Articles

Don Broco to headline Oxford’s O2 Academy 2 on April 17

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 23:53:00 +0100

Wednesday April 17 is a really special day as it’s the editor's wife’s birthday. But more importantly it’s also the night that Bedfordshire’s finest Don Broco rock up to play Oxford O2 Academy 2.

Don Broco, are back with their single Whole Truth that will be released on April 22. The track is taken from their debut album “Priorities”, which topped the UK rock chart when it was released The band were also iTunes Best New Rock Act of 2012.

Frontman Rob Damiani said: "This tune deals with that ol’ toughie - You've been a naughty boy and cheated on your girl, so how much do you actually tell her now she's found out? They say honesty is the best policy, but sometimes it might not always work out for the best to tell her the whole truth!"

The Proclaimers do their thing in Oxford

Tue, 23 Oct 2012 15:01:00 +0100

Even though The Proclaimers once ‘proclaimed’ that they would walk 1,000 miles for you, I think they’ll probably be arriving in Oxford by car or train.

If they did walk all the way from Scotland it would be great but they’d probably be too tired for the gig that they’ve got to perform at the Oxford O2 Academy on Thursday November 1.

It's now 26 years since The Proclaimers released their first album 'This Is The Story'.

Expect to hear all the classics like 'Sunshine On Leith', 'I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)', 'Letter From America', 'I'm On My Way', 'King Of The Road,' 'Lets Get Married' and more.

The identical twin brothers Charlie and Craig Reid will be supported by Blueflint and the doors open at 7pm.

The Cribs at The O2

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 23:55:00 +0100

The Cribs are a bit legendary. They are a band’s band and are effortlessly cool with it.

They’ll be bringing their bit of in-your-face indie goodness to the O2 Academy in Oxford on Tuesday October 23.

This tour follows the release of their fifth album In The Belly Of The Brazen Bull back in May.

The Cribs are an English three-piece indie rock band originally from Wakefield, West Yorkshire.

The band consists of twins Gary and Ryan Jarman and their younger brother Ross Jarman. The band currently enlists David Jones of Nine Black Alps as a second guitarist for live shows. The band, who first became active on the concert circuit in 2002, were described in 2008, by Q as "The biggest cult band in the UK".

Mr Scruff

Thu, 11 Oct 2012 23:01:00 +0100

Mr Scruff is the recording name of Andy Carthy who has been a mainstay on the DJ circuit for almost 20 years.

His DJ name was inspired by his scruffy facial hair, as well as his trademark loose-lined drawing style.

His number one fan is Monty from Durham. He is known for DJing in marathon sets, his eclectic musical taste, his love of a "nice cup of tea" and the quirky home-produced visuals and animations associated with his music.

His new five hour set, entitled ‘Keep it Unreal’ will be coming to the Oxford O2 on Friday October 19.

He will be serving up a melting pot of jazz, soul, hip hop, funk, disco, deep house, reggae, dubstep, afrobeat, latin, electrofunk and plenty of other goodies that don't fit into any category.

Scritti Politti comes to Oxford O2 Academy

Tue, 09 Oct 2012 23:27:00 +0100

I think Scritti Politti has one of the best band names that has ever been thought up. There I said it.

It just rolls off the tongue like some alienlike words that just feel right.

The eighties super band, who have actually been around since 1977, were originally formed by Green Gartside (pictured). Gartside is the only member of the band to have remained throughout the group's history.

Scritti Politti’s most successful album was Cupid and Psyche ‘85, released in 1985, reaching Number 5 in the UK album charts.

They’ll be playing a gig at the O2 Academy in Oxford on Wednesday October 17 as part of their latest tour, which precedes dates supporting the much more sensibly monikered St Etienne in December.

Choose ska with The Selecter and skank on down to the O2

Sat, 29 Sep 2012 23:45:00 +0100

By Josh Dawson

On Sunday October 7 at the Oxford O2, the ska-revival band The Selecter are reforming and playing what promises to be a frantic skank-filled evening.

Like Madness and The Specials, The Selecter were part of the 2 Tone ska movement of the late 70s/early 80s which took ska and joined it with other musical genres and politics.

Indeed the comparisons between The Selecter and The Specials are uncanny and unavoidable (but that’s not a bad thing surely?) Both formed in the late 70s in that concrete jungle of Coventry and both were strongly political with positive messages of multiculturalism.

The Selector offers exactly what you would imagine: strong melodies with danceable beat, and the perfect opportunity for you to practise your skanking. Which believe it or not could one day save your life. Or at the very least provide entertainment for small children and elderly relatives alike at boozy wedding parties.

Thou Shalt Not Miss Dan Le Sac at The Oxford O2 on October 6

Sat, 29 Sep 2012 23:34:00 +0100

By Josh Dawson

Dan le Sac: self-defined producer, remixer, DJ, and photographer? Know of him? Now if you don’t, and if you have a spare five minutes (and who are you kidding, of course you do!) google the lyrics ‘Thou Shalt Always Kill’ and sit, read, and smile.

Not that he or his collaborator on this track Scroobius Pip would approve of this act, as the whole point of the song is a denial of transitory idols and the demand to think for oneself when splashing in the murky hype-infested waters of popular modern culture

I still feel a wave of relief every time I hear the line ‘Thou shalt not read NME’ followed by ‘Thou shalt not question Stephen Fry’. Simply marvellous.

Anyhow, Mr le Sac has just released his debut solo album ‘Space Between the Words’ and is currently touring it with assorted guests bringing his unique brand of electronica around the country, and stopping at the Oxford O2 on Saturday October 6.

Head to the O2 for a bit of the ol’ Flux Pavilion

Thu, 27 Sep 2012 23:28:00 +0100

By Josh Dawson

Flux Pavillion, AKA Joshua Steele, is a producer, performer and composer of some of the most exciting electronic/dubstep music currently in the UK. He first started making music in his early teens, and now at the tender age of 23 is being hailed as one to watch in 2012 by none other then antipodean musical prophet/shouty-man Zane Lowe.

His musical influences of artists like Basement Jaxx and The Prodigy perhaps explain his rapid rise to fame and commercial success: this is hard-hitting and powerful dubstep, but also radio-pleasingly tuneful. The progress of this one-time teenage genius seems inevitable: even global superstars Kanye West and Jay-Z have got in on the act, sampling part of his track ‘I Can’t Stop’ for their 2011 collaboration album ‘Watch the Throne’.

Mr Pavillion is playing his first full UK headline tour, and is at the O2 on Friday 5th October. Dubstep/ electronica fans: you would be wise not miss this.

Colour The Atlas Upstairs at The O2 Academy in Oxford

Fri, 14 Sep 2012 23:23:00 +0100

By Josh Dawson

Now here’s one for all you sentimentalists out there. Yes, all of you. Colour the Atlas (formerly the Jess Hall Band) will be playing the monthly ‘Upstairs’ music night at the O2 in Oxford on Saturday September 22.

Founded in 2010 this Swindonian band is the brainchild of teenage singer-songwriter Jess Hall who wrote and produced all her songs from a studio set up in her parents’ garage, until critical interest began to materialise and she formed a touring band of her childhood friends. Isn’t that lovely?

Musically it is somewhere between folk and pop with beautiful keening melancholic melodies that are reminiscent of artists like Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes, and Leonard Cohen.

They have been hotly tipped by BBC Introducing, supported Newton Faulkner on his recent spring tour, and have had their song ‘Play Shy’ on Radio 1. Lovers of simple tuneful song writing look no further.

Three to watch at the Oxford O2

Tue, 14 Aug 2012 23:11:00 +0100

By Barney Goodall

Now what does the phrase ‘joyous technicolor indie pop’ conjure in your mind?

If your answer is: ‘Choc full of Doo-Wops and La La La’s, glockenspiel scattered and full of charm’ you would be correct, but cheating, as this is the first sentence of Alphabet Backwards’ Soundcloud bio. With strong influences from The Kooks, and New-Folk (yes: that is a genre), this band also throw in some unhinged synth goings-on-and-offs. Indeed their song ‘Elton John’ sounds like being stuck in a 90s Japanese arcade game whilst suffering from an epileptic fit: Definitely a good thing. These Oxford lads n’ lasses are playing on their home turf at the Academy Saturday September 8. Go! Watch! Enjoy!

In stark contrast to this merry Oxford homecoming expect a noisy Caledonian invasion with Gun on Sunday September 16. These Glaswegian guys know how to rock (and that’s ‘rock’ complete with Metal Horns and shouted in your face by some JD guzzling leather-clad Lemmy look-a-like) having toured with Rolling Stones, Def Leppard, and Bon Jovi. As touring profiles go, I think you’ll agree this is pretty impressive. Gun formed in the late 1980s, and despite several line-up changes and breaks, are still going strong today. If you like your rock heavy, epic, and stadium-filling, then come this way. In an orderly queue please.

‘I spend most of my days neither sleeping nor awake/Watching pointless documentaries on tornados and earthquakes’. What fantastic lyrics. This is Deaf Havana, the first line of their single 'I'm a bore mostly', the video to which has achieved half a million hits on youtube, quite impressive. Much beloved of Kerrang magazine types (by which I mean alternative rock, if indeed that means anything to you), these guys hail from East Anglia University/King’s Lynn/somewhere-East-of-here, formed in 2005, and have been constantly touring ever since. I am assured, by my treacherous friend the Internet, that they have a wide fan base, successful albums, and substantial radio play. Catch them on August 22.