- Festival Reviews
Friday has us up early again to catch Lo Moon at the ACL radio show at Hotel Van Zandt. Just a couple of songs and a great little interview with the band (including them playing a new Song off the upcoming album) it's been worth the early morning visit to Rainey St in Austin.
- Festival Reviews
Today, after a fairly good sleep, we are on the move. Our first two nights in Austin we were staying a little out of the city centre. Today we were moving into our usual hotel, a lot closer to the showcases. We move our gear into our new room and then off to ACL Radio shows at the Hotel Van Zandt. ACL Radio (to benefit make a wish foundation) have artists perform for a large group of fans in an auditorium and they broadcast the performances and discussions on their station
- Festival Reviews
Starting off today I went to the Paste Magazine showcase. Three days of shows...4 stages, well set up where you could see alot in a very short period of time.
- Festival Reviews
- Festival Reviews
I would have to consider this year's SXSW a success. Despite early set backs and odd little mishaps..we got to see some absolutely spectacular shows.
- Festival Reviews
I shall make no apology for extolling the virtues of this festival in similar terms to previous years. Simply a great music weekend featuring many bands appearing on the radar for the first time, alongside a number of established names.
- Festival Reviews
Thursday
Beige Banquet – bangin’ tunes from this 5-piece guitar band. Varied approaches to each number, sometime bass-led; others driven by lead guitar and vocal in the style of Yard Act; in others the electro percussion/keyboard played the prominent role.
- Festival Reviews
The End Of The Road is on its way to becoming my favourite festival: Brimming over with interesting music, films, art, literary events, comedy and workshops, all in a wonderful setting. It is a fitting finale to the festival season, that leaves you feeling restored rather than worn out.
The festival site is exceptionally pretty and easy to get around. The absence of wifi and proper phone reception helps to restore the festival vibe of old, when you were cut off from the real world for a few days, just consuming as much of the program as you could fit in. I generally know only ten percent of the EOTR line-up, which is a great basis for new discoveries.
I went as a volunteer, but favourable shifts meant I did not miss that much. Even so, I had a bad case of FOMO on Thursday night. With just over eight hours between shifts I had to try and sleep. The cinema tent were showing ‘The Last Waltz’ at 23:00, which I have never seen. It was a rainy night and as I was lying in my tent I could hear the crowd in the cinema tent singing along to ‘The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down’. Oh to have been there…
- Festival Reviews
This year I optednotgo to Cambridge Folk Festival, but to Womad instead, as I was keen to see something different. I had been to Womad before, as a punter, and I knew that the festival can be counted on to program acts that you would not see elsewhere.
I went as a volunteer this time, therefore a certain amount of time was taken up by work. In the remaining time I tried to catch as much music as possible, which meant I missed out on the many other offerings, such as literary events, the popularTaste The Worldcookery presentations, wellness sessions and the Moon art installation.
- Festival Reviews
A strong feature in the summer calendar, Visions Festival continues to evolve, this year’s event comprising 5 venues that are closer than ever - all within a 7-8 minute walk. Just as well given the incessant rain today, but with all venues indoors spirits remained undampened.
With £30 early bird tickets in the bag a while ago, Visions represents superb value for money for anyone happy to explore new bands and sounds with a couple of more established names occupying the headline slots.
- Festival Reviews
While holidaying in Madeira, we couldn’t resist dipping into a day at this festival. It runs over 4 days in all, Friday & Saturday on consecutive weekends in July, from early evening and into the wee hours on each night.
- Festival Reviews
I have been coming to Glastonbury one and off (more on) since 1994. This was my 20th Glastonbury and the second time as an Oxfam volunteer. Glad to have found a way that I can continue going. There is nothing like Glastonbury anywhere on earth. The televised bits are excellent but there is so much more.