Theatretrain I Don't Feel Like Dancing This September, Theatretrain, one of the UK’s leading youth performing arts companies, will take over the Royal Albert Hall to showcase a spectacular array of talent. Backed by patrons including Catherine Tate and Derek Jacobi, they have been inspiring young people between the ages six and eighteen to express their emotions, hopes and dreams through the art of performance for over sixteen years. If you have any kind of interest in the arts, then ‘I Don’t Feel Like Dancing’ is the must see show of the year for you. The Royal Albert Hall production focuses on dance and movement skills from the work of Laban, the celebrated theatre choreographer, dance artist and theorist who devised the 8 efforts of human movement. With over thirty fantastic music numbers ranging from Classical to Urban, the dazzling performance begins with the Scissor Sisters and Snow Patrol and works its way through a variety of dance styles and forms including Hip Hop, Irish, Greek and Salsa. There are four efforts in each act and each one is expressed with a shorter piece of classical music and another contemporary song. The visual aspect of the performance plays a crucial part and the audience will be treated to a stunning display of vibrant colour and movement across the stage.

Hollywood star Juliette Lewis set to introduce some of the UK’s hottest bands at the Vodafone Live Music Awards 2008. When this press release hit my inbox it grabbed my attention; not because we need another awards ceremony in our life, or because the musicians out there need another excuse to get pissed on free booze, but because Juliette Lewis is an interesting choice of 'presenter'. I've met the brunette actress/frontwoman on a few occasions and she's downright off the planet. Her ever-confused facial expression and random quickfire comments are a delight to observe and when there's a mic in her hand she's a woman gone wild. This could be a hell of a lot of fun. Juliette will be joined by T4's Steve Jones; let's hope he's had his Weetabix. The event takes place at the Carling Academy Brixton and premieres on 4Music Friday 19th September, then on C4 Sat 20th September. The Ting Tings will take to the Brixton stage, as well as Estelle. Fans have the chance of winning exclusive tickets to the awards by entering their details now on Vodafone Live Music website (www.vodafone.co.uk/music). The Vodafone Live Music Awards 2008 nominees are: Best Live Act 2007 WINNER: Arctic Monkeys 2008 Shortlist: The Verve Kaiser Chiefs Primal Scream Muse Best Male 2007 WINNER: Mika 2008 Shortlist: Mark Ronson Dizzee Rascal Morrissey Paul Weller Best Female 2007 WINNER: Amy Winehouse 2008 Shortlist: Amy Winehouse Duffy Kate Nash Estelle Freddie Mercury Lifetime Achievement Award 2007 WINNER: Iggy Pop Best International Act 2007 WINNER: The Killers 2008 Shortlist: Foo Fighters Jay Z N*E*R*D Kings of Leon Best Live Return 2007 WINNER: The Police 2008 Shortlist The Verve Spice Girls Led Zeppelin James XFM Live Breakthrough 2007 WINNER: The Klaxons 2008 Shortlist: The Ting Tings Glasvegas Foals The Wombats 4Music Festival of the Year 2007 WINNER: Glastonbury 2008 Shortlist: Reading/Leeds Glastonbury T in the Park Latitude Sony Ericsson Tour of the Year 2007 WINNER: Muse 2008 Shortlist: Take That Arena Tour Sugababes Changes Tour NME Awards Tour 2008 Girls Aloud Tangled Up Tour Related links: Juliette and the Licks concert tickets.

It may have escaped your attention but Michael Jackson is getting on a bit. He isn't exactly an old codger (yet) but he is officially a potential wrinkle factory (below the neck of course). The musical master hits fifty this week and to celebrate there's an event happening at Leicester Square in London tomorrow [August 28th] with Navi, who calls himself the “World’s number 1 Michael Jackson impersonator”. This event is 100% unofficial, but it’s a chance to listen to Michael Jackson’s music and see a large scale version of the dance moves from the Thriller video.

Billy Childish & Musicians Of The British Empire Dirty Water Club 22 August 2008 Review by Joan Losa The Billy Childish hundredth mutation sounds like garage-punk and looks like red passion. Tonight they are escorted by The Musicians Of The British Empire with Nurse Julie on bass and backing vocals, acting as a counterpoint to Childish’s rude tones, and Wolf Howard on the drums. With an urgent set-list full of rhythm and blues and timeless punk tunes, the trio led by the charismatic and multifaceted Childish offer a blunt session including two a-cappella performances that easily the high points of the night. Songs like “Christmas 1979”, “Date With Doug” and especially “He’s Making a Tape” and “Thatcher’s Children”, included in their debut album “Punk Rock At The British Legion Hall”, combine the harshness and determination of the best British-garage tradition with suggestive lyrics that mean everything and nothing at the same time. In short, if you have a chance to see this band live on 14th of September during the “End of the Road Festival”, they will leave you breathless and show what real rock ’n roll means. Related links: Billy Childish concert tickets. Musicians Of The British Empire concert tickets.

Shinedown Interview by Zarina Raja I read a quote from you guys on your new album: ‘A record that needed to be made.’Are you confident that the result was what you set out to achieve? Yes we are. We are truly proud of the record. It is honest and blunt Rock 'n' Roll. I think it stands out against a lot of current Rock music. Your new album is entitled The Sound of Madness. If madness was an object, which object would it be? My cell phone. It drives me to madness. Run through the creation process of The Sound of Madness. Does the result mirror that idea that you first started with? The record took eighteen months to make. Brent and I started demoing songs and filtering them through Rob Cavallo. We went to LA with about fifty songs. Once we were into the studio we narrowed it down to about fifteen songs. Working with Rob and his engineer Doug McKean was a blast and it was a very comfortable studio environment. Once we started laying down the tracks it took about six months to finish the record completely with mastering and such. It is exactly what we envisioned if not better. We all went into it with an open mind. Rob didn't want to change the band or our sound, just make it bigger and better. I think we accomplished that. Which song means the most to each of you? They all are like our babies. You spend so much time on each one it is hard to really pick one of the bunch. I think it changes on the day and the mood your in. All of the songs are a reflection of the last four years of our life. Let’s talk a bit about Devour – your first political song inspired by a trip to Iraq. Our Iraq trip was one of the best experiences of our lives. We didn't go over there with an agenda or for press, it was just to support our troops and give them a taste of home. In going there we met so many great men and women who were proud and driven to do their job no matter what. Unfortunately that is not shown on the news channels. The song is a personal letter to the current President asking basically looking back on your terms in office this is what you have to show for it. We 100% support our troops but want them to come home and have an end to this conflict. A compromise needs to be made. We are not a political band, but we have to write what we feel when it happens in our life. There is a lyric about a final hour. What do you hope to be doing in your final hour? I will be reflecting on how great my life has been and hopefully surrounded by my family. What would be the worst way to spend your final hour? That’s a pretty morbid question, but I imagine dying alone and empty emotionally. I try not to think of such things. Lyrics are obviously very important to you. Who inspires you as a lyricist – modern or old? Brent is inspired by many artists, but mainly Otis Redding. Inspiration comes from life itself. Your music is pretty ferocious and energetic – as I imagine a show to be – do you crash and burn after a gig, or do you have lots of pent up adrenaline? We are definitely exhausted physically after a show, but your mind is still going strong from all of the adrenaline. It takes a couple of hours to calm down and hit the sack. We wouldn't trade it for the world. Touring with your band has probably taken you to some great places. Where is your favourite place to play? Anywhere that the crowd shows up and has a great time. We are really looking forward to Europe as a whole because it is new to us. All that history and culture is going to be amazing. In the states some of our favorite places are New Orleans, Memphis, Milwaukee, Chicago, Seattle, and many others. Do you guys have similar music taste? Is there anything contemporary that has grabbed you? We all listen to a lot of the same music. Two contemporary bands that really get us going and are in constant rotation on the bus is Muse and Black Stone Cherry Do you get a chance to go to gigs? What is the most recent gig that you have been to? To be honest we don't really get to go to shows unless we are playing them. However we just played a festival with Queensrhyche and they were amazing. What is the most memorable gig that you have been to as an audience member? My most memorable gig was Nine Inch Nails on the Downward Spiral tour. The sound quality and visuals were absolutely stunning. One of the best Shows I have ever seen. What do you hope to have achieved by the end of 2008? By the end of 2008 we hope to have earned a ton of new fans in Europe and hopefully have our second Number 1 single off of this album back in the states. Related Links Buy Shinedown tickets

Sing your way into an Oasis concert... We've got two tickets up for grabs to the highly anticipated Oasis gig on the 26th October at Wembley Arena. These little babies sold out faster than hot cakes (burnt cakes in fact) and will be the envy of your mates if you're lucky enough to win them. We want to make you work for it though, so to enter the competition you need to video record yourself singing your favourite Oasis tune. The entry that we deem the best wins. Be creative, like we said, these tickets are hot property. For full instructions on how to enter and to see an example of some fans at Reading Festival giving it a go, please check out our official Oasis singalong comp page. May the best entry win! Related links:Buy or sell Oasis tickets.

DMC World DJ Championships 2008 26th & 27th September @ Indig02, Greenwich, London Hosted by MC Trip, Killa Kela, Billy Biznizz Battle for World Supremacy & World Team Championship - Friday 26th September Performers: Million Dan with Full Live Crew & Jungle Drummer Vs DJ Fu (Live) Doors: 6pm - 11:30pm DMC World Final: Saturday 27thSeptember Performers: Killa Kela (Full Live Show), DJ Rafik (DMC World Champion 2007) & DJ Vajra (4 X DMC USA Finalist) performing a special VJ set Doors: Saturday: 7pm -11.30pm International heats are taking place now, across the globe, and if the UK competition was anything to go by, once again standards have been ramped up a notch this year. This year’s UK heats are done and dusted; the finalists travelled to Islington Academy on 17th July for the DMC UK DJ Championships and after a hard fought competition, DJ Skully was crowned the winner. Placing first in the competition means Skully is now set to represent UK turntablism in the solo DJ category and will compete against the cream of the global DJ crop at this year’s competition. Check out our review of the DMC UK DJ Championships. Representing the UK in the Battle for Supremacy - a head to head scratch battle of wits, techniques and braggadocious ability - is DJ Switch. This young turntable wizard has stood up to the competition and emerged victorious for 3 years in a row now, retaining his dextrous deck dominance since 2006. Needless to say we’re expecting big things from him this September! Contestants have just six minutes to do their impeccably choreographed thing, with DJs in recent years reaching way outside of conventional hip hop and featuring rock, house, drum and bass and folk in their complex, cut-up routines. We have two weekend passes up for grabs. To be in with a chance of winning, please answer the following question: Who will be representing the UK in this year's DMC World Championships? A) DJ Skully B) DJ Switch C) Killa Kela Send entries to competition@seatwave.com. Related Links itunes website Sign up for the Seatwave newsletter for your chance to win free gig tickets. Sign up to the Seatwave Facebook group - yep, more free tickets! This competition will close on Monday 15th September.

The Foxes Interview by Zarina Raja We talked to Jonno from The Foxes and got to hear about his love/hate relationship with public transport amongst other exciting things about losing dogs in the US and low quality lager. The Foxes have a lot of UK tour dates coming up. Where do you get the best reaction from in the UK? It’s interesting really; some of them are the places that we have played at for a long time. Because of where we are as a band, people have seen us grow from a band that has been around for two and a half weeks. We have always loved London as it has always been very important to our development. There are certain other places too…one being Glyde near Newcastle and also Weymouth. Is there a certain chunk of your fans that have been there since the beginning? From the first six months to a year, I would say yes, they have definitely been on board for a long time. You can see that on our MySpace. There are certainly a core group of people. Our fan base grew so much in the first year and invested in us, and still keeps an eye on us and what we are doing. In October you toured the US. How did The Foxes go down in the US? It was really good. It gave us a taster of what that country has to offer. On the whole, it was really good. A lot of the places that we have been playing were in small towns. Most British bands that go to America are at a certain level, so no-one really knew what we were doing there. It was quite a novelty for people when we were playing. We were very lucky to have had the opportunity to play there. It grew from us being asked to do one gig in North Carolina to thinking, if we are going all that way, should we not do a load of shows? It turned it to a whole month. It grew from nothing to a month on tour. Were there any antics while you were over there? Yeah, well we got plied with booze a lot. No-one wanted to pay us because no-one knew who we were. We might have got thirty or forty dollars but we tended to get paid in booze. American beer is notoriously weak though. It is like a 2% lager which means you end up drinking a lot of it. We did end up making some silly mistakes. We stayed with this woman once in North Carolina and she had these two dogs. She left us in her house one day; she had this pool in the garden. She told us to not open the gate. We went out and left the gate open. All the streets looked the same where she lived; they were all new buildings. We had to try and find this dog, which we did eventually. But it took a long time. We recently found out that one of them had been put down. That is a sad note to end the story on.Have you played any festivals this year? The biggest festival we played was called Wickerman. That was the first time we felt that we were at a major festival. We played to lots of people in a huge tent. From a professional point of view, it was great to be able to have good sound on stage and a good crew to come and do things for you. It does have an effect on your performance. Although you have to go through that when you start out, it does make a big difference as a performer. Just to be able to go on stage and not to worry about anything but the music. I think I would like to go to a festival outside of the UK. Having looked at some of the ones that go on in Europe and in Japan; it would be like going on holiday for music. Nothing against British festivals, but I am not a big fan of masses of people when I am in it. It is not a situation that I would put myself in voluntarily. I think it is the lack of control that I don’t like. When did you realise that music was the path that you wanted to pursue? I think I was about twelve or thirteen when I first started playing the guitar. Our story is quite different from other bands though; they seem to pick up a new instrument and just do music and nothing else. What happened with us is that we all picked up instruments and loved them, and then we are all started doing normal jobs. We got together about two or three years ago, we started doing rehearsals and a few gigs. We were having so much fun; we knew that we had hit on something as a group of musicians. We decided to give up the job and do it full time. It seemed like a ridiculous thing to be doing; giving up work for poverty. When you’re young, you think, oh, I would like to be a Rock star, but we were a bit more realistic about things. Music as an industry is not full of money. There is an attitude among a lot of people who think that giving up the conventional lifestyle as a musician somehow gives them the right to be stinking rich and famous. That will die out I think because of the way the industry is going now. People seem to be a lot more grounded. I think there is nothing wrong in being successful and being able to support yourself. We all took that attitude. We never set out to be millionaires. It is about doing something you love and I just wish that everyone was able to do that in every walk of life; to do something you love and at the same time supports you. You can be so happy in your life that it is effectively worth less money. Your new single Trauma Town is out in October. I love the first line. Have you had a particularly bad experience on public transport to? Who hasn’t? I didn’t personally write those lyrics, but I know from is experience that the song is hugely motivated by one massive experience. It is to do with the general lack of common decency. It is the fact that people don’t help pregnant women or give people old seats. Its just horrible; the society we live in. Public transport is an amazing thing. It has this horrible stigma of being a place of hatred. No-one wants to look at one another and it’s a shame because it is such a great thing to have. Being around the world, other public transport is not like that. It’s not because it is better, it’s because the people are nicer. I read a horrible story recently about a woman who asked a group of kids to stop smoking ad they pushed her off the platform on to the tracks. How much lack of respect do you have to have for a person’s life? Trauma Town is about the general feeling that some people don’t seem to have any respect. It is probably blown up by the media but…Another one of our song touches on how the media always talks about how bad things are, but when you look out of the window, there is nothing happening. How do you channel your adrenaline after a gig? Do you go out and party or do you relax? It depends on the atmosphere; sometimes you come off stage and there is nothing that is going to bring you down until you pass out. Sometimes it does become a party, even if it is just the four of us. There are gigs, especially on a long run of gigs, you do start to feel the strain and want to go to bed. What is the most memorable gig that you have been to as an audience member? When I was fourteen, my dad took me to see Deep Purple. I was, at the time, very into Deep Purple. I was learning to play guitar then too. My dad didn’t tell me that he had got the tickets either. That gig stuck in my mind as something that made me think about playing live. Related Links Buy The Foxes tickets

Gotta Get Me Some Gotye Interview by Katie Spain “Please, call me Wally” It’s a friendly offer but I can’t. Gotye is a much used name in my Aussie household for me, the floppy-haired musician on the end of the phone can go by no other name. For most Triple J listening expats, Gotye is a familiar character. The Aria winning, Belgium born Melbourne musician has four studio albums under his belt and is set to take on Europe with his UK release of ‘Like Drawing Blood’. There’s no doubt he’ll woe the English, but what makes the G man tick? Souvenirs, samples, good food and air guitars were amongst the topics covered during our chin wag. Who knows what other glorious delights he’ll whip out when he hits the stage at Scala on September 9th. Don’t forget your air plectrum. Set the scene for me.. where are you right now? I’m at my parents’ place actually, by myself. I’m looking after their place on the Mornington Peninsula. It’s a really lovely place called Merricks Beach; it’s a nice mix of bush and beach. I’m sitting in this big empty house with the heater next to me; trying to keep warm. You were born in Belgium right? Do you have any tips on what to do or see there? I was born in Bruges and I highly recommend you go and see my birth city. It’s absolutely beautiful. There’s buildings there dating back to the 11th and 12th centuries and it’s largely (if not completely) untouched from the wars over the years. It’s got such a brilliant old feel; cobblestones everywhere and a lot of great food, beer and lace. What’s your first musical memory? I was eleven years old and in the transit lounge on the way to Belgium. A very dodgy man had a very dodgy pirate tape store. I bought my very first cassette; it was a pirate copy, on a C90 cassette, of Wham’s album ‘The Final’. You can source all of Gotye’s musical inspiration purely from that album! Australians in the UK know who you are but the step into the European market must be overwhelming. How is it going? If it’s overwhelming in any way it’s because I’m starting the ball rolling again. In a way, I’m starting from well behind where I started with releasing ‘Like Drawing Blood’ because I think that a lot of the anticipation that was built on Triple J and community radio for my second record was kind of tenuously linked to the result of the interest I started to generate off tracks from my first album. You dropped and added a few tracks before the UK release of Life Drawn Blood. Why’s that? The label made a bit of a call about which songs they thought could be released in the market or not. It wasn’t as much of a creative thing as it was a legal issue because the samples in certain territories would most likely be too hard to clear or would have created too many headaches. I was pretty resistant and I was disappointed about changing the album in any way but I think in a way it might have become a stronger record by the addition of ‘The Only Thing I know’, a track off Boardface. It means us expats can buy the album again! (Laughs) Yeah, or people that downloaded it the first time can now buy it legally! Who does your amazing cover art? Cheers, thanks! The art on Like Drawing Blood is one of my paintings and Boardface was something my dad painted. I did that piece when I was young but I’m not really an active painter anymore. I have kind of thought I’d like to pick up some oils or watercolours again but it’s been mainly music for me over the past ten years. What do you miss most about Australia when you’re away? Mainly the people; friends and family. I was in the US for the first time recently, not for music but for some time off with some high school buddies of mine. We had three weeks visiting American cities and I found it remarkable that it was so difficult to get any good food. Are you a good cook? I don’t consider myself a great cook – I can put together a few things. My girlfriend is such a good cook that I’ve become lazy. I hope you do the dishes! Definitely, that’s my specialty. Do you buy a lot of souvenirs while you’re travelling? I have found myself at the airport a few times with ten or fifteen kilos over, madly wondering how many bags I can secretly stuff under my shirt instead of checking them in as luggage! It makes for a good story when you get back. At the moment I’m inviting my mates around to see my last little purchase. It was in Japan and only cheap, about twenty dollars. It’s like an Aussie air guitar. Imagine a little plastic contraption, just like the head of a guitar with the tuning keys at the end. It’s made out of plastic and it shoots this laser beam out of the end of it. You just push your hand up and down through this beam and it triggers samples of guitar chords. Get ready for air guitar in the next Gotye set! Gotye's album - Like Drawing Blood was released on 18th August. He plays ato London's Scala on September 9th. Related links: Gotye on Myspace. Gotye concert tickets.

It's not often a press release makes our heads snap to attention and goosebumps burst forth from our pale pins. This one however, may do just that (if Metallica is your cuppa). If you missed out on Reading and Leeds Festival tickets, maybe an up-close-and-personal brush with the 'Wherever I May Roamers' is more appealing. The band are set to play at the O2 for charity. It seems that God, after all that - is a ROCKER. Metallica announce O2 shows, announce single and play us a Little Taste of Death. Metallica have officially announced that they will be playing the 02 World in Berlin and 02 Arena in London on September 12th and 15th 2008 respectively. The shows are only available to the band’s fan club members, and those people who subscribe to http://www.missionmetallica.com. Tickets are £5 and all ticket proceeds will be donated to various charities, which the band will be revealing over the next two weeks. And, for those of you that simply can’t wait Metallica have put a few small excerpts from their forthcoming album, Death Magnetic, on their sites http://www.metallica.com, http://www.missionmetallica.com> and http://www.metclub.com The band will be making the first single “The Day That Never Comes” available online from August 22nd, and as a physical release sometime in September. The video for the track was filmed in the desert outside L.A with director Thomas Vinterberg. UK fans will be able to hear it exclusively as Zane Lowe’s Hottest track on Radio 1 tonight - 21st August, between 7 – 8 p.m. BBC2’s The Culture Show will be airing a 30 minute Metallica special on 31st August at 11.20 pm. Metallica headline Reading and Leeds festivals this coming weekend (Leeds on Friday 22nd Aug and Reading on Sunday 24th Aug) in addition to the O2 shows in Berlin and London. http://www.metallica.com / http://www.missionmetallica.com / http://www.metclub.com As for us, we're sending our littlest Editorial lass to Reading Festival to stand up the front and get the living hell battered out of her during Metallica's set. She'll return with an ant's-eye-view of the messy shebang. Related links: Metallica concert tickets. Reading and Leed Festival concert tickets.