Showing posts with label melosa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label melosa. Show all posts

Monday, 12 August 2013

Melosa storms Boomtown 2013: Chinatown may never be the same

Melosa at Boomtown's Chinatown 
Boomtown gets under your skin. So many townies in one field. So many small worlds raised from nothing. It is a festival like none other. It's filthy and skanky and brilliant. This year, Exeter's ska band extraordinaire, Melosa, returned to the town that boom built for the third time. They rocked the Chinatown stage on Sunday in true Melosa style. The set included classic Melosa tracks like Warning and Nemo as well as my favourite song from the latest EP, Silverspoon

Melosa at Boomtown 2013's China Town Stage
And they were in good company with a line up that included ska  reggae royalty like Lee Scratch Perry, Los Angeles cumbia kings Ozomatli, hip hop from High Focus Records and the dopest DJs in the vicinity.

The site was epic this year and between all the music, there was so much to see. Like Arcadia rising like a phoenix from the depths and worshiped by a seething crowd of thousands. The Lords of Lightning. The Hidden Woods, engineered by our very own Exeter Sound Hire. The giant Boombox. The graffiti. The roller disco. The ninjas. That's right; I said ninjas AND lightning AND a roller disco. Though the festival has at least doubled in size since I first went in 2010, they seem to have resisted the race to banality that saturates and sanitizes our world. It's not for everyone. It's just awesome.

Behold, Arcadia.
Boomtown Boombox Stage, like boom!
Sunset at the Town Centre

Friday, 7 September 2012

Ska for all occasions: Melosa's Grand Devon Tour


Some call them a '10 headed festival strength ska machine'. Legend has it that their latin brass lines, funk fueled bass and ska rhythms can make even the lamest duck shake his tail feather. And I've heard it said that in some parts of Slough, Melosa has been all but banned for exceeding the annual allotted amount of awesome. 

You'd think that after rocking gigs in Exeter, Bristol, Boomtown Fair and Plymouth Volksfest, that the 10 deep band would be done with the festival season but as the Indian summer rolls on, so too does Melosa. With 3 dates this weekend and two festivals in September, the time to get your skank on is now.




Catch Melosa this month at a venue near you..
Friday 7th Sept: The Revelry, (above The Cellar Door), The Quay, Exeter. From 10.30pm, FREE!

Saturday 8th Sept: The Lamb Inn, The Square, Sandford, Nr Crediton. From 10pm, FREE!

Sunday 9th Sept: Watts Fest, Bob's Farm, Nr Uffculme. 6.45pm, festival ticket required!

Saturday 15th Sept: Over the Moon Festival, Brighton
 
...or get the album, Melosa: The Next Chapter, online anytime.