Thursday 2 September 2010

Damn it, Thanet! I'm in love...


Two reports on last weekend's delightful On Margate Sounds event, first off from the organisers themselves....

Thanks so much to everyone who joined us for On Margate Sounds last Sunday! A lovely day of incredible performances, made even lovelier by the company of a wonderful audience. Special thanks goes to Eoin, Tom and everyone at the Tom Thumb Theatre.

Monster Bobby stopped in to play the first set of the day, en route to his new home in Paris. An inventive, playful set that won him new fans in Thanet. Next up were Panther Society, who formed on a day trip to Margate at Christmas - a tale told in their ditty, 'Isle of Thanet'. The wonderful Liz Green and her shadow puppets joined us next on the only known day trip from Manchester to Margate. Or it would have been, until we convinced her that staying in the 1930's period museum / hotel with us for a night would be more fun. Then Thomas White treated us to a medley of original songs and covers - bought together by a salty seaside quality - including Nick Drake's 'Time Has Told Me', Smog's 'Vessels' and Elbow's 'Powder Blue'. In the penultimate set of the day, Eaten By Children wowed the audience with a deconstructive sonic and visual feast of witty noise. Finally Two Wings charmed us with a mesmeric performance, off-setting ethereal vocal harmonies with bluesy bass and guitar. Gloriously toe-tapping.

The photos are up so check them out! Looking forward to seeing everyone else's photos and videos too.

http://www.facebook.com/sian.haestier#!/album.php?aid=484668&id=703910410

Okay so it's fingers crossed for an Indian Summer . . . We'll have news of a sequel to On Margate Sounds soon, but for now here's our first review of the day http://edenontheline.co.uk/reviews/

Lots of love,

Jess & Sian

xxx
And also from the Eden on the Line weblog...
On Margate Sounds

Tom Thumb Theatre, Margate

29 August 2010

Well, there was some sun, amid some sharp showers – and a gale that by evening was whipping tin cans down Eastern Esplanade like scrapyard tumbleweed…

What a splendid day: a wide range of different styles, some great performances, and a mellow and friendly mood. A shame the theatre wasn't fuller - but the select band were very satisfied customers and word will surely spread for more next time.

Monster Bobby’s quirky songs and samples made a strong start before he rushed off to emigrate, sidestepping encore requests and any risk of being mobbed by the steadily growing audience. (‘Elvis has now left the country…’)

We fortified ourselves with custard pies and doughnuts and watched some films before being inducted into Panther Society’s distinctive sound world.

Liz Green’s beguiling mix of songs, story-telling and shadow-puppetry followed. Fenist the Falcon shook a tail feather, with the shade of Jake Thackray lurking approvingly somewhere in the house. Liz deserves some award for travelling down from Manchester for her slot and being ready to go straight back, before being persuaded to stay over. And she deserves a plug for her beautifully packaged ‘Crow Cries’ EP.


Next up, Tom White played a mellow set of acoustic songs, including a fine cover of Nick Drake’s ‘Time Has Told Me’ – which is not one for the faint-hearted.

Rob Hart shook things up completely with a strong and compelling Eaten By Children set, mixing in found cine images and winning over audience members who’d normally run a mile from anything labelled noise.

Finally four fifths of Two Wings (sounds like the start of a maths puzzle…) blended Hanna Tuulikki’s otherworldly vocals with fine guitar, melodic bass and solid, anchoring harmonies. The band sometimes seemed tentative and may have been missing their drummer, but it was a lovely set and full of promise.

Well done, Jess and Sian for pulling it all together and Eoin for making it sound so good. More, please.

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