BoomTown Fair 2015 Major Headliners Release

BoomTown Fair 2015 Major Headliners Release

BoomTown Fair has released the first wave of headliners for Chapter Seven of the massively genre expansive festival. Taking place over 13th – 16th August in the Matterley Estate near Winchester BoomTown once again will house heavyweight names from reggae to ska punk; psy-trance to world music, putting underground genres in the spotlight at one of the most creatively and musically ambitious festivals on the circuit. With 22 Main Stages situated over eight very individual districts the music programming is as diverse as it would be within any large city, providing something for all tastes, ages and cultures! 

The Town Centre, known for hosting some of the most raucous, party inducing acts this year will host:  LA’s anarchic Celtic punk folksters Floggying Molly, bringing their internationally celebrated break-speed anthems to Winchester for a rare and exclusive UK festival performance. The return of the hedonistic gypsy punk of Gogol Bordello, headlining the festival in 2011 they totally blew the Town Centre apart with their rip-roaring, frantic show that whipped the crowd into a palpable frenzy, this year with a new album recently released and the BoomTown citizens more than quadrupled in numbers since the bands last visit to the town, one mega party is expected to kick off! Keeping the knees in the air and the skanking skills up to max is the American ska punk of Streetlight Manifesto. One of the most requested ska acts by BoomTown citizens over the years, Streetlight will be bringing their life affirming vibes and outstanding energy in a very overdue first visit to the fair!! Another returning to the Town Centre are ultra-slick Parisian outfit Caravan Palace. After storming the place with one of the most memorable shows, these premiers of electro-swing and gypsy-funk are guaranteed to host one almighty spectacle, worthy of their fierce reputation as an ultimate live act!

Matisyahu, once known for being the Hasidic man of reggae, over the past few years has moved to a more secular style and will be bringing his highly polished reggae tinged hip-hop and soul to the Lion’s Den for a UK festival exclusive. Another festival headliner that can’t seem to stay away from the fair is Alborosie and Shengan Clan, this MOBO award winning artist will be on hand with his thumping basslines and talent that speaks for itself! Joining Matisyahu and Alborosie on the Lion’s Den are reggae legends Black Uhuru, the first ever winners of the Best Reggae album at the 1985 Grammy’s their music has provided a soundtrack to generation with tunes like ‘What is Life’, ‘Shine Eye Girl’ and ‘Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner’ dominating any dancefloor when they drops! Heading over to the southern hemisphere for a taste of New Zealand roots reggae, Katchafire will be bringing their gloriously chilled out sunshine vibes for even more global flavours in the Lion’s Den.

Whilst over on the Old Mines folk and world stage are Katchafire’s Antipodean brethren, the awe inspiring John Butler Trio, with guitar skills so incredible the only other sound that can be heard when they are playing is that of jaws dropping to the floor!! These Aussie guitar heroes are a powerhouse of fusing folk, acoustic and roots and are the perfect tonic to a busy festival day! After welcoming the stunning desert sounds of Mali last year with Tinariwen, BoomTown will be making a return voyage to the country for more musical mastery with Amadou and Mariam, fusing Afro pop with desert blues this Grammy nominated husband and wife duo have been performing together for more than 30 years and are the biggest-selling African act of recent times; along with fellow Mali musician’s Songhoy Blues, who were recently pegged as Mail’s next big thing, no small feat considering the company they keep! Other acts on the Old Mines include festival stalwarts Dreadzone with their mashup of dub, reggae, techno, folk and rock, ultimate fusion outfit Transglobal Underground, acclaimed folk roots of Edward II and Scotland’s finest instrumental fusion folk band Peatbog Faeries, full line up for Old Mines will be revealed in a few weeks.

The brand new Psychedelic Forest secret headliner has also now been released as Infected Mushroom doing an Old School LIVE set, and joining the already announced Astrix, Ace Ventura, Perfect Stranger, Liquid Soul, Juno Reactor who are topping up a psy-trance bill that is one of the strongest seen at a UK festival in years!

DSTRKT 5 dance line up was announced a couple of weeks ago and was headed up by Squarepusher, Spor, Noisia, Machinedrum, Metalheadz takeover, Surgeon and many more.

This is just the first wave of headliners for Chapter 7 of BoomTown Fair that is bursting with so many genres the festival provides a musical tour, delving of the most powerful art forms in the world! The full district line ups are still to come and will cover the following genres on these dates:

10th Feb: Mayfair Avenue (Electro-Swing, Swing, Vintage remix)

13th Feb: OldTown (Balkan, Gypsy, Gypsy Punk & Pirate)

17th Feb: Barrio Loco (Hip hop, House, Bass, UK Garage)

20th Feb: Whistlers Green World, Folk, Folk Punk, Comedy)

24th Feb: Wild West (Bluegrass, Hillbilly, Yeeha)

27th Feb: TrenchTown (Reggae, Dub, Dancehall)

3rd March: ChinaTown (Ska, Ska Punk, Punk)

Gogol Bordello announce December UK tour dates for 2014

Gogol Bordello announce December UK tour dates for 2014

Following their weekend performances at Reading and Leeds, Gogol Bordello today announce a run of UK dates this December, the band will play:

Gogol Bordello – December 2014

Monday             08         O2 Academy Newcastle

Tuesday            09         O2 Academy Liverpool

Thursday           11         O2 Academy Birmingham

Saturday           13         London Roundhouse

Tickets go on sale at 9am on Friday 29th August priced £19.50 regionally and £24.50 in London (subject to per-ticket charge plus order processing fee) and are available from www.livenation.co.uk  or www.ticketmaster.co.uk or www.ticketweb.co.uk.

Gogol Bordello have spent the last decade getting down with that energy through their meteoric live shows and have earned a solid reputation as "the hottest global touring act to come out of New York (Billboard)" and "the world's most riotous live band (Rolling Stone).”  Their wildly energetic live shows are celebrated by fans worldwide and have brought them to nearly every corner of the globe.

“Our sound comes from being a group of polyamorous musicians. The style comes from musicians born and raised in various elements, like (bass player) Thomas Gobena’s Ethiopian meters and (Russian violinist) Sergey Ryabtsev and (folkloric Russian accordion player) Yuri Lemeshev’s palette of colors. Everyone does their own thing to keep the train moving” says frontman Eugene Hutz.

For their sixth full length album Pura Vida Conspiracy, released in 2013, Andrew Scheps, who was the recording engineer on 2010’s Trans-Continental Hustle, stepped into the producer’s chair and helped them capture the feel of their vibrant live performances. “Andrew is a saint,” Hutz says. “From the first time we met, I felt like he was part of our family. He was keenly aware of our musical evolution and encouraged us to encapsulate the passion and experimental energy we’ve accumulated in the last few years of intense world travel.” 

The band’s long time goal of creating a global style of music is fully realized with the heartfelt tunes on Pura Vida Conspiracy. “What makes Pura Vida Conspiracy so strong is that, unlike other records we’ve done that are also musically polyamorous, this one combines our adventurous spirit with a stronger rock anchor,” Hutz says. “People ask how I had the confidence to attempt this task and I tell them it was not confidence. I had a feeling I needed to do it, but no idea if it would work out. When we scream on stage it’s to acknowledge all cultures are beautiful masks, but they only take you so far - to a nice carnival or masquerade. True human spirit is beyond culture, that’s why my main interest is in human potential. Music is a way to explore that and you can see how it links up with the idea of pura vida. ‘Pura vida’ is pure life, ‘conspiracy’ is word play on the fact that most of the people in the world are so focused on everything going wrong that they fail to see the 50% that’s going right.”

Hutz founded Gogol Bordello in New York City in 1999, after leaving Ukraine in the aftermath of Chernobyl. In keeping with his vision of creating an international groove, he recruited musicians of all ages, races and cultures, including bassist Thomas Gobena, from Ethiopia, Russian violinist Sergey Ryabtsev from Moscow and percussionist Pedro Erazo-Segovia from Ecuador. 

www.gogolbordello.com / www.facebook.com/gogolbordello / www.twitter.com/GogolBordello