Sounds Around Town with Dave Franklin (From This Is Wiltshire)

Sounds Around Town with Dave Franklin

9:06am Thursday 22nd July 2010 in

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So, after constantly moaning that notable gigs have been in short supply, I now find this week is an embarrassment of riches, musically speaking. So with not even enough room to impose centrifugal force upon a creature of the feline family, to your collective sighs of relief, I will just get on with it.

Riding high after their recent Glastonbury appearance, Napoleon in Rags headline The Victoria tonight; if slick, angular, driven indie anthems are your thing then you know where to be. Support comes in the form of the synthpunk and afrobeat collision that is Cissy and math-rock trio Sailors.

By contrast it’s all about smooth blues edged soul at The Beehive with Soul Attic; The Rolleston will be rocking out to the searing guitars and tsunami backbeat of Feverdog. Yet again, the 12 Bar comes to the aid of the prog rock fraternity with the heavy and wonderfully retro sounds of Sweden’s Black Bonzo. Support comes from the equally impressive Crimson Sky.

Friday’s big name comes in the form of Stringer/Bessant at the Victoria. The men that brought you Reef and Them Is Me will be peddling their sideline project of simple, dynamic, mournful acoustic folk-roots songs. Over at Riffs Bar, the fired up blues of The Worried Men will appeal to fans of George Thorogood and Gary Moore.

The Rolleston will play host to one of my favourite bands on the local scene, Lavington Bound. If there were such a genre as Country and Eastern, then these guys would be its leading light. Mixing folk, klezmer, east European traditions, joyous drinking songs and hints of Americana, if you ever want an introduction to world music, it’s all here. The inimitable Jason Forde kicks things off.

For a change, Saturday is where it’s all at, especially if you want some new CDs to listen to. Lydia Twenty will be celebrating the launch of their release with a show at The Victoria supported by the quite brilliant Jon Trowbridge Band, but not now the as-advertised Hotel 75, who have gone down with a serious case of splitting up. Similar antics down at the 12 Bar (CD launch, not the splitting up bit), come in the form of an album launch from funky blues roots stars Hiproute, who bring along The Right Hooks for company.

Out of town you have The Strand Bike Festival in Calne with loads of great bands, including a collision of funk grooves and rock drives that goes by the name of The Porn Issue. If you are after something quite different, a jaunt down to The Old Road Tavern in Chippenham will enable you to sample the delights of Aussie techno courtesy of Loonaloop, not something you get round here every day. If you are a fan of the likes of Faithless, Asian Dub Foundation or Trans Global Underground then catch these guys before they head off back to Sydney.

Something a bit more chilled out comes in the form of Bob Bowles at the Barge in Honeystreet, a pub which everyone needs to check out for so many reasons….imagine if The Beehive were next to a canal in the middle of no-where with room for camping.

So if the aforementioned Aussie techno seems a bit eclectic for this part of the world, how about Tibetan free form jazz? Okay I can’t offer you that but I can point you in the direction of a Parisian folk duo in the form of Lucky Clover at Riffs Bar on Sunday. What a Bohemian place this is becoming.

The Beehive has Port Erin for its afternoon session and if a reggae flavoured rock vibe with overtones of Elbow is to your taste, then that’s the tail end of your weekend sorted out. Don’t let the amazing Afro of front man Reuben Tyghe scare you, I’m sure it’s well trained.

Final mention goes to Monday’s folk jam session at The Beehive, a laid back, unamplified free-for-all in the bottom bar. If you are looking for like minded players of the Arran sweatered, finger in the ear persuasion or you just want to soak up some unplanned folk jamming, then there is no better way of easing yourself out of a weekend of great music and back into normality.

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