We caught up with some amazing acts at this yearÔÇÖs X Fest in June. Check out the interviews here!
Cut Ribbons
Delyth Mclean
Fjords
The Cradles
The Hearts
Category Archives: Live Music
THE MIXTAPE Welcome Party | w/ Danglo | Liam Matear & Elliot Mitchell | TopHat Tom
From 10th February, Xpress is taking over Undertone every fortnight for a night of the best funky house, disco and bass. We’re kicking things off with an awesome welcome party and line-up.
South-East London bass prodigy Danglo takes over Undertone on 10th February. Danglo has gained support from the likes of SubSoul., Eton Messy and various BBCR1 and 1Xtra DJs.
Support from renowned Cardiff Duo Liam Matear and Elliot Mitchell, and Xpress Radio resident DJ TopHat Tom.
Expect cheap drinks, free stuff, good vibes and good times.
Tickets for this event are expected to sell out fast.
- First release: £3
- Second release: £4
Jess Campbell Interviews Dan Bettridge
Dan Bettridge came by the studio for a chat and session on Jess Campbell’s Studio Sessions.
Originally broadcast: 31/10/2014 18:00
S┼Án Preview 2014
Here’s some of the music you can expect from S┼Án 2014. Xpress will be there throughout the day recording some brilliant sessions and interviews. If you see us, come and say hello.
Strawberry Fields
First thing thatÔÇÖs important to know about this festival, which also makes it very appealing for amateur festival goers, is its size. With two main stages, a couple of camping fields and a variety of food vendors, it is a small and manageable small festival. However, in these few fields the organisers of this event manage to fit in an awesomely diverse offering of entertainment. ThereÔÇÖs comedy acts to be found in the Orange Tree tent, exciting musicians on the Main and Strawberry Jam stage and even some dodgems for the hardened carnies. Dani, Zach and Emily were fortunate to catch up with a variety of artists that performed at Strawberry Fields. They found that all bands were united in their profound humbleness and willingness to share their experiences of festivals and comments on upcoming work. A massive shout out to Baz, one of the on-site managers that helped them out enormously, arranging interviews and offering guidance around the site across the weekend. Sadly, ÔÇÿhurricaneÔÇÖ BerthaÔÇÖs remnants blew through Leicesteshire on Sunday afternoon and called the Festival off early, meaning the cancellation of the eagerly anticipated Goldie Lookin Chain did not grace the main stage. Apart from that, a faultless weekend and a highly recommended festival!
By Zach Hughes
Victorious Festival 2014
On the weekend of the 23-24th of August Kieran Lewis and I headed to Portsmouth for the magical Victorious Festival!
From the Nevada Acoustic Stage to the Seaside Stage we not only saw loads of great performances, but we caught up with a plethora of acts throughout the weekend; including Kelvin Jones, Imperial Mammoth and Lewis Watson.
Being from Portsmouth myself, I was surprised to see the transformation of Southsea seafront into a fully capable festival. The response to the festival was extremely positive; perfect for festival go-ers looking for somewhere different to families wanting the festival experience from a friendly, smaller and less hectic environment than one would get at Bestival, for example and catered for everyone with the local food stalls to the pop up fashion tents, to of course, the music.
One really intriguing area was the ÔÇ£Casemates StageÔÇØ, a variety of acts performed on this tiny platform which you were greeted with upon entry with a general acoustic and Bluesy sounding act playing a set from 11am. For bands such as Eagle & Weeks this resounded with a HUGE audience response as they covered the headliner Dizzee RascalÔÇÖs ÔÇ£BonkersÔÇØ, drawing in more of a crowd than the nearby Nevada Stage.
However, we spent most of our time over by the Seaside stage, which unsurprisingly was the closest location to the Seafront with the area dominating the Bandstand and a lovely view of the water. For many acts, such as Felt Tip and The Van Susans, this gave the opportunity to play on a much larger stage than they were familiar with. I thought this was brilliant to see and evidently gave these smaller bands a helping hand in regards to gaining new fans being the most popular stage regarding audience size.
My ÔÇ£OneÔÇÖs To WatchÔÇØ from Victorious include:
Kelvin Jones (of Good Morning America fame
Felt Tip (who have been on the Topshop/Topman playlist)
Kassassin Street (psych-rock with a Southsea cult following who will be snapped up v.soon)
Lewis Watson (who was also a very lovely guy)
Van Susans (folky and stuff)
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All content written by Jessica Campbell
Cardiff’s music scene – a brief guide
As well as big venues such as the Motorpoint Arena, where IÔÇÖve seen massive acts like Florence + The Machine, Manic Street Preachers and Frank Turner over the past few years, Cardiff has many smaller places you can go and watch your favourite bands. The StudentsÔÇÖ Union itself has played host to bands like Two Door Cinema Club, Bastille and Jake Bugg and has some of the UKÔÇÖs biggest acts like George Ezra and Clean Bandit gracing its halls over the next few months.
Aside from those, Cardiff has a huge amount of local talent that play in some of the best small music venues in the country. Clwb Ifor Bach has helped launch the careers of Coldplay and The Strokes by hosting them in years gone by. Other venues like Buffalo and The Globe play host to new talent like Pulled Apart By Horses and Swim Deep as well as legendary acts such as The Wurzels.
The biggest weekend on the Cardiff music fanÔÇÖs calendar undoubtedly comes around the middle of October as S┼Án Festival hits the Welsh capital. Taking over practically every venue in the city and playing host to both new Welsh music and established cult acts, S┼Án Festival is the ultimate weekend to find your favourite new band. Whether it is watching a Japanese acid punk band in Clwb Ifor Bach or checking out an acoustic session in The Hayes, there is something for everyone.
Xpress Radio will be putting on monthly gigs at Gwdih┼Á, one of CardiffÔÇÖs most renowned bars (and recently named one of the 100 best bars in the country!), with the first one on October 2nd to be headlined by CardiffÔÇÖs own Life In Cold Climates. Finding the cityÔÇÖs hottest new bands is a passion at Xpress Radio, so tune in for all the latest gig news, sessions and new music from the best bands to come from the Welsh capital.┬á
By Matthew Jones
WIN tickets to BBL
Our friends at Beach Break Live are giving an Xpress Radio listener an opportunity to win a pair of tickets to their legendary festival in the surferÔÇÖs paradise of Newquay from 20th ÔÇô 24th June. Their line up boasts internationally renowned artists and plenty of new, fresh acts. The line up includes names such as Jake Bugg, Devlin, AlunaGeorge, Lucy Rose, Foreign Beggars, Lulu James and takeovers from the labels Hospitality, Digital Soundboy and Rinse.┬áBeach Break Live is so much more than a music festival. ItÔÇÖs wealth of activities include extreme sports, beach parties, secret gigs, rooftop raves, harbour-side cinema screenings and pool parties.┬áToday they announced a fresh wave of acts added to the bill: The Cuban Brothers, Krafty Kuts, Shadow Child, Maribou State, Huxley, Gentleman’s Dub Club, George FItzgerald and Dusky.
The ticket is valid for either student or non students, and includes camping.
Find more information about the fesitval, visit the official website http://www.beachbreaklive.com/
To be in with a chance of winning, tell us what you think is the best thing about a beach holiday along with your full name and contact number to competitions@xpressradio.co.uk
Terms and conditions can be found here http://tinyurl.com/bne49jf By entering the competition you agree to the terms and conditions.
Entrants must be 18 or over.
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