After visiting Wildlife Festival’s incredible opening weekend last year, we were unsure how 2016 would compare but we were definitely not disappointed - Disclosure and Rudimental sure know how to throw a party.
We’d seen pictures earlier in the day of Wildlife’s sister festival in Manchester, Parklike, which showed people swamped in mud, carrying umbrella’s and rain mac’s so we were a bit nervous as to how the weather would hold out in Brighton... Luckily the sun shone brightly over the coastal venue and we were even treated to a beeaaaaaut sunset behind the Main Stage during Annie Mac’s set.
This year’s line-up included some of the biggest names in Urban and Dance music plus some of the best upcoming artists too. Flume was a definite highlight of the weekend, filling the Big Top tent with festival fans. ‘Never Be Like You’ is one of those tracks that captures the whole audience and we’re certain is gonna be looked back on as one of the songs of Summer 2016.
Other artists we feel need a shoutout were Busta Rhymes, who reminded the crowd of how many massive tunes he’d released in the past, David Rodigan, who literally had the whole crowd bouncing for over an hour, and My Nu Leng, who filled the Supercharged Tent with more people than we saw in there for the rest of the weekend.
Closing the Saturday off nicely were Disclosure. 2 nice guys who can create amazing songs AND entertain a crowd. The crowd felt mesmerised watching them from start to finish and had everyone dancing away for a surprise 20 minute Techno part to their set half way through. Rudimental headlined on Sunday and gave everyone the best, most energetic end to the Wildlife weekend. Feel The Love summed the whole 2 days up.
Wildlife Festival, you were great and an incredible start to our festival season. See you next year…
It’s about that time of the year when all rock, metal and indie fanatics descend upon one of the most iconic cultural hubs in London for the mighty Camden Rocks Festival.
Engulfing the entirety of Camden, from pubs to bars to some of the more notable music venues, the streets are alive with the sound of music. One of the best things about Camden Rocks is that the day is really what you make of it, with over 100 bands on the bill you’re never short of talent to catch.
That being said, we headed down to Camden Barfly at midday for our first stop to see Welsh metalcore titans Continents. Considering it was the first show of the day, there was quite a hubbub in the room of people eagerly awaiting Continents set. Without further ado and with fire in their bellies, the quartet delved straight into it spewing out some of hits from their latest record ‘Reprisal’ such as ‘Life Of Misery’ and ‘Drowned In Hate’ while raising the temperature with ‘Pegasus Pegasus’ and ‘Idle Hands’. Towards the end of the set frontman Phil Cross dove into the crowd onto a sea of bodies before retiring into the crowd expressing a moment of pure and raw exuberance of emotions.
Taking a trip down the road to Proud Camden, next we caught East Londoners Chasing Cadence. Full of excitable energy, the band bounded across the stage and into the crowd delivering infectious pop-rock sensibilities. They certainly had a lot to give and plenty of fresh enthusiasm with their lead singer swerving between clean and harsher vocals. This definitely isn’t the last you’ve heard of Chasing Cadence.
With a quick dart back over to Barfly to catch a highly anticipated set from new metalcore revellers Counting Days who released their killer debut ‘Liberated Sounds’ at the end of 2015. Despite a minor delay in the set start time, the lads wasted no time at all delving into some of the more anthemic tracks from the album such as ‘Die Alone’ and ‘Liberated Sounds’. The excitable crowd didn’t need telling twice with a formation of a whirlwind enveloping the entire space with flying bodies simultaneously consuming the pit. Though a short but sweet set, it left us wanting a whole lot more - seriously Counting Days are ones to watch!
Taking a trek through the buzzing hoards of punters on the high street, we made it to The Underworld in time to catch French tech metal duo, The Algorithm. With the room packed wall to wall and excitement rife in the air, the pair were welcomed with thunderous applause. Without further ado, The Algorithm dove straight into it as the bass reverberated through the floor until it travelled its way through your entire body. With a cacophony of sound and the combination of blue and purple hues intermittently pulsating through the room, the sensory overload was all-consuming. You couldn’t help but be mesmerised by the beauty of this art that they have managed to conjure within their craft.
Having been blown away by the awesomeness of The Algorithm, we definitely needed to take the intensity right down and what better way than with Youth Club. Having heard so many good things about the band, we were super keen to check them out and made our way down to the quieter end of Camden to Be At One. Now if you’ve ever been to Be At One in Camden for a cheeky cocktail or two, you’ll know it’s quite a cosy little bar, but to have a full stage set up with an audience is a whole new kettle of fish. That aside and with about 30 excitable bodies pressed shoulder to shoulder, all the consideration of space went out the window as soon as Youth Club hit the stage. With their tropical sounds circulating through the air, all cares were tossed aside as the room turned into one vibrant dancefloor. Popular tracks such as ‘People’ and ‘She’s A Dancer’ definitely had you moving and grooving. With Youth Club there’s no shortage of soul seeping through their every pore, it’s very clear where they get their musical inspiration from. As the set ended you were left wanting so much more, we’ll definitely need to head down to a headline show or two.
Now with full composure regained it was time to make a move and see the artists formerly known as Baby Godzilla - Heck, for what was sure to be pure and utter carnage back at The Underworld. If you’ve never seen Heck live before, you can guarantee that you’ll at least have heard of their explosive performances. Ten minutes into their set, frontman Jonny Hall literally takes dancing on the ceiling to a whole level as he clambers up a pole while hanging upside down. Leaving no stone unturned, members of Heck can be found at the front, back, on top of the crowd or in amongst with mic stand in tow, so if you blink you might just miss the whirlwind. Regardless of where the band are positioned on the stage/room, their chaotic energy is infectious and permeates through the room and every single body. Announcing that this was the first of two sets tonight, Lord knows how it went down at the Monarch later that evening but you can be sure it would’ve been an intimately unforgettable experience. Sometimes there aren’t enough words to describe a show and no truer word can be said with Heck who just leave you completely and utterly speechless and thinking “What the hell just happened?”.
As the festival’s end slowly crept up on us, we headed down to The Monarch to catch Essex lads Forever Never. Led by charismatic frontman Rene Carroll at the helm, the band wasted no time in raising the energy levels to 100 by pumping the crowd full of life. With plenty of emphatic choruses, crowd participation was in full swing with lashings of woah-oh-oh’s to get involved in especially with a cheeky cover of John Farnham’s ‘You’re The Voice’ sending the crowd into overdrive. Ending on a pure high, the band finished off their high-octane set with latest single ‘One Life’.
Next up, LA based punk rockers Queen Kwong fronted by powerhouse vocalist Carré Callaway and featuring Limp Bizkit’s Wes Borland. Having seen them perform at Reading festival the previous year, Queen Kwong were a definite must watch. With the room packed wall to wall, the entirety of Dingwalls stared in awe and amazement while the raw energy seeped through the band’s grunge sensibilities and totally consuming the room. Callaway is simply mesmerising to watch as she bares while getting completely lost in the moment as every single sentiment is felt. Performing tracks off their stunning debut ‘Get A Witness’ you couldn’t help but feel you were witnessing something truly spectacular.
With a fine selection of bands to choose from to close out this years Camden Rocks, we ventured with Young Guns. Having been away for what feels like forever this felt like a homecoming. As anticipated, adoring fans eagerly awaited their delayed arrival with booming chants of “We want Young Guns” echoing through the room. With lights down, the band emerged from the behind the curtain and met with a wall of screams. Without further ado, Young Guns delved into their back catalogue playing hits such as ‘Winter Kiss’, ‘Bones’ and ‘Rising Up’. The entire room threw themselves into the the energy radiating off the band who faces were filled with pure delight at the emphatic response. Word for word lyrics were sung back to frontman Gustav Wood as he lunged into the crowd. Dropping their latest single ‘Bulletproof’ off their forthcoming album went down an absolute treat. The album, due in Autumn after their return from the iconic Warped Tour in the US, and if ‘Bulletproof’ is anything to go by we’re super stoked for what is to come from Young Guns. Ever the evolving band, it was incredibly endearing to see how far Young Guns have come and were the perfect end to what had been a spectacular day.
With no voice left and a bunch of incredibles sets witnessed, one of the best things about about Camden Rocks Festival is that no two people leave with the same experience but instead have their own version of events that they will treasure as valuable memories for years to come. Bring on next year!
Keep your eyes peeled for our Camden Rocks photo sets coming soon!
Having just released their latest single ‘Dig Me Up’, we had a chat with Barcelona’s answer to Young Guns, Lancaster about inspiration, touring, new sounds.
The current release of ‘Dig Me Up’ demonstrates a more mature sound and feels as though you’ve really honed in on your definitive sound. Are there any particular musical influences/references which have fed into this?
Yes, for this new music we've been listening to bands like Bring Me The Horizon, Pvris, but also artists like Justin Bieber, Halsey and Twenty One Pilots.
What’s the rock scene like in Spain?
The Spanish rock scene is not in its best shape right now. We do try to help each other, but Spanish people just don't go to gigs that much.
You recently came back from your UK/Spanish headliner, how was it? Any particular highlights?
It was really cool! We played better venues than last time and met some amazing people. And this UK tour was fun, we met some people at our gig in Edinburgh and ended up going out with them and spending the petrol money. Definitely a tough morning after!
In the past you’ve supported the likes of Lower Than Atlantis and All Time Low. Are there what other bands would you love to support and tick off your bucket list?
Yes of course, there are lots! But I'd say Don Broco and Twenty One Pilots. That would be fun!
What does the rest of the year hold for Lancaster?
We are working on new music now but we're not planing on releasing it yet.
Last month the band released their awesome video for ‘Dig Me Up’, go follow Lancaster to keep up for the latest news!
For fans of: You Me At Six, Mallory Knox and Young Guns
Barclaycard presents British Summer Time Hyde Park
We hope you’re all as excited as we are because Barclaycard: British Summertime is BACK for 2016 with another amazing group of artists lined up to take to the stage at Hyde Park.
If you loved the past three years as much as we did then you’ll definitely be excited for this fourth year with 2 weekends full of live music, food, comedy and midweek fun all to enjoy in Hyde Park!
“The 2016 line up includes Massive Attack headlining the first night on the 1st July, Florence + The Machine as the headliner for the 2nd July along with Carole King who will perform a headlining set on 3rd July. The following weekend will see Mumford and Sons playing us out as a headliner on July 8th and Take That 9th July, this is also the first time they’ve played Hyde Park! You don’t want to miss that! Finally Stevie Wonder will take to the stage on the 10th July for the final night of British Summertime and with all these dates and artists ready to perform we couldn’t be more excited!” - Buddybounce.
With headliners such as Florence and The Machine, Stevie Wonder, Take That, Carole King and more it’s set to be one incredible year for Barclaycard British Summertime and here at Mixerati WE CAN’T WAIT!
Have you got your tickets yet? These line up’s are not to be missed so head to the link below to make sure you don’t miss out on all the summertime fun!
Tickets: http://www.bst-hydepark.com/!
If you still haven't made up your mind which date/dates you’d like to go to because let’s be real they’re all amazing; you can see all the full line ups and dates below to help you choose:
· Friday 1st July: Massive Attack, Patti Smith, TV On The Radio, Warpaint, and Ghostpoet.
· Saturday 2nd July: Florence + The Machine, Kendrick Lamar, Jamie XX, Blood Orange, Cat Power, Todd Terje and the Olsens and Kamasi Washington.
· Sunday 3rd July: Carole King, Don Henley and Louise Goffin.
· Friday 8th July: Mumford & Sons, Alabama Shakes, Wolf Alice, Mystery Jets, Nick Mulvey, Baaba Maal, Borns, The Very Best, Beatenberg and Baio.
· Saturday 9th July: Take That, Olly Murs, Ella Eyre, Nathan Sykes and Jamie Lawson.
· Sunday 10th July: Stevie Wonder, Pharrell Williams, Corinne Bailey Rae and KING.
Troye Sivan, the Australian singer/songwriter/YouTube, took London by storm on Tuesday night as he headlined the first of 2 nights at The Forum in Kentish Town...
In silhouette, Troye made his grand entrance and we were deafened by the thousands of screams filling the building! The setlist included the majority of the tracks from his album Blue Neighbourhood which his fans knew every single word to - let’s be honest, every song is catchy as hell. With a charismatic personality like his on stage, he makes you want to be his best friend and was greeted with cheers when talking about his personal struggles with love in between tracks.
You wouldn’t know that Troye was fairly knew to this whole popstar thing as he is completely comfortable on the stage and was actually quite memorising to watch.
Following a drive through Camden earlier in the day, Troye performed a spine-chilling version of Amy Winehouse’s ‘Love Is A Losing Game’ (which brought a tear to our eye but don’t tell anyone else we said that).
He ended the show on a high with his hit single ‘Youth’ and we left with a really positive feeling that Troye Sivan is going to be around for years to come. We can’t wait for him to come back and tour again with even bigger venues!
Despite being born right here in the UK you may have already caught a glimpse of Chris in his previous US based band Hollywood Ending. As a group they supported the Janoskians around Europe and McBusted on their UK tour back in Spring 2014.
Now aged 23 the brother of Busted star James Bourne is ready to embark on his own solo journey and here at Mixerati we are SO EXCITED! Chris has been hidden away in the studio out in LA writing an E.P that is set to be released this summer.
The surf-loving singer also played a part in co-writing the song ‘Daylight’ with Steve Robson and James Bourne which was recorded by 5 Seconds of Summer for their ‘Amnesia’ E.P.
Chris will be shadowing the following forthcoming Busted tour dates:
- May 11th
- June 4th
His brand new single titled ‘MFT80s’ will be featured on the big screen at every arena Busted are plying on their upcoming tour. Chris will also be playing some exclusive one off dates across the UK so make sure you don’t miss out! We know we’ll be keeping an eye out!
If you can’t wait until the Busted tour to hear Chris’ single then check out the music video for ‘MFT80s’ right here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eklv-HQWLjU
Also be sure to follow Chris on all his social media platforms to keep up to date with his exciting new adventures as a solo artist. What are you waiting for?
LIVE REVIEW: THE VAMPS @ MOTORPOINT ARENA, SHEFFIELD
Wow, The Vamps arrived in Sheffield tonight for their sold out show at the Motor Point arena and what a show it was! We were lucky enough to be there at the show and it was definitely not to be missed.
Sheffield was one of The Vamps last tour dates in the UK, so fans were eager to see the boys before they continued their impressive world tour. The Vamps have some amazing support acts on the Wake Up Tour this year including, Hometown, Conor Maynard, The Tide and New Hope Club (who actually perform Cecelia with the vamps on tour).
The Vamps opened the show with first single off of their second album, Rest Your Love with amazing pyro and fireworks. The Vamps bought high energy to the Sheffield show also performing hits such as Windmills, Kung Fu Fighting and a very impressive medley including Sorry, Stressed Out, Perfect, Can't Feel My Face and Stitches.
The Vamps also performed some old fan favourites like Somebody To You, Last Night and of course first single Can We Dance. And new single I Found A Girl that Conor Maynard performed alongside The Vamps.
Fans lit up the arena during the boys performance of Stolen Moments and Brads solo performance of a new song called Stay. Tristan also came out from behind his drum kit and took centre stage performing Silentó's rap in Volcano. And he absolutely owned it!
Then the boys closed the show with an energetic performance of Wake Up. We were very impressed with The Vamps show and we think it's certainly one of their best!
You can catch The Vamps on their Wake Up World Tour which continues.
LIVE REVIEW: 5 SECONDS OF SUMMER @ O2 ARENA, LONDON
5 Seconds of Summer took to the O2 stage on Thursday for 2 sold out shows at the arena, and they lit up London!
5SOS are back in the UK at the moment for their Sounds Live Feels Live tour and we were lucky enough to go to their first show of two at the O2 arena in London, and what a show it was!
Luke, Calum, Ashton and Michael seemed very excited to hit the stage on Thursday and fans were not disappointed. The boys opened the show with Carry On and then burst into life with Hey Everybody! They then continued to perform hits from their previous album such as Disconnected, Voodoo Doll and Beside You, which made the arena fill with beautiful bright lights that the boys seemed to absolutely love.
Of course they performed songs from their latest album 'Sounds Good Feels Good' including; Waste the Night, Jet Black Heart and Money! We love the way these songs sound live, Waste the Night especially is a huge crowd pleaser.
Much like the last tour the boys also performed their version of What I Like a About You which is our personal favourite, and closed the show with their first single She Looks So Perfect!
We absolutely loved the show and think it's one of their best yet!
You can catch the 5 Seconds of Summer boys at their remaining UK dates and of course they hit Europe and the US later in the year.
Gearing up to release their brand new album, South-West London’s The Carnabys are set about making their mark on the indie-rock scene.
Having shared the stage amongst legends such as Bruce Springsteen, Kings Of Leon and Lenny Kravitz (to name a few), The Carnabys have also made a splash of their own selling out iconic London venues such as The Jazz Cafe and Koko and beating 12,000 artists worldwide to claim the title of ‘Hard Rock Rising 2013′.
With such accolades already placed firmly under their belts, The Carnabys are set for monumental heights with their forthcoming album due this summer. It’s bold, blistering and bountiful. From the smooth subtleties of lead single ‘Peaches and Bleach’ (out 25th March) right down to the racing and effervescent and energetic ‘Great Dane In The Graveyard’, The Carnabys have our full and undivided attention.
If this album is anything compared to ‘No Money On The Moon’, then we’re in for one hell of a treat!
The band head out on their UK tour later this month in support of the new single, so be sure to catch them and tell all your mates that you saw them before they blew up!
REVIEW: Apherium - Embrace The Fall That Brought Us Here
Releasing their brand new EP ‘Embrace The Fall That Brought Us Here’, Somerset alt-rockers Apherium have firmly secured their stance as contenders in the effervescent alternative rock scene brewing in the UK.
Recorded with legendary engineer John Mitchell (Lower Than Atlantis, You Me At Six) who captures the perfect balance of melodies and intoxicating vocals on this record. With no shortage of riffage and hooks galore, Apherium breathe life into the EP bursting forth with the catchy ‘Resolve’ before meandering into the anthemic and emotionally charged ‘Embrace’ and ‘Ever Present’.
Although short and sweet, Apherium leave a lasting impression with ‘Embrace The Fall That Brought Us Here’ and a thirst for more. The EP is out NOW and we can’t wait to see what else they’ve got in store!
The band head out on a string of UK dates this month, so catch ‘em if you can!
For fans of: Lonely The Brave, Fightstar and Arcane Roots.
So on Thursday we were invited to the recording of The Vamps performing at MTV's Live Lockdown, held at London's Excel Centre and here's what happened!
Brad, James and Tristan of The Vamps performed at the MTV show, minus Connor, who has recently had an operation on his knee so is recovering at home, so we all wish him a speedy recovery.
The three Vamps boys were at MTV to perform some of their biggest hits and songs off of the new album, "Wake Up". They kicked off with most recent single "Rest your love" then continued the show performing more of their hits including, "Wake Up", "I found a girl", "Can we dance", "Last Night" and "Somebody to you".
As usual audience interaction was very important to the boys, and the cheeky chaps made sure each and every fan at the event had the best time. Brad was dancing around the stage with James and Tristan having a blast.The audience present were singing and dancing to the music and everyone was smiling and having an amazing time throughout the whole show!
The Vamps MTV Live Lockdown will be aired soon, including other performances and interviews from Tinie Tempah, Katy B and Wolf Alice!
This Friday sees the release of “Only Just Holding On”, the debut EP by Forty Four Hours, one of the promising up-and-coming talents hailing from the alternative rock scene in Manchester.
The first thing to jump out at you is the quick-fire vocal delivery of frontman Joe Holden, reminiscent of the rap-singing of Anthony Keidis crossed with the soulfulness of Mallory Knox. Though unusual, it’s one of the characteristics that shapes their undeniably distinctive sound.
Lead single “Hold Out” opens the EP with stabs of guitars dancing around the thumping piano. With lashings of funky riffs the song steadily builds to a crescendo of layered vocal melodies. It’s the perfect lead into “Difficult” where the pace is upped to a bouncy guitar driven piece that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Don Broco set.
“Pressure And Sleep” brings in a slower, more introspective tone, but again demonstrates the band’s strength in weaving together catchy melodic lines into a single song. Finally, “Time And Place” seems to tie all the previous elements in the EP together. It’s a solid track to end on and though it treads safer ground than the others, it gives you a taste of the diverse yet accessible sound Forty Four Hours have comfortably carved out.
From what Joe has to say on the EP, Forty Four Hours have certainly succeeded in what they set out to do - create a cracking alternative pop rock record with hints of experimentation and a lot of heart.
“If anything, this record is quite a bit darker, it expresses a lot of stuff we’ve needed to say for the past year: writing it has been really cathartic. We’ve tried not to make you cry though. We really got to experiment with this record, so expect the unexpected.” - Joe Holden
Catch the lads live on their UK tour - full dates below:
Pre-order “Only Just Holding On” from their Bandcamp: https://fortyfourhours.bandcamp.com/
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After a highly anticipated 3 years since new music by Nina Nesbitt with her debut album Peroxide (that reached 11 on the official charts) on the 1st December 2015, with the help of about 10 fans, or 'elves' as they are more commonly known as, she announced details about her EP 'Modern Love' to be released in early February with the lead single 'Chewing Gum' to be released on the 11th January with the first radio play on BBC Radio 1 on the 10th.
A heavier pop and electric sound compared to the Scottish star's previous guitar and acoustic album shows that in the past three years Nesbitt has not only matured in her sound, but also her idea of romance. With a statement a few hours previous the radio play of Chewing Gum revealing the reason behind the EP title Modern Love and how it came about, this reflecting in the lyrics about her idea of love ending with "be yourself, love yourself and do what YOU want to do with your life and your relationships."
With the release of a new EP on the 5th February and soon her sophomore album with details yet to be announced, Nesbitt is an artist to watch this year.
Nina will be having a warm up tour for three dates at the end of the month; January 26 - Bush Hall, London, January 27 - Deaf Institute, Manchester, January 28 - King Tuts, Glasgow
Ahead of their debut EP ‘If You Feel Like It’ coming out (27th November via LAB Records), we had a chat with Alie and Jericho from SKIES. The Folkestone 2-piece talk us through the EP, signing to LAB Records and what the future holds for the band.
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