Rock Music 4 ALL

Every June, for three nights and three days, the bars, clubs, pubs and streets of Barcelona become even more busy than normal, as people from all over Spain, Europe, and the rest of the world descend upon the city to experience Sónar, an Advanced Music and Multimedia Art festival. The official website describes the festival as “the essential meeting point for an alert public, cutting-edge artists and the most influential professionals from the sectors of music and modern arts.”

Sonar has been running for the last 15 years, and now attracts 80,000 people to the city annually. Unlike many other music festivals that have popped up over the last decade, Sónar is completely city based, meaning no mud, no portaloos and no camping. For those that prefer their festivals to be situated in a civilised, urban environment, rather than out in the not-so-great outdoors, Sónar is the festival for you.

Though Sonar embraces many forms of music, the emphasis is definitely on electronic styles; artists that have appeared in the last few years include: Aphex Twin, Cut Chemist, DJ Yoda, Kraftwerk and The Chemical Brothers.

The festival has two distinct components; “Sonar by Day” takes place in the centre of contemporary culture and the Museum of contemporary art, which is very close to the La Rambla. Here, visitors will find live music performances, DJs, multimedia art, record and clothes fairs, technology demonstrations, cinemas and other activities, split into a number of official areas known as SonarVillage, SonarCinema and Sonarama amongst others.

At around about 10pm each day, as the heat of the day starts to give way to slightly cooler night air, “Sonar by Night” begins. This takes place outside of the city centre and special coaches are laid on to transport festival goers to the main arena, which is split into four areas.

As Britain’s biggest festivals such as Glastonbury and Reading become increasingly more difficult to get tickets for, more people are looking further a-field to get their festival fix. Foreign festivals make ideal short breaks, offering music fans the chance to see their favourite artists, and also enjoy a cultural adventure, not to mention warmer, dryer weather!

The are now hundreds of big music festivals throughout the world, including Fuji Rock Festival in Japan, Exit Festival in Serbia, Mera Luna in Germany, Southbound Festival in Australia and EuroSonic Festival in Holland, to mention just a few, so maybe you should head further a field this summer and explore the wide world of festivals outside of the UK.

Festival of Music

Festivals in Leeds have a long and glorious history. A pair of very popular annual music festivals in England take place in two places, Reading and Leeds. Ordinarily these festivals take place in the bank holiday weekend in August. A music festival is defined as an event with a number of music programs played through a genre. The Leeds festival is certainly more than this, with many activities going on as well as the music, including fairground rides and stalls where you can buy just about anything you might need.

Initial days predominance of Folk Music

In earlier days the festival used to be folk based. Folk music is by, and made for, the common people. The history of folk music has its descent in those societies where mass communication did not make headway and in seclusion the music was original to the inhabitants of a particular place or society. The performances are given by a set of experts who gain expertise in the music within the periphery of the restricted environment of their own clan. The spread of musical knowledge is verbal. A new meaning was given to Folk music in the 20th and 21st century, referring to a particular kind of popular music with its cultural heritage from the traditional folk music. To day, folk music is synonymous with traditional music.

Festival today

The festival today, however, is not confined to folk music alone and has taken within its embrace alternative music of all sorts. It includes jazz, punk, dance, comedy and all types of modern music too. The festivals are regulated by the Mean Fiddler Music Group. Sponsors have been coming forward to sponsor the musical festival and the current sponsor is Carling. The festival is therefore termed as the Carling Weekend Leeds. The audience capacity at the 2005 festival was 57,500. In 2006 the audience capacity has been further enhanced to 67,500. The event is held at Bramham Park, a historical venue in Leeds.

Reading and Leeds Music Festival 2006

This year the festival took place as always over the bank holiday from Friday, August 25th to Sunday, August 27th. There were two locations as usual with most of the musicians playing in both Reading and Leeds over the weekend. The festival is so popular that tickets were sold out long before the event. A tradition that started in the 1970s of rock and heavy metal is still continuing. This year people will be happy to see a few of their favorites like Franz Ferdinand, Guillemots, Muse, Dirty Pretty Things, The Raconteurs and Goldie Lookin’ Chain. There are many others who are comparatively new but have the potential to become the craze of the crowd by the end of the festival.

The festival a chequered history

Although with a chequered history, the festival has grown in popularity over the years. When it started in 1971, the audience was a mere 15,000 and this has expanded to a staggering 60,000 over three decades of performances by popular bands. The early events were held in Temple Newsam Park but the experience was not always a smooth one. In 2002, the festival was nearly cancelled due to violence and crime during 2001. Though Police, M.Ps and local residents opposed it, the event licence was finally granted by the authorities. This happened only after a judicial pronouncement came up in favour of hosting the festival. But the violence increased in 2002, resulting in a conviction of a number of festival goers. The organizers therefore decided to move the festival outside the city to Bramham Park in 2003. Strangely enough, since then the crimes have come down considerably and the site has become the home of the festival. The City Council increased the audience capacity by 12500 in 2005.

Memorable events

The Leeds festival was not as popular as it is today always. But after a grand show by Rod Steiger in the 70s it picked up and went from strength to strength. The 1978 event ended up with bottle throwing. But in 1988 the events were better and attracted more people. In 1992, the Manics, Smashing Pumpkins, and the Wonder Stuff played and 1998 there were 55,000 in attendance watching Robert Plant and Ash, Beastie Boys, Prodigy, Supergrass and Bentley Rhythm Ace. The new millennium saw the arrival of Slipnot and many more new sensations. During 2001 playing were Travis, Manic Street Preachers, Eminem, Green Day, Fun Lovin’ Criminals and Marilyn Manson. In 2005 saw the Pixies, Foo Fighters, Iron Maiden, The Killers, Kings of Leon, and Marilyn Manson once again.

Article by Susan Ashby of Leeds Singles. To read more articles like this or for dating in Leeds visit http://www.leeds-singles.co.uk

Lollapalooza tickets are now available on Stubhub.com!

In the early ‘90s, music in America went through a palpable change. For years, individual music scenes had remained isolated and developed independently of the mainstream music trends. But in the 1990s, the alternative music scene became more available to the general public. True, it was marketed to them, and as a result, much of the independence that defined it disappeared. But it also opened many doors to budding musicians who didn’t know this world existed.

Lollapalooza was the answer to the music festivals of the day. Created by Jane’s Addiction frontman Perry Farrell, it became a gateway for mainstream music listeners to find new bands and genres they weren’t aware of, and revel in the ones they did. It also provided a major source of exposure to bands that were still fighting tooth and nail to gain exposure in both the music press and through word of mouth.

What made the music festival so revolutionary—besides the lineup—was the fact that it would be a touring festival, which could travel across the country and bring music to the public, rather than demand they fly across the continental United States to enjoy the festival and the bands there.

In the first year, the lineup was much, much smaller than the dozens of bands playing today. Jane’s Addiction, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Nine Inch Nails, and the Violent Femmes ensured that those buying Lollapalooza tickets were certain to have a diverse and great time.

In 2008, Lollapalooza tickets will get you into Grant Park in Chicago, a beautiful venue for an open air music festival. Headliners include Radiohead, Kanye West, Nine Inch Nails, Wilco, The Ranconteurs, Love and Rockets and Gnarls Barkley.

Other bands attending range from the post-punkish Bloc Party to Irish punkers Flogging Molly; to the moving indie rock of Broken Social Scene to the frenetic gypsy punk of Gogol Bordello. The list goes on and on, with more bands than you can expect to see at most music festivals at one time. Even Perry Ferrell, the founder of the festival, will be performing there!

Don’t miss out on seeing this great festival!

For many people in the UK, the onset of spring means only one thing – the advent of the music festival season. From Glastonbury in June to the Reading and Leeds Festivals at the end of August, music festivals play a large part in the British summer experience – regardless of the weather.

Traditionally, the Glastonbury Festival in Somerset has been seen simultaneously as the both the kick-off and the highlight of the summer festival season. As famous for the rivers of mud it attracts during periods of rain as the big names it draws, Glastonbury began in 1970 with 1500 people attending. In contrast, last year’s festival – memorably headlined by American rapper Jay-Z – saw over 100,000 people attending, figures that are a testament to how deeply Glastonbury is embedded in the hearts of British music fans.

Other popular festivals featuring rock and electronic acts are spread across the season, with T in the Park in Scotland in July, the V Festival in mid-August and the Reading and Leeds festivals at the end of August. But rock music certainly isn’t the only genre to light a fire under festival-goers in the UK. The Cambridge Folk Festival attracts thousands of folk fans from across the world in the serene and beautiful surroundings of Cherry Hinton in Cambridgeshire. This eclectic festival is even older than Glastonbury, having started in 1964.

What’s more, the UK is home to some of the globe’s most vibrant arts festivals every summer, like the Edinburgh Festival and Fringe in August, and the Brighton Festival and Fringe in May. In fact, the Edinburgh Fringe is the biggest arts festival in the world with over two thousand shows last year spanning theatre, comedy, music and many more genres.

However, with the economic downturn looming large over many people’s finances this year, it’s possible that a lot of music fans and arts buffs won’t quite get to make it to their favourite festivals this year. Tickets for music festivals in particular can run into hundreds of pounds for a whole weekend, while tickets at Fringe events often sell out quickly – especially if they’ve been receiving good press.

However, the huge technological advances of the last decade mean that it’s now easier than ever to make sure you don’t miss out on seeing your favourite bands or shows – even if it’s from the comfort of your own living room. Rapid developments in digital television mean that highlights from major music festivals and events are increasingly being shown on TV, both recorded and live.

Digital channels are often among the first to screen footage from music festivals and channels with interactive features usually let you choose from a selection of bands to watch. Detailed programmes on arts festivals are often compiled too and can be seen on specialist channels like Sky Arts. What’s more, with more and more people choosing HD television, the crystal-clear quality of this format means that your favourite musical groups and performers will seem even more unforgettable.

With such great digital television technology at your fingertips, there’s no excuse for you to miss the highlights of the UK’s best summer festivals.