Wet Nuns – Caught in the Crossfire

Converse Represent got off to a flying start yesterday with singer Plan B opening up proceedings. The event which runs nightly between 30th July and 10th August at London’s iconic 100 Club gives a nod to past legends by including nights headlined by UK Subs, Toots & the Maytals and Paul Weller. The best of the new breed are also showcased with Pulled Apart By Horses, The Safety Fire, Santigold, Best Coast, Japandroids and The Bots also featuring.

The highlight of the event has to be Blur’s ridiculously intimate gig on August 2nd. For a chance to be at this incredible show, fans will need to visit www.converse.co.uk/blur between 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM on Wednesday 1st August.

For those unable to get their hands on sought after tickets, Converse are kindly streaming the shows online here, you also stream the shows by scrolling to the bottom of the page.. The full line up for Converse Represent is as follows:

July 30 – Plan B, L Marshall, Jacob Banks, Yuna
July 31 – UK Subs, Discharge, Anti-Nowhere League, Goldblade, Ed Tudor Pole, Dumbjaw
August 1 – Paul Weller, Spiritualized, Japandroids, 2:54, Towns
August 2 – Blur, The Bots, Savages, Swiss Lips
August 6 – SBTRKT, Rudimental, John Talabot, Man Without Country
August 7 – Santigold, Django Django, Best Coast, Citizens!, Friends
August 8 – Toots & the Maytals, Natty, The Heatwave, Janice Graham Band
August 9 – Overkill, Pulled Apart By Horses, The Safety Fire, Wet Nuns
August 10 – Nas, Kano, Speech Debelle, Spoek Mathambo, Children Of The Night

WORDS: EMMA WALLACE

Free live streaming by Ustream

As always Reading & Leeds has an impeccably strong line up. Headliners The Cure, Kasabian and Foo Fighters are joined by numerous big names across several stages including Cancer Bats, At The Drive-In, The Gaslight Anthem, Enter Shikari, The Maccabees, Every Time I Die… The list goes on! But for those who are more interested in finding some fresh blood, the recently announced BBC Introducing is the place to be.

33 up and coming bands have been selected by various BBC Radio Introducing shows and the festival promoters Festival Republic. We’ve handpicked our favourites below with the full stage line up as follows: Attention Thieves, Backyards, Bearfoot Beware, Black Moth, Crooked Tongues, Cut Ribbons, Danica Hunter, Dear Prudence, Dingus Khan, Empror & Duppy Beatz, Escape To New York, Escapists, The Establishment, Family of the Year, Fish Tank, Glassbody, Hawk Eyes, Hildamay, Ifan Dafydd, Lady Lykez, Marmozets, Marsicans, Max Raptor, Mikill Pane, Park Bench Society, Proxies, Rachel Sermanni, Samoans, Sarah Williams White, Seasfire, Wet Nuns, We Walk On Ice, We Were Frontiers.

Proxies:

After selling out physical copies of their EP ‘The Lost Demos’ in a matter of minutes, having toured with the likes of Hadouken! and Canterbury, releasing a single featuring The Blackout’s Sean Smith, and, with over 16,000 followers on Facebook is a bit of a surprise that Proxies are on Reading & Leeds smallest stage! Well we can assure you they won’t be there for long, watch this electric young band up close and personal while you still can!

Hawk Eyes:

Describing their debut album as, “sleek and modern and hardcore and suitably post-post-everything,” and themselves as, “Band, four people, Leeds, riffs, spend a lot of time in a van,” Hawk Eyes are a no frills, yet exceptionally fun, British rock band. We can guarantee that Hawk Eyes won’t be playing these smaller stages for much longer so catch their intimate set while you can…

Samoans:

Samoans are masters of the fretboard. Their distinctive brand of progressive math-rock draws influence from the legendary Reuben and Maps & Atlases. The raw emotion in the vocals is comparable to early Biffy Clyro, making Samoans are compelling and intense live band.

We Walk On Ice:

After featuring on Fred Perry’s Subculture ‘Best New Music’ section and filling out some of London’s coolest venues, We Walk On Ice are one of those buzz bands that you need to catch. Renowned for surf-pop-soundscapes, We Walk On Ice are the perfect accompaniment to a British summers day (weather permitting).

Attention Thieves:

Born in the vibrant Reading music scene, Attention Theives combine straight forward rock with some gutsy punk spirit. You may recognize front man Alex Green from tech-metal band The Arusha Accord, but Attention Theives are on a completely different end of the alternative spectrum with a much more accessible sound. Constantly living life on the road and frequently treating fans to new music videos, Attention Thieves deserve this exposure.

WORDS: EMMA WALLACE