Dot to Dot: the high, and low, lights

Dot to Dot was a week ago and it’s all started to fade away. My more vivid memories are of Eurovision later that night. Giorgo Alkaio singing OPA and the little German chick, who ultimately won, saying she was ‘freaking out’ in her amazing English.

It would be a shame, however, not to mention the actual event so here are some of my highlights:

• Blood Red Shoes gig (Academy): a guy submitted to the band’s encouragement to crowd surf. A slow shaky start saw him fall after passing by three people.
• The Wild Beasts were the tightest performance and the last act we saw. Very good.
• Kill Cassidy were in the Academy 2 room and had a great sound a la Lost Prophets. Some lovely use of the wawa pedal by this local band from Montpellier. One complaint, theirs, about the mis-spelling of their name – they were listed as Kill Kassidy. I personally prefer the ‘K’ version.
• The sound at the Academy was really impressive this time around, not sure what happened when I went to see Passion Pit. I wouldn’t mind going back for an event that draws a smaller crowd perhaps.

Some low lights although they had little to do with the bands:

• The prices at the Academy are ridiculous with £3.80 for a pint of Carlsberg. My pint of lime and soda was £1.50 so it wasn’t too bad but the woman next to me paid £18 for three ciders and a double Malibu and coke.
• No drinks allowed in the Academy so our water bottles were taken from us. Bags were searched and our wristbands were individually checked for looseness. I think it would have been nicer had we been able to share the ticket price. I couldn’t stay up for Zane Lowe at 1am but I know others who would have. Would have been much friendlier to be able to let him use my ticket. Not possible though.

Blood Red Shoes and Wild Beasts had the venue packed out and it was shoulder to shoulder standing room only. I thought BRS were good but not as great as at Thekla.

Advertisements

Stokes Croft Streetfest Photos

Some more pictures

Bristol Photography Festival: Bristol Central Library

The North Somerset Photo Competition asked the young people of its region aged 0-19: do you have a good eye for a photo?

The results are displayed in the library’s foyer and the answer is a definite yes.

One beautifully captured example is the Under 11 Judges Favourite ‘Lining Up’ by Jacob Brown age 5.

Bath, coffee festival

A two day outdoor festival will be held in the City of Bath this weekend to celebrate coffee and to help charity. This will be the UK’s first coffee festival which is surprising as it is such a great idea. Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th May 2010 will find a whole host of exhibitors showcasing their wares at the Recreation Ground just near the train station.

On Saturday the festival will be on between 10am and 5pm and on Sunday it starts and finishes an hour earlier at 11am to 4pm. Unlike the Affordable Art Fair there is no entry fee. What will be there, according to the organisers, is a great variety of activities from celebrity chef, Martin Blunos, demonstrating how to flavour foods with coffee to Samba classes on Sunday.

My favourite event so far is the Turkish coffee event which takes place between 1:15pm and 1:45pm. A close second is Jean Pierre Auge’s session from 12pm to 12:30pm which mentions coffee martinis. Maybe they’ll even have carajillos somewhere? I can only hope.

http://www.bathcoffeefestival.co.uk/

Stokes Croft Streetfest

The urban cultural area of Bristol, better known for graffiti and Tesco protests, is set to become even livelier next week. A few days ago, a friend from Cheltenham asked if I was going and at that point I hadn’t even heard of it. The flyers are starting to appear around Bristol however or it could be that I’ve only just now had the time to notice the publicity.

The event is the Stokes Croft Streetfest and it takes place around most of that area on Saturday 22 May. Following a public consultation in February, the one day festival was organised in the hope of bringing together the many people who live, work and play there. The aim is to help raise the profile of Stokes Croft’s positive aspects: the art and creativity, inclusivity and diversity.

Activities, described as an ‘eclectic mix’, are arranged over two periods of time: day and evening. During the day, from 12pm to 6pm, there is no entry fee for performances, street theatre, art installations, indoor and outdoor markets which will take place in open areas such as King’s Square and the ‘Bear Pit’.

Events at night, from 6pm to 6am, are accessible with the purchase of one wristband at £5 in advance or £7 on the door. Just Jack at Lakota, the Ten Pound Suit Band at Leftbank and Brazilian Beatz at the Croft are just a small sample of the many acts taking part.

For more information visit www.stokescroftstreetfest.org.uk. Tickets are available from the Bristol Ticket Shop, Rooted Records, Canteen and all usual outlets.