REBELLION FESTIVAL LAUNCH R-FEST!

REBELLION FESTIVAL LAUNCH R-FEST!

A NEW OUTDOOR FESTIVAL IN FRONT OF BLACKPOOL TOWER TO TAKE PLACE AUGUST 4-7, 2022, IN ADDITION TO REBELLION AT THE WINTER GARDENS

Rebellion Festival, the largest punk and alternative festival in the world, is returning in 2022 even bigger and better with the launch of new outdoor event R-FEST.

Confirmed to take place this coming 4th to 7th of August 2022, in addition to Rebellion Festival at its annual home the Winter Gardens, R-FEST will be located slap bang in front of Blackpool Tower on the promenade, directly down from the Winter Gardens. The organisers are building an arena with the sea on one side and the town on the other, with a capacity for 15,000 punters and space for bars, food, and band merchandise.

Today, R-FEST are proud to announce the line-up of bands now confirmed to perform across the four days. Whilst still staying true to the punk and alternative roots of Rebellion Festival, R-FEST looks to broaden the scope of artists playing to include acts who had their origins in alternative music but went on to achieve huge mainstream success.

With Levellers, The Stranglers, Gary Numan and Squeeze all set to take headline positions, they join a host of other artists scheduled to play and R-FEST can announce the following line-ups.

THURSDAY 4th AUGUST: Levellers, The Wildhearts, Misty in Roots, Dreadzone, Ferocious Dog, Beans on Toast, Millie Manders and the Shut Up

FRIDAY 5th AUGUST: The Stranglers, The Undertones, The Skids, From the Jam, Toyah, Jilted John, The Vapors

SATURDAY 6th AUGUST: Gary Numan, Peter Hook & the Light, Pop Will Eat Itself, Spear of Destiny, Chameleons, Primitives, Pete Bentham & the Dinner Ladies

SUNDAY 7th AUGUST: Squeeze, SPECIAL GUEST TBA, Tom Robinson Band, Hollie Cook, Buzzcocks, Altered Images, I, Doris

“At last!” exclaims organiser Jennie Russell-Smith. “After the long delays and world craziness we are absolutely delighted to give you the full R-FEST line up for 2022 (apart from one special guest slot that will be worth waiting for). It has not been easy to pull all of these amazing bands together for four days, many bands are still rescheduling shows from 2020, but we are all incredibly excited for our first ever R-FEST line up; four days of bands in the incredible headland arena with the tower and the Wintergardens on one side and the Irish Sea on the other! It’s going to be amazing!!

R-FEST will quickly establish itself as the North West’s premier music festival and Rebellion Festival look forward to welcoming many fans that could be experiencing one of their events for the first time. We’re sure they will be welcomed by the Rebellion Family and soon realise why Blackpool is such a special place for our summer gatherings.

R-FEST is a standalone festival and day tickets are available at £50 per day. However, if you are a REBELLION weekend or REBELLION day ticket holder your ticket will get into R-FEST Free Of Charge!

R-FEST is all ages and there is re-entry available.

Rebellion Festival also looks forward to hosting the best punk from around the world in 2022 with the likes of Sham 69, Bad Religion, Circle Jerks, Cock Sparrer and Stiff Little Fingers confirmed to play the Winter Gardens August 4th-7th 2022.

Head to www.rebellionfestivals.com/r-fest for all info and tickets.  

The Dowling Poole – ‘See You See Me’ (369 Music)

The Dowling Poole – ‘See You See Me’ (369 Music)

There were a couple of recent(ish) episodes of the superb YouTube series ‘Produce Like A Pro’ that featured Roger Joseph Manning Jnr talking with the host Warren Huart about how Jellyfish recorded their wonderful ‘Bellybutton’ and ‘Spilt Milk’ albums. Within each of the enthralling episodes (a must-watch for music nerds everywhere, trust me) Roger revealed how the band would always go back to one other band’s music to sense check if what they were doing was right – and if it’s good enough for them it’s good enough for us kind of thing -and (spoiler alert) that band was the greatest band to ever come out of Swindon, XTC.

 

So, what the hell has this got to do with the third studio album from Willie Dowling and Jon Poole I hear you ask? Well, Jellyfish and their influences are exactly the right place from which to start this review, not least because ‘See You See Me’ opens with a title track that welcomes the listener in like some long lost friend of the masters of 90s bubblegum pop, a band who introduced a whole new generation of us to the delights of Supertramp, The Beach Boys and the Raspberries amongst many others.

 

Where The Dowling Poole perhaps now have the slight edge on Jellyfish is that they have almost three decades of new influences that they can channel into their songwriting and that’s why whilst ‘The Product’ might sound at times like an in his prime Elvis Costello its comes complete with a haunting Rialto (remember them?) like harmony vocal refrain and sounds just like the guys had Missy Elliott helping out behind the desk. It really shouldn’t work, but by God it does.

 

Likewise, ‘Keeping The Stupid Stupid’ has that Marilyn Manson patented march as a backbeat but over it, Dowling and Poole sounds more like the modern-day Squeeze, and without a doubt things are certainly very cool for these cats.

 

Then there’s the white soul of recent video/single ‘Hope’ a song so fantastic you could just imagine Robert Palmer or Prince having it on one of their mega Platinum selling records. In fact, it’s a song I’d love to hear Jarle Bernhoft get to grips with one day. Now that really would be one hell of a collaboration.

 

Elsewhere ‘Made In Heaven’ suddenly has me looking for the Andy Partridge co-write credit on the press sheet, and ‘Human Soup’ has me thinking that The Dowling Poole might just be the ideal support act for Crowded House’s UK return this summer, and at the same time ‘Alison’s Going Home’ suddenly makes me want to go dig out those classic Head Automatica albums all over again.

 

Lyrically on point throughout the album, there are those who will argue that politics (however subliminal they might be) should be kept out of music, but when the songs are as joyous as those contained here on ‘See You See Me’ you’d have to be a total moron not to appreciate the social context in which these tracks are being written. Oh, and for those of you thinking “all he’s done here is reference other bands in his review”, just look at those bands, XTC, Jellyfish, Elvis Costello and Squeeze. I’m sure that’s a quartet of artists Willie Dowling and Jon Poole won’t mind sharing some review space with.

 

So, with their former Wildhearts bandmates justifiably receiving plaudits galore for their ‘Renaissance Men’ album, ‘See You See Me’ whilst an altogether different beast, is every bit as great as that record. The million-dollar question I suppose though is will you be brave enough to make the purchase leap when it’s released at the end of February? Go on I dare you – and who knows – perhaps in just a few years’ time we may be watching Willie and Jon doing their very own ‘Produce Like A Pro’ webisode, because to my ears ‘See You See Me’ is absolute powerpop genius.

Buy ‘See You See Me’: Here

Author: Johnny Hayward

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They’re only making plans for… A new Book. ‘What Do You Call That Noise? An XTC Discovery Book’

They’re only making plans for… A new Book. ‘What Do You Call That Noise? An XTC Discovery Book’


Author MARK FISHER presents a new musical exploration of this highly talented and intriguing group:  ‘What Do You Call That Noise? An XTC Discovery Book‘ is a compelling 228-page book that involves not only these artists, but also some of the world’s leading musicians and keenest XTC fans. In 2017, Fisher published ‘The XTC Bumper Book of Fun for Boys and Girls’, which Louder Than War dubbed “Music publication of the year” and Prog Magazine called “The most comprehensive and incisive book about XTC yet published”.

In this new XTC book, you’ll find contributions from Peter Gabriel and members of The Jam, Squeeze, The Bangles, Dr Hook, New York Dolls, Barenaked Ladies, The Waitresses, Voice of the Beehive, Odds, Jellyfish, Fassine and Future of the Left, among many others.

Order link Here
Burning Shed order Here
photo of XTC by Garry Stuart

 

“The song is a little machine. If you take apart the machine, it’s not a clock any more and you can’t tell the time by it.” – Andy Partridge

“Music… I couldn’t imagine life without it. It’s always there.” – Dave Gregory

“I was always quite envious of XTC because they weren’t put in the same pigeonhole as punk bands. They were regarded as a bit more arty than that. We always had to fight off this flag, being under the banner of punk… XTC never seemed to fall into that trap. They had that freedom.” – Rick Buckler ( The Jam)

“Seeing them on TV was like being in a tribe. Together I thought we might rule the world… Yes, I stole from them. I’m sure I was not the only one. The wit did woo mee. I fell head over heels for the clever word play, the charge of the story and the sentimental Britishness of it all.” – Chris Difford (Squeeze)

“XTC’s music has always been there in my consciousness. I think about it a lot when I’m making records… They come across as an everyday group of people and that’s very much what Barenaked Ladies were about too – living as ordinary a life as you can in a bizarre lifestyle like rock’n’roll.” – Steven Page (Barenaked Ladies)

“I remember when I first heard Making Plans for Nigel on the radio… I absolutely loved the song, especially the drum part… Terry’s drumming was so rhythmic. I was very much influenced by him. In fact, I would drum along to XTC songs to warm up. It was very inspiring to me!” – Debbi Peterson (The Bangles)

2018 marked the 40-year anniversary of XTC’s first studio album ‘White Music’. While XTC was founded in 1972, it wasn’t until 1979 that XTC had their first UK charting single. Colin Moulding and Andy Partridge continued their partnership until the group’s dissolution in 2006.

Lately, there has been renewed interest in XTC, in part due to the release of eye-opening XTC documentary ‘This Is Pop’ about the band’s history and legacy, which looks at XTC and their journey from mercurial pop outsiders to full-blown national treasures and one of Britain’s most influential yet unsung bands.

‘What Do You Call That Noise?’ will be released on March 4. Anyone ordering ‘What Do You Call That Noise?’ before midnight on Sunday, January 27 will be inducted into the Venerable League of Neon Shufflers and have their name published in the book. The book can be obtained for £17.99 + free UK p&p (from £5 international p&p)