Grammy Award-winning soul diva Joss will be making a special guest appearance to perform with Yes Sir Boss on Thursday, July 12.
The You Had Me singer’s gravelly but lustrous vocals will bring an extra treat to an already great evening of entertainment on Thursday as she joins Yes Sir Boss – the newest signings to her own Stone’d Records label – on the main stage. Continue reading
Rotary Club spokesman David Frampton and his team visited Avebury Sports Field this afternoon (Wednesday), and confirmed that the ground was dry enough to the stage to be erected and for an audience of up to 1,500 people to be granted access to the site on Saturday (July 7).
He confirmed that despite a summer marred by rain and cold weather, 900 tickets had been sold for the outdoor gig, and over 100 people had signed up for an associated 20-mile walk, which will include Wiltshire’s highest concert on top of Mark Hill, the joint-highest point in the county.
Mr Frampton was also able to confirm a last minute addition to the lineup. Swindon signing sensation Jess Hall and her band (pictured), whose track Play Shy has received Radio 1 airplay, will join a line-up that includes Mike Peters, lead singer from rock bands The Alarm and Big Country; Nick Harper local singer/song writer and son of legendary singer Roy; Cy Curnin and Jamie West-Oram of the rock band The Fixx; and acclaimed acoustic duo Swans in Flight. Continue reading
Fun. For kids. An ancient hill fort. Summer sunshine music. Sounded great. Continue reading
I was one of eight contestants, ready to launch their thoughts, arguments and philosophical musings on the Swindon Art Centre audience yesterday.
And, as it turned out, hopelessly outgunned! Continue reading
Roman Krznaric
Oxfam and UN advisor, tennis player, gardener and furniture-making fanatic, Roman Krznaric is the Brian Cox of philosophy, making it fun and relevant.
In the first part of his event at the Swindon Festival of Literature yesterday on the curious histories of how we live, I was reminded of my first year of my degree studies. This was about the Ancient Greeks and their various types of love. How ‘love’ didn’t necessarily mean passion, and how the Greeks actually felt wary of erotic love.
Which made me think that just because we (in the English language) don’t give different types of love their own names, does this mean we don’t have similar concepts? Or does giving them their own names raise awareness, legitimise them? Raise their importance? Or is the multitasking of one word just as good? Hmmm.
And here’s a ‘did you know’: the Eros statue in London’s Piccadilly Square is not the god of romance at all. Nope, it was erected (snigger) as a monument to his twin brother Anteros, the god of requited love and also known as the Angel of Christian Charity.
Ahha! I see what you’re doing there, Swindon Festival of Literature. I’m founding out things and getting a bit of mental exercise. Mission accomplished. Continue reading
There’s the performance poetry of the Slam!. The poetry of the nursery rhyme. The poetry of hip hop and the singer-songwriter, the folk singer, the hymn. The limerick, the nonsense poem, the psalm, the sonnet and the haiku. Poetry of strict form and poetry of tradition. The poetry of the streets and the poetry of abstract concepts.
Some people don’t call themselves poets. They label themselves spoken word performers, slammers, MCs and lyricists. Continue reading
But what a great performance! Seasoned hosts Sarah-Jane Arbury and Marcus Moore have been doing this a long time – Swindon’s is the second longest running in the UK – but both are as fresh as a daisy, warming up the audience with an introductory clap along to Donna Summer’s Hot Stuff. Continue reading
Disappointed I didn’t get to see / hear this one.
I spoke to organiser Hilda Sheehan (as herself this time, not Domestic Cherry Mabel) in between FLIT 180 and Swindon Slam! and she was very pleased with how the world premiere of the Toothill Long Poem turned out. Continue reading
Festival Chronicle 