There’s a new punk festival happening in Blackburn on Saturday 8th October. Headlining act are local heroes The Stiffs, main support is The Members featuring Rat Scabies on drums and Jarrow’s street-punk band the excellent Crashed Out are also on the bill. Tickets are £12 early bird price – great value! Check out: www.solidentertainments.co.uk for more information.

17th, 17th & 18th November sees the Blast Off! Festival taking place in Nottingham at Spanky Van Dykes. It’s only £40 for a three day event of excellent granage and trash music.

THE STRANGLERS

THE DAMNED / THE SAW DOCTORS / CAST

KATE RUSBY / WILKO JOHNSON / CAMILLE O’ SULLIVAN

LAU / UK SUBS / BOMBSKARE / KANDA BONGO MAN / PO’ GIRL
THE TRAVELLING BAND / SAD SOCIETY / MOSTLY AUTUMN / 3 DAFT MONKEYS
WASHINGTON IRVING / THE RAY SUMMERS / BIKINI BEACH BAND / PIKEY BEATZ
ROOM FULL OF OWLS / FALLING RED / COLT 45 / WITH LIGHTS OUT
I AM SPARTACUS / MINUS 27 / RED PERSONA

+ MORE ACTS STILL TO ANNOUNCE, INCLUDING DANCE LINE-UP

The first acts have been announced for Solfest 2011. Punk icons The Stranglers will be joined by fellow genre legends The Damned, cult Irish band The Saw Doctors and classic 90’s Britpop outfit Cast.

The Damned have specially chosen Solfest to celebrate 35 years since the release of their debut single ‘New Rose’, which landed in 1976.

Folk songstress Kate Rusby, Dr Feelgood guitarist Wilko Johnson, and a host of other folk, pop and rock bands will appear across the weekend, due to take place over August Bank Holiday Weekend in an idyllic setting near the Lake District.

Solfest is also very happy to welcome singer, actress, and all-round alternative entertainer Camille O’ Sullivan, who brings an element of burlesque to the festival for the first time.

Weekend Camping Tickets are now on sale for £89 via www.solfest.org.uk, following all 1,000 Early Bird tickets for this year’s festival selling out in record time.

Solfest is the definitive festival for music hungry families. Welcoming, inclusive, inventive and jam-packed with carefully selected chart-topping acts from across the decades; it’s one of North England’s best kept and beautiful festival secrets with a stunning family area, workshops and five stages packed with music.

Its unique setting allows you to park right next to your tent for the most effortless camping experience, while wood for campfires is provided free of charge for those wanting a classic outdoors adventure. Solfest also invites traders from around the world to sell goods, food and drinks around the site, so you’ll never be wanting for anything while on site.

The particularly family-friendly event, held between 26th – 29th August and located on the edge of the Lake District, is one of the more wonderful British music festivals, tucked between the Solway coast and the Cumbrian fells. It offers a very open-minded and all-welcoming atmosphere for fans of music and the great outdoors, with a quality music programme incorporating classic guitar noise, pleasing new beats and eclectically satisfying melodies that Solfest hope will be accessible to their entire audience.

This beautiful setting has been the host for the last seven years to a mix of both well-established and emerging artists from all over the world, as well as an interesting array of walkabout acts and local talent.

Previous acts to play the festival include punk, Britpop, dance and indie legends The Charlatans, James, The Wonderstuff, Supergrass, The Proclaimers, The Orb, Sham 69, The Bees, Buzzcocks, The Levellers, Utah Saints and The Magic Numbers. With more acts still to announce, 2011 looks to have the most diverse and exciting bill yet for Solfest.

Tickets are priced at £89. A young persons ticket (12-16) is £62. A Childs ticket (6-11) is £25, 5 and under tickets are priced at £1 (admin fee). No booking fee, P+P for internet sales apply.

Tarnside Farm, Tarns, Silloth, West Cumbria CA74NQ

Dates: 26th to 29th August 2011

Further Information: www.solfest.org.uk

Now in it’s 6th year the Durham Punk Festival is on again and it’s the 10th September. The bands include: Rezillos, Angelic Upstarts, UK Subs, Restarts, Anti-Nowhere League, Gold Blade, Crashed Out but this year there’s the addition of an acoustic room featuring Ed Tenpole Tudor and TV Smith. If yopu’ve not been before it’s an excellent venue, great sound and cheap beer. Well worth attending. Cheap advance tickets are available for just £22 from Gigbox.

A friend has had to pull out of the next ATP festival 3rd to 5th December. He has a 4 berth posh self catering chalet, theyy’ve all sold-out and he’s prepared to take a bit less than the £740 face value, so if anyone is interested please drop me a line and I’ll put you in touch with him.

Now in its 5th year, the tickets for the ever wonderful Durham Punk Festival are on sale as now. This year there’s more bands on the bill and an earlier start time. As always there’s an early bird ticket price and tickets are available from Gigbox.

Good to see some bands that haven’t done it before that are on the bill: Buzzcocks, Penetration, Mad Sin, Discharge, The Grit as well as some old favourites: UK Subs, Angelic Upstarts, Gold Blade.

If you’ve not been before I recommend you make the effort, you won’t be disappointed.

City Invasion Sheffield 5th December

After a hiatus last year the magnificent City Invasion tour is back in its spiritual home of Sheffield, this time at the O2 Academy on Saturday 5th December.

As always it’s a very strong line-up of the old and the new, with the Exploited and US Bombs headlining and some of the best new bands on the scene, namely The Grit, Moral Dilemma and The Skints. Plus there’s more.

Tickets are a very value-for-money £15 in advance, or £20 on the door.

The Business

Due to Mick Gessus’s shoulder operation the Cockney Rejects have been forced to pull out of Durham Punk Festival on Sept 12th. They have been replaced by The Business.

Rebellion Festival looms large on the horizon. I’m particaluarly looking forward to seeing The Cravats and Killing Joke from the older bands and The Grit and Moral Dilemma from the newer generation. A  band that seems to be generating a lot of interest amongst people I’ve spoken to are The Freeze, it’s their first time in the UK.

If anyone would like any orders taken let me know before Wednesday.

You’re running out of time to get cheap tickets for Durham Punk Festival. They’re just £18.50 until the end of April, then they go up to £24.50.

If you’re wanting to go I suggest you pop along to Gigbox now and get those tickets.