Oct 222010
 

With thanks to Andy Kite.

A fantastic opportunity to catch up with some of the best musical talent the city has to offer will take place this Saturday [23rd]  in venues across the town as part of the Oxjam Takeover music festival.

Oxjam is a UK wide event with festivals taking place in around 30 cities.

With 25 local bands performing across five city centre stages this Saturday, there has been a huge amount of preparation to get things ready for the Aberdeen gigs.

Andy Kite, Marketing Coordinator said;

“We’ve been working at getting the festival in place since May and there has been a great deal of planning to put it in place.  From arranging line-ups, venues, timings, promotion and fundraisers things have been very hectic but we’ve all enjoyed every minute.

“The bands have all been great and seem really keen to get involved so we are really confident of putting on a great event so we urge everyone to come along and have a great time.  We really want to contribute to the charity and raise as much money as possible while using the festival as a showcase of the talent we have in Aberdeen.”

An eclectic line-up ensures there is something for everyone.

Both rooms in the Tunnels will be used with performances from Weather Barn (formerly Cast of the Capital), Le Reno Amps, The Deportees, Turning 13, Marionettes, Cuddly Shark, Eric Euan, Duke, Carson Wells and Katerwaul.

The Blue Lamp will serve up a party atmosphere featuring The Lorelei, The Gerry Jablonski Band, The Oxbow Lake, Chris Carroll and Flora Cook.

For those looking for something more reserved and intimate Enigma will host an acoustic night with the vocal talents of Jo McCafferty supported by The Kitchen Cynics, Craig Davidson, Sarah J Stanley and The Scandal Extracts.

Finally there will be a night of rock and roll on display at Cafe Drummonds with The Wildcards, Kashmir Red, Energy!, Emerald Sunday and Talking Sideways.

Tickets cost £5 and allow unlimited access to all stages and can be bought at One Up and www.wegottickets.com as well as on the door of each venue on the evening.  Doors open at 7pm with the first acts taking the stage around 7.30pm and there is an aftershow party at the Tunnels.  All money raised on the night is donated to Oxfam and contributes to Oxjam’s overall fundraising targets.

More about Oxjam nationwide –

Oxjam Takeover events take place on 23 & 24 October in the following locations:

Aberdeen, Bath, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Brecon, Brighton, Bristol, Canterbury, Cardiff, Coventry, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Guildford, Huddersfield, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, London (Brixton, Leadenhall Market, Brick Lane, Kilburn, Kingston), Manchester, Neath, Newcastle, Nottingham, Sheffield, Southampton, Stirling, Stoke-on-Trent and Wiltshire.

  • More than 600 Oxfam shops across the country sell second-hand music – double the total number of independent record shops in the UK.
  • Oxfam shops sell around £6 million of music every year, which equates to around 1.8 million CDs and records every year, all donated by the British public. The largest single donation was of 4,000 vinyl albums to an Oxfam shop in Devon in 2008.
  • Oxfam has been one of the lead charities at Glastonbury since 1993, raising £2.7 million through stewarding the festival and signing up more than 400,000 people in support of its campaigns at the festival. Oxfam works at seventeen music festivals across the summer, stewarding, campaigning and selling festival fashion.
Oct 222010
 

We used to have a festival in Aberdeen in October, seems now we have two! See below for info and links re. sound and Oxjam … and much more.

sound Festival

Ongoing until 14th Nov.

Offering more than 60 performances in over 20 venues across North East Scotland, the 6th sound Festival will run until Sunday 14 November.

“Collaboration has always been at the heart of sound,” says Fiona Robertson of sound. “as we work closely with music clubs and other organisations across the North East. Our opening events form part of a Scottish celebration of Minimalism in which we are delighted to partner Glasgow Concert Halls..”

sound is the North East of Scotland’s contemporary music festival. Following a pilot event, “Upbeat” in 2004, the first festival was launched in November 2005. sound is now an annual event, which aims to make contemporary music more accessible to audiences of all ages and backgrounds. As well as programming its own events, sound operates as an umbrella for a range of concerts, workshops, masterclasses and performances programmed by other organisations in the North East. Dame Evelyn Glennie, James MacMillan and Rohan de Saram are current Patrons of the festival.

For full details of the 2010 sound Festival and ticket information visit www.sound-scotland.co.uk and join sound on Facebook. sound events at a glance. http://www.sound-scotland.co.uk/site/2010/events.htm

Comedy

Sun 24th Oct.

8:00pm, Music Hall

JOHN BISHOP
£20+BF

Mon 25th Oct.

8.00pm, Music Hall

THE ARMSTRONG AND MILLER SHOW
£20+BF

Music

Fri 22nd Oct.

7.30pm, Lemon Tree

THE FAMILY MAHONE
£10+BF

7.30pm, The Tunnels

CHANTEL McGREGOR Plus Support
£7

7.45pm, Blue Lamp, Gallowgate

Celtic Society Public Ceilidh with Iron Broo Duo
Aberdeen University Student Association (AUSA) Celtic Society are holding a Ceilidh with the Iron Broo Duo of Fred Wilkinson (bouzouki) and Charlie Abel (accordion). All dances will be called, no experience is necessary.
The Ceilidh is being held in the legendary Blue Lamp, on the Gallowgate in Aberdeen – Surely the most famous Live music venue and finest pubs in Aberdeen. In case you’ve not been there before just look for the actual Blue lamp on the wall above the door. The entrance to the Ceilidh is through the revolving door to the right of the lamp up the hill.
There will be a raffle during the interval. Dancing will be from 7.45/8pm till midnight. The bar usually remains open till 2 if you are in need of some lubrication after the ceilidh.
The music will be lively.  www.ironbroo.co.uk

8.00pm, Café Drummond

WHOLE LOTTA LED ( Led Zeppelin Tribute )

8:00pm, The Moorings

DARTH ELVIS AND THE TATTOINE TRIO

Sat 23rd Oct.

7.00pm, OXJAM ABERDEEN TAKEOVER

– Music festival featuring the best local bands in Aberdeen at 5 city venues

Tunnels 1


Le Reno Amps, Turning 13, Cuddly Shark, Eric Euan & Duke.
Tunnels 2
Weather Barn (formerly Cast Of The Capital), Carson Wells, The Deportees, The Marionettes & Katerwaul.
Cafe Drummond
The Wildcards, Kashmir Red, Energy, Emerald Sunday & Talking Sideways.
Blue Lamp
The Lorelei, Gerry Jablonski Band, Oxbow Lake & Chris Carroll.
Enigma
Jo McCafferty, Kitchen Cynics, Craig Davidson, The Scandal Extracts & Sarah J Stanley.

Wristbands cost £5 and allow access to all of the venues across the whole night and also free entry to the aftershow party at Snafu. Tickets can be purchased at www.wegotickets.com, by contacting Oxjam Aberdeen and soon at selected outlets.

8.00pm, The Moorings

THE FIRE AND I, BROTHEL CORPSE TRIO (tbc), OBLIVION INCARNATE

9.30am, The Tilted Wig, Castlegate, Aberdeen

GUTTERGODZ, THE HUNGRY MONGRELS

11.00pm, The Tunnels

Rampage Rockclub
SATURDAYS IN ABERDEEN JUST GOT F**KING AWESOME!!
ABERDEEN NOW HAS A PREMIER SATURDAY ROCKCLUB.
http://www.facebook.com/rocknightaberdeen

Sun 24th Oct.

7.30pm, Lemon Tree

DAN LE SAC Vs SCROOPIUS PIP
£14.50+BF


8.00pm, Peacock Visual Arts.

PORT ROYAL, TEN, SUMISU-MI
£6

8.00pm, Carmelite Hotel, Stirling Street

Open Mic Session ( every Sunday. )

9.00pm, The Moorings

The Jam Factory ( every Sunday. )
Bands, acoustic musicians, jammers, poets etc. all welcome.

Mon 25th Oct.

7:00pm, Oxjam At The Arts Centre

FIONA SOE PAING

An evening of film and music in the Cafe Bar at Aberdeen Arts Centre. Featuring Fiona Soe Paing, London Indie Film Festival nominee for her unique combination of electronica and animation.
Supporting her will be Ross Whyte with his film FOG and Josh McGregor
We’re raising money for Oxjam, a month long music festival throughout the UK raising money and awareness for Oxfam GB! Tickets only £5, available from me or from http://www.wegottickets.com/oxjam/event/96678

http://www.oxfam.org.uk/Oxjam/Info/Event/OxjamArtsCentre

9.00pm, Blue Lamp

Traditional Acoustic Session. All welcome.

10.00pm, Café Drummond

Open Mic Night ( Every Monday )
Soloists, Poets, Musicians, Maniacs, and Full Bands Welcome.
( Full back line provided ) For more info, call 01224 619930

Tues 26th Oct.

7:30pm, Music Hall

THE DRIFTERS

Wed 27th Oct.

8.00pm, Café Drummond

YOUNG REBEL SET, FLAXMAN, Plus Support

Thurs 28th Oct.

7:30pm, Lemon Tree

MARTIN TAYLOR
£17.50+BF

8.00pm, Shelley Leighs

The Big Mic Up – Hosted by Dave Moir and Kenny McLeod


Get off the couch! come down to Shelley Leigh’s and hear the music, be part of the vibe, Come along folks to Dave and Kenny’s open mic night . If you like to play, or just to listen then be prepared for a night of great music at Aberdeens latest musical cultural venue.

Fri 29th Oct.

8.00pm, The Moorings

WHICH WAY NOW
www.myspace.com/whichwaynowrocks

8.00pm, Café Drummond

THE ANSWERING MACHINE, RAPIDS, Plus Support
£6

7.30pm, The Tunnels

THE DRAYMIN, THE VIPER LINES

Sat 30th Oct.

4.00pm, One Up (instore gig)

STEVEN MILNE

7:00pm, Snafu

LITTLE COMETS, Plus Support

7:30pm, Lemon Tree

THE COAL PORTERS
£12+BF

8.00pm, Café Drummond

AKA SKA

8.00pm, The Moorings

GOTHIC DORICS

8.00pm, Captain Tom’s
Cirque-de-Sinister Halloween Party

THE RUCKUS, BROTHERS REID, SMOKIN CATFISH, THE WETFLEX
£5

11.00pm, The Tunnels

Rampage Rockclub
SATURDAYS IN ABERDEEN JUST GOT F**KING AWESOME!!
ABERDEEN NOW HAS A PREMIER SATURDAY ROCKCLUB.
http://www.facebook.com/rocknightaberdeen

Oct 012010
 

By Andy Kite.

The Oxjam Music Festival is really hitting a note across Aberdeen.  With just over a month remaining till the big day, activities are starting to pick up with a view to raising funds and awareness for Oxfam.

Having already generated over £1,000 in the city through events such as a music quiz and a guitar hero tournament confidence is high for breaking targets in the run up to the festival, titled “The Takeover”.

Taking place on the 23rd of October, the festival will showcase some of the top artists from across the city with 25 bands performing across five stages.  Headlining The Tunnels will be Weather Barn and Le Reno Amps with both acts hugely popular with music fans in the north east.  The Wildcards and Kashmir Red will rock Cafe Drummonds while Jo McCafferty and The Kitchen Cynics will bring ambience to Enigma.  Finally, local favourites The Lorelei and Gerry Jablonski and his Electric Band will light up the Blue Lamp.

Oxjam Music Programmer Shawn Skinner declared “We are absolutely delighted with the quality of acts we have playing The Takeover and feel there is something for everyone.  We aimed to capture a cross section of the music scene in Aberdeen and believe we have that.  We’ve booked some local big hitters, renowned acoustic acts, blues and folk bands for a party atmosphere and encapsulated the spirit of rock and roll.  The best part is we can make a difference to people’s lives by listening to some of our favourite bands.  It’s incredible to think that around a billion people in the world don’t have access to clean water and while we can’t rectify this issue, we can certainly attempt to raise awareness and play our part in changing it.”

Tickets can be bought for £5 and provide unlimited access to each stage.  Hopes are high that each venue will be full to deliver a night to remember with every penny going to Oxfam with the money used to fight poverty and climate change.  A little money can go along way as, for instance, £429 is enough money to build a library and fill it with books and £720 can supply clean water for a village of 800 people.

At present the Aberdeen team at Oxjam have already raised enough funds for both of these initiatives.  Those attending The Takeover can also take part in “signing” a visual petition by having their pictures taken with the Oxfam “Fair Deal” handstamp with the photographs being put together in a collage and sent to world leaders.  Tickets for The Takeover can be bought at One Up on Belmont Street and at www.wegottickets.com.

Sep 172010
 

By Andy Kite.

Musicians in Aberdeen play their part in the UK’s biggest ever charity music festival

Local bands are set to take to the stage in support of Oxfam next month as part of Oxjam, the UK’s biggest music festival. On the 23rd of October, the Oxjam Takeover festival will see around 25 acts play across five stages in the city centre with all proceeds going to fight poverty around the world.

The show forms part of Oxjam’s Month of Music which runs through the whole of October. Oxjam is a festival with a difference.: Thousands of fundraising music events are put on by ordinary people – from large-scale festivals to local sponsored busks – making it the biggest line-up of any music festival in the UK.

Among the artists playing include Weather Barn, Le Reno Amps, Jo McCafferty, The Wildcards, Gerry Jablonski, The Deportees, The Kitchen Cynics and Turning Thirteen. For just £5, wristbands for the event can be purchased allowing access to any of the stages in The Tunnels, Cafe Drummonds, Enigma and The Blue Lamp.

Laura Darnell, regional manager for Oxjam Aberdeen, said:

“We’re really excited to be playing our part in making Aberdeen part of a month-long musical celebration right across the country. Even more importantly, this gig is all about showing that the best in local music can have a global impact too – for example, just £7 could feed a family, and £10 can buy five bags of seeds. So everyone who comes along can rest assured that as well as having a great time, they’ll be helping to change lives around the world too.”

During October, more than 950 venues, 2,000 volunteers, 6,000 bands and musicians and 135,000 audience members nationwide will enable Oxjam to raise £500,000 to help Oxfam fight poverty.

It’s exciting to think that anyone can get involved and every single gig will help to raise loads of money to change lives around the world

Since 2006, more than 36,000 musicians have played to an audience of over 750,000 people at almost 3,000 Oxjam events, raising in excess of £1.2 million to fight poverty around the world. Oxjam 2010 is expected to take the total past £1.5 million, enough to buy safe water for 1.6 million people, 750,000 bags of seeds or 60,000 goats.

From 27th to 30th September, a diverse range of the biggest names in music, including pop princess Diana Vickers, Razorlight frontman Johnny Borrell, and Britpop legends The Charlatans performed their most unusual shows to date – inside an Oxfam shop – as the official launch events for the Oxjam month of music.

Former X-Factor star Diana Vickers, who headlined the Oxfam shop show on 28th September, said:

“The best thing is that everyone who takes part – from singers like me to musicians, promoters and audience members – is the real star of Oxjam. It’s exciting to think that anyone can get involved and every single gig will help to raise loads of money to change lives around the world.”

Razorlight frontman Johnny Borrell, whose new band performed for Oxjam, said:

“Our gig is only the beginning of a movement of thousands of gigs, club nights and events right across the country, all raising money to fight poverty. ”

In the lead up to the festival, there will be a campaign night held at The Belmont Cinema on the 15th September between 6pm to 8pm. Campaigners from Oxfam along with representatives from the Aberdeen team will be present to answer questions and demonstrate what funds will be going towards.

To find out what Oxjam events are going on in Aberdeen and the full line-up for the Takeover festival visit www.oxfam.org.uk/oxjam. Tickets can be bought at www.wegottickets.com and donations made at www.justgiving.com/oxjamaberdeen.

Oxjam Takeover events take place on 23rd & 24th October in the following locations:

Aberdeen, Bath, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Brecon, Brighton, Bristol, Canterbury, Cardiff, Coventry, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Guildford, Huddersfield, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, London (Brixton, Leadenhall Market, Brick Lane, Kilburn, Kingston), Manchester, Neath, Newcastle, Nottingham, Sheffield, Southampton, Stirling, Stoke-on-Trent and Wiltshire.

  • More than 600 Oxfam shops across the country sell second-hand music – double the total number of independent record shops in the UK*.
  • Oxfam shops sell around £6 million of music every year, which equates to around 1.8 million CDs and records every year, all donated by the British public. The largest single donation was of 4,000 vinyl albums to an Oxfam shop in Devon in 2008.
  • Oxfam has been one of the lead charities at Glastonbury since 1993, raising £2.7 million through stewarding the festival and signing up more than 400,000 people in support of its campaigns at the festival. Oxfam works at seventeen music festivals across the summer, stewarding, campaigning and selling festival fashion.
Aug 202010
 

By Fred Wilkinson, with thanks to Andy Kite

Aberdeen music fans can look forward to a wealth of entertainment in October, whilst contributing towards efforts to tackle poverty.

Oxjam is a national event which hopes to raise money for Oxfam whose aim is to improve conditions for those living in poverty. It will take place at a number of venues in Aberdeen on the 23rd October. Continue reading »

Aug 202010
 

Wizard Festival – New Deer – Fri 27th & Sat 28th Aug.

The 4th Wizard Festival will take place at New Deer Showground in the heart of the Aberdeenshire countryside on 27th & 28th August 2010. It’s a family music festival with 4 stages, a dedicated children’s area, family camping, fairground rides, carefully selected food and craft stalls and a village shop. Come and join us for a weekend of festivities and great entertainment. Continue reading »