IT'S OFFICIAL! Lancaster Music Festival will take place on the weekend of October 9 - 11, with more than 100 bands performing for your listening pleasure in 20 city centre venues.
"It's about time we celebrated the variety and quality in music that Lancaster has to offer," says festival coordinator Ben Ruth.
"Too right." I say. "It's about time indeed."
And it is really. There's few places in the country you can enjoy so much live music almost every night of the week, so it's only right that it should all come together in one big celebratory weekend.
Jazz, blues, world, folk, indie, punk, rock and pop performances will take place in Lancaster pubs, with The Dukes, The Storey Creative Arts Centre, Barnbox Records and More Music all getting in on the action.
There'll be more on this in the coming months, but in the meantime, Ben is asking people to get involved on a voluntary basis in various capacities.
If you have something to offer contact info@lancastermusic festival.com, or if you are a band who want to play, contact music@lancastermusicfestival. com.
Next weekend sees Lancaster's newest club night WIRED 2009 taking to the turntables at Cuba in Dalton Square.
If you're tired of "the same old crap week in week out" (their words not mine!), this mixture of indie, electro and house could well be one to try.
Resident DJs Ampslave, Dirty Dan and newcomer Ryan GoGo Carter will be playing each week, with guest DJs from around the country including, next Friday, Leeds man Nicky Touch, followed by, on July 10, Lancaster legend The Rev, back after having played around the world with his bands and DJ collectives, including the Prodigy. Queue jump tickets are £4 from Reef clothing, and pre and after parties are taking place at The Friary and The Lounge.
To win 10 pairs of free tickets to the launch on July 3, email me (nick.lakin@lancasterguardian. co.uk) and tell me what the Prodigy's last album was called. First correct email received wins!
Also next Friday in Morecambe, More Music Presents...holds its third and final show of the summer with performances from Guo Yue, Fitz n Fox and the Vocal Force Choir, from 8pm at the Devonshire Road venue.
Guo Yue is an international soloist and composer whose bamboo flutes can be heard on the soundtracks of Bertolucci's Oscar-winning film 'The Last Emperor'.
Fitz and Fox are an acoustic duo playing traditional styles with global roots on the Spanish Guitar and Cajon, with squeezebox, voicebox, percussion and whistles.
The family event is open to all ages and tickets are £5 for adults and £2 for under 18s/concessions.
Call 01524 831997 or email
info@moremusic.org.uk.
