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Diary Dates.
Vistas – Wednesday 17 May
O2 Academy
An indie rock 3-piece from Edinburgh who formed back in January 2016 and burst onto the Scottish music scene with hooky choruses and radio ready tunes.
Psychedelic Porn Crumpets – Friday 19 May
O2 Academy Leicester
Psychedelic Porn Crumpets are a powerful, melody driven psychedelic rock band from Perth, Australia who’ve been quoted as ‘resembling Jimi Hendrix fresh off the end of a light globe’. – The Music. “Entrancing, mind altering, and a breath of fresh air. Psychedelic Porn Crumpets are revitalising the Psych Rock genre one riff at a time” – Happy They have supported the likes of King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Dune Rats, Black Mountain, Goons of Doom and Skegss.
Riskee and the Ridicule – Saturday 20 May
Firebug
Riskee and The Ridicule formed in Kent, The Garden Of England, when frontman Scott Picking, aka Riskee, happened upon his musical counterpart in Jimbo Aglony on lead guitar. The rhythm section soon arrived with David Thomas (Bass) and Matt Verrell (Drums), plus recently adding Jordan Mann on guitars and backing vocals and Riskee and The Ridicule became a powerhouse of a genre-mixing-pot. Combining politically-charged Grime, hardcore and dash of pop-punk, the band found that they were able to collaborate and produce something fresh without ever sounding confused.
Ben Ottewell – Thursday 25 May
The Soundhouse
Ben Ottewell is best known as a member of Gomez, a British rock act whose debut album, Bring It On, won the Mercury Music Prize in 1998. Gomez never had a designated frontman – Ottewell, Ian Ball, and Tom Gray all sang, and the band’s albums usually included several vocal performances from each – but Ottewell took the helm more than his bandmates, making him one of the group’s most prominent members. See both him and Ian Ball live in this must see show for any Gomez fan.
The Big Moon – Friday 26 May
O2 Academy
The Big Moon are a young London pop-punk four piece consisting of Juliette, Soph, Celia, and Fern. Musically they’re somewhere between PJ Harvey’s more widescreen rock moments and Howling Bells’ ragged intensity, but with a crackling girl-gang energy recalling Elastica.
BC Camplight – Tuesday 30 May
Firebug
BC Camplight returns with a solo piano tour. The Philadelphia singer-songwriter, falling somewhere between Ben Folds and Badly Drawn Boy, moved to Manchester UK in 2012, where he’s brought his brand of quirky indie-pop to new audiences.
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PREVIEW: Splendour Festival brings big acts to the East Midlands
Splendour Festival, which takes places annually just up the road in Nottingham, has pulled out all the stops with their line-up this year. The festival, which takes place on 22-23 July, will be headlined by Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds and Madness.
Set to be one of the East MIdlands’ biggest weekends of the summer, this year will see the festival celebrate their 15th birthday. The latest acts to join Noel Gallagher and Madness include The Vaccines, Everything Everything, DYLAN, The Coral, Jake Shears and Inspiral Carpets.
Both weekend and day tickets are available for the festival. On Saturday’s Main Stage you can soak up Madness, Rudimental and Sugababes, along with Everything Everything, Venbee, James Marriott and Girlband.
The Vaccines headline the Confetti Stage on Saturday along with The Coral, Cian Ducrot and Betty Boo (yes, remember her from the 90s?), as well as Razorlight frontman Johnny Borrell’s new band Jealous Nostril.
On Sunday, DYLAN and Vicky McClure and Our Dementia Choir join Noel Gallagher, The Kooks and Confidence Man on the Main Stage, with The Royston Club and The Chase opening. Jake Shears and Inspiral Carpets join headliner Sam Ryder and Altered Images on the Confetti Stage.
Also added to the bill are a host of rising national acts and local favourites on the Courtyard Stage each day, including Nottingham band Divorce who are tipped as ones to watch.
DHP’s Director of Live Anton Lockwood said: “By expanding across two days and securing our legendary headliners Madness and Noel Gallagher, we had a unique opportunity to book amazing new talent and contemporary acts such as DYLAN, Venbee, Cian Ducrot and lots more. We’ve added a host of viral chart topping acts who are making waves on Radio 1 this year to give a fresh perspective to the bill, in addition to all the iconic and classic festival acts for which Splendour is known.”
Joining arena filling artists, such as Noel Gallagher, Madness, The Vaccines, Sugababes, Scissor Sister’s Jake Shears, and more, the festival gives a fantastic opportunity to new acts rising through the scene in the East Midlands. The Confetti Stage at Splendour is in partnership with Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies, a leading provider of creative industry education.
Craig Chettle MBE, Chief Executive Confetti, said: “We’re thrilled to once again have Confetti artists join the festival line-up alongside legends like Noel Gallagher and Madness! Acts include student band Luna & The Lime Slices who won our recent Battle of the Bands in front of a sell-out crowd at Metronome for a coveted spot on the Confetti stage.
“It will be incredible seeing them perform, alongside our other talented Confetti acts: Courtney Mark, Airport Dad, Lyvia and Cam Mannix, who’s flying high off the back of recording this year’s Confetti/Denizen single with producer Mikko Gordon (Arcade Fire, The Smile, Gaz Coombes). We’re all about making sure students get the best chances to ‘Do It For Real’ and where better to learn than on stage at Splendour in front of thousands!”
New this year is the payment plan, available across all ticket types to allow ticket buyers to split the cost across monthly instalments right up until the festival. The new youth tickets for 11-17 year olds also offer great value for money. Children aged 10 and under can still attend for free with an accompanying adult.
Splendour tickets are priced at Adult Weekend £102; Adult Day £61; Youth Weekend £67; Youth Day £41 with discounts across all ticket types for city residents. Head to splendourfestival.com to find out more including the VIP tickets on offer. (Please note there is no camping available at Splendour Festival.)
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WEEKLY PLAYLIST
Thinking of heading to Splendour Festival? Listen to the event playlist to check out all of the acts above and start planning your weekend.
Have a listen and get in touch to tell us which tracks you’re loving.