a-ha
Back in the eighties, a-ha brought a whiff of fresh air straight from the Norwegian ffords to the London music scene and held a unique place in the hearts of many. Now they’re back on top form and raring to go with a series of concerts scheduled across the country. Fresh from the success of their headlining spot at iTunes Live festival, a-ha’s latest album, Foot of the Mountain has gone straight to the German no 1 and no 5 in the UK charts, demonstrating that the band still has a huge following worldwide.
Mortan Harket (singer), Magne Furuholmen (keyboard player) and Paul Waaktaar-Savoy (guitarist and songwriter), shot to fame after leaving the land of trolls to seek their fortune in the recording studios of London. Less troll-like individuals would be hard to find – Mortan Harket, of the finely chiselled good looks and soaring vocals, had a voice that was instantly recognisable and the band offered a welcome change from the besuited, callow youths who dominated the music industry at the time, with a style that was unashamedly upbeat and passionate.
They gained their biggest success with their debut album, Hunting High and Low, which spawned the singles; Take on Me and The Sun Always Shines on TV; a UK no 1 achieving massive international success in Europe and America. Later albums like Scoundrel Days were less successful as synth pop began to fall out of favour but the band still had notable successes with the single The Living Daylights from the album Stay on These Roads that was used as the title track theme song to a James Bond Film – something the band is proud of to this day. Another hit, Summer Moved On went to no 1 in 17 countries and was notable for securing Morten Harket the world record for the longest held note in a UK hit song, coming in at 20 seconds.
Since the band’s appearance at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in 2000, a-ha have been on the up and up with a return to the synth-based styles of the initial albums. Morten Harket describes Foot of the Mountain as an album “that incorporates the key elements that first defined the band: soaring vocals, synth hooks, yearning lyrics and melodic melancholia.”
Prepare to be shaken and stirred by a-ha’s music for passionate pop people everywhere.
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Jonas Brothers
Teen idols, the Jonas Brothers will be setting hearts alight in a series of concerts taking place across Birmingham, Newcastle, London and Manchester. The UK dates are intertwined with a further hectic schedule of international performances taking in France, Netherlands, Italy, Spain and Ireland.
Winning over audiences of all ages, but proving to be especially appealing to young girls and their mothers, the US pop trio, Kevin, Joe and Nick Jonas gained a huge following after their appearances on the Disney Channel children’s network and have now have sold an amazing eight million albums worldwide.
The youngest member of the band, Nick Jonas began performing on Broadway at the tender age of 7 and recruited his brothers to the band after they started composing songs together and began to excel in writing and performing catchy or romantic pop-rock and sing-along anthems.
When their album, It’s About Time in August 2006 was limited to a release of 50,000 copies, it subsequently commanded prices of up to $200-$300 on eBay. Performances at the White Hall followed with a set at the American Music Awards and frequent appearances on shows on the Disney Channel like Hannah Montana and Me and Mr Jonas and Mr Jonas and Mr Jonas. In 2008 the brothers were given starring roles in the Disney Channel Movie, Camp Rock when the soundtrack reached number 3 on the Billboard charts. Four album releases later, they were nominated for the Best New Artist award at the Grammys.
Known for their clean living and wholesome family image, the brothers have pledged to remain virgins until they get married which made them the butt (literally!) of some rather more unwholesome jokes by Russell Brand when he introduced the MTV Video Music Awards in 2008, for which he later had to apologise.
Tickets are hot and the concerts are guaranteed to be a sell-out so it would be advisable to buy as soon as possible and get ready to scream your heart out at a high energy, top-quality show.
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The Enemy
Playing at a venue near you The Enemy receive rave reviews wherever they perform. This is a band that doesn’t pussyfoot about; headlining at Leeds, T in the Park and a major band at Glastonbury, the debut album We’ll Live and Die in These Towns in 2007 went straight to the top of the charts.
Hailing from Coventry, The Enemy has supported a host of bands, some of which they have subsequently surpassed in popularity, plus some absolute musical giants like the Rolling Stones and the Stereophonics. They were also chosen as special guests on The Oasis 2009 Stadium Tour and played six nights in a row at the London Astoria.
Representing a formidable force on the British music scene, concerts make use of a huge video screen that provides a backdrop to the high energy stage tactics. Playing in support of their new album Music for the People, there’ll be plenty of anthemic hits with lots of communal singing, swaggering stage presence and accomplishment well beyond their years with the subject matter of their songs striking a chord with many. 2009 has been a huge year for The Enemy and they look set to see it out in style.
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Fordham Music Festival
The Fordham Music Festival 2009 is over now and the last tent has left the ground, but it’s time to get ready for 2010 because this event has to be the most fun you can have across three fairly innocuous fields, ever.
Firstly it’s a non profit making charity music festival with all proceeds going to a delegated charity and what’s more, for an extra tenner, you can bring your car onto the camping pitch next to your tent, whoopee!
Lasting over three days, the line-up is an eclectically intriguing mix of ska, reggae, rock, folk, jazz – in fact, you name it, it’s there. Most of the bands that play there always want to come back again because they have such a great time, so in 2010 expect The Beat and Bad Manners for starters. Incidentally, if you need persuading regarding ska music, prepare to have a change of heart. In 2009, the “fat bastard” himself, aka Busta Blood Vessel had the entire audience jumping up and down like madmen in a maelstrom of euphoric skanking – this basically means moving your arms and legs in a rhythmic pumping action – before swaying hypnotically, as one, to the mesmerising country dance trance music of Alabama 3. Also expect some impressive new bands, this year saw the alt-rock band, the Ruin hit the stage to perform a breathtaking set of epic proportions.
Full of bohemian types ranging from Goths to punks and New Age hippies, plus middle-aged cardigan wearers, children, Father Christmas and young people the atmosphere is overwhelmingly friendly with a black-out sense of camaraderie developing around the chemical toilets.
Food is top notch – Eggs Benedict and Florentine for breakfast – with pizzas baked in a wood burning stove, goat stew and lattes and cappuccinos in abundance. The music takes place across three stages, cunningly overlapped and after events in the main arena are over there’s dancing till 6am. Fortunately the dance tent is a long way from the camping so disturbance for party poopers is minimal. Get your tickets for next year’s Fordham as soon as they are available – it’s a blast – and it’s not all from the past either.
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The Green Man Festival release dates
Dates for the Green Man Festival 2010 have been confirmed. The festival takes place at Tangerine Fields, at Glanusk Park beneath the dramatic Brecon Beacons on 20th to 22nd August 2010.
The four day event features predominantly folk music with some indie, psychedelia, Americana thrown in and DJs playing everything from reggae to heavy rock.
The seventh annual celebration in 2009 was said to be the most magical yet with bands such as Animal Collective, Jarvis Cocker, Noah and the Whale and British Sea Power performing a live soundtrack on the Main Stage whilst the Far Out Stage featured Amorphous Androgynous, Hawkwind and Wood Shiips with top DJs performing in the Far Out After Dark including Idjut Boys, Bill Brewster and Michael Cook.
But there’s not only music to keep festival goers entertained. A weird and wonderful assortment of tents as and Big Tops including the new Far Out Tent – an Italian blue circus tent host art installations, cinema tents, poetry readings, ceilidhs, theatre and kid’s events with impromptu jamming sessions. Organic food, real ale and green issues are the order of the day with a special “Green Bus” shuttle transporting visitors to and from most areas of the city.
Pete Doherty Tickets
Love him or loathe him, Pete Doherty is back performing in four concerts in England and Scotland.
The ex-gravedigger, ex-Libertines front man and ex-ex of supermodel Kate Moss has had a chequered career to date defined by extreme success and extreme failure, the latter brought about by his widely reported use of drugs.
This tour sees Doherty back on form after celebrated sessions in rehab with his recent performances receiving consistently good reviews. Earlier this year, he performed a solo gig at the Royal Albert Hall when the stage was invaded by over-enthusiastic fans during the encore.
Recognised as being one of the most promising songwriters on the UK music scene, Doherty was nominated for an Ivor Novello Award for the single, The Lovers which he wrote in collaboration with the poet Wolfman. As well as performing with the band Babyshambles, formed in the latter days of the Libertines, his solo shows are likely to involve a host of other artists in addition to his acoustic material that still manages to hit the spot with melodies like The Lost Art of Murder and What Katie Did.
His latest album Grace/Wastelands, the first since the Libertines, has been described as containing songs of “genuine brilliance” with unexpected chord changes and an “air of understated, small-hours melancholy.”
Strutting the world’s stage like a kind of shambolic Renaissance man, Doherty is variously a poet, painter and writer; his book The Books of Albion: The Collected Writings of Peter Doherty was published in 2007 and his journals provide a unique insight into his life.
A songwriter of genius and true rock star, Pete Doherty is undoubtedly one of the characters and performers of a generation.
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