Pretty Shitty City

Fixed gear bikes, or fixies, are the oldest most simple kind of bike. The cranks are connected directly to the back wheel by the chain, you pedal forwards to go forwards and you pedal backwards to go backwards. Many riders rely on locking up their legs to stop rather than using a modern braking system which seems crazy but is both exciting and fun!

The real beauty of these bikes is that there is very little to go wrong mechanically because it is basically just a frame, wheels, saddle, chain and bars which also means that they are extremely light. The pedals move constantly, you can’t coast so you get very fit very fast, much more so than with any other kind of bike. They have been extremely popular with couriers all over the world for many years but now you can see people doing all kinds of crazy tricks on them similar to BMX.

If you already ride a fixie, want to get into it or just wanna meet some riders in Wales then get in touch with http://www.fixedgearwales.co.uk

First things first, I owe Vice an apology, I’ve barely covered them since their opening which is pretty shameful on my part, sorry guys.

So to make it up to them, here’s a super update on what they have going on…

The $ Bill Club

rock metal indie punk ska drum n bass
The Only Place to be on a wednesday night
every wednesday @ VICE
Doors open 9pm FREE ENTRY B4 10pm
$1 Entry
Pints $1.50
Shots $1
Bottles $1
Smirnoff & Mixer $1
whiskey, rum, gin & Mixer $1
$1 = £1

HIGH VOLTAGE! with the VICE GIRLS

Every friday Night @ VICE
Rock n Roll music, Hot Chicks & Cheap drinks
Resident & Guest Dj’s bring you the best in:
Rock, Metal & Indie
FREE ENTRY B4 10pm £3 entry after
Doors open 9pm - 3.30am

CHASERS!!

Every Saturday @ VICE
Doors open 10pm
Entry £3
Dj Lawless & Dj Fearless bring you:
ROCK PUNK METAL BEATS
The Rules are:
EVERYTIME you come to the bar we flip a coin
Choose head or tails, if you win,
We will give you a FREE Jagermeister Chaser!
Good luck!!

We also have a brand new night launching this Sunday April 26th called:

VICE VICE BABY

90’s club night
Swansea’s ONLY 90’s Club Night!!!
LAUNCH NIGHT SUNDAY APRIL 26th
every Sunday @ VICE

If you were raised in, or loved the 90’s come get on down!
Theres no better way to wash away your sunday blues!

doors open 10pm - 3am
Entry £2

Expect to hear:
blur, oasis, prodigy, mc hammer, will smith, spice girls, cypress hill, 5ive, backstreet boys, red hot chilli peppers, beastie boys, chemical brothers, house of pain, vanilla ice, blink 182, stone roses, placebo, eminem, britney spears, offspring & many many more!!!

Drinks Prices include:
smirnoff vodka + mixer - £1
fosters pints - £1.50
strongbow pints - £1.50
Shots - £1
jagerbombs - £2
Smirnoff vodka + Energy - £2
loads of other gr8 drinks offers!

http://www.myspace.com/vicerockclub

The team at Swansea Print Workshop would like to invite you to a public meeting where you will be able to find out exactly where they are with the exciting new Kings Lane Warehouse project. The evening will include a presentation of the design by the award winning architect Sarah Wigglesworth.

The event will take place at 7pm, Wednesday 20th May at Waterfront Community Church Conference Centre, Langdon Road (off Fabian Way), Swansea SA1 8QY.

This is an opportunity to view the plans for the conversion of the 19th Century warehouse off the historic Kings Lane in Swansea and to talk to representatives of everyone involved.

“We would love for you to come along to show your support and find out more.  You can also register your support and find more details at www.kingslanewarehouse.org.uk.

Your support for this unique public facility is important to us, and we welcome everyone to attend at The Waterfront conference centre, in the new SA1 development. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to get an insight into the project.”

If you have any questions at all about the project, or you are not able to attend but would like to talk to someone about the project, please don’t hesitate to email the Swansea Print Workshop at mail@swanseaprintworkshop.org.uk.

Bar Sigma’s Alternative Rock night every Wednesday - 8.04.09(

(Update - This review doesn’t mention Vice, a dedicated alternative club in Swansea - sorry guys!)

Trying to compare a city’s only two alternative nights can be very tricky at the best of times, but Shinfo seems to be taking the lead in this race. Competing with Sin City’s “Face Off” rock night - every Friday - Shinfo offers more variety and covers every aspect in the “Alternative Rock” spectrum. Playing from punk to indie, electro to ska, metal, rock and even some elements of pure “cheese” just to keep the guys happy.

Shinfo has been rocking Swansea’s student night now for almost 15 months, and they’re still going strong with DJ Luc Frost finding new material every week ever since he thought of bringing this new alternative to Bar Sigma. Even though Luc did a pretty good juggling the night on his own, the duo was made complete when new DJ on the block, Tom Frayne, joined in the New Year. Now Shinfo sees a jam packed Sigma every Wednesday between 10 and 3, and never fails to dissatisfy. Read the rest of this entry »

Played at Uplands Tavern on March 27th.

Where to even think about starting on how to describe these guys is a task in itself. They are the most unusual, diverse, and just plain quirky band I think I’ve ever seen around in a good few years. They’re more than just your usual jazz band, to be honest, I think it’s only a few who would even say that they are jazz, but their combinations of amazingly funky bass riffs, incredibly catchy choruses and soft vocals; the “genre” that I have placed them under would be somewhere between jazz with a Latin twist. However, even though most people would class them as this, some of their songs take under exception. One of the newest numbers to their ever growing set-list, which, doesn’t have a name as yet, completely takes the turn and shows Ockhams Raiser performing country and western style, which surprisingly they can pull off very well. Read the rest of this entry »

Swansea female fronted rock band ‘No Obligation‘ make a return to Milkwood Jam this May to kick start your bank holiday weekend with a bang!

The gig takes place 8pm Friday 1st May at Milkwood Jam, Plymouth Street, Swansea with Support from ‘Human Breed‘ and ‘Kellys Angels‘ and admission is £3 Read the rest of this entry »

Swansea Collective is a group of local punk bands (like The Arteries, SSSSnakes, The Groundnuts and a load more) putting on DIY shows around Swansea. Their blog will keep you up to date with the latest gigs and news.

http://swanseacollective.blogspot.com/

The Boy are a great new band from Swansea and they finally have a Swansea date in their diaries. Their first ‘hometown’ gig will be at Milkwood Jam on 28th April, along with The Mams and Arthur Q.

“The Boy is Des, a singer songwriter from Resolven, previously in Mellow Doubt, The Spectrums, Everyone Else But Burt, over the past two years he has managed to record in excess of 10 albums, some sounding as though they were recorded on a dictaphone, he formed the band and assembled some of Swansea’s best musicians along for the ride.”

Join the group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=56768081397&ref=ts

Read the review: http://www.the-fly.co.uk/words/reviews/live-reviews/4381/the-boy

Listen to the mp3: http://adamthomaswalton.co.uk/music/theboy.mp3

“Free 3 day acting workshop

act up and The Oxford School of Drama are running a three day event for anyone aged 18+ who is seriously considering seeking a career as a professional actor.

It is running at the Dylan Thomas Centre on Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd March and Saturday 4th April.  Times for all 3 days are 11.00am-5.00pm.   The actors running the Saturday workshops will be Shobu Kapoor, Celyn Jones and Gary Pillai and the Sunday will be run by a tutor from the Oxford School of Drama.

The event is free of charge, in return we will expect the participants to fully participate in all 3 days, have previous acting experience, be aged 18 or over and live  in or close to Swansea.

Places are extremely limited.

We would particularly like to hear from future Black and Asian actors.

If you fit the bill, please contact Gemma Lloyd from act up on - gemma@act-up.co.uk for further details.

Thank you.”

Bar Sigma in Swansea - 5th March 2009

After around 3 years of trying find the right layout, Temp have finally found the perfect formation for the perfect songs. After adding and removing members; Temp have finally decided on Chris Fox on vocals and Lewis Pearson and Rob Crowley on guitar, after Josh Bower left in 2008.

Opening their set with their amazingly soft cover of Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol; Temp are a well connected band who know how to play chilled out music. Even though they sound SO good together, and Chris, well, his voice is just indescribable; Temp seem to be very much “set in their ways”; in the sense that they don’t seem to deviate from their usual style of music. Usually, this doesn’t cause problems, but when the music is so relaxing and soft, which in Temp’s case, it most definitely is, I felt myself drifting into a daze!

The covers of Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol, Machines by Biffy Clyro and a very well done version of Umbrella by Rhianna , were done perfectly; as well as their own songs like: “Amber Skies”, “Miss you” and “Star War” mixed laid back vibes with meaningful lyrics resulting in some killer laid back tunes.

Once these guys step outside their safe box; they’ll make something fantastic.

Beth Daniels