Poem: Stars and Strings by Stephen Morrison-Burke

This Sunday's show features a set by Hammer and Tongue national slam champion Stephen Morrison-Burke. Here's one of the poems that won him the title broadcast on an earlier show.

Photos: Shindig with Wooden Arms // August & After and Milly Hirst

Wesley Freeman-Smith seems to know endless exquisite singers and acoustic groups. This month's Shindig once again at St Philips featured the angelic sounding Milly Hirst, finely crafted acoustic folk from August and After and a stirring performance by Wooden Arms joined by Milly Hirst.
As usual it wasn't just a gig with three acts. There were visuals accompanying the music and spoken word in between. There was also an unexpected appearance from a gorilla in a dress!

 Milly Hirst

 August and After

 Gorilla artwork!

Wooden Arms

Show: 14.7.13 with Richard Harding and Jessica Leach

I'm joined by Richard Harding and Jessica Leach who play some of their disco music and read work produced at their regular object writing workshop. Find out more at freakaholicproductions.blogspot.co.uk.

Peter King - Jo Jolo
The Breaches - Once More into the Breaches, Dear Friend
The Dead Kennedys - Holiday in Cambodia
Fuzzy Lights - Rituals
Wooden Arms - Chariclea
Dent May - Don’t Wait
Richard Harding and Jessica Leach - Thorough Lover
Richard Harding and Jessica Leach - Bored By My Desire
Ross Sutherland - Ox
Jet Jaguar - Agave Fox (feat. Jeremy Hunter)

14.7.13 with Richard Harding and Jessica Leach by Headstand on Mixcloud

Shindig this Saturday with Wooden Arms // August & After and Milly Hirst

Shindig returns to St Philips on Mill Road this Saturday with art and music from Norwich and Cambridge. Details below and on Facebook.

Clandestine, candle-lit adventures with some of Norwich's finest, augmented with the fabulous ex-Cambridge duo August & After. Expect an intimate show of beautifully acoustic indie-folk in a stunning setting.

Performances will be forthcoming from the following...

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// Wooden Arms - https://soundcloud.com/woodenarmsband

Sound reverbated through bone to flesh; a clattering composition of cacophony; frequencies expelled via the instrument and voice to form music.

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// August & After - http://www.augustandafter.co.uk/

Abundant vocal harmonies and narrative lyricism, spilt onto a bed of gentle, intricate guitars and classically-inspired orchestration. Additional strings adorn their live performances to recreate the tones of their home recordings. You can hear one of their songs on the latest show.

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// Milly Hirst - http://millyhirst.co.uk/

A prominent figure in the thriving and Norwich folk scene, Milly's music has enchanted wherever she has plied her trade. A voice that can transform a drunken audience into an attentive one.

Catch Luke Wright's new show at the Junction this Saturday

Performance poet Luke Wright brings his new show Essex Lion to The Junction on Saturday.
Inspired by the Essex lion which campers near Clacton claimed they saw last year the show is full of romping satirical verses about people seeing what they want to see. Here are posh plumbers, fallen boozers, Lovejoy, belly-laughs and dewy-eyes.

The show is part of The Hotbed Festival - a full weekend of plays show and workshops. Tickets full all events are on sale now from The Junction.

Show: 30.6.13

A mix of music and spoken word old and new including Gaze is Ghost who starred at the last Shindig and August and After who will be at the next one.

Beck - Where it’s At
Demis Couscous - Rough on Rats (Beck cover)
Public Enemy - Get Up Stand Up
Raymond Antrobus - Conversation with Grandma
Teho Teardo and Blixa Bargeld - Come Up and See Me
Darren Hayman - I Live Not Where I Love
Gaze is Ghost - Grounding Exercise No. 1
August and After - Waltz for Marie
Half Man Half Biscuit - The Coroner’s Footnote
Ivor Cutler - Baked Beetles
Six By Seven - The Rise And Fall And Decline Of Everything
The Love Language - Hi Life
Phil Odgers - Through the Morning, Through The Night
Leftfield - Original

30.6.13 by Headstand on Mixcloud

Shindig with Clorinde, Gaze is Ghost and Fake Maria

It's common to be bombarded with literature when you go to gigs. I went to shows in Japan where I was handed a sheath of posters and flyers as thick as a Sunday paper on my way in and an equally hefty load on my way out. The only thing handed me as I left Shindig at St Philips on Mill Road was a handwritten copy of Return From A Walk by Frederico Garcia Lorca. A flyer for the next event wouldn't have hurt as this one could not have been more moving and memorable.

As usual visitors were struck by the unique atmosphere as soon as they walked through the door. A candlelit stall sold refreshments from CB1 Cafe. Another table was decorated with lights and assorted trinkets and other pictures and candles were to be found dotted around the venue. Members of the audience were encouraged to write messages on post-it notes and stick them up around the venue.

Compere Fay Roberts opened proceedings with a poem and introduced first act, Fake Maria. The duo of Hayley Foster and Matt Bothwell were an instant hit when they started playing at Allographic - Matt playing guitar and Hayley reading poems. At this, one of their first official shows they used keyboard in addition to guitar filling the room with beautiful melodies and words.

They were followed by Gaze is Ghost, singer-songwriter Laura McGarrigle. She was accompanied at short notice by a guitarist whose name I didn't catch and Fay who added percussion and backing vocals to Laura's exquisite and tender vocals and piano.

Finally Clorinde made a welcome return to the venue. The mainly Italian, London based instrumental group played interpretations of famous poems. The band performed on multiple instruments as a videos played along with recordings of works including Blake, Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson and Charles Bukowski.