After the accidental debauchery of Saturday night, the last thing I felt like doing was going to Camden, let alone another show. However, this was business, so I dosed up on paracetamol, armed myself with a large bottle of Evian, and made my way down to Bar Solo to see Carnation Twink. An odd name you may presume, and not one you’ve yet heard of, however Carnation Twink is the new project of Georgie Leahy from the; sexy, firebreathing cabaret act GIRLSROC, who made it through to the final of Britains Got Talent last year (the ones with the nice bums!! I quote Amanda Holden)
The set started off with ‘Slinky,’ a cabaret style ode to the gorgeous albino python Miss Leahy had draped around her neck, before launching into a high tempo, hard hitting set with an outstanding cover of the Beatles, Come together. This could have been a disaster, but they executed it perfectly! The band also performed a slightly slower number called ‘Love Toy,’ and the aptly named ‘Afrodisatwat’ aimed at the ‘TOWIE’ culture
This is definitely not a boring band - they focus on the visual aspect of the performance, just as much as the sound, with; fantastic styling, angle grinding against a (now rather sorry) pink Fender guitar, and fire eating Not to be missed!
It’s a muggy Saturday in London town, and what better to do than head down to Holborn’s Cochrane Theatre for an afternoon of corpse paint, PVC trousers, and fishnet wearing ladies, at the aptly named festival “Music for a darkened theatre”
Stood side of stage, with Bonkers photographer Mike awkwardly crawling around in front of seated, paying punters, third band Maleficent take the stage. As the curtains rise, professional ballet dancer and singer Miss Maleficent Martini rises from an eerie gothic looking chair for the intro, performing a mesmerizing routine en pointe, before launching into ‘Demize’ – an industrial fusion of strong double vocals, electrifying synth, and a punchy drum beat
Not only do this band sound good, it’s also hard not to lose yourself in the theatrical brilliance in front of you, as Miss Martini, and second vocalist Mortimer Cain work together almost acting out the emotions of each song – every visual aspect is catered for, with the set well designed, and each band member made up like a different, dark, fictional character
“Malice & Desire” is of a slower tempo, with a mixture of sexy drawling vocals, and growls over a bouncy bass line, “get away from me!!” Miss Martini teases the crowd, the majority of which are male, and are probably imagining an “American beauty” moment as she throws a bunch of rose petals over the stage. After an atmospheric cover of Nick Caves “Where the wild roses grow,” Mortimer Cain, and the rest of the band launch into a jazz / blues showdown á la Johnny Cash on an untold amount of illegal substances, as Maleficent Martini sensually leaves the stage
On return, out of ballet shoes, and into some stunning Natacha Marro Leopard Print boots - Maleficent dive straight into my favorite track of the evening “Model Song” taken from the forthcoming album, it has a very ‘Rob Zombie’ sound to it, and an extremely catchy composition, as both singers bound around the stage with maximum energy, before breaking into synthesized belter “Reflections”
As the show comes to a close, and the curtains fall, the band receive a standing ovation from the crowd, as they continue to shout “More! More! More!” – They may have paid for seating, but they can still make a racket! After a sample of new material, and viewing their incredible set, it is obvious that Maleficent can NOT be ignored for much longer
Unlike the majority of UK festivals, the Secret Garden Party make it exceedingly easy to find the press accreditation area, meaning you do not have to battle your way through clueless stewards trying to get to the other side of the festival without a pass, the kind of “You don’t have a pass” “yes, we need to get it” “sorry, no entrance without a pass” – “ok. I see why you have this job” saga. We simple get directed the correct area, and escorted onto the main festival site. Once inside….well, it’s definitely an interesting site. After a minutes walk we come face to face, with many a drunken punter dressed up in fetching animal onesies, neon lycra, and the token “man in a mankini” with his ‘crown jewels’ hanging out. God help us
The festival is set in a massive 10 acre landscaped garden, bordering a river and lake, where they offer boat rides, and “on boat” raves (fantastic if you like a good old fashioned, near death experience!), the boat is then set fire to on the last day. As well as music, and a mass of large and smaller stages dotted around the festival, all with their own theme, the festival also has; Art tents, Walkabout Theatre & Theatre workshops, Big Wheel Rides, Swimming activities, treasure hunts, rave tents, food talks, cocktail bars, ale tents, massages, barefoot discos and twilight fire circle tales
We head over to the ‘Great Stage’ witnessing indie rock act The Guillemots, complete with copious amounts of face paint, and eye glitter, with a child in a superman costume assisting with percussion – as ya do! This is then followed by soggy Friday’s headlining act The Mystery Jets – by the time the first few notes were strummed, the crowd was a mess of runny face paint and sodden animal hoods, but the mood itself was by no means damp. Kicking off with Alice Springs they continued with a spattering of songs old and new, with the predictably popular tracks Half in Love With Elizabeth and Two Doors Down leading to dancing that left legs mud splattered and the crowd happy. Peter Bjorn and John had cancelled their set earlier in the day due to illness, so The Mystery Jets’ cover of Young Folk was a nice nod to the missing trio
Saturday is pure frolics. Blondie pulled in a spectacularly immense crowd, with absolutely no room for movement anywhere near the Great Stage, but this presented a few problems in itself. Those who couldn’t penetrate the crowd and ended up stuck on the fringes had to contend with music from other stages competing with the biggest name of the weekend. Those in the crowd weren’t always much better off, with general crowd noise interfering with a sound system that didn’t do Blondie justice. But for those nearer the front, there was a solid set, balancing all the hits with new tracks. As night falls, it’s clear the kids are more interested in creating their own parties in one of the many smaller tents and areas – as the main stage is practically deserted for much of the evening. But SGP never pretends to be a “lighters in the air”, en-mass celebration. Strangely everything is more disparate but somehow there’s a great sense of togetherness too Sunday makes for a dryer day, with plenty of animal onesie wearing punters floor bound by the time we emerge, we head straight to the ‘Crossroads’ tent, for a punchy set from Camden Cat Daniel Jeanrenaud, performing tracks such as; Rain (dedicated to the late Amy Winehouse), Let yourself go, History, and a cover of the Johnny cash hit Folsom Prison Blues. We then head over for another bash at the ‘Great Stage’ just in time to catch a stellar performance by the headlining Martha Reeves, and the Vandella’s in all their ‘motown’ glory, complete with matching glittery catsuits, and an extremely hard hitting drummer, of which Martha calls “sticks.” Although her voice is starting the go, she definitely holds her own, dancing through their biggest hits, and telling the stewards to “leave her alone” in a typically southern American accent, and after a weekend of ridiculous costumes, and slightly better music – it is clear that the Disneyland for Adults, has stepped up its game once more
So its half way through the festival season, and the next stop is Guilfest. The “family friendly” festival, which takes place in Stoke Park in the centre of Guilford, is celebrating its 20th anniversary, with a line-up consisting of; Peter Andre, Chipmunk, N-Dubz, Funeral for a friend, Adam Ant (if he actually remembers to get on stage), Nero, Roger Daultry, and many more…
We made our way up to the festival on the Friday, sharing a van with punk / rockabilly band ‘The Grit’. After a few hours of various band members pissing in bottles, we arrive at the grounds only to spend another hour trying to find the correct entrance, with one steward refusing us entry altogether. Apparently, there is no guest list – we should have received our tickets in “t’ porst,” another steward then proceeds to spray his sandwich all over the van, driver, and steering wheel, whilst the rest of us stare ahead in horror
We finally make it to the VIP area just in time for the boys to unload and jump onto the Vive Le Rock stage. Within minutes, the empty tent is rammed full of smiling faces, nodding their heads to songs such as; “Let me take you for a ride,” “Lunatics,” and “Surrender,” as little man Kurt jumps all over his newly repaired double bass, and manages to squeeze under the tent roof onto a stack of amps, nearly killing himself, and several photographers in the process
As the show comes to a close, we go to explore the festival grounds, which sports a MASSIVE 150ft beer tent, Calypso cocktail bar, Comedy Zone, Theatre tent, 70s Disco, Dance tent, and an open mic tent (dangerous, very dangerous) – before going to watch the fabulous ‘Nero’ amongst hundreds of legwarmer, and neon wearing 14 year olds
The weekend also saw performances from; The Noisettes, Gallows, Sonic Boom Six, Erasure, Levi Roots (….why?), Pendulum, and “finish line” singer Yasmin
Over three days, Hyde Park became a sunny mass of piss heads, hot pant wearing indie chicks, and the odd music lover, as a variety of genres and names took to the stage
Tinie Tempah won the crowd over with ease, blasting out the majority of his biggest hits; Pass out, Written in the Stars, and Frisky. He was followed by a suited and booted Plan B, who certainly had the attitude, but on this occasion… some idiot had forgotten to press play, making for a rather quiet set! David Guetta offered a slice of “Chicago’s nightclub” whilst looking slightly haggard, his insane tour schedule is the most likely reason for this – but his high-energy set was definitely worth watching. Who needs sleep eh?
Alexa Chung got “taken on” by a scrawny man in a fetching pink lycra onesie backstage, she tried to stand her ground, but unfortunately when your head is 10 times the size of your body, it makes for a bit of a “bambi” moment. Shortly after a rather “bad ass” Katie Waissell appeared smoking a cigarette (shock horror!!!), and sporting some lovely lank hair extensions, a la Taylor Momsen. Rumour has it; she is also starting a band of her own. We cannot WAIT for that… we love a bit of fake rock star… Sunday night saw PULP headline, with Jarvis Cocker bringing back his usual spindly leg movements echoing a drunken uncle at a wedding
This week at Lander we’ve been covering the Hanson ‘5 of 5’ tour promo, a lot of people have been sniggering when it comes to Hanson, but it’s actually been quite good fun. This week we’ve been doing; Britain’s got talent, Chartshow TV, OK! TV, and Absolute Radio (above), Fearne Cotton and Greg James from Radio 1 also came down to the KSLU show to do an interview
So it’s the morning after the prestigious ’Glamour Women of the Year’ Awards, which saw curvy U.S socialite, and reality star Kim Kardashian picking up the ‘Entrepreneur of the year’ award. This is also the morning, that Kim is due to launch her new self titled fragrance at Debenhams, on London’s busy Oxford Street
Despite the star not due to arrive until at least 12.30pm, fans have been camping outside the store from as early as 5am. By the time we manage to wedge our crew firmly into their designated media penn (or man crèche), we are ushered to the sidelines, by a dolled up blonde lady in heels, until further notice. Within seconds of the doors opening, swarms of young screaming girls donning 20 layers of lip gloss, and carrying copies of ‘Kardashian Konfidential’ were knocking stands down, and pushing each other out of the way, in hope of getting a better view
Lost in a sea of camera’s, and journalists stomping around in angst at the strictness of Kim’s bodyguards and PR agents - we wait patiently in the hope that Mike hasn’t been massacred at the front line. Finally Kim arrives, and she definitely knows how to make an entrance - dressed in a figure hugging, purple and orange Gucci outfit, with aqua heels. After signing autographs, posing with fans, and having a chat with various media bods, Kim makes her way back to the Dorchester Hotel - literally mobbed by fans, on exit!
They may be the home of the rather irritating LMFAO, but America’s trade-mark alternative label ‘Cherrytree Records’ will be bringing their ‘new talent’ road show to our Capital City
The event will be held from 8pm, at the o2 Academy in Islington, North London, and will include performances from:
The quirky ‘Frankmusik’
Pop sensation ‘Natalia Kills’
The relatively unknown ‘Collette Carr’
The brilliant ‘Far East Movement’
And the unfortunate… LMFAO
Responsible for launching the U.S. careers of the platinum selling Lady Gaga, Ellie Goulding, and La Roux, it was only a matter of time before they set their sights on making a mark on the UK!
Radio 1’s ‘Big Weekend’ is the stations annual two day festival, designed for lovers of; Fearne Cotton, boating shoes, ankle biters, and incidentally… music. Over half a million people applied for the 40,000 free tickets to the event, which takes some of the biggest names in commercial music, to the far distant corners of the UK. This time - to the armpit of Great Britain, Carlisle, where pop marvel Lady Gaga is making her only British festival appearance this year. Early arrivals to the festival were rewarded by a “secret” performance (as secret as being on the BBC website) from the Arctic Monkeys, followed by the minuscule hot pant wearing Ellie Goulding and Jessie J. The ‘Big Weekend’ certainly has a lighter feel than most festivals with even the INMWT stage featuring; Lip Syncing, spandex, and backing dancers - with tonnes of heavily made up girls bopping along front of stage, in defiance of awful British weather
The rest of Saturday features the likes of; the Swedish House Maffia, Wretch 32, Plan B, the anthemic Black Eyed Pea’s, and the eagerly awaited Foo Fighters. Despite a mediocre performance, I cannot help but wonder whether we saw the best of them back in the late 90’s - every single move, appears rehearsed, even the odd ‘teethy’ grin between songs, reminding you of a Thomas Cook tour rep. Sunday brings a mass variation with boring indie veterans; The Strokes, Professor Green, Magnetic Man, and annoying Essex export Olly Murs. Katy B runs up and down on the stage, belting out her latest hits ‘Lights on’ and ‘Broken Record’ in her usual hoody, jeans and trainers combination, before the queen of quirk, Lady Gaga is due to take the stage
After a good 20 minute wait, with blank faces staring at a coffin surrounded by heavily built dancers, Gaga emerges appearing to have taken too much acid, wearing a badly fitting PVC cat suit, with a large prophetic pregnant belly for the opener ‘Born this way.’ After an early triumph backed by live guitars and hard hitting drums, Gaga appears to break down with a Jazz style tribute to “the Royal Wedding” killing all momentum dead, with ‘little monsters’ jaws dropping all around. Several bizarre costume changes later, Gaga launches into better known hits “Pokerface” “Just Dance” and new single “Judas” - with a shower of confetti, and a raw of screaming fans, it appears Gaga has saved the day just in time!
This week myself and Chevy B filmed a mini promo video for Bonkers Entertainment with presenter Yolisa Segone. We shot some of the footage on Camden lock, and the interview at Aces & Eights in Tufnell Park. It would have been fun, if we weren’t extremely hungover from our ‘meeting’ the night before…
Tempted by free beer, and a shockingly good line-up; myself and Jenna decided to put on our best East London ‘ankle biters, socks, and boating shoes’ combinations, and head down to the filming of the last Topman CTRL of the series. Presented by Radio 1 Presenter Huw Stephens, with guest controller Annie Mac, the evening promised great live performances from the likes of; Wretch 32, Example, Katy B, and Frankie & the Heartstrings, though as we discovered later on… this was not all
Stoke Newington ‘airport’, rather a little warehouse hidden down the shady backstreets of Hackney, was actually a great little venue which suited the nature of the show, down to a tee. A couple of beers, camera dodges, and awkward “I can’t remember your name, but I will just smile and nod anyway” moments later - Welcome Wretch 32
(Chevy B chats to Frankie from Frankie & the Heartstrings, Jenna Lee speaks to Wretch 32, and I speak to Huw Stephens about what he looks for in a new act)
Blasting us right into the show with a live performance of ‘Traktor,’ and distracting us from our camera dodging, wretch is currently one the hottest UK urban acts to break into the mainstream this year - also treating us to a performance of his forthcoming single ‘Unorthodox’ with cheeky chappy ‘Example’
After a slight disagreement with a Justin Beiber look-alike and a quick chat with Annie & Huw - northerners Frankie & the Heartstrings erupted onto the stage. Frankie, once dubbed as “the worst bass player ever” by fellow band member Dave Harper, now has an air of eloquence as a front man. This must have particularly thrilled me as he dive bombed into the front row, as there is a picture circulating of me looking at him murderously
‘Katy B was never meant to be a star’ explains Annie Mac , the lady who championed her as she emerged into the public eye. She had been warned that during her clubbing days, some of the tracks she had put vocals on with a close friend and Rinse FM producer, had began to hit the airwaves. Admittedly, the tiny girl stood before us timidly on the stage, does not look like a star either… but perhaps that’s her appeal - For Katy B very well be any girl out there, the only difference is, she’s packing away an incredible voice, which is just as good live, as it is on Record
Like a finely prepared three course meal, ‘Topman CTRL’ had saved the best until last. That is if you consider the best to be a perplexing combination of; men wearing badly applied red lipstick, and bags around their necks, backed by a choir of Japanese girls shaking kinder eggs, stroking unusual wooden animal instruments, and mimicking dolphins… Enter ‘Connan Mockasin.’ With his eerily ambient ‘Forever Dolphin Love,’ the whole rooms falls silent wondering whether this is something ground breaking, or something that would be better suited to a bunch of self indulgent, ‘upper middle class’ kids on too many narcotics. What we do know, is this is definitely different, and different is what we do not understand… Maybe one day the world will be ready for Connan…
Chevy B and I had a chat with Arch Enemy about their forthcoming album ‘Khaos Legions’ at the HMV Forum. Despite rumours, Angela Gossow was absolutely lovely, and a pleasure to work with, she is very dedicated to the band, and definitely holds her own on stage
Camera work by Khaled Lowe, editing by Mike Dickinson
This week we interviewed Suggs and Chas Smash from Madness, shooting the promo video for the finale of their ‘Do not adjust your nut’ tour, on November 25th. The band will also be releasing their ‘Gogglebox’ which is a DVD boxset with all of their videos, along with unseen backstage and tour footage from over the years
We filmed the first part at Earls Court, and the actual interview itself at the bands rehearsal studio in South London. We got to film the band rehearsing some of their new songs, and also got serenaded by Chas mid interview (much to the annoyance of Katy, their manager) - my GOD that man can talk!!! Even though it was a fun interview, I still don’t think Chevy’s question of “will you still be performing when you require a wheel chair access to the stage?” would have gone down well…
The video will be up on the Bonkers Entertainment website, and YouTube shortly. Production and camera work, by Khaled Lowe (Professor Green, Sylosis…)
