bonkers it was; might.

Described as โ€œsongs of dark country, twisted blues & religious fervour,โ€ BWR did what it said on the tin. The mood on my entry was melodically paced; on asking Flounder the difference between them and the Boot Hills he expressed the hunt for vintage blues or country songs, even gospel and the ethos of twisting them into this west country folk. We talked of ska and how it developed in a similar manner as rock n roll, those rhythm and blues rarities very much standard radio airplay across the Americas. Yet Flounder pronounced the need to cover artists such as Tom Waits and Nick Cave too, and with his archetypical gritty vocals these artists are apt.

Flounder though did not front all the tunes, the band clearly a collective as the double-bass man in tights straddled off his instrument to parade around like Bez of the Happy Mondayโ€™s, singing fervently with an expressive dance routine to boot. The second half promised to be dirtier, faster and grittier, and did just this. Through the promised murky country tunes, those Somerset folks threw everything at this original blend. Think of a Wurzels-Levellers combo as a Northern Soul band at the Haciendaโ€™s Madchester era trying their hand at jump-blues, you might come somewhere near! Yet whatever pigeonholes you care to throw at it, in the jest of this band who darenโ€™t take themselves seriously, itโ€™s lively, crazy and highly entertaining.

backwood3

Danceable too, once a Nick Cave song finished, the Train to Skaville riff teased the audience, and Flounder bounced into Toots & The Maytalsโ€™ 54-46, only for a melody of Tainted Love and the Cureโ€™s Love Cats to follow. Yet aside the crowd-pleasers, itโ€™s the proficient general skulduggery of instrumentation and upbeat sound which fuses the frenzy of the Back-Wood Redeemers and makes them so appealing. The finale Bound to Glory being the icing on the cake, and perhaps more apt for the bandโ€™s description than those known pop tunes; but either way, all were executed sublimely and originally. It was, in short, a crazy, crazy night Kiss fans wouldnโ€™t dream of.

backwood1

As itโ€™s been said, hats, and many of them, off to the Southgate, who, while the others tend to provide us with safe options of tributes and locally renowned acts, and thereโ€™s nought up with that, The Southgate strive to hunt for something different, and bring alternatives to town. With the attitude of providing free live music every weekend, of course, there is also plenty room for our local favourites too and while these make the best and most crowded nights here, when The Back Wood Redeemers are back around this zone, youโ€™d be a fool to miss them.

ยฉ 2017-2019 Devizine (Darren Worrow)
Please seek permission from the Devizine site and any individual author, artist or photographer before using any content on this website. Unauthorised usage of any images or text is forbidden.

Adverts & That!

lanterncalneartfemale2019opendoorxsoundaffpelicanregpewrevmarch14newadvertad