LME
Arthur models his psycho sonic stage headgear
EimageLEjohn warburton
news
THE LEWES FESTIVAL he largest musical event in Lewes’ history, held on the weekend of 19-20 July 2013, is now a fond memory. The weather was kind, the event went off almost without a hitch – the main problem being the long wait to get in and out of the arena – and the general view was that Lewes done good. These great pictures by Carlotta Luke capture the ambience of the event which may be one of the last gigs Mumford & Son will play for a considerable amount of time. In the July 26 edition of the Sussex Express, it was reported by Lewes District Council that initial feedback on the economic benefit of the festival to the area could be between £2.5 and £4 million. Attendance was 24,000. At a meeting the LME had with the LDC, we were told that 70 per cent of the visitors came from outside the local postcode area and that 5,000 people camped over. The event generated revenue via retail, pubs & restaurants, hotels and B&Bs and raised the profile of the town and boosted tourism. LDC inferred that there would be no festival next year on that scale but possibly another in 2015. In his Viva Lewes column, Norman Baker MP asked: ‘So should we do it again? My feeling is yes we should. But we need all the right ingredients to be right, especially the right mix of bands. Topping the Mumfords will be a tall order.’ The LDC have more recently informed us that: ‘a full economic impact assessment has been carried out and will form part of a more detailed report to the cabinet councillors on 18 November. We are collating all the information and feedback we received from the festival and the report to cabinet will make recommendations on future festival plans as well as including a detailed summary of the success of the event.’
T MARCHING BANDS
Two of our local marching bands have been in the news of late as well as performing their annual duty with the Bonfire Societies on 5 November.
The Expedient Band The Expedient Brass Band, which has been going since the early ‘60s, regularly march with South Street Bonfire Society and are one of the few New Orleans-style marching bands left in the country. They were additionally called on this year to lead the funeral cortege for Keith Austin, one of the most important figures in modern bonfire history. The procession went from the The Dorset Arms to Southover church and was followed by a wake in The King’s Head, Keith’s local.
The Lewes Glynde and Beddingham Brass Band The LGB, who march with Commercial Square and perform annually at the Proms in The Paddock, had a record year in 2013 when, at the National Brass Band Championships at Cheltenham in September, they were crowned Third Section National Champions of Great Britain. As a result they will be a Second Section band from January 2014. www.lgbbrass.co.uk
Legendary pioneer of rock performance Arthur Brown has succeeded in his first attempt to play musical instruments by electrical brainwaves alone. In a private rehearsal in Lewes, collaborating with leading neural feedback artist Luciana Haill and observed by the LME, Arthur was able to control his brain sufficiently to bring a synthesizer under his direct control. Luciana, who is Artist in Residence for the Centre for Computational Neuroscience and Robotics at Sussex University, attached a set of electrodes to the musician's forehead and ear. Then, dividing Arthur's brainwaves into frequency bands, she was able to hand over a portion of the electrical patterns to control a digital synthesizer. Arthur remarked that his extraordinary ability to control his Theta and Beta waves: “was a technique taught to me by Native Americans". Also in this experiment, an unexpected correlation was seen between Arthur's chanting of long notes, and specific brainwave frequencies: this will be investigated further. He told the LME that the first application of brainwaves in his stage show will be during his next tour, during the Hard Rock Hell Festival in Pwllheli, Wales, on Thursday 28 November.
EimagesLEjohn may
hot bands SCOT FREE
This cracking blues/rock band, whose members are aged between 17 and 21, mix a set list of original tracks with classic covers – including tracks from Led Zeppelin, Elvis , Chuck Berry, Daft Punk and Free. Their new EP will be featured at a Con Club gig on Saturday 30 November. Expect to hear much more of them in the coming months. Left to Right: Seb Cole (keyboards), Hugo Bowman (drums), Kyle Brown (vocals), Jamie Hernon (bass), Max Gibson (guitar)
Kiss My Disco
LME
Arthur Brown BRAINWAVE SUCCESS
DJ Nick Carling runs six-week DJ workshops for local people with learning disabilities and then stages a ‘Kiss My Disco’ event [usually at The Volunteer] to provide them with a platform to show off their newly acquired skills to their peers and the community at large. He writes to the LME: ‘These events are open to everyone in the belief that integrating both 'learning disabled' and 'nonSuper 8 are, simply but not leastly, a great funk band playing learning disabled' old-school ‘70s dance-your-ass-off material – a guaranteed communities has a lot to offer dance floor filler. Check them out at the Starfish benefit gig both parties. It's fun and a at All Saints. 7 December. Left to Right: (Back) Ian Angell (bass), huge confidence booster to Andy Ferguson (sax/flute), Alice Hawkes (keyboards), Matt the individuals involved. Woodruff (guitar); (Front) Helen Cane (trumpet), Poppy The music is eclectic, from Schjerve (vocals), Joe Ellis (drums), Steve Franklin 'Soul Boy Perry' spinning (guitar/congas). Missing in action: Peter Thompson (trombone). 7" Northern Soul singles to Matt, the ex-raver who suffered brain damage and has found rehabilitation though reconnecting with the music he used to love (and more importantly still does).’ Nick one of the finest DJs in his own right, also runs the Fruitful Soundsystem and gigs in various corners of Lewes. Check www.freshtrack.org facebook/kissmydisco twitter/kiss_my_disco
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