Wiltshire ocelot 110 august 2015 edition for web

No: 110 August 2015

Wiltshire Edition

FREE

Hey up! It’s the wonderful

Nudybronque

and they’ve only gone and written a blimmin’ rock opera! p18

Plus....

Carnival

Devizes gets in the spirit p14

Books

Marlborough Litfest p17

Trolls

The Goat lays into them p6

Brewery Bird

The Great British Beer Festival p33

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#110

AUGUST ISSUE Devizes Carnival in full swing p14

For Starters

04 Michael Bosley 06 The Goat + Our Man in Iraq 08 Going gaga for radio Arts and Culture

11 Are You Talkin’ To Me? 12 Theatre and Comedy List 14 Devizes Carnival 17 Marlborough Litfest Music

18 Nudybronque 21 This is New Music 22 Groovers on Manouevres 24 Gig Monkey 26 The Gig List 30 Tadstock Festival 31 The Festival List Food and Drink

33 Brewery Bird 34 Salade Nicoise and a tart!

36 International Pan of Mystery The Final Bit of the magazine

38 Agony Girl and Twisted Peel

The sounds of summer!

Listen closely. Can’t you hear it?

That is the sound of a million ‘humpfs’ of frustration as we all get stuck behind a slow moving caravan this August.

It is the sound of a million sets of parents telling their children in unison that if they don’t keep it down in the back they’ll turn the car around and go home.

No holiday for them.

It is the sound of a million wasps gathering like an army to attack a million picnics and a million screams as one person in every group bats wildly around their heads to try and keep the pesky beasts away making them look like they are trying out an innovative new swimming stroke on land.

These are the sounds of summer. We love the balmy long days don’t we?

Well, we do. No matter how frustrating things can get. All of our collective memories seem to be one big jumble of burnt BBQ sausages, sand in our sandwiches and rockpooling at the same beach in Devon. That’s summer. And they are the best memories.

So make the most of it and even if you are staying close to home there’s still plenty to see and do. Just check out our packed listings to see everything that is on offer from music to comedy to theatre.

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 608840 Publisher: Positive Media Group, Arclight Building, Peatmoor, Swindon SN5 7EX Printers: Thames Colour

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For Starters

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A Nerd’s Last Word

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For Starters A motel right in the thick of it Off The Grid with Luke Coleman Our Man in Iraq We’ve turned our spare room into a kind of Air B’n’B for visiting journalists, providing a decent bed, a bathroom, internet and aircon for the princely sum of $25 per night. With that, guests also get fresh towels and bedding (I know you’d expect nothing less, but it is quite fun playing the Sybil Fawlty, making sure there’s a sweet on the pillow).

We’ve had three come through our doors so far; Sara a friend of a friend whom I met in Amman whilst on evacuation; Carolina, a glamourous Spaniard who reports for Columbian TV - she popped the fuse using a hair drier and had to run over the road

to get a blow dry before work one morning; and Pilar, another Spanish TV reporter with whom I made a trip down to the frontline at Sinjar.

I was curious as to how I’d react to my first time in the action, and although there were quite a few sniper shots cracking off around us, it

was generally quiet. I got some good audio, and was able to knock out a story on how the disparate Kurdish factions are uniting against the common enemy.

I’m planning on going back again this week, as the MoLuke Motel is closed for Eid.

A travesty of trolls tell it like it isn’t A monthly rant by The Ocelot’s resident Grumpy Gruff The Goat. This month he once again tackles the ‘troll’ We seem to be living in the age of the troll.

It’s become very apparent that in this fast-paced era we’re living in the internet has given a powerful voice to one section of society that we’ve been happily ignoring since the dark ages - the idiot.

We’ve given ‘idiots’ a voice. And they’re being heard.

They are called ‘trolls’.

When Henry V told his troops to go ‘once more unto the breach’ - you didn’t get an anonymous heckler suddenly shouting ‘I did a turd on your mum’s lawn last night!’ or something even more sick and abusive.

Nope. If that person had shouted that out during that kingly hour, those medieval soldiers would have probably had him or her (but most likely a him) hung, drawn and quartered with his (or her) head on a spike in front of the Tower of London as a warning to others.

Nowadays though, these trolls are everywhere. Hiding behind their anonymous accounts hurling more abuse at anyone who speaks out about anything just for the hell of it. The thrill of it. The thrill of causing someone else pain.

They’re good like that.

The law is slowly catching up with the more abusive trolls actually getting arrested after sending torrents of abuse usually towards any woman who happens to be campaigning for a postage stamp commemorating the suffragettes. And they try to outdo each other like a group

of bonobo apes trying to chuck as much faeces as they can at the any passer-by. I don’t know what the collective noun for a troll is but it should be a ‘travesty’ of trolls.

The braver ones are not always anonymous though but these keyboard warriors still like to be as offensive and abusive as possible as their remit is to hurt and shock as many people as possible so that they can walk around knowing they’ve upset someone. They’re good like that.

The other day a lady I knew posted a restaurant recommendation to a friend and someone else they knew on the periphery of their social circle decided to use the most offensive words he knew to put down that recommendation. It was like he got out the thesaurus especially to shock and offend and to put down the poor lady who was only telling someone where she had a nice meal once.

If I was a troll I’d say bring back the heads on spikes era. That’ll learn ‘em! But I’m not so I’ll just call them idiots instead. Idiots!

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For Starters

Going gaga for radio in Wiltshire

The latest wireless technology

There’s nothing like a good bit of radio. It’s a medium you can get really lost in. Tune in and tune out.

And with the introduction of podcasts they are now finding an audience who are able to listen at their leisure whenever they want.

The internet is something that radio has really embraced. Which is nice. Anyway here’s two Wiltshire success stories...

The City Sound ‘The City Sound’ is an online community radio station in Salisbury.

A spokesman said: “We are here to represent you; the young, the old, for anyone that loves music and loves the city that they live in. We play all sorts of music, we report on local news and we keep you up to date with local sport too. We are a not for profit company set up to deliver great radio. We want to involve the community to, see our get involved page for more information.”

Broadcasting from Salisbury Arts Centre and various other locations it gives people a difference to the mainstream humdrum. Formed by Andy Munns and Thom Belk it will broadcast all year round. It launched on Friday July 10 with a 24-hour broadcast. You can find the radio station at www.thecitysound.co.uk Sounds of Swindon Sounds of Swindon is a new radio sketch show on Swindon 105.5 and it’s pretty damn funny.

The show is put together by The Institute of Complementary Comedy and it goes out at 11pm on Thursdays and the podcast version goes out on numerous FB pages the next day. It also has a website and all the shows and individual sketches are available as FREE downloads.

The Institute was established in 1982 as an independent faculty affiliated to the University of Swindon. Its remit is to bring together

the various elements of comedy: surreal, bawdy, dark and alternative in a manner that complements the various genres. The Institute has consistently failed to achieve this remit and consequently bids to increase its budget each year in a vain attempt to justify its existence. It has successfully increased its budget year on year without fail...but it still fails to justify its existence.

Eventually, over 30 years later, in 2015 the founding Fellows of the Institute had some time on their hands and cobbled together the contents of a radio sketch show which was broadcast on Swindon 105.5. ‘Sounds of Swindon’ was born and the end product is a fine example of what can be achieved with 30 years of pontificating and cogitating, a budget of over £17m and the fear of being expected to do some real work. The website is at www.soundsofswindon.com

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No more heroes!

Film

Neil Gaiman’s 90s Sandman saga is set to be made into a film with Joseph Gordon-Levitt. It’s not set at the beach.

Are You Talkin’ To Me? A Film column by Jamie Hill For some time now Hollywood has been raiding the comic book and graphic novel cookie jar for inspiration.

Superheroes abound on the big screen. We seem to be awash with latex and capes.

At some point this bubble will burst as audiences decide enough’s enough with all these heroic antics and want a bit of different fare.

Personally, I’m a big superhero fan so I’m in geek heaven at every Marvel or DC announcement but even I can see that there’s simply too many now.

So does this mean they should stop looking at the comic book medium for inspiration?

Of course not! The medium still offers a wealth of inspired stories that have got nothing to do with spandex and long may it continue.

Here are several film projects that are in the works right now that have nothing to do with those pesky hero types.

Chew Chew, an Image comic, is the story of Detective Tony Chu, who polices a world where poultry has been made illegal after a devastating bird flu epidemic.

Now, it’s been picked up for the big screen treatment, in animated form, with The Walking Dead’s Steven Yeun lined up to star as Chu - a ‘chibopath,’ which means he can get a psychic reading from anything he eats, enabling him to work out how it died. David Tennant joined the cast recently, in a role that was originally being lined up for the late, great Robin Williams.

Sandman From the mind of the genius that is Neil Gaiman, Sandman was once deemed unfilmable but it’s now in the

development stage thanks to Joseph Gordon-Levitt (from Third Rock from the Sun!) The DC/Vertigo series sees Gaiman explore the world of dreams. He includes Dream, Destiny, Death, Desire, Despair and Delirium as characters as well as a whole host of crazy cameos (including William Shakespeare). This is definitely one project that I’m very excited about.

Constantine You probably know this one seeing as there was recently a short-lived but very good TV series and a previous film starring Keanu Reeves.

New Line Cinema recently announced that a new film about DC Vertigo’s renegade Liverpudian magician, originally created by Alan Moore, was in the works.

Lucifer Another DC Vertigo comic announced at the same time as Constantine by New Line. The comic followed the antics of Lucifer after turning his back on the underworld.

Interesting existential stuff.

Preacher As well as being developed into a TV show by Seth Rogen, this one was also in the crop of recent announcements by New Line for the cinema treatment. It follows the often very shocking and funny story of a priest who is touched by God. Expect werewolves, fallen angels and psychotic immortal gunmen.

Personally, I’d like to see them make films out of ‘Maus’ - a groundbreaking story about the holocaust, ‘Transmetropolitan’ - the Warren Ellis story of outlaw future journalist Spider Jerusalem, and ‘Y-The Last Man’ which follows the last man on earth in a world of women after a virus wipes out all males.

But you can’t have everything.

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Theatre List Monday August 3 COMEDY: The Ocelot Comedy Night 8pm -Free entry - The Vic, Swindon - with Jeremy O’Donnell, Alexis Wieroniey, Jo Romero, Rob Thomas and Josh Smith Friday August 7 and Saturday August 8 THEATRE: Summer Stage 7.30pm -Salisbury Arts Centre, Bedwin St

in association with Ringwood Brewery www.ringwoodbrewery.co.uk Saturday August 8 FILM: The Tale of Princess Kaguya 11am -Salisbury Arts Centre, Bedwin St

Thurs August 20 to Sun August 23 THEATRE: Hairspray 7:30 pm - Wyvern Theatre, Swindon

Fri August 14 and Sat August 15 DINNER THEATRE: Faulty Towers - The Dining Experience 7.30pm - Wyvern Theatre Restaurant, Swindon

Friday August 21 THEATRE: The Secret Garden 6:30 pm - Lydiard Park Open Air Theatre, Swindon

The Secret Garden at Lydiard Wouldn’t we all love to have a secret garden? A place where we can go and escape from it all with no possible interruptions.

This August the people of Swindon will be offered the next best thing when Lydiard Park plays host to a stage adaptation of The Secret Garden on Friday August 21 from 6.30pm.

For those of you who didn’t have this wondrous tale read to them as a child The Secret Garden is one of the most popular children’s novels ever spawning films and stage adaptations galore.

It’s based on a novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett and was initially published in serial format starting in the autumn of 1910, and was first published in its entirety in 1911.

It is now one of Burnett’s most popular novels, and is considered to be a classic of English children’s literature up there with Enid Blyton’s Famous Five and Arthur Ransome’s Swallows and Amazons.

The perfomance is being put on as part of the Lydiard Open Air Theatre season which had ‘The Casebook of Sherlock Holme’ last month.

Although, little known outside of Swindon, Lydiard Park is one of the jewels in the crown for the borough.

It is in the grounds of Lydiard House, where you can visit as well as the historically significant St Mary’s Church.

It’s also got a fantastic playground for the kids as well as a tree-climbing activity centre.

All of this is set in a stunning landscaped park that the council

Ssh! It’s a secret....

should really shout about as it really does not fit the perception of what people think Swindon is about. But maybe it’s their own secret garden.

Anyway, for Secret Garden, join young Mary Lennox on her journey of discovery as she travels to her uncle’s house deep in the Yorkshire countryside, where unexpected friends and very magical creatures help her unlock the mystery of the secret garden.

The best thing of all is that this most enchanting story, loved by children and adults alike, is presented in the beautiful Lydiard Park. So it’ll be hard not to be carried away with the story being in such a beautiful park yourself.

The adapation is alive with music

and song and an array of especially designed puppet creatures, Mary’s story and it promises to capture the very spirit of summer and to be one of the highlights of the open-air garden theatre season.

Tickets are on sale now with adults costing £14 and students and children £10.

A family ticket for two adults and two children costs £42.

There’s 10% off tickets with a Lydiard Park Season Ticket.

Please note, dogs are not permitted within the auditorium area and the park asks that no umbrellas are put up during the performance.

You can buy your tickets from Lydiard House or from the website at www.lydiardpark.org.uk

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Devizes Carnival Devizes Outdoor Celebratory Arts (DOCA) brings you a fortnight of free entertainment and fun including its celebrated Devizes International Street Festival which now stretches over two days. The two weeks includes comedy, a confetti battle and loads of fringe events as well the climactic and very colourful Devizes Carnival with its amazing parade.

It’s Carnival time in Devizes

“Wire you here?”

Picnic in the Park Sunday 23rd August Bring a picnic, relax in Devizes’ loveliest park and hear some great live music from Ben Cipolla, John E Vistic Experience, Flash Harry and Talisman! Children’s entertainment 1pm to 4pm Devizes International Street Festival Sunday 30th & Monday 31st August For 2015 DOCA present a fantastic programme for this year’s International Street Festival, welcoming some of the best street performers, contemporary circus acts, dancers, musicians and walkabout shows from across Europe and the UK to amaze, surprise and entertain you!

Throughout both days there will be an array of delicious food, drinks,

including licensed bars, and crafts available from Festival Stalls.

Acts this year include Corey Baker Dance who flick through an array of genres, new and old, with the performer mimicking the styles with his impressive moves.

There’s also Flying Buttresses - an enchanting, interactive puppetry walkabout featuring an elderly couple of miniature proportions, with huge personalities and a not-so-firm grip on the ways of modern living.

Oh and if you’re not careful you might be mistaken for a titbit by one of the two giant seagulls that will be wandering around Devizes looking to fill their bellies.

Confetti Battle Wednesday 2nd September 8pm in Devizes Market Place This traditional event dates back to

“I don’t mind hanging around.”

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Devizes Carnival

This year Devizes Carnival. Next year Dragon’s Den.

1955 and is now, we think, the only one of its kind in the country! As the confetti canons fire, buy your own bags of confetti from the stalls and throw it at your friends!

Carnival Comedy Night Thursday 3nd September 8.30pm in Devizes Corn Exchange Arranged with Moonrakers Comedy Club courtesy of Martin Brown.

Headlining is Tom Price, a regular on the UK comedy circuit and winning over audiences with charm, foppery and a fine line in trousers - and an even better line in laughter. Doors open 8pm and there will be a licensed bar.

Carnival Quiz Night Friday 4th September 7.30pm - Southbroom Infant School, Southbroom Road Always a popular night so arrive early to secure a table or call 01380 728671 to reserve one. There will be a licensed bar. Teams of four.

Carnival on the Canal Friday 4th September 6.30 - 10.00 p.m Devizes Wharf An evening of music, dancing, food & drink hosted by the Kennet & Avon Canal Trust. Stalls, demonstrations of canal art and culture, a BBQ, beer tent

“I wheely like doing this!”

& bouncy castle, plus headliners Wessex Contraband - an evening out for the whole family.

Main Carnival Parade Saturday 5th September Leaving The Green at 6pm Devizes Carnival, 103 this year is a vibrant mix of traditional & contemporary styles, thrilling spectators & participants alike!

Music, noise, movement, masquerade - a true celebration of life!

This is one of the showcase carnivals in the South West attracting huge crowds so make sure you get there early to get a good spot so you can get a right eyeful of all the sights and sounds of pageantry being paraded before you.

For more information on the events or to find out how you can donate to carnival funds visit the website at www.docadevizes.org.uk

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Marlborough LitFest

Marlborough goes by the book for its annual Litfest The Marlborough LitFest is now in its sixth year and this year takes place from Friday October 2 to Sunday October 4.

The 2015 programme has something for everyone, with more than 25 events over three days featuring fiction and non-fiction, as well as poetry and creative writing workshops.

The 2015 line-up includes bestselling author of The No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series Alexander McCall Smith, prizewinning novelist and poet Helen Dunmore as well as the Golding Speaker, Salley Vickers.

A real treat for Wolf Hall fans is BAFTA-award winning director Peter Kosminsky in discussion with Channel 4’s Jon Snow about the recent TV adaptation. History buffs can choose between historical biographer and novelist Alison Weir or medieval historian and Magna Carta expert, Sean McGlyn; broadcaster, novelist and human rights journalist, Bidisha, will be discussing asylum and exile issues, particularly those seeking refuge in the UK from abroad.

Twice nominated for the Man Booker prize, Scottish novelist and journalist Andrew O’Hagan is also an Editor at Large of Esquire and the London Review of Books.

O’Hagan is best known for chronicling contemporary Britain and his latest, fifth, novel, The Illuminations, is based on war, memory and secrets.

Guardian journalist and novelist John Lanchester is the author of four novels and two non-fiction books,

including Whoops!: Why Everyone Owes Everyone and No-One Can Pay, about the global financial crisis.

He has won the EM Forster Award, Whitbread First Novel Prize as well as being longlisted for the Booker Prize. His novel Capital - about a single street in London - is currently being turned into a BBC drama.

Bestselling novelist, poet and children’s author, Helen Dunmore has written 22 children’s books and nine adult books. She won the very first Orange Prize for Fiction. Her latest novel is The Lie, set during and after the First World War and is an enthralling novel of love, memory and devastating loss.

Jasper Fforde spent nearly 20 years in the film industry before his first novel in 2001. His genre of comedy crime fantasy has made him a bestselling author of The Last Dragonslayer series, the Nursery Crime books and the Thursday Next novels – which are set in a parallel Swindon in the 1980s.

Jasper’s children attended St John’s in Marlborough and he lived for a time in Great Bedwyn.

Calcutta-born novelist Neel Mukherjee was shortlisted for both the 2014 Man Booker Prize and 2014 Costa novel of the year for The Lives of Others, the tale of a young man drawn into extreme political activism in 1960s Calcutta.

It took Tessa Hadley 23 years to become a published novelist. She’s now an established contemporary

author of five novels and two short story collections as well as being Professor of Creative Writing at Bath Spa University. Her first novel, Accidents in the Home was longlisted for the Guardian First Book Award.

Local primary school children will attend author talks by Jane Hardstaff as well as bestselling author of Harry and the Bucketful of Dinosaurs series Ian Whybrow who will entertain families with his trademark whacky humour.

Choose from a mix of new young authors and contemporary novelists, a new biography of Vita SackvilleWest as well as a new translation of Anna Karenina. Current political commentary will be provided by a parliamentary satirist, John Crace.

Nature lovers can take a walk in Savernake Forest with BBC’s Springwatch producer and naturalist Stephen Moss. For budding poets there is an open mic session at the Poetry in the Pub or the chance to catch Welsh poet Gillian Clarke at Marlborough College.

Our recommended summer read is ‘The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry’ by Rachel Joyce, who is our annual Big Town Read author this year. An international bestseller, the novel was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize and translated into 34 languages. Read up so you’re ready for the Q&A at the LitFest with Rachel in October.

For further information, visit www.marlboroughlitfest.org.

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Nudybronque Nudybronque getting ready for their new rock opera!

GrAffiti AnD her frienDs AGainst the never enDinG sADness Swindon band Nudybronque have taken up residence in our hearts over the past few years. They even played the editor’s 40th birthday party last year. Their brand of outthere indie pop and their frenetic live gigs have got them quite the following. They’ve now gone and written a rock opera called ‘GrAffiti AnD her frienDs AGainst the never enDing sADness’ which they will be performing at The Vic in Swindon on Friday August 21. Here’s a brief but informative chat with them.

HEY! NUDYBRONQUE! HOW HAS 2015 BEEN TREATING YOU? YAY! It has been interesting so far. We began the year really positively, hoping to have another record ready to follow ‘Moondog’ before the summer, with the idea that we would promote it with a tour.

The problem was the idea became too bloated, and what started as a short EP, became a full length LP, and from there it became what we’ve taken to calling a ‘Rock Opera’, partly because it kind of is, and partly because we found the idea of us doing a rock opera funny.

Unfortunately by the time we had worked on the material to the point it was ready to record, we realised we didn’t have the money to record it, and too stubborn to compromise the idea, we decided we would wait.

A ROCK OPERA SOUNDS INTERESTING WHAT WAS THE PROCESS BEHIND THAT? In November, when our shows from 2014 were all

wrapping up we were given a room at the Richard Jeffery’s museum. We were allowed to keep all our recording equipment, and that enabled us to be much more deliberate with writing than we had previously. We could work until as late as we liked, because the museum stands alone, although sometimes when I was working alone I would leave early because the scuttering of owls in the thatch would wig me out.

The rock opera came about because the material had all been informed by the same event. I had taken to writing every song in the same three keys; A, G, and D (GrAffiti AnD her frienDs AGainst the never enDinG sADness). This made all the songs link together, and soon pairs began springing up, and instead of writing songs, I would just link another idea to the end of the previous.

This is a trait of a lot of our favourite albums, ‘A Wizard, A True Star’, ‘In the Airplane Over the Sea’, ‘Abbey Road (Side B)’. All of these records sound like they

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Nudybronque

Nudybronque instantly regretted trying to teach a toddler’s painting class but were quite touched by the flowers given by three year old Mimi from Wootton Bassett although they all agreed it was a stupid name and more suited to a pet.

are tumbling out from the writer’s head. That was something that really informed ‘Graffiti & Her Friends...’, we decided it was okay to leave a song open ended. Some of these songs are only thirty seconds long, they’re hardly even songs. But that was okay. It’s all okay.

WONDERFUL! TELL US ABOUT YOUR UPCOMING SHOW AT THE VICTORIA. I HEAR YOU ARE DOING SOMETHING SPECIAL FOR IT. For Larmer Tree and the Victoria, in the spirit of ‘... & Her Friends...’ we have invited our friends to perform the music with us. Which is really exciting, because our friends are all wonderful musicians.

Nuala Honan is joining us on acoustic guitar, and she’s a fantastic singer. Faye Rogers and Curtis Warner from White Lilac will also be playing. Faye on saxophone, and Curtis on guitar. Of course, no Nudybronque collaboration would be complete without Jon Buckett on his keyboard, because he’s the best.

The energy in rehearsals has been electric. Hearing the music performed so beautifully really brought out my emotional side, and had me welling up. They’ve done such a great job, we’re really lucky they’ve agreed to do it.

We will also be joined by some great bands, Plummie Racket and the Rocket Shaped Hoe Downs will be rapping it up. And Flashfires are bringing their cock rock hot rock as well. It’s going to rock. Rock, rock rock.

This is all happening on the 21st of August, you can buy

Nudybronque love touring but they do sometimes think that the sleeping arrangements could be improved

tickets online.

GRAFFITI & HER FRIENDS IS A RIDICULOUS NAME! It’s a great name.

WHAT COMES NEXT FOR NUDYBRONQUE? After the 21st we have one more show booked at the Winchester Gate in Salisbury. Then we will disappear into a puff of smoke, hopefully to reappear with a recorded version of ‘Graffiti & Her Friends...’.

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August Listings Sat 1st

The Cold Harbour + Belial + From Dusk Until Dawn + Heriot + Ursus 8pm £4.50adv £8dr

Mon 3rd

Ocelot Comedy Night 8pm free

Tues 4th

MammothFest Warm-Up Show 8pm £4adv £5dr

Thurs 6th

ECHO BOOM GENERATION + Gelato + TBC 8pm £3

Fri 7th

Four Fighters Foo Fighters Tribute 8pm £8

Sat 8th

The Bowie Experience Tribute 8pm £7adv £8dr

Thurs 13th Cabin Boy Jumped Ship + With Ghosts + Saint[the]Sinner 8pm £3 Fri 14th

Roughnecks 8pm free

Thurs 20th

Flowerpot + ACTS TBC 8pm £3

Fri 21st

Nudybronque + FLASHFIRES + PLUMMIE RACKET - Nudybronque present Graffiti & Her Friends: Against The Never Ending Sadness - LIVE 8pm £4adv £5dr

Sat 22nd

Syntronix - 8pm £5adv £6dr

Sun 23rd

The Vic Annual Karaoke Competition 8pm free

Thurs 27th

Roads To Nowhere + Homeland + TBC 8pm £3

Fri 28th

Songs of Praise presents... 8pm

Sat 29th

The Doors Alive Tribute - 8pm £10

Sun 30th

The Vic Annual Karaoke Competition + Bank Holiday Sausage Fest + Live Music + Late Night Disco 8pm free

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Groovers on Manouevres

Dave Franklin is our man about town when it comes to the Swindon music scene. This month he looks at White Lilac.

Three quarters of White Lilac have always had problems with looking directly at the camera.

Welcome to the dream world of White Lilac

By Dave Franklin White Lilac has come a long way in a short space of time, not least musically. With Faye Rogers’s early solo work now a distant yet charming memory, the band that formed in that chapter of the story now help her head down a more mesmerizing path.

I’m guessing that the moment you realise that the sound you have imagined in your head for so long is now achievable with the people that you have around you, must be the moment when anything seems possible.

First single, Night Visions, was a brilliant statement of intent and immediately disassociated the new band from Faye’s earlier work and saw them take up camp in a cinematic indie soundscape of mist and shadows, as much a modern, ambient gothic film score as a song in the mainstream sense.

And yet as if to prove that they hadn’t put all of their musical eggs into one basket, what followed was even

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more heart achingly beautiful.

Working with a sound palette that roams between Joy Division’s angular melancholy and Cocteau Twins dreamscapes, The Girl Who Stole the Eiffel Tower shows that even within those parameters they find plenty of room to create a truly unique sound.

A homage to Audrey Hepburn seems the perfect subject matter for the band, both lyrically and musically and the gradual phasing in of Faye’s saxophone is perfect here to create a sonorous Parisian vibe.

Strings sweep, vocals swoon, beats act as occasional punctuation marks and guitar lines merely provide a bed for delicate atmospherics to lie down on.

If there is one band in Swindon today making a truly unique sound then it is White Lilac, the fact that it happens to be one of the most emotive and evocative you have ever heard is an added bonus. fb/WhiteLilacMusic

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This is New Music

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

This is... Clean Cut Kid Liverpool based four­piece Clean Cut Kid have given us a quirky indie­pop gem in the form of their debut track, Vitamin C. Strong vocals and solid songwriting draw the listener in whilst looped effects and overloaded amps spark our imagination on this distortion­ pedal driven rock inspired instant classic. Equally titillating is the accompanying video clip which stars actor JD Kelleher who delivers a virtuoso performance that Christopher Walken would be proud of. Clean Cut Kid’s music might be inspired by 80’s acts like Prefab Sprout and Fleetwood

Mac but Mike & Evelyn Halls, Saul Godman and Ross Higginson have brought those influences into the now with transatlantic verve.

I wonder if I can’t also hear the influence of Liverpool itself in their warehouse produced sounds reminding me as they did of fellow scousers, Wave Machines? Vitamin C is out on the band’s own Babe Magnet Records but bigger things beckon for this quartet so grab the 7” version of what is bound to become a collectors edition classic.

Key Tracks: 20 Years from Now, Vitamin C cleancutkid.co.uk

This is... Luke Potter This ambitious young songwriter has been steadily growing his monster sized fanbase for several years now. He first came to our attention in 2011 but with his current single, Do You Love Me (Yet) he’s set to break through to mainstream pop audiences. Luke’s standout vocals and highly commercial style is going to appeal to audiences on radio around the world and we might be about to see and hear this very thing happen; over the next few month Luke intends to drop a number of singles online with the

help of the Hard Rock organisation.

If they have the heartthrob appeal of Do You Love Me then you can expect his already sizable audience to grow and space to be made on teen bedroom walls everywhere as fans ready for their next hero decide they #LoveLukePotter. He’s already been name checked with global smash­hit artists such as Savage Garden’s Darren Hayes so the UK could have its next big break­out pop star. Key Tracks: Do You Love Me (Yet) & There it Goes Again lukepottermusic.com

This is... Misty Miller I featured Misty Miller here a couple of years ago; since then this feisty star has grown her style into a fun­ loving, danger filled kind of rock that will appeal to fans of Icona Pop and Joan Jett alike. It’s no surprise that her celeb fans include Jake Bugg, Kate Nash and Charli XCX as she crosses authentic songwriting with a raw sound and her rowdy girl­gang pop­punk image. Radio 1 got on­board with her current single Happy, which was out late last month, in a big way and 6 Music chipped in too with a few spins. Word is that Misty can cut it on the live scene too and that her show is an atom bomb of fearless attitude. She’s been out on the road with acts like Jamie T and Fat White Family, Television and Eels wowing their tough to please audiences.

A recent show at London’s taste­ making Notting Hill Arts Club saw fans posting joyously of drowning in a sweat of enthusiasm - so the live show’s one to see then! Happy is out now and Misty is on the road until September. Key Tracks: Happy and Best Friend MistyMiller.com

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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 at the Swindon Shuffle 2015 SN Dubstation shuffling along

The Kings of The Castle Whilst I shuffled all over the place at this year’s event, and bore witness to some fantastic performances (shout outs to Phil Dean, All Ears Avow, 2 Sick Monkeys, Super Squarecloud and Aural Candy in particular, and especially Cursor Major, who were unreal) something rather special happened at one session in particular. So I thought I would spend this year’s review focusing on it as it could signify that important changes in the local music scene are ahead.

It is no secret that Swindon’s music scene has its ups and downs, and in recent years had been experiencing a dearth of young bands on the scene, which was something of a worry. Therefore, I am very pleased to be able to report that, based on the evidence of events at The Castle

on Saturday July 18 2015 - a date to go down in history - the drought appears to be over and things are starting to take an exciting upward turn.

Openers Westways are a fairly new Swindon band of teenagers playing a punky brand of indie pop that has a few rough edges that should soon get polished off. They even dealt with a lost guitarist, drafting in a substitute for the first song - hardly noticed too. A cracking high energy start to the show, and a band with the basics in place who could develop into something great.

As much as this is a review of a bright new dawn to Swindon music, anything that it can do, so can Oxford, as following up were the quite brilliant Balloon Ascents, who are mature beyond their years and exude the kind

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Gig Monkey Sahara Heights played with reckless abandon

of professionalism that most bands I have met have yet to achieve. The music was more atmospheric and low key than Westways, a slick indie-pop, smart and melancholic with clever beats and sweet little grooves, sparkling melodies and some delightful acoustic soul. The delivery was as smart as the sounds, and they seemed so at home on stage and with their music you would be forgiven for thinking they were 10 year circuit veterans.

Mightily impressive stuff from a band I cannot wait to see progress.

Indie music can be a pretty dour thing sometimes, so it is refreshing to see a young band like Sahara Heights have so much bloody fun. They blasted into their set with a gusto I rarely see these days, throwing themselves around with reckless abandon and generally having as good a time as they could. Their upbeat music is underpinned by seriously impressive bass grooves that thunder along, giving the songs a life and dynamism I haven’t seen in such a young band. In short, these guys were here to party, and they had the tunes to do it.

By the time SN Dubstation squeezed onto the stage the room was packed to capacity and filled with a fervour and anticipation rarely witnessed at Swindon gigs. The environment by this point was stifling. I reckon the amount of other peoples sweat I breathed in could be measured by the pint, which was a pretty paltry amount it turned out, as when the band blasted into their set the room went crazy. When I say crazy, I mean completely Arkham Asylum crazy with people skanking on the furniture and flinging themselves around in the crush as best they could. The levels of atmospheric perspiration went off the scale, breathing became hard,

surfaces slippery and every movement was a massive effort in the crushing humidity and humanity, yet the room couldn’t have been happier and there was no way anyone was going to be stopped from moving to the music by something as trifling as the conditions.

All of this however, was nothing compared to what was going on up on the stage where somehow all eight musicians in the band had squeezed onto the tiny space.

You really couldn’t swing a gerbil, let alone a cat, but, carried away by the electric atmosphere and with a burning desire to party hard the band skanked, danced and moved as if they were at Wembley, the keyboards bouncing around like a Citroen 2CV on a farm track and the bass guitar and trombone threatening to take somebody’s teeth out. Somehow they got through unscathed, barring some soaked clothing that would probably be best thrown away. They were possibly a few stone lighter collectively but managed to play out of their skins at the same time.

The sound engineer had by some miracle managed to get it all sounding gloriously huge in trying circumstances, and this combination of performance and sound, allied to the exuberance of the bands material and the willingness of the audience to join in created a musical perfect storm that ensured this will be one of those nights that gets talked about in reverent tones for years to come.

I was there witnessing something truly special happen, a new dawn. If you weren’t, the Shuffle returns next year to celebrate its 10th anniversary. The organisers have got a host of huge ideas up their sleeves, so don’t make the same mistake again.

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Gig list Saturday August 1 Altar Club: Ed Tudor Pole and Nudybronque 8pm - Salisbury Arts Centre, Bedwin Street, Salisbury The Cold Harbour + Belial + From Dusk Until Dawn + Heriot + Ursus 8pm - The Victoria, Victoria Road, Swindon Drum & Bass Uprise Swindon First Birthday Bash 9pm - Level 3, Commercial Road, Swindon Ghosts of the Avalanche 9pm - Three Horseshoes, Frome Road, Bradford on Avon Sloe Train 9pm - The Rolleston, Commercial Road, Swindon Coco Esq + Westways 9pm - The Locomotive, Fleet Street, Swindon Sunday August 2 Steel Yard Blues 9pm - Three Horseshoes, Frome Road, Bradford on Avon Tuesday August 4 MammothFest Warm-Up Show featuring Meta-stasis + HELL PuppeTs + ANTOINETTE 8pm - The Victoria, Victoria Road, Swindon Wednesday August 5 Dan Raza + Jasmine Beth 8pm - Seend Acoustic Club, Rusty Lane, Seend Thursday August 6 Echo Boom Generation + Gelato + TBC 8pm - The Victoria, Victoria Road, Swindon Singers Night 8pm - Royal Oak, Corsham Friday August 7 Four Fighters 8pm - The Victoria, Victoria Road, Swindon Bands to be Announced 8.30pm - The Winchester Gate, Rampart Road, Salisbury Edsel Furies 9pm - Three Horseshoes, Frome Road, Bradford on Avon Soul Strutters 9pm - The Rolleston, Commercial Road, Swindon

in association with Ringwood Brewery www.ringwoodbrewery.co.uk The Outlaw Boogie Band 9pm - The Locomotive, Fleet Street, Swindon

Voodoo Vegas 9pm - The Rolleston, Commercial Road, Swindon

Saturday August 8 The Bowie Experience 8pm - The Victoria, Victoria Road, Swindon

As The Sun Sleeps + Goodbye The Sunset 9pm - The Locomotive, Fleet Street, Swindon

Live Lunch: Appalachia 12:00 pm - Salisbury Arts Centre, Bedwin Street, Salisbury

Sunday August 16 James Hollingsworth 9pm - Three Horseshoes, Frome Road, Bradford on Avon

Electric Guitar Blues Revue 9pm - Three Horseshoes, Frome Road, Bradford on Avon The Blox 9pm - The Rolleston, Commercial Road, Swindon Rewire The Time Machine + Support 9pm - The Locomotive, Fleet Street, Swindon Sunday August 9 The Worried Men 9pm - Three Horseshoes, Frome Road, Bradford on Avon Thursday August 13 Cabin Boy Jumped Ship + With Ghosts + Saint[the]Sinner 8pm - The Victoria, Victoria Road, Swindon Sian Penlington & Rob Colquhoun 8pm - Royal Oak, Corsham Friday August 14 Roughnecks 8pm - The Victoria, Victoria Road, Swindon Lump + Support 8.30pm - The Winchester Gate, Rampart Road, Salisbury Fox Punch 9pm - Three Horseshoes, Frome Road, Bradford on Avon Beats & Bars - UK Hip-Hop showcase with Skinnyman 9pm - Level 3, Commercial Road, Swindon Teddy White Band 9pm - The Rolleston, Commercial Road, Swindon Grubby Jack 9pm - The Locomotive, Fleet Street, Swindon Saturday August 15 The Lone Sharks 9pm - Three Horseshoes, Frome Road, Bradford on Avon

Wednesday August 19 Hilary Pavey + Ed Hanfrey & Friends 8pm - Seend Acoustic Club, Rusty Lane, Seend Thursday August 20 Flowerpot 8pm - The Victoria, Victoria Road, Swindon Singers Night 8pm - Royal Oak, Corsham Friday August 21 Nudybronque + FLASHFIRES + PLUMMIE RACKET 8pm - The Victoria, Victoria Road, Swindon Beer Fest & Glastonbelly feat. Eden lake + Tall Stacks + Mighty magic Animal 8.30pm - The Winchester Gate, Rampart Road, Salisbury Retro Electro 9pm - Three Horseshoes, Frome Road, Bradford on Avon Lewis Creaven Band 9pm - The Rolleston, Commercial Road, Swindon Oui Legionnaires + Support 9pm - The Locomotive, Fleet Street, Swindon Saturday August 22 Syntronix 8pm - The Victoria, Victoria Road, Swindon Shepherd’s Pie 9pm - The Rolleston, Commercial Road, Swindon Act TBC 9pm - Three Horseshoes, Frome Road, Bradford on Avon Hip Route & Friends 9pm - The Locomotive, Fleet Street, Swindon Sunday August 23 Vic Annual Karaoke Competition 8pm - The Victoria, Victoria Road,

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in association with Ringwood Brewery www.ringwoodbrewery.co.uk Swindon Beer Fest All Dayer feat. Nudybronque, The Intercepteurs, The Villanovas, Citizen Perez, Duck n Cuvver, David Crout & MTBA 3pm - The Winchester Gate, Rampart Road, Salisbury

Gig list

Friday August 28 Songs of Praise presents..

8pm - The Victoria, Victoria Road, Swindon I’m Designer + Support 8.30pm - The Winchester Gate, Rampart Road, Salisbury

Shootin’ The Crow 9pm - Three Horseshoes, Frome Road, Bradford on Avon

Act TBC 9pm - Three Horseshoes, Frome Road, Bradford on Avon

Music Cruise with Jon Amor 7pm - cruise aboard Kenavon Venture, Devizes Wharf £14 including fish and chip supper

Ruzz Guitar’s Blues Revue 9pm - The Rolleston, Commercial Road, Swindon

Thursday August 27 Roads To Nowhere + Homeland + TBC 8pm - The Victoria, Victoria Road, Swindon Spotlight Night 8pm - Royal Oak, Corsham

Brother From Another 9pm - The Locomotive, Fleet Street, Swindon Saturday August 29 Billy and The Lowground 9pm - Three Horseshoes, Frome Road, Bradford on Avon

‘Up The Levelz’ - urban club night 9pm - Level 3, Commercial Road, Swindon Wizards of Oz 9pm - The Rolleston, Commercial Road, Swindon Keegan McEnroe Band 9pm - The Locomotive, Fleet Street, Swindon Sunday August 30 Bank Holiday Sausage Fest + Live Music + Karaoke Competition + Late Night Disco 8pm - The Victoria, Victoria Road, Swindon Model Folk 9pm - Three Horseshoes, Frome Road, Bradford on Avon

Oi! You might be punk but get a higher resolution on ya pictures why don’t ya!

Old School punk at Marlborough Beerfest Look how grainy that picture is! That’s proper old that is. Old School.

Well, if there’s one band that’s proper old school it’d be them Lurkers. Them be proper punks. Spitting, anarchic, not caring, fighting against everything punks.

We need more of their sort around nowadays. All we’ve got are food-obsessed hipsters. What kind of youth movement is that? Where’s the rebellion? That’s what I want to know.

The Lurkers back in the punk era of the late seventies and early eighties knew what it was about. And they didn’t care.

Well, if you hanker after those good ol’ days you should look no further than the Marlborough Beer Festival which takes place at Marlborough Rugby Club from Friday August 28 to Sunday August 30.

There’s going to be beers and ciders from across the

UK but on top of that they’ve got some right good music for your earholes.

On the Friday night they’ve gone and got a time machine and grabbed those Lurkers who are leaning grainily and nonchalantly above to play with damn good support in the form of The Chaos Brothers. That sounds like a bloody good old school night.

Then on the Saturday night you can catch that Marlborough cover supremo band Mule - who have got quite the following don’t you know and are proper good.

Just to round out it all of is Mick O’Toole with his tasty cider punk antics on the Sunday night.

On top of all that there will be a BBQ, children’s face painting and a bouncy castle during the days.

And it’s all free entry. You will have to pay for your bellyful of beer though!

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Fri 7th - Bands to be Announced Fri 14th - LUMP + Support Fri 21st - Beer Fest & Glastonbelly feat.

Eden Lake + Tall Stacks + Mighty magic Animal Sun 23rd - Beer Fest All Dayer feat.

Nudybronque, The Intercepteurs, The Villanovas, Citizen Perez, Duck n Cuvver, David Crout & MTBA - 3pm Fri 28th - I’m Designer + Support

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Festival List Friday July 31 to Sunday August 2 Festival on The Farm Purton House, Purton

Fri August 14 to Sun August 16 White Horse Folk Festival Grove near Wantage

Friday July 31 to Saturday August 8 #Generation Z Corn Exchange, Market Place, Newbury

Fri August 21 to Sun August 23 Rewind Festival Temple Islands Meadow, Henley

Thursday August 6 to Sunday August 9 Fieldview Festival Seagry, near Chippenham

Saturday August 22 Avebury Rocks Avebury

Wilderness Festival Cornbury Park, Oxfordshire

Fri August 28 to Sun August 30 Big Feastival Alex James’ Farm, Kingham, The Cotswolds including Paloma Faith

Friday August 7 to Sunday August 9 Follyfest Faringdon, Oxfordshire Saturday August 8 Pewsey Music Festival Coopers Field, Pewsey, Wiltshire Thurs August 13 to Sat August 15 Cropredy Festival Cropredy, Oxfordshire

Towersey Festival Thame Showground, Oxfordshire including Bellowhead + Joan Armatrading + Show of Hands + Stornoway Saturday August 29 Tadstock Kencot Hill Farm, GL7 3QY including Dry The River Sun August 30 to Mon August 31 Devizes International Street Festival Devizes

Reading Festival Richfield Avenue, Reading Marlborough Beer Festival Marlborough Rugby Club, The Common including music from The Lurkers + The Chaos Brothers + Mule + Mick O’Toole Fri August 28 to Mon August 31

The Chaos Brothers will be joining The Boys from County Hell

I Said Yes... to hayfever

Heddstock 2015 Heddstock is a new family music festival set in the beautiful Wiltshire countryside in Heddington, near Calne.

It’s a non profit making event raising money for the Heddington Amenites Committee.

The event organisers are headed up by Tony Green & Dave Young both original members of local band The Boys From County Hell.

It takes place on Saturday September 26 from 2pm to 10:30pm.

Tickets cost £8 in advance, £5 for under-12s and Under 5’s go for free.

The line-up includes Nuttyness - The UK’s top Madness tribute, SN

Dubstation - an amazing dub reggae band, Creme De Chevre - experts in crazy mash-ups, Case Hardin - Americana/ country played at its highest standard, The Chaos Brothers - on their 30th anniversary tour, Josie & the The Outlaw – the best female fronted rockabilly act around and The Boys From County Hell - who are reforming the original line-up for a special show.

There will be loads of food and drink including a VW camper that turns into a cocktail bar.

Get tickets from www.seetickets.com and visit fb/heddstock for more info.

I Said Yes to Pewsey Critically acclaimed folk pop band I Said Yes have joined this year’s Pewsey Music Festival in Coopers Field, Pewsey, which takes place on Saturday August 8.

The act, who have already supported Stornoway and Florence and the Machine has been championed by Xfm and The Guardian.

The headliner this year is the ever popular Jon Amor but they’ve got a plethora of other

confirmed quality acts including reggae band The Erin Bardwell Collective, alt rock band Invisible Vegas, guitar geniuses The Showhawk Duo, country rock n roll band The August List as well as Fragile - a Yes tribute.

Tickets are available via the website and the festival’s Facebook page at £10 in advance and £15 on the day.

For tickets and info visit www.pewseymusicfestival.org

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Festivals Newbury’s Dry The River mostly turn away from Russell Brand

Tadstock 2015 Tadstock Saturday August 29 Kencot Hill Farm, GL7 3QY www.tadstock.co.uk Set in the heart of the picturesque Cotswolds and uniquely powered by solar energy, Tadstock will take place on Saturday August 29.

Headlining this year’s festivities on the main “Earth Stage” - (built out of the materials its name suggests) are critically acclaimed, British folk-rock band Dry The River.

Having spent the year touring across America they will be performing songs from their debut and latest album “Alarms In The Heart”.

The band will be supported by a strong local line-up, with Ukey Dukes, King Soloman and Julia Harris, Awfully Nice, Grand Wa Zoo and Gigi St Philips all confirmed to play.

When the live music stops, the after hours party and fun begins with various DJ’s turning sets in the woods.

Away from the main-stage, Tadstockers will have the chance to sample locally sourced food and produce, with ‘Shabbanackle’ and ‘Ciderwagon’ on hand to keep the hunger and thirst at bay.

Children’s entertainment comes courtesy of Junkfish and the grounds will play host to various forms of alternative entertainment including music production workshops, yoga, break dancing and graffiti.

What’s more, the whole festival is powered by

renewable energy!

Born in 2005 as a space for local family and friends to commune, Tadstock has quietly grown to embrace a wider community of creative people who gather to share a love for great music, art and entertainment.

Since partnering with Cheltenham based charity, CCP, who exist to improve the lives of children, young people, families and vulnerable adults; and their music driven initiative, Studio340, Tadstock plays an important part in the transformation of young lives from within the local and surrounding area. Whilst the festival welcomes friends, families and music lovers from all walks of life, Tadstock gives young people supported by CCP the opportunity to showcase their musical talent and expand their knowledge and experience in a safe, inspirational and encouraging environment.

Free car parking and camping with shower facilities are offered across the weekend to all ticket holders and with stunning views of the Oxfordshire countryside on your tent step, there is no doubt you’ll be coming back, next year.

A pre-launch event and BBQ will be held at The Frog and Fiddle in Cheltenham on Sunday August 9.

For further information and to buy tickets online visit www.tadstock.co.uk.

Tickets are priced at £25 per adult and between £510 for children aged 6-15.

Kids under 5 go free and family rates are available as well.

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Book now for our Carvery Sunday Lunch Crazy Golf Course now open!

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Brewery Bird

The Biggest Pub In The World!

Or the smallest people in the world! You decide!

The Beer Column by Brewery Bird Back in 1975 when Brewery Bird was just a fledgling, a beery event was taking place in Covent Garden which was the forerunner to what we know today as the Great British Beer Festival.

40,000 people came to that four-day event, consuming around 150,000 pints of real ale – although the beer choice would have been a lot different to the staggering variety we see today. Just 141 breweries were producing ale in 1975, compared to the 1285 listed as brewing commercially this year!

A bit of history The first proper GBBF was held in 1977 at Alexandra Palace (records are sadly lacking as to how many actually attended, but we can assume at least as many as in 1975, probably more). The years that followed saw it move to locations in Leeds, Birmingham and Brighton and in 1991 back to London, this time at the Docklands Arena. And London is where it has remained since, held either Olympia or Earl’s Court; both locations able to hold the 65,000 + strong crowd of drinkers who attend over the 4.5 days.

A Lot Of Going On, Going On… There’s a lot more to the GBBF than just necking beer – although this does feature heavily. Tuesday morning features the much revered Champion Beer of Britain (CBOB) judging, where industry experts are asked to ‘blind taste’ a number of beers in a variety of categories with the aim of establishing category winners and from there, the overall Champion Beer.

Tuesday afternoon is known as the ‘trade session’, reserved strictly for media and those working in the

brewing and licensed industry. It’s a time to make new acquaintances, establish professional links and hopefully ‘do a bit of business’ over a beer or two.

At 5pm, the world’s biggest pub finally opens its doors to thousands of thirst punters. And my, are they thirsty! In 2006, GBBF set a record attendance when over 66,000 people came to the festival – over 350,000 pints of beer were consumed over the 5 days, equating to a pint of beer being consumed EVERY second!!

Aside from beer there’s a variety of food stands, live music most sessions, tombola and ‘pub games’ and even tutored tasting sessions (ticketed).

Everyone is welcome Contrary to popular belief, you don’t actually have to sport a beard, beer belly or dodgy dress sense to enjoy this spectacle of beer. In fact, you don’t have to know anything about beer at all! There are plenty of people there to help you choose the right beers for you, from GBBF staff to brewers; and if beer doesn’t float your boat then there’s a multitude of ciders, perries and even foreign beers which might.

Tips to Enjoy The Day • Make sure you drink plenty of water as well as beer…. and remember to eat!

• Third pint glasses are also available, which are ideal for sampling lots of different beer •Try something new – don’t just stick you your usual bitter, or porter. You might surprise yourself!

GBBF Dates for 2015 are Tuesday August 11 to Saturday August 15 and you can find out more information from the website at gbbf.org.uk

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Food and Drink

Salade niçoise

By Ocelot Food Columnist Dave Stewart There are probably as many variations of this recipe as there are baguettes in France, but after years of trial and error, this is the version I’ve found to be the tastiest. The basil is the key- it just elevates everything. The type of fish is of course entirely optional – though tuna (canned, jarred or fresh) are the most common, this salad works equally well with some pan fried mackerel, salmon or a scattering of anchovies. For a vegetarian version just leave the fish out altogether, it’ll still taste good.

First of all, you need to make the dressing. This is a simple ‘French’ dressing made with 1 small finely crushed garlic clove, 3 tsp salt, 3 tsp caster sugar, 4 tsp Dijon mustard, 1 tsp ground white pepper, 8 tbsp white wine vinegar, 12 tbsp walnut oil, 12 tbsp groundnut oil – simply combine those ingredients in an old jam jar, screw on the lid and shake well until emulsified. Taste – it should be strong in flavour, tangy, garlicy and mustardy. You’ll probably only need about 2/3rds of the dressing you just made, but any leftovers will keep in the fridge for a good couple of weeks – and will pair perfectly with any sort of salad or sandwich filling.

Now, you just need to prepare and assemble your ingredients. First, blanch 200g trimmed green beans, cut them in half, and leave them to cool. Using the same hot water, now boil 1 egg and 3-4 baby potatoes (the

smallest you can find, and boil them unpeeled and whole as they always taste so much better) per diner. Once cooked and cooled, slice the potatoes and egg. Now, toss 250g or so of cooked tuna (I used the jarred albacore kind, it works a treat here) in a bowl with a little of the dressing you made, and leave to sit whilst you finish everything else. Slice 1 raw green pepper into small strips, and rinse and de-stone 125g Moroccan-style dry black olives. Wash 300g ripe cherry tomatoes, halving a few of the larger ones but leaving most whole. Finally, wash and very roughly chop 1 small head mini cos lettuce (100g or so), and roughly the same amount of a baby leaf mixed salad (some combo of red chard, spinach, lamb’s lettuce etc) and a small pack of basil (28g), pull off the basil from any large stalks, but keep the leaves whole for the salad. nicon Here’s where it differs from a normal salad, you want this to be very loose and deconstructed (not pre-mixed in a salad bowl) so don’t even assemble it until just before eating. You also want to go easy on the dressing initially – your diners can always add more to taste. To assemble the nicoise salad– add a layer of the lettuce, baby leaves and basil, add a little dressing, then add a layer of the veg - green beans, green pepper, olives, tomatoes, potatoes- dress this layer lightly, then top the salad with the egg slices and tuna. Dress again, and serve.

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Food and Drink

Tomato And Basil Tart With Mara Seaweed Seasoning

By Ocelot Food Columnist Dave Stewart The secret ingredient sounds crazy, but it really works!

A very simple puff-pastry tart that’s bursting with great flavours of ripe tomato, basil, sharp tangy goat’s cheese and that all important mystery ingredient - the Mara Dulse seaweed!

It’s used here as a seasoning, so you don’t really taste the seaweed as a vegetable in its own right, but it works in the background and adds a real depth of umami

flavour that takes this tart from the realm of so-so to the utterly unctuous.

If you’re feeling particularly adventurous, you could of course make your own puff pastry, but the store bought ones are so good now I’m the first to admit I just can’t tell the difference (not the case with shortcrust though...!). The tart can be served warm or cold, and goes great with some buttered, skin-on boiled baby potatoes and a tangy coleslaw, or some crusty bread and a green salad.

Ingredients to serve Six 1 tbsp (heaped) of Mara dulse Seaweed flakes - 700 g perfectly ripe Tomatoes (any kind, any colour - I used a mixture of plum and cherry), sliced - 1 small bunch of Basil Leaves (about 30g or so - use a bit of the stalk too) - 2 peeled Garlic cloves - 100 g Goat’s Cheese or any other sharp, soft cheese. Boursin would also work. - 1 packet Puff Pastry Extra Virgin Olive Oil , to drizzle Step 1 First of all, Preheat the oven to 180°C. In a large bowl, toss the tomato slices with the seaweed flakes, and leave them to rest for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, bash the garlic, basil and a generous pinch of salt and black pepper in a pestle and mortar. Once it’s a green paste, mix it into the soft cheese.

Step 2 Roll out the pastry to a large rectangle, about 30x 20cm, and lay this carefully on a baking sheet large enough to house it. Then, with a spatula, spread the cheese evenly all over, leaving a small border of pastry at the sides. Roll up/tuck in these sides just a little, to provide a ‘frame’ for the tomatoes.

Step 3 Scatter the tomatoes and a little of their juices evenly all over the top (you’ll probably have quite a lot of juices, but don’t use them all as this could make the base go soggy, but do save the juices) and drizzle with extra black pepper and olive oil. Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes, until the tomatoes have shriveled and charred a little, and the pastry is golden.

Step 4 Leave the tart to cool for 10 minutes, then slice up into squares. Just before serving you can add a few more of the juices if you wish, else mix them with a little olive oil and serve some crusty bread on the side.

And eat!

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International Pan of Mystery Jackfruit

What a little beauty of a fruit this is. It’s sweet-butrobust, fibrous flesh is as intriguing as it is useful to the adventurous cook.

Native to India, the fruit is used commonly these days all over southern Asia, whether partnering fluffy, steamed idlis in sweet-and-sour-esque sauces or perfuming desserts, pancakes or ice creams.

It also gets the freeze-dried treatment, which renders it into a sort of ‘crisp’, where it takes its savoury place alongside that other popular Keralan snack, banana chips (today’s top tip – if you ever need to impress an Indian ‘auntie’, buy her some banana chips and consider your job done!).

As with a lot of exotic fruit, decent specimens are hard

to come by in the UK – but the tinned variety (in both sweet syrups and savoury brines) are easy to find in Asian stores.

Whereas usually I’d be joining you in scoffing at such a compromise, the tinned, briney jackfruit segments are an unbelievably useful ingredient – the slightly unripe, fibrous chunks stand up well to stir frying with all sorts of powerful flavours, which they gleefully suck up like a sponge.

And, after a few minutes cooking and ‘breaking up’ with a trusty wooden spoon, you’ll be left with something that, quite astonishingly, has both the look and texture of pulled pork, a delicious filling ready to stuff all manner of dumplings, tacos, baked potatoes and crusty breads.

International Beer Day - August 7

Louis Max Pouilly Fuissé

A day to celebrate beer. Most of us are thankful for beer every day. We don’t need a day to celebrate it.

In fact having a day to celebrate beer actually might have a negative effect as what are we supposed to do for the other 364 days in a year celebrate shandy?

Okay for once we thought we would raid the fine wine section of the supermarket just to see what the fuss is about.

In our quest to quench our palate on the reasurringly expensive we came across this lovely little number in Sainsbury’s going for about £19.99.

As a big Macon and Chablis fan I’m not completely ignorant of a good burgundy and this wine doesn’t disappoint with a refreshing crispy dryness that makes you want to drink more and more. There were hints of oak plus a sweetness that lies just out of your reach.

Wine is like meat. If you go cheap you get cheap but the more it costs the better it is.

Anyway, National Hangover Day swiftly follows on Saturday August 8. We recommend more beer.

Hair of the dog?

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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 not very good at making friends. I find that when I meet new people I become tongue-tied and unable to make myself look interesting. This shyness is really becoming a problem and is holding me back in life. What can I do about it?

Michelle, Newbury When you see that person coming to talk to you, you’ve got to think what to do and spit out the words that you need to.

You could practice talking to yourself in the mirror. You’ve just got to make sure you don’t argue with yourself though.

Dear Annabel, The other day I tested this by trying to think of a colour that didn’t already exist, I came up with combinations of colours but I could not come up with an entirely original colour. This made me think that we are restricted to what we know to some degree, no matter how open minded we may think ourselves to be. Is it possible to have an entirely original thought? And can you come up with an original colour?

Darren, Salisbury Purple! And people can have original thoughts. I’m thinking of lots of tropical fish in the coral. Fish swimming around in the ocean and then a big shark is coming and all the fishies swim away and hide. When the shark swims out of the coral reef all the fishies come out of their places and swim around again. There. That’s original.

Dear Annabel, My boyfriend isn’t very sensitive and keeps saying things about me that really upset. He even told me the other day that we weren’t even a couple despite the fact that I’ve been standing outside his bedroom window every night for the past six months and that I follow him everywhere

Annabel urm.. being Annabel

he goes and that he’s married with four children.

How can I get him to respect me and treat me as his girlfriend? He’s got a rather tasty looking bunny that I could boil. Maybe that will help. Please advise, Glenn, Stratton Just dump him. Leave the bunny though. Find someone that’s a superhero and then fly around!

Dear Annabel, Have you ever read the Da Vinci Code? If not, why not? And what books do you read instead?

Dan, Headington Never heard of it. I read Splat The Cat and ones about fairies. I believe in fairies.

Dear Annabel, I like doggies. Do you?

Steve, Witney Any doggie that sees me always sniffs me. Poppy tries to ride my leg but I’m always like ‘Poppy! No!’ and I’m always running away. I don’t like it. But then when she’s more rested I play fetch with her but she won’t stop playing fetch and keeps coming back again and again. And then she tries to ride my leg again.

Twisted Peel (twistedpeel.thecomicstrip.org )

By Peter Roy

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