10-12 AUGUST 2012
Braziers Park, Ipsden, Wallingford,
Oxfordshire, OX10 6AN

SUPERNORMAL is a festival like no other, blurring the boundaries between contemporary art and live music, performer and audience in the idyllic surroundings of Braziers Park, Oxfordshire with its 17th century mansion, and its countercultural links spanning decades – from John Latham and R.D. Laing to Marianne Faithfull (and Mick Jagger).

A development from the 15-year-long Braziers International Artists’ Workshop, and now in its third year, SUPERNORMAL hugely expands its component of contemporary visual art. Alongside independent galleries and artist-run spaces more than 50 individual artists have been invited to create work during the festival, some of it constructed on site with direct audience involvement. At SUPERNORMAL 'Experiment' is not a dirty word and the avant-garde is for everyone.

This year's SUPERNORMAL welcomes Brighton-based underground legends Tatty Seaside Town and UK-wide experimentalists Bang The Bore as guest musical curators, and they’ve excelled themselves in assembling a diverse and invigorating selection of cult curiosities and boundary-breaking iconoclasts, from Warp Records’ electronic pioneers Seefeel to the Dutch psych leviathans Silvester Anfang II and British drone-rock veterans The Telescopes to acoustic and folk-based acts like Caroline Weeks and The Mary Hampton Cotillion, and way beyond into the outermost reaches of innovation and experimentation.

SUPERNORMAL is an intimate event for an audience of five hundred, a non-profit event entirely organised and curated by a small network of artists and musicians who share its aims and ethos. The event takes place on an eco-site with fresh running water, eco toilets and hot outdoor showers with a wooded camping area.

A world away from the financially motivated and nondescript British festival circuit, SUPERNORMAL replaces its humdrum played-out atmosphere with a true sense of adventure; a unique experience somewhere between an early 70s Glastonbury and an eccentric village fete.

In short, SUPERNORMAL is the alternative’s alternative.

As The Wire magazine had it ‘An entirely positive and rare experience, and a world away from corporate involvement of any kind, Supernormal is a genuine temporary autonomous zone’.

LIVE MUSIC
After the Rain/ANTA/Barnabas Yianni/Bilge Pump/Black Octagon/Black Tempest (Space Opera)/Bleeding Heart Narrative/ Blurt/ Bolide Awkwardstra/Bugbrand/Caroline Weeks/Cold Pumas /Costa & Nero/ CoverGirl/Daniel Alexander Hignell DOGEESEEGOD/Dr Bluegrass & The Illbilly 8/Embla Quickbeam/Fairhorns/Fat Bicth/Gary Goodman + Nick Hudson/Gigantes/ Ginko/ Hamilton Yarns/Hey Colossus/Hexenvurfolgung/James Blackshaw/Joeyfat/JonWood/ Kogumaza/La La Vasquez/Lonesome Cowboys From Hell/Mary Hampton Cotillion/ The Murder Act/ Nil/One Unique Signal/ Patrick Fitzgerald/Plurals/Purson/ Queer’d Science/ Ragnaarok/ Ramesses/ Sauna Youth/Seefeel/Scotch Bonnet/Shudder Pulps/Sly and the Family Drone/Sticks/Stig Noise/Sweet Williams/Sylvester Anfang II/Team Sports/Thee Bald Knobbers/ The Black Neck Band of the Common Loon/The Cosmic Dead/The Family Elan/The Pheromoans/The Telescopes/The Wandering Hand Society/Trojan Horse/Twenty One Crows/Undersmile/ Woolf/Workin Man Noise Unit/You're Smiling Now But We'll All turn into DEMONS/Zero Map

ARTISTS include:
Aditi Kulkarni (India)/ Bermuda Triangle Test Transmission / Boyle and Shaw / Brian Duggan / Bristol Diving School / Campbell Works / Charlie Murphy / Chooc Ly Tan/ Claire Kennedy / Coffee and Sponge/ Cool Diabang(Senegal) / Cult of Flat Souflee/ Delahante Matienzo (Cuba)/ Emergent Behaviour / Fiona MacDonald & John Holland/ Gaynor O’Brien / Gert-Rude / Holly Slingsby/ Jarek Hubloj (Poland) / Jerrica/ John Hughes/ Juan Pablo Echiverri (Columbia) / Kay Walsh/ Lee Campbell/ Lina Hakim (Lebanon)/ Live Timeline Actions /Oo Mysteroons / Museum of Received Ideas/ Ortelius Drew/ Ralph Dorey and Lyndsey Officer / Richard Annely/ Ryan Hughes / Sarah Jane Norman / Secret AV / Society is Possible / Structures & Spaces / Spike McGarrity/ Susana Pilar/ Tim Ridley /Tom Woolner / Various Artist /Will Cruickshank

ARTISTS FILMS include:
Brian Duggan/Chooc Ly Tan/Juan Gabriel Guittirez/Kisito Assangni/Louise Colborne/Samar/Little Matey; Supernormal 2011 Documentary/Jerrica/Let Me Feel Your Finger First/ Laure Provost/Mordant Music/ Katy Dove/ Vicki Thornton/Ian Helliwell/ Shelley Parker/Jeff Keen/Matt Hulse/ David Blandy/Tracey Emin/ Daniel Devlin/ Keran James



Ticket Giveaway
We are giving away a pair of weekend tickets to Supernormal (worth £130!)! This competition has ended.

For more information:
http://www.supernormalfestival.co.uk
Facebook: supernormalfest
Twitter: supernormalfest

Posted: Thursday, 05 July 2012

A perfect summer celebration at the Blenheim Palace Battle Proms

On Saturday 14 July, thousands of people are expected to pack up the picnic hampers and the champers and come together for the 8th annual Battle Proms picnic and firework concert at Blenheim Palace. An unrivalled blend of musical talent, expert displays, spectacular pyrotechnics and a celebratory atmosphere makes the Battle Proms a truly memorable occasion!

There will be a full two hour programme of exquisite classical music performed by the renowned New English Concert Orchestra, plus of course all of the ‘Last Night of the Proms’ favourites performed by Channel 4’s winning soprano Denise Leigh. Audiences will also be treated to a tear-jerking aerial display from a WWII Spitfire, over 200 live cannons, mounted Napoleonic skill-at-arms displays and breathtaking fireworks to music. The electric atmosphere is infectious, and as well as an enthusiastic following of regulars, each year many new visitors are learning the magic of a summer evening at the Battle Proms. With tickets already selling fast, the organisers are expecting another fabulous turnout in 2012.



At the Battle Proms you can immerse your senses. Experience the explosive colour, sparkle and spectacle of the cannon fire and the dancing fireworks lighting up the sky above a roaring crowd. It’s the pop and fizz of champagne, the thunder of hooves, the ground-shaking gun fire, the unmistakeable rumble of the Spitfire engine, the scent of the gunpowder, and the sublime music on a warm evening breeze.



In this special year of the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II and the London Olympics, the Battle Proms offer a wonderful way to enjoy the best of British and join in with the flag-waving spirit that will soon be gripping the whole nation. Two hundred years after Napoleon’s famous retreat from Moscow, this is also the year to experience Tchaikovsky’s celebrated 1812 Overture with the full thunderous complement of live cannon fire and fireworks – unforgettable!



“If you’ve never been to an open-air concert before, 2012 is the year to give it a go,” says concert organiser Adam Slough, “we’re really excited about this year’s programme, and linking up with the wider national celebrations.”

Over the last 15 years the organisers of the Battle Proms have developed what is now one of the most distinct and comprehensive concert programmes in the UK; this is an exceptional evening not to be missed.

Ticket Giveaway
We are giving away THREE pairs of tickets see the Blenheim Palace Battle Proms! This competition has ended.

For more information and to book tickets visit the website at http://www.battleproms.com or call 01432 355 416 . You can also purchase tickets locally from selected Tourist Information Centres.

Posted: Tuesday, 03 July 2012

The Drifters
New Theatre Oxford
7.30, Saturday 07 JUL 2012

Prism Music Group is pleased to announce that The Drifters are back on tour in the UK this year fresh from the successful gold selling release of the recent album ‘Up On The Roof’ released on Sony Music last year.

Now in their 59th year, The Drifters have seen massive chart success on both sides of the Atlantic and across the world, with over 114 million album sales and 214 million singles sales and a vast catalogue of hits.

The new album which included many hits including ‘Under The Boardwalk’, ‘Like Sister and Brother’, ‘Saturday Night At The Movies,’ ‘Save The Last Dance For Me,’ ‘On Broadway’ and ‘Kissin in The Back Row’ plus new material reached #12 in the UK charts and remaining in the charts for 14 weeks, demonstrating the group’s timeless appeal.

Billed as the ‘Masquerade Tour’, the current recording line up of The Drifters will perform the group’s greatest hits and new material some of which is featured on the new album.

Current Drifters line up member, Michael Williams, says: "We are very excited about the Masquerade Tour. The Drifters music is very uplifting and upbeat and many people come to the shows night after night for that real feelgood factor. The idea of the Masquerade Tour is that it is just one big party – from start to finish so we are hoping that everyone will get on their dancing shoes and come and join the party! There are also some real surprises in the set alongside the old favourites.”

The 70 date tour runs through to the end of the year with dates in most cities across the UK. Prism Music Group is running a Schools Education Programme across all productions including The Drifters. Some shows may therefore feature local school children as part of the performance.



Ticket Giveaway
The New Theatre are giving away a pair of tickets to one lucky Oxford City Guide reader! This competition is now closed.

For more information about The Drifters, see their official website.

For more about what’s on at the New Theatre or to book tickets, visit their website.

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