Foo Fighters, Arctic Monkeys & Archive headline the main stage at this year’s Rock en Seine music festival but there are plenty of other great artists playing over the August Bank Holiday weekend that will make it a worthwhile trip to France.
CSS, Tinie Tempah, The Vaccines, Biffy Clyro, The LA’s, The Wombats, Seasick Steve & French pop band Sexy Sushi are among the many other artists I am looking forward to seeing. CSS are best known for their hit single ‘Let’s Make Love & Dance To Death From Above’ (Death From Above 1979 are also on the bill) while festival favourites The Vaccines, Biffy Clyro & The Wombats will play their lively, high-octane pop songs and no doubt get the crowds going.
I recently saw Tinie Tempah put on a great show at the Wireless Festival in London and I am also looking forward to seeing old timers Big Audio Dynamite and The LA’s for a big dose of nostalgia.
Rock en Seine music festival
Rock en Seine music festival is situated in a northern suburb, 10km outside Paris and is on from Friday 26th August to Sunday 28th August.
Francophonik promoting French music gigs & festivals
If you are a fan or want to listen to more French music, Francophonik is a cool new service offering you the chance to win tickets and packages to French music gigs in the UK and festivals in France. Their latest competition is to win two tickets to Rock en Seine. All you have to do is visit the Francophonik Facebook page, become a fan, then apply for tickets by simply ticking a box.
Up and coming bands and solo artists from across the UK are being given the opportunity to perform at legendary music venue Band on the Wall in a new competition to find the UK’s best new music talent.
Ticketwall New Music Competition is open to acts from across the UK looking to hit the big time. The successful artist will not only win a nationally promoted gig in 2012 at legendary venue Band on the Wall, which has played host to thousands of international artists, but will also have their gig filmed and will have the opportunity to meet industry professionals who could help their career.
Entering the competition couldn’t be easier. Artists are being encouraged to go to www.ticketwall.org and upload their original tracks.
This competition marks the launch of Ticketwall – the UK’s first online ticket store where every ticket bought directly supports the development of music making in Britain.
When tickets are purchased on the website, 3p from every £1 spent will go towards supporting and nurturing the development, performance and enjoyment of music across the UK through projects, courses, classes and events.
Gavin Sharp, CEO of Band on the Wall, said: “Ticketwall New Music Competition is a great opportunity for an up and coming act to begin their journey to become a professional artist. The chance to perform at Band on the Wall is one that I am sure will excite many aspiring musicians. We are really looking forward to hearing all the great music that will be sent in and encourage as many acts as possible to take part.”
Nominations for Ticketwall New Music Competition are now open and will close on 31 December 2011.
Ticketwall sells tickets for thousands of musical, comedy and sporting events across the UK with the same level of service as other online ticket shops.
Through the Rain by SenitThrough the Rain by Senit
Senit, the 2011 female pop singer who represented San Marino in the recent Eurovision 2011 finals in Dusseldorf with the soft rock Euro pop song, Stand By which came 16th with 34 points, has released a new single from her forthcoming new album. The Euro Pop Music single is called Through the Rain and is taken from her fourth album which is due to be released at the end of 2011.
Through the Rain by Senit
The Italian pop star was born in Bologna of Eritrean origin.
Her first two albums were sung in Italian but with her third album Senit decided to sing all the songs in English, something she has continued on her fourth album.
Through the Rain is a Euro Dance Pop crossover with vocal similarities to a 1980’s Bonnie Tyler power ballad and Billie Ray Martin and the 1990’s dance pop sound of Electribe 101.
Though not well known in the UK, Senit performed in musical theatre productions such as Fame, The Lion King, Hair and Rent, before she decided to concentrate on a career as a pop singer.
Senit is currently putting together a 2011 European Tour that will include concerts in many European countries in order to promote the new album.
Pop music boy band JLS return, all guns blazing, with their new single She Makes Me Wanna, the first to be taken from their third album. Co-written and produced by certified hit maker, Red One, and featuring US recording artist Dev, it will be released on Epic Records on July 24th.
Combining efforts with the musical force behind such big names as Lady Gaga, Nicole Scherzinger and Jennifer Lopez, super-producer Red One, She Makes Me Wanna is a pop-dance smash hit. Synergising the boy’s signature smooth harmonies with the electro ‘sing-talk’ vocals of Dev, who featured on Billboard 100 number one Like a G6 this catchy number is a banger from the radio to the dance floor.
The collaboration came about at Alicia Key’s Black charity Ball last year when they bid £30,000 to win a session with the super-slick multi-Grammy Award-winning producer and this floor-filler is the result.
Ahead of the single release, Marvin, JB, Aston and Oritsé will be opening the Capital Summertime Ball with the inaugural performance of She Makes Me Wanna on June 12th.
Recently adding movie stars to their list of accolades, selling out cinemas nationwide with Eyes Wide Open, JLS’s success has been nothing short of staggering. Sold-out Arena tour. Three UK number one singles. Two multi-platinum albums. Four MOBO Awards. Two 2010 BRIT trophies.
Sure-fire hit, She Makes Me Wanna is but a taste of the massive album to come.
Prince Live at the Hop Farm, Kent photo: Stewart Rogers (Crawford Technologies)
As you may know, I normally write blog articles on business and management issues, mixed with music, but I simply could not resist this short post on the Hop Farm and Prince’s superb concert there on Sunday night, just for the music. There are not enough superlatives that can describe his performance, which spanned songs such as Let’s Go Crazy, 1999, Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough, U Got The Look, Controversy and Play That Funky Music amongst many others over a two and a quarter hour set that put all other performances into the shade.
As well as a truly fantastic performance, we were ‘taught’ many other things by Prince with transferable value to business and personal life. Here’s a few of them:
Prince on differentiation – Without being pompous, Prince pointed out that his band offered ‘real music’ by ‘real musicians’ – quite a contrast to some of the other x-factor hopefuls and so on. At 53 years old, he proved he could still do the do, making others half his age look like quivering geriatrics.
Prince on playfulness – When he announced ‘Nothin’ Compares 2 U’ he said “I didn’t write that song. That’s Sinead O’Connor’s song” Later on he pointed out “I bought a house with that song” to the great enjoyment of the crowd. Playfulness is a vital ingredient if you are to encourage creativity in yourself and others.
Prince on emotional intelligence – There had been quite a few sound problems with other acts during the day. So, instead of coming on and belting out a big hit to start with, Prince came on and played a funk workouk to set the sound levels and get things right for the rest of the show – calling off the different musicians to come in and out of the performance to get a perfect mix. This is a big risk to take – effectively starting your show with a jam rather than a crowd pleaser.
So a big thank you to Vince Power and the people at the Hop Farm. I never thought I’d get to see Prince on my doorstep but, last night, dreams came true.
Peter Cook is the Rock’n’Roll Business Guru, delivering exceptional corporate events and keynote speeches that blend business and music.
