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Programme
Manager's Highlights February 2010
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COMMUNION DOUBLE-PACK TRIPLE WHAMMY!
is not a headline you’re ever likely to see, but that is exactly
what the monthly folk-driven night Communion
will deliver in February and early March. They host a trio of dates
here at the Arts Club – their regular jam-packed
events showcasing up-and-coming artists on February 7
and March 7 plus a special launch party for Communion
Records’ double-pack debut compilation on Sunday 28.
Kevin Jones, who runs Communion
with Ben Lovett of Mumford & Sons,
says he’s ‘more excited about the next three line-ups
than I have been about any other line-up we’ve had here –
there are so many good bands out there.’ That’s quite
a statement, given that Noah and the Whale, Laura Marling, Mumford
and Sons, JJ Pistolet and Peggy Sue have all graced the stage over
the years. Even so, Communion present the best
bands and performers on the folk and alternative rock scenes in
an unhyped, unhurried way, concentrating on providing a platform
for new musicians whether they’re real folkers or more influenced
by indie, hip hop or jazz.
The first compilation on Communion Records though,
focuses firmly on nu-folk artists, with exclusive tracks from the
likes of Johnny Flynn, Mumford & Sons, Alessi’s Ark, Jeremy
Warmsley and many more.
Communion are uniquely placed to compile the collection.
They’ve built up their residency here at the Arts Club since
the summer of 2006, but Communion now also hosts
similar events in Brighton and Leeds and, since January 27, in Sydney
too – Ben Lovett was at the opening down
under, midway through Mumford & Sons’ sell-out Australian
tour.
With so much attention on artists who have achieved mainstream success,
does Jones think that Communion itself has been
overlooked?
‘Perhaps, but I don’t mind that really,’ he says.
‘We want to keep the feel of it as it is. We’ve had
so many offers to take it to bigger places and do more but we’ve
never really felt comfortable doing that.’ Shouty, boastful
headlines are not their style either, but don’t think that
Communion is an earnest affair. In a recent article
on Creating
The Perfect Club Night one of the principle points
the Communion team made was: ‘get as many people as drunk
as possible.’
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Mumford
and Sons
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Communion // Sunday 7 February and Sunday March 7 // Communion:
The Compilation Launch Party on Sunday 28 Feb // The compilation
is released on Monday March 1 on Communion Records
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See our exclusive interview with Kevin
Jones here
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 Christian
Stevenson
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Your Favourite Rockstar's Wedding // Friday 12 February // 7pm-2am
// free before 8pm, £6 before 11pm and £8 after
>>
Dress
code: Rock star wedding guest, rock chick Bride, rockin' Groom,
Best Man or Maid of Honour (lol), sky-blue Tuxedo, My Bling Fat
Cheap Wedding... or rock star!
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What happens when you go to a party where the DJ happily
takes requests, people dress up in their OTT rockstar-wedding
finery and the atmosphere is guilt-free, carefree and lactose-free
(unless someone asks for a White Russian at the bar)?
The answer is party mayhem, in a good way, as clubbers happily
rock out to tunes they love, adore and are passionate about –
which is good on any Friday night, but especially fine on a
Valentine's Day weekend.
That's just what we saw when Your Favourite Rockstar's
Wedding teamed up with Videopia at the
Arts Club on January 22, and we're sure that the soft rock tracks
and singalong mayhem will be equally, er, matrimonial, on Friday
12 when Christian
Stevenson launches Your Favourite Rockstar's
Wedding as a regular party.
BAFTA Award-winning television presenter and veteran Kerrang!
DJ, Christian Stevenson has thousands of tracks
to play so he's almost certain to have what you want to hear.
And it just so happens the Mr Stevenson, God bless him, is an
online-ordained minister so he’s perfectly capable of presiding
over an entirely faux wedding (mock-rock rings will be available).
However, if you do decide to spontaneously hitch up we would stress
that Mr Stevenson and The Notting Hill
Arts Club cannot be held responsible for any pre-nup
agreement disputes; how you divide the trust-fund millions and
the country estate in the Cotswolds really is your problem.
So what do rock stars want to hear at their wedding(s)? We asked
Mick and Elton, Jon Bon Jovi, Phil Collins, Ringo and Christian
himself and they suggested the following classic wack tracks that
they loved to shake down to when they were wearing the frilly
shirts, the turquoise tuxedos and zillion-dollar diamonds* at
the fabulous sunset ceremony on Waikiki Beach...
Journey
- 'Don't Stop Believin''
Phil Collins and Philip Bailey - 'Easy Lover'
Tone Loc - 'Funky Cold Medina'
Jermaine Stewart - 'You Don't Have To Take Your Clothes Off'
Young MC - 'Know How'
* It's not obligatory to dress to impress your fave rock star
when they're romancing, but hell, it's more fun that way. Alternatively,
wear the wedding dress, the My Bling Fat Cheap Wedding outfit
or '80s tux... or simply come as your fave rock star instead.
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Roses
are red
Violets are blue
Omigod I love you!
I wish you loved me too…
Yeah,
it can be hard to avoid clichés around Valentine’s
Day. The restaurants are all booked (you really don’t
want to be in a restaurant on February 14, surrounded by couples
cooing at each other), theatres are full and what you really need
is something fresh and different…
We Are Words + Pictures, a London-based team of
illustrators and writers running comic and 'zine themed events,
have come up with a brilliant double-header to ZAP! and POW! your
Valentine’s Day. First up is Drop In + Draw,
an afternoon affair of comic book art and fun featuring group-draw
sessions, comic-themed activities and one-on-one tutorials, which
is open to all ages and artists of all abilities.
If you’re a comics fan or have any aspirations to become an
illustrator / designer it’s a real special treat as three
of the country’s finest comic illustrators will host the event.
Adam Cadwell (whose The Everyday is an acclaimed
autobiography web-comic), Jamie McKelvie (his Phonogram
series led to him working on Marvel and DC titles like S.W.O.R.D,
in addition to his own Suburban Glamour series) and Tom
Humberstone (he won an Eagle Award for his How To Date
A Girl in 10 Days and followed the US Presidential Primaries for
My Fellow Americans) will all be on hand, so that We Are Words +
Pictures can confidently assert ‘even if you can't tell Batman
from Manbat, or don't know which end of a brush pen to hold, come
on down and we'll get you making comics’.
Modern
Romance delivers a different kind of four-colour mayhem
after 7.30pm. The Arts Club will be filled with comic art and live
illustration while the bands play on, compered by special guest
comedian (and writer, atheist and Radio 4 regular) Robin Ince. The
acts include electro-pop heroes House of Strange, Dogtanion
– whose 'Heavy Talk' track was one of Drowned in Sound's 'Singles
of 2009' – and intergalactic folk hero Judas Zero.
Then the WAW+P DJs take over, promising to bring
M.I.A., Lady Gaga, The Flaming Lips and Los Campesinos! to the dance
floor. And, in deference to the date, they might even play a slow
dance if you ask nicely!
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Dogtonian
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We Are Words + Pictures present Drop In + Draw at the Notting Hill
Arts Club on Sunday 14: 3pm-7pm; £1 to cover materials (under-12s
free)
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We Are Words + Pictures present Modern Romance at the Notting Hill
Arts Club on Sunday 14. 7.30pm-late; £5, £4 concessions.
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Mayor
McCa
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Drinkalottawater // Monday 15 // 7pm-2am; free before 8pm, £5
after
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Mayor
McCa, like all the best mayors, can do a lot of things.
He plays guitars, keyboards, clarinet, drums, ukelele, percussion,
harmonica, kazoo and slide whistle, and what’s more, he
can do all of that while singing and tap dancing. Add it all up
and you may have realised that he’s a one-man band, but
he’s not merely a multi-instrumentalist songwriter, as he
also draws comics, designs posters and makes stop-motion animation
videos. ‘Drinkalottawater’ is the title of the most
recent song he has animated and the video he’s made for
it, with the help of renowned photographer and film-maker Dean
Chalkley and Yemisi Brookes, gets its
debut showing at Drinkalotta at the Arts Club
on Monday 15.
There’s a lovely stop-motion video on his website www.mayormcca.com
of the beautiful track ‘One Million Songs For You’,
but ‘Drinkalottawater’, a sequel
to his tune ‘Sippacuppacoffee’, was a bigger project.
‘It took about seven months to make,’ reveals McCa.
‘I storyboarded it and hand-made all of the little figures
and backgrounds out of cardboard. I’m a little bit obsessive
sometimes,’ he grins. He’s very happy with the result,
not least because everything in the film seems three-dimensional.
That’s not 3-D in the Avatar sense, of course, but because
Chalkley’s lighting skills make 2-D objects look like they
have much more depth.
McCa (whose mayoral authority extends over the
Municipality of McCaland, which is not in his native Canada but
wherever he is at the time) will also be displaying some of his
comic and poster art and the props and toys he used for the video,
as well as playing live and introducing sets from Moshi
Moshi artists Slow Club and
The Hoodlums, (‘I’m lucky to have them come
and play because the bands are fans of mine’). Mr
Chalkley also takes to the decks alongside DJs
Gee the P (Get Involved), Ollie Boat
and Miss Red.
The Mayor welcomes you to the Municipality and hopes you enjoy
your stay, adding modestly that ‘I think the song’s
pretty good too.’
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