The Good, The Bad And The Queen have been announced as the headliner for the Ashton Court Festival.
Damon Albarn’s band will headline the second day of the festival on July 15th, alongside Enter Shikari and Horace Andy and Dub Asante Band.
The day before will be headlined by The Fall with Mad Professor and a Quantic DJ Set. The festival takes place at Ashton Court Estate in Bristol.
The Scare,
Mean Fiddler,
12.06.07
A couple of songs into The Scare‘s set, it’s apparent that they’re facing something of uphill struggle in terms of engaging the crowd – most of whom are either tired from work or still recovering from last weekend’s Download festival.
Still, the Aussie quintet pull off a fine performance, with efforts like ‘Irony’ and new single ‘Bats! Bats! Bats’ sounding like the Icarus Line might if they decided to molest new life into Gang Of Four’s funk-punk legacy. Live-wire singer Kiss Reid’s antics may provoke little more than polite applause, but you can’t fault him or his band for enthusiasm.
Let’s face it, if anyone was gonna get the party – Satellite or otherwise – started, it’s Perry Farrell. Boasting the energy of a man half his age, his new act thankfully forsakes the usual self-indulgent ‘super group’ clichés in favour of sparkling sex-rock anthems that boast as much sass and swagger as the man himself. Never a man to be shy of his past, he even throws in a few Jane’s Addiction numbers for good measure, which finally whips the venue into the dancing frenzy that tonight has long called for.
His between-song patter may veer from the entertaining to the plain confusing (“The Milky Way? Ahh, that’s not so good…I’m headed for the Milky Avenue!”), but when faced with a performance this good, you can’t help but cast aside your cynicism, and just believe.
The world’s biggest punk festival will hit Blackpool in August.
The Rebellion Festival sold out Blackpool’s Winter Gardens last year and is set to do the same this year, 30 years after God Save The Queen was a number one record. There will be all types of punk involved from The Damned through Conflict, Cockney Rejects, Hardball, The Dwarves to Slade and UK Subs.
Make sure you get to see it from August 9th to 12th and savour the 150 bands, the acoustic stage and the cabaret stage that will all be part of the event.
Reports are coming in that Henry Rollins, of Black Flag fame, will front a reformed version of the Ruts.
The band, who have recently seen their track Staring At The Rudeboys covered by Gallows and Lethal B, will feature the original line up of Paul Fox, Segs and Dave Ruffy. Rollins will apparently take over as single in place of Malcolm Owen, who died of a heroin overdose in 1980.
The gig will be at a benefit show in Islington on July 16th for Paul Fox and cancer research as he is reported to be terminally ill with lung cancer.
New York’s Madball have released a new track.
The band have put up the title track to upcoming album Infiltrate The System on their MySpace page. The album is out in late August and serves as the follow up to Legacy.
Weezer are to return with a new album, due out in 2008.
The band have been quiet for a while whilst Rivers Cuomo finished his English degree at Harvard University. The frontman posted on his website saying that the recording will begin at the start of July and they aim to put it out in the first half of 2008.
Thrice have recently announced their split from Island Records.
They said in a statement that their vision for the band’s future and the vision of the label were different and going separate ways was the best course of action.
They went on to say that Island have let them keep the record they are currently recording and they hope to still release it without a delay.
Motion City Soundtrack will digitally release their new single Broken Hearts to preceed their new album.
The album, Even If It Kills Me, was produced by Ric Ocasek of the Cars, Fountains Of Wanye’s Adam Schlesinger and Eli Janney from Girls Against Boys and will be released in September.
You can check out a video for the single by clicking here. And don’t forget to read our interview with the band if you haven’t already.
Spoon have recently commented on their upcoming album Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga.
Britt Daniel commented on having to sleep for a long time on a futon as he had to travel from his home in Portland, down to Austin where the rest of the band live, also saying that breaking up with his girlfriend fed into the album.
He went on to say the album is about love, politics, personal experiences and heartache, claiming “I do feel like it’s the best record we’ve made”.
A new club night in Brentwood, Essex is starting on June 27th. Confusion will be held at Sam’s Nightclub on Ongar Road.
There will be a ton of giveaways, rowdy music and low prices on drinks. So if you’re in the area and fancy a bit of a party, hit it up.