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[Dot to Dot 2013] Who we're excited to see...
A few weeks ago we took a trip to Leeds, Yorkshire to check out the fantastic day festival that takes place across the city, Live at Leeds. We had a fantastic day and you can check out what we got up to over here. This week though, as we've mentioned previously a few times, it's all about Dot to Dot festival which will be taking place across three cities in the UK. Bristol, Manchester and Nottingham on May 24th-26th will play host to a sea of bands across a range of venues in each city.
With is set to take part in the coming days we wanted to offer up who we'll definitely be heading to see and maybe sway you in the direction of a few bands we like too. If you make the jump you can check out our hot picks and look out for a full review and report of the days antics early next week. If you like the look of the line-up above why not jump over here to grab a ticket while you still can! Get involved over the weekend and tweet us @skoblog including the #D2DFEST hashtag.
A few weeks ago we took a trip to Leeds, Yorkshire to check out the fantastic day festival that takes place across the city, Live at Leeds. We had a fantastic day and you can check out what we got up to over here. This week though, as we've mentioned previously a few times, it's all about Dot to Dot festival which will be taking place across three cities in the UK. Bristol, Manchester and Nottingham on May 24th-26th will play host to a sea of bands across a range of venues in each city.
With is set to take part in the coming days we wanted to offer up who we'll definitely be heading to see and maybe sway you in the direction of a few bands we like too. If you make the jump you can check out our hot picks and look out for a full review and report of the days antics early next week. If you like the look of the line-up above why not jump over here to grab a ticket while you still can! Get involved over the weekend and tweet us @skoblog including the #D2DFEST hashtag.
Where & when: Manchester, The Ritz, 18:15 // Nottingham, Rock City Main Hall 22:15
Why: Having blasted into the scenes over the past 6 months, The 1975 are increasing the gigs they are playing by a substantial margin with each passing month. Check out their flawless live show at The Ritz before they play Academy 1 next January.
Where & when: Manchester, The Ritz, 20:45 Friday // Bristol, Academy 1, 20:30 // Notthingham, Rock City Main Hall, 18:00
Why: Mr. Leftwich manages to deliver that kind of music that has you leaning forward constantly a little to catch what he's saying. Add into the mix of wonderful songwriting a live touring band and you've got a recipe for a night of wonder.
Where & when: Manchester, The Attic, 22:30 // Bristol, Thekla Top Deck, 1:00 // Nottingham, Stealth Live Room 17:30
Why: London-duo Thumpers manage to blend together distant vocals and guitar tones flawlessly, resulting in a dream like state of music that you can't not drift into once you're listening.
Where & when: Manchester, Sound Control Loft, 1:00 // Bristol, Thekla Top Deck, 18:30 // Nottingham, Rescue Rooms, 14:30
Why: We've talked about Manchester's very own Pins a few times over the past few years. We like them so much that we plugged them on 6Music way back last March. They've gone from strength to strength and promise to put on a well polished live show this weekend.
Where & when: Manchester, Zoo, 22:00 // Bristol, Start The Bus, 21:15 // Nottingham, Rescue Rooms, 23:00
Why: Another one of Manchester's finest exports, Findlay is not one to shy away from her White Stripes and blues fantasies. Wearing her influences firmly on her chest she blast out incredible sounding raw energy that is most definitely built for a live setting.
[News] Dot to Dot Festival 2013 Lineup
After announcing the first round of acts earlier in the year, in two weeks Dot to Dot festival will take place across the three cities of Manchester, Bristol and Nottingham on May 24th-26th. Last year's event saw the likes Willy Moon, Pulled Apart by Horses and Wavves grace the stage and this year is shaping up to wow punters just as much promising the biggest event to date.
See the above poster for the rather impressive full line-up. It seems some SKoA favourites will be gracing the stages with The 1975, Benjamin Francis Leftwich, Hawk Eyes, Tom Odell, Findlay, Swim Deep and London Grammar all performing over the weekend.
Across the three cities, numerous venues will be taking part in the day festival and if you make the jump you can see which postcodes to put into your Google maps for the weekend!
After announcing the first round of acts earlier in the year, in two weeks Dot to Dot festival will take place across the three cities of Manchester, Bristol and Nottingham on May 24th-26th. Last year's event saw the likes Willy Moon, Pulled Apart by Horses and Wavves grace the stage and this year is shaping up to wow punters just as much promising the biggest event to date.
See the above poster for the rather impressive full line-up. It seems some SKoA favourites will be gracing the stages with The 1975, Benjamin Francis Leftwich, Hawk Eyes, Tom Odell, Findlay, Swim Deep and London Grammar all performing over the weekend.
Across the three cities, numerous venues will be taking part in the day festival and if you make the jump you can see which postcodes to put into your Google maps for the weekend!
[Review] Dot 2 Dot Festival Manchester
A 4 day weekend. A rarity in anyone's yearly calendar, not this year if you're in the UK. Thanks to the Queen! God Save her and all that. What better way to spend part of it than at a must on the local gig calendar, Dot to Dot Manchester. It's is a funny event really taking place across three cities in total over three separate days. Manchester was the final stop for the bands who'd sweated their music into Nottingham and Bristol the previous two days. Manchester's gigs this year had introduced some new venues adding to previous years' fun times. Large venues like The Ritz and Sound Control were staple but new kids on the block Zoo had been added to the mix making for a smaller more intimate feel at a few sets. It takes place across 5 venues all reasonably close together just off of Oxford Road right in the City centre, handy, Sound Control also had 3 levels which was an added bonus for ticket holders. Why? My main concern was going to be getting from place to place and then getting back into venues. What if they were too full? What if the stage I wanted to get to was unavailable?!
A 4 day weekend. A rarity in anyone's yearly calendar, not this year if you're in the UK. Thanks to the Queen! God Save her and all that. What better way to spend part of it than at a must on the local gig calendar, Dot to Dot Manchester. It's is a funny event really taking place across three cities in total over three separate days. Manchester was the final stop for the bands who'd sweated their music into Nottingham and Bristol the previous two days. Manchester's gigs this year had introduced some new venues adding to previous years' fun times. Large venues like The Ritz and Sound Control were staple but new kids on the block Zoo had been added to the mix making for a smaller more intimate feel at a few sets. It takes place across 5 venues all reasonably close together just off of Oxford Road right in the City centre, handy, Sound Control also had 3 levels which was an added bonus for ticket holders. Why? My main concern was going to be getting from place to place and then getting back into venues. What if they were too full? What if the stage I wanted to get to was unavailable?!
Turns out, the main place I wanted to be was at the aforementioned Sound Control. After picking up my wristband I was at The Ritz and heard the familiar sound of Bastille ringing through the venue so quickly headed to enjoy an albeit short but sweet set. The band actually ended up playing two sets after Summer Camp cancelled, I only caught one set but they filled the room with ease packing a large punch for a band so young.
After Bastille I headed down to the place I wanted to witness some musical magic for the majority of the day, Sound Control. First up as I walked through the ground floor and headed up to the awkwardly shaped Club room was Clock Opera who's album I absolutely loved. From the rather large crowd they'd drawn in I think a lot of people eddied too. A highlight of the set for me was "Lesson No7" as the beat kicked in the floor slowly started to bounce in time. Wonderful.
Next up was some fun from 2:54 who were playing in the loft. They'd been getting a fair bit of attention on the blogs and from the likes of Zane Lowe and radio so I was pretty giddy for the set and I wasn't disappointed. Their echoey twangs filled the loft with an ease and elegance. Next up was a really intriguing act: Pure Love. A band fronted by Frank Carter, the previous lead singer of Gallows and a man I'd seen cause carnage in the past at the likes of Sonisphere and Leeds festival. He knew how to make some noise yet this new project is a popper affair. The loft was pretty quiet for the set in all honesty which led to Frank immediately jumping the barrier and planting his mic stand right in front of me. He commanded the attention of the room with the actions of a man in a hardcore band, the music has changed but his presence has not. A great set from a band with a future if they play their cards right. Only downside was he tried to start a circle pit at one point, the crowd weren't the circle pitting type and it led to Frank hitting me in the face with his bottle of cider. Luckily, I like cider.
Finishing up a day of truly great music in Soundcontrol's Loft was Cloud Nothings, Wavves and Pulled Apart By Horses. One band I like a lot while two of those bands I adore. Cloud Nothings set was a gentle yet noisy affair and a nice little bit of relaxation from the energetic performance Pure Love had offered half an hour prior not to say these guys didn't have energy but the main event for many in the room was still to come. Nathan Williams, frontman of the surf-punk band Wavves wandered on stage to set up his kit, strat in hand a few minutes later his band joined him and without a word the intro to "King of the Beach" filled the air and damn it was loud! I don't know if previous sets had sensitised my ears to the levels but it was a wall of fuzzy goodness. I like it loud and the next 45 minutes was a joy to watch with tracks from his two albums and EP, Life Sux being played one after another.
Pulled Apart By Horses followed Wavves and after the two days prior they looked a little rough prior to the set, I spotted Lee their drummer watching Wavves contently from side of stage. The boys took to their slot on stage and bloody delivered a knock-out blow after a day of already great music. Tracks like "V.E.N.O.M." and "Punched a Lion In The Throat" were sang back at them as the crowd all bounced as one. From the rowdiness and the state of my shoes/t-shirt by the end of the set I must say I'd had a great day and the event was a well oiled machine. It managed to showcase some great new emerging talent along with some more established acts. For a music fan and avid gig goer I'd recommend the day in any of the cities to everyone. Roll on D2D2013 I say! Onwards and upwards.
[Dot to Dot Preview] Wavves
Earlier in the week we mentioned the return of Dot to Dot Festival along with a little tid-bit on the band Pulled Apart by Horses, who we will be making sure to check out over the weekend. In case you've forgotten, it takes place from June 2nd to 4th in Bristol, Nottingham and Manchester respectively.
Along with PABH we're pretty excited to check out Wavves. Nathan Williams will take to the UK bringing his surf punk with him and no doubt a fair bit of noise too. Although we've not had much in the shape of new material from Nathan since the release of the Life Sux EP late last year, the minimal approach to live shows should be something of a treat for the crowds at Dot to Dot. Check out a performance of "King of the Beach" from last year's Bonnaroo at the top to see what you could be enjoying.
If you're at the festival at any of the cities this weekend they'll be playing on the 2nd at Bristol's O2 Academy 1 at 8:30pm. In Nottingham they'll Jongleurs at 9pm (June 3rd), before finishing up on Monday, at Manchester's Sound Control Loft at 8:30pm. The full line up can be found here while the venue guide and set times for every other band are also up for your perusal here. Tickets are available for just £20!
[Dot to Dot Preview] Pulled Apart By Horses
As we've mentioned, the wonderful Dot to Dot Festival will be taking place in three locations over the coming bank holiday weekend in the UK. It will see a flurry of bands take to the stage across the three cities and we're going to give you some recommendations as to who we will most definitely be checking out. It's going to be loud.
First up we have a favourite of ours, Pulled Apart by Horses. The Leeds band have gone from strength to strength since releasing their self-titled debut back in 2010 and then arlier this year they released the stellar follow up, Tough Love. In a live setting these guys just tear the roof off. More energy than a shipment of Red Bull and enough riffs to have your ears ringing for days.
The band will headline Bristol's Trinity on the 2nd of June, Nottingham's Jongleurs on the Sunday, June 3rd. They'll finally finish up the weekend in Manchester on Monday in Sound Control's Loft. For an idea of what you could be in for, check out a video of them performing "Wolf Hand" live earlier in the month at the top via Noisey. After that, jump over here for more info and to purchase tickets.
[News] Dot to Dot Festival Preview
Summer is creeping in and with that you'll of noticed a host of Festivals taking place in just about every corner of the globe. Dot to Dot Festival started back in 2005 in Nottingham bringing together some top music acts across a number of venues. Fast forward to 2012 and the event has grown to three cities, all playing host to the chosen bands over a weekend. This years event will take place over the weekend of June 2nd to 4th in Nottingham, Bristol and Manchester. It's sure to be a great way to spend the bank holiday weekend in the UK and some ridiculously good bands will take to the stages over the weekend.
Up at the top you can see some of the line-up which includes, The Drums, Pulled Apart by Horses, Wavves, Willis Earl Beal, Summer Camp, Willy Moon and countless other top artists. Over the next week or so leading up to the event we'll post up some recommendations for bands we'll most definitely be checking out and will be at the Manchester date to report on all the shows we possibly can! Keep your eyes peeled for it but in the mean time for some more info hit up the official site. The full line up can be found here while the venue guide and set times are also up for your perusal here. Tickets can be purchased for the event here so get planning and see you in the pits!