Time for a laugh at Beverley Festival

It’s not that Beverley Festival shouldn’t be taken seriously, but there again we should all learn to let our hair down at some stage – so this year the festival has made sure it has only the best for its Comedy Nights in June.

Kicking off on the Friday (21at June) night is the brilliant and loveable stand up comedian that likes to hug and eat cake, Patrick Monahan. “There isn’t a comic quite like him and his hugs alone are worth the price of admission”. ***** New Current, 2012.

Having been brought up in Middlesbrough by his Iranian Mother and Irish Dad he has many hilarious and engaging stories about his heritage. “He has the dark looks and stubble of the Middle East, married to the charm of the Irish and the sense of fun of the Teessider… Omid Djalili meets Dave Allen you might say.” Daily Mail

Since he started performing stand-up he has had a meteoric rise up the comedy ladder and has gone from ‘open spot’ to headliner in an incredibly short length of time. Now a regular MC and headlining act at the top London and UK comedy clubs including the prestigious Jongleurs circuit and the Comedy Store, he is certainly going to receive a big welcome at the festival. With the festival attracting a wide range of audiences from music and comedy lovers alike to families, Monahan is the perfect act to start the festival’s comedy nights. “Monahan possesses the rate ability to be hilarious without being outrageous”. ***** 3 Weeks, 2012.

Following on the Saturday, and back by popular demand, is that wackiest of characters, John Shuttleworth.  Quoted as being "A National Institution...the 42nd Best Reason to Love Britain"  Sunday Telegraph Shuttleworth will be bring in his own special brand of comedy to the festival. The Sony and Perrier nominated Shuttleworth will be venturing beyond his garden gate to tread the mean streets of Beverley and wander up to take a stroll around Beverley’s Racecourse. Which is better: city life or country living? Supermarket or village shop? Or is it better to sit in your shed and count the cobwebs? Those are some of the questions the star of Radio 4's ‘The Shuttleworths’, and TV’s ‘500 Bus Stops’ will be asking the audience on Saturday 22 June.  “His stand up is second to none, his timing is impeccable, and you can practically warm your hands on his good nature “ The Guardian Guide. "Wonderful, wacky, and weird" Radio Times.

Not only will Mr Shuttleworth be appearing live at the festival, but he will also be appearing twice in his film “Southern Softees” on the Saturday of his performance.

To round off a weekend of humour, the festival is proud to include in its programme a cabaret version of its Patron, John Godber’s award winning film play “Bouncers” in which we welcome you to a vision of British Urban Nightlife’. Lucky Eric and the rest of the Bouncers will arrive at the festival on Sunday 23rd  for audiences to spend a night with Baz and the lads, Plain Elaine and, if they are Lucky, Sexy Suzy, along with a host of other characters.  Follow them on their Friday night out , from the hairdressers to the drunken taxi ride home, all under the watchful eyes of the four men in black. Performed by a top-notch cast  “Bouncers” should not to be missed!

Certainly a weekend to smile about!

For further information on the festival go to the festival’s website www.beverleyfestival.com or by call the office on 01377 217569.

Single Event and Weekend Tickets can be obtained on-line from www.beverleyfestival.com

Patrick Monahan                Friday 21 June                    8.00pm                      £12.00

John Shuttleworth             Saturday 22 June               8.00pm                      £16.00

“Southern Softees”           Saturday 22 June               6.00  & 10.00pm      £4.00

“Bouncers”                         Sunday 23 June                 8.00pm                      £12.00

Day tickets available:  Friday  £30 Adults; Conc £27; Saturday/Sunday £45 Adults; £41 Conc

OTHER INFORMATION

Beverley Folk Festival 2013 – 21st June to 23rd June

Weekend tickets:  £98 Adults; Concession £85 and Families £281 - Camping £20 per person for 3 nights – Fri, Sat, Sun

Artists already confirmed for 2013

The Proclaimers • Show of Hands with Miranda Sykes • Oysterband • Gretchen Peters (USA) • Lau  • Steve Forbert (USA) • Ian Rankin • Eduardo Niebla • Sam Carter • Henry Priestman • Curtis Eller (USA) • Megson   John Shuttleworth • Patrick Monahan • Lucy Ward • Allan Yn Y Fan • Blackbeard’s Tea Party • The Young ‘uns  The Whiskey Dogs •  Folkestra •  Eric Brace & Peter Cooper (USA) • Coco and the Butterfields • Will Kaufman  • Edwina Hayes • Farino • Circus Envy •  Chris Cole • The Duncan McFarlane Band 

‘Bouncers’ 

Beverley Folk Festival Patrons

Mike Harding – Broadcaster, singer, songwriter, author, poet & comedian.

John Godber – Olivier Award-winning playwright (Up ‘n' Under, Bouncers, Teechers, etc.), director & lecturer.

Beverley Folk Festival Award Nominations

Shortlisted for ‘Best Family Festival’ Award -  2012 UK Festival Awards

Finalist in the Remarkable Tourism Event Category -  REYTA Awards 2012

Finalist in the Remarkable Tourism Experience/ Event   REYTA Awards 2013

Contact Details

Artistic Director: Chris Wade    Festival Directors: Andrew Mills; Jim Pybus; Matt Snowden; Mike Booth

Festival Office, The Stables, Westwood House, North Dalton, Driffield, East Riding of Yorkshire, YO25 9XA

Tel: 01377 217569       Email:  info@beverleyfestival.com      Website:  www.beverleyfestival.com

Data published by RAJAR reveal that the show has endured a sharp decline after long-standing DJ Chris Moyles quit the early slot last year.

Breakfast Show listener numbers for the first quarter of 2013 was an average of 5.8m, whilst the three months to December 2012 was 6.69m.

BBC Radio 1's overall reach in early 2013 meanwhile was down 7.88% year on year.

A BBC spokesperson told the Guardian that the figures were to be expected after such high-profile personnel changes. They said:

"When you put in a new schedule and target new listeners it takes time to build a new audience, both for Grimmy and the entire station. Ben [Cooper, controller of Radio 1 and 1Xtra] has got a two-year plan for the station, and this is the second quarter of it. It is the biggest set of changes to the station in a generation. We were expecting this kind of situation. Even though the audience is slightly smaller, our focus is on the younger demographic."

Guardian - 'mammoth arena friendly choruses

Q – ‘’everything about this album screams ambition'

Kerrang -  'daring and rarely less than dazzling'

Grammy nominated and multimillion selling three-piece Paramore are able to announce today that they will be returning to the UK and Ireland to play 6 shows in September 2013.  This will follow the band’s appearance at this year’s Radio 1 Big Weekend in Londonderry/Derry at the end of May.

Hayley Williams (vocals): "We're so psyched to come back the UK and Ireland and play the new songs for everybody. See you there!"

Paramore are set to release the single Still Into You on May 20th, this is the follow-up single to Radio 1 A-listed Now and is taken from their self-titled fourth, number one album which is out now.  The video for Still into You has already had over 9 million views on YouTube, and the band performed the song on both Graham Norton and Radio 1’s Live Lounge in April.

Official video: http://youtu.be/OblL026SvD4

Radio 1 Live Lounge performance: http://www.bbc.co.uk/events/eb5v4f

Since releasing their gold-certified debut All We Know Is Falling in 2005, the 3x-Grammy-nominated band has shot to international stardom thanks to a strong connection with its fans which has translated into a string of platinum and gold singles, including Misery Business, Crushcrushcrush, and That’s What You Get from 2007’s platinum-certified Riot!, Decode from 2008’sTwilight soundtrack, The Only Exception from 2009’s platinum brand new eyes, and Monster from 2011’s Transformers: Dark of the Moon soundtrack. It also led to a series of sold-out arena tours across the globe, including their last sold out UK tour which culminated in 2 nights at London’s O2 Arena in November 2010. Most recently, the band played Reading /Leeds festival in 2012, topping the bill under the Cure on the main stage, and they played an intimate special club show on April 5th of this year at London’s Garage to celebrate the release of current album Paramore.

Full UK & Irish dates are as follows:

Date      Venue                                   City                                                        Ticket price/ website

September

Mon 2   The O2 Point                     Dublin, Ireland                                        €33 /ticketmaster.ie

Fri 20    MEN                                  Manchester                                            £27.50/gigsandtours.com

Sat 21   Motorpoint Arena              Cardiff                                                   £27.50/gigsandtours.com

Mon 23 LG Arena/NEC                   Birmingham                                           £27.50/gigsandtours.com

Tue 24  Arena                                Nottingham                                           £27.50/gigsandtours.com

Fri 27    Wembley Arena                 London                                                 £29.50/gigsandtours.com

Tickets go on sale this Friday (May 17) at 9am for the Irish show at Ticketmaster outlets nationwide and online at www.ticketmaster.ie, and all UK shows will be available via http://www.gigsandtours.com/Tour/PARAMORE

Stay tuned to paramore.net for more info on a special presale.

The ceremony, which was attended by Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip, took place today in London (April 17) and enraged the 'Meat Is Murder' hitmaker because of the general grandeur and money spent on it.

He released a statement on the former Prime Minister's send-off and explained: "The coverage by the British media of Thatcher's death has been exclusively absorbed in Thatcher's canonisation to such a censorial degree that we suddenly see the modern British establishment as an uncivilised entity of delusion, giving the cold shoulder to truth, and offering indescribable disgust to anyone unimpressed by Thatcher."

"Even to contest Thatcher's worth is termed 'anarchist', and this source of insanity – intolerant of debate – is spearheaded by the BBC reporting not on how things actually are on British streets, but on how they would prefer things to be. For those of us who survived despite Thatcherism, and who recall Thatcher as a living hell, The Daily Mail and The Guardian have a steadfast message for us: You are nothing.

Morrissey goes on to add: "Our thoughts are further burdened by the taunting extravagance of Thatcher's funeral; the ceremonial lavish, the military salute, stripping Thatcher's victims of everything, and rubbing salt in wounds with teasing relish."

Watch the star's performance of 'Action Is My Middle Name' from earlier this year here:

HMV have aggregated a number of end-of-year lists from thirty music publications and websites to find the most liked album of the year.

Ocean's record was named album of the year by five publications, including The Guardian, the Evening Standard and Music Week, whilst it also featured in a host of top fives.

Second on the list is Jack White's 'Blunderbuss', whilst Tame Impala lands at No.3 with their record 'Lonerism'.

Speaking about the results of the poll, HMV Music Manager John Hirst said:

"It's no surprise that Frank Ocean has come so high up in many critics' top-tens – he's hugely talented and his name's been on a lot of people's lips for a few years now. There's a certain Stevie Wonder quality about him, and aside from having released a truly wonderful debut album, Frank has also earned a great deal of credit in the way he has challenged Hip Hop stereotypes. I think we're going to hear a lot more from him in the future."

Speaking to The Guardian newspaper, the 'Pound The Alarm' songstress explained that she was inspired by Emma Watson's role as Hermione Granger in the 'Harry Potter' franchise along with Melanie B from the Spice Girls:

"There are so many, but one person was Scary Spice. I used to listen to her all the time and try to make the same faces she'd make when she was talking. Oh, and Hermione from Harry Potter!"

She also explained that she finds criticism difficult to deal with, but tries to keep in mind that people only know her as Nicki Minaj the stage persona so when they slam her work they are only referring to an image of her:

"It's better to realise that they're not talking to you, they're talking to your image. I'm not Nicki Minaj. I have to remind myself of that, I really do. It gets tough."

In a new interview with The Guardian newspaper, he explained that his Twitter feed is often overrun with offensive messages from strangers, but he's learned to take it on the chin:

"I get abuse on Twitter all day long. I'm not bothered. Some artists set out to leave a legacy. I'm not trying to change the world. I was meant to be a film director. This was just a hobby – a hobby that's gone right. I'm adaptable. If I put my mind to it, I could smash it."

"I was a TV editor, I did voiceovers for the Paramount Comedy Channel and MTV – I've got a deep voice, and when your voice operates at certain frequencies, it resonates more in people's ears. I also did landscape gardening in Australia for six months, I did removals, I still paint – I painted my flat in a day and a half."

When asked about the kind of Twitter abuse he finds himself subjected to, Example revealed: "Someone said to me the other day: "I'm going to come to your gig in Belfast and set fire to you." People tell me they're going to beat me up, stab me, spit on me. They say, "I hate you, you're a prick, I hate your haircut, your face, you look like a horse, you can't sing, you can't rap, your clothes are shit ..." I've got 1.5 million followers. 20,000 people mention me a day. I'd say 500 of those are abuse."

He even added that he keeps a weapon in his house: "I've got a metal bar. I keep it by the door."

The soul legend made the initial remarks during an interview with The Guardian published yesterday after he was asked about the issue of homophobia within the black community.

He said: "I think honestly, some people who think they're gay, they're confused. People can misconstrue closeness for love. 

"People can feel connected, they bond. I'm not saying all [gay people are confused]. Some people have a desire to be with the same sex. But that's them."

However, the 62-year-old has since issued a statement of apology to The Advocate for his comments:

"I'm sorry that my words about anyone feeling confused about their love were misunderstood. No one has been a greater advocate for the power of love in this world than I; both in my life and in my music. 

"Clearly, love is love, between a man and a woman, a woman and a man, a woman and a woman and a man and a man. What I'm not confused about is the world needing much more love, no hate, no prejudice, no bigotry and more unity, peace and understanding. Period."

The soul legend, who next week headlines Bestival, told The Guardian that he even had a particular song in mind that he would have loved to have performed with the late British star:

“I understand Amy came to my concert in England a couple of years ago. I was thinking about us doing a duet – an old Marvin and Mary Wells song called Once Upon A Time. It would have been amazing."

The 62-year-old, who performed at the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee concert earlier this year, also went on to reveal his pride at meeting the head of the Royal Family:

"She was born under the same astrological sign as me: Taurus. It was wonderful meeting her."

Earlier this month, he sent out a blog post that explained his first love was a man and this bold admission rocked the music world.

In this weekend's Guardian newspaper Ocean admits his revelation was purely "about my own sanity and my ability to feel like I'm living a life where…I'm happy when I wake up in the morning, and not with this freakin' boulder on my chest."

He also spoke about the importance of being honest and added that it's inspiring to have people in the spotlight be open about things that cause tension or controversy:

"[I wish] there was somebody I looked up to who would have said something like that, who would have been transparent in that way."

"People are just afraid of things too much…Sure, evil exists, extremism exists. Somebody could commit a hate crime and hurt me. But they could do the same just because I'm black. They could do the same just because I'm American."

Watch his video for 'Swim Good' below:

The 48-year-old, who will perform her own songs for the first time this century at Antony Hegarty’s Meltdown Festival in August, told The Guardian that she blames the demise of the dream-pop outfit in the mid-90s on their drug use:

"I resisted it for a long time. I thought they would get tired of all this soon, and we will be back to normal but, of course, that didn't happen, unfortunately. Then, weirdly, I got into this pot smoking. I guess that was the part of me saying: 'Right, if you are going to let this slide, you might as well do it properly.’ I should never have smoked pot. That was the end of the band really.

The Scottish singer, who provided the vocals for Massive Attack’s Top 10 hit, ‘Teardrop,’ also confessed that a series of tumultuous events in her life led to a crippling bout of self-doubt:

"I just got so depleted and exhausted by everything. I was in a horrible place. I had always thought of myself as a sanguine person, quite light and airy. But for a long while, no one could have possibly made me laugh or smile. It was awful."

But despite remaining apprehensive about her return to the music scene, Fraser says she’s glad she made the decision to say yes when asked to perform at the Southbank Centre event:

"Well it wasn't an immediate yes, of course not! But part of me was saying, you know, 'Come on, Fraser! This is it! This is the one you have to do!' But then there is always another part saying: 'What are you thinking? You can't do this! You are really going to need the rest of your life to think about whether this is a good idea...'

“I find making decisions really very difficult. The torture of deciding about something is almost too much for me. That's why I'm so excited to have made this decision to play. I need that commitment! I'm honestly not as bad as I used to be."

The ‘Jealousy’ singer, who famously triumphed over Gareth Gates in the 2002 final, told The Guardian that performing in front of millions of viewers allowed him to express who he really was.

He said: "That's why Pop Idol was so mental. I was 22. I don't even think I was comfortable with my sexuality at that stage, yet I could pick up a microphone for the first time and tell the judges what I thought.

“Ten years ago, I couldn't even go to a nightclub, I was such a shy person. I've always had quite low self-esteem and I think that's why singing and songwriting and performing have been such outlets because I could always express who I really wanted to be."

The 33-year-old, who this week unveiled the video for his new single, 'I Just Want A Lover,' also confessed that he always knew he would be in it for the long haul once he won the show:

"Where I'm at now is where I've always wanted to be. I knew when I won Pop Idol, I definitely had five years: that I wanted to do better music; I wanted to act as well; I wanted to do stuff that I really believed in.

"And Simon Fuller got it and always did really. He always thought long term and I always thought long term. I've never done ambulance chasing. I still make decisions based on wanting to be around for the next 10 years."

The Pulp frontman famously caused controversy by gate-crashing Michael Jackson’s performance of ‘Earth Song’ at the ceremony, an incident which was referred to by the Tory leader after answering a question posed by Cocker in The Guardian last year.

He said: "There we are. Not as punchy as Jarvis Cocker on Michael Jackson, but it's the best I can do. I was there that night, at the Brit Awards. I saw him led away. I saw his bum."

However, speaking to the same newspaper, the ‘Common People’ star said that Cameron had got his facts wrong:

“I'd just like to point out that if anybody cares to look at the video evidence, at no point was my bare backside revealed.”

"So therefore the fact he says he's seen it totally negates the credence of what he said in the previous part of the answer about derivatives and futures. I'm glad I've got that off my chest – it's been bothering me, that."

The London outfit, who release new album, ‘In Our Heads,’ next month, told The Guardian that they are bored with the amount of current records that “feel like they've come from a factory that tries to correct everything".

Band member Joe Goddard added: “They take out all the flaws that make everything really loveable for me. Pop music's become quite conservative in a lot of ways.”

Lead singer Alexis Taylor then went onto reveal how he can’t relate to the way in which some pop stars approach their career, naming Tulisa specifically as an example:

"There's quite a lot of cynicism now about how to make pop records and what the point of it is.

“I saw the lady from N-Dubz on a chatshow and they were asking how she felt about the band splitting up. She just talked about having to pay her mortgage as being the main issue."