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Yes, its true. We are playing a festival. How very exciting!!

Greenbelt Festival is a Christian music and arts festival - established in 1973 and first held in 1974, now in its 33rd year, and, at the last festival, attracted around 19,000 festival-goers. It starts on Friday 22nd August and goes through to Monday 25th August 2008. It's location - Cheltenham Racecourse, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. Hurrah!

Tickets can be found here:

http://www.greenbelt.org.uk/shop/tickets/

We have been booked to play at 19.40pm on the Underground Stage, on Saturday evening. A great slot, I'm sure you'll agree. Headliners include Jose Gonzalez, Seth Lakeman, and Emmanuel Jal, and This Morning Call (in my head, not in reality).

Although I'm mostly excited about seeing my MySpace friends, a band called Elliot Jack, who I really rate, and like me enjoy watching the odd episode of DrWho, so no doubt we'll have a nice chat about that as well.

You can find out more about the festival here: http://www.greenbelt.org.uk/lineup/

You can also check out our new song "The Observatory" at our myspace page here: www.myspace.com/thismorningcall (which our VOX profile refuses to upload for some reason. Those of you with good memories will know I had this problem some months back. But don't let that put you off listening to some new music....just change websites!!)

Here's the press release:

"Following rave reviews from the likes of Channel 4, XFM and Channel M, underground Mancunian pop artists “This Morning Call” bring their melodic yet experimental blend of rock and electronica to Greenbelt 2008. Following on from successful recent one off shows at the London Troubadour, Manchester PRIDE and the Hard Rock café, their off the wall collection of darkly uplifting tunes has been described by some as an experience similar to watching “portishead on anti-depressants”. Ben Heyworth’s soft rock vocals superbly compliment ambient landscapes, the odd glitchy beat and beautiful piano driven ballads, lyrically painting emotional landscapes and giving classic pop sensibilities a kick into the 21^st Century.

Formed in Manchester in 2007, this ongoing studio project turned live band can be compared to the likes of The Postal Service, Elbow, Coldplay and even Goldfrapp with whom they undoubtedly share a maverick streak and capacity to surprise. Indeed, recent recordings have seen them return to their indie roots, producing uptempo guitar driven rock and top ten friendly Mancunian anthems. Undoubtedly ones to watch, catch “This Morning Call” live on the Underground Stage at 19.40pm on Saturday."

Here's a gratuitous picture, I'm doing something strange with my hands again:

Ben Portraits 011

It seems like only five minutes ago I was writing a similar piece for this blog reviewing Glastonbury 2007, and I'm happy to say that this year I can give you an equally glowing report on what remains the most engaging and vital arts festival in the world.

With 3/4 of punters now arriving on site on Wednesday, the festival is now a mammoth 6 days long, and pacing is the key. Anybody waking up with a severe hangover on Thursday or Friday probably needs to calm down or you wont make it through to Monday! Entertainments proper start at about 10am on Friday but there is plenty to do an see on the Thursday, not least finding your way round a site which just seems to grow and grow each year. Although for those of us who have been a number of times before it was nice to reaquaint ourselves with familiar landmarks such as the stone circle and the tipi field.

As usual, the run up the festival involved checking every concievable weather report to see if we are going to get rain, sun or a mixture and there were a few conflicting sources that suggested it could go either way. As it turned out, we were blessed with fine weather apart from Thursday night/Friday morning when it rained and the site turned to mud. Consequently, any photos you may see of us with mud underfoot would have been taken on Friday. Saturday and Sunday were both glorious, hot days and the mud soon dried up with the improved drainage working a treat.

I'm probably the only person bothered about the drainage, so lets cut to the chase and talk about the music. There's just so much to cram into three short days that you can't possibly see everything. Trying to see it all is a fools endeavour as you probably kill youself, let alone miss all the lovely distractions along the way. Friday started with a breif set from Kate Nash who was busy doing her usual "bitter/fitter/sucking on a lemon" routine with a nice skirt on that she kept twirling around. She sat playing the piano in a giant sea shell. Then it was on the dance village to catch some "lunchtime techno" from Manchester's finest electro DJ, Riton. That certainly got the dancing feet moving and my feet (wellies at this stage) moved me over the jazz world stage where Candi Stanton was demonstrating why she has had a remarkable 40 year career as a jazz soul singer. Anyone who doesn't know Candi need look no further than the recent hit with The Source ... "Sometimes I feel like throwing ma hands up in the air/I know I just can't count on you". I was a great set and one of the highlights of the weekend.

Friday night saw me back down the dance village, to see Rosin Murphy, of Moloko fame. We had briefly caught her "pre-festival" set at the Kings Head (opposite the Other Stage) on Thursday night, but this was the real deal and she played for a good hour and a bit, with material mostly taken from her recent solo albums. It was a hot, loud and in yer face disco/house set with about four costume changes and some great repartee with the other musicians on stage, especially the backing singers who strutted their stuff with the best of them. The reception from the crowd was massive and she certainly got us going. Fat Boy Slim was supposed to be DJing after but we didn't stay for the because having been dissappointed by his set a few years ago, I could really be arsed with it. Unfortuantely about 2000 people could be arsed and it took us half an hour to get out the tent with people arriving to catch his set.

Saturday dawned and of course, when one manages to catch some sleep it can only be a good like, so I was very happy to be up and about hangover free that morning and being looked after by some very nice people camped wth us who provided bacon, sausage and beans while I went to fetch the vodka. It was a stange, slightly drunken breakfast but one that will stick in the mind. The sun was out, the mud was drying up fast and it looked like it was going to be a lovely day. Who better than Crowded House on the Pyramid Stage to get the day started.

The House played a great set of classics with a few from the new album and it was probably my favourite set of the weekend, a proper singalong job with some comedy from Neil Finn as he attempted to take the piss out of the stoney faced security guards who stood immobile at the front of the stage but getting them to crack a smile. Great entertainment for a Saturday afternoon in the sun.

As I sit typing this, I'm watching Elbow live on the Other Stage on Saturday evening thanks to the BBC iplayer on the internet. Perkins and I managed to get right to the front, hanging over the barrier, in front of Guy Garvey himself. And as the sun set gently over the campsite, Elbow didn't dissappoint, playing a set taken from their new album, displaying great confidence in their new material. If you watch the BBC footage carefully and know where to look, we are visible dancing along, me in my wax hat.

Saturday night, we rocked out to a rather dark and off the wall Massive Attack who had a bit of chip on their shoulder with the world and with guitar bands. No, I didn't go and see JayZ, but not because I've got anything against him headlining. Why not? He's a massive talent and as I understand it, was given an impressive Glasto welcome. I didn't manage to catch Amy Winehouse either, as I could be bothered with her shambolic, druggy nonsense, but apparently she got the biggest crowd of the weekend. I hope people went to hear her music and not just to see what state she was in.

Sunday morning I spent drinking herbal tea in the Green Futures field, reading the paper, and being served by a little man with a west country accent who looked like a hobbit. Then I was presented with a piece of birthday cake. It was some kid's 9th birthday that day and they were having a little party to celebrate. There were alot of kids here this year.

Sunday afternoon, and I was happy to watch Neil Diamond on the main stage and I must say, the guy looked a bit old and his voice isn't what it used to be, so I was a bit dissappointed with that. Nevertheless, the lovely Goldfrapp came .. him, and I thought they were fantastic, and probably the best I'd seen them. The new songs worked really well for Sunday evening and again, I managed to get myself right to the front which proved remarkably easy.

The festival closed with a great, gloriously uptempo set from Groove Armada who showed us why they are the best dance act on the planet. Every tune was a hit. People went crazy. I went crazy, finding that last ounce of energy to carry me through to the end. A little nip of vodka helped!

So all in all, another brilliant weekend, and I will most certainly be there again next year. It can't come soon enough.

GLASTONBURY ROCKS!

Ben

Its festival season once again, and as usual the City of Manchester manages to serve up a healthy platter of local talent all crammed into the bank holiday weekend in venues around the Northern Quarter.

Its called the MAPS Festival and it’s the brainchild of several local promoters who have all clubbed together to ensure all the major venues in the area are flying the same flag. Basically, it’s “In The City” without the industry bullshit.

We were asked quite along time ago if we wanted to be involved in the festival and since its always nice to be asked, we agreed to participate. We are coming to the end of a run of six or seven gigs, many of which have been in Manchester, and which started with the Thriller Killer gig back in February. We felt it would be nice to be onboard with a well promoted, well organised (I hope) event to bring the campaign to a conclusion. The remaining gigs include a set at The Ruby Lounge on the 21^st June, the Coventry gig at the Kasbah, and a show in Glossop on the 31^st August, if memory serves. The time to retreat, write, record and take stock once again will soon be upon us. So really, if you fancy catching us live, you should get yourself down to MAPS and check it out before its too late. I’m sure it’ll be one of the gigs of the year.

Our exact stage and venue time is: 10pm (ish), The Mint Lounge (Oldham St, a few doors up from the Night and Day Café), on Sunday 25^th May.

And yes, it is a bank holiday weekend, so there’s no excuse not to raise a glass and join us along with pretty much every local band of note, and party.

It’ll be interesting to see how the general public take to the MAPS festival idea. In recent years, Manchester has enjoyed several summer events aimed at promoting local music. Aside from the obvious ITC related activity, we’ve been lucky enough to have enjoyed the D-Percussion Festival, which really was quite a major event and also free. I had the misfortune of being hungover at a previous D-Percussion and I remember it all got rather too busy and hot at about 6pm in the evening and I had to leave. They certainly cram them into the Castlefield arena, that’s for sure. The event is also memorable because Lee was sick after drinking three sips from a can of Stella at 11am in the morning. Although this was a few years ago now, and I trust he knows better! Why were we drinking Stella at that time? Well, you couldn’t take your own beer in so the cans had to be drunk before entry because the price of beer on site was beyond tolerable.

I remember on one occasion, there was a street festival around the Northern Qtr with some large outdoor stages, and the line up included 808 State and Kinesis, amongst others. Mr. Scruff normally gets his tea-stained fingers involved in some capacity at these events, being a local lad. I think I remember seeing him at D-Percussion a few years back. Mr. Scruff had a few years of being the best thing since sliced bread around these parts, but I could help but think he was a little overrated, and certainly when I saw his Glastonbury show last year I was a little disappointed. Too downtempo for the Saturday night.

I know there is no getting away from it, but in the end these “local band” festivals do rely on the band bringing their mates along to generate a bit of atmosphere, and I must admit that it's also rather galling to have to put up with yet another great event where we are not being paid. In fact, with the cost of transport and rehearsals, it is costing us money to do the gig. The whole “get the band to sell tickets and only pay them for ticket stubs returned” thing may make life easier for promoters but it essentially means that the band have to do most of the leg work and frankly that annoys me.

If you are doing a lot of gigs, this becomes impossible to manage. Its not my day job, don't forget. IMO, if the band are willing to play for free, then the gig should be free. Otherwise, they should get a fee, even if it simply covers expenses. I imagine the only people who will be making any money from this shebang will be the bars, because everybody likes a drink. Why don’t the bars put their respective hands in their pockets and help pay for these events? Afterall, we are the people who frequent these establishments and keep them in business week after week. Stop ripping us off. When we were at the Troubadour in London, it cost me £6 for a gin - that was more than the ticket price for the show. How is that justified?

What we need is a hit single then we wont have to worry about this sort of thing…!

MAPS tickets in advance (i.e. the ones that we will get a cut from) are available from the band – just drop us an email – and are priced £6. I know I'm moaning about the ticket thing, but I really do think this will be a great event.

Here’s the full line-up: