3:50pm Thursday 2nd July 2009
By Lucie Richards
BASINGSTOKE is bursting with musical talent – and it will be showcased in just over a week on the four stages of this year’s free Basingstoke Live festival.
More than 100 music and dance acts and award-winning headliners will be performing on July 11 and 12 as War Memorial Park is taken over in the name of promoting Basingstoke’s burgeoning music and arts scene.
Starting at 1pm on Saturday, the main stage will showcase a wealth of community groups and dancers, who would not normally have the chance to perform at a festival, before an evening line-up of mainly local bands culminating in headline grime/rap act Chipmunk.
Sunday afternoon’s main stage acts feature Basingstoke’s “next generation”, from primary schoolchildren to acoustic guitarists and a young lad on the bagpipes, before more local and southern bands take to the stage in the evening, closing with headline act The Beat.
The Beat, who shot to fame in the 1970s, have toured with the likes of David Bowie, REM, The Police and The Clash.
Grime/rap artist Chipmunk, who scooped the MOBO and UMA award for Best Newcomer for 2008, will be heading to Basingstoke after performing at this year’s Glastonbury Festival.
Those who drop into this year’s 100 per cent Tent will, on both days, be greeted by guitar-driven indie and rock bands, the majority from Basingstoke, with a smattering of acts from Reading and the south.
The Sunrise Stage is for DJs spinning heavier drum and bass, hip hop and grime tunes on Saturday and more chilled world music, including reggae, jazz, funk and ska on the Sunday.
New this year is the Unplgd Stage where the largely local line-up includes solo singer-songwriters, duos and the occasional trio showing off their skills and giving a flavour of acoustic music, with headliners Lisbee Stainton and Nina McCann.
The event is funded by Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council and organised by the Basingstoke Live Forum, a group of local music and arts promoters including Drum Runners Trading, 100 per cent Music, Beats ’n’ Bars, Intuition UK, Audio basho, Unplgd!, Rubberband promotions, Next Generation, Vinvolved, Fairfields Community Centre and SwervJam.
Instrumental in the festival’s founding and its community focus is Paul Midgley, who started up the Drum Runners Community Project ten years ago.
Paul, 44, said: “The whole Basingstoke Live structure has changed considerably. There’s a lot more going on which has meant careful planning and publicising.
“The festival rose from the ashes of previous festivals three years ago through a combination of lots of people saying ‘we can do this’.
“We have taken Basingstoke Live to another dimension this year, proving that we can bring headline acts of quality and distinction to Basingstoke, and talent in the town has grown considerably for a number of reasons.
“I think the council’s encouragement of the arts in the town – and seeing it as a growth industry – has helped people see the arts as a career.”
The Drum Runners is a Basingstoke-based group that develops local arts activities with community groups and organisations, which has led Paul to the beating heart of Basingstoke’s communities and music scene.
One of the project’s initiatives is Drum ’n’ bRass, a street band that performs at events and venues across the south, and is made up of percussionists and brass musicians, some of whom had never played before joining. They will be playing at the festival.
A fringe programme, largely organised by Paul, is already under way in venues across the borough, to promote Basingstoke Live and give people the chance to see and hear acts that will be performing at the festival.
More information about these events and the festival is available at basingstoke-live.co.uk
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