Hi this is Gemma Dempsey and this week the Global Gig Guide goes to NME’s Indie Rock and Indie Rave festivals; the Bass Desires tour of Europe and STFU in Italy.
The UK’s New Musical Express magazine has been in print since the 1950’s and over the decades has championed the likes of The Beatles The Sex Pistols , Morrissey and Franz Ferdinand. Continuing in this tradition is the NME Indie Rock festival, and this year there will be a simultaneous Indie Rave festival to keep all the punters entertained.
It begins in Belfast and Dublin before hopping the Irish Sea to England for a slew of dates leading to the grand finale at the Brixton Academy. This double whammy of a festival features The Klaxons, The Automatic, New Young Pony Club and the Brazilian sextet CSS whose full name is translated as ‘Tired of Being Sexy’.
If you are a fan of jazz and are based in Europe, you’re in for a treat as the exemplary group behind the album Bass Desires, is on the road for the first time in almost twenty years! Comprising Marc Johnson, Peter Erskine, John Scofield and Bill Frisell, the tour will take them to a variety of destinations including Denmark for the Vinterjazz festival, to Siciliy for Etnafest and to the glorious Theatre du Chatelet in Paris.
Jazz not your thing but electronic music is? According to their website, STFU is a ‘festival of contemporary sounds’ for electronic musicians and visual artists who communicate primarily via the internet. It began in Manchester in 2005, and this year sees the first STFU in Rome with a Creative Commons Day, Pure Sound and something called Intelligent Dumb Music.
That’s it for this weeks Global Gig Guide – for more information check out our website kcrw.com/globalgigguide.