THE EVENT PAGE ON FACEBOOK CAN BE FOUND BY CLICKING HERE
For those of you who may remember, The Ocelot used to run nights of live music at a variety of venues including Riffs Bar near Royal Wootton Bassett, The Vic and the late, great 12Bar (R.I.P). But it’s been almost 10 years since the last big Ocelot night, so we think it’s high time we did something about that!
Live music has evolved and shifted massively in that time, with venues closing down, bands retreating on to the internet and crowds having no-one to focus their love and attention on. We know you’re out there guys, and we want to help!
So, we got to thinking. What would we want a night to be? What kind of show would we immediately want to dive out from behind our writing desks and charge out into the wild to stand at the front of and act like teenagers again?
The answer was simple; get together three of the best musical forces from our area, put them on at one of our favourite venues and have a bloody good time with all our lovely readers in the process.
The Night of The Ocelot was born, and after many discussions about how the title almost sounded like The Day of The Jackal, (look it up kids) we put in some calls and set this bad boy up!
In your mind, cue up that stirring rendition of Jerusalem for this next bit…
This is going to be a celebration of everything we hold dear in our little arts circles. A chance for the community to gather and share the night air and some good tunes. We want to shine a light on the artists in our region who dedicate themselves to entertaining others, to creating new sounds and weekend memories. We want to showcase new music, new styles and new artists who are carrying the torch not only for their sound, but also for the sounds of the future.
We’ve brought together a damn fine line-up if we do say so ourselves, with a real quality and charm about each and every act.
Little Brother Eli will be flying the flag for Team Oxford with their monumental bluesy garage rock that’s seen them gaining national coverage and getting many people rather excited.
Hailing from Oxford, Little Brother Eli are champions of the bluesy garage rock sound, with acts like Jack White and his associates immediately coming to mind when you stick on their latest release Oceans (which was released on YouTube in February)
They’re a band that has drawn the attention of national press including TeamRock, BBC 6Music and more captivating audiences with their driving sound and spectacularly written tunes that step the border between classic influences and a plan for the future.
The band was formed in Oxford during early 2013 by bassist Josh Rigal and vocalist Alex Grew. The pair were joined by guitarist Adam Stowe and drummer Benji Page who began sharing their eclectic mix of musical influences along with lap steel specialist Tom Williams, and their influence is spreading exponentially. They’ve already been announced for several festival slots this year including Are You Listening, Wildfire and Witney Music Festival.
We can’t emphasise enough how happy we are to have these boys as part of The Night of The Ocelot, and we know that you will be dancing the night away at The Vic when Little Brother Eli get into their groove.
Check them out online at: www.littlebrothereli.com
Hip Route will form the riotous, rocking roots section of our evening for Team Swindon, and amaze you with guitar work that would have made Hendrix blush.
If you haven’t heard these guys already, we will be hugely surprised. We might even be shocked!
Hip Route are a slide guitar wielding, rootsy blues rocking trio from the Swindon area, so we’ve got the local angle covered in a big way here!
In all honesty, these guys could have easily been our headliners for the night, they are simply incredible live with front-man Jim Blair’s immense guitar skills shining out amidst a brilliantly skilled rhythm section to create a wall of almost primal, driving and pulsating music. You’ll be involuntarily tapping your feet within seconds, guaranteed.
Check them out online via: www.hiproute.com
And Team Youth has its champion in the form of the brilliant Bradley Cowtan from Royal Wootton Bassett.
Young Bradley currently studies at the Academy of Music and Sound in central Swindon, pushing his brand of thoughtful, charming acoustic pop across the local scene.
Releasing his Catfish Part 2 EP via a live BBC Wiltshire session in February, and gaining over 65,000 views on his single “This Ain’t Fair On Me” in the space of the first couple of days, Bradley has impressed us with his professionalism and dedication to his music, and thoroughly deserves the spotlight we threw on him in last month’s Ocelot Presents.
The Night of The Ocelot is all about celebrating our region’s music scene and presenting people with the very best that the area has to offer, including the up and coming artists on your doorstep. To this end, we think Mr Cowtan is the best opener for the job and shows that live music in Ocelotshire is in safe hands indeed.
Plus he doesn’t have to go to college in the morning we’re told…
Check out Bradley’s corner of the internet here: www.bradleycowtan.com
SEE YOU AT THE VIC ON MARCH 23!