Winchester Live is a new week long festival in Winchester, running from 13th - 19th October 2008.
The festival is being organised by Placid Piranha Promotions and The Girls in Green Shoes to help promote the Winchester music scene.
It will be an opportunity to get some well known acts to Winchester as well as showcasing the wealth of talent that Hampshire has to offer.
The festival will take place in many music venues in Winchester including The Railway, The Tower (previously a council owned Arts Centre) and the newly built Vault, which is part of Winchester University.
FREE LAUNCH PARTY:
The L.C.D. (live)
Jimmi Needles (DJ)
Little Chief (DJ)
Lonely Hearts DJ's
+ Bad Boys of 79 (live)
Saturday 11th October @ The Railway Inn, 9pm
ENTRY ON GUEESTLIST ONLY - Click here to sign up to the guestlist.
Monday 13th October:
The Vault (Winchester Uni):
Youthmovies, Absentee, Post War Years , Sam Isaac, Luke Leighfield + Nicotine Smile (16+)
TICKETS OFF ADVANCE SALE... BUT STILL AVAILABLE AT SU BOX OFFICE AND ON THE DOOR!!
Tuesday 14th October:
The Tower: Emmy The Great, Peggy Sue, The Wellbeing + Phil King. (14+) £7
Wednesday 15th October:
The Tower: Imperial Leisure, Django, Mavid Grind + The Tripods (14+) £6
The Railway: When The Lights Go Out present: Fox Cubs, Birdpen, Moneytree + The Scarlet Union (16+) £5
Thursday 16th October:
The Railway: Blissfields presents, Gideon Conn, Barefoot Confessor, The Gladrags + The Moho(16+) £5
Friday 17th October:
The Tower: SixNationState, The Foxes, Shit! Hot Llamas + Alex & The Ligers (16+) £6
Saturday 18th October:
The Vault: Art Brut, Thomas Tantrum, Subliminal Girls, Soma High, Hijera + Fresh Legs (16+) £10
The Tower: Mumford & Sons, Jay Jay Pistolet, Ryan O'Reilly, Derek Meins, Beans on Toast, Cherbourg (formaly Davie Fiddle), Thos Henley + Handshake (14+)
The Railway: Mine Host presents Shaped By Fate, Eta Carinae + Incarna(18+) £5
Sunday 19th October:
The Tower: Bloody Awful Poetry presents, The Click Click, Rosie Odd & The Odd Squad + Casablancas(14+) £6
The Railway: Die! Die! Die!, Run Walk!, Bright White Light + TBC (16+) £5
Tickets can also be purchased over the phone by calling TicketWeb on 08444 771000 Contacts:
General Enquiries:
Rob Ball - [email protected]
Bookings:
Girls in Green Shoes - [email protected]
Press:
Alex at Orbit PR - [email protected]
Please note, we are no longers taking bookings for the Festival.

ART BRUT

Art Brut are an English and German indie rock band. Their debut album, Bang Bang Rock & Roll, was released on 30 May 2005, with its follow up, It's a Bit Complicated, released on 25 June 2007. Named after French painter Jean Dubuffet's definition of outsider art -- art by prisoners, loners, the mentally ill, and other marginalized people, and made without thought to imitation or presentation -- South London's Art Brut were tagged by NME as part of the "Art Wave" scene that also includes bands such as Franz Ferdinand and Bloc Party.

THOMAS TANTRUM

Thomas Tantrum are a four piece from Southampton. They’ve already made waves this year with their spell binding live shows and have drawn musical comparisons as diverse as Yeah Yeah Yeah’s, PJ Harvey, Bjork and Sonic Youth. Aswell as releasing their debut album to critical aclaim.
Championed by the likes of Lily Allen, Glasvegas, and The Futureheads, with whom they recently toured, Thomas Tantrum are set to become one of this year’s hottest new bands.

SIXNATIONSTATE

SixNationState are a unique blend of indie/ska/pop swept up into an electrically charged storm of passion, enthusiasm, irreverence and at times near chaos. Sporting an array of panama hats, smoking jackets and floppy hair, one of the coolest bands you will ever see. SixNationState were put on this earth to have it, and have it they shall... all of it. "In an Indie Wacky Races, a car-crash between an under-the-influence Zutons and the harmonic-pop mobile of the Futureheads would no doubt create a smoking wreckage in the shape of SixNationState" - Drownedinsound. 'Musically fantastic, visually entertaining, brilliantly original" - www.the-mag.me.uk. 'The musical equivalent of Red Bull' - www.bbc.co.uk.

MUMFORD & SONS

Mumford And Sons are a Folk / Bluegrass group formed in London in September of 2007. Having received critical acclaim from the Guardian on their “Band of the Day” online forum and resounding praise from nearly everyone who has witnessed them supporting the infinitely talented Laura Marling, Mumford And Sons continue to turn heads in London’s growing folk scene.

EMMY THE GREAT

Emmy the Great is Emma-Lee Moss, born in Hong Kong and now living in London, United Kingdom based singer-songwriter, noted for her evocative and thought-provoking lyrics, and her inventive way with rhyme. A proponent and member of the London anti-folk scene, she has collaborated with several other artists, namely Fyfe Dangerfield, Jeremy Warmsley and Lightspeed Champion.

IMPERIAL LEISURE

Imperial Leisure are a phenomenon: a ten-piece band playing their own particular blend of hip-hop, ska and punk music, complete with drums, bass, guitar live brass section, keyboards, DJ, two MCs and a singer, who have been mates since North London secondary school. Their music is a killer combination of great beats, great tunes and irresistibly memorable lyrics. Influences come from all over the place: as well as a group admiration of great British bands such as The Specials, Madness and The Prodigy, there is a Motown-inspired soulfulness to singer Jels vocals, and a rock sensibility to MC Denis's delivery. The sense of unity and familiarity that comes from 15 years of friendship and hanging out together is very much evident both in the bands sound and in the relationships between members. Based in their own rehearsal/recording studio in Tottenham, they work together and party together, and put equal energy into both things. This energy is what sets the band apart...

ROSIE ODDIE & THE ODD SQUAD

Forget comparisons to any other young ladies currently cutting a swath through pop's over populated seas, not so much odd as stunningly original we present to you Rosie Oddie and the Odd Squad.
Led by plucky and no nonsense Rosie Oddie, this is a band that produce music that sticks two fingers up to the current crop of take yourself too seriously indie pop that's currently doing the rounds and instead gives you powerful, theatrical sense of magic and glamour.

DIE! DIE! DIE!

Die! Die! Die! is a 3-piece punk/indie band originally from Dunedin, but are now based in Auckland. Since their formation in November 2003, they have solidified their reputation as one of New Zealand’s most popular bands. With an emphasis on rhythm and volume, Die! Die! Die! create a driving sound that is immediate and visceral, while retaining enough melody to keep their songs in your head long after their short set has come to a close.

SAM ISAAC

A genuine indie cottage industry, Sam Isaac has risen to prominence without a record deal. Writing and recording the tunes himself, friends help with packaging and distribution. Perhaps the high point of his career thus far has been a performance at The Elecrtric Proms, and recently being interviewd by Winchesters very own legend, Colin 'The Tennis Ball'!

GIDEON CONN

GIDEON CONN has been described by some as a Hip-Pop Acoustic infusion reminiscent of De La Soul having a tussle with Badly Drawn Boy. Gideon Conn certainly has something different to offer. Tricky to define, Gideon strikes the perfect balance between laid-back and lacing up your best dancing shoes. Blending summer time funk with laid-back hip hop, a touch of scatting and the off beat charm of a young Woody Allen, expect the truly unexpected, from slices of stand-up to Barry White and Outkast covers. You're in for a very unique treat with Gideon Conn.

FOX CUBS

Since forming in late July 2007 Fox Cubs have shared the stage with a variety of artists including Pull Tiger Tail, iForward Russia!, Eastern Conference Champions, Future Of The Left and Kong. This year the band recorded live sessions for both Radio One and XFM, headlined Steve Lamacq’s stage at the 2008 Camden Crawl and performed on the BBC Introducing stage at Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds festivals.
“When the man to your left dressed as Satan smiles and nods along playfully with his friend in the penguin suit, you know it bodes well for the gig ahead. When the gig ahead features local Reading boys Fox Cubs playing to a small but giddy home crowd, you know it’s going to be even better. Dressed in black and opening with an Eagles-style spaghetti-western riff before exploding into a family-friendly noisecore wig-out, the Berkshire boys have the clean-cut poster-boy looks of a band like The Feeling but mangled with screamo shouting and synthy breakdowns that The Killers and Gary Numan would have a rock, paper scissors match for sole custody of. ‘Skin’ is a battling, heavy-pop stick of dynamite that sees four grown men rushing around stage waving their guitars in a Guitar Hero frenzy while ‘Comfort’ is as camply theatrical as a night round Liberace’s house discussing musicals.’You Never Learn’ ends their set in a stupidly fun, whoop filled fashion. Satan and the penguin have obviously got excellent taste in music. Where are you boys headed next?” NME / Top 10 hopes for the future (27/08/08)

JAY JAY PISTOLET

Jay Jay Pistolet is singer-songwriter Justin James Hayward-Young, formerly of the Eldora Parade. Pistolet is from the New Forest, but is now London-based. He has played supporting Noah and the Whale, Slow Club and Katie Melua, and performs either solo or with his backing band (featuring Mumford & Sons singer Marcus Mumford). Generally plays the guitar but also ventures out with a mandolin. Currently selling an EP through his myspace page.

LUKE LEIGHFIELD

Photo by Steve Broadbank
Luke Leighfield is a twenty-year-old piano pop troubador from Upton upon Severn, Worcestershire, UK. He has released two albums, a split 10” single with Sam Isaac and recently reached number 7 in the Indie charts with 'If You Haven't Got Anything to Say, Don't Say ANything at All' after being championed by Radio 1's Huw Stevens. To date, he has played well over 400 gigs, many of them in fans’ living rooms and gardens.
When not onstage or in the studio, Luke studies English and Music at the University of Southampton and watches 24.
He has also played piano/violin for Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly, Sam Isaac, Jay Jay Pistolet and many more.

PEGGY SUE

Peggy Sue (Formaly Peggy Sue & The Pirates) are Rosa Rex and Katy Klaw from Brighton via London. In January 2006, Katy was offered a gig and asked Rosa along to keep her company on stage. The duo played three songs one of which they wrote that night and Peggy Sue and the Pirates was born. Accompanied only by an acoustic guitar the duo have since played more than 100 shows supporting the likes of The Gossip, Joan as Police Woman, The Maccabees, Jack Penate, Blood Red Shoes and Kate Nash - who they supported on her first UK tour.

DEREK MEINS

Derek Meins is a Scottish singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist (predominantly guitar and piano) and poet. He first earnt recognition as lead vocalist and guitarist with Berwick-upon-Tweed based indie band Eastern Lane, who released two albums before disbanding in 2006. Meins’ studio recordings and live performances comprise of both light-hearted ramshackle folk pop and poetic monologues, both characterised by his distinctive, often over-the-top and theatrical delivery. Meins frequently showcases his music and poetry at self-organised nights known as The Soapbox Club at The New Evaristo Bar in the Soho area of London, and has toured supporting more renowned artists such as The Maccabees. He is currently signed to James Endeacott’s label 1965 With whom he has recorded and released his debut solo mini-album The Famous Poet.

BEANS ON TOAST

Beans on Toast is one man with a guitar, writing songs that he claims ‘have the same chords’ and ‘sound like Billy Bragg’. Beans on Toast (known to his friends as Jay) blends a dark wit with serious social and political satire based on a diverse range of subjects including cocaine, Tesco, London, gun crime, myspace, global warming and the Lake District.

THE FOXES

The Foxes have been very busy since they formed in 2006. They travelled to America for a month of touring in 2007 and have just completed a 30 date UK Tour with Yeti. Their critically acclaimed debut EP 'Lover, Killer' was released in August 2007 and the band are currently planning the release of their debut single 'Trauma Town' which will be out in October.
The Foxes are emerging as one of England's freshest must-see acts. Having supported bands including The Magic Numbers, The Animals, The Draytones, Glasvegas and of course Yeti, you will find it hard to miss them this year!
"With their hard hitting guitar-driven melodic songs, The Foxes are making a real impact - expect to see and hear a lot more of them in the near future." Ents24

Subliminal Girls

Featuring precisely no girls, all band members have been in various other acts but feel this is a culmination of their various journeys. Lead singer Jim Rhesus is so named from his days with Rhesus and hails from Guernsey as do guitarist Jimmy 2 Shoes and bassist Danny Le Pelley. Danny was also in Ciccone as was drummer Arran. Nicky Biscuit provides the synths as he also has done in Video Club and The Art Goblins. The band are lucky enough to count idols as friends in the form of Carter USM and the band are close companions of Art Brut also. Several of the band were a part of Macaca Mulatta. Subliminal Girls are for all the people that don't fit into tight jeans and Topshop fashion, the people that actually have all the music listed on their myspace page and don't feel the need to run a club night to get friends.

The L.C.D.

The L.C.D. (aka, Large Conscious Delivery / Last Child Dancing) began his musical life back in 1999 at the age of sixteen, becoming a key member of the Brixton based hip hop collective, Elements Bound. Following four years of small basement type gigs and experimental recording, he decided to move to Winchester, to study a combined degree in Business and Drama.
By this point (aged 20), he started to feel like he should be putting down his own sounds and decided to invest in a guitar. It was this passion which led LCD to attend the open mic night after a year of playing and meet band mates who would soon after, form the Hip Hop Farmers. It was being one of two frontmen in this band, that developed LCD's confidence, style and onstage persona, supporting such bands as Nizlopi, The Bluetones and SixNationState. This in turn, led to a constant desire to take rap out of its usual environment and started looking for a new sound to work with...
The track Festival, released in June 9th 2008, was written at the end of Summer 2006, following a string of gigs, festivals and the best kinds of hangovers and is to date, LCD's favourite song he's made. The L.C.D. can now be found gigging in the duo Rooms + LCD, or performing his solo accoustic show in a host of venues around the south coast.

Ryan O'Reilly

Winchester born Ryan's voice is edged with woodsmoke, the harmonies fit like jigsaw pieces, and celtic and bluesy hints invigorate a classic style of songwriting. Whether he's pacing the cold streets of New York or treading the lonely London pavements trying to escape his past, Ryan is surely on his way towards a bigger league. Catch him, now, before he's busy dating movie stars.
" ..inspirational...vibrant and stimulating... making songs ubiquitous with youthful articulation and playful vocal melodies...the sense of epicness attained sending shivers up your spine." RawRip.com

BAREFOOT CONFESSOR

ALEX & THE LIGERS

Texas born singer-songwriter Alex J Dunne had already been gigging up and down the country for over a year, before forming Alex & The Ligers in 2007. Starting with some of Alex's solo tunes, the combination of the band to Alex's heartfelt lyrics, began to bring deeper layers to the sound and open up an even broader musical canvas to explore. Having now played for the best part of a year together, the music is constantly being lifted to another level. The striking emotion and honesty of Alex's vocals and lyrics bring to mind the passion of Jeff Buckley, swept along with intuitively matched instrumentation from Andy Stewart (Guitar) and Jo Lee (Drums & Percussion) with other members all contributing to the recording and live performance's (Tom Joseph/Ben Startup) all combining to compliment the sound.
This year the band has been in demand all across the South, culminating in an IndyAward nomination, BBC radio sessions, festival appearances, press accolades and increasingly packed gigs. On top of this, they’re looking to be back in the studio again soon to lay down some more tracks, so watch this space.

THE PROMOTORS

PLACID PIRANHA

Placid Piranha Promotions, is a promotions company based in Winchester, run by local musician Rob Ball. They aim to bring you some quality bands and to champion local music. Venues they currently promote at include The Railway Inn (Winchester), Talking Heads (Southampton), Winchester Guildhall, The Tower Arts Center (Winchester), The Vault (Winchester) and The Ramshackle (Fulham).
For the last two years, Placid Piranha Promotions has put on a week long Festival in Winchester in aid of Oxfam, as part of the OXJAM music festival. This festival has brought together some of the best local acts and last year raised over £4k, as well as being chosen by XFM as one of the best 10 Oxjam events in the country.
Rob runs a local music website, The Winchester Massive.. http://www.winchestermassive.co.uk that has been championing the local music scene since 2005.
http://www.placidpiranha.co.uk

ROCKFEEDBACK.COM

WOW... It's only the legendary Rockfeedback putting on a night at Winchester Live!
The saga of rockfeedback.com began, aptly, on a Friday night. (Specifically the Friday belonging to the date of September 15th, 2000, when the website was first uploaded to the public’s (un)consciousness).
Launched by the overly enthusiastic, then 15-year-old Toby L, rockfeedback.com somehow became one of the first, independent, online music-magazines in the UK, specialising in reviews, interview-features, and pioneering web-streaming content of authorised video and mp3 material.
Now one of the longest-standing originals, in the early days, rockfeedback fought off interest from scary venture-capitalist funding and heavy-breathing sponsors in order to develop content and a word-of-mouth kudos and rep, under the ethos that new talent deserved to be nurtured rather than attacked. Cheesily, the strap-line employed then – and still to this day – is the idealistic ‘a new view on music’, to showcase distaste at how the British music-media had become narrow-minded, scene-dominated and cynical; TL and a growing team of writers wanted to form a more global-reaching, open-minded, constructive critique of music-writing.

BLOODY AWFUL POETRY

Bloody Awful Poetry is neither bloody nor awful. But there is poetry, mostly awful. And lots of music which is distinctly non-awful. In fact the music is rather great.
Quite possibly the best music promotors on the London scene at the moment, the list of band they've pronoted reads like a who's who of the music industry. We are proud to have Bloody Awful Poetry putting a night on at Winchester Live.
http://www.myspace.com/bloodyawfulpoetryclub

BLISSFIELDS

Blissfields is an annual music festival set just outside Winchester, run by Paul and Mel Bliss. Founded in 2001 at Bradley Farm, Bradley, near Alresford, the festival was scheduled to move to the Matterley Bowl near Winchester in 2008, but was unfortunately cancelled.
The first Blissfields event was in 2001 when Paul and Mel Bliss invited a few bands to play at Bradley Farm. Starting with just approximately 70 attendees, Blissfields was held again in subsequent years as a free festival, slowly increasing in size. In 2005, due to increased numbers and licence demands, a camping charge was levied. In subsequent years the festival has had to charge to provide the increased expectations of the attendeess and local councils. In 2007, Scouting for Girls headlined the mainstage, and a second stage (in a double decker bus!) was added to champion local acts, which has always been important to the organisers, as well as supporting charirities through fundraising and awarness. 2007 also saw Blissfields named as the Best Small Festival at the UK Festival Awards.
Blissfields is a local institution, and a planned comeback in 2009 will hopefully lay to rest the ghosts of 2008.
http://www.blissfields.co.uk

WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT

When The Lights Go Out Promotions started as just a one off acoustic night getting friends and musicians from around the country together to play music at a small London venue.....with a packed out room and the acts ready to perform, the power cut out and the crowd and ourselves we're left bewildered...... The performers decided to carry on with the show and perform under candle light and completely unplugged (Hence how we came up with the name "When The Lights Go Out")
We promote music with the sole purpose of finding new and exciting bands from around the country and placing them on a line up of varied genre whether it be acoustic, rock, folk or electro.
'WTLGO' have run nights since 2006 in London/Southampton/Winchester with acts such as 'Hijak Oscar, James Yuill, Josh Weller, Revere, Gabby Young, Sound of Bailey, Thee Single Spy andmany more all gracing our stages.
http://www.myspace.com/whenthelightsgoout24

MINE HOST

Mine Host Promotions, run by Hadley Keenan, are a music promotion company in Winchester, Hampshire, with a fast growing band roster and fanbase! They promote live bands spanning everything from indie right through to metal.
http://www.myspace.com/minehostpromotions
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