Oxford and Newbury Ocelot Oct 2015

No: 112 October 2015

Oxford & Newbury Edition

FREE

A celebration of

B E E R

p28

Plus....

Rob Newman Milky milky in Newbury p12

Luke Coleman on the refugee crisis p6

Sweet

We talk to Andy Scott p18

Fiesta-time!

A mexican feast awaits p34

FOOD AND DRINK / THEATRE AND ARTS / COMEDY / LIVE MUSIC

#112

OCT ISSUE Are you looking at my pint? p28

For Starters

04 Michael Bosley 06 Our Man in Iraq Arts and Culture

09 Are You Talkin’ To Me? 10 Theatre List 12 Rob Newman 15 Oxford Playhouse Music

14 Rod Garfield 18 Andy Scott from Sweet 20 This is New Music 23 Groovers on Manouevres 24 Gig Monkey 26 The Gig List Food and Drink

28 A Celebration of Beer 34 Mexican Fiesta time!

37 Feastival - The Review The Final Bit of the magazine

38 Agony Girl and Twisted Peel

From beer to eternity!

We love a bit of beer at The Ocelot.

Correction.

We love a lot of beer at The Ocelot.

Anyway, in this issue we celebrate beer by highlighting some of the best local breweries around.

We’re very lucky in Ocelotshire as we host some of the world’s best breweries and the world’s best beers.

We’ve also got a bit of a music celebration going on with an interview with Andy Scott from Sweet plus Gig Monkey is also up to his usual antics going around and catching gigs around Oxford.

Our food section has a bit of a Mexican feel to it this month with our resident foodie Dave Stewart giving you recipes galore so you can have a fiesta like no other. We also sent someone to Feastival to have a taste!

The current refugee crisis is something that we feel quite strongly about at The Ocelot and our columnist Luke Coleman, who has been living out in Iraq for the past few years and has first hand experience of the refugee camps, gives us his take on the situation.

All in all, it’s quite a packed issue.

Write into me at jamie@theocelot.co.uk

Jamie Hill

Editor: Jamie Hill - jamie@theocelot.co.uk Sales: Dave Stewart dave@theocelot.co.uk 07872 176999 Telephone: 01793 781986 Publisher: Positive Media Group, Arclite Building, Peatmoor, Swindon SN5 5YN Printers: Acorn Print, Swindon

www.theocelot.co.uk

For Starters

So Spar so good...

A Nerd’s Last Word

by Michael Bosley The way we shop has changed unrecognisably in the past twenty years.

With just a burst of binary data down a copper cable, we can guarantee a same day delivery of our bread, milk and Preparation H, straight to our door.

This in turn gives us more time to immerse ourselves in the rich, cultural pickings afforded to us by a society that values artistic and creative expression and understands the vital role that broadcast media has in being able to present for our delectation the likes of Tattoo Disasters UK on Channel 5 and The Woman With No Face on er, Channel 5.

With technology now sapping so much of our free time, it’s important that we aren’t distracted from the warm glow of liquid crystals flickering away on our walls and in our hands by what our parents would probably have termed “chores”.

In the western world, chores are those inconvenient administrative gaps in life that technology or the free market hasn’t been able to fill…yet. Dishwashers wash our dishes, washing machines wash our clothes and window cleaners clean our windows.

Shopping is one of those chores that, thankfully, can be outsourced to another party in exchange for custom. But sometimes, even with these processes in place, we can still forget the milk. And when we have half an hour of Katie Price: In Therapy (Channel 5) still to watch on catch-up,

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there’s no option but to throw on a pair of slippers and amble down to the nearest Spar.

The Spar, despite its Dutch roots, is as quintessentially English as the rapidly depleting Post Office. Like the American equivalent, the 7Eleven, the Spar is the place to go when you urgently need a packet of fags, a coffee from a machine or you’re desperate to carry out an armed robbery.

Like a snowflake, no one Spar shop is exactly the same, but here are ten things to look out for that I believe capture the magic of the Spar: 1. Someone buying lots of scratch cards, insisting on scratching them at the till.

2. A huddled gang of bored suburban youths (if found in rural areas, usually harmless and unarmed).

3. A small forlorn dog tied up and howling outside.

4. Alcohol priced per can rather than per pack.

5. Everything slightly more expensive than a supermarket.

6. Unrivalled selection of ‘own brand’ crisps (see onion rings/bacon rashers etc) 7. Till/counter plastered with peeling notices held on with old sellotape (“No Cashback”/ “Minimum £5 spend on cards” etc) 8. A CCTV system that lets you watch yourself queuing on an old CRT monitor.

9. Automatic doors that don’t open in time.

10. An ATM with a tiny screen that charges for withdrawals.

For Starters Helping the refugees is the very least we can do... as human beings.

Off The Grid with Luke Coleman Our Man in Iraq It’s difficult to know where to start, isn’t it? The whole idea of this column, when the editor asked me to send monthly dispatches from Iraq, was to paint a picture of a place I felt was misunderstood. I’d only been living there 9 months or so, but was clear in my mind that my preconceptions of life in the more fractious areas of the Middle East was wrong. The vast majority of people were unfailingly welcoming, wanted to share experiences and were proud of their country.

Syria spiralled out of control and as refugees sought peace in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, my correspondence had to focus on the sadness. I wrote about our efforts to get food packages together for the 70 or so families that had found themselves in Erbil in late 2012. A year later I outlined the amazing work of RISE Foundation, where I volunteered to put on Disney cinema nights for kids at Arbat Camp, further east.

Last August several of us aimlessly handed out all the water we could buy to Yazidis and Christians displaced by the encroaching hell of Islamic State.

I’ve tried to scatter daft stories of paragliding near Mosul and skiing on the Iranian border, but life in Iraqi Kurdistan is permanently coloured by the war all around us.

The latest layers of misery are the civil war being fought on the streets of Kurdish towns in Turkey, and the refugees seeking help in Europe. I don’t want to preach, but it most likely sounds like I am. But I want to be clear about one thing, something you’ll have heard before.

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These people are not coming to Europe to live on benefits and exploit a system that frankly doesn’t exist outside of the fevered nightmares of unthinking UKIPers and the like. They are running to make a better lives for themselves, and that has been proven to improve the economies of the countries with the foresight to allow them in. It doesn’t come without problems, but giving asylum to those in need is the very least humans can do.

A friend told me of their Facebook

wall being worryingly full of support for Britain First and other hateful ignorance. I asked them to look at who was posting – sure enough, the greatest digital vitriol was shared by those with the whitest of white bread lives. Tucked away in towns and villages secluded from the benefits of multi-cultural society, I often ponder why they get so scared.

And then I decide I don’t really care, everyone is entitled to their opinion.... but, please, please don’t be that guy or gal.

Be in the know and even submit events at our nifty website

Film

Giving credit where credit’s due...

Guess the film! Here’s a clue - Phil Collins was somehow involved and it isn’t Buster!

Are You Talkin’ To Me? A Film column by Jamie Hill The end credits are something that we all take for granted.

It’s that bit at the end of the movie where you can finally get up out of your chair and shake off all the popcorn without annoying that couple behind you who kept tutting throughout the film whenever you shifted slightly to get more comfortable.

We don’t exactly sit there transfixed trying desperately to spot the name of Julia Roberts’ personal assistant’s hairdresser’s pet’s therapist. Or who was that second extra from the left in that scene where Daniel Craig went into a shop to buy a packet of Revels.

A lot of hard work goes into a film. A whole army is involved. But we don’t care. We just get up when the time comes ignoring the fact that blood, sweat and tears went into getting the fat suit just right in Big Momma’s House 5 - Momma Brings Peace To The Middle East. It doesn’t matter to us.

All that matters is that occasionally you get someone with a stupid name like Geoff Fuchs - the assistant kettle carrier for Martin Scorcese in his classic movie sequel Kundun - The Return (which incidentally had the tagline he’s reincarnated again but this time it’s personal.)

Some cinemas even put the lights on before the end credits have even finished. That’s like blowing a raspberry straight into the face of Stephen Spielberg. Cinema attendants start cleaning the aisles even before we’ve found out that WETA had a CGI analyst just to do the hair molecules on Donald Sutherland’s eyebrows in The Hunger Games Five - Mockingjay and Silent Bob Strike Again.

The reason I know about sitting through the credits is

because of the increasing number of films which force us to sit down throughout as they’ve added ‘a credits scene’ tucked right at the very end.

It started with blooper reels. Those hilarious out-takes from the main feature that run at the same time as the credits. Pixar do those magnificentally. My alltime favourite blooper reels though are still from the Cannonball Run movies. They were funnier than the films!

But it’s the Marvel franchises who’ve really gone to town on making us sit through the credits just so we can see the hidden scene that is tacked on the end to make us salivate for the next film in the franchise.

Marvel have got so greedy they’ve even introduced a mid-credits scene so you get two hidden scenes in the same credits.

That makes finding out who had the job of cleaning out Thor’s codpiece just that little bit more worth it.

Personally, I think we should all pay a bit more attention to the work that goes into something. This shouldn’t just apply to movies though. It’d be good if other industries started to do it.

Wouldn’t songs be that much more interesting if after the final beat we then got a list read out to us of everybody that was involved in a monotone voice?

No? How about restaurants? Menus could list the chef, the sous chef, the dishwasher, the waiter, the man who fitted the carpet, the farm, the cow’s parents, the cow’s grandparents, the animal that cows evolved from etc. etc.

I think you get the general idea.

Credits: Jamie Hill, his wife, his kids, his mum, his dad, that teacher who told him he wouldn’t amount to anything when he was eight, his first boss at the chip shop, the faulty condom factory. etc. etc.....

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Theatre & Comedy List Thursday October 1 DANCE: Without Stars And There We Have Been 7:45pm - Corn Exchange, Market Pl, Newbury, West Berkshire RG14 5BD THEATRE: Krapp’s Last Tape – Samuel Beckett’s one man play 8pm - Arlington Arts Centre, Mary Hare, Newbury RG14 3BQ Fri October 2 to Sat November 14 ART: And Breathe… - Exhibition 10am to 5pm - Old Fire Station, 40 George Street Oxford OX1 2AQ Fri October 2 to Sat October 3 THEATRE: Every Brilliant Thing 7:30pm - Pegasus Theatre, Magdalen Road, Oxford Friday October 2 TALKS: In the Spotlight With Richard Hahlo 10am to 5pm - Old Fire Station, 40 George Street Oxford OX1 2AQ TALKS: Oxford Playhouse, Oxford University and the Maison Francaise d’Oxford present Ariane Mnouchkin 5pm - Oxford Playhouse, Beaumont Street, Oxford COMEDY: James Mcaster – Represent

8pm - New Greenham Arts, Greenham Business Park, 113 Lindenmuth Way, Newbury RG19 6HN COMEDY: Mark Thomas: Trespass 8pm - Cornerstone Arts Centre, 25 Station Road, Didcot, Oxon, OX11 7NE THEATRE: Blake Remixed 8pm - North Wall Arts Centre, South Parade, Oxford OX2 7JN COMEDY: Alfie Moore: The Naked Stun 7:45pm - Old Fire Station, 40 George Street Oxford OX1 2AQ Saturday October 3 COMEDY: Jeremy Hardy 8pm - Cornerstone Arts Centre, 25 Station Road, Didcot, Oxon, OX11 7NE THEATRE: Distractingly Female 12:30 pm Location : Old Fire Station, 40 George Street Oxford OX1 2AQ COMEDY: The Best In Live Stand-up Comedy with Jimmy McGhie + Laura Lexx + Jon Pearson + Luisa Omielan 7:15pm - Glee Club, 3-5 Hythe Bridge St, Oxford OX1 2EW Sunday October 4 COMEDY: Frisky and Mannish: Just Too Much

in association with Wychwood Brewery www.wychwood.co.uk 8pm - Cornerstone Arts Centre, 25 Station Road, Didcot, Oxon, OX11 7NE Tues October 6 to Sat October 10 THEATRE: A Touring Consortium Theatre Company and Royal & Derngate Northampton co-production Brave New World 7:30pm - Oxford Playhouse, Beaumont Street, Oxford Tuesday October 6 TALKS: An Audience with Sir Richard Shirreff 2pm - Watermill Theatre, Bagnor, Newbury TALKS: S.A.R.U. presents: Sound I’m Particular 7:30pm - Old Fire Station, 40 George Street Oxford OX1 2AQ Weds October 7 to Sat October 10 THEATRE: Sunset Boulevard Corn Exchange, Market Pl, Newbury, West Berkshire RG14 5BD Weds October 7 to Sun October 11 FAMILY EVENTS: What to do when you find a Dinosaur 10:30am - BT Studio, Beaumont Street, Oxford Wednesday October 7 FILM & ART: And Breathe…film night

New Zealand Warrior Haka dance at Pegasus Following their appearance at Cowley Road Carnival this year, Corey Baker Dance brings its brand new production Kapa Haka Tale to Pegasus Theatre in Oxford It takes place on Saturday October 17 at 2pm and 6pm as part of the Family Arts Festival taking place from October 9 to November 1.

Kapa Haka Tale, fuses the native Maori performing art, kapa haka, with contemporary dance, and brings to life the well-known enchanting Maori tale Hinemoa and Tutanekai. Transporting spectators to a magical and atmospheric world, Kapa Haka Tale captivates audiences through powerful and mesmerising choreography, ethereal digital creatures, and an awe-inspiring set, rich with colour, nature and beautiful tribal Maori art.

Through the complementary use of innovative mobile digital technology the audience are immersed in Maori culture like never before as they are exposed to the legend, the art-form and digital Taniwha (supernatural creatures) puppetry and a glistening lake. Hairs on the back of your neck will be standing as the famous New Zealand love song Pokarekare Ana, and fierce Haka are performed. You might recognise the haka as the traditional Maori war cry performed by the New Zealand rugby team. Kapa haka is a showcase of Maori heritage and cultural identity through song and dance. A Kapa haka performance involves choral singing, dance and movements associated in the hand-to-hand combat. www.pegasustheatre.org.uk for tickets.

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“He’s a pussycat really!” is not something you can say about this bloke! - pic credit - Time Unlimited Tours

Theatre & Comedy List 7:30pm to 9pm - Old Fire Station, 40 George Street Oxford OX1 2AQ

Street Oxford OX1 2AQ Saturday October 10

FAMILY EVENTS: The Forest 11:30am - Cornerstone Arts Centre, 25 Station Road, Didcot, Oxon, OX11 7NE Thursday October 8 THEATRE: Faustus 8pm - New Greenham Arts, Greenham Business Park, 113 Lindenmuth Way, Newbury RG19 6HN

COMEDY: Julian Deane and Gareth Richards 8pm - New Greenham Arts, Greenham Business Park, 113 Lindenmuth Way, Newbury RG19 6HN

FAMILY EVENTS: Baccalà Clown: Pss Pss 7:30pm - Cornerstone Arts Centre, 25 Station Road, Didcot, Oxon, OX11 7NE FAMILY EVENTS: Frozen Light presents: The Forest 1:30pm - Old Fire Station, 40 George Street Oxford OX1 2AQ COMEDY: Andy Zaltzman – Satirist for Hire 7pm - Glee Club, 3-5 Hythe Bridge St, Oxford OX1 2EW Friday October 9 to Saturday October 10 THEATRE: Outpost 8pm - North Wall Arts Centre, South Parade, Oxford OX2 7JN Friday October 9 COMEDY: Sam Brady: Kindness 7:30pm - Old Fire Station, 40 George

COMEDY: Tom Sandham & Ben McFarland: The Thinking Drinker’s Guide to the Legends of Liquor 7:30pm - Cornerstone Arts Centre, 25 Station Road, Didcot, Oxon, OX11 7NE THEATRE: Electric Dreams 7:30pm - Pegasus Theatre, Magdalen Road, Oxford THEATRE: Distractingly Female 12:30pm - Old Fire Station, 40 George Street Oxford OX1 2AQ THEATRE: Birdhouse 8pm - Old Fire Station, 40 George Street Oxford OX1 2AQ COMEDY: The Best In Live Stand-up Comedy with Dana Alexander + Paul Myrehaug + Scott Bennett + Mathew Heard 7:15pm - Glee Club, 3-5 Hythe Bridge St, Oxford OX1 2EW Sunday October 11

in association with Wychwood Brewery www.wychwood.co.uk THEATRICAL SCREENING: Bolshoi Encore: Giselle 4pm - Corn Exchange, Market Pl, Newbury, West Berkshire RG14 5BD FAMILY EVENTS: Grass 2pm - Pegasus Theatre, Magdalen Road, Oxford FAMILY EVENTS: Pitschi, The Kitten with Dreams 2pm - Cornerstone Arts Centre, 25 Station Road, Didcot, Oxon, OX11 7NE Mon October 12 to Tues October 13 THEATRE: Martyr 8pm - North Wall Arts Centre, South Parade, Oxford OX2 7JN Monday October 12 DANCE: Stopgap: Artificial Things 8pm - Arlington Arts Centre, Mary Hare, Newbury RG14 3BQ Tues October 13 to Sat October 17 DANCE: Stomp 7:30pm - New Theatre, George Street, Oxford Weds October 14 to Sat October 24 THEATRE: The Tempest 7:30pm - Oxford Playhouse, Beaumont Street, Oxford Wednesday October 14

Newbury to host two great comedy shows this month

See that Robert Newman? That’s him. That is.

Newbury’s theatres have always been a place where you can catch some great comedy and October’s no exception...

Robert Newman - October 23 - New Greenham Arts This promises to be a one of a kind comedy show. See that person over there laughing. That’s you. That is.

After volunteering for a brain-imaging experiment meant to locate the part of the brain that lights up when you’re in love, Rob emerges with more questions than answers.

Can brain scans read our minds? Are we our brains?

How can you map the mind?

The show includes a specially constructed MRI-hat that will record Robert’s real-time brain activity in the show.

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Comedy for geeks - guaranteed to make your brain hurt.

Festival of the Spoken Nerd: Just for Graphs - October 28 - Corn Exchange The science comedy phenomenon returns with “Just For Graphs”, an all-new show that’s off the chart!

Join acclaimed stand-up mathematician Matt Parker, experiments maestro Steve ‘Danger’ Mould and geek songstress Helen Arney for graph-a-minute fun on an unprecedented linear scale.

Since last year’s tour Full Frontal Nerdity, the Nerds have appeared across TV and Radio, at the Hammersmith Apollo and in their own peer-reviewed DVD Watch this trio as they Excel themselves in a new show packed with electrifying live experiments, statistically significant laughter and a retro Fax machine solo.

Theatre & Comedy List FAMILY EVENTS: Pss Pss 7pm - Corn Exchange, Market Pl, Newbury, West Berkshire RG14 5BD COMEDY: Donald Robertson Is Not A Stand-Up Comedian 8pm - North Wall Arts Centre, South Parade, Oxford OX2 7JN Thursday October 15 ART: Charles Brabin: Seeing the Unseen Cornerstone Arts Centre, 25 Station Road, Didcot, Oxon, OX11 7NE COMEDY: Jenny Eclair – How To Be A Middle Aged Woman (Without Going Insane) 7:45pm - Corn Exchange, Market Pl, Newbury, West Berkshire RG14 5BD COMEDY: Ed Byrne: Outside, Looking In 8pm - Cornerstone Arts Centre, 25 Station Road, Didcot, Oxon, OX11 7NE FAMILY EVENTS: My Father and Other Superheroes 7:30pm - Pegasus Theatre, Magdalen Road, Oxford COMEDY: Christian O’Connell: You’ve Ruined My Morning… And Other Fan Mail 7:30 pm - Old Fire Station, 40 George Street Oxford OX1 2AQ Fri October 16 to Thurs November 12 THEATRICAL SCREENING: NT Encore: Hamlet Corn Exchange, Market Pl, Newbury, West Berkshire RG14 5BD Friday October 16 FAMILY EVENTS: Science Blast: The Great Scientists 7:30pm - Old Fire Station, 40 George Street Oxford OX1 2AQ Saturday October 17 FAMILY EVENTS: Kapa Haka Tale 2pm - Pegasus Theatre, Magdalen Road, Oxford FAMILY EVENTS: Nick Cope – Family Music 10:30am - Corn Exchange, Market Pl, Newbury, West Berkshire RG14 5BD THEATRE: He Had Hairy Hands 7:30pm - Cornerstone Arts Centre, 25 Station Road, Didcot, Oxon, OX11 7NE THEATRE: Distractingly Female 12:30pm - Old Fire Station, 40 George Street Oxford OX1 2AQ COMEDY: Joe Lycett: That’s The Way, A-Ha A-Ha, Joe Lycett (sold out) 7:45pm - Old Fire Station, 40 George Street Oxford OX1 2AQ

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in association with Wychwood Brewery www.wychwood.co.uk

COMEDY: The Best In Live Stand-up Comedy with Tom Allen + Wayne Deakin + Pete Phillipson + Comic To Be Confirmed 7:15pm - Glee Club, 3-5 Hythe Bridge St, Oxford OX1 2EW Sunday October 18 FILM: YCE Presents: Film Competition YCE PRESENTS: FILM COMPETITION 7pm - Corn Exchange, Market Pl, Newbury, West Berkshire RG14 5BD

Fri October 23 to Sun October 25 FAMILY EVENTS: What The Ladybird Heard Corn Exchange, Market Pl, Newbury, West Berkshire RG14 5BD Friday October 23 COMEDY: Robert Newman: The Brain Show 8pm - New Greenham Arts, Greenham Business Park, 113 Lindenmuth Way, Newbury RG19 6HN

COMEDY: Michael Palin The Thirty Years Tour 7:30pm - New Theatre, George Street, Oxford

COMEDY: Dara O Briain: Crowd Tickler 8pm - New Theatre, George Street, Oxford Saturday October 24 FAMILY EVENTS: Let’s All Dance presents: The Magic Word 1pm - Old Fire Station, 40 George Street, Oxford OX1 2AQ

COMEDY: Patrick Kielty: Help 7:30pm - Cornerstone Arts Centre, 25 Station Road, Didcot, Oxon, OX11 7NE Tuesday October 20 FAMILY EVENTS: The Childrens Book Show with Patrick Benson 10:30am - Corn Exchange, Market Pl, Newbury, West Berkshire RG14 5BD

TALKS: Spectral Landscapes: Explorations of the English Eerie 7pm - Old Fire Station, 40 George Street, Oxford OX1 2AQ

COMEDY: Jeremy Hardy Live 7:45pm - Corn Exchange, Market Pl, Newbury, West Berkshire RG14 5BD

TALKS: Meet the Maker: Daisy Webb 1pm to 3pm - Old Fire Station, 40 George Street, Oxford OX1 2AQ

THEATRE: UnderConstruction Theatre presents: Theatre Scratch Night 7:30pm - Old Fire Station, 40 George Street, Oxford OX1 2AQ Wednesday October 21 ART AND FILM: And Breathe…film night 7:30pm to 9pm - Old Fire Station, 40 George Street Oxford OX1 2AQ

MAGIC: Morgan & West’s Utterly Spiffing Spectacular Magic Show 7pm - New Greenham Arts, Greenham Business Park, 113 Lindenmuth Way, Newbury RG19 6HN

THEATRICAL SCREENING: RSC Live: Henry V 7pm - Corn Exchange, Market Pl, Newbury, West Berkshire RG14 5BD THEATRE: He Had Hairy Hands 8pm - New Greenham Arts, Greenham Business Park, 113 Lindenmuth Way, Newbury RG19 6HN Thursday October 22 THEATRE: Africarmen 7:30pm - Pegasus Theatre, Magdalen Road, Oxford TALKS: Science Oxford presents: The Serial Killer Formula 7:45pm - Old Fire Station, 40 George Street, Oxford OX1 2AQ COMEDY: Will Seaward’s Ghost Stories 8pm - Arlington Arts Centre, Mary Hare, Newbury RG14 3BQ COMEDY: Jo Brand: Work in Progress 8pm - Cornerstone Arts Centre, 25 Station Road, Didcot, Oxon, OX11 7NE

CABARET: Salon du Chocolat: Hips, Lips and Nibs 8pm - Cornerstone Arts Centre, 25 Station Road, Didcot, Oxon, OX11 7NE FAMILY EVENTS: Hurricane Boy 2pm - Pegasus Theatre, Magdalen Road, Oxford FAMILY EVENTS: Family Arts Takeover 2015 10am to 8pm - North Wall Arts Centre, South Parade, Oxford FAMILY EVENTS: The Poetry Joe Show 10:30am - North Wall Arts Centre, South Parade, Oxford FAMILY EVENTS: Pop-Up Flashback 2pm - North Wall Arts Centre, South Parade, Oxford COMEDY: On The Edge!

8pm - North Wall Arts Centre, South Parade, Oxford OX2 7JN COMEDY: The Best In Live Stand-up Comedy with Chris Turner + Nick Dixon 7:15pm - Glee Club, 3-5 Hythe Bridge St, Oxford OX1 2EW

in association with Wychwood Brewery www.wychwood.co.uk Sunday October 25 FAMILY EVENTS: Death, Duck and the Tulip 2pm - Cornerstone Arts Centre, 25 Station Road, Didcot, Oxon, OX11 7NE THEATRE: Festival of Shorts 6:30pm - Pegasus Theatre, Magdalen Road, Oxford COMEDY: Harry Enfield & Paul Whitehouse: Legends!

7:30pm - New Theatre, George Street, Oxford Monday October 26 MAGIC: Sally Morgan: Psychic Sally on the Road 7:30pm - New Theatre, George Street, Oxford Tuesday October 27 TALKS: Blofeld & Baxter: Rogues on the Road 7:45pm - Corn Exchange, Market Pl, Newbury, West Berkshire RG14 5BD Weds October 28 to Thurs October 29 FILM: Family Screening: Coraline 11am - Pegasus Theatre, Magdalen Road, Oxford Weds October 28 to Sat October 31 THEATRE: Eventide 8pm - North Wall Arts Centre, South Parade, Oxford

Theatre & Comedy List THEATRE: Royal Air Force Theatrical Association presents: Animal Farm 7:30pm - Old Fire Station, 40 George Street, Oxford OX1 2AQ THEATRE: Singin’ In The Rain 7:30pm - Oxford Playhouse, Beaumont Street, Oxford Wednesday October 28 FAMILY EVENTS: Young NADFAS Story of the Brick 10:30am - Arlington Arts Centre, Mary Hare, Newbury RG14 3BQ COMEDY: Festival of the Spoken Nerd: Just for Graphs 7:45pm - Corn Exchange, Market Pl, Newbury, West Berkshire RG14 5BD FAMILY EVENTS: Cornerstone Pops Out: Pop-up Flashback 11am - Thame Library, 3 North Street, Thame, OX9 3BH. COMEDY: Mumbo Jumbo with Sean Hughes 7:30pm - Pegasus Theatre, Magdalen Road, Oxford Friday October 30 DANCE: Tales from Space 7:30pm - Pegasus Theatre, Magdalen Road, Oxford

5pm - Oxford Playhouse, Beaumont Street, Oxford COMEDY: Jongleurs Comedy Night 7:45pm - Corn Exchange, Market Pl, Newbury, West Berkshire RG14 5BD COMEDY: Dan Clark: Me, My Selfie and I 8pm - Cornerstone Arts Centre, 25 Station Road, Didcot, Oxon, OX11 7NE CABARET: An Evening of Burlesque 8pm - New Theatre, George Street, Oxford COMEDY: Katherine Ryan – Kathbum 6:45pm - Glee Club, 3-5 Hythe Bridge St, Oxford OX1 2EW Saturday October 31 FAMILY EVENTS: Family Skeleton Ball Corn Exchange, Market Pl, Newbury COMEDY: Dickens Abridged 7:30pm - Cornerstone Arts Centre, 25 Station Road, Didcot, Oxon, OX11 7NE COMEDY: The Best In Live Stand-up Comedy with Mike Wilmot + Pete Johansson + Leroy Brito + Noel James 7:15pm - Glee Club, Hythe Bridge St, Oxford OX1 2EW

TALKS: Gordon Corera Shakespeare’s Tempest will be at Oxford Playhouse from October 14 to 24

Shakespeare cooks up a storm at Oxford Playhouse A sparkling new production of Shakespeare’s tale of love, revenge and forgiveness is brought to the stage by award-winning director Phelim McDermott will be coming to Oxford Playhouse from October 14 to October 24.

Robbed of his kingdom and banished to an enchanted island with his daughter Miranda, Prospero patiently plots his revenge on his usurping brother. Conjuring up a terrible storm, Prospero draws the new duke’s entourage to his enchanted island where he manipulates the

castaways towards a terrible reckoning. How much can you risk for revenge or for love?

Widely considered to be Shakespeare’s final play, The Tempest combines magic, drama, romance and comedy.

This new ensemble production from Improbable, one of Britain’s most inventive theatre companies, contains visual delights, original music and plenty of mischief. Previous productions include Shockheaded Peter and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. For tickets www.oxfordplayhouse.com

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Live Music The current Sweet line-up with Andy Scott

Glitz, blitz and Seventies hitz

The seventies was an era that changed the musical landscape completely. It was the era of lycra, glam-rock and big hair. One of the bands that swept the UK scene was Sweet with hits like Blockbuster, Ballroom Blitz and Love is Like Oxygen. They will be playing a gig at The New Theatre in Oxford on December 9 along with Mud 2 and The Rubettes in a tour called Glitz, Blitz and 70’s Hitz.

Jamie Hill had a chat with Sweet lead singer Andy Scott.

It was the era that had it all – glitz, glamour and musical innovation. Providing a musical bridge linking the rebellion and counter culture of the 60s, and the decadence of the 80s, the 70s played a vital role in the shaping of modern pop culture.

Now for the final time, one of the decade defining glam rock bands, Sweet, will take to the road alongside Mud 2 keeping the legend of Les Gray and Mud alive, as well as special guests The Rubettes featuring original members Alan Williams, John Richardson and Mick Clarke.

The tour called ‘Glitz, Blitz and Seventies Hitz’ will come to Oxford’s New Theatre on December 9.

During the 70s, Sweet rode a wave of smash hits; songs such as Blockbuster, Ballroom Blitz, Fox On The Run, Love Is Like Oxygen, Little Willy, Hellraiser were all fixtures of the decade. They were at the heart of a glam rock phenomenon, selling over 55 million records, and had 34 number 1 hits worldwide.

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The band today has an illustrious pedigree, recreating live the high energy and soaring vocals associated with the Sweet sound that is the band’s trademark. Led by original member Andy Scott, the band comprises Pete Lincoln (lead vocals and bass guitar), Bruce Bisland (drums and vocals) and Tony O’Hara (guitar, keyboards and vocals).

Andy said: “For Sweet to be going back out on tour in the UK on such a big scale for what will probably be the last time is a real thrill. For us performing is at the very heart of what we do and though fashions change our songs have lasted through five decades. When we’re up on the stage in front of an audience it’s almost as if time has stood still.”

Also taking to the stage are Mud 2. Since the passing of lead vocalist Les Gray in 2004, Mud 2 have continued his musical legacy, keeping songs such as Tiger Feet, Lonely This Christmas and Oh Boy as vibrant and vital as they always were. In the mid 70s the band were nothing

Live Music Sweet - Back in the day.

short of being a phenomenon, enjoying a staggering fourteen UK Top 20 hits between 1973 and 1976 including three number ones.

Special guests on the bill will be The Rubettes. Known to millions for their seminal 1974 hit Sugar Baby Love, the lineup for this tour will be led by Alan Williams alongside fellow original members John Richardson and Mick Clarke.

Andy said: “This tour kind of ties it all together and so we’ve named it our ‘Finale’ tour. It’s quite emotional really. It coincides with the DVD being released Action - The Ultimate Sweet Story from Sony.

“We’ve been playing all over Europe and I must admit it does become a bit much after a while.

“It’s the travelling that does it. All that waiting about in airports. The actual gig itself is fine but touring really takes it out of you. If we could magically just appear at the gig

that would be great. With all the inventions that they’ve had you’d think that the Star Trek ‘beam me up Scotty’ thing would be working on our smart phones by now. That way we could get to the gigs without the travelling.”

Although Sweet no long wear the same costumes that they wore in the Seventies, Andy says they still have the same energy on stage.

He said: “This might be one of the last chances you have to catch us so it would be a good idea to come along.”

When he’s not on international tours, Andy, who lives near Marlborough in the heart of Ocelotshire, has got heavily involved in what has become one of the best summer festivals of the season.

‘Rock Against Cancer’ or ‘Concert at the Kings’ was an idea thought up by Andy, John “Grubby” Callis (sound engineer) and Richard Baulu

of The Kings Arms, All Cannings over five years ago. After two years of planning they managed to launch the show back in 2012.

Since then they’ve had some of the biggest names around from Brian May to Midge Ure come along.

Andy said: “It was an idea that was born during a chat in the pub, which is my local. All three of us had suffered from cancer and we thought that, looking at the field at the back of the pub, this would be the perfect place to hold a gig on a trailer stage to raise money. So it was born! We didn’t think there would be a second year when we started but this summer was our fourth and some of the names have been phenomenal.

“2016 will be our fifth year and we’re planning something really big.

It will be good. Just watch this space.”

For tickets to the December 9 gig at Oxford’s New Theatre visit www.bit.ly/glitzhitzoxford

www.theocelot.co.uk 19

This is New Music

Discovering the acts of tomorrow with our new music specialist Mark Muggeridge

This is... Halsey Sometime back in March of this year 20 year old, blue­haired New York based Halsey caused something of a meltdown on Twitter when she played the globally famous South by Southwest Festival in Texas. Since then Ashley Frangipane has become the heart­ throb of those new music fans on social media hunting for the next breakthrough artist. Influenced

by Alanis Morissette, Nirvana, and Tupac, she says she is not afraid of and in fact loves pop music but is also keenly aware of the power of the underground in music. She’s mentioned producer and Swedish beatmaker Yung Gud and Norway’s Cashmere Cat as

those that she wants to work with.

She’s has already toured with The Kooks, is currently on tour with Imagine Dragons and her live shows have been getting breathless and adoring reviews in America. Her tongue­in ­c heek description of her music is ‘being about sex and being sad.’ Lead track, New Americana from upcoming album, Badlands was the second most added at U.S. Alternative Radio recently. The UK is yet to embrace her but she should be playing festivals across next summer by which time I’m betting she will be many people’s fave new pop­punk artist. Key Tracks: Hurricane and Hold Me Down IAmHalsey.com

This is... Callaghan House concerts have been a thing for a while now, used by artists to intimately connect with audiences. However British artist Callaghan has done more than perhaps any other artist to use this format to build an enthusiastic and supportive international audience. For the past three years the now Nashville based singer­songwriter has clocked up around 320,000 miles visiting a total of 46 US states that has helped her to sell around 10,000 copies of her last two albums. Callaghan’s latest album is History of Now and the sound is closer to adult pop than the Americana style of her former output. Lead track We Don’t Have to

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This is... Ten Fé After getting a great reaction to a couple of tracks posted online London based Ben Moorhouse and Leo Duncan decided to formalise their musical partnership under the moniker of Ten Fé. The independent duo decamped to Berlin for a year in order to record with producer Ewan Pearson and the result is the monumental Make Me Better. This track is on a mission to take your emotions captive and carry you away into a euphoric state of excitement and bliss. Reflections of Elbow are present in this recording and if Ten Fé keep up the pace then main stage festival appearances surely beckon. The boys will get a chance to consolidate their live show across Europe for the Electronic Beats City events this autumn. I hear whispers that some indie­purists are turning their noses up at Make Me Better, that it’s just too glossy for their liking and that horror of horrors, it might find a wide and populous audience. Well I have no such pretensions and if this track brings Ten Fé to the attention of a very big audience then I’m all for it.

Soundcloud/tenfemusic.

Move the World will appeal to fans of Kasey Musgraves.

The past month has seen Callaghan back in the UK to see if she can convince British home owners to open up their front­doors. Around half a dozen house shows gave fans a close up experience that audiences clearly cherished as she will return this month for more touring. Fans who saw her in the less intimate settings of Cambridge Folk Festival and the Secret Garden Party might be booking house shows so if you fancy a pre­-Christmas music party, you’d better get in quick! Key Tracks: Free to Be and Parachute. callaghansongs.com

Groovers on Manouevres

Dave Franklin is our man about town when it comes to the local music scene. This month is a straight-up review...

By Dave Franklin Karda Estra has always provided the sound track to truly big ideas, deep thoughts and boundless expanse, so the latest attempt to “chronicle the collision between the Andromeda galaxy and our own Milky Way, the eventual end of everything, a celestial intervention and a return to where everything began – viewed from an impossible, empty shoreline.” is perfect territory to be working in.

The idea of someone stood alone on that shoreline witnessing the end of existence, the beautiful and destructive final act in the story of the galaxy, sounds like a scene from Iain M Banks at his most imaginative or Michael Moorcock at his most surreal and as such the music that is conjured here is as equally unique. Evolving from the gentler themes that evoke the empty shore to the shimmering and fractured music that captures the

approach of the encroaching galaxy and the aftermath of the resulting destruction.

These are not songs, those familiar with previous Karda Estra records wouldn’t be expecting anything so mundane anyway, but soundtracks or musical statements created through a wide range of instruments, many more usually found in the classical and folk repertoire. It merges disembodied sounds with sweeping orchestration, mournful piano lines with melancholic woodwind, delicate acoustic guitars with brooding electronica and the result is music that bridges a gap between the dark and the ethereal, sounds that are familiar yet often heavenly and occasionally suitably alien.

As always it is music that opens the mind to the impossible questions, questions about the cyclical nature of the death and rebirth of the universe,

the transient nature of life, the majesty and unfathomable beauty of the destruction of worlds, systems, and galaxies. There aren’t many records that simultaneously evoke astro-physics, philosophy and Roy Batty’s famous last speech in Blade Runner, but you can always count on Karda Estra to give you more than you bargained for.

One to watch: Charlie-Anne Bradfield We love it when we see an artist growing into a fully fledged star in front of us.

Charlie-Anne Bradfield is one such Swindon singer having first seen her a few years ago at the Stratton Stroll.

Having been spotted a bit more recently singing at a wedding by the editor of The Ocelot - we are sure that 16-year-old Charlie has a voice that will definitely be taking her places.

Inspired by the likes of Ellie Goulding and Jake Bugg, CharlieAnne started off singing to backing tracks and covers; where her confidence grew as she took to writing original songs and playing her acoustic guitar to accompany them.

Last year, she took part in a National Open Mic competition and picked up an award for Best Original

Song in the area final heats.

In January of this year, CharlieAnne got through to the finals of the competition- which gave her the opportunity to play at the Indigo o2 Arena in London. Following this, she has taken part in charity events and played at many festivals- such as Treefest, M4 Festival and Summerfest to name a few.

She has also just produced a new CD- called “Seven Stories” ; which you can buy now from Holmes music and That’s Entertainment at the Brunel Centre- involving seven of her very own songs- including an exclusive bonus track.

To find out more visit CharlieAnne’s facebook page at: www. facebook.com/CharlieAnneUK and, you can sample some of her original tracks, plus some popular covers, at: www.soundcloud.com/Charlie-Anne

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Gig Monkey Gig Monkey, AKA Ed Dyer, is a primate on a mission to discover as much quality original music as possible. Send your reviews to ed@secretchordrecords.com

Gig Monkey gets Jazzed

The Bullingdon stage before the Heavy Dexters came on

The Heavy Dexters at The Bullingdon, Oxford Not only was it high time I partook of a gig in Oxford, it was time I spread my musical wings a little and stepped out of my comfort zone. Or at least that was what I was telling myself as I planned a Tuesday trip to Cowley Road. Now, I class myself as a fan of music of most genres, but there are a few that leave me cold (commercial chart music makes my head hurt and I really can’t be doing with shouty, heavy metal) and a few, like Jazz, I struggle to properly understand but have found bits and pieces that I have enjoyed (I got quite into Acid Jazz in my student days). So, with trepidation, I ventured into the back room of The Bullingdon to face my confusion and wrap my ears around the sounds of The Heavy Dexters.

My first thought was a mental reminder to myself how much I like the setup of The Bullingdon for live music, and how good the sound was. My second thought was a surprise, as thanks to the comedy propaganda spread by the likes of the Fast Show I was fully expecting a room full of goateed, polo neck wearing, jazz hand waving aficionados. But, whilst there were indeed a few “interesting” characters around whooping loudly or wobbling around, the place was mostly populated by students huddled round tables notably devoid of drinks.

Oh how times have changed!

Musically, I was pleasantly surprised as the band opened their set with a few brilliantly played funky numbers that were very reminiscent of the heavy Hammond-led sound of the James Taylor Quartet, exactly what I had been hoping to hear. I hit a listening pattern of alternating between allowing the music to wash through me and carry me off with it and concentrating on

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individual instruments and marvelling at the musicianship on display.

But then, as the set wound on and the pace changed down a gear I started to drift, finding the lack of vocals started to render the music just wallpaper. I began pondering the etiquette of jazz shows, is it OK to talk loudly through the set? Try that at a folk show and you will get an obvious tutting and maybe a chorus of shushes, but that didn’t seem to be the situation here. A glance at the nearest almost drink-free table of students also showed one of the other modern malaises that affect live music these days – all four of them bent over the glowing screens of their mobile phones.

A McCartney cover became rendered into an American daytime TV theme and the lack of a real frontman and big personality made onstage performance dry and sterile. But then, boom, up goes the tempo once more, the bass gets funky and I start getting into it again. Then, I got hit with a real curve-ball that almost made me stand up and shout – a majestic jazzy version of Led Zeppelin classic Kashmir - bonkers, brilliant and utter genius. And then the band took a break, and I had to take my leave, partially bowing to reality of the late hour and an early start, and partly wanting to end on such a high note.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I did generally enjoy myself, I tapped along with much of the set, and I do get the impression that, were this your thing, The Heavy Dexters would be a brilliant night out.

And the second set could well have been fantastic and upbeat and I dislike myself for not sticking it out, but I found this step out of my comfort zone to be a bit, well, uncomfortable.

in association with Wychwood Brewery www.wychwood.co.uk Thursday October 1 CONCERT: Adam Barnes + Chris Ayer 7pm - Old Fire Station, 40 George Street Oxford OX1 2AQ Matt Gordon & Leonard Podolak 8pm- Ace Space, Newbury Friday October 2 DJ NIGHTS: Blue Rinse 11pm to 3am - O2 Academy Oxford, 190 Cowley Road, Oxford CONCERTS: The Rails 8pm - Arlington Arts Centre, Mary Hare, Newbury RG14 3BQ CONCERTS: A Celebration Of Neil Diamond 7:45 pm - Corn Exchange, Market Pl, Newbury, West Berkshire RG14 5BD Hawkwind + Prime Sinister 7pm- O2 Academy Oxford, 190 Cowley Road, Oxford The English Beat starring Dave Wakeling + The Standard + Stained Glass Alice 6pm - O2 Academy 2 Oxford, 190 Cowley Road, Oxford Liu Bei 7pm - Bullingdon, 162 Cowley Road, Oxford Newbury Unplugged Open Mic night 8pm- Ace Space, Newbury Saturday October 3 CONCERT: The Apollo Big Band 7:45pm - Corn Exchange, Market Pl, Newbury, West Berkshire RG14 5BD DJ NIGHTS: SWITCH Presents UKF Ft. Sub Focus 11pm - O2 Academy Oxford, 190 Cowley Road, Oxford DJ NIGHTS: A&E Melody 11pm - Bullingdon, 162 Cowley Road, Oxford From The Jam ‘Sound Affects’ 35th Anniversary 7pm - O2 Academy Oxford, 190 Cowley Road, Oxford The Pretty Things 7pm - Bullingdon, 162 Cowley Road, Oxford Nameless 9pm - Fat Lils, 64A Corn St, Witney OX28 6BS John Otway & The Big Band 8pm to 11pm - The Wheatsheaf, High Street, Oxford Sunday October 4

CONCERT: The Christians + Roachford 7:30pm - Arlington Arts Centre, Mary Hare, Newbury RG14 3BQ Johnny Marr + Man Made 7pm - O2 Academy Oxford, 190 Cowley Road, Oxford Raglans 7pm - O2 Academy 2, 190 Cowley Road, Oxford The Japanese House 7pm - Bullingdon, 162 Cowley Road, Oxford Monday October 5 Katie Bradley + Black Market III 7pm - Bullingdon, 162 Cowley Road, Oxford Tuesday October 6 Jazz at The Bullingdon presents Blake’s 7 Funk 8:30pm - Bullingdon, 162 Cowley Road, Oxford CONCERT: The Listening Room 7:30pm - Old Fire Station, 40 George Street Oxford OX1 2AQ Wednesday October 7 By the Rivers 7pm - Bullingdon, 162 Cowley Road, Oxford CONCERT: Fire In The North Sky 7:30pm - North Wall Arts Centre, South Parade, Oxford OX2 7JN Thursday October 8 CONCERT: Simpson & Flemons 8pm - Arlington Arts Centre, Mary Hare, Newbury RG14 3BQ Faustus 8pm - New Greenham Arts, Greenham Business Park, 113 Lindenmuth Way, Newbury RG19 6HN Boy Jumps Ship + Only Rivals + Better Than Never 7:30pm to 10:30pm - The Bullingdon, 162 Cowley Road, Oxford, OX4 1UE The Dreaming Spires + The Great Western Tears 7:30pm - Fat Lils, 64A Corn St, Witney OX28 6BS Friday October 9 CONCERT: Barb Jungr: Love Me Tender The Songs of Elvis 8pm - New Greenham Arts, Greenham Business Park, 113 Lindenmuth Way, Newbury RG19 6HN CONCERT: Simpson and Flemons 8pm - Cornerstone Arts Centre, 25 Station Road, Didcot, Oxon, OX11 7NE

Gig List

DJ NIGHTS: SWITCH Presents Circles Ft. Preditah 11pm - O2 Academy, 190 Cowley Road, Oxford.

It’s All About The Music presents The Aureate Act + White Beam + Lucy Leave + 31 Hours + Lewis Scott + The Haze 6pm - O2 Academy, 190 Cowley Road, Oxford Treetop Flyers 7pm - Bullingdon, 162 Cowley Road, Oxford Whole Lotta DC 8pm- Fat Lils, 64A Corn St, Witney OX28 6BS Saturday October 10 DJ NIGHTS: Simple – Scuba 11pm - Bullingdon, 162 Cowley Road, Oxford Big Country – The Best Of Tour 7pm - O2 Academy, 190 Cowley Road, Oxford Knotslip (A Tribute to Slipknot) 7pm - O2 Academy, 190 Cowley Road, Oxford Gengahr 7pm - Bullingdon, 162 Cowley Road, Oxford The Standard 9pm - Fat Lils, 64A Corn St, Witney OX28 6BS Sunday October 11 The Bohicas 7pm - Bullingdon, 162 Cowley Road, Oxford Monday October 12 Metric + All Tvvins 7pm - O2 Academy, 190 Cowley Road, Oxford Erja Lyytinen 7pm - Bullingdon, 162 Cowley Road, Oxford Tuesday October 13 CONCERT: The Songs of Nick Drake 8pm - Old Fire Station, 40 George Street Oxford OX1 2AQ Kwabs 7pm - O2 Academy, 190 Cowley Road, Oxford Jazz at The Bullingdon presents Hugh Turner Band 8:30pm - Bullingdon, 162 Cowley Road, Oxford Wednesday October 14 R5

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Gig list 7pm - O2 Academy, 190 Cowley Road, Oxford CONCERT: Frigg (Finland) 8pm - Cornerstone Arts Centre, 25 Station Road, Didcot, Oxon, OX11 7NE Thursday October 15 Starsailor – Greatest Hits 7pm - O2 Academy, 190 Cowley Road, Oxford CONCERT: International Guitar Night with Lulo Reinhardt, Brian Gore, Mark Dawes, Andre Krengel 8pm - Arlington Arts Centre, Mary Hare, Newbury RG14 3BQ Palace 7pm - Bullingdon, 162 Cowley Road, Oxford Friday October 16 CONCERT: The Shee 8pm - Arlington Arts Centre, Mary Hare, Newbury RG14 3BQ

in association with Wychwood Brewery www.wychwood.co.uk CONCERT: The Irish House Party 7:45pm - Corn Exchange, Market Pl, Newbury, West Berkshire RG14 5BD DJ NIGHTS: SWITCH Presents SubSoul ft.

Chris Lorenzo 11pm to 4am - O2 Academy, 190 Cowley Road, Oxford The Smyths – Celebrating 30 years of Meat is Murder plus the Hits 10pm - O2 Academy, 190 Cowley Road, Oxford Whitesnake UK 8pm - Fat Lils, 64A Corn St, Witney OX28 6BS Saturday October 17 DJ NIGHTS: CHRIS GOLDFINGER & the full asher world crew 11pm - O2 Academy, 190 Cowley Road, Oxford Circa Waves 6:30pm - O2 Academy, 190 Cowley

Road, Oxford Skeletor ft. Desert Storm 6pm - O2 Academy 2, 190 Cowley Road, Oxford Gentlemans Dub Club + Zaia 9pm - Bullingdon, 162 Cowley Road, Oxford Oxjam Witney Takeover with Balloon Ascents, Better Than Never, Fused, Little Brother Eli 12pm - Venues across Witeny including Fat Lils, The Blue Boar and Rapture Records Calico Jack 8pm- Ace Space, Newbury Sunday October 18 Mielzky + Twardy Grunt 7pm - Bullingdon, 162 Cowley Road, Oxford Monday October 19 Protoje & The Indiggnation

The Shee at Arlington

Jack likes looking at his feet

It was lucky that every member of The Shee happened to be a woman or they might have had to change the name.

The Shee will be playing Newbury’s Arlington Arts on Friday October 16.

Full of zest, zing and zip this Scots-English sextet have a lot more going for them than just their highlevel musicianship and ability to play quickly. Theirs is an ethereal performance full of the unexpected, plunging from teasingly drawn out notes to flashfast fiddle, and if anyone can make both work simultaneously –it’s The Shee.

Their adventurous brew features original compositions alongside a wealth of music from the Scottish folk, Gaelic song and bluegrass traditions.

With three vocalists, a fiddle, mandolin, accordion, flute and a harp The Shee are an exercise in eerie synchronicity that speaks to their long history together.

Expect stark string accompaniment and delicate vocal arrangements, transitioning seamlessly to upbeat feet stompers.

Visit www.arlingtonarts.co.uk for tickets.

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Jack Savoretti Jack Savoretti has firmly established himself as one of the country’s finest singer/ songwriters with his acclaimed album ‘Written In Scars’ - his fourth album (but his biggest hit to date).

The singles “Tie Me Down”, “Home” and “The Other Side of Love” were playlisted and championed

by BBC Radio 2, where Savoretti appeared as a guest on the shows of Dermot O’Leary, Chris Evans and Richard Madeley. He also

appeared on BBC One’s The One Show to perform his single “Home”.

After selling out his last tour, including his biggest show to date at O2 Shepherds Bush Empire, Jack confirms more live dates for the autumn.

He will be coming to Oxford’s O2 Academy on Wednesday October 21.

Support comes in the able form of Max Jury.

For tickets visit O2academyoxford.co.uk

in association with Wychwood Brewery www.wychwood.co.uk 7pm - O2 Academy , 190 Cowley Road, Oxford Mentulls 7pm - Bullingdon, 162 Cowley Road, Oxford Tuesday October 20 Jazz at The Bullingdon presents Big Colours 8:30pm - Bullingdon, 162 Cowley Road, Oxford CONCERT: Squeeze 7pm - New Theatre, George Street, Oxford Wednesday October 21 Jack Savoretti + Max Jury 7pm - O2 Academy , 190 Cowley Road, Oxford CONCERT: The Rat Pack Vegas Spectacular Show 7:30pm - New Theatre, George Street, Oxford George Taylor 7pm - Bullingdon, 162 Cowley Road, Oxford Jeremy Pinnell + Max Fender + Ags Connolly 7:30pm - Fat Lils, 64A Corn St, Witney OX28 6BS Thursday October 22 Echoic 7pm - Bullingdon, 162 Cowley Road, Oxford CONCERT: Sinatra, Sequins and Swing: The Capital Years Live 7:45pm - Corn Exchange, Market Pl, Newbury, West Berkshire RG14 5BD Friday October 23 CONCERT: Joanne Shaw Taylor 8pm - Arlington Arts Centre, Mary Hare, Newbury RG14 3BQ CONCERT: Kadia with Support from The White Horse Whisperers 8pm - Cornerstone Arts Centre, 25 Station Road, Didcot, Oxon, OX11 7NE Stormzy 6pm - O2 Academy , 190 Cowley Road, Oxford

Oxford

Newbury RG14 3BQ

Straighten Out – Stranglers tribute 9pm - Fat Lils, 64A Corn St, Witney OX28 6BS Saturday October 24 DJ NIGHTS: SWITCH Presents SKEPTA 7pm - O2 Academy, 190 Cowley Road, Oxford

CONCERT: Paul Potts 7:30pm - New Theatre, George Street, Oxford Spector 7pm - O2 Academy, 190 Cowley Road, Oxford

DJ NIGHTS: Bedrock Club Night 11pm - Bullingdon, 162 Cowley Road, Oxford CONCERT: Mark Nevin – Award winning songwriter for Morissey and Fairground Attraction 8pm - Arlington Arts Centre, Mary Hare, Newbury RG14 3BQ Guns 2 Roses + Ultimate Bon Jovi + Surreal Panther 6pm - O2 Academy, 190 Cowley Road, Oxford Co-Pilgrim +The Shapes + Paul MacClure 7pm - Bullingdon, 162 Cowley Road, Oxford Maetloaf 9pm - Fat Lils, 64A Corn St, Witney OX28 6BS I.C.O.N + Die No More + Reveller 7pm to 11pm - The Cellar Bar, Frewin Court, Oxford Sunday October 25 The Ruts DC + Shooze 7pm - Bullingdon, 162 Cowley Road, Oxford Monthly Blues Jam 3pm - Fat Lils, 64A Corn St, Witney OX28 6BS CONCERT: Jackie Oates & Ben Murray 8pm - North Wall Arts Centre, South Parade, Oxford Monday October 26 Darwin Deez + Peluché 7pm - O2 Academy 2, 190 Cowley Road, Oxford

DJ NIGHTS: SWITCH Ft. Shadow Child 11pm - O2 Academy, 190 Cowley Road, Oxford

Bob Malone 7pm - Bullingdon, 162 Cowley Road, Oxford Tuesday October 27 Jazz at The Bullingdon presents Alvin Roy’s Reeds Unlimited 8:30pm - Bullingdon, 162 Cowley Road, Oxford Wednesday October 28

The Corn Potato String Band 7pm - Bullingdon, 162 Cowley Road,

CONCERT: Tom Robinson Band 8pm - Arlington Arts Centre, Mary Hare,

Balloon Ascents 6pm - O2 Academy 2, 190 Cowley Road, Oxford

Gig List

Cattle & Cane 7pm - Bullingdon, 162 Cowley Road, Oxford Coltsblood + From The Bogs Of Aughiska + Funeral Pact 7pm - The Wheatsheaf, High Street, Oxford Thursday October 29 CONCERT: Americana Sessions 8pm - Cornerstone Arts Centre, 25 Station Road, Didcot, Oxon, OX11 7NE The Cribs 7pm - O2 Academy, 190 Cowley Road, Oxford The Ordinary Boys 7pm - Bullingdon, 162 Cowley Road, Oxford Friday October 30 DJ NIGHTS: SWITCH Ft. DJ EZ & Bugzy Malone 11pm - O2 Academy, 190 Cowley Road, Oxford CONCERT: Urban Folk Quartet ’15 8pm - Arlington Arts Centre, Mary Hare, Newbury RG14 3BQ Killing Joke 6pm - O2 Academy, 190 Cowley Road, Oxford Hollis Brown 7pm - Bullingdon, 162 Cowley Road, Oxford Shang-A-Lang 9pm - Fat Lils, 64A Corn St, Witney OX28 6BS Saturday October 31 DJ NIGHTS: Keep Hush presents Halloween 11pm - Bullingdon, 162 Cowley Road, Oxford CONCERT: The Magic of Motown 7:30pm - New Theatre, George Street, Oxford Steve’n’Seagulls 7pm - Bullingdon, 162 Cowley Road, Oxford Hairforce 5 9pm - Fat Lils, 64A Corn St, Witney OX28 6BS

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A Celebration of Beer In praise of beer So you want to start a microbrewery?

By Jamie Hill In the lifetime of The Ocelot the UK real ale industry has undergone a massive renaissance.

When the magazine first raised its ugly head back in July 2006 pubs were under attack from all sides including the very real threat of the looming smoking ban and real ale sales were suffering because of it.

Then came the recession. People stopped going to their local. Pubs were closing at a rate of knots.

But at the same time the UK’s real ale industry miraculously started to flourish.

Okay. There was a bit of Government help with some much-needed tax concessions but that doesn’t explain the massive increase in drinkers suddenly swapping their Stella for their locally brewed ale.

Obviously you can’t forget the very powerful influence of CAMRA - The Campaign for Real Ale of putting the industry on the map and the canniness of certain landlords , breweries and businessmen in tapping into people’s changing tastes.

It was wonderful to see. You’d see people walk into bars and then spend a few minutes studying the pump clips before placing their order.

People didn’t want their tried and tested lagers any more. They wanted something new. Something local. They also wanted choice.

The one amazing thing about real ales is the fact that there is so much diversity to choose from.

There’s a different ale to fit every mood.

One pub, The Red Lion in Cricklade, which is a regular CAMRA pub of the year winner, even has a food menu with a ‘real ale’ suggestion under each dish. Like a lot of pubs nowadays the Red Lion now has a microbrewery on its premises called the Hopkettle Brewery who have been delivering some delicious brews for its customers.

Another pub, The Masons Arms in Headington, Oxford, also a regular CAMRA pub of the year, hosts The Old Bog Brewery - a microbrewery celebrating its tenth birthday this year.

Without real ale, the world would be a duller place and that is why we are highlighting some of the best breweries over the next few pages.

Brewery Bird also gives us her thoughts on how to become a microbrewer. To drink some good real ale yourself you can visit Swindon Beer Festival at STEAM (Oct 22 to 24) ,the Oxford Beer and Cider Festival in Oxford Town Hall (Oct 15-17) or The Three Crowns Beer Festival in Chippenham (Nov 13 to Nov 15).

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The Beer Column by Brewery Bird The UK currently boasts more breweries per capita than any other country. One for every 50,000 people to be exact; a figure which would have been unthinkable to drinkers in the 1970’s.

From a connoisseur’s point of view, there has never been so much choice. Pale ales, India Pale Ales, stouts, porters, saisons, bitters, milds – the list is seemingly endless; but from a brewer’s viewpoint, vying for bar-space, just how many more micro-breweries can this industry sustain, darn it?

As little as ten years ago, news of a micro-brewery starting up would be heralded as a big event, one in the eye to the major players, aka the BIG boys, aka, well, I don’t have to name names do I? But with two new micros opening a week last year (2014 figures, CAMRA report), and that number almost certainly set to grow, are we reaching micro saturation point, and is brewing beer really all that hard?

Easy Peasy?

Hands up who has ever sat in a pub, bar or just at home, enjoying a beer and thought: “How difficult can it really be to produce something this tasty? Its recipe based, has 4 ingredients, I’ve cooked dinners with twice that many. Imagine doing this for a living!”

Ever pitched up on a brewery tour, enjoyed a few beers, chatted with the brewer and thought: “This is the life?”

Like any start-up business, passion and experience are a good foundation, and whether you consider a solid history of drinking as many different beers as possible will be as useful as 10 plus years’ home brewing when it comes to unveiling your first commercial brew, well, only time will tell. A degree in chemistry isn’t necessary to understand the fundamentals of brewing, but an ability to understand how raw ingredients react to certain processes

A Celebration of Beer

Oooh! Look! Shiny things!

most certainly wouldn’t hurt.

Facts & Figures So how difficult is it to get started, how much time and money is required, and is making beer as much fun as drinking it?

The internet is full of success stories and helpful information on ‘how to brew’ but there is a huge gap between appreciating good beer and actually brewing a commercially successful one. Make the beer that you like to drink by all means, but if that is a 9% Belgian IPA, your route to market will potentially be a limited one!

Many start-up breweries obtain used kit from established breweries both in the UK and abroad, which is a much cheaper option, but a new 10 barrel kit (1600 litres per brew), will cost around a minimum of £28,000. And that’s not counting the cost of casks, cask washing equipment and other necessary equipment and more importantly finding the right location in which to brew. Basically, write a business plan and then double your original costings. The majority of brewers I have met over the years initially continued working a 9-5 job in order to fund the new brewery, or at the very least living costs until profits started to appear, which often isn’t until after the first year.

And despite the Small Breweries Relief Scheme introduced in 2002 which offered tax breaks for small brewers, the Government still syphons off most of the price of a pint – beer duty making up approx. 60% of the costs.

Whistle While You Work Most brewers joke that brewing is 90% cleaning and 10% admin. It’s not a joke. If you do not enjoy cleaning, then this is definitely not the career choice for you.

Cleaning floors, walls, tanks, casks, pipes, drains, your day will start and end with hot water.

Easily bored? This is a repetitive process. Even if you

do produce more than one beer, the process is still the same and consistency is only achieved through endless practice.

DIY, tinkering, whatever you want to call it; you’ll need to become an expert in how the equipment works and how best to put it back together when it all goes wrong. Technical support can be called upon, but this will only eat into your non-existent maintenance budget.

Equipment is constantly in use and when not in use it’s probably being cleaned!

Aside from the usual admin – duty returns, supplier invoices, vehicle documentation and keeping on top of expenditure and income, you’ve also got to sell the stuff.

Beer that is. And thanks to the micro-brewery boom, and a more educated drinking public, this is harder than it has ever been before. Free-trade pubs, restaurants, bars and independent retailers are all fair game but to stand out from the crowd beer consistency, top notch customer service, not to mention competitive pricing means there is little room for error. And this is when really loving what you brew really comes into its own because you’ll need to get used to talking it up day in and day out. Because that’s how beer gets sold. Not to mention the endless throng of people pitching up to your brewery to ‘hang out’, because it’s ‘cool’, beer festivals and dinners to attend, reporters to impress and brewery tours to conduct.

The Good Life It’s not all doom and gloom. Honest. Yes it’s hard work and scary taking the plunge, and there’ll be challenges along the way. But there is something extremely satisfying about brewing beer, creating a product which not only excites you, but which other people love to drink.

Brewing can be very therapeutic, an almost religious experience when you finally taste your finished brew and declare after all that hard work, “it is good”.

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A Celebration of Beer Visit the winding downs with Ringwood Brewery Based on the Wiltshire/Dorset border at Ringwood, this brewery boasts four main brews - Boondoggle (4.2% fruity craft blonde ale), Best Bitter (3.8% craft ale), Forty Niner (4.9% rich and golden craft ale) and Old Thumper (5.1% full of flavour craft ale).

This October their seasonal ale is the scrumptious Filly Drift - a 4.7% crafted, full-bodied easy drinking bitter - best enjoyed with some proper chips. www.ringwoodbrewery.co.uk

A warm welcome with Ramsbury Brewery

Based in beautiful countryside near Marlborough in Wiltshire, they brew a range of delicious real ales including Ramsbury Gold, Flint Knapper, Ramsbury Bitter and Silver Pig Stout.

As part of Ramsbury Estates they use barley and water that comes from their own land, which gives their ales a unique taste and provenance. The brewery is the modern manifestation of an age-old tradition. The Wiltshire Directory of 1791-97 stated that “Ramsbury is noted for the excellent beer of which there is a great consumption in London”. The reason why the area was able to produce excellent beer over 200 years ago is also why they are able to produce such excellent beer now. www.ramsburybrewery.co.uk

Swindon brewer Arkell’s create a brewser for Rugby World Cup For the Rugby World Cup, Arkell’s has produced a celebration beer Head brewer Alex Arkell is hoping his Rugbeer is going to hit the spot with rugby fans. At 4.2% ABV, it is a delicious, smooth and deep amber beer with strong hop notes that balance the crystal malt sweetness.

At over 170 years’ old, Arkell’s Brewery is one of the few traditional family breweries left. Arkell’s ales include Wiltshire Gold, 3Bs, Kingsdown and Bees Organic. www.arkells.com

Award winning ales from Hook Norton

Cotswold-based brewery, Hook Norton has been recognised across the board for a range of beer styles at the World Beer Awards 2015 with two best in class, two golds and two bronze medals in the United Kingdom country category. The two top honour awards went to its crafty ale Red Rye, from their micro brewery and stalwart Twelve Days.

Handcrafted in the Cotswold Hills since 1849, the brewery remains one of only 32 independent familyrun breweries. With the founder’s great great grandson, James Clarke, still at the helm, it continues to offer a wide range of award winning ales, including Old Hooky, Hooky and Double Stout.

Visit www.hooky.co.uk more information.

A Room with a brew at Halfpenny Brewery in Lechlade Halfpenny Brewery is an independent micro-brewery producing cask and bottle conditioned Real Ales.

Its home is The Crown Inn, a family-run freehouse in the centre of Lechlade. The actual brewery building is enhanced by having one wall fully glazed so that customers of The Crown Inn can view the brewing equipment. On a brewing day, you can witness the process.

Visit www.halfpennybrewery.co.uk for details.

Something exciting is brewing at WBB!

The West Berkshire Brewery is an award-winning, independent brewery founded in 1995 in Yattendon, Berkshire. Since March 2013, WBB has been led by its Chairman, David Bruce, who in a 48-year international brewing career has co-founded Bruce’s Brewery and the Firkin pub chain.

WBB uses traditional brewing techniques and prides itself on using British raw materials.

The multi-award winning, classic bitter, Good Old Boy (4% ABV), is a perennial favourite. This flagship beer has been a best seller since first brewed in 1995 and is the official ale of Reading Football Club. The current styles brewed include a best bitter, strong bitter, pale ale, mild, stout, IPA and lager. www.wbbrew.com

Traditional beers from the mists of time come from Stonehenge Ales Stonehenge Ales’ home, The Old Mill, in Netheravon is where all the magic takes place. The brew plant is arranged so that materials and worts mostly move downwards, using gravity as in early tower breweries.

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One pump only is used in the entire brewing process for transferring the hot wort through a plate cooler prior to fermentation. Beers include Spire Ale, Great Bustard, Danish Dynamite, Heel Stone and Pigswill.

A Celebration of Beer The Old Forge Brewery strikes while the iron is hot The Old Forge Microbrewery was opened in June 2010 in an outbuilding of The Radnor Arms, a family run pub in the beautiful National Trust village of Coleshill. The Radnor Arms is the main outlet in Oxfordshire for The Old forge Brewery, and all of the ales brewed are available both in the pub and to buy in bottles, 20L & 10L Bag in the Box as well as Firkins. Our favourite Anvil Ale has an aroma of heavy malts - toasted, caramel and nutty with a flavour to match. www.radnorarmscoleshill.co.uk

‘tis the season to drink Wychwood!

If there’s one beer that makes you think of Halloween it’s Wychwood’s Hobgoblin. The brewery even dubs October the season of mischief.

Wychwood Brewery is tucked away in the market town of Witney, in the heart of the Oxfordshire Cotswolds. Witney is historically famous for its 3 ‘B’s: its bread, its blankets and its beer. Brewing has taken place in Witney for centuries.

Their main beers are the aforementioned Hobgoblin, their legendary ruby beer, King Goblin, a luxurious craft beer, Black Wych, their porter, Hobgoblin Gold, ruby bitter Goliath, the malty Imperial Red, the blonde Dr Thirsty’s, the golden Firecatcher and the dark Arrowaine. www.wychwood.co.uk

White Horse Brewery wins by a nose

Work began on the White Horse Brewery in the summer of 2004, in Stanford-in-the-vale in the Vale of the White Horse in Oxfordshire.

The Brewery’s regular ales are White Horse Bitter - a golden brew that will stop any horse in its tracks, Black Beauty - a rich ruby ale with a flavour that leaves the herd behind, Village Idiot - a golden beer that uses an idiotic amount of fresh hops to create a refreshingly clean bitter beer, Wayland Smithy, a red ale, like the fire at its heart and Dark Blue Oxford University Ale a dark chestnut coloured beer with a smooth rich flavour. www.whitehorsebrewery.co.uk

Salisbury’s very own Hopback Brewery The Hopback Brewery started in the cellar of the Wyndham Arms in 1986. They are known for their very special bitter Summer Lightning. Other beers include Taiphoon, Crop Circle, GB and Entire Stout.

Welcome to Wadworthshire...

With 240 pubs spread across 600 glorious square miles of the South West of Britain, Wadworthshire is full of magical places, in beautiful places offering a legendary experience and outstanding real ale quality.

With over 125 years history of brewing award winning real ales in Devizes from the Traditional Cask Ale and Brewers Creations to their sophisticated modern range; The Beer Kitchen Wadworth’s brewers have handed down these magical recipes down through the generations.

We’re definitely fans of 6X at The Ocelot, having been raised on it.

Visit www.wadworth.co.uk for more information.

Full steam ahead for beautifully engineered Box Steam Brewery Box Steam is an awardwinning independent brewer run by three generations of the Roberts family. Based just outside Bath in the village of Holt, they’ve been producing cask and bottled beers with real character for more than 10 years.

Their core beers are the amber Tunnel Vision, the golden Piston Broke, the porter Funnel Blower and the pale Derail Ale. Visit www.boxsteambrewery.com for details.

Brakspear - Real ale with real taste

The current range of Brakspear Beers includes the famous ‘DoubleDropped’ Brakspear Bitter, Brakspear Oxford Gold blonde beer, Brakspear Triple in bottle, as well as a range of seasonal cask ales including old favorites such as Hooray Henley and Oh Be Joyful.

Following the closure of the Brakspear Henley brewery in 2002, much of the brewing plant was moved to the Wychwood brewery (owned by Marstons PLC) in West Oxfordshire. Following a major refurbishment of the Wychwood brewery Brakspear Bitter is still handcrafted in the original copper and the famous Henley ‘Double-Drop’ fermentation system. www.brakspear.co.uk

Digging the ales at Moles Brewery

Moles Brewery produces a range of ales at their site in Melksham, Wiltshire, complemented by seasonal Ales and occasional ‘event’ brews. They also produce Black Rat Cider.

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Food and Drink

A Mexican style harvest fiesta

By Ocelot Food Columnist Dave Stewart To fit in with the ‘International Pan of Mystery’ (p36) feature this month – and my ongoing obsession with Mexican food - here are two recipe ideas for ‘mole poblano’ – that intoxicating spice paste made of nuts, seeds, toasted chillies and the darkest Mexican chocolate, that pairs excellently with the seasonal ingredients available at this time of year. You can make your own ‘mole’ but I honestly wouldn’t advise it first time, the shop bought ones are good quality.

Mole Poblano with Pumpkin Fry 1 chopped onion and 3 finely chopped garlic cloves in oil until soft in a large lidded pan. Depending which mole sauce you are using, the amount you need to use will vary. Start with 5 tbsp mole paste, add 800ml or so hot chicken or veg stock and bring to a simmer. Taste the sauce. It may need more mole paste to really pack a punch, if it does, add some more until it tastes amazing.

It should be strong, remember the veg will ‘dilute’ the flavour. Then, add in 1 whole pumpkin (any sort), peeled, de-seeded and cut into bitesize cubes. Add to the sauce, and simmer with the lid on, stirring occasionally, until the pumpkin is tender. Taste, season as required. Pour the stew into your serving dish and top with a generous handful of toasted sesame seeds and toasted pumpkin seeds.

Mole Poblano with Chicken You need a whole chicken, jointed and skinned. Follow the instructions above, then add in the chicken pieces to the sauce, simmer until just cooked. Top with toasted pumpkin

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and sesame seeds as above.

Coriander and Spinach Rice A delicious way to jazz up plain old rice. You’ll be surprised how much everyone loves it. Cook the rice (basmati or jasmine rice is best) in chicken stock. Whilst that’s cooking, take a small bunch of coriander, including the stalks, and blend this to a rough paste with 1/2 green chilli, and a small handful of spinach leaves. Fry this mixture in a frying pan for a few minutes until all the liquid evaporates and you’re left with a green paste. Toss this through the cooked rice with a knob of butter, and spoon the colourful green rice into a serving dish.

Spicy Grilled Corn Rub the corn cobs (1-2 per diner) with butter, lime juice, a pinch of chilli powder, salt and a little olive oil. Simply grill under a high heat, turning until cooked, adding additional marinade of lime, chilli, salt, butter as required to keep it sizzling.

Smokey-Roasted Tomato and Red Pepper Salsa In a non-stick pan, dry fry (no oil) 1 whole, un-chopped red chilli, 1 red pepper (whole, unchopped), 2 unpeeled garlic cloves, and 4-5 whole ripe plum tomatoes. Turn with tongs, until everything is black and blistered. The garlic will be done first, remove them when they are.

Once everything is blackened and the tomatoes are soft, leave to cool. Peel the skins and stalks off everything, and pulse-blend or roughly chop to a pulpy paste, then add ¼ finely chopped raw red onion, 2-3 tbsp chopped coriander, a generous pinch of salt and the juice of 1 lime.

International Pan of Mystery

A judicious use of the word ‘sauce’ here, because ‘mole’ is really more of a thick paste made of toasted chillies, nuts, spices and chocolate- but what is most definitely isn’t is a small burrowing rodent!

Occasionally, you might see ‘mole’ stylised as ‘molee’, to avoid confusion, though quite frankly if you’re trying to cook with fresh ‘moles’ instead of ‘mole’ then you’ve got much bigger problems! Mole is prized in Mexican cooking, and one taste of it and you’ll see why. It’s a heady, fragrant, sensationally delicious mix of roasted poblano, guajillo and ancho chillies, dark chocolate, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, almonds, peanuts, dried fruit, cinnamon, allspice…the list of ingredients is as long as your arm, and as with anything of this ilk - there are thousands of different recipes for mole from thousands of different abuelas! Essentially though, the moles fall into three main camps – there are the dark brown moles that are spicy and savoury , there are dark brown moles that are sweeter and nutty (though still used with savoury ingredients), and there are mole verdes, the green moles made with herbs and green tomatoes (tomatillos). Personally- I prefer the slightly sweeter, dark ones – usually called Mole Poblano - there is still more than enough spice and nutty flavour to pack a punch, and the bittersweet chocolate flavours give it another dimension of flavour.

Typically, the mole paste is fried for a minute (much like a Thai curry paste) and then diluted with chicken stock, before stewing whole chicken, game or turkey pieces until just cooked. You can make your own – but it’s a lot of effort – and I’m yet to find a foolproof recipe that’s as good as an authentic Mexican one – so, honestly you’re better buying the moles, and giving yourself an easy ride. For a veggie alternative, the mole sauce and stock mix also stews Getting Some: Waitrose sell their own version which squash and pumpkin brilliantly – consider adding peppers isn’t bad – but the best ones outside Mexico are available or corn near the end, too, and topping the whole thing with online - try the La Costena or Dona Maria brands from coriander and additional roasted sesame seeds. Serve, as www.casamexico.co.uk or www.mexgrocer.co.uk. ever, with rice, hot tortillas and additional hot sauce.

Mole Sauce

World Tripe Day - October 24

Brancott Estate Sauvignon Blanc

The word Tripe comes from the French word ‘tripe’ which means ‘of uncertain origin.

It is bascically a type of edible offal from the stomachs of various farm animals.

Doesn’t that sound great and delicious?

Doesn’t that make you want to go down to your butchers and

It’s been 40 years now since the Brancott Estate were the first to plant the Sauvignon Blanc grape in Marlborough, New Zealand. Since then there’s been no looking back.

This is a well-balanced wine with the lively, crisp character one expects, while gooseberry, pineapple and grapefruit flavours make this white a perfect apéritif or accompaniment to white fish, seafood risotto or fresh asparagus.

When you get this wine home and start to taste it you’ll understand why it’s so special. Sauvignon Blanc has always been a grape that can really make the tastebuds tingle and this wine is probably one of the best on the supermarket shelf at the moment. You can grab it from Waitrose for £10.49. That might sound expensive but it’s definitely worth every penny.

grab some right now and just eat right there at the counter? Well you can on Saturday October 24 as it’s International Tripe Day. Brilliant!

Warning: If cooked right tripe can be quite the delicacy.

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Food and Drink

All the fun of the Feastival

By Andrei Matache - The Big Feastival – A review Take what you know of festivals, all the mud, the rubbish, the drunk behaviour, and forget it.

We’re talking The Big Feastival here and that is quite the opposite of all those other festivals. The festival held at Alex James’s farm in Oxfordshire Cotswolds. You know Alex James. He’s from Blur. It’s also organised by Jamie Oliver. You know him. The one from everywhere.

In essence this is a family food and music festival. With all three given equal billing.

Let’s start with the food and drink.

Top of my list would be Westons Cider – which was glorious when the sun was out and even went down very well when the sun was hiding behind those pesky clouds.

I love Westons. It’s a glorious taste of the West Country and the fact that they had their own tent at feastival was fantastic as I ended up making it my second home.

In the spirit of diversity I obviously tried some of the other bars like Birra Moretti, Doombar, the Gin Bar and the Champagne Bar as well as the various wine producers that were on offer.

Now onto the food and this is where it gets exciting.

Let’s just say there were three different craft popcorn producers. That’s three. Before this festival I didn’t even know there was such a thing as craft popcorn. You learn something new every day.

We had Gaucho steak – a must for anyone who likes good Argentinian steak.

To be honest there was so much food on offer that I’m surprised that I didn’t put on a couple of stone by the time I left the festival. Beef brisket and pulled. Sausages galore. Paella. It was food heaven and everything was organically or locally sourced from the region.

There were various stalls selling cheese, coffee, sausages, oils, cereals, organic cosmetics, juices, bread, water, chocolate, cakes, sauces, marinades, preserves, ice creams, Organic allsorts, and artisan crisps. If you can think of it, there will be a stall selling it.

There was also a billion things that you could do. Just

exploring the festival site was a pleasure. There was wine tasting, cookery lessons and arts and craft workshops.

To be honest you couldn’t move for food. There were several stages just for cooking and banquets. It was definitely a food and music festival and not the other way around.

For the kids it was fantastic. There was a complete fairground with the oldest ferris wheel in the UK apparently as well as The Gruffalo and various other acts wondering around, as well as all sorts of centres, tents and areas to keep them amused. Games were a big thing with the roars coming from the table tennis being especially raucous.

But let’s not forget the music. It was a great line-up from the main acts to the bearded ladies on Folk Idol on The Udder Stage who performed a rendition of “Walk on By”. There was three stages. The Main Stage, The Udder Stage and The Bandstand.

My particular favourites were Norman Jaye, who was awesome and the divine Rae Morris but I also caught Badly Drawn Boy, Dizzee Rascal, Groove Armada on the main stage as well as The Lottery Winners and Duke on the Udder Stage.

One mention for the Bandstand, next to the Doombar tent. We were having an ale – Doombar launched their new beer Wolf Rock – and we overheard this band “The Pylons” – who were 16 to 17 year old kids – playing to a few bystanders. Gradually people started to congregate, I was pretty impressed and I heard people commenting in agreement – a bit of rocky/indie type stuff. They are from Lincoln and have performed at the Royal Albert Hall as part of the School Proms. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if we hear of them in the future again. They looked really young but they seemed to have a certain something.

The general vibe of the festival was good, but be warned as this was very much an upmarket festival. Very middle-class with lots of pink wellies – clearly the home of glamping. But I don’t think you could have asked for a better weekend in a field in Oxfordshire.

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Agony Girl Eight year old Annabel has been answering your questions for four years now. But she’s still a bit mad. We ask her the questions and these are her honest answers.

Dear Annabel, I’m a bit troubled. It seems, although I have quite a calm manner and am at heart a decent man, I have these bullies in the right wing media who keep attacking me solely because they don’t like my policies. I wouldn’t mind if it was the policies that they were attacking but it increasingly seems they want to attack me personally.

What is the best way to deal with bullies?

Jeremy, London The best way would be to hide. Try and stay out of sight until they go away. I don’t like bullies.

Dear Annabel, If you could be any kind of insect what would you be and why?

Peter, Chipping Norton I don’t like bugs. I’d like to be a butterfly because you can fly. You can fly next to an aeroplane and see all of the stuff below us.

Dear Annabel, I’m a teacher and I’m finding it increasingly hard to control the children as they keep laughing at my name ever since I got married. When I was Jemima Smith I never had these problems. What can I do?

Jemima Lardybum, Swindon Change your name back to Smith when you’re at school.

Dear Annabel, I recently went on a date with someone who I really liked.

He said he liked me and wanted to have a second date but he seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth as he’s not replying to any of my messages or calls.

Annabel doing her thing

I don’t want to seem a bit of a stalker but I really like him. What can I do?

Sarah, Bradford on Avon Maybe try him one more time and if he doesn’t answer, go around to his house and knock on his door to see if he’s there. He might have had an accident or something. Or even worse his internet might have gone down. His phone could have been on silent as well.

Dear Annabel, I want to be a superhero but I don’t have any powers. What can I do?

Clark, Oxford Pretend, like a kid. If I was a superhero I would be a cat superhero. I could scratch, bite, jump and balance across things and stuff. I would meow like a cat and I’d be able to turn into a cat as well.

Twisted Peel (twistedpeel.thecomicstrip.org )

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By Peter Roy