Five Gigs to look out for at The Oxford O2

Sat, 07 Apr 2012 10:59:00 +0100

An Evening with Martin Stephenson & The Daintees

Sunday April 15

The renowned Martin Stephenson with The Daintees will be performing their acclaimed and most celebrated album 'Boat To Bolivia' in its entirety, 26 years since its debut. 7pm

Charlene Soria

Friday April 20

Charlene's love of the guitar has developed her distinctive fret flexing style that is incredible to listen to and mesmerising to watch. This is one to catch.

Upstairs feat John Bramwell from I am Kloot

Saturday April 21

Organised by BBC Introducing, Upstairs has become one of the main monthly nights to catch the best up and coming music around. They’ve got a bit of a coup this month with John Bramwell from Mercury-nominated I Am Kloot. He’s joined by The Lake Poets, Jess hall, Sonic Rising and Empty White Circles.

The Lemonheads

Tuesday April 24

You might remember The Lemonheads from the early Nineties with that bloke Evan Dando in it. Their most popular song was a cover of Simon and Garfunkel’s Mrs Robinson. For this exclusive gig at the O2 they’ll be performing their most popular album ‘It’s a Shame about Ray’ in its entirety. Good nostalgic stuff.

Futures

Thursday April 26

Fancy a bit of pop punk-tinged rock mixed in with your teen angst then you should go and see Futures when they rock up to the O2. This foursome are so with it at the moment that it leaves the rest of us without it. They’re supported by Don Bronco and Natives.

Five Gigs to look out for at The Oxford O2

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 17:13:00 +0100

Friday March 23

Los Campesinos!

If you think this sounds like some sort of gay tribute act from Valencia you’d be wrong! They’re actually a seven piece indy band from Cardiff who formed at the university there all the way back in the heady days of 2006. They’re not Welsh though, so don’t go thinking they sound like Tom Jones or anything. In fact, their latest album (their fourth full-length) ‘Hello Sadness’ has received a whole heap of shiny praise, and the band can count violinists, keyboardists and even a horn player in their midst. Unique indeed.

Friday April 13

Graham Coxon

He may be forever known as ‘Graham Coxon off of Blur’ but there’s two crucial points that separate Graham out from the rest of the band. Number one; he isn’t yakking on about cheese the whole time whilst simultaneously stiffing local suppliers at now bankrupt music festivals, and number two; his music’s actually pretty damn good. His new album, A+E, is scheduled for release so he’s off touring most of the summer, with this being his first date!

Friday April 20

Bow Wow Wow

Not to be confused with prepubescent rap-spawn and scourge of early-naughties radio ‘Lil Bow Wow’, Bow Wow Wow are actually a proper band from the 80s, reformed and touring again in 2012. Which makes them a bit like, well, all the other bands from the 80s. But we’ve always had a soft spot for their alternative, worldly sound, and we’re not the only ones. Red Hot Chilli Pepper’s front man Anthony Kiedis references them in ‘Suck My Kiss’, and with a self-penned band description that reads “a pastiche of Latin and African beats, 50s rock-n-roll and spaghetti western soundtracks”, what more could you possibly want from a night of entertainment?

Tuesday April 24

The Lemonheads

Staying on the confusion theme, the band the Lemonheads are definitely not to be confused with the cannibal that shared the name in the classic 90s PC game, the Secret of Monkey Island. Now that we’ve cleared that up, we can of course reveal that the band playing the O2 next month are THE lemonheads, who you might recall very successfully covering Simon and Garunkel’s ‘Mrs Robinson’ a few years back. Beating the trend of ‘comebacks’ the Lemonheads reformed in 2005 and have released a couple of new albums since then. They’re a great live act, still full of their early nineties energy, and well worth seeing.

Friday April 27

Ladyhawke

Not to be confused with the mid-80s fantasy film starring Ferris Bueller and Catwoman (check it out), this indy songstress has been racking up the hits over the past five years. An original and accomplished musician, her tracks have been a cut above the recent by-numbers-new-rave dross, and the release of her current album Anxiety, has been postponed several times because she wasn’t 100% happy with it. Imagine La Roux doing that.

For tickets to any of the above call 0844 477 2000 or go to http://www.o2academyoxford.co.uk

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Five Gigs to look out for at The Oxford O2

Five Gigs to look out for at The Oxford O2