AUGUST ACTION

August is looking to be an exciting month for music fans with an endless amount of festivals to show off your new wellies at and new music to blast through your worn out car speakers.

Places to Be

Kicking off the month in style is everyone’s favourite seaside festival Boardmasters; with an eclectic line-up there’s something for everyone, although it is mainly aimed at electronic and dance fans. And if you don’t fancy the music (although why wouldn’t you), there’s an opportunity to learn to surf or show off your already perfected wave skills.

If you’re looking for the craziest weekend of your life, Boomtown Fair is probably your best bet for that. Essentially a pop-up town plonked in the middle of Winchester, this festival takes its fancy dress and activities outside of the live music very seriously. Not one to miss if you have a love for reggae music or the circus.

Do you love food almost as much as you love music? Have you ever wondered what Alex James from Blur’s farm was like? Well look no further then The Big Feastival; organised by Alex James and Jamie Oliver, this extravaganza will leave you drooling at the sight of gorgeous food cooked by top chefs over at the Big Kitchen while boogying to the sound of Paloma Faith and Ella Eyre. If I had known about this before Leeds Festival, I would have most definitely been spending my bank holiday weekend here.

And of course we can’t forget the legendary Reading& Leeds Festival. A somewhat disappointing main stage line-up in my opinion compared to previous years, I recommend spending your time exploring the smaller stages for some fresh faces. If you’re looking for gourmet food stalls or activities to keep you occupied during the day, I suggest you go somewhere else as these festivals mean business when it comes to the music and nothing else matters.

Listen Out For

Tomorrow marks the release of 2 albums that I have been eagerly anticipating for some time: Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls ‘Positive Songs for Negative People’ and Don Broco ‘Automatic’.

You may remember the heart-wrenching break-up record that was ‘Tape Deck Heart’, whatever horrible relationship breakdown inspired that is long forgotten with PSFNP, rallying cries of hope and defiance. The album was recorded live in Nashville with producer Butch Walker (Save Rock and Roll, Red) giving it a raw edge of emotion and untidiness.

The latter album comes from London boys, almost 3 years to the day their debut album was released. It’s a toe-tapping treat and the reviews have been singing its praises left, right and centre. If you could bottle the energy they put into the live shows and translate it into an album, this would be it.

Later this month, flame haired songstress Jess Glynne will be releasing her debut album ‘I Cry When I Laugh’. Featuring most of her well-known hits on the tracklisting, there are a few unknowns which are bound to show off her mind-blowing vocals.

If their synonymous single ‘What Went Down’ is anything to go by, the fourth album for Foals should be a darker spectacle to previous material. Having matured from indie rockers to stadium belters, these guys are proving they can still provide fresh music for the fans without straying from their original roots that made them so popular in the first place.

What are you looking forward to most this August?

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