Blossoms have announced details of their headline UK and Ireland tour for October and November this year, bringing them to both Portsmouth and Bournemouth. The Stockport band will be embarking on an extensive 20-date run of October and November shows in London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Leeds, Glasgow, and beyond....
Music
Review: Victorious Sunday – Biffy Clyro, Wet Leg, Kooks, Natasha Bedingfield, Becky Hill and more
By Sally Churchward and Lewis Maclean. Images: Victorious Festival/Strong Island. Thousands of people singing the lyrics “when we collide we come together” in unison along with Biffy Clyro on the Common Stage, so loudly it could easily be heard a mile or more away, to the backdrop of fireworks was...
Elkie Brooks brings her Long Farewell Tour to Fareham and Bournemouth
Image by Neil Kirk. Having originally started her career in music in 1960, and after a remarkable 64 years of performing live, Elkie Brooks has announced her ‘Long Farewell Tour’. A celebration of her illustrious, award-winning six decades in music, Elkie will be performing some of her biggest hits...
Review: Victorious, Saturday – Pixies, Sugababes, Crystal Tides, Lightning Seeds and more
By Sally Churchward. Additional reporting by Spring Wise and Lewis Maclean. Images: Victorious Festival/Strong Island. It would be impossible to talk about day two of Victorious and not take a moment to shake your head ruefully at the weather. Unlike the crowd at the front of the Common stage –...
Review: Victorious Festival, Friday – Loius Tomlinson, Fatboy Slim, Snow Patrol and more
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...
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...