By Sally Churchward. Additional reporting: Lewis Macean. Images: Victorious Festival/Strong Island. Hats off to the booking team at Southsea’s Victorious Festival – they pulled an absolute blinder with Friday’s line up. Until last year, Friday was more of a mini-preview of the main weekend event – yes there were...
Music
The Power of Punk: Punkfest raises more than £1000 for charity
By Laura McCarthy. Punkfest surpassed their £500 charity goal, hitting a total of over £1700 in aid of Naomi House and Jacksplace. Hosted by The Peg & Parrot in Totton on Saturday 10 August, Punkfest was a live music event in which local alternative bands from across Southampton and Portsmouth...
Wickham Festival move pays off
Photo credit: Striking Faces The Wickham Festival’s switch to a new site has proved to be a huge success. Organisers took the long-standing popular event to a new field a few hundreds yards away in a bid to avoid the mud which proved such a problem last year. And...
Review: Wickham Festival day 4, Manran, Tony Christie, Rura, Curtis Stigers, Katherine Priddy
By Graham Hiley. What a smooth ending to the Wickham Festival courtesy of two masters of their art. Curtis Stigers and Tony Christie shared headline billing in the Big Top and showed just why they have been at the top of their profession for so many decades. First up...
Review: Wickham Festival Day 3 – Levellers, Skipinnish, Ferocious Dog, John Otway and more
By Graham Hiley. Wickham fans faced the agony of choice thanks to an embarrassment of riches on Saturday night. There were so many top-class acts that they could not all be housed on one stage creating some tricky choices. Possibly the biggest clash came at the end of the...
Review: Wickham Festival Day 2 – Suzie Quatro, Muireann Bradley
By Graham Hiley. Suzi Quatro has famously said if she ever turns round and shakes her ass to silence then she will know that is the time to call it a day. Judging by the raucous reaction at the Wickham Festival she will be going for a long time...
Review: Wickham Festival Day 1
By Graham Hiley. It was a day of mix and match as the 2024 Wickham Festival got off to a fantastic start. Phil Odgers began with John Kettle playing songs by Phil Ochs from their new album Far Rockaway and then closed the night with the Men The Couldn’t...
Robert Jon & The Wreck come to Southampton this autumn
Southern California powerhouse Robert Jon & The Wreck recently unveiled their latest single, “Hate To See You Go,” and are also touring the UK this autumn, bringing them to Southampton in November. This new release follows the success of their eighth studio album, Red Moon Rising, which has been lauded...
Interview: Millie Manders on songwriting, speaking out and playing in Southampton
By Vicky Greer. Pictures by Billie Perrett. In an industry that oftentimes feels overrun with corporate labels, unaffordable gig tickets and ambiguous politics, Millie Manders and the Shutup are a breath of fresh air. They consistently use their platform to call out injustices in the world and use their...
Personal Trainer come to Portsmouth next year
Dutch collective Personal Trainer release their anticipated new album Still Willing on 2nd August via Bella Union. Following the singes “Intangible” and “Round”, band have recently shared their new single and LP highlight “Cyan”. Additionally, Personal Trainer have announced new UK and European live shows for 2025 to add...