Music is a bountiful feast, an endless buffet of mellifluous morsels to suit all tastes, open to all who want to listen. And so it should be with life, open to all of us to enjoy to the best of its advantage; we all share this pale blue dot and it behoves to make our collective journey through space and time as good as it can possibly be. To paraphrase the legendary duo of William "Bill" S. Preston Esq. and Theodore "Ted" Logan, we should be excellent to each other. Some people who are channelling their inner Bill & Ted are the fine folks at Southampton's GROW Project, a day service for adults with learning disabilities that offers its members assistance in acquiring new skills, focusing on improving both their independence and quality of life. In addition to their excellent work day-to-day the GROW Project also organises a FREE one-day music festival, GROWfest. GROWfestwas set up with the aim to provide a free, safe environment for adults with learning, mental or physical disabilities in which to enjoy the festival vibe (an experience that, yes, the rest of us take for granted). Since the first festival in 2017 GROWfest has, ahem, grown in both size and scope, opening itself up to all in the community to enjoy together. The line-up for GROWfest 2019 so far includes five-piece cover outfit The Honest Lawyers, and local singer-songwriter Jack Howson, with more acts still to be confirmed. GROWfest 2019 takes place at the Royal Victoria Country Park, Netley, this Saturday, 22nd June, with live entertainment from 1100 to 1600.
Let's face it, we all love a Bank Holiday weekend, and an Easter Bank Holiday is even better; a long weekend that offers both extra opportunity for alcoholic excess and a bonus Monday to spend recovering with Netflix and Deliveroo's assistance.However, if you're going to spend a slow day improving your sofa's butt groovewhilst Mads Mikkelsen goes a bit John Wick, it's good for your karma to have done something worthwhile over the extended break.
Rather than prop up a fancy bar in Gunwharf (well, some people do) why not make for Elm Grove on Saturday 20th April and help do something good for the environment, and maybe enjoy some loud rock and a hefty slice of local metal too. Yes, you guessed it, it's The Deco's first charity all-dayer of 2019! The line-up for this year's inaugural shindig boasts some heavy rock from Tirana, metal courtesy of Earthborn Kings and Stray Bullets plus some fast punk from Bitterman. Joining the fray are West Country stoner rock outfit Cybernetic Witch Cult who you can get of a taster of via the embed below:
This feast of live music is in aid of the Freshwater Life Project, an NGO that aims to make real changes to support, protect and preserve aquatic habitats across the globe. Founded by a small team of independent researchers the Freshwater Life Project seeks to effect change, conserving wetlands, lakes and rivers to secure a future of all the types of biodiversity which rely on these aquatic habitats.
The live music starts from 1400, with bands playing through until 2200 (with DJ Matt Random keeping the engine running until midnight). Advance tickets are not available, rather entrance is via donation, paid at the door on the day. It bodes to be a large and hefty day of music and, if you sample The Deco's Asgardian cocktail menu too heavily, you may need to spend the Sunday on the sofa too.
Cultural collective The People's Lounge are well known for hosting a diverse array of talent at their events, at their Sunday night Late Lounge Sessions at Southsea's HUISor via their now annual presence in the World Music Village at Portsmouth's Victorious Festival (where their tented stage hosts a variety of artists, providing a programme of spoken word, poetry and discussion, as well as hosting both live music and DJ sets).
Whilst The People's Lounge has a presence at Victorious the World Music Village is curated by the Arms Around The Child charity, an organisation that aims to provide love, hope and dignity to children around the world who in desperate need of it. Similarly local charity Friends Without Borders provides support and friendship to asylum seekers, refugees and immigration detainees in the Portsmouth area, and it's for these two organisations that The People's Lounge are hosting a musical fundraiser this weekend.
Funk The Borders takes place this Saturday, 2nd March, at The Loft on Albert Road (upstairs of The Kings pub) and features an eclectic line-up of Funk, Folk, Hip-Hop and, perhaps, some Jazz too. Nice. Singer-songwriter Megan Linford, whose new single First Day of Spring features below, will be performing as will TPL's own Global Sounds Portsmouth music project.
There'll also be some hip-swinging tunes courtesy of The People's Lounge Funk Band and up-and-coming local hip-hop act Prøspects will be laying down their flow (which, I'm reasonably assured, is the correct parlance). Prøspects recently released the Grim EPwhich features Deceit, available below:
It promises to be a musical selection box of an evening, with DJ sets from Sahara Rock, Mo Funk and Sam Foot in addition to the live acts, supplying good music to the paying punters whilst helping do some good for those that need a hand. Tickets are priced £5 and can be purchased in advance via EventBrite.
Despite the Creme Eggs on display in my local corner shop it is definitely beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Admittedly, after having already endured several months of adverts preaching rampant consumerism and over-indulgence, I'm not exactly in the festive spirit as yet (bah, and furthermore, humbug) but here's something that fair warms the cockles and helps melt away my inner Scrooge; the 9th Annual Christmas Covers Party. This yearly event brings together some of the best and brightest of Pompey's alt-music scene to rock some Egg Nog, have some fun and raise money to support the valuable work of The Rowans hospice. Situated just outside of the city The Rowans aims to improve the the lives of those living with life-limiting illnesses, their families and carers, both in Portsmouth and throughout South East Hampshire.
The line-up for this year features Battery Hens, Horse Flies, Hooch, DadHair, The SLM, Cyprian Sceptre, Glorious Bulletheads and Flybums, all of whom are no doubt all practising the three covers apiece that they'll be performing. The venue for this festive farrago is The Wedgewood Rooms, with Thursday 27th December the date for your diaries, tickets £5 in advance. And yes, I'm really hoping that Battery Hens take on this Muppet Christmas classic. Fingers crossed.
This weekend, under the banner of the We Shall Overcome campaign, a series of music and art events will take place across the UK. The aim of these events is both to raise awareness of the ongoing effects of austerity and provide help to those in our communities affected by it. The policies of austerity have had an impact on communities all over the country, including Portsmouth and its surrounding areas, and unfortunately it's only through the efforts of organisations like the Trussell Trust that some in our community are able to put food on the table.
We Shall Overcome is an alliance of artists, musicians and others who came together to provide practical assistance to those affected by austerity. Since 2015 they've encouraged people to organise gigs and events that:
Get direct help to those in our local communities who have been adversely affected by austerity policies.
Raise awareness, show solidarity or apply pressure to those who have political power.
The Wedgewood Rooms is hosting an all day event this Sunday, 7th October, which will feature live performances from The Autumn Stone, Southerlies, Amba Tremain, Brave Rival, Blue Harvest and several others. Rather than buy a ticket for your day's entertainment the organisers instead ask that you bring a small box of food; all food donated will be distributed amongst local foodbanks.
If you are unable to attend an event this weekend but want to help others in your community, here are some links to local foodbanks:
Oxjam, if you didn't already know, is a multi-venue music event, held annually, that supports grassroots music across the UK whilst also raising valuable funds for Oxfam. Oxjam events take place in towns and cities nationwide, organised by volunteers, that can be either one-off gigs or music festivals.
In previous years Portsmouth has hosted several smaller Oxjam events, usually at the Edge of the Wedge, but this year Pompey is going large; Oxjam Portsmouth is a one-day festival, to be held at Portsmouth Pyramids on Saturday 13th October, and features both a family-friendly day session (from midday-1700) and an evening music session (from 1800-2300).
Tickets are available now via WeGotTickets, priced at £4 (Early Bird, standard price £5) for the day session and £8 (Early Bird, standard price £10) for both the day & evening sessions (ticket prices are subject to booking fee).
