Issue 51••August 2010 Issue january
soundcheck w o l v e r h a m p t o n
Featuring: Hayley Westenra, Kula Shaker and more! www.wlv-soundcheck.com
| Soundcheck Magazine | August 2010
Editor: Contact:
Glenn Rossington editor@wlv-soundcheck.com
Design:
GR Creative
Advertising: Contact:
Kate Farrell kate@wlv-soundcheck.com
Contributions:
Glenn Rossington Andrew Gillard Ben Adsett Glenn Rossington R. Ladner
Photos: Published By:
GR Creative
Contributions: Article and photo contributions are welcome. Prints and transparencies are sent at the owner’s risk and although every care is taken, soundcheck accepts no responsibility for loss or damage. Please email photos to editor@glennrossington.co.uk (all images must be at least 300dpi) or post them to our address Legal Bit: Copyright Š2009 Soundcheck. All rights reserved. Nothing in this magazine may be reproduced in part or in whole without the express written permission from Soundcheck. Information on events, products, reviews and anything else does not nessicarily imply recommendations by Soundcheck. We have done our utmost to make sure all the content in this magazine is correct and accurate, but would emphasise the we, Soundcheck, accept no responsibility for any mistakes or omissions. All opinions expressed in this magazine are that of the individual contributor and are not nessicarily shared by Soundcheck Magazine
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Contents News 05 07 - 13
Editor’s Thoughts Music, Art & Food News
Features 14 - 17 18 - 21
Hayley Westenra Interview (Pt.2) To 3D or Not To 3D?
Spot Light 22 24
New Spice Restaurant Cinema Listings
Film Reviews 25 26 27 28
DVD Reviews 44
Hot Tub Time Machine
Reviews 30 - 31
New Albums
Live Music 32 33 34 - 35
Turnbull AC’s Kula Shaker 2000 Trees Festival
Goings On 38 - 39
Gig Listings
Toy Story 3 The Twighlight Saga: Eclipse Inception Whatever Works
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| Soundcheck Magazine | August 2010
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editor’s thoughts www.wlv-soundcheck.com
Following on from the last issue, we have received some very positive feedback over the last month. I even did a small interview and guest presented the excellent ‘Freshly Picked’ radio show on Wolverhampton’s own WCR 101.8FM with the excellent Katy Jay. I must admit I am becoming rather astonsihed with how quickly our name has spread and how receptive you all are of it. One thing I would like to know - and feel free to drop me a line at any point… is what would you like from us? We want to provide you with the best news and reviews and featurettes on the best of what Wolverhampton has to offer, and we need you to contibute your favourite things that are happening. This month, our issue features the 2nd half of our epic interview with Miss Hayley Westenra, as well as covering a host of local news, live music and film reviews alongside a rather disappointing restaurant critiqué. We’re off now for a few days break before the madness of the next issue starts, one which I am very looking forward to!!!
Glenn Rossington (Editor)
| Soundcheck Magazine | August 2010
We’re All Thinking It…
Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson has attacked the price of gig ticket, suggesting fans are paying too much. The singer criticised bands who charge extortionate prices for gig tickets, insisting they only have themselves to blame for half-empty arenas. “It’s a massive commitment to come and see a band,” he told Sky News. “They deserve not just a great show, but reasonable ticket prices. It’s just not right, you know - it’s a rock ‘n’ roll show, it’s not a cash cow.” Iron Maiden headlined the closing night at this year’s Sonisphere Festival in Knebworth on Sunday 1st August.
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One More Time Dave has decided to come out of retirement for one final tour. The show will be the whole history of Chas & Dave... The first half of 30 minutes duration will consist of CHAS & DAVE’S pub set ending with GERTCH in 1979. The start of their success. The second half will feature all their hits since then. Chas & Dave began writing and performing songs together in 1972, having been friends since the early sixties. Tickets priced £19.50, £17.50 + £15.00 are available from Midland Box Office: 0870 320 7000 or online: www.wolvescivic.co.uk
Signing Off Again UB40 are to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their seminal debut album, ‘Signing Off’, by performing the whole album live during a tour of intimate venues across the UK this autumn. Taking its name from the unemployment form, ‘Signing Off’ was heralded as a landmark album when it was released in late August 1980. In addition to performing ‘Signing Off’ in it’s entirely, UB40 will perform a second set on the evening featuring some of the band’s most loved tracks. Tickets are on sale now priced £35 from the Civic Hall box office
Love And Ruin?
After two and a half years spent channelling his energy into a very personal album, Steve Hewitt (ex Placebo drummer and cosongwriter) now returns as the rejuvenated frontman of Love Amongst Ruin... A multi-faceted hard rock band with the crunch of a stone age queen. The band play Wolverhampton’s Slade Rooms on 31st October. Tickets are on sale now priced £7.50. www.wlv-soundcheck.com
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A round up of all things musical, artistic, food and fashionable…
The Lines Album Launch Local heroes and Wolverhampton high flyers The Lines have announced a one off show at the City’s Wulfrun Hall in October, to officially launch their debut album. The Wolverhampton 4-piece have recently played with the likes of Ian Brown, and have received rave reviews across the national music press. Taking their influences from early Verve and The Stone Roses, it looks like mega success is on the cards for them. Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant is counted as a fan, praising them as his favourite band in Wolverhampton’s music scene at the moment. Tickets for the 8th October gig are on sale now priced £12.50 from usual outlets across the city.
Emma’s Advantage Rock chick and Kerrang DJ Supremo Emma Scott has announced the line up for her latest ‘Presents’ show to be held at the City’s Slade Rooms will be headlined by local act, Advantage. The Ska/Punk band who featured in our 2nd Issue will grace the stage to showcase why they are fast becoming one of the greatest new bands in Britain to a wider audience. The gig on Tuesday 5th October will see Advantage supported by other Midlands based groups Maycomb, Mean Poppa Lean and Falling Faster. This show is likely to follow others in the series of showcases and be very close to selling out. Tickets will be on sale soon through all usual outlets and via the Emma Scott Presents website: www.emmascottpresents.co.uk 08 | Soundcheck Magazine | August 2010
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Mogwai Return Mogwai have announced plans to hit the road for a UK tour early next year. The Scottish five-piece will be embarking on a series of dates, kicking off at Bournemouth O2 Academy on February 17. The band have also announced that they are heading into the studio with drummer Paul Savage for the follow-up to their 2008 album ‘The Hawk Is Howling’. Savage previously worked on the band’s 1997 debut ‘Mogwai Young Team’. They will play the following dates: February 17th Bournemouth O2 Academy 18th Cardiff University 19th O2 Academy Bristol 20th O2 Academy Leeds 21st Edinburgh Picture House 23rd Oxford Regal 24th Birmingham Institute 25th London O2 Academy Brixton 26th Manchester Academy 27th Gateshead Sage Tickets are on sale now priced at £20 via usual retaillers. Mogwai’s latest album ‘Special Moves’ is out now in all good music outlets.
Guns N’ Roses Again Guns N’ Roses have announced they are to play three UK arena gigs this October. Axl Rose and his band will headline: October 13th O2 Arena London 17th Birmingham LG Arena 18th Manchester MEN Arena Tickets go on sale at 9am on Friday 6th August. Meanwhile, the band are also set to headline the Reading And Leeds Festivals, which take place between August 27 and 29.
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Oasis Won’t Reform! Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher has said his former band will only get back together when they’re “fucking skint”. The singer, who is currently recording his debut with his new band Beady Eye, dismissed any chance of his group getting back together in the near future at the launch of his first Pretty Green pop-up store in London today (July 30). “The only reason why Oasis will come back is when we’re fucking skint. I’m far from skint as you can tell - and I won’t be skint for a long, long fucking time. Believe me, it ain’t gonna be happening,” he said. His comments come after he recently said that although he was initially “gutted” about the Oasis split, it was “the best thing that’s ever happened”. He also claimed Beady Eye - which features former Oasis men Gem Archer, Andy Bell and Chris Sharrock - have written the “best record you’ll hear for the next 50 years”. “We have this tune and it was a bit Rolling Stonesy, and I didn’t like it,” he said of the recording sessions for the group’s debut album, which is due out next year. “It was slow and boring. So we just got on a piano and fuck it up, Jerry Lee style, and stuck a John Lennon vocal on the top. It’s good.” 09 | Soundcheck Magazine | August 2010
A round up of all things musical, artistic, food and fashionable…
UK Film Council Is Axed
The UK Film Council is set to be scrapped in a shock decision by the Department of Media, Culture And Sport to cut costs. In a letter to the British film industry, John Woodward, Chief Executive of the Film Council, said he had been informed that “the target is to have the organisation totally closed down with its assets and its remaining operations transferred out by April 2012”. Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt said he wanted to establish a “direct and less bureaucratic relationship with the British Film Institute”. The decision follows statistics published last week (July 21) by the UK Film Council, showed that British indie films face tough financial times ahead in the current economic climate. The UK Film Council was founded in 2000 by the then Labour government to promote the British film industry. It started with an annual budget of £15m to invest in British films, and employed 75 people. Over the last decade the UK Film Council has donated more than £160m to make films, including the likes of Bend it Like Beckham and The Last King of Scotland. The Department Of Media, Culture And Sport added that funding would continue, but it would be through various other organisations. The Lottery currently gives £26m per year, but this is expected to increase to £32m after 2012. 10 | Soundcheck Magazine | August 2010
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Danny Boyle 127 Surprise Danny Boyle’s new film 127 Hours will be released on November 5, according to a surprise tweet from Fox Searchlight. The film stars James Franco as mountain climber Aron Ralston, who became famous in 2003 when he was forced to amputate his right arm with a knife after it became trapped under a boulder. The November release comes as a surprise to many because there have been no photos or screenings of the film released in the run-up to awards season, and it is not set to premiere at the Venice or Toronto film festivals. The film co-stars Lizzy Caplan, Kate Mara and Amber Tamblyn. The film will be Boyle’s follow-up to his multi-award winning 2008 film Slumdog Millionaire.
‘Soul Boy’ Comes Home A special preview of SoulBoy, the first UK film about the Northern Soul scene, is being screened in Stoke-on-Trent. The film pays tribute to the legendary music club Wigan Casino, which along with Stokeon-Trent’s Torch Club and Manchester’s Twisted Wheel, was a favourite of soul fans in the 1970s. So it seems only fitting that its first public premiere should take place in Stoke itself. The film, which was shot almost entirely at the King’s Hall in Stoke, will be followed by an allnight party. SoulBoy looks at the Northern Soul scene of the Wigan Casino nightclub. Like Wigan, Stoke-on-Trent was also hotbed for Northern Soul in the Seventies and staged all-nighters at Tunstall’s Golden Torch and Hanley’s Top Rank. The film is a coming of age story set against the backdrop of the Northern Soul movement and stars young British actors Martin Compston, Alfie Allen, Nichola Burley and Felicity Jones. The special preview of the movie takes place at the King’s Hall in Stoke on Saturday, 21 August 2010. www.wlv-soundcheck.com
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A round up of all things musical, artistic, food and fashionable…
TION: EXCLUSIVE PUBLIC INFORMATION: EXCLUSIV
Summer Row Still On Course? The £300 million Summer Row shopping dream in Wolverhampton is resting in the hands of one investor. The shopping complex has been on hold due to a lack of cash, after a funding deal with three Irish backers collapsed in December 2008. Developer Multi has spent months trying to secure half of the money, around £150million, so it can go ahead. Earlier this year bosses revealed they were in the final stages of talks with “a couple” of unnamed investors who could save the project, due to be anchored by Debenhams and Marks & Spencer. But it emerged this afternoon they were now focusing their talks with one party. Multi managing director Paul Sargent said: “Talks are still in process and we are now focusing on one party in particular. “There is a lot still to be done and lots of details to go through.” In December last year, consultants from Ernst & Young were appointed to get the project, in Snow Hill, back on track and Wolverhampton City Council revealed in February it was considering taking a bank loan of up to £20m to help lure investors. Multi has voiced hopes of getting the scheme started before the turn of the year. Compulsory purchase orders on 200 businesses that need to be knocked down for the development run out in February next year. 12 | Soundcheck Magazine | August 2010
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Elgar’s Wolves Tribute He may be best known as one of England’s greatest composers but underneath, it appears Sir Edward Elgar was just your average bloke who enjoyed Saturday afternoons at Molineux. Now a brief ditty written by the Edwardian musician in honour of Wolves’ legendary striker Billy Malpass is to get its first public airing. It will be at a major fundraising concert at St Peter’s Collegiate Church in Wolverhampton on September 25, marking the launch of a £300,000 appeal to restore the church organ. He regularly cycled to matches from his home in Great Malvern, Worcestershire. The concert starts at 7.30pm. Tickets are £9/£7 and available from the church on 01902 423388.
Dudley Zoo Riding High Dudley Zoo has seen a six-fold increase in profits – with visitors flocking to see new attractions, bosses said today. There were 15,000 extra visitors at the zoo last year, which was 7.5 per cent up on 2008, according to Dudley Council’s statement of accounts. This is mainly down to increased investment in new developments and attractions at the zoo. Projects in 2009 included a lion enclosure, hunting dogs, a new centre for orangutans and a modernised cafe. Zoo chief executive Peter Suddock said he was “delighted” with the figures and vowed the zoo would continue to grow. http://www.dudleyzoo.org.uk
i54 Lights Switched On They were supposed to help manage traffic around the i54 business park – and although the 6,000 job project has yet to find a developer, the lights have been switched on at Junction 2 of the M54 near Wolverhampton. Work to erect traffic lights on the roundabout on the A449 Stafford Road carried on regardless of delays with the £67m i54 business park in Pendeford 2 miles away. www.wlv-soundcheck.com
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Hayley Westenra By Glenn Rossington
Following on from last month’s first part interview with classical singer-songwriter Miss Hayley Westenra, we follow it up with the final half of our chat. Having discussed the potential of the highly acclaimed ‘Battle of Britain 70th Anniversary Tour’, we now discuss Hayley’s songwriting skills, her career highlight to date, and why you will not hear a collaboration with the Chemical Brothers on her record any time soon! So there are a few singers in your category at the moment; Katherine Jenkins comes instantly to mind, who seem to have tackled recent ‘pop’ songs or ‘chart songs’. Is that something that given the right circumstances you would ever consider doing, or would it be something you’d dismiss? I never dismiss anything really, you never know what’s going to come along. I might one day suddenly decide that I want to | Soundcheck Magazine | August 2010
be a pop singer! But I think it’s unlikely that I’ll want to go down that route. I feel that I have found the genre which I am comfortable in. It’s quite a broad genre in a way, in my concerts I am going from Joni Mitchell to folk and classical songs. But this next album that I am going to record will give people a clear idea of where I am heading. I’m not steering away from classical or anything, but it’ll hopefully be quite new with what I am creating. Im always keen to be creating new songs rather than having to rehash old ones. But at the same time there are songs which do deserve to be sung over and over again, so it is just about finding that balance. So there’ll be no chance of a surprise collaboration with say the Chemical Brothers for example? Umm... Not for this album! But you never know! I do actually enjoy collaborating with other artists from other genre’s, for example I did a duet with Ronan Keating, a Christmas www.wlv-soundcheck.com
song at the end of last year. That was a load of fun! These collaborations can inspire you to try different things out and I think it’s always good to be pushing the boundaries. So when you set about writing a song, where do you take your inspiration from? I just tend to get inspiration from anything and everything. Generally I can write if I’m under pressure! But sometimes what I tend to do if im not is I’ll just get a lyrical idea and write it down. Then I’ll go to my keyboard or my guitar and put a melody to it and generally just go from there. But maybe I’ll just come up with some chords and I’ll find a melody. But usually I’ll just start lyrically and start very small and work from there. It can www.wlv-soundcheck.com
vary though, I mean sometimes I’m writing with other people and you end up working in a different way to what you are used to. So it’s really hard to say, but all I can say is that it is just great to be able to write really, it’s a great sort of outlet for your emotions. It’s like a diary really, and it’s a bonus if you can get a song out of your work that other people can relate to! Sometimes like writing a diary you can write just a couple of lines, then the next you have loads of ideas to get down on paper and you just write and write away. Do you or have you ever suffered from the dreaded ‘Writer’s Block’? Umm yeahh, somedays definitely! | Soundcheck Magazine | August 2010
Somedays I will be at my keyboard and will just really want to write a song, but nothing will really come or I’ll just have a couple of little ideas that don’t go anywhere so I’ll just abandon them. With the knowledge that you write your own songs as well as being a classically trained singer, do you mind that the press seem to know you better as a singer-songwriter compared to what really kick-started your career? Not really, it is nice to have my songwriting acknowledged so I don’t really worry about it that much or about what labels are put on me. I guess other people like my record company or my management might do! For me, as long as I am in control, and I know what is good for me, and as long as I feel that I am putting on good concerts, getting positive feedback from my fans and being able to write good songs still then im happy and I’m not too worried as it keeps me satisfied. It’s always great to hear from an artist who is aware of their fans and who has a fairly close relationship with them. There are artists these days who tend to get swallowed up in the industry and it forces a divide between them and the fans... Yeah I feel that I have quite a close relationship with my fans. I guess these days there are things like Twitter and Facebook – although I’ve moved away from that now! But yeah Twitter I guess, just makes it so much easier to stay in touch with my fans. So yeah I’m always feeling the love from them! It’s nice to have that motive to be able to do that! It’s great how far the technology has come, just as long as you don’t spend too much time on it! There are things to be done, but it’s so easy to get sidetracked too! Looking back at your career to date, what has been the best thing on a personal level that you have been involved in? Goodness me, umm... it’s been a few years now! I’ve been in the industry for about 10 years now! I was signed to Universal in | Soundcheck Magazine | August 2010
New Zeland at the age of 13, but as for exciting... I can think of one really exciting performance. That was singing with André Bochelli. The first time I performed with him was in my home city of Christchurch in New Zeland. So to go out and join him on his New Zeland and Australian tour and to end up recording with him, wow. But the first time I performed with him live was such an honour to be introducing him to my home audience! So quite a choking experience then! Oh yeah! Well his album was one of the first ever albums I bought. It was one I had on repeat all the time, I loved the music and his voice! I was very inspired by them both. I just have one final question If you don’t mind! This is a general question that we tend to ask everyone we interview. We like to get our readers to take a diverse interest range of music, artistic and fashionable tastes, so are there any music artist who you could recommend to our readers? Anyone who you think on a personal level they should check out if they haven’t already? Yeah certainly! Well one of my favourite artists is a singer-songwriter named Sia. She’s an Australian singer-songwriter who you may have heard of, she’s not that underground anymore but I saw her at the Roundhouse in London the other day and I’ve been such a huge fan of her music for a while now. She’s very talented, so definitely Sia! Umm I have my laptop infront of me and I can’t think of anyone! Ingrid Michaelson is a very talented singersongwriter too. She’s an American girl and again so talented. I think that’s probably all I cant think of for the moment! That’s great thank you! Well thank you so much for taking the time out to speak to us today! We wish you the best of success with the tour and the forthcoming album recording sessions! Thank you so much, there’s nothing like a bit of pressure now! But honestly, it’s no problem, hopefully we’ll speak again soon! www.wlv-soundcheck.com
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To 3D Or Not To 3D? Our resident film critic Andrew Gillard looks at the Pro’s and Cons of 3D cinema and argues why it is just a trend and we should revert back to 2D as swiftly as possible! Since the dawn of photography visionaries of the medium have looked to take the art further. In 1878, Edweard Muybridge used 24 cameras to produce stereoscopic series of still photographs, this could be argued that this was the first second of moving Picture. A few years later in the 1880s, a camera was developed which could record a series of stills and could be replayed giving the impression of movement. Fast forward to the 1910s and we have the beginning of the rise of the silent movies and ascendance of stars such as Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. 1927 and we have sound, The Jazz Man becomes the first feature length “talkie” to premier, our own little island getting on that particular boat in 1929 with Hitchcock’s Blackmail. So in those 50 years cinema had grown into a beast which we would now recognise. Over the next 80 years things did not slow down. With the creation of handheld cameras, colour TV/cinemas, CGI coming to the forefront and the birth of the digital age. 18 | Soundcheck Magazine | August 2010
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Opposite Page: Avatar (2009) Left Top: Alice In Wonderland (2010) Left Bottom: The Princess & The Frog (2010) Below Top: Toy Story 3 (2010) Below Bottom: Shrek 4 (2010)
Film is so much more than what it was in the dark days of black and white. Imagine the fun Hitchcock or Chaplin could have had with the technology available to the likes of Cameron and Spielberg. The latest big thing seems to be stereoscopy or 3-D as it is commonly known. Not that, it is new by any stretch of the imagination, but more money has been poured into 3-D in the last decade than was given in the preceding century. 3-D has moved on leaps and bounds from the days of one blue and one red lens in a pair of glasses. Now we have liquid crystal glasses – effectively little LCD TV screens for lenses, each lens is polarized and thus limits the amount of light through, so each eye is seeing a slightly different image. Which is why when you take the glasses off it appears blurred slightly, as there are 2 imagines being projected at once, the one lens focuses on the one image and the other lens on the other image, creating the effect of 3 dimensions. That’s the history and the science behind how we got here, but now we are here has it all been worth while? The jury still seems to be out. Since 1983’s Jaws 3-D and Amityville 3-D www.wlv-soundcheck.com
there was quite a gap with hardly any 3-D films making it to the cinema screens. But 20 years later and 3-D started clawing back into the cinemas. So far, since the return of 3-D it appears as though it is only utilized in 3 different genre of movie: Horror, Animation and Fantasy. The idea of 3-D is to make the audience feel more like they’re part of the film, which is most likely why these 3 genre especially have taken on the use of 3-D. Animation is for the family, so being part of that would increase the warm feeling of togetherness (allegedly), Fantasy films use 3-D to make the person feel as though they are literally in another world (just look at Avatar) and as Horror is arguably about the sadomasochism, as the viewer 19 | Soundcheck Magazine | August 2010
imagines themselves in the position of the vulnerable characters, so by adding the realworld element of 3-D it is intended to make the transition from ‘audience member’ to ‘Jigsaw’s latest victim’ much easier. However, it is questionably as to the need for 3-D in these genres of film. Animation can create the feeling of 3-D easily without the need for the glasses anyway; all of the Pixar films are 3-D already due to the use of the CGI, the only difference now is that the stuff in the background looks a little bit sharper to the eye. Fantasy movies, so far, only appear to dangle things in front of you thinking you’re getting nearer a creature, and again like Animation, they just make the background look more focused. The biggest criminal in the use of 3-D though, has to be the Horror genre. Rather than using stereoscopy to
counterintuitive: you want to be drawn in, so they push you out. You want to feel like its real, but the massive scythe coming out towards you distorts your view and reminds you again that it is only a film. I once heard a comment by someone who said of the 3-D in Alice In Wonderland, “it was so good, you couldn’t even tell it was 3-D!”. Unquestionably, in this instance then you must demand your money back from Tim Burton
“it was so good, you couldn’t even tell it was 3-D!”. bring people into the film, it uses it for is to throw things at the audience or have blood splatter shown. Surely, if people go to the cinema for escapism they want to feel they are in the film, yet Horror directors think the best way to do this is by reminding them time and again they are not part of the film. It’s 20 | Soundcheck Magazine | August 2010
himself, you’ve just had to pay extra to see the film and you didn’t even notice it was in 3-D? Then Burton has failed in his job as a director of a 3-D film! Granted this person must have been a few sandwiches short of a picnic, but it is bloody impossible not to know you’re watching a 3-D film as you have www.wlv-soundcheck.com
Opposite Page Top: Up (2009) Opposite Page Bottom: How To Train Your Dragon (2009) Left Top: This Is It (2009) Left Bottom: The Polar Express (2004) Below Top: U2: Live In 3D (2007) Below Bottom: The Corpse Bride (2005)
to wear the most uncomfortable piece of crudely moulded plastic known to man. What about people who need to wear glasses dayto-day to see? Do they just wear the glasses over their glasses? What an awful design flaw. So you either have to watch the film with your eye glasses but no 3-D glasses, so all you see is a blurry mess, or you wear the 3-D glasses and no eye glasses and all you can see is a 3-D blurry mess. 3-D is as bad as using cameos in a film or blatant product placement. It takes you out of the world you believe you are in, so rather than thinking you could be in the back of Travis Bickle’s taxi something happens that is completely out of context, and sends you hurtling back towards reality. Watch The Island for some a perfect example of product placement ruining a film, or watch any episode of Friends when there was an appearance by Robin Williams, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, etc, etc and you will notice that the humour comes from the fact that it’s Robin Williams in Friends, not that it is an actor saying something funny. 3-D is very similar to this, it’s a tiny little gimmick that makes such little difference, but then when you notice it you think “Oh Yeah! I’m watching a 3-D film!”. www.wlv-soundcheck.com
It practically breaks the fourth wall. In trying to pull together this article, I tried to do a balanced argument. The one redeeming feature I could come up with – THE ONLY ONE – was sometimes when something comes flying towards and out of the screen you occasionally get someone jump and scream like a terrified schoolgirl, scared that they were going to get hit, and thus the laughter of schadenfreude flows. Although, Snakes On A Plane had a very similar effect and that didn’t need 3-D, it just needed snakes on a plane.
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Spot Light: Food
The New Spice
7/10 There is a friendly welcome as you walk into the New Spice on a Saturday evening. As quick as you walk in though, it is very tempting to leave! It took 25 minutes just to order our food. The restaurant wasn’t particularly buy for the time of night and plenty of staff stood around but not getting the hints we were ready to order. As soon as the food had arrived, there were a few problems. The food was edible, but just had no flavour at all. The one dish ordered that was specifically less spicey than the rest actually had more spice in it! To the point it was so hot we had to order water to go with the dish!
35-37 School Street Wolverhampton, WV1 4LF Tel: +44 (0)1902 427 654 Opening Times: Lunchtime: Sunday - Thursday 12pm - 2pm Evening: Sunday - Thursday 6pm - 11pm Friday -Saturday 6pm - 1am
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As with most Balti restaurants, the tables seemed closer than normal and very claustrophobic considering there is a second floor to the building. The service when we were ready to leave was exceptional. Just a shame it wasn’t focussed for the rest of our stay. Overall they need work, but are worthy of a second chance. www.wlv-soundcheck.com
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Cinema Listings
The Chubb Buildings, Fryer Street Wolverhampton, WV1 1HT
Bentley Bridge Leisure Park, Wednesfield Way WV11 1TZ
T: 01902 716055 W: www.light-house.co.uk
T: 0871 200 2000 W: www.cineworld.co.uk
Currently Showing Lymelife Le Concert Good Hair
Showing Later This Month Inception The Time That Remains Videocrazy Calamity Jane Toy Story 3 Gainsbourg
6th - 12th 6th - 12th 12th
15 15 12a
13th - 19th 13th - 16th 16th - 19th 19th only 2oth - 26th 20th - 26th
12a 15 15 U U 15
Currently Showing
Cats & Dogs 2: Revenge of Kitty Galore Inception Knight & Day Shrek Forever After 2D 7 3D Step Up 3D The A-Team The Karate Kid The Twighlight Saga: Eclipse Toy Story 3 2D & 3D The Last Airbender 2D & 3D The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
U 12a 12a U 12a 12a PG 12a U PG PG
Bentley Mill Way, Walsall, West Midlands WS2 0LE
ODEON Telford, Forgegate, Telford Town Centre Telford, Shropshire, TF3 4NE
T: 0871 220 1000 W: www.showcasecinemas.co.uk
T: 0871 22 44 007 W: www.odeon.co.uk
Currently Showing The A-Team Cats & Dogs 2: Revenge of Kitty Galore Inception The Karate Kid Knight & Day Shrek Forever After 2D 7 3D Step Up 3D The Twighlight Saga: Eclipse Toy Story 3 2D & 3D The Last Airbender 2D & 3D The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
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12a U 12a PG 12a U 12a 12a U PG PG
Currently Showing Toy Story 3 2D & 3D Alice In Wonderland Cats & Dogs 2: Revenge of Kitty Galore Inception Knight & Day The Karate Kid Shrek Forever After 2D 7 3D Step Up 3D The A-Team The Last Airbender 2D & 3D The Sorcerer’s Apprentice The Twighlight Saga: Eclipse
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Spot Light: Cinema
Toy Story 3 Starring - Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack,
Ned Beatty and many more. Reviewed by Andrew Gillard Toy Story 3 in 3-D to give it its full title, is set 8 or so years after the first film. Andy is now 18 and life is taking him away to college, so he packs up his oldest friends with intentions of putting them in the attic, however they get mixed up with Molly’s toys which were on their way to being donated to Sunnyside Daycare. Once there the gang soon realise that Andy is missing them and thus begins the breakout attempt and journey home. All the while Lots-O’-Huggin’ Bear (a.k.a. Lotso) (voiced by Ned Beatty) and his entourage of Big Baby (giant compared to the other toys), Ken (as in Ken and Barbie) (voiced by Michael Keaton) and Stretch (Octopus-like sticky toy voiced by Whoopi Goldberg) are all trying their hardest to stop them from leaving. With such an array of wonderful characters and fantastic big name actors, this film couldn’t be anything other than fantastic. Ken is hilarious, easily the funniest character in the film. Mr. Pricklepants (voiced by Timothy Dalton) is a thespian hedgehog. Lotso’s enforcer Big Baby has childlike scribblings on his/her body which closely resemble prison tattoos and walks around beating on anyone who Lotso deems deserving. One scene has www.wlv-soundcheck.com
the “bad guys” sitting around gambling, playing roulette on a See ‘n’ Say toy. All tiny brushstrokes that make the bigger picture a masterpiece worthy f the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. You can forget The Matrix and The Lord Of The Rings; Toy Story is THE computer-generated action/adventure trilogy of this generation. As clichéd as it sounds, the Toy Story’s really are films for kids of all ages. Toy Story wasn’t just another film to put the kids in front of to keep them quiet for 90 minutes, and they’d forget the characters as the kids grew older. No, Toy Story was a film to sit and watch with the kids. Toy Story has instilled itself into the hearts, minds and vocabulary of everyone the world over. Slowly but surely Buzz, Woody, the Potato-Heads, Hamm, Rex and Slinky et al have become as famous as Snow White, Dumbo or even Mickey Mouse himself. Non Spoiler 1: It is strongly recommend seeing the film in regular 2-D. See the article “To 3-D Or Not To 3-D?”. Non-Spoiler 2: DO NOT under any circumstances leave whilst the credits are rolling. You will miss some of the most amusing bits of the film if you do. 9/10 25 | Soundcheck Magazine | August 2010
Spot Light: Cinema
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse Starring - Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner Reviewed by Andrew Gillard For those coming to the film without any prior knowledge (where have you been living? Mars?!) Twilight is the story of vampires, werewolves and a girl stuck in the middle of the two. The preceding films have taken us on a journey with Bella Swann (Kristen Stewart), her love for vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), her relationship with werewolf Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) and both of the guys trying to protect her from Victoria (Bryce Dallas Howard) – a vampire hell-bent on revenging the death of her lover James, who died at the hands of Edward (see Twilight). Eclipse sees a mysterious force is trying to bring about the rise of an army of newborn vampires to take out the Cullen clan, and most importantly take out the beating heart of the Cullen’s, Bella. However, Jacob won’t let anything happen to the girl who owns his heart, thus Team Jacob and Team Edward join forces to protect Bella (doesn’t that make them Team Jedward?!). Yes, the storyline does sound quite hackneyed and “tweenie”. However, this is arguably the film which could potentially turn the series from what has been a tweenage (and tweenage-at-heart) girl’s fantasy, into something a little more grownup. Eclipse has shifted The Twilight Saga from all the saccharine melodrama of the first two movies and it has provided the audience with a much more watchable, less tedious experience and at points it could be quite amusing. Granted 26 | Soundcheck Magazine | August 2010
there are still several moments of pure teenage nonsense. Such as times when Edward is talking about wanting to preserve Bella’s soul and her reaction to this deep-and-meaningful moment was “wont you fancy me anymore?” almost infantile at times, but considering the target audience it is almost forgivable. The acting is marginally better than the first 2 films. Taylor Lautner shows there is potential of him becoming a leading man in the not-todistant future (given the right opportunities and roles), R-Pattz does as he has in every other Twilight film – although Edward is a role which only really requires a pretty face and someone who can scowl, again Pattinson has shown potential as a leading man, but he is seriously close of becoming typecast now. However, the weakest link (again) is Kristen Stewart, her acting (if you can call it that) is substandard and as woody as the love-child of Keanu Reeves and Keira Knightley, but then she is merely the vessel through which the audience sees Edward. Her role is merely to represent the everygirl, to be there without ever really imposing her presence on the screen. All in all this Eclipse may be the film which opens the franchise to a whole new audience. Even to the extent it would be possible to see and enjoy this film without any prior viewing, no mean feat from any second sequel. This could be the film which converts the cynical.
Rating – 7/10
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Spot Light: Cinema
Inception Starring - Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Cillian Murphy. Reviewed by Andrew Gillard Inception is a film 8 years in the making. After the success of Memento Christopher Nolan pitched this idea to the studios, and even though interest was high Nolan decided against writing the film as a chore, but left it to breathe, adding to it only when he felt he had something to add. So after such a long wait, this film was either going to crumble under its own weight or be one of the greats of our time. To help create his magnum opus, Nolan built a team of unrivalled talent. Relying on actors who have proved time and again that they can deliver (Leo DiCaprio and Tom Berenger), putting in some faces he has worked with previously (Ken Watanabe and Michael Caine) and throwing in a dash of the new (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page and Marion Cotillard). Cobb (DiCaprio) is a highly trained specialised thief, someone who can steal people’s deepest secrets via their dreams. Cobb took the job as a dream thief as an escape route from the US law, who believe he killed his wife, Mal (Cotillard). Cobb is given a chance for redemption by Saito (Watanabe), all he has to do is one last job... the hardest job of his career, as opposed to stealing he is ordered to plant an idea in Fischer’s (Murphy) mind. Cobb’s first task is to build his team, Arthur (Gordon-Levitt) is Cobb’s right hand man, Ariadne (Page) is the architect - designing the world of the dream, Yusuf (Dileep Rao) is the pharmacist who concocts the potions to www.wlv-soundcheck.com
keep the team asleep and the final piece of the jigsaw is Eames (Tom Hardy), the teams ‘forger’. Now with his team in place they have to go deep into the dream world to imbed this idea. Just to show that Nolan’s 8 years between the pitch and the delivery of the film weren’t wasted, you can see the sheer level of research and considered thought which have been put in to creating this work of art. You only have to look at the names of the characters to see Nolan’s effort. Ariadne is the name of the mistress of the labyrinth in Greek mythology, also characters Mal and Yusuf’s names are significant, however do not search out their meanings prior to seeing the film as they may provide a spoiler to their character. It would be hard to see how a man could write a film as dense and layered as this without many years of preparation: if 8 years is what it takes, then it was 8 years very well spent! Inception undoubtedly will be up for a whole host of awards and unless there is an absolute 100% belter of a movie between now and the end of the year, surely The Academy will consider (and hopefully honour) this as the film of the year. Whether it will win or not is another question altogether... If there is any justice then DiCaprio and Page must be nominated and so should Christopher Nolan. Inception has firmly established the British Director as the best writer/director working in Hollywood. To suggest Nolan is the modern day Alfred Hitchcock would not be an understatement. Roll on 2012 when Nolan’s Dark Knight returns.
Rating – 10/10 27 | Soundcheck Magazine | August 2010
Spot Light: Cinema
Whatever Works Starring - Larry David, Evan Rachel Wood, Michael McKean and Patricia Clarkson Reviewed by Andrew Gillard For every Annie Hall and Vicky Cristina Barcelona there is a Melinda or Another Woman. So any new Woody Allen film comes along with a certain amount of excited trepidation, we could either end up with another Manhattan or we could end up in Cassandra’s Dream. At least now Woody has realised he’s a writer/director and not really an actor. This film was originally slated for a late 1970’s release with Zero Mostel to star. Mostel’s death in ’77 caused Allen to shelve the project, until the writers strike caused him to return to this film in 2008. The opening scene of the movie shows misanthrope Boris sitting around with friends talking about the problems of the world, before breaking the forth wall and addressing the audience directly. Before you ask, no, this isn’t a remake of Annie Hall. But the film is characteristically Woody Allen, brimming with his auteur; pushing ideas on relationships and sex, surly, grumpy, crazy middle aged men, “real world” reactions and breaking the conventions of cinema (i.e. someone says/does something funny, others laugh. 9 times out of 10 you will not see this happen). The storyline of Whatever Works is about a young girl from Mississippi who runs away from her overbearing parents. Melody runs away to New York, where she meets Boris, whom reluctantly 28 | Soundcheck Magazine | August 2010
takes Melody under his wing; even though she is an “imbecile” and he is a “genius”, something which Boris takes great delight in pointing out at every possible opportunity. After a short friendship, Melody and Boris fall for one another, and before you know it they’re hitched. The story then shifts centre slightly once Melody’s mother, Marietta (Patricia Clarkson) turns up having tracked down Melody, and her new 57 yearold son-in-law, which she evidently is not happy about. Whilst Mike McKean is criminally underused here, the real star of the show is Larry David’s Boris. The frustrated genius, who surrounds himself with “inchworms” and “cretins” and everything that he claims to despise, yet clearly he takes great pleasure in being the only one who is truly in the know. To balance the marvellously dark Boris, we have the amazing bright light of dim-witted Melody. The theme of opposites balancing one another out is prevalent throughout. The light/dark, Boris/Melody, Day/Night and even the path of sexual nature which Melody’s parents take are all wonderful examples of the balancing act enforced on us by life. As Boris says, Whatever Works “is not the feel good movie of the year, so if you’re one of those idiots who needs to feel good, go get a foot massage”. No one sums the film better than Boris, so to quote the man himself “whatever love you can get and give, whatever happiness you can filch or provide, every temporary measure of grace, whatever works”, and this does work!
Rating – 8/10 www.wlv-soundcheck.com
Spot Light: DVD’s
Hot Tub Time Machine Starring - John Cusack, Craig Robinson, Lizzy Caplan and Chevy Chase Reviewed by Andrew Gillard A group of friends are drawn in to one another’s live again when one of their number almost kills himself. Thinking he tried to commit suicide the others decide to take a trip to the party town of their teen years. On arriving the gang find out that that particular town became something of a ghost town once they left, not wishing to miss a few days away from their miserable, failing lives they decided to make the best of a bad situation and partake in some “male bonding”. Whilst bonding in the hot tub something happens’ opening up a hole in the space-time continuum sending them hurtling back to the 1980’s. With Writer/Producer credits on High Fidelity, Grosse Pointe Blank and his Directing debut on Accepted, Steve Pink has shown us he has the abilities to deliver a well-constructed funny movie. Obviously from working on High Fidelity and Grosse Pointe Blank, Pink knew who to cast as Adam, the down-on-his-luck, run-ofthe-mill, cynical-yet-lovable All-American Joe. John Cusack is the quintessential everyman of Hollywood, parts like Adam are surely written with Cusack in mind. Building on from Cusack, Pink brings in a few differing flavours; representing the up-and-comers we have Clark Duke of Kick-Ass, Superbad and Sex Drive fame, the old-hats Rob Corddry (Old School, Blades of Glory and Semi-Pro) and critically- most definitely not token, Craig Robinson (The American Office). If ever anyone is going to fill the massive shoes www.wlv-soundcheck.com
left behind by the late, great Bernie Mac, with performances like this one it appears that Craig Robinson wants to be that man, and he might just do it. Hot Tub Time Machine feels like it is an amalgamation of several films. Back To The Future meets Road Trip or maybe it is more Ferris Bueller crossed with 40 Year-Old Virgin, or one might consider it to be High Fidelity-cum-Old School with just a dash of Blues Brothers thrown in for good effect. Either way Hot Tub Time Machine is musical, moving and amusing. It is a film about friendship spanning the decades (literally). Whilst the ending is somewhat mawkish, it is good fun nonetheless. This is probably a film for the guys more so than the gals. But don’t mistake it for another of the gross-out or Revenge of the Nerds type comedy handed out by the bucket load by the Judd Apatow stable or a post-modern attempt at comedy the Ben Stiller stable like to dish out. If anything it probably falls somewhere between the two, and is all the better for it. The DVD is available from 30th August from all good retaillers.
Rating – 7/10
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Spot Light: Albums
Klaxons - Surfing The Void
7/10
(Polydor) Three years after the release of their bombastic and hugely influential debut ‘Myths Of The Near Future’, Klaxons return with ‘Surfing The Void’. It’s a far cry from their day-glo enthused first LP. Not a siren or whiff of rave-hedonism in sight, the album’s influences draw far more from guitar driven, gothic sounds, but with the Klaxons’ weird and supernatural lyrics embedded throughout. A colossal punch kicks off the Klaxons’ second album. Scratchy, angular guitars throttle your attention until a tsunami of thunderous pounding drums swoop down, picking up James Righton’s airy vocals as they pass. Wobbly keys take hold and Klaxons wrap-up the album with an unrelenting mantra and swelling, thudding vibrations until the end. In summary, ‘Surfing The Void’ is dark, mysterious and full of explosions of euphoric light. Although not as attention-grabbing as their debut, it feels a lot more like a conceptual album; a more focussed, genre-specific take on their unqiue brand of rabid indie.
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Spot Light: Albums Everything Everything Man Alive
(Polydor) Everything Everything aren’t just for show and their album wasn’t a formulated, calculated attempt to stir up some new scene. Sporting successful singles, re-recorded demos and sparkling new efforts, it’s a debut album that should displease no-one. ‘Man Alive’ will cause a shift in the current music ground.
9/10
The Charlatans Who We Touch
(Cooking Vinyl) The Charlatans are loved for many reasons but one of which is no doubt the fact that no two albums they have ever released have ever sounded alike. Musically there is all sorts to be found here, including a one that wouldn’t go a miss in a circus! So all in all another step away from all previous releases, yet still unmistakably them.
8/10
Mogwai Special Moves
I Am Arrows Sun Comes Up Again (Mercury) recently departed ex- Razorlight drummer Andy Burrows has gone all Todd Rundgren on us. Intricate folk pop ditty Far Enough Away is driven by some tasteful Spanish guitar lines lifted straight from Al Stewart’s Year Of The Cat. It’s not a perfect album by any means, But it is an extremely promising debut
8/10
(Rock Action Records) You just knew that Mogwai was going to put together something special, or at the very least different, for their first ever live release. In an age where anyone can pull up their favorite live clips on YouTube in an instant, a band really has to put together something special to make a live package worth the fans’ time and cash.
7/10
David Gray Foundling
Eels - Tomorrow Morning
(E Works) The final instalment in a trilogy which has brought us the introspective Hombre Lobo and End Times could well be subtitled ‘After the Night Before’. Mark Everett is in typically reflective mood. Spectacular Girl – melodic, gentle, and reminiscent in tone of Beautiful Freak. All in all a chilling close to the trilogy.
6/10
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(Polydor) Less than a year after releasing his critically acclaimed seventh album Draw the Line, David Gray has announced the release of a new studio album, Foundling. It picks up where Draw the Line leaves off, creating a new chapter of lush, soulful songs that finds Gray returning to his folk music roots.
5/10
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Photography:R. Lardner
Spot Light: Live
Turnbull AC’s
2010-07-22 - Wolverhampton Varsity I always get excited when I spy a new band, especially when they have been recommended by a friend. Now I will be the first to admit that Hard Rock has never been high on my list of favourite music styles, but I can pick up on good music when I hear it. Tonight as I arrived at the venue, I am greeted by the band stood outside finishing food before their set is about to start. These guys are real down to earth people who are united for just one reason, and that reason is the music they make. Watching the guys on stage is like marmite, you are either going to love this band or hate it. Happily I am proud to admit that I liked them. They have the chunky riffs you expect from a rock band, they have the thunderous drums and heavy basslines. But for me it is singer Tom Bayliss’ vocals that are the selling point. Tonight however things seem a little too loud in the mix, but you overcome that. The passion from this young 32 | Soundcheck Magazine | August 2010
group is undeniable. Good things have been said about their performances and they lived up to expectations. For the last song of the relatively short set tonight, Tom climbs down into the audience and performs with ‘the people’. I think the only two negative things I found tonight were that there seemed too much gain on the guitars resulting in white noise over the feedback, which when is louder in the mix is rather painful on the ears, and the band spent too much time with their backs to the audience. Aside from these little niggles, the band show hope and promise. Certainly aiming for bigger things. They have further gigs lined up later this year and I urge all hard rock fans to check these boys out asap! I for one will be doing that again as soon as! Reviewed by Glenn Rossington www.wlv-soundcheck.com
Photography: G.Rossington K. McBride
Spot Light: Live
Kula Shaker
2010-07-08 - The Garage, Islington, London Kula Shaker have been the subject of alot of flack over the years. But since splitting up in 1999 and a short stint in his second band ‘The Jeevas’, Crispian Mills has reformed the 90’s experimental rock band and are now on their 2nd album since their return. Tonight is a showcase for competition winners who pre-ordered the album. The band arrive onstage to their traditional intro of Indian voices agaist a soft wurlitzer undertone. Kicking off with the briefest of hellos, the band are all smiles as they wind into 1998 single ‘Sound of Drums’, the room is literally bouncing. They slide straight into a b-side from their first single which was totally unexpected but very welcome. Lead track from the album ‘Peter Pan R.I.P’ sounds even more majestic and paints a gorgeous picture as Crispian swoons his way through the vocals. The gentle ballad ‘Ophelia’ and the punchy romp of ‘Modern Blues’ are showcased next and prove that www.wlv-soundcheck.com
with this album, anything that has been said against the band over the last few years should be neglected, afterall, we’re here for the music and they are riding high at the top of their game again. ‘All Dressed Up And Ready’ sees the stage debut of Bass player Alonza on guitar. It certainly gets the room clapping and stomping as the acoustic number builds up speed. ‘High In A Heaven’ and the epic ‘Winter’s Call’ are also showcased from the album. Classic tracks ‘303’ and ‘Tattva’ arrive before an inpromptu version of ‘Daniel Johnston’s ‘True Love Will Find You In The End’. ‘Hush’ is fired up next but it’s the last song of the night that reminds us how great this band are, the stunning ‘Govinda’ is played out to an adorning audience. As they leave the stage, the band look happy and visibly moved. Let’s hope a full tour is announced soon! Reviewed by Glenn Rossington 33 | Soundcheck Magazine | August 2010
Photography: D. Meason
Spot Light: Live
2000 Trees Festival
2010-07-16/17 - Upcote Farm, Withington, Cheltenham 2000Trees is a small festival, which takes place on the outskirts of Cheltenham. The festival has a strong focus on environmental responsibility and is proud to be a small, affordable festival. This year was the first time it had sold out, and this happened months before the festival started. This was unsurprising considering the incredible line up the organisers had tirelessly worked on to put on over the three stages. . As Thursday nights festivities began unfortunately so did the heavy rain and high winds, which slightly dampened spirits and clothing. Thursday night saw an interesting array of acts grace the small Leaf Lounge stage and a collection of comedians take the stage at the Greenhouse. Highlights included Bob & Jim’s entertaining pop songs composed of filthy hilarious lyrics, tapping feet to Sixnationstate and their fusion gypsy sound and the incredible voice, dramatic folk and unpronounceable name of Wojtek Godzisz. 34 | Soundcheck Magazine | August 2010
Waking up on Friday to a teasingly thin layer of cloud could not have made me happier. When heading to the Leaf Lounge for the first act of the day, the little known but now much loved David Goo Variety Band, David and his band created a perfect escape from the worsening weather. The next act of note was Men Diamler one man who I always look forward to seeing perform. He balances traditional folk with blues and occasional bursts of almost operatic singing. After the acoustic beauty of Men Diamler I headed to the main stage for the brutal musical assault that is Pulled Apart By Horses. So as the headline slot approached and the crowd began to gather, the atmosphere began to build and build as Frank Turner took the stage I think even he was blown away by the reaction of the crowd. His set was of course solid and had the crowd singing and dancing along from the first to last note of every song. www.wlv-soundcheck.com
Photography: P. Fisher
Spot Light: Live
Saturday started with Thrill Collins cover of ‘Mysterious Girl’ going through my head before we went down to see Wolverhampton based Carlos and The Jackal. Following on from Three Trapped Tigers was going to be a challenge, but Manchester fusionists Sonic Boom Six were the perfect choice to do so. They had the crowd dancing before they had played their first song and the crowd did not stop until they left the stage. The next on my list was Sparrow and The Workshop a band who I have seen once before. They are a band that take the new-folk genre and add a completely individual sound to it fusing elements of traditional country, surf punk and shoegaze into an unmistakable and haunting sound. The penultimate act of the weekend were Bombay Bicycle club who were simply disappointing; after all the hype behind www.wlv-soundcheck.com
them I was expecting something to back this up. It wasn’t that they were a terrible live act I just found them to be mediocre and in the wrong slot on the bill. Finally the last band of the whole festival were The Subways who have taken a break to write their next record so have not played many shows this year. There was definitely no danger of them being rusty from not playing as they burst into the most intense opening few tracks. Although not to everyone’s taste the Subways proved to be the perfect end to a festival as they burst through catchy energetic rock songs, which got the crowd going instantly. Overall, despite growing year on year 2000trees continues to boast the ethics of a small festival and is impossible not to enjoy. I’m sure next year will be bigger and better and the cycle will continue year on year. Reviewed by Ben Adsett 35 | Soundcheck Magazine | August 2010
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Spot Light: Events August 09th 10th 10th 11th 11th 11th 12th 12th 12th 13th 13th 14th 14th 14th 15th 16th 16th 17th 18th 18th 19th 20th 20th 21st 21st 21st 22nd 25th 25th 26th 26th 27th 28th 28th
The Sound Of Music The Sound Of Music Ricky Gervais The Lisa Mills Band The Sound Of Music Ricky Gervais Much Ado About Nothing The Sound Of Music The Grammatics The Sound Of Music Mirrors A Vision Of Elvis - Rob Kingsley The Sound Of Music Radio Black Forest Mick Thomas Little Feat The Sound Of Music The Sound Of Music The Sound Of Music The Crooked Fiddle Band The Sound Of Music The Sound Of Music The Musgraves The Midnight Club The Sound Of Music Guns 2 Roses The Rockin’ Berries Yeasayer Ugly Duckling Eels I Blame Coco Signify FWA Wrestling Ian Mcnabb
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Birmingham Hippodrome Birmingham Hippodrome Birmingham National Indoor Arena Wolverhampton Robin 2 Birmingham Hippodrome Birmingham National Indoor Arena Wolverhampton Bantock House & Park Birmingham Hippodrome Birmingham The Rainbow Birmingham Hippodrome Birmingham The Rainbow Wolverhampton Robin 2 Birmingham Hippodrome Birmingham Wagon & Horses Birmingham Kitchen Garden Cafe Wolverhampton Robin 2 Birmingham Hippodrome Birmingham Hippodrome Birmingham Hippodrome Birmingham Hare & Hounds Birmingham Hippodrome Birmingham Hippodrome Birmingham Flapper & Firkin Wolverhampton Slade Rooms Birmingham Hippodrome Birmingham O2 Academy 3 Wolverhampton Robin 2 Wolverhampton Slade Rooms Birmingham Flapper & Firkin Birmingham O2 Academy Birmingham Hare & Hounds Wolverhampton Slade Rooms Wolverhampton Wulfrun Hall Wolverhampton Robin 2
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Box Office Details To book tickets for any of the shows above, please use the following direct numbers, or contact them via the web Wolverhampton Civic Hall Wolverhampton Varsity Wolverhampton Robin 2 Birmingham Flapper & Firkin Birmingham 02 Academy Birmingham LG Arena Birmingham Rainbow Birmingham Kitchen Garden Cafe Coventry Kasbah Coventry Warwick Arts Centre Dudley JB’s
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Philadelphia Grand Jury Midlands Regional Showcase Gundogs
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The Depreciation Guild CW Stoneking Frank Fairfield Blak Can Double A Chief The Midlands Biggest Stand Up Black Mountain
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Birmingham The Flapper & Firkin Birmingham O2 Academy Birmingham O2 Academy 3
Birmingham Hare & Hounds Birmingham O2 Academy 3 Birmingham Kitchen Garden Cafe Wolverhampton Slade Rooms Birmingham O2 Academy 3 Birmingham Flapper & Firkin Wolverhampton Wulfrun Hall Birmingham Hare & Hounds
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