DECO. Photo Credit: unknown
The Olympics may be kicking off this week over in Brazil, but if there was a musical Olympics, I am pretty damn certain that Nottingham would win the whole thing! This week there’s a three day long showcase of new talent at The Bodega, Waterfront Festival at The Canalhouse and a ‘Melodica Festival’ at Rough Trade / Jam Cafe.
THURSDAY, FRIDAY & SATURDAY
There’s a lot happening at The Bodega this week… Get it?.. cos it’s ‘Happening at The Bodega’? Yeah, anyway… They’ve got together some of their favourite acts across three nights to celebrate all the upcoming talent that has blessed the people of Nottingham.
Everything kicks off on Thursday night, with a whole host of Nottingham acts taking to the stage. Groovacious Space Rockers, SUNSET NEBULA, will send you into an outer-worldly experience with their celestial sound (have you noticed that they like space?). JAMIE MOON will be pulling at every heart string on Pelham Street with his beautiful Acoustic Folk. His latest EP ‘Oh, My Heart’ came out back in February and it is definitely a tearjerker. You can also catch JOSEPH KNIGHT on Friday night. He released his debut EP in June and is already on a mission to release even more music. Maybe we’ll be hearing some new songs? And finally, BILLIE will be enchanting the crowd with her ethereal, soaring vocal and story-telling lyrics.
After a jam-packed set at Y Not festival last week, DECO will be showcasing their Indie Pop to the Bodega crowd on Friday night. Electro-Pop duo PRYSM will be playing. Let’s hope they play their summery single ‘Brazil’ – as it couldn’t be more appropriate. After an incredible set at Splendour, JONNY OLLEY will be showing the Bodega what he’s got – some killer riffs and cheeky, clever lyrics. And finally, JIMI MACK will be bringing a touch of folk with his soulful Irish roots.
Saturday sees Indie Pop five-piece ASHFIELDS take to the Bodega stage, which must be starting to feel like their second home. Make sure you keep an eye out for their glitter-filled Future Session, it’s definitely not one to miss. The super talented ROB GREEN will also be performing. With a unique voice, amazing songwriting skills and a whole load of charisma, Rob puts on one hell of a show. Finally, HOLLY TAYLOR-GAMBLE will be bringing her unique, beautiful vocal to create a unique soundscape.
The Bodega
11th-13th August
Tickets: £5 for one day, £10 for weekend
SATURDAY
The annual Nottingham Waterfront Festival is kicking off at the Canalhouse on Saturday and bringing acts from every inch of our beautiful county. There’s three stages, each with countless Nottingham acts playing. And it gets even better, the event is all for charity. The Nottingham Waterfront Festival have chosen three charities to raise money for this year – The Wolfson Cystic Fibrosis Centre, The John Eastwood Hospice Trust and Brake.
LeftLion are hosting the upstairs stage at this year’s festival and are bringing along some incredible Nottingham artists. Headlining the event are APRIL TOWERS, the Electro-Pop duo who have received tons of love from Fifa players across the globe. You can catch UoN lads TUSK filling the room with their powerful, unique Indie Rock. Check out their Future Session HERE. Girl power duo YOU WANT FOX will be performing their glamorously grungey Garage Rock with a killer beat perfect for some serious strutting. Plus plenty more lovely Notts humans.
Gigantic Tickets are hosting the downstairs stage, which will be opened by SUPER FURNITURE. They’re getting good at the whole opening festivals malarkey aren’t they? The huge ska/jazz/rock seven-piece CHESHIRE AND THE CAT will follow, bringing enough energy to fuel all the cat sanctuaries across the county. Another cat-related band, CATBONE, will be playing the Gigantic Stage bringing even more energy to those poor cat sanctuaries. Sadly, no more cat themed bands play this stage, but plenty more amazing artists do.
Under The Tree are hosting the outdoor stage on Saturday, which will be headlined by THREE GIRL RHUMBA. They’re sure to get the crowd Rhumba-ing away (or just regular awkward dancing). Perfect for a bit of sun, THE GOLDEN TROUBADOURS will be bringing their dreamy laid-back Alt-Country. LIA WHITE is becoming a bit of a YouTube sensation with over 50,000 views on her channel. Her soulful vocal and acoustic guitar create a perfect mix for some laid-back summer songs.
Full lineup – HERE.
The Canalhouse
Saturday 13th August
Doors: 1pm
Tickets: £10.50
No Under 18s after 7pm
SATURDAY and SUNDAY
Melodica Festival is taking over both Rough Trade and Jam Cafe this weekend, and it’s set to be a proper unique collection of musical musings.
Even though the point of this fest is to bring musicians from around the world together, they’ve still get a stellar lineup of local folk on the bill. We’ll talk about them, and if you’re interested in the eclectic international mixed bag of other acts, ya can check out the event page HERE.
So, Rough Trade – SPACESHIPS ARE COOL will kick off the local loving, with their… well, rather spacey tunes. Falling somewhere between Folk and Electronica, these guys will intrigue your ears and have ya feeling all happy inside. Awh. KETO are up next with their stunning Lo-Fi Folk. Vocalist Leah has a voice that will hypnotize your ears into a state of pure ecstasy, and believe us when we say – you won’t want their set to end. 94 GUNSHIPS pick up the pace a bit with their foot-stomping Blues. They’re rate good at getting a group sing along going, so get your vocal chords in tune now! Finally, WE SHOW UP ON RADAR will take to the stage. WSUOR has been described by Radio 1’s Huw Stephens as “a thing of beauty”, and he’s not wrong. The vocals, the melodies, the songwriting, they’re all rather beautiful.
And as for the Jam Cafe Sunday lineup… it hasn’t been revealed yet. BUT, we’re sure it will be ace. So keep an eye on the FB event HERE, and get ready for a weekend of awesomeness.
Rough Trade / Jam Cafe
Saturday 13th / Sunday 14th August
Doors: Varied
Tickets: Entry by donation
Yours in Love of New Music,
Katie Beard x
