Bobby Womack to headline free London festival

May 17, 2014 10:42

The soul singer will appear at the Walthamstow Garden Party in July

Bobby Womack is to headline a free London festival this summer.

The legendary soul singer will appear at the Walthamstow Garden Party in Lloyd Park over the weekend of July 26-27. The event is being hosted by The Barbican and Create London alongside Waltham Forest Council and will also see sets from a global host of acts, including Ibibio Sound Machine, The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, Chicha Libre, the Jaipur Kawa Brass Band, Söndörg?, Debademba, Tiken Jah Fakoly, The Excitements, Kobo Town, the E17 Jazz Collective and MC Afrikan Boy.

Bobby Womack released his last album, 'The Bravest Man In The Universe', in 2012, on which he worked with XL label boss Richard Russell and Damon Albarn. Despite struggling with cancer and Alzheimer's since its release, he has continued to write, record and tour, including playing a slot at Glastonbury last summer and UK shows earlier this year.

Speaking out about his plans for his new record, which will be his 28th studio album, Womack previously said: "I told Damon and Richard that whenever they're available to record I will make myself available but I was already working on a new album. I have Stevie Wonder on it, I have Rod Stewart, Levert, Snoop Dogg is on it...".

He continued: "I have a lot of songs where you hear Stevie Wonder singing the song and you hear me on the same song, so you really get the style, because I think that’s important. You don't get that style anymore. Like Sam Cooke and Ray Charles."

Please login to add your comment.

View the original article here

Damon Albarn makes full live debut at BBC 6 Music Festival

March 1, 2014 10:22

Blur and Gorillaz star performed career-spanning set at inaugural event in Manchester

Damon Albarn made his live solo debut last night (February 28) at the inaugural BBC 6 Music Festival in Manchester – with a career-spanning set that included songs from Blur, Gorillaz and The Good, The Bad & The Queen.

Headlining the Friday night of the two-day event at the Victoria Warehouse, the singer-songwriter thanked the station "for being brave enough to put on a band who have never played a gig before."

He took to Stage One at 9.35pm, and was joined by his new backing band, The Heavy Seas – comprising guitarist Seye, drummer Pauli The PSM, bassist Jeff Wootton and keyboard player Mike Smith – to air material from his forthcoming solo record 'Everyday Robots', due for release on April 28.

Clad in a burgundy leather jacket, he began with the album's title track and ran through nine new songs, alternating between piano and guitar and including 'Heavy Seas Of Love', his forthcoming duet with Brian Eno. The performance was also broadcast live on 6 Music. "This is our first ever gig and it’s quite nerve-wracking to not only be playing your first gig but playing it live on the radio as well," he told the audience, before grinning coyly: "But I suppose I should be used to it by now."

Fresh from picking up the NME Award For Innovation at the NME Awards 2014 with Austin Texas on Wednesday, the gig was very much about looking forward. However, in addition to previewing the new record, Damon paid tribute to his time in Gorillaz (with the songs 'Tomorrow Comes Today', 'On Melancholy Hill', and 'El Mañana') and rock supergroup The Good, The Bad & The Queen ('Kingdom Of Doom'). He also unleashed a rare Blur track – ‘All Your Life’, the B-side to the group’s 1997 single ‘Beetlebum’. “I don’t recall ever playing it before so I thought it would be okay to play it,” he said. At the end of his hour-long set, he thanked the crowd “for your patience”, adding “Sorry it was a bit rough around the edges but that’s the way it is.”

On stage two, The Horrors were faced with the unenviable task of going up against Damon. “It’s a shame we’re performing at the same time because I actually really want to watch him,” guitarist Joshua Hayward told NME. Opening with ‘Mirror’s Image’ and culminating with ‘Moving Further Away’, they only performed one track from their forthcoming fourth album, ‘Luminous’ – the new single ‘I See You’

“This festival slot is like the last chapter in a book,” Joshua added. “The next time we’ll be playing loads of songs off our new record and this is like putting to bed a fair few years of touring.”

Like Damon, Kelis used her appearance as a way of road-testing new material, describing it as “my first time really performing everything that’s new live”. Dressed in a gold lame, she resembled Diana Ross – which suited the Stax-soul and brass-funk of tracks from her imminent, Dave Sitek-produced sixth album, ‘Food’. Bookending her set by singing Nina Simone’s ‘Feeling Good’, and accompanied by a full horn section, she also served up revised versions of ‘Milkshake’ and ‘Acapella’.

Other bands who performed included Haim, Metronomy and Drenge. All 8,500 tickets to the festival sold out within minutes of their release last month. It concludes tonight (March 1) with headline sets from The National and James Blake.

Damon Albarn played:

'Everyday Robots'
'Hostiles'
'Lonely Press Play'
'Tomorrow Comes Today'
'The Selfish Giant'
'You And Me'
'On Melancholy Hill'
'Hollow Ponds'
'Photographs (You Are Taking Now)'
'Kingdom Of Doom'
'All Your Life'
'Mr Tembo'
'El Manana'
'Heavy Seas Of Love'

View the original article here

What Else? Led Zeppelin, Santana, ReverbNation, Muse, Duckworth, Album Sales, Aspen Songwriters Festival, Insomniac, More Virgin...

Thursday, September 13, 2012
by  niko

Led Zeppelin has now revealed the reason behind their mysterious countdown on their Facebook page that had millions of fans guessing.  The band will be releasing a documentary on their 2007 reunion concert, Celebration Day, which marked the band's first show together in 27 years.  This will be the first footage released of the concert, and the film will be in theatres worldwide on October 17th.     

In other artist/documentary related news, Carlos Santana is working on his memoir, as yet untitled, which will be published in English and Spanish in 2014, reports Rolling Stone.  The memoir will detail stories about Santana's own career, as well as his work with artists such as Miles Davis, B.B. King, Herbie Hancock, and many others.

ReverbNation has just released a major, potentially game-changing update to its Promote It platform.  The promotional tool has now broadened beyond Facebook into a raft of music-related sites, with slots for any artist that wants to participate.  Target sites includes MTV, Pitchfork, YouTube, Pandora, and Spinner, along with a collection of genre-targeted channels.  More details here.

Also, English rock band Muse has rejected claims of plagiarism for the song, 'Exogenesis: Symphony Part 1,' from their 2009 album The Resistance.  Charles Bolfrass alleged that he approached Muse seven years ago with the idea to write an opera, but that the band rejected the offer, reports Metro.  He is suing for $3.5 million.  "The claim is complete nonsense and is categorically denied," a Muse spokesperson relayed.  "It appears to be based on a screenplay the band never received or saw."

Separately, Muse is set to release a new album, titled The 2nd Law, on October 1st in the UK and a day later in the US.

Composer, author, and professor William Duckworth has passed away at age 69, according to his friend Kyle Gann, NPR reports.  Duckworth composed over 200 pieces, his best known being the Time Curve Preludes for piano.  Duckworth had also taught at Bucknell University since 1973. 

And here are the latest chart toppers according to Nielsen Soundscan.  This week's best selling album was Matchbox Twenty's North, which sold 95,002 units.  Second was Imagine Dragons' Night Visions (83,213), followed by Lecrae's Gravity (72,473) and finally, Now 43 – yes, 43 – with 35,189 units sold.

John Oates will be leading a celebrity panel of judges for the upcoming Aspen Songwriters Festival 2013 Songwriting Competition, which involves songwriters from all genres.  The action happens March 20-24th, and the top winner will perform a VIP festival experience with all-access backstage passes and afterparties.  The winner will also get a mentoring session with Songwriters Hall of Fame member Oates, a Martin Guitar, and a Fishman Loudbox Artist Amplifier.  Applications are being accepted through Sonicbids, with an early bird deadline of September 20th.  More details at AspenSongwritersFestival.com.

In other news, John Boyle has been named the Chief Growth Officer & Interim Chief Financial Officer of Insomniac, a production company which focuses on electronic music events.  That includes Electric Daisy Carnival, arguably the hottest EDM party.  Boyle's resume includes managing artists such as Alien Ant Farm and Xzibit and cofounding the Berkeley-Stanford Cleantech Conference.  He had been working with Insomniac for a number of years.

There's more on the just-inked deal between VEVO and Virgin America.  The plug-in for the deal is Virgin Produced, which handles onboard content for Virgin America flights.  The deal will feature 30-minute blocks of VEVO videos and related content on Red, Virgin's in-flight entertainment system.  The two companies will also collaborate to produce "Vevo Sound + City," which will take viewers on a musical tour of various Virgin America destinations.  Virgin's home base of San Francisco is the first city to be featured.

View the original article here

Top Europe reggae festival opens, Marley family stars (Reuters)

MADRID (Reuters) – Europe's largest reggae festival Rototom Sunsplash opens its gates on Thursday in the Spanish resort of Benicassim, where over 200,000 fans are expected over 10 days of Jamaican-inspired music headlined by leading members of the Bob Marley dynasty.

This year's 18th Sunsplash pays homage to the legendary reggae musician on the 30th anniversary of his death with concerts by his wife Rita, backing singer in Bob Marley & The Wailers, and the most famous of his children including Ziggy and Stephen.

Stephen Marley will open the festival on the main stage, where Ska pioneers Toots and the Maytals and Jamaican dancehall star Mr. Vegas are also expected to play on the first night.

Over 300 bands and DJs playing reggae genres from roots to rocksteady and ragga to dub will be performing on six stages during a festival which mixes reggae music with social forums as well as African and Caribbean arts and culture.

Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Iran's Shirin Ebadi will attend Rototom's social forum, which also hosts Tobin Tax campaigner Bernard Cassen and environmental activist Vandana Shiva.

"We've got people participating from over 100 different countries, this makes us a truly global festival with a global philosopy of tolerance behind it," festival director Filippo Giunta told Reuters.

"This year we can do it knowing that the local community approves and knowing that the public are going to come. We had 160,000 last year, we are expecting over 200,000 this year," Giunta said.

Rototom Sunplash decided to move to Spain from northern Italy in 2010, after what Giunta said was a clash between the festival's ideals and the ideas of some politicians in the country.

"They accused us of promoting the use of marijuana just because of the relationship of reggae and the Rastafarian religion, which considers it to be a holy plant," Giunta said.

Rototom is a non-profit collective which donates the income from Sunsplash to charities in Africa, Asia and Latin America, attracting speakers and activists from non-government organisations as well as reggae acts from the famous to the obscure.

"We've been to great reggae festivals in France but this has the biggest line-up," said 28-year-old Mariajo, from Madrid.

"I'm going for classics like Toots and the Maytals and (reggae poet) Linton Kwesi Johnson, but I don't think we'll stay for the full 10 days. That's a lot of reggae!"

(Editing by Mike Collett-White)

View the original article here

Five dead after storm strikes Belgian pop festival (Reuters)

HASSELT, Belgium (Reuters) – The death toll has risen to five at a Belgian pop festival struck by a fierce storm that knocked down screens and collapsed tents, officials said on Friday.

A further eight festival-goers were seriously injured and Hilde Claes, mayor of the eastern Belgian city of Hasselt told Belgian television that some 65 people had more minor injuries.

Some 60,000 to 65,000 mainly young people were attending the sold-out festival when the storm struck early in the evening. Many were sheltering in large festival tents, which were whipped away by the wind.

"The storm struck in an incredibly sudden way," said Claes, who was there. "It was a real whirlwind. I have never seen anything like it in Hasselt before."

The three-day Pukkelpop festival was set to have featured rapper Eminem and U.S. bands Foo Fighters and The Offspring.

Organizers decided early on Friday to cancel the rest of the festival.

The Belgian disaster comes just five days after five people died when an outdoor concert stage collapsed in heavy winds at the Indiana State Fair in the United States.

(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; Editing by Michael Roddy)

View the original article here

Prosecutors open probe into festival deaths (AP)

BRUSSELS – Officials say prosecutors have launched an investigation into the deaths of five people during a violent thunderstorm at the annual Pukkelpop outdoor rock festival.

Veerle Devos, spokesperson for the magistrates office in Hasselt, said Saturday the preliminary inquiry would focus on how the high winds, hail and rain on Thursday evening caused such damage to the festival site.

The sudden storm blew down huge canvas tents, uprooting trees and flinging scaffolding towers and racks of concert lights across the grounds while 60,000 visitors scrambled for safety.

Five people were killed and 140 injured, 10 of them seriously. Officials said the dead were all Belgians, ranging in age from 15 to 59.

View the original article here

Top Europe reggae festival opens, Marley family stars

Jamaican musician David ''Ziggy'' Marley attends the opening day of the exhibit ''Bob Marley, Messenger'' at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles May 11, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Mario Anzuoni

By Jonathan Gleave

MADRID | Thu Aug 18, 2011 8:42am EDT

MADRID (Reuters) - Europe's largest reggae festival Rototom Sunsplash opens its gates on Thursday in the Spanish resort of Benicassim, where over 200,000 fans are expected over 10 days of Jamaican-inspired music headlined by leading members of the Bob Marley dynasty.

This year's 18th Sunsplash pays homage to the legendary reggae musician on the 30th anniversary of his death with concerts by his wife Rita, backing singer in Bob Marley & The Wailers, and the most famous of his children including Ziggy and Stephen.

Stephen Marley will open the festival on the main stage, where Ska pioneers Toots and the Maytals and Jamaican dancehall star Mr. Vegas are also expected to play on the first night.

Over 300 bands and DJs playing reggae genres from roots to rocksteady and ragga to dub will be performing on six stages during a festival which mixes reggae music with social forums as well as African and Caribbean arts and culture.

Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Iran's Shirin Ebadi will attend Rototom's social forum, which also hosts Tobin Tax campaigner Bernard Cassen and environmental activist Vandana Shiva.

"We've got people participating from over 100 different countries, this makes us a truly global festival with a global philosopy of tolerance behind it," festival director Filippo Giunta told Reuters.

"This year we can do it knowing that the local community approves and knowing that the public are going to come. We had 160,000 last year, we are expecting over 200,000 this year," Giunta said.

Rototom Sunplash decided to move to Spain from northern Italy in 2010, after what Giunta said was a clash between the festival's ideals and the ideas of some politicians in the country.

"They accused us of promoting the use of marijuana just because of the relationship of reggae and the Rastafarian religion, which considers it to be a holy plant," Giunta said.

Rototom is a non-profit collective which donates the income from Sunsplash to charities in Africa, Asia and Latin America, attracting speakers and activists from non-government organisations as well as reggae acts from the famous to the obscure.

"We've been to great reggae festivals in France but this has the biggest line-up," said 28-year-old Mariajo, from Madrid.

"I'm going for classics like Toots and the Maytals and (reggae poet) Linton Kwesi Johnson, but I don't think we'll stay for the full 10 days. That's a lot of reggae!"

(Editing by Mike Collett-White)

View the original article here

Five dead after storm strikes Belgian pop festival

1 of 3. Police officers look at the wreckage of a tent which collapsed following a heavy storm at the Pukkelpop outdoor music festival near Hasselt, northern Belgium, August 18, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Sebastien Pirlet

HASSELT, Belgium | Fri Aug 19, 2011 2:10am EDT

HASSELT, Belgium (Reuters) - The death toll has risen to five at a Belgian pop festival struck by a fierce storm that knocked down screens and collapsed tents, officials said on Friday.

A further eight festival-goers were seriously injured and Hilde Claes, mayor of the eastern Belgian city of Hasselt told Belgian television that some 65 people had more minor injuries.

Some 60,000 to 65,000 mainly young people were attending the sold-out festival when the storm struck early in the evening. Many were sheltering in large festival tents, which were whipped away by the wind.

"The storm struck in an incredibly sudden way," said Claes, who was there. "It was a real whirlwind. I have never seen anything like it in Hasselt before."

The three-day Pukkelpop festival was set to have featured rapper Eminem and U.S. bands Foo Fighters and The Offspring.

Organizers decided early on Friday to cancel the rest of the festival.

The Belgian disaster comes just five days after five people died when an outdoor concert stage collapsed in heavy winds at the Indiana State Fair in the United States.

(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; Editing by Michael Roddy)

View the original article here