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.
Electric Six
Heavy metal meets burlesque in a series of outrageous concerts taking place in December performed by the six-piece band, Electric Six.
This genre blending outfit must be seen in all their perverse, politically incorrect, bizarre and grotesque glory. With their glorious combination of disco, glam and arena rock, pop and synth, the Electric Six never cease to amuse and abuse.
Their first single Danger! High Voltage was released in 2003 when it struck a chord with the good old UK public always up for something a bit different. Sales were helped by the rumour that Jack White of The White Stripes featured on the single, a fact that the band refuses to either confirm or deny. A second single, Gay Bar, probably the most popular to date, made it to number 5 in the charts.
Often courting controversy, in 2005, Electric Six covered the Queen track, Radio Gaga releasing a video that portrayed Freddie Mercury as a ghost with a backing band of poodles. Although Queen’s guitarist, Brian May allegedly liked it, drummer, Roger Taylor professed that he was seriously “unimpressed.”
However, it’s lead singer Dick Valentine’s piercing vocals that give Electric Six its edge. His shrieking falsetto plunges every now and then into punk rock anarchy. Despite lyrics that have been described as “disaffected, angry, ironic and lustful, expressing macho flippancy and tongue in the cheek pomposity”, Dick Valentine claims that about 90 per cent of the songs are about “absolutely nothing.” Nevertheless, whilst almost every song contains references to war, nuclear and fire (one of the reasons why the latest album, Fire, gained its title) others aim to shock with controversial titles including “She’s White” and “Naked Pictures (of Your Mother).”
“I’m a man torn between vengeance and fashion,” claims Dick Valentine. Go and see Electric Six in action – you’ll be tantalised, mesmerised and outraged.
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The Levellers
To the uninitiated, The Levellers are more influential than most people realise. It would come as a surprise to many to discover that they have had more gold and platinum selling albums than any other UK band in the 1990s. This is in some part due to the tendency of the musical press to ignore them, stemming from acrimonious exchanges in the early days of the band’s history.
With a six man, multi-instrumental line-up The Levellers excel in genres of alternative rock and folk-punk with fiercely outspoken lyrics. Beloved by students and travellers of the 90s, the band’s inspiration comes from politics, cultural and social issues. They even founded their own festival, Beautiful Days, in Escot Park, Devon after becoming disillusioned with the commercial character of many UK festivals.
They are nevertheless, veteran festival performers, especially at Glastonbury, where their appearance on the Pyramid Stage in 1994 attracted one of the biggest audiences ever and was featured on a video of Glastonbury’s finest moments. In later years the band repeated this success setting stage records for Glastonbury again and again.
Their album successes include Levelling The Land in 1991, described as an underground classic, featuring the anthemic single One Way. An eponymous album Levellers was another huge hit reaching 2 in the album charts spawning the single This Garden. Other iconic tracks include 100 Years of Solitude which lists everything the Levellers hate, including the NME. The 2008 album Letters from the Underground was The Leveller’s 8th studio album and represents a return to top form, harking back to the “golden days” of the 90s. You may hear singles like 100 Years, 15 Years and Last Man Alive – grab those tickets now!
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The Proclaimers
They’re back on that road and walking, the Proclaimers are playing a series of concerts in support of their studio album Notes & Rhymes and previously released single Love Can Move Mountains.
The bespectacled brothers, Craig and Charlie Reid have synthesised Scottish folk, new wave and punk with political awareness and memorable lyrics.
Born in Leith, the twin brother were influenced by early rock’n’roll and punk and formed The Proclaimers in 1983. In January 1987 their appearance on The Tube when they performed Letter from America, a story about Scottish emigration, propelled them into stardom. They were voted NME Readers’ Best New Band. A follow up album, Sunshine on Leith spawned two iconic singles I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) and the anthemic title track, later inspiring an eponymous musical by Stephen Greenhorn that follows the plight of two soldiers returning from Afghanistan.
Matt Lucas writes of the brother’s music; “I find it hard to put into words quite how the music of The Proclaimers makes me feel. It makes me laugh. It makes me cry. It just makes me generally euphoric … Sunshine on Leith says more to me about my life and the way I feel than anything Morrissey or Cobain ever wrote.”
It’s impossible to follow a comment like that. Find out for yourself exactly how moving The Proclaimers can be.
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Download Festival 2010 release date
We’ll bring you details of how to get tickets for Download as soon as they’re available.
Unparalleled in heavy rock festivals throughout the UK and an indispensible date on the calendar for metallers everywhere, Download is held each year in June. The venue is located in Donington Park in Derby amidst rolling green countryside, where the roar of planes passing over the audience’s head to land at nearby Donington Airport competes with the growl of the heavy rock bands on stage.
The festival is guaranteed to deliver; this year’s bash was no exception mixing the heaviest metal with glam rock, nu-metal, dance and classic rock. Faith No More performed their first gig since their controversial break-up in 1998 and fans of the nu-metal band were not disappointed with tongue-in-cheek renditions of Lady GaGa’s Poker Face and Lionel Ritchie’s Easy going down a storm, plus a frantic rendition of Ashes to Ashes.
Limp Bizkit arrived for their first UK show for five years when the crowd went beserk as the band churned out their classics like Rollin’and Break Stuff. Not an easy act to follow but on Saturday Night Slipknot’s demonic performance broke through all boundaries of extreme while Prodigy had the drum n bass fans up and buzzing. Sunday Classic Rock Day brought out the old school legends like Whitesnake, ZZ Top and topping the bill, the Def Leppard whose set provided a seminal Download performance.
Next year can only get better. Watch this space for dates and tickets.