Lovebox London Weekender
“You can’t beat London as the hippest place on the planet, the Lovebox Weekender is proof of that,” says DJ, Gilles Peterson.
In July this year, the newly expanded site hosted more than 50,000 people in mid July to view some of the best music on the scene from genres including indie, disco-punk, folk, world, rock, hip hop and electronic. Delivered from dramatic sets and stages, the performances were delivered by bands like festival founders, Groove Armada, Duran Duran, hip hop band N.E.R.D., Florence and the Machine, Friendly Fires and Ladyhawke.
Despite being set in the heart of the city the overall space adds to the whole experience of the festival with gourmet food and drink stalls, specially designed venues and buildings with hidden corners and leafy vantage points from which to view the stage.
And as winner of the Best Medium Sized Festival in the UK Festival Awards 2008 it isn’t surprising that Lovebox London Weekender is becoming one of the essential events on the London cultural calendar.
Set in Victoria Park bordering Bethnal Green, Hackney and Bow, the event has become synonymous with cool urban happenings and super-charged rock and roll and dance.
Athlete
This concert is going to be a sell-out so get your tickets while they’re still available.
The indie rock band from Deptford, London earned a Mercury Music Prize nomination for their first album Vehicles and Animals and sold over 250,000 copies.
A second album Tourist, which reached the number one spot in the album charts, contained the emotive single, Wires which was a massive hit and secured them the Ivor Novello Award for best contemporary song. Inspired when lead singer, Joel Pott’s baby was born prematurely and rushed into intensive care, Wires was one of the major songs of 2005.
This tour is in support of their 4th studio album, Black Swan with Fiction Records and release of the first single Superhuman Touch which is also to be released in America.
Concerts are guaranteed to go down a storm. Pott’s voice has a gritty edge that compliments the sensitivity of many of the tracks. Singalong anthems and great lyrics will mix with catchy indie rock and electronic music with integrated organic sounds.
Where to get it >>
Editors
Tickets are on release for concerts to see the post-punk/indie band, Editors perform across the UK at venues in cities including Nottingham, Sheffield, Leeds, Newcastle, Belfast and London.
Hailed as “The second biggest British band of the decade after the Arctic Monkeys,” by The Mail on Sunday, the Editors have carved a niche for themselves in the musical scene and look set to stay there for the foreseeable future.
With songs that are defined by dark, indie guitar rock, influenced by bands like The Strokes and Joy Division, their two studio albums have sold over a million copies worldwide. The runaway success of the platinum debut album The Back Room, with its overriding atmosphere of menace, was followed up by the equally successful An End Has a Start that went straight to number one in the UK charts, and focuses on themes of death but also on the positive power of redemption.
But don’t be misled; all is not doom and gloom at an Editors concert. The menace is still there but catchy guitar riffs are supplemented by a new textured sound like the choir added in the massively successful single; Smokers Outside Hospital Doors. In other songs, multiple sounds create a layered effect. Anthemic melodies intertwine with lean and raw riffs as the multi-talented Tom Smith, with his deep and immediately identifiable vocals, alternates between piano, vocals and guitar. The more bouncy and infectious songs like Bones will have the audience erupting while a dark, underlying tension only adds to the overall atmosphere of excitement. You’ve got to be there to see it happen.
A band commentating on our times, the Editors are compelling and essential listening and must be seen live to appreciate their enormous depth and subtlety.
Where to get it >>
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.
T in the Park release dates
Tickets are now on sale for the 2010 T in the Park which is to be held from Friday 9th to Sunday 11th July. The festival is one of Scotland’s biggest annual tourist attractions and over the years has attracted more and more visitors from across the UK and further afield. Described by the First Minister of Scotland, Alex Salmond as “one of the most successful events in Europe,” it offers an outstanding platform for Scottish performers as well as sought- after acts from all over the world.
In 2009, over 80,000 music fans flocked to Strathclyde Park to the disused airfield in Balado close to the beautiful Loch Leven in Perth, where they were treated to three days of unadulterated, quality music performed in a unique atmosphere. Over 180 artists performed across 11 stages in genres covering rock, techno, indie, heavy rock, electronic, ceilidh and jazz.
Now in its 16th year, T in the Park has become a role model for other festivals and was the inspiration for the creation of the popular V Festival in the UK. The line-up for 2009 included bands of the calibre of Blur, The Killers and Kings of Leon. The event has become so in demand that an extra day’s camping is now available on the Thursday preceding the festival.
And if you should want a rest from the world’s finest music, there are many stalls, entertainments, demonstrations with celebrity chefs and world class cuisine to take in and explore.
Where to get it >>
Wickerman Festival 2010 release dates
Dates for the Wickerman Festival 2010 are 23rd and 24th July with tickets available soon.
If you fancy going to a less commercial festival with a lot of frivolity and mirth-making, this could be the event for you. Over 20,000 devotees of the Wickerman festival congregate in the scenic setting of East Kirkcarswell near Dundrennan in South West Scotland every July, making it the largest family music festival held in Scotland.
The atmosphere is more bohemian than that at some of its larger counterparts in the UK and the music is all-embracing with performers ranging from classic indie, 80s music, electro pop and hacienda party. Events reach a grand climax at midnight on Saturday with the burning of the 25 foot tall Wickerman effigy in a show of truly Promethean rebelliousness as revellers dance around the dying embers.
Line-ups are usually an eclectic bunch of talented performers that refuse to conform to a stereotypical genre and in 2009 included diverse names such as The Human League, The Magic Numbers, The Zutons, Bad Manners, Candi Staton and Billy Bragg. Just to stir up the mix further, there were sets by DJs including DJ Idlewild. Two main stages dominate the proceedings with dance tents, acoustic and reggae tents and many other bands performing.
Luxury accommodation is available in the camping area with quiet zones for families or you could hire your very own furnished Tipi or Bell Tent complete with real fire or gas heater. Campsite mules and porters are on hand to transfer your gear or even pitch your tent for you for a small donation.
It’s as well to arrive on the Thursday preceding the festival to take advantage of the general atmosphere of tomfoolery taking place on the site. Attractions and events include Crazy Festival Gold, a mountain bike track with skills course and pump track, scooter tent and village shop, plus the Greenman Inn with its in-house pipe and accordion band.
As a quirky and unforgettable experience Wickerman is an experience many people want to repeat because it still retains a simple ethos that may have gone astray in other festivals. In the words of one enthusiastic convert on the website, Wickerman stands for, “togetherness, spectacle and community.”
Wireless Festival 2010 Release Dates
The definitive festival for dance, urban, hip hop and R&B kicks off in July 2010 in London’s Hyde Park. Tickets will soon be available so we’ll get the details as soon as possible.
Wireless 2009 saw world class acts playing across four stages with some truly awesome performances from performers like Dizzee Rascal, Jack Penate, Alesha Dixon and Calvin Harris and Noisettes that sent the crowd into a veritable frenzy with more spine-tingling sets provided by the headliners Basement Jaxx and Kanye West.
But this year’s festival offered even more than music with food and drink at The Serpentine Bar and Dominos and a host of entertainments including a Victorian funfair speed dating, a treasure hunt with cool prizes, video games at the EA Hub. There was even a mock-up beach for those who wanted to soak up the rays.
v festival ticket release date 2010
The seminal festival, known for the diversity of its line-ups, continues to provide one of the most exciting 2-day music gigs held in the UK spread across the two beautiful locations of Hylands Park in Chelmsford and Weston Park Staffordshire.
Over the past 14 years the V Festival has seen some of the world’s greatest bands perform legendary sets in four different arenas. 2009 has seen the festival reach new heights with the headlining V Stage hosting musical giants like Oasis, Snow Patrol, The Killers and Jim Morrison while the iconic 4th Music provides a playground for Dizee Rascal, Fatboy Slim, Keane, Pendulum and The Enemy to name but a few.
It may sound hard to beat a line-up like that but organisers have promised that 2010 will prove to be even more electrifying.
The festival was born back in 1995 when Jarvis Cocker, front-man of the alternative rock band, Pulp, had the idea of playing two gigs on consecutive days in Victoria Park, Warrington and Hylands Park, Chelmsford to accommodate fans from both the north and south of England. After a stint at Leeds, the festival was moved to Weston Park, 30 minutes from central Birmingham and proved to be so successful that its format was emulated by festival promoters everywhere.
And when the performers have left the stage at 11pm, let the entertainment commence with films, fun fairs and markets continuing long into the next day.
If you want to go to a festival that has all the bands you’ve ever wanted to see in your life, head for the V Festival in 2010. Tickets released on 24th August, 2009.
Where to get it >>