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.

STOP PRESS - Ship In Dock bands

Hi - just heard from Jim Brent from the Ship in Dock Inn that the following bands will be playing there:

Saturday @ 6pm - Antigua Joe

Sunday @ 1pm - New rising 

Sunday @ 5pm - Billy Chapman

Thanks for the info Jim - have a good Festival. 

Dart Music Festival Facts and Figures

Hello again - just thought you might be interested in our website statistics for April - seems like it's quite a popular site! Wonder why...?

Website visits and page views

Web visits by country

Eleven days to the Dart Music Festival - and counting...

OK, it's officially May now, and I'm not going to lie to you - the pressure is on! Last night the DMF Team had its last committee meeting before the event - and if any of us have any nerves/fingernails/hair/sanity left by the time Friday 11th May dawns, it will be nothing short of a miracle...

So don't be surprised if you notice a lot of twitchy, semi-bald, nail-less individuals sporting Dart Music Festival badges and dazed expressions rushing distractedly from venue to venue - that'll be one of the DMF crew, no doubt. You have been warned...

The phonecalls and e mails have been flying today between the DMF Team members with last minute arrangements, adjustments, ideas, solutions and a trillion other things - but underlying it all is the mounting sense of excitement that inevitably kicks in for us all at this stage of the proceedings. It kind of makes sense of why we're all doing it, really - we just love being around such a great selection of music - and of course visiting music-lovers...! Call us adrenalin junkies - or are we just crazy..?

See - it doesn't ALWAYS rain during stage building...

Anyway, the Construction Team are gearing up for The Big Stage Build which starts at 8 o'clock on Monday morning and carries on until Thursday - how do they do it?? Watch this space for photos of their progress next week as the time rolls on until Friday at noon when it all kicks off. We're keeping fingers, toes and everything else crossed that it will stay fine so The Boys can work their magic yet again without getting drenched on a regular basis.




Just to get us in the mood, it has been a really fabulous warm First-Of-May day in Dartmouth today with blue sky, fluffy white clouds, little birds chirping their heads off in Royal Avenue Gardens and the sun glinting romantically on the river, so all the signs are good so far - ever the optimists, we are...

In the (unlikely) event of rain next week I can report that the new Dart Music Festival waterproof jackets are stylish, warm, very good quality and - er, waterproof... They made their first appearance at the meeting last night and we were impressed - well, you'll see how good they are when you visit the merchandise tent next week. Dead pleased with them, we are, and we hope you will be too - if there are any left after the Committee has snaffled them, of course..! (There's only a limited number available, sadly)

On that note I must stop but I'll do my best to find time to write tomorrow in between last minute e mails/phonecalls/texts etc - talk to you then.

Handy accommodation and transport info for Dart Music Festival

Hello Festival Fans - just thought you might find these links useful to help you plan a stress-free trip to next week's Festival. We're looking forward to welcoming you all next week.

Dartmouth Visitors' Centre - info on where to stay, places to eat, ferry times and much more:
www.discoverdartmouth.com

Local bus info and timetables: (No. X81 from Totnes)
www.traveline.info

Dartmouth & Paignton steam train and river boats (seasonal):
www.dartmouthrailriver.co.uk

National rail info and timetables: (Nearest mainline station Totnes)
www.nationalrail.co.uk

National Express coach info and timetables: (nearest towns Totnes and Paignton)
www.nationalexpress.com

Parking and Park & Ride Info:
www.southhams.gov.uk