May 2010
PUB rock, rockabilly, seventies disco, rock n roll, soul, blues, Merseybeat, big band, choirs, salsa and a few tunes from Robin Hood’s local disco...
And it’s all free.
From lunchtime tomorrow until tea-time on Monday, the city plays host to dozens of musicians, playing music dating back to the forties.
From the Old Market Square to Trinity Square, the Robin Hood statue and St Peter’s Square, you’ll be able to see the likes of The Animals, Boney M, The Real Thing, Dr Feelgood and Amen Corner.
They’re the names you might know, the ones responsible for hits such as House Of The Rising Sun, You To Me Are Everything, Rivers Of Babylon, Milk And Alcohol, Bend Me Shape Me, We Gotta Get Out Of This Place, Can You Feel The Force?, Daddy Cool and Brown Girl In The Ring.
And hits are important says City Pulse band booker Tony Sherwood.
“The trick is, don’t try and educate people. Give them what they want. And what they want is good old rock ‘n’ roll and sixties music.
“If you go to any party, you can play all the new stuff but what gets people up on the floor dancing is stuff they know. And what they know best is sixties and rock n roll.”
Probably the biggest name of the weekend is The Animals. They were the second British band to top the American charts after The Beatles, with Bob Dylan’s House of the Rising Sun.
John Steel, who founded the band with original vocalist Eric Burdon, will be joined by former members of The Blockheads, Paul McCartney’s band, the Boomtown Rats and Wayne Fontana's Mindbenders.
Their special guest is Chris Farlowe, who had hits with Out Of Time and Handbags and Gladrags. Farlowe replaced Spencer Davis, who is undergoing hospital treatment.
Says Tony: “It’s a personal highlight. The guy has got a phenomenal voice.”
He adds: “And the idea of putting The Amen Corner with Steve Ellis from The Love Affair, Cliff Bennett of the Rebel Rousers and Chip Hawkes of The Tremeloes... that will be a very good afternoon’s entertainment.”
Tony will also host a Rock 'n' Roll Afternoon tomorrow featuring original Six-Five Special star Wee Willie Harris.
“He got the most tremendous amount of television in those days. And although he never had a major hit record he’s stayed in the business all this time.
“As a performer he’s so over the top, he’s manic.”
Two bands who enjoyed success in the eighties with a brief rockabilly revival, will follow Harris: The Jets had hits with Yes Tonight Josephine and Love Makes The World Go Round, while Matchbox notched up Buzz Buzz A Diddle It, Rockabilly Rebel and Midnight Dynamos, at a time when the rest of youth culture was consumed by punk and new wave.
Tony will be compering and plans to be dressed for the part. As a Teddy Boy?
“No,” he laughs.
“They need to be tall and thin to look the part. I won’t be in drapes because they’d bury me.”
After Tony, Smooth Radio’s Tim Gough takes control presenting two chart-topping seventies groups, The Real Thing and Boney M.
Sunday is a day of stark contrasts with gritty pub-rockers Dr Feelgood, British blues band Paul Lamb and The King Snakes and retro rockabilly pin-up Imelda May in the afternoon. May, a hit at last summer’s Splendour Festival, is probably the youngest artist on the bill but has broad appeal.
By 7pm, there’ll be a step back in to the forties for big band favourites from Todd Miller and the Joe Loss Orchestra. But with a twist. They’re not averse to breaking in to dancing Queen or The Locomotion, which last year triggered a conga through the Square.
Says Tony: “That was the big surprise last year, the one that got people bopping in the Square. So much so that they were immediately invited back.”
Local talent is well represented on Monday over at Trinity Square when Arboretum Records presents the likes of Captain Dangerous (another hit at last year’s Splendour on the EG stage), Will Jeffery, Jay Thomas, Yunioshi and others.
The Ballroom Marquee by the Robin Hood statue will host tango and salsa demonstrations, big band performances and choirs, while St Peter’s Square has, among other events, medieval street music.
Says Tony: “There is something for everybody and best of all it’s free.”
City Pulse Diary
Saturday
Old Market Square
12.30pm Glen Darren and the Krew Kats
1.45pm Wee Willie Harris
3.15pm The Jets
5.30pm Matchbox
7.15pm The Real Thing
8.45pm Boney M
Ballroom Marquee
12.30pm Tango sessions and dance workshops
3pm Salsa sessions
St Peter’s Square
12.15pm - 4.30pm Medieval Day
11am - 12pm Les Melomanes
Trinity Square
1pm - 4.30pm street music
Sunday
Old Market Square
12.30pm Paul Lamb and the King Snakes
8.45pm Dr Feelgood
4.30pm Imelda May
7pm Todd Miller presents the Joe Loss Orchestra tunes
Ballroom Marquee
12.30pm The Ockbrook Big Band
3pm Mood Indigo
12.30pm-5pm dance workshops with Nottingham Swing Society's 'Happy Feet'.
St Peter’s Square
12noon - 4.30pm street music
Trinity Square
1pm - 4.30pm street music
Monday
Old Market Square
12.30pm The Fab4
2pm The New Amen Corner
4.45pm Animals and Friends
Ballroom Marquee
1pm-5pm Music for Everyone presents East of England Singers, Youth Voices and Strings and Nottingham Jazz Combo
St Peter’s Square
1pm - 4pm Children's Festival Roadshow
Trinity Square
12noon - 6pm Arboretum Records presents Captain Dangerous, Maniere Des Bohemiens, Basement Forte, Will Jeffery, Sam Kirk, Captain Cor Blimey and the Governors, Jay Thomas, Yunioshi, Tim McDonald.
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