STRICTLY - SIMPLY STUPENDOUS! OH WHAT A NIGHT...

Well I'm almost ashamed to show my face here after such a long absence. All I can say in my defence is that although the DMF committee has had a few meetings there's been nothing much to report - until now when things are starting to bubble along quite nicely thank you. Please read on...

We had a huge success with our recent Strictly Come Dancing Fundraiser at the Guildhall, and although I wasn't actually there (nothing personal - we were away. Somewhere warm...) everyone I have spoken to has told me what a fantastic, never-to-be-forgotten night it was. I'm posting a few photos of the night for you to enjoy - although there are loads more thank to the expertise of Joe Murtagh of the Canvas Factory in Dartmouth (thank you Joe for a job well done).

I think Di Lyon, Treasurer and Co-Founder of the Music Festival almost sixteen years ago, sums it all up with her comments on the event. Di says:

"The atmosphere in the Guildhall was electric, full of goodwill and fun.  The band was tremendous and the dancers brilliant.  It was a privilege to be part of the organising team."

I'm hoping to publish some more 'Thoughts from the Team and Contestants' as and when I receive them, but meanwhile here are just some of the lovely photos to give a flavour of the event - enjoy! 

Lots of happy shiny people and the DMF Team at Our Dear Old Guildhall - doesn't she scrub up well?

Please note the custom-built sprung dance floor and fine proscenium arch..!

Judge Tracy Bussell with Compere Gil and Bandleader Phil

Nice flippers Monty...

Well flip me..! Monty was like a fish out of water and felt a bit of a wet drip after performing his Conga Reel...

Heavens Above!

..and Sister Wilhemina knew she didn't have a prayer of winning once these two started dancing....

Phil and Lesley

Our own personal Brucie: Good dance chaps, good dance....

Winners Phil Scoble and Lovely Lesley with a delighted and excited Gil

The Contestants

Didn't they do well..??

If you were lucky enough to be there please feel free to leave a comment to let us know what a good time you had - thank you. 

All photos courtesy of Joe Murtagh - with thanks. 

Dart Music Festival 2013 - shall we do it??

We're back! After our summer break we had a Dart Music Festival committee meeting on Monday, and I'm delighted to report that once again we managed to break even, so that means that yes - we ARE going to do it all again next year! 

As you know, we are do not receive any funding and the Festival simply wouldn't happen without the generosity of our sponsors and 'DMF friends' and of course all you lovely people who support our fundraising events, put money into our collecting tins and buy our programmes - we couldn't do it without you!

 So now we're up and raring to go (ish...) - Festival dates for next year are 10th, 11th and 12th of May 2013, and we have two fund raising events already planned to get the ball rolling.

The first is a return of the Strictly Come Dancing contest with the BRNC Volunteer Band, which will take place in the Guildhall on November 17th at 7.00pm.Tickets have just gone on sale at Baxters Gallery, Foss St and No. 11, Victoria Road @£12.50 each. Last year they sold out fast so make sure you buy yours early and don't miss out.

Electric Swing Circus

Secondly, we are planning a Grand Gala which will be kindly hosted by Sally and Edward Benthall at Little Dartmouth. There will be a fabulous bar and canapes, music from the Electric Swing Circus who wowed us at the Guildhall earlier this year, and other performers - including burlesque dancers and circus acts - are still in the pipeline. Ticket prices will be finalised shortly, so check the DMF website for up to date details.

Both events look set to be winners and will of course go a long way to helping us raise the necessary funds so - watch this space...

Matt D'Netto - Dart Music Festival update

I had a great time at the Dart Music Festival, thanks to everyone who came out to see me perform at St Saviour’s Church, the Angel and at the Picnic Boat! Thanks also to Marilyn & co. for looking after me over the weekend. 

I had a lot of requests for CDs at the festival and I’m now pleased to announce that my debut album is finally finished and can be purchased online from my website (http://i20510.wix.com/mattdnetto#!buy-cd).

Thanks again and I hope to be back next year!

Matt D’Netto

www.mattdnetto.com

Kagemusha Taiko - Dart Music Festival update

A few words from Kagemusha Taiko - more to follow so watch this space...

 

"We had a blast, and love playing Dartmouth Music Festival....everyone's so friendly, a lovely vibe.  THANK YOU to all who made it happen!

 

Kindest regards"

 

 


                           Kagemusha Taiko  www.Kagemusha.com

 

Medicine Creek update - Dart Music Festival

A few words and a very nice pic from Medicine Creek:

We had a brilliant time! We love coming down to Dartmouth and hope they'll keep having us back..

The Windjammer Inn is always a rockin' one and this year we were lucky enough to play in the steaming hot sunshine in an old fort - exactly where old dark country songs should be sung!

Thanks and see you next year we hope!

Nuala, Dorz & Aaron x

 

 

 

 

Find stuff here:

hppt://www.medicinecreek.co.uk

The Lost Sound - Dart Music Festival update

Just received - post festival update on The Lost Sound from Sandra Smith:

The Lost Sound

The Lost Sound had a wonderful Festival concert with an exceptionally warm welcome from the organisers and the audience. 

It's not often our conductor Sandra is given an honorary title of 'a singing missionary'.  

The whole concert was special for us - the church was stunning to perform in - really intimate, with fantastic natural acoustics for unamplified voices. (We like to sing 'au naturel' as much as possible.) Sometimes in a concert, a rather special alchemy happens and this was one of those times. We had rehearsed really well and on the night the 'magic' of performance took us over and the songs felt that they came alive on a different level. In our final song 'Wild Mountain Thyme', even our conductor had a tear!

It has to be said that the 'behind the scenes' aspect of the Dart Music Festival, (the bit the audience don't see!) is really excellent. It is a very well-run programme of events and the team are friendly and kind. This goes a long way to making performers feel welcome and ready to produce their best. So a big thank-you to the festival team!

We've had very positive feedback, requests to join our choir and future bookings for the autumn term from that night.  On the strength of it, we've now got charity concerts lined up in October, Torbay event performances, and an invitation to sing with the 1000 voices at Christmas at Exeter cathedral.  

 

Join our facebook page, 'The Lost Sound Chorus', to come and see us sing next term.

Catch The Lost Sound busking at Teignmouth folk fest from 4pm, 23^rd June
( weather permitting!)

Dart Music Festival makes front pages news!

We're really made up and feeling ever so chuffed! Last week's edition of the Dartmouth Chronicle (Friday 1st June) ran a front page story concerning a recent Dartmouth business survey, in which it was stated:

"The Dart Music Festival is now more important to the business community than the town's Royal Regatta, according to the survey so far. 

69% of businesses who have taken part in the survey reckon that Dart Music Festival is 'very' or 'quite' important, compared to 60% who said the same about the Regatta, 47% about Candlelit Christmas, 41% about the TIC and 40% about the town's Christmas lights."

There were also some very complimentary comments from Dartmouth Academy Year 7 students Cea Blakesley, Annabel Hughes and George Bakewell, who obviously enjoyed themselves at the Festival. For full details of the article please visit www.southhams-today.co.uk

Thank you to Cea, Annabel and George - we're glad you had a great time!

Moor Reason reports on Dart Music Festival

Moor Reason performing at the Guildhall

Comments just received from Moor Reason:

"MoorReason thoroughly enjoyed their time at the Dart Music Festival.  It was such a well organised festival and the people were fantastic.  We received amazing response from both our gigs on the Saturday.  MoorReason now have a busy June ahead.  We've had performances at The Old Fire House, Exeter, The Ruby Market festival, Hatherleigh and performed on the 'big stage' as part of the Okehampton Jubilee celebrations.  We will shortly be performing at the Exeter Pheonix on Saturday 9th June and then Headlining the Acoustic Stage at Lapstock on Friday 15th June 12.

We would like to thank the organisors at DMF and we hope to see you next year.

MoorReason"

 

Many thanks for your kind words chaps - we are so glad you enjoyed your time at the festival. Good luck with all your forthcoming gigs.

DMF Update - Armada Jazz Band, The Organisation, Belshazzar's Feast, Simon Spillett

Hi again - we're still getting lots of lovely e mails from artists who performed at the Festival - here are some more that have just come in:

 

Roger Marks' Armada Jazz band

"Great fun playing at DMF - weather was kind and enjoyed the company of a large audience in the cafes and standing within the Old Market Square.  Relished their generous applause and got a real buzz from the happy atmosphere. Really hope we do it next year. Many thanks".

 

Roger Marks, Armada Jazz Band

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Organisation

 

 "We loved playing the festival!  We always do!  The crowd at Alf Resco's is always SO warm and receptive, and we are very happy to be so well received!  We wish we could do it more than once a year, but I guess that would take away the specialness of it.  Great venue, great atmosphere all over the town, and thank you for having bands from Plymouth!  It's always a pleasure."

Taraneh Meen, The Organisation

 

Belshazzar's Feast

"Really, sorry, but I’m off on tour on the morrow, so can’t do anything worthwhile.

Just to say that we had a great gig – whilst none of the audience resembled arrows fans (apart from the occasional sporty beer gut), the concert hit the Bull’s Eye." 

 

Best wishes, Paul Sartin from Belshazzar’s Feast. 

(Please read Paul's previous Blog post and all will become clear...!)

 

 

 

 

Simon Spillett

 "What a great festival! It was my first visit and I loved the atmosphere, the diversity of music on offer and the opportunity to be part of things. Our gig was very well received and I was especially pleased to be working with Steve Waterman, one of the finest jazz trumpet players anywhere today. 

Also, a special bouquet for pianist Craig Milverton's group, who Steve and I both really enjoyed working with. 

Oh yeah... there was also the wonderful weather!!!. Here's to another great festival next year."

 

Best wishes, Simon

(Re Jazz Night at the Flavel)

Thanks for this chaps - keep it coming..!

 What was YOUR favourite gig? Please leave a comment to let us know.

Dart Music Festival update - Military Wives and RSVP Bhangra Band

Hi - I've been asking some of my Comrades for their highlights from the Festival, now that we're beginning to function normally again at last..!

Military Wives

It seems that The Military Wives made a huge impression with their very moving performance on the Bandstand - the Royal Avenue Gardens were packed and I have it on good authority that most of the audience were in tears during and after their stunning concert. We would like to thank them so much for coming - should they ever return, we may make a note to provide tissues...

Please visit their website for details of their albums and performances: http://www.militarywives.co.uk/

RSVP Bhangra Band

Another big hit on the Bandstand was the RSVP Bhangra Band, who really had the whole crowd going with their infectious humour and brilliant music. The whole audience - young and old alike - were up and dancing in the best Bollywood tradition, by all accounts.  I am told that it was just one of those 'can't keep still' concerts, with one of the favourite moves seeming to be 'Screwing in a Lightbulb'. 

Here is what the Band has to say on the Festival:

"RSVP really enjoyed our trip to Dartmouth - it was our first gig at DMF and we were really well looked after by the organisers. The sun shone, and there was a proper festival vibe going on. The programming was really varied and the professionalism of all the staff and crew made them a delight to work with, and the crowd were lovely.

RSVP Bhangra in with a crowd of happy people in Royal Avenue Gardens

It was good to catch up with some old friends, and make new ones. Thank you Dartmouth for a lovely day. RSVP have a busy summer of festivals ahead of us, but we hope that we'll be back at Dart Music Festival very soon.

Check out RSVP Bhangra Band online at: www.rsvpmusic.co.uk

and like us at www.facebook.com/rsvpbhangra where you can see some great photos

or follow @RSVPBhangra on Twitter. "

Wish I hadn't missed this one, but hopefully they will come back and wow us all over again next year - watch this space...

If you were part of the audience, please write and tell us which moves you most enjoyed and what you thought of the band - and indeed the rest of the Festival. We'd love to hear your views

Dart Music Festival - continued...

So sorry I ran out of time in my last blog post to mention all the other fantastic performances held at The Guildhall this year, which included:

Moor Reason, Becca Langsford & Vince Lee, Kaz Simmons, The Neath Male Voice Choir, Martin Harley Band, Beth Porter and the Availables, Moscow Drug Club, Tattie Jam, These Reigning Days.

Just a few words to some of our 'regulars'...: 

The Neath Male Voice Choir

The Neath Male Voice Choir - not a dry eye in the house, fantastically rousing and moving concert. So good to see you again - thank you so much and we are so sorry about the mix up over the chairs, everyone...

The Martin Harley Band

The Martin Harley Band - third year at the Festival and as brilliant as ever - thank you so much and hope the tour goes well. (Did you get to London on time..?)

Moscow Drug Club

Moscow Drug Club - great to welcome you back again and good to see that you worked your usual magic on the audience!

Because of our hectic schedule we didn't always get to see every performance at the Guildhall all the way through but I know that a good time was had by all, so thank you to all the artists who performed there - we hope to see you again.

Hamilton Loomis

When we had finally tucked the Guildhall up for the night on Sunday, we were lucky enough to catch most of the Hamilton Loomis concert on the Bandstand. Wow! What an amazing finale to an amazing weekend - the frazzled committee suddenly became rejuvenated and were even seen to be dancing the night away...

Now we understand why we let ourselves in for this every year: 

 It really IS 'All About the Music'...!

We'd love to hear your thoughts on the Festival so please tell us about your favourite moments by leaving your comments - we hope you had a great time!

We hope you enjoyed Dart Music Festival

Well, two weeks after the Festival and the Committee is just about back to normal after a brilliantly successful event - we were all pretty worn out afterwards after the nine months planning and three days hard labour (yes, I think it can be equated with giving birth...) but the buzz around town this last fortnight has been amazing and so gratifying that it makes it all worth it. I couldn't even nip out for a loaf of bread without people stopping me and saying what a great time they had - in fact they still do. We're proud to be involved with it - at the end of the day it's really all about the music and to see so many happy smiling people enjoying themselves over the weekend in our lovely town - well, words (almost) fail me...!

Dartmouth Guildhall - aaaahh...

My husband Alan (Vice Chairman) and I were responsible for running the Guildhall which once again proved to be a very popular venue. The Old Girl may be getting on a bit, but she does scrub up rather well, bless her. We didn't get out to see as many other performances as we'd have liked to but had some fantastic acts at the Hall.




We kicked off on Friday with talented young local band Carbon Chemistry who were excellent. Thanks to them all for the great performance - what a brilliant start!

Electric Swing Circus

They were followed by Electric Swing Circus, who really wowed the crowd with their performance. Here is what the lovely people from the band have to say:

"Well, Dartmouth was totally different to anything we had ever played before... when we started seeing people sitting in rows of chairs  honestly it was a bit daunting - we play dance music and had never played to a seated audience before!  


What we loved was that as soon as we started people got really into it. No matter how old or young they were (we had both extremes in there) everyone was enjoying it - singing, clapping along, and then people got up to dance.  The highlight of the Festival has got to be during Jungle Jam when  we had an elderly chap do the 'Egyptian' from one side of the dance floor to the other!  What more can you ask for in a audience, these guys were great - and we would love to come back next year... 

Thanks again, you guys were fantastic and I hope you are enjoying the sunshine!"

 

No, thank YOU Tom and the Gang for a brilliant night - we look forward to doing it all again next year...

 

I'll be back with more post-Festival reports as soon as - watch this space.

  

Dart Music Festival Photos - thanks Joe

Just a quickie - our thanks to Joe Murtagh for his fantastic photography throughout the Festival - please check out his website http://www.joemurtaghphotography.com/ for the latest pics.

Back with post-festival news soon...

Dart Music Festival rocks...!

The Market Square - waiting for Sax Appeal

Wow! What a brilliant start we had yesterday - the town was filled with music from every direction and thronged with happy people strolling around, listening to the music and just enjoying themselves in the sun. It surely doesn't get better than this - we must have done something right!

Happy Shiny People

Market Square - Blog Writer and Barbs

Lovely Linda

Alan (Vice Chairman) and I are running the Guildhall this year and were knocked out by the first two performances last night.

First up was Carbon Chemistry, a young local band playing metal/funk who were enthusiastic, energetic and wowed us with their talents - if there's any justice in the world, this young band should be going places.

Then came Electric Swing Circus who were frankly fantastic - played to a packed house and really wowed the whole audience - we just couldn't stop dancing! The six piece troupe entertained us with their cool 20's swing combined with fiery electro beat and dazzling vocals - just amazing!

We want more....

We didn't get chance to get out and about much yesterday but hear that The Military Wives also had an fabulous turnout for their performance on the Bandstand - the Royal Avenue Gardens was packed and rumour has it there was not a dry eye in the house...

Many, many thanks to ALL the musicians who played yesterday - thanks for helping to make our Festival Great.

Must dash - lots to do...

NINETEEN HOURS TO GO TO THE DART MUSIC FESTIVAL -- AND COUNTING..!

Less than nineteen hours to go now until the Festival kicks off at 12 noon tomorrow, and although it's raining here now the forecast for Friday, Saturday and Sunday are pretty good so we're looking forward to a bright start to our fifteenth festival. It's a hive of industry here to day dotting the i's and crossing the t's and making sure that everything is ticketyboo for the weekend.

We've been trimming and decorating the Guildhall this morning ready for tonight, as we're getting in the mood with a special film event from Dartmouth Film Society - 'Cabaret'. We'll have live music from Jonathan Hughes-Jones from 6.45pm, the bar opens at 7.00, there will be a tasty German-style buffet and the films starts at 7.30pm. Guest tickets, as always, are available from The Windjammer between 7.00 - 7.20pm.

The dear old Guildhall may be a tad elderly now, but she really does scrub up very well and is a very popular main venue. She looks particularly gorgeous today, adorned as she is with a host of beautiful plants on loan from the kind and generous people at Gardentime Garden Centre and a stunning red and black theme complete with balloons and fairy lights - we could almost believe that we were actually at the KitKat Club (and that's before the bar opens...).

 Tomorrow we will be decking her out in our finest Dart Music Festival regalia in readiness for the many great acts we have lined up there, including the ever-popular Neath Male Voice Choir,

The Neath Male Voice Choir

Moscow Drug Club

Moscow Drug Club and Martin Harley Band, to name but a few... 

There will be a bar run by sponsors Bay's Brewery and on Saturday and Sunday we'll have Bunter's Cafe there providing hot drinks and delicious snacks, so put that together with lots of fabulous music and what's not to like?

In case you've never visited it before, the Guildhall is just up the road from the Market Square on the left hand side of the road - you can't miss the DMF banner, balloons and streamers on the balcony!

Must dash now - last minute schedules to type, phonecalls to make, errands to run etc etc... Hope you'll enjoy the first day.

Dart Music Festival Merchandise - lovely photos by Joe Murtagh of the Canvas Factory.

Many thanks to Joe Murtagh from the Canvas Factory for these great photos of our new Festival merchandise - we hope you'll be as excited about it as we are! These are the great items on offer this year:

Baseball caps

Funky new colours

 

Special 15 Years of Live Music edition

Our new cosy hoodies

Fleece lined waterproof jacket - other colours available

STOP PRESS - HELP NEEDED! We STILL need some volunteers for the Dart Music Festival

 

First of all, thanks to all the lovely people who have volunteered to help us at next week's Festival - only seven days from now and it'll all be in full swing - and yes I KNOW I've said it before but we really couldn't do it without the help of our brilliant team of volunteers.

I spoke to our brilliant volunteer co-ordinator Sue Higgs today, and it seems we still have a few collection slots to be filled, so if you have an hour or two to spare walking round with a collecting tin (you don't have to hassle people - honest), do please let us know as we'd really appreciate a bit of extra help. You can either contact us on the website contact numbers or go along to the information hut during the Festival and make yourself known to either Sue or Jenny who will be working there, and they'll set you up.

Thank you so much - and have a great Festival.

Eight Days and Counting to the Dart Music Festival...

Yep - it all kicks off a week tomorrow and we're all hoping the weather will be kind to us and improve so that we can use one of our favourite fine weather venues - Bayards Cove Fort.

There have been a couple of years when it's just been too cold to use it... in fact this is what it looks like when it's (nearly) empty...

On the other hand, when the sun's out it's a really special venue as the acoustics are great, the views are to die for and the artists all seem to really enjoy performing, there as these lovely people from Devonly Voices show...

 

I remember being surrounded by a crowd of happy people there, enjoying listening to Jim Crawford singing Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah' in the warm sunshine. I won't lie to you, it sent shivers down my spine - and the rest of the audience seemed to be similarly transfixed. Let's hope dear old Bayards gets a chance to work its magic again this year...

Some of the artists scheduled to play there - weather permitting - are Medicine Creek, Troy Faid, Louise Jordan, Thomas Ford, Chaz Thorogood, James Froud, Gumbo Flyers and Rebbeca Mayes. 

The view from the Fort back along Bayards Cove.

All performance dates and times are, of  course, in our souvenir programme available by download, post or at various outlets in town once you are here (check out our website for further details).

If by any chance rain/wind should stop play, the concert will be moved to the Masonic Hall, which is about two minutes away in Lower Street. It's really easy to find - come out of Bayards Fort and walk back to the top of Bayards Cove, carry on past the Dartmouth Arms, Bayards Cove Inn, Rockfish, Cafe Alf Resco etc and keep going for a minute or so - the Masonic Hall is through an archway on the right hand side of the road just past the 'Gifts For Gentlemen' shop. 

You can't miss it, but there will be signs up just in case you do...

PS Please note the blue sky and sun in the above photo - and keep it firmly in mind...! Bye for now.