Back to School!

Last night I once again joined my partner-in-crime, Christopher Laird in seeing a great band, and friends of RadioNowhere, The School. They were playing at The Corner House in Cambridge, a small but perfectly-formed pub venue, put on by new local promoters Sleeping Today.

On arrival at the venue, Christopher was locked in the pub cellar and members of The School stole all of his equipment and ran away with it. Fortunately, rather than throw the stuff in the river, they showed their incredible work ethic and their dedication to good music and decided to use their down time by recording a show for him, taking over the controls and recording all manner of crazy banter and picking all their favourite songs of the moment to share with the wonderful RadioNowhere audience. Their takeover show will go out on RadioNowhere later this year, with some special seasonal surprises - keep an eye on www.radionowhere.org for more information and a transmission date.

After reluctantly releasing Christopher from the cellar (he was very dusty), The School took to the stage, playing several songs from this year's Loveless Unbeliever album, as well as some new songs, which I thought sounded great, and they assure us will form part of an album scheduled for next year (yay!) on Elefant Records.

They will be off to Germany soon, so if you're in that part of the world, go along and support them - they are the loveliest people you could wish to meet, so friendly and enthusiastic - some of the members are in about 5 or more bands because they love making music and are overflowing with talent. And if you can't get to see them live just yet (they'll be in a town near you soon) just get a copy of the album - it will make you smile and want to dance even if it is raining and dark and miserable (like today).

If you like the sound of that, visit them at www.myspace.com/theschoolband

The Formidable Joy Formidable

On Tuesday 28th September I joined Christopher Laird at the Norwich Waterfront for one of the best bands around - The Joy Formidable. I was meant to join Christopher for an interview with the band before their show, but unfortunately I was unaware that Norwich City Football Club were playing at home that night not 5 minutes from the venue, and therefore my plans for parking just around the corner from the venue were thwarted by several thousand football fans. Finding a parking space on the other side of the city meant that I turned up at the venue a whole 75 minutes later than expected, and so missed the interview - boo hiss.

I did, however, turn up well in time to see the main act, who were their usual amazing selves. This is the third time I have seen them, twice before at the Portland Arms, a teeny-tiny venue in Cambridge, and the move up to a full-size venue is well deserved. The Joy Formidable are currently headlining the NME tour in the UK and this is only the beginning for them - they are going to be huge. I remember seeing them for the first time - in February 2008? with Betty & The Werewolves and It Hugs Back (a great line-up) - and they were about to go out on tour supporting Passion Pit (I think) - Christopher Laird leant over to me and said 'there is no way I'd want these guys supporting me, they are way too good' - and he was right - they deserve to be headliners and they will be playing huge venues before long.

The show on Tuesday was brilliant - all three members took the front of the stage and have amazing stage presence, all the time still looking like they are enjoying themselves. Their drummer, Matt (below) has to be the best live drummer I have EVER seen and I don't know whether it was a peculiarity of the stage set at Norwich that he was sitting up front, but he certainly deserves his place there - his immense sound draws your eyes to him and a number of people standing up front were watching him at least as much as the enigmatic and beautiful Ritzy.

The band played material from last year's mini-album, A Balloon Called Moaning and from their other singles, and the highlight of the show for me was the main set-ending Whirring, ending in a crescendo of feedback. The album is due in January - a must have - and maybe a Mercury Music Prize nominee?

Their tour continues across the UK... get tickets now!

Jessica 6 in 1960

You can now download my 1960 show as a podcast, available here

This month's show includes selections from Sam Cooke, Elvis Presley, Ella Fitzgerald, Johnny Kidd & The Pirates, and Buddy Holly, amongst others. The full playlist for the show can be viewed here

Next month I'll be in 2006 - if there are any songs you'd particularly like me to play, contact me via twitter or send me an e-mail

Enjoy!

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside...

On Sunday we were the beneficiaries of a beautiful summer's day so we took a trip to the seaside and had a walk along the beach, and I had a paddle in the sea.

The lighthouse above is now a holiday cottage and I would love to stay there, as the views out to sea must be amazing. The picture also shows the beautiful layers of red chalk limestone and white chalk making up the cliffs. This area of beach is fairly quiet and my favourite part of the coastal resort, as further along comes the new town with the arcades, fish and chip shops, tacky souvenir shops (which I secretly love) and donkey rides.

At this end you have one shop/cafe and a pitch and putt golf course and that's about your lot. For me, it's a dream afternoon... a 99 (ice cream) and a wander across the lovely sandy beach to the sea, having a paddle, and staring out to sea.

Slow Club at Summer Sundae

At Indietracks, Charles and Rebecca kindly invited us to see them when they returned from Japan and Sweden at the Summer Sundae festival in Leicester. We jumped at the chance!

Summer Sundae is a sweet (pardon the pun) little festival in the grounds of De Montfort Hall in the centre of Leicester and runs from Friday to Sunday in mid-August. I have been a couple of times before and saw Belle & Sebastian, The Divine Comedy, Buzzcocks and Camera Obscura, amongst others, and enjoyed it very much. It's small enough to have a wander and find things to do, but not so big that you get lost (I have a terrible sense of direction) or so corporate that it is full of wankers. However, if you do decide to go, prepare yourself for being surrounded by middle-class mums and dads in their Boden rainmacs and 'fun' wellies. Also we noticed a change since we last went (3 years ago) in the food provision - be prepared for mostly pricey and high-street chain food options, e.g. small and soggy Pizza Express pizza for £10. Needless to say I avoided it, having a raspberry tea and a piece of cake from a lovely little tea tent near the indoor stage.

We were also slightly disappointed this year by the weather, as it was rainy and disgusting, but actually being based around De Montfort Hall means that you can find shelter and a proper seat to sit on for a while to escape the rain, so that helped. We were more disappointed by Fanfarlo not turning up - they cancelled Summer Sundae last year due to swine flu, dropped out of this year's Indietracks, and then on Friday were apparently thwarted in their efforts to actually play a show by the traffic on the M1...

Summer Sundae has always previously seemed to be very organised and efficient, but a number of drop-outs from the line-up this year seemed to confuse and bewilder a lot of the stewards who were pretty unaware of what was going on (however, to the middle-aged 'weekend hippy' who saw fit to shout, rant and rave at the poor guy on the reception desk - shame on you) and rather than announcing the Fanfarlo weren't going to be playing, the (unnecessary) MC came on to the main stage to announce the replacement act as if nothing was up - coward!

This year's line-up on Friday for us also included Fionn Regan (who replaced Fanfarlo on the main stage), Teenage Fanclub, plus Seasick Steve and Roots Manuva (who clashed so we saw a bit of both). Teenage Fanclub had been seriously disappointing when we saw them previously, but thought we'd give them another chance and I'm so glad we did - they were great, harmonies were tight and they seemed to be enjoying themselves. But for us, of course, the highlight was Slow Club...

Slow Club played one of the best sets I have seen them play, and although they were great at Indietracks, this blew it out of the water. They played in De Montfort Hall, which is a really nice space, and the 1970s TV-special visuals on screen behind them (which you can see in the photo of Charles, above) really added something to their sound and the whole experience. It was a bit freaky when they came on stage as I had earlier suggested to my companion that I thought Charles would be clean-shaven, and he was - he still had the beard in Japan (as we watched one of their shows live online - yay for technology) so it had obviously disappeared somewhere en route from Japan to Sweden to Leicester. Slightly concerned that I now sound like I have a facial hair fetish. Their whisker-free set included several tracks from Yeah So, as well as a few new songs, which they'll now be off to add to in order to begin the second album. Awesome.

Can't wait for the Christmas show at the Union Chapel - only 4 months to go!

You're turning violet, Violet!

As you may be aware, us folks at RadioNowhere have a fondness for a gang of Norwich bands including Violet Violet, The Kabeedies and The Brownies (and watch this space for superstars in waiting, Alloy Ark). It was therefore with great sadness that we received the news of an indefinite hiatus for Violet Violet, tinged with some temporary joy at the news of a farewell gig in Norwich with labelmates The Kabeedies and friends Mondo Ray.

The gig was held at the Norwich Puppet Theatre, which is a converted church, with the performance space having been converted with a small stage and steep, tiered seating so that it is really dark and intimate. As someone with a bit of a panicky fear of puppets, actually attending the venue was a bit of a challenge for me, but most of those on display looked quite friendly - it's the Punch and Judy-style mean-looking, carved wood faces that scare the living daylights out of me. My favourite 'puppet' on display was the The Admonitor (below):

In honour of their latest (and last?) release, the Ebony & Ivory EP, Violet Violet requested a black and white dress code for their farewell party (not a difficult task for me!). They also requested that everyone attend for the entire night, meaning that no-one was to be admitted after 8pm (although I didn't know this so it was just good luck that we rolled up at about that time!).

First band was Mondo Ray, who were good fun but not really my cup of tea. They were introduced by the VV girls themselves, who also gave presents to people who had helped them along the way and did lots of thank yous.

After a short intermission and a much needed bottle of water (we'd spent the afternoon in the WONDERFUL Rumsey Wells Public House - the Meantime Wheat beer was going down rather too smoothly) it was on to The Kabeedies, who played a great set from their album Rumpus plus a couple of new songs. I tried to get some photos but the damned energetic little blighters move around too much. I did get this one of Evan, who was wearing one dangly earring, and this bothered me.

Finally, we had the pleasure of a thumping set from Violet Violet, after they were introduced by a video they had put together of all their finest moments. It could have been seen as a teeny bit narcissistic, but I think they just about got away with it. They played from their most recent album, The City Is Full Of Beasts, but also gave a nod to the previous incarnations of the band and former members, as well as playing from Ebony & Ivory (unfortunately not a cover of the McCartney/Wonder classic).

We will miss you, Violets but have a feeling we'll probably be seeing you back on stage again soon...?

Jessica 6 in 1993

You can now hear my 1993 show as a podcast, available here

You can view the playlist here

Next month I'll be in 1960 - requests can be sent to me via twitter or via e-mail

Enjoy!