Categories
Press releases

NME Interview by Ian Penman (1980)

NME turns 60 this year and a new book documents its history. In our latest trip to Rock’s Backpages – the world’s leading archive of vintage music journalism – we visit the magazine circa 1980, a time when Ian Penman saw nothing wrong with kicking off a Kid Creole feature with a spot of French philosophy.

Source: The Guardian, March 6th 2002

“To try to write love is to confront the muck of language: that region of hysteria where language is both too much and too little, excessive (by the limitless expansion of the ego, by emotive submersion) and impoverished (by the codes of which love diminishes and levels it).” – Roland Barthes.

A man stands alone in a baggy white suit, a black masquerade visor over his eyes. He is concealing a broken heart and a loudhailer …

Just imagine: you have the opportunity to write one of those all-time sexiest and most heartbroken of songs. First step: you get involved with someone who drives you crazy with desire – ensnares you, mesmerises you, has you at arm’s length and in the palm of their hand. Then something happens: that inevitable separation. You’re classically awry – but where’s the gain (or the end) in being uselessly melancholy?

Write that song about it, summing up both your despair and the wonder of the love and sex that caused it in the first place.

You have to choose your words carefully, carnally; you have to find a crucial metaphor. It has to be just so – to sound like you’re completely drunk on love and near suicidal through the absence of your loved one. You recline on a couch and clutch your heart. The evening seems impossible: so many hours to go and no chance of the loved one appearing …

The song has to read like a love letter, from miles away. You map it out, the scenario is precarious. You get dressed up to kill, take enough numbing drugs and stand alone at the peak of your metaphorical island. You whisper – the loudhailer turns it to a plea for all the world to hear …

“Off the coast of me lies you;
In a waterfall of solitude.
I must find a one-way passage through.
To the very heart and private part of you.”

NME – Just imagine: the song of my dreams.

The August Darnell world – as manifested in a lot of Dr Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band and all of Kid Creole and the Coconuts – is a looking glass world, a somewhere far away peopled by metaphors. But you don’t need a map to find this island, because its mythology is built around that very real, most easily found (and lost) of places – love. Sexual love, romantic love, high life love, hedonistic love, hardship love whatever, wherever or whoever …

There’s a whole new lyrical country here just waiting to be discovered. It is cavalier, cinemascope and carnal. It’s a subliminal carnival, a bit of a circus, a sip of a cocktail: amorous, clandestine, physical, light-headed and heavy-lidded. The dance of love – do you know the opening steps? You awful flirt!

“High heels / Straplessly red / Seedless grapes / Cozied in the bed/ Peg leg pants / Tossed aside / Scarlet smears across the bathroom tile / No, you needn’t explain: / First comes the thunder, then the rain.”

Just look: there’s the author. An infinitely cool and not unshifty looking character. A character somewhere between Alice’s mysterious little late White Rabbit and a black market spiv, between Cab Calloway and Graham Greene, between Glenn Miller and the De Niro of New York, New York. Observe the cool. Study the deportment: the stall, the sly romantic glance up from his drink. Takes out a pocket watch from his waistcoat, on a too-long golden chain. His second hand’s playing for time …

NME – An age when songwriting was a craft

For a contemporary popular music scene – “rock’s rich tapestry,” call it what you will – all too often devoid of true troubadours and the conveyed bliss of sexual love, Mr August Darnell is a person we scarcely seem to deserve, an unusually conscientious and industrious writer, composer, arranger, producer, player, singer, stage manager, character, bon vivant. As his sartorial projection might lead you to believe, he belongs to a different age. An age when songwriting was a craft – your profession, your pride, and often a crafty progression from the very heart and poison pen parts of your day-to-day life.

NME – August Darnell makes use of words

August Darnell makes use of words. He savours them, seduces their meanings, makes them his own. The pimp! (Just my little metaphorical joke.) In the course of both Dr Buzzards Original Savannah Band and Kid Creole, Darnell has slyly, slowly been redesigning the content and tenor of the subject matter (the one that matters) of which so many songs are fashioned. Saying it, crooning, orienting it, jiving it, driving it, steering it like a captain in his ship.

He has been most recently renowned for a widespread association with a number of acts resident in the New York Ze/Antilles label: James White and the Blacks, Cristina, The Aural Exciters, Don Armando’s Second Avenue Rhumba Band and of course Kid Creole and the Coconuts. If you’re a keen modern soul fan you may also have happened upon his involvement with an outfit named Machine (more on them later) and maybe even a project known as Gichy Dan’s Beechwood No. 9 (too obscure even for me).

NME – Maestro’s Story

But our maestro’s story goes back a few years to the group (or legend) known as Dr Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band, which he co-ran and all too seldom co-runs with a man named Stony Browder Jr, an even more elusive gentleman than August. The Savannah Band are best known or remembered for a mini hit on both sides of the Atlantic in 1976 – Cherchez La Femme, taken off the group’s first RCA album (same name as the name). Two more albums have since appeared – 1978’s D.B.O.S.B. Meets King Penett (RCA) and the recent James Monroe H.S. Presents D.B.O.S.B. Goes To Washington (Elektra) – the latter being their classiest and craziest yet.

It would always have been easy to peg the Savannah Band as mere ritzy revivalists – a frivolous private joke, albeit a painstakingly self-referential one – a la Pointer Sisters or Manhattan Transfer. The beat goes a lot further and deeper. Just listen: the lush text of their performance is deceptively, danceably lighter on the ear. If you dip and dig around you’ll find a clearer complexity – those scores sound very learned!

NME – Very Insistant, Very Dreamy…

The hook to each song is usually deep in a choppy rhythmic current – a shuffling samba. Very insistent, very dreamy. Less speed and more taste than that more popping popular amyl (night rate) disco beat. Lined and fleeced with a multiplicity of signs from a predominantly 40s Swing Era code book: seedy jazz, seething calypso, reedy rhumba, rude rhythm’n’blues. The horn section and vocal harmony arrangements are many sided and exquisitely twisted, counter-counter-pointed. What poise! What a slinky noise.

Dr Buzzard’s Savannah Band always have been about arrangement (so difficult to get hold of good arrangers these days, my dear) but it still all sounds informally natural.

Music and lyrics travel all over the place. Benny Goodman horns highlight a Scott Fitzgerald scenario of tiffs, Tia Maria and tension … Brass band surrounds a fairground tryst … Itchy crickets chorus of percussion brings a come-down hell to life.

“You did the mambo, the cha-cha, bolero, the rhumba …/ You did the tango, the conga, the disco, the samba…”

The music is full of jokes, references, interruptions, homage: recreation recycled into contemporaneity. It isn’t just waxwork. Stony Browder is usually credited for musical arrangements, Darnell for lyrics, but like everything else in Savannah land the accepted borderlines are smudged. While we’re here, the rest of the Band besides Browder (guitar, piano) and Darnell (bass) are Ms. Cory Daye (main vocalist), Micky Sevilla (drums/ percussion) and “Sugar Coated” Andy Hernandez (vibes, marimba) – also a mainstay of the Coconut enterprise.

NME – Dr Buzzard’s Savannah Band

Dr Buzzard’s Savannah Band is a perfect marriage of music and words – it wouldn’t be the same if either partner wasn’t just so compatible, as sophisticated as the other. Both Browder and Darnell translate into various languages, idioms, styles. They really are good – I think Darnell is perhaps without par amongst contemporary lyricists. Early Ferry gets somewhere near to the territory (but he lost his sense of humour).

Darnell knows it’s not simply a question of saying what was or wasn’t done to one party or the other (at one party or another) in the name of love – and how it was done; but of constructing, in and around the particular sexual mise en scene, all the bitty thoughts that recapitulated it, the obsessions that accompanied it, the decorations that surrounded it, the images, desires, modulations, and quality of the pleasure that animated it.

NME – Darnell’s Lyrics

His lyrics really begin to get sharp on the second Savannah Band album. Going beyond the fixed range of expressions we expect from our songs and singers, Darnell’s lovers and losers go off into dreams, into rages, into hospital, into too many clubs and even off their heads. The stories echo Damon Runyon one moment, the Brothers Grimm the next …

“Of all the dames I fancied / She’s the only one I loved. / And when she left the pavement turned to mud. / I sought refuge in a dim saloon, / But I would have drowned in booze, / If it weren’t for the troubadour.”

Chorus: “Restless lovers everywhere / Dry your eyes, pull up a chair / Spill the cup and cup the ear / For the organ grinder’s tale…”

The pictures switch from an exaggerated ball – “When Crosby starts to croon / The jitterbuggies cruise the room / Their fingers poke the air / Man-o-man-o-man-o-man, they look just like that Fred Astaire! / “Swing it with me, my Mattie Mario” / No, no, no, no, no, no, I’m saving this fling for Mister Love.” – to obscure outbreaks of gang hatred – “Soraya, bring big gun / And let’s have some bloody fun / Nignats do the Rats in – / Kunta and grimel don’t mix / Like creme et cocoa.”

NME – Various Characters

Various characters and symbols – some figurative, some actual – make a recurrent entrance into the play of Savannah Band language, as the mad covers to all their albums testify. Wouldn’t you just love to visit The New Syringe Club? Mambo Eddie’s Beatnix School? And finish off at The New York At Dawn Show? During the course of the evening you might learn that both Stony Browder and August Darnell attended the James Monroe High School, that the Tommy Mottola of Cherchez La Femme really was their manager, and couldn’t fail to be convinced that the Savannah Band really are Champions of the Romantic.

Darnell is also a champion of the untold story, the surreptitious and strictly confidential. But unlike so many “songwriters” who are respected for their “honesty” about “relationships” – who write songs which convey nothing but venom and connivance – Darnell never loses his humour or humanity. He can fall from ecstasy to squalor in one coded coda. No one is producing better mnemonics for nightlife – even Chic got left behind a while back.

“Tired smiles / Censored romance / Premature sighs – / Now it all makes sense. / Trolley car /Take me along / To some distant shore far from Babylon. / For their air here reeks of lies; / And even the robins sound warlike. / Nocturnal interludes / Like so many tsetse flies / Nocturnal interludes / Damaging merchandise / Make-me-believe-it solitude.”

NME – ZE Records

ZE Records’ New York Office is housed on one floor of a big building which also contains the Carnegie Hall Recital rooms. You can get stuck in the same lift as Harvey Keitel did in a movie called Fingers. Except that now they’ve got a lift-man.

I sat down opposite August Darnell in the traditional false comfort of a record company “hospitality” room. I should have specified a bar in advance.

Also in the room are a couple of Coconuts (Andy Hernandez – who asks me more questions than I ask anyone – and “Mister Piano” Peter Scott, the youngest member of the ensemble, who says virtually nothing throughout) and a varying number of people from both the band entourage and ZE.

Darnell is wearing a moderately baggy, immaculately tailored creamy white suit, and everything else seems to match, natch. He twirls a tiny pink parasol (decoration pinched off a birthday cake) between thumb and forefinger, and answers all queries in a very businesslike but charming manner.

Make sure you follow us on Facebook, Youtube, and Listen to our “Song of the Month”

Categories
Song of the Month

Our Love Will Always Stand

Our Love Will Always Stand is the first Song that Kid Creole himself is handpicking for you. Every month, Kid Creole is offering songs for you to listen to from his collection, stay updated for more songs during monthly updates.

Crazy Days in New York City

I love this song. It brings back memories of my crazy days in New York City. I was living in Manhattan.  My brother, Stony Browder Jr., wrote the music. He presented me with a cassette one day and said “Give me something romantic for this one!” And so I did. It was easy. The music on the cassette was just Stony and his guitar. Unplugged before unplugged became a manufactured gimmick. Such sweet chord changes led me to that place where the heart defies the brain: LOVE-VILLE, USA.

Sitting in Central Park

And so I penned OUR LOVE WILL ALWAYS STAND in an afternoon, whilst sitting in Central Park, circa 1975. I was disappointed when Stony decided not to use it for the first Savannah Band album in the Bicentennial. In fact, he never used it at all for any of the Savannah Band albums. But I always kept it in mind.

Cherchez La Femme

Almost a decade later I produced an album called ELBOW BONES AND THE RACKETEERS and I finally got to record OUR LOVE WILL ALWAYS STAND. On this album, a singer named Frank Passalacqua delivered the vocal. Frank’s vocal style immensely influenced my alter ego, Mr. Kid Creole.

Fast forward to 2016 and the very same song is now in my stage musical, aptly called CHERCHEZ LA FEMME.

Still loverly after all these years.

Month of July 2017:

Our Love Will Always Stand

  • Band: Elbow Bones and the Racketeers
  • Writers: Browder and Darnell
  • Publisher: EMI Music Publishing LTD

Subscribe to our Youtube Channel.

Follow us on Facebook for more updates

Please contact info@kidcreoleandthecoconuts.com to get a copy of the file

KID CREOLE AND THE COCONUTS – born out of the red hot embers of DR BUZZARD’S ORIGINAL Savannah Band. In the 1970’s the Savannah Band had successfully merged the big band sound of the 1940’s (Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Artie Shaw, Count Basie, Louis Prima etc) with the dance floor beat of the disco era. The Kid fused the big band sound with every strain under the sun – calypso, soca, salsa, rhythm and blues, soul, jazz, funk, hip-hop, etc……with a strong accent on Caribbeanism. Kid Creole and the Coconuts thus became pioneers of what became known as mongrel music (also known as Mulatto music or Rainbow music). In other words – a delicious but strange potpourri of goodness.

Kid Creole and The Coconuts had the good fortune of working with movie directors such as Francis Ford Copolla and Taylor Hackford. They have also done collaborations with the likes of Prince, U2 and Barry Manilow. They have done command performances for Princess Diana and President Clinton and they have worked with true giants in the MUSIC BIZ UNIVERSE: Tommy Mottola (who brought Mariah Carey to fame), Seymour Stein (who brought Madonna to the attention of the world) and Chris Blackwell (who brought reggae to the rest of the world).

Purchase Kid Creole Albums on Rainman Records Online Store

Categories
News

New LIVE album

New live album…………….THIS IS IT

Guys and dolls of all ages and persuasions, this is it.

Finally, the legendary KID CREOLE has launched his first official LIVE ALBUM.

Hallelujah! Celebrate! Celebrate! Dance to the Music!

The Banana Boat is filled with jubilation and satisfaction.

The name of the album? It’s KID CREOLE LIVE AT THE B-SPOT.

Why? KID CREOLE and his merry band of COCONUTS played 2 hot-to-trot concerts at a club called the B-SPOT on the French Riviera in 2014.

When THE MAN with the permanent tan and the tilted fedora and the two-toned shoes heard the recordings, he exclaimed “Damn, that shit is funky!”

Hear then, oh music lovers, the true documentation of a powerful live band at the height of their exalted reign. Long live the King.

LIVE AT THE B-SPOT is a double CD: almost 2 hours of in-your-face rhythm and blues and funk and calypso and soca and reggae and salsa and pop and good old rock and roll.

Plus, we have added a bonus track: a surprisingly honest remix of STOOL PIGEON, done by that cunning new upstart who calls himself YOUNGR

Needless to say, but I’ll say it anyway, if you are a CREOLIAN FAN, or just a person who appreciates real music played by real people, this album is a must-have in your collection.

The release date is December 14th, 2016. And it’s a limited edition, so hurry up!

Pre-order now and shout out loud: HACHACHACHA!

www.esquiresrecords.ecwid.com

live album

The double CD will be available for purchase at Wembley Arena, London on Wednesday December 14th where the band will be supporting Culture Club’s only UK tour date.

http://www.ssearena.co.uk/events/detail/culture-club

 

 

 

The Jam House Birmingham

Kid Creole plays the Jam House , Birmingham.

Kid Creole was the zoot-suited wise guy who crooned out hit after hit throughout the ’80s. Now Kid Creole and the Coconuts are back in the UK this Summer and playing the Jam House.

Kid, AKA August Darnell, enlivened the UK’s dance floors with such masterpieces as “Stool Pigeon”, “I’m a Wonderful Thing, Baby”, “Annie, I’m Not your Daddy”, and so many, many more.

Tonight, expect a great show with some great songs, as Kid Creole, a full band and the “oh, so sexy” trio of Coconuts, his backing vocalists.

Restaurant & Bars open from 6pm

The Show will begin from 8.30pm

Restaurant Tickets £60 – £70 for balcony tables

Dress code: 
Smart dress – no trainers, ripped denim. Shirts for gentlemen please. 21 and over.

Admission Information: 
Tickets are available online, but to reserve your table in the restaurant, please call us on: 0121 200 3030.

 

Retropop

Retropop in Dutch:

Retropop wordt georganiseerd door Zalavolbate
Wie en wat is eigenlijk Zalavolbate? Sinds een jaar of 16 zijn de spelers van zaalvoetbalvereniging Emmen al te vinden in de Drentse sportzalen. Het ene seizoen wat succesvoller dan het andere, maar over het algemeen altijd strijdend voor een plaats in de bovenste regionen. In het zestienjarig jarig bestaan zijn ze één keer kampioen geweest. Uiteraard zijn de heren een ingespeeld geheel als voetbalteam, maar ook op sociaal gebied is er in de loop van de jaren een hechte groep ontstaan met weinig tot geen verloop in de gelederen. De naam Zalavolbate is dan ook een verbastering van het woord “zaalvoetbal”.

Zalavolbate
p.a. Postbus 141
7800 AC Emmen
zalavolbate@gmail.com

Voor festivalorganisatie mail naar info@retropop.nl

Waar en wanneer vindt Retropop plaats?
Zaterdag 4 juni 2016 bij de Grote Rietplas in Emmen.
Terrein open: 12.00 uur
Aanvang festival: 13.00 uur

Waar kan ik parkeren?
Volg altijd de Retropop route borden. Die leiden je naar de juiste parkeerplaatsen. De diverse parkeerterreinen van Retropop liggen op een paar honderd lopen van de hoofdingang. Parkeren is overigens gratis. Voor fietsers is er vlak bij de ingang een speciale (fiets)parkeerplaats.

Hoe laat begint het en hoe laat eindigt het?
Terrein open: 12.00 uur
Aanvang: 13.00 uur
Einde: 00.00 uur

Kan ik tussentijds het terrein verlaten en later terugkomen?
Ja dat kan. Bij het verlaten van het terrein ontvangt u een stempel

Is het mogelijk om kleine kinderen mee te nemen?
Wij raden het meebrengen van kleine kinderen naar een massa evenement absoluut af, maar wij kunnen hen natuurlijk de toegang tot het festival niet ontzeggen. Voor iedereen geldt dezelfde regel: al wie het festivalterrein binnen wil moet in bezit zijn van een geldig ticket en wel om volgende redenen:

Dit is een ontmoediging omdat wij ouders er op attent willen maken dat kleine kinderen bij onregelmatigheden gevaar kunnen lopen.
De organisatie wil met het verkopen van een toegangsticket een overeenkomst sluiten met degene die het kaartje koopt voor het kind. Met het kopen van een toegangsticket aanvaarden de ouders van het kind de volledige verantwoordelijkheid. Er is geen kinderopvang voorzien noch wordt er korting voor kinderen toegekend.

Hoe oud moet je zijn om naar Retropop te mogen?
De adviesleeftijd is 16 jaar. Als je jonger bent, moet je in gezelschap zijn van iemand ouder dan 18 jaar. Verder wordt het meenemen van baby’s en kinderen afgeraden. Wel moet er ook voor kinderen het volledige bedrag betaald worden. Let op: we schenken geen alcohol aan personen onder de 18!

Moet ik mijn legitimatie meenemen?
Jazeker, je bent bij wet verplicht om je identiteitsbewijs altijd bij je te hebben. Je kunt op Retropop aan de bar gecontroleerd worden op leeftijd. We verkopen namelijk geen alcohol aan personen onder de 18 jaar. Wil je voorkomen dat je elke keer gecontroleerd wordt? Bij de muntenkassa kun je op vertoon van je legitimatie een polsbandje krijgen. Hiermee weet het barpersoneel dat je ouder bent dan 18, en dus lekker een biertje mag drinken.

Wanneer gaat het festivalterrein open en hoe laat begint het programma?
Je kunt op zaterdag 4 juni 2016 vanaf 12.00 uur het festivalterrein op. De eerste band begint om 13.00 uur. Het programma is afgelopen om 00.00 uur.

Wat zijn de betaalmiddelen op het terrein? Kun je munten pinnen?
Betaalmiddelen zijn munten. Munten zijn te koop op het terrein bij de speciale muntenkassa’s. Je kunt munten pinnen bij de muntenbalies op het festivalterrein, geld pinnen kan niet.

Mag ik mijn fototoestel/Selfie-stick meenemen op het festivalterrein?
Als het een huis-, tuin- en keukencamera is, wel. Professionele apparatuur is niet toegestaan; toestellen met afneembare lenzen worden sowieso niet toegelaten, net als filmcamera’s en opname-apparatuur. Ook Selfie-sticks zijn verboden!

Mag ik mijn eigen voedsel en drank meenemen naar het festival terrein?
Nee, dit is niet toegestaan m.u.z. allergieën en speciale diëten.

Waar kan ik mijn spullen kwijt?
Retropop beschikt over een eigen bewaakte garderobe.

Hoe zit het met drugs op het Retropop?
Het is volgens de Nederlandse wet verboden om drugs bij je te hebben of te verhandelen.

Mag ik mijn hond meenemen?
Op het festival zijn honden en andere huisdieren niet toegestaan.

Zijn er rolstoel-plaatsen op het terrein?
Op het Retropop festival staan rolstoel podia. Hiervandaan heb je een goed uitzicht op het podium.

Ik heb kaarten gekocht en nu kan ik niet meer heen, kunnen deze kaarten retour?
Verkochte kaarten worden niet teruggenomen en kunnen niet worden omgeruild.

Staat jouw vraag er niet tussen, kijk dan even naar het reglement. Wellicht vind je daar het juiste antwoord! Staat het daar ook niet bij, stuur dan een mailtje naar info@retropop.nl

Chelmsford

July 23rd, Kid Creole and the Coconuts will be performing at Chelmsford Racecourse, UK for their Summer Nights with the internationally renowned Buena Vista Social Club from Havana.

For tickets go to: https://ccr.yourticketbooking.com/p/SummerNights_BVSC_KC

The Summer Nights music continues with our spectacular Open Air Festival over three nights at Chelmsford City Racecourse. Thursday 21st July sees Classical superstar Katherine Jenkins OBE performing a selection of famous show tunes, backed by the National Symphony Orchestra. Katherine has performed for The Pope, Presidents and Royalty; indeed, she is the only artist confirmed by request to perform at Her Majesty The Queen’s 90th birthday celebration in May 2016.

The following evening (Friday 22nd July) sees three iconic 80s acts visit the Racecourse. Rick Astley, Paul Young & Toyah Wilcox arrive in Chelmsford for an evening of classic pop tunes that are guaranteed to get you dancing! The eclectic mix of music continues on Saturday 23rd, as the Buena Vista Social Club and Kid Creole and The Coconuts close the Open Air Festival in lively fiesta style!

Brighton

July 8th, Kid Creole and the Coconuts will be performing at Concorde 2, Brighton, UK.

Event status: Live (Tickets Available)
https://www.concorde2.co.uk/events/kid-creole-the-coconuts-1

Door Times 7:30pm – 10:00pm

After last year’s storming SOLD OUT show Kid Creole and his Coconuts are back…

Kid Creole & The Coconuts with a full live band plus support from Mike Panteli (Juice FM/Sweet Grooves).

Claiming to have seen a vision of the band in a nightmare while walking down 5th Avenue in New York, Kid Creole & The Coconuts were born out the embers of the brilliant Dr. Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band. For over 27 years, Kid Creole & The Coconuts have been entertaining sell-out shows worldwide, with their 30’s and 40’s Hollywood presence and self proclaimed cool.

Kid Creole & The Coconuts defy description and defy both musical and fashion trends. On stage and on recordings they are unmatched in their energy, originality and musical hipness. They are timeless and unique. Think you’re ready for the real deal? Then come see the legend yourself!

 

Let’s Rock Bristol

Let’s Rock Bristol Information:

We are delighted to announce that Let’s Rock Bristol! returns to The Ashton Court Estate on the weekend of Friday 3rd June to Saturday 5th June 2016. With a fabulous line-up of artists to bring you the very best of the 80s, and an action packed day of general 80s madness, there is plenty to do for everyone at this Family Friendly Festival!

Let’s Rock Bristol! has been leading the way for quality, family-friendly 80s music festivals since 2009. Don’t miss out on this chance for a retro blast with the very best of the 80s.

Tickets:

Tickets to this event are limited, so don’t miss out! Tickets may be purchased online through our website, or locally from:

– Bristol Ticket Shop, 41 High St, Bristol BS1
– Bristol Tourist Information, E Shed, 1 Canon’s Road, Bristol BS1 5TX

Tickets will NOT be available on the gate.

Problems purchasing your tickets online?  Please email customerservices@gigantic.com

VIP

2016 will see our ever popular and totally cool, funky 80s themed VIP enclosure. Sit back and relax in the comfy chill out zone or enjoy the outdoor seating area. The VIP enclosure includes it’s own bar selling a range of quality brands and 80s cocktails, plus of course the all-important VIP luxury loos – essential at any festival!

Also included is a souvenir programme, meal and welcome drink.

Fancy dress is recommended (but not compulsory!).

For any group bookings (10 or more) please email your request to customerservices@gigantic.com
Alternatively, you can call Gigantic customer services between 9:00am and 5:30pm Monday to Friday on 0115 807 7900.

Please note that VIP does not always guarantee the best view of the stage.

Kid Creole will be playing on Sunday June 5th at this festival, get your tickets now for this big eighties weekender.

Happy Days Festival

Our festival will take you back in time to celebrate those Happy Days! With a combination of legendary artists from the 70s, 80s and 90s, that will recreate the feel good factor. Come and reminisce the party vibe at our amazing venue, a 40 acre site in the heart of Surrey, ‘Imber Court‘, East Molesey, Surrey KT8 0BT.

The Festival will blend 3 decades of amazing music with other entertainments including a themed retro bar, pyrotechnics, games area, family fun activities.

Happy Days Lineup

Artists confirmed for Party Saturday 28th – The Human League, Marc Almond, Heaven 17, Kid Creole & The Coconuts, Matt Bianco…Main Stage DJ “Rusty Egan” from British New Wave Bands Visage and The Rich Kids.

Artists confirmed for Soul & Dance Sunday 29th – The Sugar Hill Gang plus Melle Mel & Scorpio (Furious Five), Incognito, Jocelyn Brown, Joyce Sims, Martha Wash (original Weather Girl), Heatwave, Vula (Basement Jaxx Vocalist), Lisa Millett…Main Stage DJ “Bert Bevans” Studio 54 & Orginal Ministry of Sound.

Festival goers will also be able to try our delicious Gastro Grub, which will include a selection of World Fusion food and Vegetarian options.

Categories
News

Pre-sale limited offer!!

EXCLUSIVELY for our dedicated fans we are offering for
48 hours ONLY pre-sale tickets for the world premiere of
headerweb

Pre-Sale Tickets

EXCLUSIVELY for our dedicated fans we are offering for
48 hours ONLY limited pre-sale tickets for the world premier of
Cherchez La Femme the musical!!
Click here for your:  Pre-sale tickets  – using the code:  hachachacha
Get your tickets now as this offer ends at midnight (Eastern standard time) on Saturday!
squareposter

Cherchez La Femme previews from May 20th until May 22nd then our official GRAND OPENING is on Monday 23rd at La Mama’s Ellen Stewart Theatre on East 4th Street, New York City.
So don’t delay, get your tickets today!

“Cherchez La Femme,” a new musical written by August Darnell and Vivien Goldman featuring the music of Grammy-nominated songwriters Stony Browder Jr. and August Darnell.
Synopsis: Set in Manhattan and Haiti, the play explores heavy themes and lightweight dreams.
It’s reckless, it’s rhythmic, it’s romantic.

CHERCHEZ LA FEMME

is a musical extravaganza that tells the story of one man’s loss and another man’s gain and the powerful women who make it all possible. It explores dark themes (abandonment, sibling rivalry, unrequited love) and light themes (sexual healing, the pursuit of happiness,  the smell of success) but never without inviting you to shake your head and tap your toes to the infectious neo-urban-jungle grooves. The play is set in New York City and the Caribbean in the 1980’s.
It’s reckless. It’s rhythmic. It’s romantic.