Editor’s Musings . . .

Happy New Year! I hope everybody had a great Christmas and New Year and you are all suitably stuffed full of food and filled with the good intentions of New Year’s resolutions. After a jam-packed festive season things are quieter in comparison but Gloucestershire still has some musical gems on offer this month. In January’s issue we have reviews from Neville Staple at the Guildhall and Ellie Goulding’s DJ set at Propaganda. We also see the first of our new music column by Jen Duffy talking about one of the county’s oldest and favourite alternative clubs The 2pigs. As always we have a listings for you to peruse and plan your nights out around in January. February’s issue will have an exclusive interview from Neville Staple as well as all the usual information on gigs and club nights, reviews and general musical goings on. With all of your favourite bars, clubs and pubs back in the swing of gigs and music nights there is no excuse for you not to go out and support Gloucestershire’s music scene! Amelia x

We Need You!

We are always looking for news and reviews for AD Music from lovely people like you! Being a non-profit initiative we don’t pay but can get you into gigs and publish your work. Please contact Amelia if you want to contribute anything to this fanzine here: amelia@glosmusicforum.co.uk

The Gloucestershire Music Scene

January in Gloucestershire’s Music Scene is always quiet as the county recovers from the hangover of Christmas and New Year and attempts to scrape back some money by getting back to work. However this certainly does not mean that there is nothing going on! In fact January promises so delectable musical delights throughout the county. January plays host to the Cajun and Zydeco Festival at The Gloucester Guidlhall. The Gloucester Cajun and Zydeco Festival is the longest running Cajun festival in Europe and is celebrating it's 18th year. For more information on the festival go to www.gloucestercajunfestival.blogspot.com Elsewhere in the county The Frog and Fiddle in Cheltenham has lots going on in the form of Tone Music Night’s monthly gig featuring La Heroine, Emmett Brown and Neil Morris. The 2pigs gets a visit from US band Another Option accompanied by local boys Swift Manouver and lots more can be found on the listings pages. February sees the county visited by some exciting acts including The Feeling, The Detached and The Flashguns among others. AD Music is now also available online at www.admusicglos.wordpress.com

The Frog and Fiddle – Thrill Collins Christmas Extravaganza Words: Dan Gutteridge

On the evening of Friday 17th December, Thrill Collins put on an evening of live music, mince pies, and plenty of festive fun. With a full bill and a room, packed full of balloons, party hats and all round Christmas treats you could see from the outset that it was shaping up to be a fun filled night. As the first act, Not In My Nature took to the stage, the room was still filling up. However with acoustic guitar covers warming up the new arrivals it was a good start to the night, with the highlight being a cover of the new Kings of Leon single ”Pyro”. Brown Torpedo was next up, an electro duo that was quite different to all the other bands playing on the night. But they soon joined in with the covers and played their own take on Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream, which I found quite enjoyable, and was quite astounded that they were making the sounds that were coming from the speakers. A noise that’s very hard to describe through words and one you can only really appreciate after seeing them live. The third band, Wishful Speaking were obviously full of Christmas cheer. As they launched into The Pouges, Fairy Tale of New York, fiddle and all! They got everyone doing their own Irish jig and brought a smile to the whole audience. It was the bands last night playing with guitarist Vic Fairley, who said goodbye and got a fine cheer half way through the set. They paved the way well for Thrill Collins. As the band that this night was all about, took to the stage, everyone in the packed out Frog and Fiddle was full of cheer and ready to have a good old sing song, with Thrill Collins. As they set the crowd a light with their Jazz/Ska takes on 80’s and 90’ pop “classics”. They soon got to my highlight of the night, a take on Rage Against the Machines, Killing In The Name. A cover that took all the hatred and intended anger out of the original and instead filled it with joy and happiness, without losing any of the quality of the original. As they powered through the rest of their set they showed exactly why there one of the most in demand bands in Gloucestershire. A night that promised so much defiantly delivered and got me full of the Christmas cheer! And they even fulfilled with the guarantee of snow. I couldn’t of asked for anything more.

BBC Gloucestershire Introducing… is the show for your new music. Every Saturday from 5:30pm on BBC Radio Gloucestershire, you can hear the tastiest new cuts of unsigned music from across the county. We might have only been on-air since the beginning of October, but the response has been fantastic with shed loads of you uploading your tracks at bbc.co.uk/introducing – keep em comin’! Catch Paul Moss presenting BBC Gloucestershire Introducing... every Saturday from 5:30pm to hear the tastiest cuts from the county's up and coming artists. The 30 minute show also includes interviews with the people behind the music and a gig guide for who to see play live, and where.

Paul Moss presents ‘BBC Gloucestershire Introducing…’ every Saturday from 5:30pm on BBC Radio Gloucestershire 104.7, 95, 95.8 FM, 1413 AM and on the BBC iPlayer

And now a brief word from Cheltenham’s MND . . .

(this is in no way a true representation of the Cheltenham MND) Hello there, Well – what a year 2010 was... WHO CARES! It’s 2011 now and we’ve already had our first mini-festival of the year (Potstock) and we’re looking straight at the Cheltenham Folk Festival coming up between 11th-13th February featuring an ever increasing quality of line-up. The Guildhall will see the Gloucester Cajun & Zydeco festival and La Heroine and Emmett Brown will be releasing their EPs on the 27th of January. And that’s month one. With a new direction, new boss and soon-to-be-up website this year is looking better than ever for our respective music scenes in Gloucestershire, all of which seem to possess both depth and originality. My hope for the New Year? One of these fine artists finally breaks through to the ‘mainstream’; we need someone to fly the banner for the huge amount of creativity that seems to flow from the hills of the Forest to the plains of the Cotswolds in our county. Who do you reckon it could be? See you next month, A x

The Gloucester Guildhall – Neville Staple

Words: Liam Scriven Neville Staple is a face known throughout the world and people will recall his work in The Specials and Fun Boy Three, but more recently he has been gigging worldwide with his own band. The warm up band I Call A Strike performed a great set and did well waking up the crowd for the delayed Neville. When speaking to the people at the gig, it was obvious many had seen him before, and the reason was his uniqueness and how he performed. People told me they had come from Bristol, Birmingham and even as far as Wales. A buzz of electricity entered the Guildhall the second he went on stage, and the energy didn’t end until he finished his set. He began with this new material, which he and The Neville Staple Band have created, and he then moved on, to the delight of the crowd, to classics from The Specials including Ghost town and Too Much Too Young. It was obvious why the crowd enjoyed him so much, as the music played is so unique compared to a lot of other live acts I’ve seen this year. Staple’s love for what he plays is obvious as I have never seen a 55 year old man jump around a stage like this before. Only a small amount of people complained about the delay because he was stuck on the motorway, but it was clear these were washed away ones he began playing. The biggest reaction the crowd gave was for A Message for Rudy, which saw a few grown men trying their best to climb over the barriers. The best news after this gig is that Neville will be back in Gloucestershire in June for Wychwood Festival.

2011’s first playlist is courtesy of The University of Gloucestershire’s Tone Radio Station Manager Mr Robbie Pert!

Rusted Root – Send me on my way You may know this song from hit film Matilda or perhaps more likely from the Ice Age thrillogy. Well ignore that because its an amazing song and very good for perking you up in the mornings. Worth looking up the video too, they are a right bunch of hippies. Madness – Waiting for the ghost train Madness have always and will always rule, anybody that writes them off as a pub jukebox band is an idiot. Quote me on that. Professor Grren Feat. Lily Allen – Just Be good to Green Yeah, I don’t care. Sigur Ros - Staralfur It’s sleepy time and Sigur Ros are first on my list of lullabies. This song makes more or less sure I’ll be comatose before the second on the list starts playing. Easy Star Allstars – Subterranean Homesick Alien From the amazing track for track cover album of OK Computer this is a fantastic

reworking and features a who’s who of current ska, reggae and dub (NOT DUBSTEP) talent. Divine Comedy – Songs of Love Wonderful song by one of those bands you forget you like and then get obsessed with all over again. Fun Fact – The middle eight of this song is the theme tune to Father Ted.

This Month’s Club Night Review is from Propaganda at Moo Moos in Cheltenham. Words: Jack Higgins

You'd be somewhat correct in assuming that, the best part of Cheltenham had ventured out to see Ellie Goulding at Propaganda, on what was officially the biggest night of the year for Xmas parties, to which Propaganda was certainly no exception. 15 Minutes before the club had opened the queues were already forming for what promised to be a huge night. For those lucky enough to get inside, the night certainly delivered across all 3 floors, with the usual onslaught of every thing from punk and metal from Propaganda's Sabotage room to the indie disco up in the main room. Upon the arrival of Ellie Goulding to the propaganda decks, it is fair to say that things in the main room became a little bit on the cosy side, with fans fighting to save the last bit of ‘dancable’ space for her set. Ellie currently visiting a lot of the Propaganda cities around the UK, pulled off a great set to which the crowd appreciated greatly. Music according to Jen Duffy.

As this is my first column for AD Music, I thought it would be best that I write about something I know and love, Live Music. From festivals to concerts to pub gigs, I actually cannot get enough of live music. Because of this love, I became a promoter in my hometown of Ipswich and have carried on promoting in Cheltenham. And for this column, I’d like to write about my favourite venue in Cheltenham. The Two Pigs has been going strong for over 10 years, providing a place for local and national bands to showcase their talent. Since moving to Cheltenham in 2009, The Two Pigs have played host to some amazing bands that I’ve wanted to see live for a long time. Make Out Kids and Pegasus Bridge are just a few of them.

Along with the extremely friendly staff and amazing music talent at the Pigs, the atmosphere of the venue is the reason why I go there week after week. I’ve worked with a number of venues around Cheltenham and also in Ipswich, and the main thing that a music venue needs is good atmosphere and character and the Two Pigs is a perfect example of this. It was so refreshing to find a place like the Pigs when I moved to Cheltenham, finally somewhere that hosts decent gigs that people are interested in. The Two Pigs call themselves ‘Cheltenham’s Premier Alternative Club’, and after being there I know it’s the complete truth. Want to contribute? Very much like this section states every month, we like listings, reviews, editorial, previews, pictures, art, cartoons and would like to fill these pages with things you care about. We‘d love to hear about anything to do with live music in the county really and can help with anything from promoting you here to getting you reviewed, played on student and local radio, putting you in touch with venues, musicians and artists across the county and just about anything else you can think of! Want to advertise? Put your gig posters in with the mag for distribution? Ask what our favourite kind of ham is? You can contact Amelia – amelia@glosmusicforum.co.uk AD Music Editor Amelia Scognamiglio | PR/Listings Amelia Scognamiglio | Cover Design Mr Robbie Pert | Listings Design Robbie Pert | Listings Contributor Ollie West | Staff Writer Jenny Duffy | Staff Writer Jack Higgins | Thanks to all the people who contributed to issue five, special thanks (again) goes to Claire Leadbeater @ The University of Gloucestershire for organising the funding and production of this work. Produced in conjunction with AfterDark. AfterDark Editor Justin Box | All work remains property of the original owner, used with permission. Reproduction in whole or any part (especially the listings) of this fanzine would be awesome as it’s great to spread the word people, just make sure you credit the fanzine : )