Gourmet gigs

01/09/2026

It's sad but autumn is on its way, or already here depending on how you view the seasons... But all is not lost! Autumn and winter festivals beckon... so here are some goodies to see you through the colder months...

The tent may be packed away but fes­ti­vals are car­ry­ing on at venues around the coun­try through­out autumn and win­ter. From all-day­ers to week­enders, from city events embrac­ing a mul­ti­tude of grass­roots venues, to small, spe­cialised gath­er­ings in pubs up and down the la...

11/08/2026

If you're looking for a day or a weekend at a gentle family folk (ish) festival, check out lovely Found festival. It's the successor to Towersey Festival that ran for over 50 years. There are a few tickets remaining, either for one day or for the whole 3 days.

If you loved Tow­ersey fes­ti­val, you’ll want to find Found Back in 2012, a friend intro­duced me to Tow­ersey fes­ti­val. The event was a huge and essen­tial part of her fam­i­ly’s life; every year they would descend on the Tow­ersey vil­lage site with an army of rel­a­tives and...

05/08/2026

As if it wasn't upsetting enough to lose Bluedot Festival, now we're going to lose Jodrell Bank. The government's approach to this magnificent beacon of education and science that stands proudly in fields in Cheshire is short-sighted beyond belief. Closing it is not an option. Here's a few photos of brilliant Bluedot, not just fantastic for music but also as a window into the world of science and space, inspiring adults and children alike. Please sign one of the campaigns currently running to save Jodrell Bank. And while we're on the subject.... BRING BACK BLUEDOT!!!

29/07/2026

This year's Kaleidoscope was their most successful yet... Rudimental, Black Grape, Roni Size and a secret set advertised old-school rave style in the Victorian Basements (it was Utah Saints!)...

Kalei­do­scope Fes­ti­val Alexan­dra Palace, now in its 6th year, has become some­thing of a local sum­mer insti­tu­tion, espe­cial­ly with fam­i­lies. Could a day fes­ti­val ever be in a bet­ter loca­tion? Well done to the Vic­to­ri­ans for build­ing the palace and cre­at­ing...

29/07/2026

We did say there were two news items. And the second one is a new Tottenham, north London custom-built venue called radial (yes, it's lower-case R).... to open September 5th.

When it comes to our grass­roots music venues, the news is usu­al­ly gloom cen­tral. So it gives me great plea­sure to report that a brand new venue is to open in Tot­ten­ham, north Lon­don, on 5th Sep­tem­ber. The new venue is called radi­al and is designed to serve the arts, music and c...

29/07/2026

Usually news about music venues is something to dread. But we've got two pieces of positivity going on this week. Firstly is the Music Venue Trust who have just bought their TENTH venue. And Fatboy Slim is involved... no prizes for guessing where it is... Read about it here

Nor­man Cook aka Fat­boy Slim has invest­ed in “The Nation­al Trust for Music Venues” and has called on artists and music fans to back the future of grass­roots music. He has bought The Pipeline in Brighton and this land­mark acqui­si­tion marks a major mile­stone for the Own Our Venues...

18/06/2026

Alone Together is a live music project, happening at Rich Mix in London on 27th June, designed to bring people together and forge friendships. To find out more, check out the post below...

As con­cerns around lone­li­ness, dig­i­tal fatigue and the decline of shared social spaces con­tin­ue to grow, elec­tron­ic music artist and researcher Jamie Red­ding­ton (Sound of Frac­tures) is explor­ing a sim­ple ques­tion: can live music events be bet­ter  designed for human c...

18/06/2026

Sunday at Bearded Theory.. with Wildhearts, Lynks, Twilight Sad, Garbage, GANS, basht. and lots more....

It’s a tra­di­tion: The Bar-Stew­ard Sons of Val Doon­i­can must com­mence Sun­day’s pro­ceed­ings. This year not one, but two boats sailed out across the crowds. There was lots to get excit­ed about: GANS and Basht. on the Wood­land Stage for instance. Also Lynks, The Wild­hearts, G...

18/06/2026

Bearded Theory on Saturday with Pixies, Heartworms, CMAT, Kate Nash and more was amazing!

Sat­ur­day with the Pale Whites, Lit­tle Grandad, T***s and The May­tals feat Leba Hib­bert, Opus Kink, Idlewild, Bad Nerves, Kate Nash and Heart­worms. To round off the day – CMAT and Pixies!

20/05/2026

How amazing were A Certain Ratio at The Garage last night, sounding absolutely fantastic. And if you're heading to Bearded Theory check out their set tomorrow