What’s on in July’s issue of MAG...

Editor’s Musings Pg 1

The Gloucestershire Music ScenePg 2

Cheltenham MNDPg 2

Halloween in GloucestershirePg 3

Gemma @ BBC Intro Glos Pg 4

BBC Gloucestershire Introducing Pg 4

MAG at Underground FestivalPg 5

Danny’s Music and...MURDERPg 6

Gig Listings Pg 7-10

MAG at ComedyPg 11

MAG at FrogfestPg 12

Keziah @ ByLocalPg 13

Playlist of the month by Picture ThisPg 13

Music According to Jen DuffyPg 13

Hello!

We know Halloween isn’t until the end of October but it’s a great excuse for a theme!

Gloucestershire is definintely entering into the Hal-loween spirit so we have an entire page dedicated to spooky goings on around the county inside this issue of MAG. Everything from cult movies to zombie walks is going on so there’s no excuse to do something this scary festive season!

September had two great local festivals and our review-ers have been hard at it checking out The Underground Festival in Gloucester and Frogfest in Cheltenham so we could cram it all into this month’s issue.

As well as these reviews we have our regular features from BBC Gloucestershire Introducing’s Gemma Dun-stan, Brown Torpedo’s own Danny Ash. ByLocal’s Ke-ziah Kurg and now a third year at UoG Music According to Jen Duffy.

We’ve expanded our listings to cover four pages of the magazine as we noticed squeezing them into three was getting a bit ridiculous!

There is lots going on in the county this month, so make sure you go and check out some live music.

Happy Halloween!

Amelia x

Editor’s Musings...

MAG Needs You!

We are always looking for news and reviews for MAG from lovely people like you! Being a non-profit initiative we don’t pay but can get you into gigs and publish your work. Please contact Amelia if you want to contribute any-thing to this fanzine: ascognamiglio@glos.ac.uk

The Gloucestershire Music Scene...

Never dissapointing Gloucestershire truly has something for everyone going on in October!

Festival season is still well underway with the ‘Walk the Line’ Festival happening all over Cheltenham between the 7tha nd 8th of October. The festival is in it’s third year and run by local promoter Stefan Edwards of Kiss My Face. This year’s lineup in-cludes Ellen and The Escapdes, Tellison and great local music from Swift Manouver, Emmett Brown and Thrill Collins.

There are some fantastics gigs coming up in the county this month too. Cheltenham Racecourse plays hosts to the original Ska band The Specials on the 24th. The Frog & Fiddle follows up the fan-tatsic Frogfest with Ska Punk band Jet8 all the way from the Czech Republic supported by local boys Stillbust and Black Art. Gloucester Guildhall has some great bands playing towards the end of the month. Wakey! Wakey! play on the 20th, It’s Only Punk All Dayer on the 29th and Young Kinives on the 30th.

As always full listings for everything musical go-ing on in the county can be found in the middle of MAG.

Don’t forget to check some of the other sites Glouc-estershire has like So Glos and Likal to see what else is going on in the county.

If you’d like your gig listed in MAG email us with all the information to ascognamiglio@glos.ac.uk

And now a brief word from Cheltenham’s MND...

Good morning October!

Summer is definitely over now; in fact it barely even got going. You’d be forgiven if you were worried that with the festival season gone that it’s all doom and gloom till next year. Thankfully, we’re looking at some great events coming up until the inevitable January lull...

We’ve got the third year of the awesome “Walk The Line” festival in Cheltenham to start off the month as well as a ridiculous amount of shows permeating the county. It’s all in the listings, so won’t repeat it here! This month I have mostly been listening to Chloe Foy and The Bushy Tail and thoroughly enjoyed two Thursdays at The Restoration’s acoustic night that featured a couple of our local acts and one female singer/guitarist I’d never seen before who was, quite simply, incredible.

This brings me onto the main body of words I’ll use this month about open mic nights. They often get tarred with the sentiment that it’s amateurs who can’t get real gigs; this couldn’t be further from the trust. Yes, you do get the odd yawn-inducing, shoe-gazing nonsense (which some people like) but that’s because they’re great if you’re starting off and want to try your songs out, they’re great if you’re in a band and you fancy doing an unplugged session for a change and even better when someone steps up and you see something incredible you were never even aware of. Whether you’re in an ‘established’ band and just want to surprise an audience with an impromptu set or really are trying out for the first time, there are some great opportunities around our county to get involved from the ground up. Better yet, these nights are often (and almost always) run by other musicians and promoters. It’s a good way to make contacts and perhaps get a gig – besides, you never know who’ll be sat in the audeince.

So, in short – GET OUT AND PLAY, WATCH AND LIS-TEN!

A

Gloucestershire has some of the most haunted places in Britain including sudeley Castle, The Ramm Inn Wot ton Underedge and all of Prestbury. The county celebrates Halloween in style and this year is no exception!

Rocky Horror Picture Show Frog & Fiddle Friday 21st October £5

The Frog & Fiddle will be transform-ing itself into a theatre for a special showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Complete with hostesses and good bags (for an extra fee) after the show there will be a Horror Disco until midnight!For more information or to buy tickets go to:www.rockyhorrorevents.co.uk

JUDDER! Halloween Spectacular2pigsFriday 28th October£3 if in fancy dress

JUDDER! is the 2pigs resident night of chaos held every second Friday of the month except for October when the people of JUDDER! put on an ex-tra Halloween special. This year is no exception with a night filled with truly amazing fancy dress (I know I’ve seen it!) an ecclectic range of music and lots of sweets! For more information go to: www.judder.org

Circus of Horrors: The VentriloquistRoses TheatreSunday 6th October£20

Not strictly during Halloween but the mighty Circus of Horrors definitely deserve a mention for their next local show. Never dissapointing everyone should ex-perience a Circus fo Horrors show!For more information go to: www.circusofhorrors.co.uk

Gloucester Zombie WalkStarts at Cafe ReneSaturday 29th OctoberAll money raised for Charity

Last year’s zombie walks were a massive success and this year Gloucester is continuing the tradition. The walk starts at Cafe Rene very fitting as the site is notorious for ghosts! The zombies will be setting off at 2:00pm and returning to Cafe Rene for an after walk party!Fro more information find the event ‘Gloucester Zom-bie Walk 2011’ on Facebook.

Renegade Cirque du MacabreCafe ReneSaturday 29th OctoberFree before 11pm

As part of the after party for the Gloucester Zombie Walk Cafe Rene are holding their spectacular Ren-egade Cirque du Macabre. With freakish cabaret acts and spooky fun and games it’s sure to be great fun for the living and undead a like. If that wasn’t enough the night ends with a Halloween special of the resident Cafienda!For more information go to: www.caferene.co.uk

Hell-0-WeenSam’s Bar and GrillSaturday 29th OctoberFree entry

A music filled night with local metal supergroup Hell’s Fury followed by DJ’s playing all the best rock, indie and metal. A yearly occasion this night gets ‘messy’ and will deifnitely fill your Halloween cravings!

BBC Gloucestershire Introducing… is the show for your new music. Every Saturday from 5:30pm on BBC Radio Gloucestershire, you can hear the tastiest new cuts of unsigned mu-sic from across the county. We might have only been on-air since the beginning of Octo-ber, but the response has been fantastic with shed loads of you uploading your tracks at bbc.co.uk/introducing – keep em comin’!

Catch Paul Moss and Gemma Dunstan presenting BBC Gloucestershire Introducing... every Saturday from 5:30pm to hear the tastiest cuts from the county’s up and coming artists. The 30 minute show also includes interviews with the people behind the music and a gig guide for who to see play live, and where.

BBC Radio Gloucestershire 104.7, 95, 95.8 FM, 1413 AM and on the BBC iPlayer

BBC Gloucestershire Introducing presenter Gemma Dunstan...

Hello!

Myself and Paul have had yet another fantastic month here at BBC Introduc-ing. This month we have been getting ready for two massive live music events here in Gloucestershire.

Frogfest 2011, a festival held at the Frog & Fiddle in Cheltenham on Friday 23rd, Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th September. This year there will be 61 local acts playing over these three dates for only £8 (that’s just under 8p per

act!) Bands include Swift Manouver, Fighting Fiction, Thrill Collins, Still Bust, Orchid Fever and loads more over three stages at the venue.

The same weekend sees the Gloucester Guildhall play host to the Underground Festival, a free festival for unsigned and emerging artists. The line up includes Worship, Stagecoach, Dog Is Dead, The North Ship, Ramona and many more. This year the BBC Introducing team will have its own stage at the festival, which I’m very excited about. The bands playing on our stage will include Trophy Wife, Big Deal, Kitten and Bear, Funky Horse Milk and Picture This. Paul and I will be at the Guildhall, and I will let you know how it all goes in next month’s issue of M@G!

We love hearing new music here at BBC Introducing. If you are a musician or in a band and write you own music then you can upload your tracks at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/introducing/uploader/

Tune to BBC Radio Gloucestershire on 104.7 FM or 1413 AM every Saturday at 5.30pm to hear your local BBC Introducing show featuring Paul Moss and me. You can catch us up to 7 days afterwards on BBC iPlayer.

Dan Gutteridge’s review of Underground festival at The Glouc-este Guildhall

The 2nd Underground festival took place over the weekend of the 24th and 25th of Septem-ber. Held at the Gloucester Guildhall, it’s a free festival to promote new and underground acts. With a jam packed line up spreading over three stages the festival was building up to be an exciting, intriguing and entertaining one.

I have given each band a MAG rating out of five, just to help differentiate the stonking bands from less than impres-sive one’s. 1 being more than a bit rubbish, 5 being mighty good.

Saturday - Main stageFirst band up was due to be the Proxies however they were replaced by Worship who were moved up from the 3rd stage with the only explanation given that ‘The Prox-ies aren’t here, so were Worship’. They proved to be, more than adequate replacement. A four 4 piece electro band with lead vocals incredibly similar to Brandon Flowers and a general sound of a modern day Joy Division, definitely worth a look into 4 MAG’s. Lonsdale Boys Club were next up on the main stage, an indie sound that was more mainstream than if The Wanted and JLS formed some kind of boy band super group. They were dull, and to be quite honest if it wasn’t for the reggae style vocals and demeanour of their front man I could easily have fallen asleep. 1 MAG (would have been 2 but I took one away for the lyric ‘were going to Hawaii and were gonna get laid’). Dog is Dead, a band, that unlike most of the oth-ers, I had seen before. In a field in Leeds on a Thursday night, I was less than impressed. However in the intimate setting of the Guildhall, they turned my mind right around. There rock sound accompanied by a clear folk influence, added to harmonies that would put a choir to shame really impressed me and the rest of the room. Bright future, 3 MAG’s. Headliners Morning Parade, are billed as the next big British guitar band, by their label Parlophone (who have broken bands such as Radiohead, Blur and Coldplay). A big tag for the 5-Piece, but boy did they live up to it. One of the heaviest bands of the day. They played with mighty guitar riffs and as a band they were very very tight. They were given an extra edge by the edition of a keyboard, it went well with the guitars and vocals and really lifted some of the tunes. A great end to a great first day. 5 MAG’s.

Sunday – Main stageDelta Alaska a 5 piece rock act had heavy break downs in between well organised vocals and started the set very well. However after the first two tunes you realised that was all they had, disappointing 2 MAG’s. Stagecoach brought the party atmosphere to the festival. A 5 piece cheery indie band with some very catchy songs, opener

‘We got Teasers’ set the rest of their slot up well. They also have a very talented mandolin player to set them apart from the crowd. Very enjoyable 4 MAG’s. The Comput-ers followed, and words like energetic, face paced, and in your face don’t really sum up their set. I was thinking for a long time, of a word that could. Chaos seems the apt. The punk heavy rockers, were definitely the heaviest band I’d seen all weekend. And they were brilliant, their front man, was all over the place, he played the second half of the bands set in the middle of the crowd. You either got them or you didn’t, and luckily for them, the majority of the Guildhall did. Best band of the weekend 5 MAG’s. Fol-lowing the Computers was never going to be an easy task and the next two bands struggled. Holy State were just a mish mash of guitar tunes, they were a bit dull and seemed to lose their focus 1 MAG. Young Legionnaire were better than the previous guitar bands but still did not really stand out. They were catchy and had nice riffs but that was about it. 2 MAG’s due to them making me laugh in between songs. The line up was missing a bit of variety at this point, maybe putting Stagecoach higher up the bill to break up all the guitar bands would have been better for not only the crowd but the rest of the bands. Subbing on Sunday was Blitz Kids. And they did a great job. An American rock sound and an energetic front man had the crowd jumping all the way through. 4 MAG’s. Headlining the final day was Francesqa. This was the band that most people came to see. Already with a headline tour under their belts a lot was expected. They didn’t blow me away and their songs

all seemed to roll into one and be a bit samey. Having said that I could happily have watched them all day, they weren’t full of energy like some of the previous bands but they kept you watching and kept you focused on

them. New tune ‘Come Find Me’ was my highlight and their upcoming album, due for release next year will certainly be finding its way onto my iPod. Good way to end 4 MAG’s.

Best of the rest.My highlight from the other stages was a band called Dirty Tricks, a 6 piece indie band with great energy. They played on the BBC Introducing stage on the Saturday and then got the chance to open the main stage the day after. I enjoyed them more second time around and they seemed to be relishing the opportunity. One to keep an eye on 3 MAG’s.

The Underground festival was great weekend with some very good bands. It’s worth standing through a few slightly rubbish bands to get to the great ones. The Computers, Morning Parade, Stagecoach and Worship defiantly tri-umphed. Bring on 2012.

Picture of Stagecoach by Kirsten Mavric.

Danny Ash’s Music and.........Murder

Who isn’t afraid of MURDER? MURDER the most terrifying human act possible, with rape a close second. Well, maybe it’s a two horse race. They are both up there anyway. But MURDER is my chosen topic, for it is Halloween the stupid-est of all annual celebrations, bah. Let’s rejoice in the evil of humanity. Surely, I wouldn’t be able to make such flippant comments about rape and murder if culture did not absorb them in to its emotionalessl profit-orientated void? Discuss (ting)

We have always sung about murder, since the beginning of MURDER. Hymns are about Jesus for Christ’s sake, the most famous MURDER victim of them all. Humankind’s obsession with morbidity and mortality are as natural as our guilt-free brutal slaying of animals just to stuff our faces with M & S food. It’s not just M & S food, it’s bred, raised, slaughtered, boxed and packaged M & S food.

But I can’t tell you all the songs ever made about MURDER, no one can. Their all dead. Mwahaha-haha. So I will cut your ears with a rusty blade of favourites and hope you bleed to happiness.

‘Jack the Ripper’ originally recorded by pop politi-cian Screaming Lord Sutch about the notorious London enigma is a great start for a ‘killpilation’ mix, if you are going to do a song about a serial killer start with an ear piercing scream, it helps remind the listener murder is naughty.

If you love songs about real life serial killers, you’ll love Springsteen. Nebraska retells the true tale of a ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ couple who do a

bunch of killings, also made in to a cracking film called Badlands. Even ‘save the world’ Geldof penned a classic about the heinous blood thirsty tendency of the human being. “I don’t like Mon-day’s” was the given explanation of a 16 year old who shot up a school and killed a few in the process, a song that poignantly deals with the in-comprehensible fact that when it comes to MUR-DER sometimes “there are no reasons”.

Killers don’t have to be real to feature in songs, The Beatles wrote the contradictory jolly romp about hammer wielding killer Maxwell. The Beatles also became synonymous with a killer when ‘Helter Skelter’ was cited as inspiration for Charles Manson’s unorthodox behaviour. Manson himself managed to write with the Beach Boys and you can find material written by him recorded by such whacky artists as White Zombie, Gun’s N Roses and predictably Marilyn Manson.

Want to be inside the head of a MURDERER? Then you need a Talking Head, ‘Psycho Killer’ Qu’est-ce que c’est, another effort trying to deci-pher the process of the killer’s mind. Of course, let’s never forget Nick Cave and his collection of meanderings about killing and the human psyche on the album ‘Murder Ballads’, that devilish goth.

Well I have run out of space and mainly had a writing spree about serial killers, when there is so much more murder in music; war, revenge, crimes of passion, religion etc. but for your Hal-loween listening pleasure add knife, blood, be-trayal and a brutal riff.

Danny Torpedo

Cheltenham01/10/2011 Cheltenham Bacon Theatre The Commitments Soul Party01/10/2011 Cheltenham The Bayshill Lighter Thieves01/10/2011 Cheltenham Cotswold Inn Featherstone01/10/2011 Cheltenham Albion House Over the Hill01/10/2011 Cheltenham Reddings Community Centre JB Jazz & Blues Band01/10/2011 Cheltenham Charlton Kings Paul Foster06/10/2011 Cheltenham FCH Chapel Improwise Trio06/10/2011 Cheltenham Slak Bar Men Diamler06/10/2011 Cheltenham The Frog and Fiddle JET8 / Egos At The Door /Stillbust / Black Art07/10/2011 Cheltenham Cotswold Inn Sian Chandler & Ray Hughes07/10/2011 Cheltenham United Services Tubby Blues Club07/10/2011 Cheltenham Exmouth Arms Short and Sweet07/10/2011 Cheltenham Royal Life O’Reilly07/10/2011 Cheltenham Slak Ba r DJ Dave Larkin08/10/2011 Cheltenham Bayshill Bex & Franks08/10/2011 Cheltenham Old Pats Steamroller08/10/2011 Cheltenham Cotswold Inn Michigan Avenue08/10/2011 Cheltenham Charlton Kings Club The Bridge08/10/2011 Cheltenham Albion House True Colours08/10/2011 Cheltenham 2pigs Blackened White Pictures09/10/2011 Cheltenham Slak Bar Rob Moir, Jim Lockey & Juey09/10/2011 Cheltenham Subtone John Keens New Orleans Jazz Band10/10/2011 Cheltenham Pizza Express Steve Franks Duo13/10/2011 Cheltenham Slak Bar Back2Slak14/10/2011 Cheltenham The Cotswold Inn MyDesign14/10/2011 Cheltenham Exmouth Arms Synergy14/10/2011 Cheltenham Slak Bar DJ Dan Cooper14/10/2011 Cheltenham 2pigs Judder: Ultimate Warrior14/10/2011 Cheltenham Royal Damson Sky Duo15/10/2011 Cheltenham Town Hall Moonlight Serenade Orchestra Moonlight Swinging15/10/2011 Cheltenham Bayshill Free Wheeling Blues15/10/2011 Cheltenham Cotswold Inn Coronetters15/10/2011 Cheltenham 2pigs Instill, Snog the Dog, MyDesign15/10/2011 Cheltenham Charlton Kings Club Big Mamma & The Misfitz15/10/2011 Cheltenham The Strand Bar Fujalada16/10/2011 Cheltenham Albion House Sax Appeal17/10/2011 Cheltenham Pizza Express Steve Franks Duo18/10/2011 Cheltenham Town Hall Tango Siempre20/10/2011 Cheltenham Town Hall 60’s Gold20/10/2011 Cheltenham Slak Bar Boys In The Wood21/10/2011 Cheltenham Frog & Fiddle Rocky Horror Show21/10/2011 Cheltenham Royal Coronettes21/10/2011 Cheltenham Slak Bar DJ Rich Aberline21/10/2011 Cheltenham 2pigs Fallen From Grace22/10/2011 Cheltenham Exmouth Arms Becky Carter22/10/2011 Cheltenham Bayshill Michigan Avenue22/10/2011 Cheltenham The Strand Babajack22/10/2011 Cheltenham Cotswold Inn Over the Hill

22/10/2011 Cheltenham Charlton Kings Club Now 222/10/2011 Cheltenham Suffolk Arms Last Man Standing22/10/2011 Cheltenham O’Neils Otis Mack & The Tubby Bluesters23/10/2011 Cheltenham Town Hall High School Rocks24/10/2011 Cheltenham Racecourse The Specials24/10/2011 Cheltenham Pizza Express Steve Franks Duo25/10/2011 Cheltenham Town Hall Lunchtime Recital25/10/2011 Cheltenham Slak Bar DJ Steve Aspey27/10/2011 Cheltenham Town Hall Illegal eagles27/10/2011 Cheltenham Monty’s Brasserie Fiona Bevan and George Montagu27/10/2011 Cheltenham Slak Bar Thirsty and Miserable28/10/2011 Cheltenham 2pigs Judder: Halloween29/10/2011 Cheltenham The Strand Bar Last Man Standing29/10/2011 Cheltenham Cotswold Inn Jibbafish29/10/2011 Cheltenham Charlton Kings Club The Rifftoads29/10/2011 Cheltenham Bayshill Dirty Trainers 30/10/2011 Cheltenham Town Hall Spiers and Boden30/10/2011 Cheltenham Rise Records Chloe Foy30/10/2011 Cheltenham The Strand Bar Paul Newm and & Steve Franks31/10/2011 Cheltenham Pizz Express Steve Franks Duo01/11/2011 Cheltenham Little Owl Kim Cypher28/10/2011 Cheltenham Town Hall The Mersey Beat Legends28/10/2011 Cheltenham Royal Becky Carter

Gloucester01/10/2011 Gloucester Birds Eye Walls Rockology02/10/2011 Gloucester Birds Eye Walls Walls Country and western Club05/10/2011 Gloucester Café Rene Avert Francis06/10/2011 Gloucester Guildhall Wilko Johnson06/10/2011 Gloucester Cross Keys Rose & Christy Arthur07/10/2011 Gloucester Guildhall Limehouse Lizzy07/10/2011 Gloucester Oliver Cromwell Paddle Wheeler AJL Trio07/10/2011 Gloucester Café Rene Antidote08/10/2011 Gloucester Guildhall Folk Grinder08/10/2011 Gloucester Guildhall The Jamm08/10/2011 Gloucester Café Rene Folk Grinder After Party09/10/2011 Gloucester Birds Eye Walls Walls Country & Western Club12/10/2011 Gloucester Café Rene The Pull13/10/2011 Gloucester Cross Keys Steve Browning Band14/10/2011 Gloucester Sam’s Bar and Grill Kaideka, FallenFromGrace, Malicious Intent & In The Absence Of Light14/10/2011 Gloucester Café Rene Prime Funk Collective15/10/2011 Gloucester Guildhall The Antonio Forcione Acoustic Quartet16/10/2011 Gloucester Birds Eye Walls Walls Country and Western Club18/10/2011 Gloucester Cathedral Laura Marling19/10/2011 Gloucester Café Rene The indigo Kings20/10/2011 Gloucester Guildhall Wakey!Wakey!20/10/2011 Gloucester Cross Keys Jeff Clark21/10/2011 Gloucester Guildhall Emily Barker and The Red Clay Halo23/10/2011 Gloucester Birds Eye Walls Walls Country and Western Club

26/10/2011 Gloucester Café Rene Live at Gloucester Studio Presents night27/10/2011 Gloucester Cross Keys Sons of Delta28/10/2011 Gloucester Guildhall The Wurzels28/10/2011 Gloucester Café Rene Deep Roots29/10/2011 Gloucester Guildhall It’s Only Punk Alldayer29/10/2011 Gloucester Sam’s Bar and Grill Hell-O-Ween29/10/2011 Gloucester Café Rene Gloucester Zombie Walk29/10/2011 Gloucester Café Rene Renegade Cirque du Macabre30/10/2011 Gloucester Guildhall Young Knives30/10/2011 Gloucester Birds Eye Walls Walls Country and Western Club

Stroud01/10/2011 Stroud Sub Rooms All Blacked Up07/10/2011 Stroud Sub Rooms Glee Club Tribute08/10/2011 Stroud Sub Rooms The Bohemians (Queen Tribute)08/10/2011 Stroud Queen Victoria Inn The Vibe13/10/2011 Stroud Stroud Valley Artspace Jazz Jams15/10/2011 Stroud Sub Rooms UK Pink Floyd Experience28/10/2011 Stroud Sub Rooms Friday Night Live28/10/2011 Stroud Clothiers Arms Sons of Delta29/10/2011 Stroud Sub Rooms From The Jam

Tewkesbury

02/10/2011 Tewkesbury Nottingham Arms Sax Appeal07/10/2011 Tewkesbury Anchor True Colours16/10/2011 Tewkesbury White Bear Alex Chapman30/10/2011 Tewkesbury White Bear Sax Appeal

Birdlip07/10/2011 Birdlip Royal George Alex Chapman14/10/2011 Birdlip Royal George M I Brown21/10/2011 Birdlip Royal George Last Man Standing28/10/2011 Birdlip Royal george Stone Saloon

Bishops Cleeve03/10/2011 Bishops Cleeve Kings Head Becky Carter

Cirencester14/10/2011 Cirencester Brewery Arts Last Man Standing14/10/2011 Cirencester Golden Cross Otis Mack & The Tubby Bluesters

06/10/2011 Conderton Yew Tree Occasionally Big Band20/10/2011 Conderton Yew Tree Rod Kelly Trio

Lydney02/10/2011 Lydney Miners Arms Forrest Folk Club: Barron Brady

Newent08/10/2011 Newent Community School Joe Meek

Winchcombe04/10/2011 Winchcombe Corner Cupboard Bluegrass Sessions27/10/2011 Winchcombe Corner Cupboard Song Session

Woodmancote06/10/2011 Woodmancote Apple Tree Dave Miles13/10/2011 Woodmancote Apple Tree Jim Ramsey20/10/2011 Woodmancote Apple Tree Sax Appeal27/10/2011 Woodmancote Apple Tree Last Man Standing

Festivals in October Walk the Line 7th-8th October Various Cheltenham VenuesHeaven & Hell 8th-9th October Sam’s Bar and Grill, GloucesterOxjam 14th-16tth October Various Venues around Gloucestershire

Open Mic Nights Tuesday St Paul’s Tavern, Cheltenham Tuesday Salisbury Inn, Cheltenham Wednesday Cross Keys, Gloucester Wednesday Norwood Arms, Cheltenham Wednesday Slak Bar, CheltenhamThursday The Strand Bar, CheltenhamThursday Hogs Head, CheltenhamThursday The Restoration, Cheltenham Friday The Fiery Angel, CheltenhamFriday Gardners Arms, TewkesburySunday The Cotswold Inn, CheltenhamSunday Under the Edge Arts, Wotton Under Edge

With the Cheltenham Comedy Festival fast ap-proaching we have another interview with one of the acts. This month it’s Barn-aby Eaton the mastermind

behind ‘Off the Cuff’

In no more than 10 words, describe ‘Off The Cuff’…‘The funniest regular comedy show in Gloucester-shire’ (BBC Radio Glos)

What is the punchline to your favourite joke? “No!”

Given the choice to perform with any comedian, past or present, who would it be and why? Very tough question, as I love so many comedians! Okay, Spike Milligan. Pretty bog-standard choice if you’re a lover of comedy but my Dad bottle-fed me ‘The Goons’ when I was a very young and I suppose that surrealist and silly streak has run through what I do ever since.

What can people expect from your show/act? They can expect whatever they shout out. Our impro-visational comedy works entirely on audience sug-gestions, so if they give us ‘Two penguins in a peeing competition off the side of an iceberg’ then that’s where our scene starts. Basically, the show is never the same twice. So, unlike stand-up comedy, where you’ll often see the same comedian performing the same set routine until they’ve had the time/patience/humour to write a different one, nothing we do is ever repeated. There’s fast-paced comedy, physical slap-stick, silly songs, improvised rock operas, topical and surreal jokes, and free Jaffa Cakes. So, to précis, you can expect big laughs, as well as a discussion about whether Jaffa Cakes are a biscuit or a cake.

When did you decide you wanted to be a come-dian/comedic performer?I’m sure most performers have some great ephiphany to justify their decision but I sort of fell into it via act-ing. I hated learning lines. I loved ‘Whose Line Is It Anyway?’. Merge the two together and you have comedy improvisation. Sort of. But, if you want a com-pletely untrue story that will make me sound more

interesting, I once met the ghost of John Belushi and he told me I had three choices: 1) Be an actor. 2) Be a Blues Brother. 3) Be a comedian. I chose all three. I am also the long-lost son of Hugh Laurie and Emma Thompson, but I’m not allowed to talk about that in public.

What’s your favourite joke?Me: “Ask me if I’m an Orange!”You: “Are you an Orange?”Me: “No!” (walk off)

What’s the best/worst thing about being a comic/comedic performer?Best thing: Laughter. Worst thing: Silence. Middle thing: Belly but-ton.

What are your biggest fears?1. Cocktail umbrellas.2. Dark nipples.3. Lion tamers.4. Rohypnol.5. Mobile hairdressers.

Coincidentally, this is also my recipe for a good night out.

What gets you in the mood to be funny?Pimms. Or, failing that, my fellow improvisers.

Who or what makes you laugh?Looking at myself naked in the mirror. That covers the ‘who’ and ‘what’ of that question.

Complete this sentence: ‘A man walks into a bar…’It was Douglas Barr. Who played stuntman Howie in ‘80s action series ‘The Fall Guy’. So, I smashed a prop bottle over his head and he feigned uncon-sciousness. Now, where’s that smirking Lee Majors?‘OFF THE CUFF’ is performing at the Cheltenham Comedy Festival on the 16th of November at 7:15pm at the Parabola Arts Centre. Tickets are available here: www.cheltenhamtownhall.org.uk

They also perform a monthly show at The 2 Pigs. For more details, visit: www.off-the-cuff.co.uk

www.cheltenhamcomedy.com

The 2011 instalment of Frogfest promised to put one (if not more) up on the previous years! With 3 days, on 3 stages and featuring a massive 61 acts, I could only wish to be able to check them all out, but thankfully the ones I did catch were pretty darn brilliant!

To kick things off Friday night in The Barn was a 7 band extravaganza, featuring some of the county’s finest. First up we’re newbies Cynotia - already gathering a heap of shows to put under their belt, this female fronted, pop punk, quar-tet set the bar for the rest of the evening, go check them out they’re a great band in the making! Following this entered a very, Biffy looking, I, The Lion with topless and skinny jean attire, launched into a set with vigour and huge rock star pres-ence, delivering a mix of high energy and powerful rock which culminated by ending on their song King, they handed out a wicked performance! Next up a band with a name that sounds like its came straight from an Enid Blighton book, Peppermint Hunting Lodge. Now my initial thought when I saw these guys setting up was “hmm synth o’clock time is it? but the way in which it was used in playing a part in the bands sound was done with great effect. Musically the band were very good and it was clear to see that they’re a very talented bunch...there was just one thing bugging me and that was the frontman. His onstage style, is very much that of the Hayley Williams. Whilst there is nothing wrong with this it only really works with a few bands and it was just a little niggly, like it was adding a certain element of pretension. Black Art was the next act to hit the stage which got off to a very good start and despite a small technical hitch to begin with the band delivered a brilliant, well crafted performance, coupled with great band dynamics, defi-nitely a band to check out and one of my favourites from the weekend! Following Black Art were former Joe and the Sluts band, Watch Commander, who at many points reminded me of The Menzingers. The group as a whole had a very nice balance and worked well together, and it was clear to see this band have spent a lot of time and effort in making some show stealing music. Sadly Crooks, did not deliver the same per-fromance. This may be down to personal taste, but for some reason these guys just screamed boring! The music and songs were just bland and had no real hook to any of them. Finally to round off the night were local legends, Stillbust.I’ve always been a fan and tonight’s performance didn’t change this at all, a sterling performance all round. From the music to the crowd interaction along with their on stage etiquette they were fault-less. Ending by getting the crowd to sing along to ‘Lets make it work’, was the cherry on top of a great night!

As Saturday rolled around, all 3 stages were on the go for what promised to be the busiest of all 3 days with far too many great acts to choose from I found myself a little conflicted, but I decided to just review a couple of the bands in the afternoon and not the evening. There are a few reasons why I chose to do this, but the main one being that many of the bands playing in the evening, are the same bands that play at the Frog or the 2pigs on what seems to be (I may be exaggerating slightly) an

8 day rotation system. Don’t get me wrong the acts booked are bloody fantastic and if your a noob reader go and check them out (and the past reviews of these guys in MAG), I just thought it would be more interesting to review some new acts. Punk 4 piece Southpaw Fakers were taking to the Barn Stage. With shades of early Pennywise, Bad Religion and Millencolin these guys hammered out their songs from the Tony Hawk/Play-station generation which is brilliant! It’s just 4 dudes playing music like they grew up listening to and that is how it should be. Following the punk assault was more loudness from The Victory Show, who when they walked on to entrance music to a crowd of 15 people all I could think was “hahaha bellends!” (but at the same time still thinking “entrance music is pretty cool, Wrestlers have entrance music) I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from these guys as they started playing, but I started getting into it and I have to say what these guys do is pretty good and very enjoyable. Kingsley Salmon, an acoustic act playing a mix of Folk/blues/rock played outside in the sun. Gravelly vocals and superb guitar playing sold it immediately to me, especially with a few of the songs you’d more associ-ate with a ‘plugged in’ act, this guy is just awesome. Up next in the tent was billed as Jake and the Jellyfish...who I was somewhat expecting as more than a solo act. This guy was flipping brilliant, a true singer/songwriter who sounded like he meant every word he sang as he brought together a mix of two popular genres in Cheltenham, ska and folk. Despite the warm weather I got a few goosebumps listening to Jake. IAt this point I checked out the new Agent 15 stage, which played host to Prime Postion. From the performance I got the impression of an old school hip hop vibe twinged with shades of social comment, which frankly was brilliant. The only criticism I had early on, would have been to think out the order of their set didn’t flow. As I watched I thought, this is good but it needs something else, and what do you know, up gets another guy to join in. My expectations from the performance so far were hgh, but they did not deliver. I found that both auditory and visual he was somewhat of an annoyance and reminded me of a dad trying to rap to impress he kids, I was back to thinking, maybe a different collaboration would be better...low and behold, AN-OTHER guy gets up to join in, who fitted the act an absolute shed load better. Luckily he stayed till the end of the set which in some respects saved it.

Finally, Sunday the final day of Frogfest arrived for some final-ity from the final few remaining bands...did I mention, it was the final day?! Some of the highlights from the included Juey, a female singer/songwriter who was playing on the Agent 15 stage, performed an absolutely fantastic set in front of a crowd lining the floor with their backsides. It was a very mellow and the best way I can describe her is like a female Johnny Cash. Following this I wandered down into the Barn and caught a set by Andy Olvervi, which again provided a nice mellow ambi-ence to the Sunday evening. Andy’s style was somewhat in between Damien Rice and David Gray, simply beautiful. Dur-ing the set he was joined by 2 friends who played with him. He revealed that they’d only played the songs together 10 minutes before when playing in Gloucester, if that’s the case, bravo to all!

Overall Frogfest was pretty rootin’ tootin’ this year, bring on 2012 I say!

Jack Higgins

By Local’s Keziah on 21st Century Crafts...

At the end of August By Local had a bit of a scare when we thought that we were losing our space in the Regent Arcade. Thankfully, a last minute oppor-tunity arose and we were able to relocate. We are now next door to the super chain T K Maxx!

However, it is unlikely that we will be able to stay in the Regent Arcade long term, as the retail spaces are being snapped up by large businesses fairly quickly. The overhead costs that these businesses pay are huge. A small enterprise like By Local cannot pay the large amounts that the chains can.

Over the past two years I have been given a special insight in to the hectic world of the arts and crafts makers. It’s a hard business to be in. Most makers sell through multiple outlets, all of whom take a percentage of commission. The makers work all the craft fairs they can get into, standing outside for long periods of time praying that they will sell enough stock to cover the cost of being there! Some of them still have to teach classes or work part time to make enough income to live on. Despite the hardship, these people remain passionate and committed to what they do. It’s more of a way of life than a job.

By local can offer retail space to about thirty different exhibitors at a time. We have between five and ten new applicants a week. Although we would love to offer a place to every single person who applies we simple do not have enough room!

In the New Year we will be looking for a permanent home for By Local. We want to keep this project going. After two years of working in this unique environment I can see what an important part of the community we are. Not just for the people involved but for our customers too. We offer them the chance to buy items made by in Gloucestershire; the products have not been shipped to Britain from far off lands so they have very low carbon emissions. The money customer spends goes back into the local economy and in these tough times it can only be a good thing! The other main point want to make is that this shop is DIFFERENT. When so many high streets across the U.K have the same old same old shops, isn’t it time we all took better care of the little one off shops and boutiques that make our towns high street unique? Cirencester and Stroud are doing this, so why not Cheltenham and Gloucester too?

Locally made goods of all varieties should be celebrated, and be something that makes us proud of where we live.

Love By Local? Sign our petition of support visit: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/savebylocal/

Recommended outlets:

By Local, The Regent Arcade, Cheltenham

The Gloucestershire Arts and Crafts Centre, Gloucester

The Brewery Arts Centre, Cirencester

Made In Stroud

M.A.D.E, Cirencester.

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MAG Editor Amelia Scognamiglio | Cover & Listing Design Dan Cooper | Listings Contributor Ollie West | Staff Writers Jenny Duffy, Jack Higgins, Dan Gutteridge, Keziah Kurg, Gemma Dunstan, Danny Ash| Thanks to all the people who contributed to issue NINE of MAG, special thanks (again) goes to Nicky Hughes @ The University of Gloucestershire for organising the funding and production of this work and to Andrew Lansley for continuing to support MAG and everything musical in Gloucestershire| All work remains property of the original owner, used with permission. Reproduction in whole or any part (especially the listings) of this fanzine would be awesome as it’s great to spread the word people, just make sure you credit the fanzine : )

Music According to Jen Duffy..

This years Halloween is slowly creeping up on us and even though the date falls on a Monday, I’m sure there will be lots of theme nights around the Cheltenham/Gloucester area, one of which I think will really play on the Halloween theme.

The 2 Pigs hosts the club night Judder, who have different theme nights every month at the Pigs with special drinks offers and amazing DJ’s. On the 28th of October, Judder will be hosting the ‘2 Pigs insane asylum’ with a Hal-loween fancy dress theme obviously. They’re basically going to turn the Pigs into an extremely scary looking club; the only club in Cheltenham that I think will look amazing and authentic on Halloween. If you’re not afraid to dress up properly and get in the spir-it, then you really really should come down to Judder on the 28th. It’s only £3 all night

if you are dressed up, so get together with your friends, plan some really freaky outfits and have an amazing night at the Pigs. I may be working that night, so please, don’t dress up as clowns!

Playlist of the month from...Picture This

Return of Django The Upsetters Matt said he just really likes the vibe that this song gives out.

Why cant this be love Van Halen We really like this song because of the guitar effects and how they are so differ-ent to most other songs.

Called out into the dark Snow PatrolJust because it is ridiculously catchy and I cant get it out of my head!

Picture This are Jordan Bonner and Matt Davis. The duo played the BBC Introducing stage at The Un-derground Festival and their EP Little Thoughts & Lost Words is available to download now at: www picturethis.bandcamp.com