Tag Archives: Entertainment/Culture

Final Curtain Call for Charity Gig Artists

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Calling all musicians, bands and DJs! This is the final curtain call for all artists who want to play at Oxfam’s fund-raising gig in Bournemouth this October.
Today is the last day before artist applications for Oxjam Bournemouth have to be in.
Oxjam is a yearly festival made up of hundreds of events across the country that helps to raise cash for the charity, which tackles poverty around the world.
Since the first festival in 2006, over £1 million has been raised nationally by more than 36,000 artists playing to an audience in excess of 750,000 people.
Oxjam is coming to Bournemouth for first time this year and will showcase local talent throughout October. The grand finale will be on the 23rd, known as Takeover Day, when a one day festival will be held in 36 towns across the country, including multiple venues in Bournemouth town centre.
Tony Foster, Regional Manager for Oxjam in Bournemouth, said: “Anyone who wants to play or wants to get involved, can do.”
Artists wanting to apply should do so by tomorrow. However, the appeal for volunteers that want to work behind the scenes, in management and marketing, is ongoing. To apply and for further information contact Tony Foster by email at oxjambournemouth@googlemail.com.

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Not Your Everyday Rocker

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The guy sitting across from me looks every bit the identi-kit rock star, from his designer stubble to his need to wear his aviator shades indoors. However, he hides a dark secret. Not only is he a family man, but he also fronts a Christian rock band.

Dave Griffiths has provided the vocals and guitar to Bosh since he set up the band with his brother Mike when they were only 14 and 11 years of age respectively.

Their earliest release Excuse me, we’ve starting showed little to nothing of what they would be about in their modern incarnation.  An instrumental-only EP, it sounds like it was recorded in a tin boat. In fact by Dave’s own admission, “it was extremely low-fi and not in the cool way”.

The Bournemouth based band went though more line-up changes than an 80s metal band (see Ratt, for details) in their teenage years, but its current members have been together since 2004. This stability has allowed them to tour properly, gel as a unit and write the songs that would form their first full studio album Sound the Alarms.

The current line up is made up of the founding members Dave now aged 26 and Mike Griffiths as well as James Grant, Matt Gainsford, David Evans and Felix Page who they met though their local church which they still attend every Sunday.

I felt compelled to ask Dave the clichéd question about the bands that had influenced him, but was surprised when he answered: “Wilco, Foo Fighters and Them Crooked Vultures”.

I had expected him to list Christian acts such as Casting Crowns or even Cliff Richard.

This answer became odder still when he told me the reason they stood out above other Christian acts.

“We’re a British band and that really comes across in our music.”

Now, considering the influences he listed were solely American, bar John Paul Jones on Bass in Them Crooked Vultures, this strikes me as strange. And I also found myself struggling to come to terms with some of his other influences.

 “People often say we sound a lot like the Foo Fighters,” Dave keenly told me.

Was I hearing right? To me, The Foo Fighters’ music has always appeared to be about delivering interesting verses followed by loud anthem-riddled choruses.  Bosh’s tunes may be catchy, but this is a whole different ball park.            

Judging by the lyrics to Filth in/filth out and Police Helicopter from Sound the Alarms, the main concerns of Dave Griffiths seem to be that the modern media is destroying our souls. In short, this makes their album perhaps the happiest sounding prediction of the rapture to date.

Currently, the members of Bosh are gearing up for their first video shoot, set to take place in Bournemouth Square.

“The aim of the event is to get a flash mob together of 200 to 300 people who can all blow bubbles together at the same time in an effort to coat the square in a storm of bubbles,” Dave told me with a grin on his face.

The event is set to occur on Saturday, July 10th between 2pm and 3pm and the footage will be used for the debut music video for the song Touch Somebody.

The band will be looking for volunteers to help with the event and Dave ensured me that, “we have 500 bottles of bubbles and we will be handing them out to anyone who wants to get involved. Our music has always been about hope and I think this event will encapsulate that.”

The track Touch Somebody comes from Bosh’s EP The Gloaming Hour which was made from the tracks that didn’t make it to Sound the Alarms.

Dave got the idea for the event when he was playing with his two children in their garden. He hopes the event would break the world record.

However, it’s a tall order. The world record for the largest group of people blowing bubbles at the same time was set at a West Ham match in 1999 where they got 23,680 people involved.

With a facebook group currently rocking up with 70 members, a big push will be needed to achieve world-record status.

So anyone looking to get involved is encouraged to turn up on Saturday, July 10th and further details can be found at the event’s Facebook group or on the band’s website.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=127277060634550&ref=mf

http://www.boshmusic.com/

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Dane Bowers & Maxine Hardcastle To Appear At Glitzy Sandbanks Gig

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The billboard posters have only just gone up, but already more artists have been announced for Sandbanks Rocks and it looks like it’s going to be a B-List celebrity extravaganza.
Organisers, Mwah Events Management, have just informed Up to Speed News that Dane Bowers and Maxine Hardcastle have been added to the bill.
Dane Bowers, top-ten charting DJ who also appeared in Celebrity Big Brother earlier this year, will exclusively reveal his new single ‘All She Needs’ at the gig ahead of its release on 11th July.
DJ and musician Maxine Hardcastle, daughter of 80s pop star Paul Hardcastle, was splashed all over the tabloids last year after she was punched in the face by Playboy cover girl Louise Glover.
Calum Best, son of football legend George Best and model and TV presenter in his own right, is going to be MCing the party, held for the first time this year to kick off the British Beach Polo Championships on Poole’s platinum peninsula.
Further dance music will be provided by international stars Brandon Block, Fenton Gee, and Dance Aid’s own DJs Wayne Eldridge and Mete Alpsakarya. Live music will also be provided by Bournemouth’s own Big Trains Haymaker, whose funk music has been endorsed by 6 Music’s Craig Charles.
Tickets for the gig next Friday are £35, £70 if you want to watch the polo as well. For further information and to purchase tickets visit www.sandpolo.co.uk.

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‘The Distracted Preacher’ tours Hardy Country

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The New Hardy Players return with another play by Dorset’s most famous author and are performing it across the county.

Thomas Hardy’s ‘The Distracted Preacher’ is one of his lesser known short stories and a break from his more famous tragedies such as Far from the Madding Crowd and Tess of the D’Urbervilles, as it is a comedy.

Mr Andy Worth, Chairman of the New Hardy Players, insists the author was actually a humourous person, describing him as “impish”. “Though the film makers tend not to focus on that bit,” he added. In particular Mr Worth points to The Mayor of Casterbridge, which the Players portrayed in 2008, “there are pointers so you know when the humour is coming up. He wasn’t as maudlin as the academics claim.”

Not that the Players only have books, plays and films to base their opinion of Hardy on. Their patron, Mrs Norrie Woodhall, 104 years-old, is the last surviving member of the original Hardy Players, who were directed by the writer himself towards the end of his life. This allows the acting company to “try to get to the bone of it,” said Mr Worth, “the way we know it ought to be done.”

But this doesn’t mean the Players can’t take artistic licence with the story. The play’s director, Mr Tim Laycock, has also given the romantic tale of smuggling a musical twist, drawing on his own background as a folk singer.

However, there is a sad story underlying the production. ‘The Distracted Preacher’ was adapted to theatre by the late Mr Ray Sargent, a musician and performer originally from Poole, who died in 2008. “It is a tribute to Ray,” said Mr Worth.”But what we wanted to leave some time,” he added, and this year Mr Laycock said he wanted to do the story, which was “the right moment”.

The New Hardy Players were formed in 2005 and have performed versions of Return of the Native, Under the Greenwood Tree and The Mayor of Casterbridge . Much of the money they raise goes to charity. They’ve collected £15,765 over the years for the local Weldmar Hospicecare Trust. In April, they made national news when they helped the Dorset County Museum raise more than £50,000 to buy back original manuscripts of Hardy’s stage adaptations.

‘The Distracted Preacher’ is performed outdoors and kicked off in Bridport last week, though the end was spoiled by rain. Forthcoming dates are at Corfe Castle on the 20th June, Dorchester Borough Gardens on 27th and Lulworth Cove green on 2nd July. The Dorchester event will be free, but with a bucket collection. For all other dates, tickets are £7 for all other dates. For more information about the event and how to buy tickets, click here.

The Players will also be performing The Mayor of Casterbridge at The Lighthouse in Poole on the 23rd July and at the United Church in Dorchester as part of the Hardy Festival on 25th July .

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Bournemouth Bubble Bath

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Volunteers are needed for a bubble-blowing event set to take place in Bournemouth Square.

The aim of the event is to get a flash mob together of 200 to 300 people who can all blow bubbles together at the same time in an effort to coat the square in a storm of bubbles.

The event is set to occur on Saturday, July 10th between 2pm and 3pm and the footage will be used for the debut music video for Bosh’s song “Touch Somebody”.

“We have 500 bottles of bubbles and we will be handing them out to anyone who wants to get involved,” said Dave Griffiths, lead singer of Bosh.

“Our music has always been about hope and I think this event will encapsulate that.”

The track “Touch Somebody” comes from Bosh’s EP “The Gloaming Hour” which preceded their first full studio album “Sound the Alarms” released in 2008.

The world record for the largest group of people blowing bubbles at the same time was done at a West Ham match in 1999 were they got 23,680 people involved.

Anyone looking to get involved is encouraged to turn up on Saturday, July 10th and further details can be found at the events facebook group or on the band’s website.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/event.php?eid=127277060634550&ref=mf

http://www.boshmusic.com/

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Hope FM Live Event Set To Rock The Square

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Whatever you are doing on Saturday 22nd May, you may want to cancel it as it may not be as good as the Hope Fm Live Event.

From 11am to 6pm the Hope Fm van will be parked in Bournemouth Square and provide the platform for  DJs Alan Turner-Ward, Emma-Kate Rickard and Paul Woodward to host a variety of acts sure to send the crowd into a frenzy.

The acts on show will range from the Pure Funk street dancers to Bournemouth’s very own Bosh who will be headlining the event.

The event should also prove popular with families with activities such as face painting and Caledonian dancing being on offer as well as performances from the Bournemouth Community Choir, Tom Whitman and Djembi.

There will also be an opportunity for the crowd to improve there fitness as well when the Total Body fitness troop demonstrate how to best improve you quads and biceps.

Emma-Kate Rickard said: “It is a great opportunity to have fun and see some awesome bands.”

The event marks the community radio station’s 3rd Birthday.

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A Circus Star Who’s Dreaming Of A*s

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Not many teenagers would be able to juggle their school and social life with touring in a show, but Charlotte and Jodi Minney-Miller are quickly becoming rising stars of  their father’s Dorset- based circus.

Under her stage name “Miss Charlotte”, 16, goes to dizzying heights to thrill audiences on the Silver Thread, while with her sister, 13 year old “Miss Jodi”, twirls her way into the public’s hearts on the Ariel Hoop. They are perhaps two of the youngest circus artists in the UK, but despite their age, there will be no clowning around when these pint-sized performers take to the stage.

This year, Charlotte will also be coaching herself for a different kind of performance. In June, she will be taking 14 GCSEs.  She has been studying at Queen Elizabeth’s School in Wimborne, and stays in touch online while she is on the road. Up to Speed will be catching up with the busy youngster next week.

Leading the line up for this year’s show will be Miss Natalie Verhaegen, one of the few Lady Ringmasters in the world. Amongst a variety of new and energetic acts are some classic favourites, including side-splitting sketches by Peppi the clown.

Renowned for its annually changing line-up of artists, J.Millers Circus will begin its 36 week tour of the UK this week. Starting in Lymington, the circus will be coming to Verwood on Tuesday 23rd March for 6 days of performances.

For more information or to book tickets, please call the Box Office on 0797655180

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