Starting the ball rolling with the announcement of the three headliners for this August’s event, Standon Calling 2012 demonstrates just why it’s one of the UK’s best-loved independent festivals.
Thought-provoking, charismatic and bursting with character, this year’s headliners are Death in Vegas, Beardyman and Fat Freddy’s Drop are sure to bring the Main Stage to a standstill - but that’s not all, as Standon Calling announces a raft of supporting acts, as well as very special guests in The Cowshed The Time and Space Machine.
Rock meets electrionica as Death in Vegas heads up Saturday night. Richard Fearless’s minimal beats meet psychedelic flamboyance and progressive rock stamina meets throbbing basslines. Death in Vegas is the hybrid of psych-rock navel-gazing noise, emotive lyrics, and pumping techno. Since the project emerged with a 1997 debut, Death in Vegas has continued to grow, expand and experiment – and 2011‘s critically acclaimed ‘Trans-Love Energies’ album is testament to that. Expect an audio-visual treat, as Fearless’s imagination runs wild – this will be stunning!
Beatbox, MC, musician and all-round vocal genius, Beardyman joins Standon Calling 2012, promising a non-stop show that’ll be impossible to label. Just what IS Beardyman? Unpredictable, thoroughly entertaining and magic – that’s what! And sliding in on Sunday, bringing with them their own brand of dub-funk-reggae-soul are Fat Freddy’s Drop – the seven-piece outfit who’ve won fans around the world with the chilled out vibes.
Also announced to play Standon Calling 2012 is The Time and Space Machine is Richard Norris’s latest – and trippiest – exploration of the psychedelic side of music. There’s Moshi Moshi’s Norwegian synth-poppers CasioKids. Sunderland’s engaging wonky electronic pop brothers Field Music whose latest album is receiving critical acclaim and inspiring a new psychedelia. A longtime friend of Standon Calling, Gabby Young and Other Animals – whose new album is due this summer – returns this year, wilder, bolder and more irresistible than ever. Expect a brassy, bouncy, slinky and theatrical musical mystery tour punctuated with elements of burlesque and figments from Gabby Young’s rollercoaster imagination.
Recently voted MTV’s ‘Brand New for 2012’ one to watch, King Charles will thrill with his curious glam folk pop breezy sound.
Stealing Sheep continue the psych-feel, with lo-fi harmonic pop. Innovative three-piece folk band Yearners join the party. London’s dub-punk-big-beat-reggae duo Dub Pistols are back, with a new album to show off. Join delicious ‘freak’-folkers Vadoinmessico or get lost in singer-songwriter Jenny O.’s infectious melodies. Standon Calling 2012 is all about exploration – and with these acts you can really lose yourself in the music!
This year Standon Calling will bring you three stages – and a few more ‘roaming arenas’ of forward-thinking, carefully programmed music. Catch your favourites on the Main Stage; find yourself at The Lordship, where folk finds its own at Standon Calling; or go wild at The Cowshed until the small hours.
For all ticket info go to Standon Calling
For all ticket info go to Standon Calling
Published on 23 February 2012 by Wayne Feltham
Standon Calling Festival 2012 BeardyMan Death In Vegas Fat Freddy’s Drop
