The National go Mad for it!

The National are returning to Europe. The Ohio band will headline Madrid’s Mad Cool festival which runs from 11 – 13 July.

Mad Cool is one of Europe’s newer festivals, only coming on the scene in 2016. Since then, headliners have included Foo Fighters, Neil Young, The Who, Kings of Leon, The Prodigy Depeche Mode, Pearl Jam and Arctic Monkeys. Well over 100,000 people will attend the festival.

Tickets are not currently on sale, but last year they sold for about €160. Translating that into sterling depends on the current state of play on Brexit negotiations, but about £135.

Seven album’s into their career, The National have always drawn large crowds in Europe and they should help shift a lot of tickets. The band has been playing new material in recent months, so fans can expect them to mix it up.

Eurosonic – Spotify list

I was into them before they were big!

Do you want to know the next big thing, chances are they will be playing at Eurosonic. ESNS is the biggest showcase festival of Europe and offers a stage to up and coming European artists over four days. It is where the industry goes to identify the next generation of musical icons.

The festival is divided in Eurosonic and Noorderslag. Eurosonic is taking place the first three days during which European talent takes the stage in more than 30 venues in the city centre of Groningen. After that, Noorderslag is taking place in De Oosterpoort where Dutch talent gets the chance to present itself to the public. Already over 60 acts had been confirmed. Today, another 120+ artists were added to that list.

Today’s announcements were: Adam Naas (fr), Alien Tango (es), Amanda Tenfjord (no), Annabel Allum (gb), Apey (hu), Apre (gb), Arp Frique & Family (nl), At Pavillon (at), Babe Sila (hu), Balcony (gb), Becky And The Birds (se), Belako (es), Black Futures (gb), Black Midi (gb), Blanco White (gb), Blind Channel (fi), Blu Samu (be), Blue Lab Beats (gb), Borokov Borokov (be), Cyril Cyril (ch), Danitsa (ch), Delgres (fr), Deluge (fr), Diron Animal (pt), Drahla (gb), Dvtch Norris (be), Emma-jean Thackray’s Walrus (gb), Erki Pärnoja: Efterglow (ee), Eut (nl), Farveblind (dk), Federico Albanese (it), Feet (gb), Fieh (no), Flohio (gb), Flynn (ie), Free Love (gb), Gerry Cinnamon (gb), Gold (nl), GRANT (se), Hildur (is), Hugo Barriol (fr), Ilgen-nur (de), Implore (de), Indianizer (it), Ivan Dorn (ua), Jimi Somewhere (no), Juniore (fr), K-phax (dk), Kælan Mikla (is), Kara Marni (gb), Kelvyn Colt (de), Kiddy Smile LIVE (fr), Kojaque (ie), Komfortrauschen (de), L’Impératrice (fr), Lass (pl), Laura Perrudin (fr), Lisa Morgenstern (de), Long Tall Jefferson (ch), Lonker See (pl), Louise Lemón (se), Machweo (it), Mambe & Danochilango (dk), MDC III (be), Molly (at), Moncrieff (ie), Nico Casal (es), Niklas Paschburg (de), O Gajo (pt), Ondt Blod (no), Pavvla (es), Penelope Isles (gb), Petrol Girls (at), Pillow Queens (ie), Pip Blom (nl), Pitou (nl), Plàsi (se), Portland (be), Powersolo (dk), Radiant Children (gb), Rendez Vous (fr), Rews (ie), RuthAnne (ie), Sasha Boole (ua), Scúru Fitchádu (pt), Sibiir (no), Sports Team (gb), The Blinders (gb), The Canyon Observer (si), The Entrepreneurs (dk), The Grand East (nl), The Mauskovic Dance Band (nl), The Murder Capital (ie), The Pier (it), The Psychotic Monks (fr), Tomat Petrella (it), Tversky (es), Villejuif Underground (fr), Wannes Cappelle, broeder Dieleman en Frans Grapperhaus (be/nl), Whenyoung (ie), Whispering Sons (be), Wild Youth (ie), Yegor Zabelov (by) and Кукла (si). More acts to be announced in the coming weeks.

Tickets are available from here.

The Pillow Queens, from Dublin, Ireland

Indiependence tickets on sale

Indiependence is, to me, the little festival that could. When it started back in 2009, it attracted a crowd of 3000 to Deer farm in Mitchelstown, Co. Cork. Since then, it has grown to a 15,000 strong festival. It has held its own well against stiff competition in the Irish market.

Indiependence has always had a nice mix of established indie stars with up and coming Irish artists. Last years headliners included Jake Bugg, Primal Scream, Walking on Cars, Everything Everything and Le Galaxie.

Early bird tickets go on sale this Saturday from tickets.ie. Ticket prices for early bird purchases will remain at last years level. Early bird tickets start at the excellent value of €109, while Tier 1 VIP tickets are priced at €169. Organisers have promised that they will be making their first line up announcement pre – Christmas.

Bobby Gillespie, Primal Scream at INDIE18 by Kieran Frost

Lost and Found on Malta – Annie Mac is back!

Annie Mac is back! Lost and Found is back! Back for its fifth birthday. Move quick and book your flights to Malta. Annie Mac has revealed the first names for her signature festival, which takes place on the May Bank Holiday weekend, 2 – 5 May 2019, in the St. Paul’s Bay area of the Mediterannean island.

This year’s line up is a diverse bunch. Among the first names to be announced are; Peggy Gou, Denis Sulta, The Black Madonna, AJ Tracey, Chase & Status, Mall Grab, Honey Dijon, Octavian, Patrick Topping, Bugzy Malone, Fredo and YXNG BANE. The event will take place across an amazing selection of indoor and outdoor stages.

Tickets are already on sale via the festival website. General admission tickets are currently from £109, with VIP tickets from £163, booking fees apply. The VIP tickets include a load of additional parties, that all the cool kids will want to be at.

Not a bad way to kick off the Summer season. To get a taste, Annie has given us one of the better launch videos.

Foreigner to headline Ramblin’ Man Fair

Foreigner are the first act to be announced for the classic rock fest, Ramblin’ Man Fair. Ramblin’ Man will take place from Friday 19th – 21st June, 2019. The event takes place in Mote Park, Maidstone in Kent.

Now in it’s fifth year, Ramblin’ Man Fair will normally attract an older crowd, unsurprising given its line up. Expect a crowd of about 15,000 to rock up to the event.

Foreigner, who have been on the go since 1975, have shifted over 80m records in that time. While the Foreigner name has over 40 years of history, only Mick Jones remains from the original line up.

With 9 studio albums, Foreigner have plenty of numbers to choose from. Big hits like, ‘I wanna know what love is’ and ‘Waiting for a girl like you’ should get the lighters / camera torches in the air.

Tickets are on sale here.

Bon Iver sets Portugese date

NOS Alive has announced their closing headliner and it is a beaut. Bon Iver will play the main stage on Sunday July 13th at the Lisbon festival. Bon Iver joins The Cure on the line up for the event.

Double Grammy winners Bon Iver are a truly unique act in the world of music. It is hard to believe and a little depressing, that it is over a decade since For Emma, Forever Ago was released. In the meantime, Justin Vernon and his pals have been somewhat less than prolific, only releasing two more albums, Bon Iver and 22, A Million.

Tickets for NOS Alive 2019 are priced €65 for a day ticket and €149 for the three-day pass. Here for more details.

Sofi Tukker confirmed for Exit

Exit Festival has announced their latest addtion – Grammy nominees Sofi Tukker. Exit, which takes place from the 4th to 7th July, has always prided itself on being eclectic and has proved it with its first two confirmed acts, The Cure and Sofi Tukker, representing completely different genres of music.

Sofi Tukker are known for tracks such as Best Friend and their Grammy nominated song Drinkee.

Early bird tickets are available from the Exit website.

Fresh blood – more additions for Bloodstock

Bloodstock, the UK’s biggest independent Metal festival has announced further additions to their line up.

Code Orange, Skeletonwitch, Rotting Christ and Eluvitte have been added to a bill which is led by Sabaton, Cradle of Filth and Scorpions. Other acts already announced include Children of Bodom, Queensryche and Dee Snider. By the time the lights go on, over 100 acts will be confirmed for this gorge of metal.

Bloodstock began life as an indoor event in 2001. After five years, Bloodstock Open Air moved into the outdoors, where it has been since. Over the years some of metal’s greatest acts, both old and new have performed, including Motorhead, Rob Zombie, Anthrax, Slayer, Alice Cooper, Saxon, Mastodon, Gojira, Behemoth, Trivium, Rob Zombie, Machine Head Twisted Sister and Lamb of God,

Bloodstock should attract a crowd of about 15,000 to Catton Park, Derbyshire on 8th-11th August 2019. Tickets, which start from £132 are available here.

If you see my little Red Rooster…

If you fancy a move away from the mainstream, maybe you should look for the Red Rooster. Red Rooster festival has announced Nick Lowe as their first headliner for 2019. Red Rooster is an Americana and Blue Grass festival which takes place from May 30th to June 1st. The venue is the spectacular grounds of Euston Hall in Suffolk.

Also included in the first line up announcement for Red Rooster are Low Cut Connie, Dale Watson and His Lone Stars, Jesse Dayton, Errol Linton, William the Conqueror and Joli Blon Cajun Band

Red Rooster has consecutively sold out the last 3 years, and 2019 will no doubt follow suit. Over the last five years it has grown from an opening audience of about 800 to a crowd of 5,000. It is one of the best value festivals out there at just £69.50 + Booking fee for the whole weekend, which includes 3 nights of camping and parking FREE.

Tickets are on sale here