Pretty Shitty City

If you’re in a welsh unsigned band and would like the chance to play at Fflam this summer, then get in touch with Sin City.

They’re holding a series of heats throughout June and the top 3 bands will be chosen to play on the main stage at Fflam, and runner ups will get a chance to play on the Sin City Cymru stage.

Bands wishing to apply should send their cds and biography by post to:

Fflam Unsigned, PO Box 3, Newport, NP20 3YB

or by email to: fflam@sincityclub.co.uk

Also, check out Sin City’s website for more news on this and their summer line-up including The Holloways, The Thrills, Antibalas, Pendulum, Killing for Company, Napalm Death, Easy Star All-Stars & Ozric Tentacles.

After the dissapointing Fflam news for anyone with camping tickets last week (A.K.A amazing Fflam news for peace-loving local residents) there is finally some really solid news on the line-up.

The early differentiation between the three days (rock, indie and dance) seems to be out the window in favour of a straight-forward rock line-up:

Friday 13 July

Keane
The Feeling
Levellers
The Stranglers
New Model Army
Alabama 3

Saturday 14 July

Placebo
Feeder
Biffy Clyro
Cold War Kids
Howling Bells
White Rose Movement
Enter Shikari
Fightstar
yourcodenameis:milo
Oceansize

Sunday 15 July

Manic Street Preachers
Dirty Pretty Things
The Ordinary Boys
The Hold Steady
Carbon/Silicon
Dropkick Murphys
Bloodhound Gang
Buzzcocks
InMe

The official Fflam website is promising a large announcement tomorrow (Wednesday 23rd May) and has a link to Clyne Farm’s Website for alternative camping information.

Pretty Shitty City now has a dedicated Fflam Festival category, check it out for all the past articles and news.

UPDATE: Lost Vagueness, famous for bringing its ‘warped decadence’ to Glastonbury, and now a festival in its own right, will be bringing its ‘culturally twisted’ happenings to the festival.

The Fflam Line-up is slowly growing and thanks to a heads-up from reader Terry Bigdog, I’ve decided to post a little catch up article.

According to the wise and mighty eFestivals, the line-up so far is:-

Read the rest of this entry »

Just noticed that Calvin Harris is headlining Escape into the Park… finally an act to get excited about!

Escape into the Park is taking place on Saturday 16th June in Singleton Park, Swansea. Selected line-up includes Fedde le Grand, Dirty Sanchez, Andy C, Goldie, Fabio, Grooverider & Howard Marks (?).

Buy tickets from Derricks.

Even though I live in Swansea, theres something strangely tempting about camping at the Fflam festival.

The campsite which will be situated on Swansea Airport land, on the Gower, will have a free shuttle service to the main festival site at Singleton Park.

See handy Google route map here

A press release on the Fflam website states that…

“Late night entertainment will be provided on the campsite (subject to licence). There will be 24hr shops, refreshments and welfare facilities.”

Could be fun! The best memories I’ve got of festivals are almost always after dark, when all the bands are finished !

Theres also a promise of a new bi-lingual Fflam website coming soon.

I first posted about the Women in Games conference wayback in December 2006, and it’s time has finally come around.

The event takes place at the University of Wales, Newport from the 19th April until 21st. There will be a range of speakers exploring this years theme of ‘Aesthetics in play: new platforms, new perspectives, new players‘ including Raina Lee who publishes a cool video game zine called 1-UP. ( I own 3 issues! )

The tickets are a little pricey at £175 for waged or £90 for students/unwaged, but surely worth it if your passionate about gaming and/or gender studies.

http://www.womeningames.com/

Fflam’s Friday (13th July) lineup has got a few more additions.

The Feeling, The Ordinary Boys and The Stranglers have been added along with The Keanes The Manics and The Levellers.

A few bands have been announced for the Fflam festival, taking place in Swansea’s Singleton Park 13th-15th July.

Confirmed line-up so far:-

• Keane
• Manic Street Preachers
• Placebo
• Feeder
• Levellers
• Enter Shikari
• More tbc soon…

The tickets now look like they’re officially on sale, so head over to Derrick’s Ticket Wales if you’re so inclined. There’s also something about an unsigned bands competition, giving local talent a chance to perform, head over to the official Fflam Festival site for more news.

Personally, the lineup seems a little bit ‘meh’ at the moment. Lets hope that Prodigy rumour comes true!

There’s a little article about Fflam - Swansea’s brand new, but rather secretive, summer festival - on the Evening Post’s website today.

“…speculation is mounting that the Manics, along with festival favourites Feeder, will be included in the line-up.”

Read the full article here.

I dont know much about jazz, but this looks like it could be fun. It takes place from 4th to the 7th May at venues across Mumbles, showcasing jazz & blues talents from around the world.

The website is still under construction, but a line-up is already emerging. Find out more details from Tawe Delta Blues Club and Swansea Jazzland.