#USA Summer Music Festival

[kangpingyu]

im fine 🙃

[moontaeddybear]

190531 Summer Kickoff San Diego

[kimludcom]

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[hldailyupdate]

Louis Tomlinson has dropped a surprise album ‘Live’ – featuring songs that he recorded at 15 shows across 15 different cities.

Announced and shared yesterday (April 25), the album comes after the singer and former One Direction member embarked on two world tours over the past three years – playing just shy of 200 shows globally.

Now, a variety of performances from both tours – the ‘Louis Tomlinson World Tour’ and the ‘Faith in the Future World Tour’ – have been compiled into a new live album, which is available now.

Fifteen songs are included in the tracklist, and each was recorded in a different city, at a different show from across the three-year run. The album comes in both digital and physical formats, and features his singles including ‘Bigger Than Me’, ‘We Made It, ‘Walls’ and ‘Out Of My System’, alongside fan favourite album tracks, all released live for the very first time.

“I’ve been lucky enough to spend the last 3 years touring the world twice over. The feeling I get sharing those live moments will be with me forever,” Tomlinson said in a statement. “To be able to record these songs from all over the world and put them out as an album like this feels so special, and a real tribute to the fans who make each and every show feel unique and incredible. Thank you! Enjoy!”

There are four exclusive tracks split between the physical editions of ‘Live’, including a special version of the One Direction classic ‘Where Do Broken Hearts Go’ – which is available only on the double CD.

Accompanying video clips of compiled tour footage will be shared on Louis’s social channels to support the release, showcasing a glimpse into his past three years on the road and 170 performances.

The ‘Live’ tracklist is:

‘The Greatest’ (Live From London, 17 November 2023) ‘Face The Music’ (Live From Nashville, 18 July 2023) ‘Bigger Than Me’ (Live From Vancouver, 26 June 2023) ‘Holding On To Heartache’ (Live From Barcelona, 6 October 2023) ‘We Made It’ (Live From Manila, 16 July 2022) ‘Chicago’ (Live From Chicago, 15 June 2023) ‘Fearless’ (Live From Rio, 27 May 2022) ‘Common People’ (Live From Sheffield, 10 November 2023) ‘All This Time / She Is Beauty We Are World Class’ (Live From Munich, 22 October 2023) ‘Walls’ (Live From Buenos Aires, 21 May 2022) ‘Written All Over Your Face’ (Live From Budapest, 15 September 2023) ‘Out Of My System’ (Live From Brisbane, 30 January 2024) ‘Saturdays’ (Live From Paris, 14 October 2023) ‘Silver Tongues’ (Live From Krakow, 10 September 2023)

At time of writing, Tomlinson has shared two huge solo albums since departing from One Direction. His debut album arrived in the firm of 2020’s ‘Walls’, which has sold over 1.5 million copies, and the follow-up was called ‘Faith In The Future’. The latter went to Number One in the UK, Spain and Belgium, and Top 5 in the USA, Australia, New Zealand and across Europe.

Since May last year, Tomlinson has been on his ‘Faith In The Future World Tour’, which hits South America next month for its final leg. From there, the vocalist has a number of festival appearances lined up for the summer. Find remaining tickets to his shows here.

In other Louis Tomlinson news, earlier this week the singer, alongside Courteeners and English Teacher, were among the acts to be honoured at the first-ever Northern Music Awards.

The inaugural ceremony was hosted by the UK’s largest music therapy charity, Nordoff And Robbins and took place at the Albert Hall in Manchester; celebrating northern artists, festivals, venues and industry figures. The event saw Tomlinson named as Artist Of The Year.

[dailytomlinson]

Louis Tomlinson has dropped a surprise album ‘Live’ – featuring songs that he recorded at 15 shows across 15 different cities.

Announced and shared yesterday (April 25), the album comes after the singer and former One Direction member embarked on two world tours over the past three years – playing just shy of 200 shows globally.

Now, a variety of performances from both tours – the ‘Louis Tomlinson World Tour’ and the ‘Faith in the Future World Tour’ – have been compiled into a new live album, which is available now.

Fifteen songs are included in the tracklist, and each was recorded in a different city, at a different show from across the three-year run. The album comes in both digital and physical formats, and features his singles including ‘Bigger Than Me’, ‘We Made It, ‘Walls’ and ‘Out Of My System’, alongside fan favourite album tracks, all released live for the very first time.

“I’ve been lucky enough to spend the last 3 years touring the world twice over. The feeling I get sharing those live moments will be with me forever,” Tomlinson said in a statement. “To be able to record these songs from all over the world and put them out as an album like this feels so special, and a real tribute to the fans who make each and every show feel unique and incredible. Thank you! Enjoy!”

There are four exclusive tracks split between the physical editions of ‘Live’, including a special version of the One Direction classic ‘Where Do Broken Hearts Go’ – which is available only on the double CD.

Accompanying video clips of compiled tour footage will be shared on Louis’s social channels to support the release, showcasing a glimpse into his past three years on the road and 170 performances.

At time of writing, Tomlinson has shared two huge solo albums since departing from One Direction. His debut album arrived in the firm of 2020’s ‘Walls’, which has sold over 1.5 million copies, and the follow-up was called ‘Faith In The Future’. The latter went to Number One in the UK, Spain and Belgium, and Top 5 in the USA, Australia, New Zealand and across Europe.

Since May last year, Tomlinson has been on his ‘Faith In The Future World Tour’, which hits South America next month for its final leg. From there, the vocalist has a number of festival appearances lined up for the summer. Find remaining tickets to his shows here.

In other Louis Tomlinson news, earlier this week the singer, alongside Courteeners and English Teacher, were among the acts to be honoured at the first-ever Northern Music Awards.

The inaugural ceremony was hosted by the UK’s largest music therapy charity, Nordoff And Robbins and took place at the Albert Hall in Manchester; celebrating northern artists, festivals, venues and industry figures. The event saw Tomlinson named as Artist Of The Year.

[lifeofclonewars]

Not a band kid but want to read the Marching AU?

Then I’ve got the post for you! This one! Here’s what marching band/DCI is all about in the simplest terms I can put it aka its time to channel my inner High Brass Section Leader During the First Week of Band Camp again. Also I'll try not to infodump too much, oops. I can guarantee it'll be long, though.

People who do know instruments and are looking at this for fun, enjoy. But be aware that I'm taking this simply so I may describe things in a way you disagree with.

First things first! What is marching band?

Marching band is a group of people who decided it would be cool to walk in a certain way so they could play their instruments and make shapes on the field, lol. If you've ever been to a football game, they're the musicians who go on the field during half time.

It has its roots in military bands, thus the uniforms looking the way they do and marching in time and always starting marching with your left foot. Bands have played for football teams for ages and the early 1900s was about the time they started to make shapes while they played.

Many high school marching bands compete against each other. Yes, there are even state and national level competitions! Other high schools just do "show bands" aka they don't compete, might go to some festivals, and are mainly there to help the crowd have fun. They also tend to be at least a smidge more relaxed than competition bands can be.

All bands involve a variety of wind instruments and a drumline. Many bands also have a colorguard and/or drill team that performs with them. More on them later.

DCI

DCI stands for Drum Corps International. A drum corps is a marching band with just brass instruments and percussion. DCI also has color guard members. Sorry, woodwinds. Specifically, DCI is an organization that has a variety of bands all across the USA. Throughout the summer, they put together marching shows and compete against each other. The season ends with nationals to see who did the best that year. It's an intense program, involving "touring" around to various competitions and quite literally eating, breathing, sleeping marching band. They actually have an age cap at 21 but if people, say, 22 or older wanted to keep marching there's the DCA which is similar but not the same.

(They've got a website and there's plenty of YouTube videos out there if you're interested in learning even more!)

Who's Who?

Band Director

The person in charge. They're the one that decides what the band will be doing and when. They teach music and marching and everything else in between. They delegate a lot of things to the band leadership (aka the people below).

Drum Majors

The people out there waving their arms. They're conducting the music to help keep the band together as well as marching at the right speed. They also help teach things and check that things look good. They don't march on the field itself, usually, though stuff they do can be involved in the show. The thing they stand on is called a podium.

Section Leaders

Each type of instrument is called a section. Section leaders guide the other people playing the same instrument as them. They will hand out papers, help demonstrate what the band director and drum majors are saying, run sectionals (aka moments where the band divides up into instruments to practice) and so on. They do a lot to help boost morale. Also, they're usually in charge of attendance, lol.

Squad Leaders

If there's a lot of people like in my college's band, sections might be split further into squads. In the case of my school, squad leaders help make sure everyone feels included. They also help pass out papers the section leader hands to them, run parts of sectionals, and help demonstrate. One of them will step up if the section leader is out of commission temporarily.

Marchers

A marcher is just another term for someone in the band who's out there performing. Since they're not, ya know, conducting with the drum majors or anything. Section and squad leaders are marchers with additional duties, basically.

How To March

Roll-stepping

Remember how I said marching bands step a certain way? That's called roll-stepping. Basically, it involves pointing your toes high so your heel hits the ground first. Then you "roll" your foot until your toes come off the ground. Repeat with the next foot. This is how bands can play without the music sounding like everyone's walking around.

Rollsteps come in a variety of sizes, the most common being an 8 to 5. That just means it takes 8 steps to get 5 yards, since 8 counts are common in music and there's 5 yard lines all over the football field. Roll-stepping also involves your feet hitting the ground at the correct time and on the right foot. Don't worry, it soon becomes second nature and you don't even have to think about it as you learn a new show.

There's also a fancy thing called a jazz run. I never learned how to do it in HS but I know it exists. It's a way to run while marching. Trust me. It's basically running on your toes and making sure the top half of your body doesn't bounce too much.

Where To Go

You might be thinking, "Okay, cool, I now kinda know how they march. But how do they know where to go?" Great question! Band directors have sheets of paper that are designed to look like the football field. On it, it has where everyone is supposed to be, how long in the music it'll take to get there, and so on. This is called a drill chart/sheet. These are given to the drum majors and section leaders as well, so they can help people find where they need to go.

Each marcher is assigned a designation based on their instrument. For example, I am T11 this year. This means that I am the 11th trumpet player. (For reference, we go to T39 this year.) The person to my right when we make a square might be T13, since they try to keep instruments in the relatively same spot.

That's not always the case, though! During our pregame show (aka when we play the fight song and the Banner and all that since this is a college marching band), I'm between H4 (H as in French horn) and R8 (R for trombone since the trumpets took T). So on and so forth with the rest of the instruments.

There's a sheet of paper for each shape made on the field until the entire show is clear. Marchers get a condensed version of this called a "dot/coordinate sheet" (since each spot you have on the field is a "dot" since that's what you look like from far away). Dot sheets only have your dots on them, though they do have how long each move is. You practice with help from the dot sheets until you memorize where you need to go and don't need to reference it as much anymore.

Different Directions

I'm gonna keep this one as simple as possible. There are ways to stand so you can still face front while moving sideways. You can also move backwards in a variety of ways. Some of these involve rollstepping while going backwards. Others involve being on the platforms of your feet. Either works, but it depends on the band director's opinion for which one a band will use. The main goal is to always face front, unless...

Direction of Travel Marching

Sometimes a move will be "d.o.t." (not to be confused with a dot). This just means that, instead of facing front, you face the directon you're going. At the end of this move, the marcher faces front again and continues on as normal.

If a d.o.t. move is particularly long, a single drum major will usually be on the back sideline to help everyone stay on beat. The other drum major(s) will stay in the front for when everyone moves back.

Music

Marching bands can play all kinds of music. I've done classical, jazz, rap, pop, rock, salsa, 80s hits, and more. Usually, you don't see a marching band have music on them as they perform on the field. At certain points while practicing, they will! Almost all music performed is memorized, but while learning dots, a marcher will have something called a lyre. This is a little folder that holds the music and attaches to the instrument. This allows them to write notes to help them remember where to go and when.

Basic Field Things

The side you're playing towards is called the front sideline. The other one is called the back sideline or back field. If you're gonna face the endzones, most band directors just say "face the endzones." There are also marks where they set the footballs to begin play. These are called hash marks. They're used to figure out where you stand, but otherwise aren't really relevant.

Instruments

Instruments used in marching band aren’t the same as the ones used for concert band. As I said, Drum Corps are made of brass, percussion, and color guard. Marching bands, on the other hand, also include woodwinds. The Marching AU is a sort of mix between both a drum corp and marching band organization, so it’s based on my experiences in marching band but set up with as much of my knowledge of drum corps as it can be.

In other words, it’s mainly based on what I’ve experienced but it’s only brass, percussion, and guard, no woodwinds. Sorry to everyone who wanted to see their fave play a woodwind in this AU. It's unfortunately not happening.

Brass Instruments

High Brass

High brass is called as such because they have higher ranges of notes they can play in the overall scheme of things. This is similar to violins, sopranos and tenors, and flutes, just specifically within the brass section.

Trumpet

Alright, we’re starting off with the instrument I play for marching band (no this isn’t biased, what are you talking about).

Here's a cropped version of me holding mine during a game day section group pic. Don't mind the scribbled out school logo:

Trumpets often are given the melody of the song, though they are sometimes given accompanying parts (like if you're playing a song that's on the radio that uses trumpets for small fanfares, you bet you're gonna be playing the fanfare instead of the melody for that song). Trumpets are easy to hear amongst the band since they are bright and high. I love it but some people are a lil biased against us because certain people really love playing high every chance they get.

Marching French Horn/Mellophone

Fun fact! I also play the French horn for concert band. However, for marching band, things are a little bit different. French horns, normally, have the horn face the back. But when you're on a football field, you need it to face to front. As a result, they made a type of French horn that faces the front to march with! A mellophone can also be used. For the sake of simplicity, they are pretty much the same, you just use different types of mouthpieces, amongst a few other small differences.

Bands who don't have marching French horns have mellophones and they sound very similar. They are good blending instruments aka they can play at the same time as a variety of instruments. French horns are grouped with high brass because they can play high, though they also could fit in with the low brass, depending on the song.

John Williams likes to use a lot of horn in his pieces, and not just as off-beats or long tones (what we normally get). Horn players like John Williams :)

Low Brass

Similarly to how high brass plays high, low brass is made up of instruments that play on the lower end of the range. In orchestras, instruments with similar ranges are cellos and basses. For voices, this is like altos and (also) basses.

Baritone

In concert band, we have something called a euphonium. It looks like a mini-tuba, in a sense. (Tuba and euphonium players, pls don't @ me.) Baritones are essentially the marching version of a euphonium. Or at least that's how it was explained to me. This is what it looks like:

Much like a marching French horn, the bell is facing front instead of a different direction (up in this case). Also, this picture makes it look small. It is not. It is twice as tall as a trumpet and twice as heavy. Sometimes they get the melody, but when they do, it can be tied to the rest of the low brass. They often play various accompanying parts or long notes.

Trombone

Trombones! The only brass instrument with one giant slide instead of valves (aka the button things) to press. They're pretty cool. Often, when the low brass gets the melody, these guys are loud and ready. They also play a lot of accompanying parts and long notes. They also have the ability to do something fun called a glissando which is kinda like when you brush your hand up and down a piano except it's a wind instrument.

These peeps also get to do something fun called a trombone suicide, on occasion. Don't worry, the goal is that nobody actually dies. It's just a cool trick that involves bending and twisting over each others' heads to wow people. I'm not describing it very well. Here's a link to CSU doing it about a decade ago to help: here.

Contra

The most massive instrument you'll ever see on a football field: a contrabass bugle aka the marching tuba aka a contra. These things are MASSIVE. Imagine a tuba. Now imagine carrying it all on one shoulder while marching. Boom. One of the most impressive things you'll ever witness and they're not even marching yet.

(This is the contra section from 2013 Carolina Crown aka one of the DCI corps.)

Many bands opt for sousaphones instead. They're the tubas that wrap around your body. Both my high school and college use them. But DCI uses contras, so this AU has contras. Go them! Much like the rest of low brass, expect them to be loud and excited when they get the melody. You can only play so many long notes before you go crazy. They deserve it.

Percussion

Percussion is split into two groups: drumline and pit. Some bands don't have a pit (like my high school). Most do, though, and we'll include them in this AU.

Drumline

For some reason, the most popular part of the band. Like, no matter what, if the drumline performs, the crowd goes crazy, even if they slept through the halftime show. Idk, it's odd to me. But drumline members are pretty cool.

There are multiple types of drums in a drumline: bass, snare, tenor/quads. There are also cymbal players. Basses are the only ones that come in different sizes. They also make slightly different pitches.

Drumline's main job is to help keep the band on beat and also to sound really super cool. They also get to do fun tricks with their sticks (or with the cymbals) because their instruments are attached to a harness that lets them use both their arms to play.

Pit

Ah, the pit. Sometimes also known as the front ensemble. The people in the marching band who are playing instrument but not doing any marching. Gotta love them. They play a variety of instruments you usually see in a concert band. Most of them tend to be mallet instruments (aka things like marimbas or xylophones or vibes).

Many DCI shows will have a drumline and a pit feature (whether or not those are separate depends) because they're that cool. Sometimes, they bring in instruments not usually used in pit for added affect like electric guitars or recorders.

Here's the Bluecoats pit performing off-field. It looks pretty much the same thing on field, just with the rest of the band behind them.

Color Guard

Have you ever noticed people waving flags around on the field? That's the color guard! That's pretty simply what they do: dance and march with flags to the music the band plays. They can also use a variety of other things like sabres (aka fake swords), rifles (also fake, lol), ribbons, hula hoops, and whatever else the color guard director desires.

Sometimes instead of a color guard, there's a drill team. This just means a dance team that may or may not use pom poms. Other times, the color guard itself dances to the music. They are given additional roles to unfurl giant flags over the band at times and add a lot to the show.

(For one of my favorite guard performances, check out Drum Corpse Bride by The Academy. Here's a bad action shot of it:)

and now, onto...

Uniforms

Most band uniforms are pretty forward, even if they have silly names. You always have a base layer. This is usually something everyone has access to, such as a band shirt (that may or may not showcase that year's show) and some sort of shorts or pants.

Then comes the pants. Fun fact! They're actually overall-like things, and they're called bibbers. They usually zip in the front and have adjustable leg lengths.

Then comes the jacket. Pretty straight forward. Zippers are often hidden and depending on how complicated the zippers and various clasps to keep it closed and tidy are on it depends on how likely you are to need someone to help you zip up.

Many bands put pieces of fabric on the arms of the uniform over the jacket. These are called gauntlets. Yes, like the armor piece. Vague military history and all that. All bands will use gloves as well.

Next comes the hat. It's called a shako and the feathers that stick out of it are called a plume. The plume is detachable, so you can wear the shako without it. All hair must be tucked into the shako at all times it is worn. Don't worry, there's an adjustable string inside to help it stay on your head properly and find the room for hair. There's also an adjustable chin strap.

Marching shoes do indeed exist. They have a rounded heel to help you (supposedly) roll step better. They're very durable since they have to go through a lot, lol. When practicing, marchers just use tennis shoes, though.

Some uniforms have capes that'll attach. Others will have shakos that look more like helmets than hats. It all depends! That's the fun part. Drum major uniforms will also look different than the bands' uniforms. Often, this is with the color of the bibbers, but not always.

Color Guard uniforms are a lot like dance costumes, in a sense, with leggings. They can also use a type of marching shoe or jazz shoes. Their uniform will either match the show's theme or look similar to the band's uniform.

This is the Sand Torrents' uniform. It's pretty standard for a marching uniform. If you'd like to check out the shako and/or the rest of the uniforms in this AU, check under the marching au tag!

Miscellaneous Band and Music Terms

Call Time: The time you're expected to be there. For rehearsals, this usually means ready to begin warmups on the field. For performances, this usually means in full uniform

Drill: When used as "the drill" this just means the show and the specifics within it. Could also be used to refer to the drill chart. It depends on context

Visuals: Any fancy stuff added to the drill. This could be lunges, dancing, horn flashes (aka moving your instrument to a different angle) and so on

Horn angle: Instruments must be held at 10 degrees above parallel to help the sound travel better

Block: To be in block means to spread out on the yard lines to go over basics

Basics: Quite literally the basic skills of marching. These can be used as warm ups once they've been mastered. They're used to help make sure step sizes are right, that everyone remembers how to do different moves correctly and so on

Slides: How you stay facing front while marching sideways

Cleaning the drill: Making sure everyone's marching is looking good and making the shapes its supposed to

Parade Rest: Much like military parade rest, not quite attention but not at ease.

Attention: Ready to play at a moment's notice. This involves the top of wind instruments being perpendicular to the ground and hands in position to play

->->->->Without instruments, attention is having your right hand over your left with your arms at a 90 degree angle. This is how you march when you're learning the show without your instrument yet.

Horns Up: Bringing the instruments up into playing position

Horns Down: Bringing the instruments down from playing position and back into attention

Relax/At Ease: No longer being obligated to stand at parade rest or attention. Do whatever you want (within reason... please pay attention).

Competitions: Much like competitions for other events, bands are judged and given feedback. Awards are usually given for best overall, best sound, best marching, best drumline, and best color guard

Rehearsal: Practice time :)

Set: A lowkey way to call the band to attention ("You should be set"). OR the movement from one place on the field to another. Basically, a subset of the music

And that's everything! Thank you for reading this gigantic article of a post. Hopefully that'll be enough to get you through the Marching AU with some knowledge! And don't worry, it's not a quiz -- you can always refer back to this as you read.

If you have any further questions, feel free to ask! Whether as a comment, a legit ask, or a dm, I am always down to answer questions about marching band!

[ourshadowstallerthanoursoul]

On this day... - April 3rd

On this day Led Zeppelin performed:

+ 1970 : Macon Coliseum in Macon, Georgia, USA

“The group played with brilliance and endurance which far surpassed the performance it gave at last summer’s Atlanta Pop Festival. This was due to the Macon crowd’s enthusiasm, from which Led Zeppelin seemed to draw its own enthusiasm. […] When they had finished, the crowd hadn’t and was screaming louder than ever. They reciprocated with a massive rendition of Whole Lotta Love, with Plant on organ. Georgia has never seen the like” - ‘Zeppelin Concert – Macon crowd goes wild’, S. Fair

+ 1977 : The Myriad in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA

“Led Zeppelin throbbed with a vengeance Sunday night at the Myriad Convention center. Britain’s notorious heavy-metal virtuosos masterfully assaulted the capacity crowd with a hit-packed program accentuated with lengthy and frequent solos. […] The group is remarkably tight musically and appears in as good form as ever, searing and thunderously loud. It’s brutal, aggressive and embodies a paganistic rawness. That “aura” surrounds them completely. Zeppelin fans know what the group is capable of and demand it Sunday with almost masochistic pleasure.” - ‘Hit-packed Zeppelin throbs at Myriad’ by P. Upton, Daily Oklahoman

[thetorturedtassetdepartment]

From Celtic to Popular Music

Hi everyone!

Today, as a nod to Negus’ chapter on geographies, I’m excited to write about my region: Brittany! More specifically, I’ll show how Breton and Celtic folk music can be incorporated into popular music.

Before diving into the topic, here’s a quick reminder: we learned in the ‘Politiques Linguistiques’ class that Brittany is a region where many Celtic populations from the British Isles settled during the Middle Ages and beyond, making Brittany one of the six Celtic nations. These migrant populations naturally imported traditions like music, which became central to Brittany’s identity. If you’re curious about experiencing Celtic culture, the Festival Interceltique is an annual event in Lorient (Brittany) celebrating Celtic traditions. I’ve been there during the summer and can assure you that it’s a great opportunity to meet some nice people and discover Celtic dances and music!

Now, let’s go back to the topic. You certainly all know the Breton-inspired song “La Tribu de Dana” by Manau. This song is a perfect example of how folk music can be adopted into popular music. The band blends Breton musical elements with rap to create a unique sound that pays homage to Brittany. The song tells the story of a fictional Celtic warrior from the ‘Tribu de Dana’ and uses traditional Breton instruments, such as the 'biniou' (a type of bagpipe) and the 'bombarde' (a traditional wind instrument). "La Tribu de Dana" has been released in the album Panique Celtique (the title says it all), and was a massive success far beyond Brittany. It earned the diamond single status in France and now counts over 100 million views on YouTube. This shows how adapting folk elements to wider tastes can help the traditional music thrive in the music industry.

This use of folk in popular music isn’t unique to Brittany, it’s a common trend across the Celtic world. Therefore, we can find other examples of this process through the English-speaking world. For instance, the band Dropkick Murphys follows a similar approach in their music. One of their most popular hits is “Rose Tattoo,” in which they use bagpipes and accordion. Although based in the USA, the band celebrates their Irish roots. Like Manau, their goal is to share Celtic folk traditions with wider audiences by blending them with modern genres such as rock or punk.

Therefore, the use of Breton and Celtic elements in popular music shows how traditional folk elements can transcend boundaries and stay relevant today. These songs allow the preservation of the Celtic heritage while introducing it to wider audiences, and I really think it’s amazing!

I’d love to know your opinion on the subject! What do you think about democratizing folk music? Do you know any other Breton or Celtic-inspired songs? Let me know!

Have a nice week!

Lucile

[louisupdates]

It is confirmed that Louis Tomlinson will play at the Sziget Festival in Budapest, 7->12 Aug 2024.

LINK TO LOUIS’ PAGE

Louis Tomlinson is a singer and songwriter from Doncaster, UK. As a member of One Direction, Louis was part of one of the biggest musical groups of all time. Now solo, Louis is following his heart musically.

Following the international success of his 2020 debut album, Walls, 2022 saw Louis release his second album, Faith In The Future. The acclaimed album went to No.1 in the UK, Spain and Belgium and Top 5 in the USA, Australia, New Zealand and across Europe, with combined sales of 2million+ across both albums. Following the release of Faith In The Future, Louis embarked on a huge 100 date global tour spanning most of 2023, visiting North America, Europe, United Kingdom & Ireland with Asia, Australia and South America to come in 2024. Louis has also announced a run of festivals appearances through summer 2024.

During 2023 Louis released his critically acclaimed feature length documentary, All Of Those Voices, which hit cinemas in over 60 countries, and featured global red carpet premieres in Tokyo, London, Mexico City and a live streamed event from Los Angeles. Autumn 2023 saw the Documentary launch on streaming exclusively on Paramount+ globally.

In 2021, Louis was listed in the Guinness Book Of World Records for breaking the record for the most livestreamed concert by a solo male artist, hosting one of the biggest live stream concert events ever held, selling over 160,000 tickets to fans in over 110 countries and raising funds for several important charities and touring crew affected by the pandemic.

Following the huge success of the festival’s 2021 debut, August also saw the return of Louis’ highly successful self-curated event, The Away From Home Festival. The one-day event was staged last year at the stunning Marenostrum Fuengirola in Malaga, Spain, hosting 18,000 fans and selling out in just 24 hours with a line-up of some of the best new British bands. This year saw Louis take the festival to the coast of Italy, hosting it in Lido Di Camaiore, with Blossoms, The Cribs and HotWax headlining the bill in the lead up to his own performance to close out the festival.

[louistomlinsoncouk]

Louis Tomlinson has dropped a surprise album ‘Live’ – featuring songs that he recorded at 15 shows across 15 different cities.

Announced and shared yesterday (April 25), the album comes after the singer and former One Direction member embarked on two world tours over the past three years – playing just shy of 200 shows globally.

Now, a variety of performances from both tours – the ‘Louis Tomlinson World Tour’ and the ‘Faith in the Future World Tour’ – have been compiled into a new live album, which is available now.

Fifteen songs are included in the tracklist, and each was recorded in a different city, at a different show from across the three-year run. The album comes in both digital and physical formats, and features his singles including ‘Bigger Than Me’, ‘We Made It, ‘Walls’ and ‘Out Of My System’, alongside fan favourite album tracks, all released live for the very first time.

“I’ve been lucky enough to spend the last 3 years touring the world twice over. The feeling I get sharing those live moments will be with me forever,” Tomlinson said in a statement. “To be able to record these songs from all over the world and put them out as an album like this feels so special, and a real tribute to the fans who make each and every show feel unique and incredible. Thank you! Enjoy!”

There are four exclusive tracks split between the physical editions of ‘Live’, including a special version of the One Direction classic ‘Where Do Broken Hearts Go’ – which is available only on the double CD.

Accompanying video clips of compiled tour footage will be shared on Louis’s social channels to support the release, showcasing a glimpse into his past three years on the road and 170 performances.

At time of writing, Tomlinson has shared two huge solo albums since departing from One Direction. His debut album arrived in the firm of 2020’s ‘Walls’, which has sold over 1.5 million copies, and the follow-up was called ‘Faith In The Future’. The latter went to Number One in the UK, Spain and Belgium, and Top 5 in the USA, Australia, New Zealand and across Europe.

Since May last year, Tomlinson has been on his ‘Faith In The Future World Tour’, which hits South America next month for its final leg. From there, the vocalist has a number of festival appearances lined up for the summer. Find remaining tickets to his shows here.

In other Louis Tomlinson news, earlier this week the singer, alongside Courteeners and English Teacher, were among the acts to be honoured at the first-ever Northern Music Awards.

The inaugural ceremony was hosted by the UK’s largest music therapy charity, Nordoff And Robbins and took place at the Albert Hall in Manchester; celebrating northern artists, festivals, venues and industry figures. The event saw Tomlinson named as Artist Of The Year.

[fy-girls-generation]

USA SUMMER TOUR 2024 in CHICAGO - North Coast Music Festival 💨🩵

[4typercent]

Tagged by @zzoomacroom my musical muse & my country cousin @sans--seraph

I used to work at TNSE, if you know what and where that is, it helps. I did Venue Security there, I have met wrestlers, monster tuck drivers, Disney On Ice skaters, Disney singers (Moana), basketball players, current and retired NHL players and coaches, and of course: bands.

• Frint Row: I usually buy the "nose bleeds", but since I know so many people that still work for TNSE, I can usually squeeze onto the floor.

• Own a band tee: I have almost four dozen band tees.

• Made a mix tape: remember recording songs off the radio? I do. I did this.

• Have a crush on an artist: Have you seen Serg Tankian from SOAD or Vessel from Sleep Token? Oh myyy

• Like Rock & Roll: I lean more towards metal, but rock is a good basis of where it started for me

• Hate a band everyone loves: I hate top 40 stuff.

• Own a vinyl: I have a few, but yes.

• Guitar pick: I have picks from Anthrax, Shinedown and a few more

• Play a musical instrument: ocarina, guitar and percussion

• Met an artist or band: too many to list honestly.

• Like disco: man! Disco rocks!

• Been to a festival: I'm attending (as in not working) Sick New World in late April, but I have worked two Summer Of Sounds

• Own an iPod: Dood, I still have my 30gb iPod. It works... kinda.

• Own concert memorabilia: I have a towel from Slipkot, the members used it and tossed it into the crowd. I caught it and was offered $100 for it.

• Have a tattoo in honour of an artist: 👉👈 Yes. I have a Metallica 'ninja star' and the cover of The Wraith by ICP

• Dedicated a song to someone: I dedicated "I Hope You Dance" by to everyone.

• Backstage at a show: unfortunately. It is NOT exciting. I was also working... My favourite show was (oddly) Backstreet Boys. I had to escort them to the Green Room.

• Like Blues Music: You know what? It's not bad!

• Own a CD: 😂 You're kidding, right?! But seriously, I have all of Metallica's stuff, and all of System Of A Down's stuff, I absolutely love my Burn The Priest CD, and I have most of Godsmack's stuff (one signed!) & some Shinedown (signed!)

• Travelled to another country for a show: Absolutely. I saw The Romantics and Trace Adkins in the US and probably a few more, but drinks will make me forget..., and as I've mentioned, I'm going to Sick New World this April in Vegas. It counts cuz I'm not from the ol USA. 😉

Tagging... damn... uhhh @aceflorins @aquilathefighter @thwippersnapple @shadow-schemer @threefill @invadericee @tryan-a-bex @carnelianmeluha @marlowe-zara @missmacfire @brightlyandwithbeautyy & whoever else would love to jump in, I'm far too drunk to tag y'all 🥂

[kimludcom]

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[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 8.26

Holidays

Alice Doesn’t Day

Animal Farm Day

Battle of Manzikert Anniversary Day (Turkey)

Congressional Startup Day

826 Day

First Thnork of the Year (Fairy)

Herero Day (a.k.a. Red Flag Day; Namibia)

Heroes’ Day (Namibia)

Horseshoe Day

International Content Creators Day

International Cosplay Day

International Day Against Dengue

International Hausa Day

Jamaat-e-Islami Foundation Day

Jay Report Anniversary Day (UK)

Kantanka Day (Ghana)

Kneel in Protest Day

Liquorice Day (French Republic)

Make Your Own Luck Day

Musical Yoga Day

National Black Family Business Day

Namibia Day (a.k.a. Heroes’ Day; UN)

National Day of Solidarity (Argentina)

National Dog Day

National Got Checked Day

National Honey Bee Awareness Day

National Kelly Day

National Logan Day

National MINI Wave to Friends (WTF) Day

National Ranboo Day

National Toilet Paper Day

National WebMistress Day

Our Lady of Czestochowa (Poland)

Paul Anka Day (Ottawa, Canada)

Pieta Day

Repentance Day (Papua New Guinea)

Slash Day

Spark the World Day

StartUp Day

Toilet Paper Day

Tvimanuor (Double Month; Iceland)

Typewriter Day

Winter Heliotrope Day

Women's Equality Day

World Painted Dog Day

WTF (Wave to Friends) Day (Mini USA)

Food & Drink Celebrations

Cherry Popsicle Day

Eat Dessert First Day

424 Day (Oklahoma)

National McChicken Day

Independence & Related Days

!9th Amendment Certified (Giving Women the Right to Vote; US; 1920)

Official Recognition Day (Abkhazia)

4th & Last Monday in August

Araw ng mga Bayani (National Heroes’ Day; Philippines) [Last Monday]

August/Summer Bank Holiday (UK) [Last Monday]

International Day of Cyber Attack Ceasefire [Last Monday]

Liberation Day (Hong Kong) [Last Monday]

Meatless Monday [Last Monday of Each Month]

Meditation Monday [Every Monday]

Mellow Monday [4th Monday of Each Month]

Monday Musings [Every Monday]

Moody Monday [Last Monday of Each Month]

Motivation Monday [Every Monday]

Motorist Consideration Monday [Monday of Be Kind to Humankind Week]

Mushroom Monday [4th Monday of Each Month]

National Heroes’ Day (Philippines) [Last Monday]

Notting Hill Carnival (UK) [Last Monday & day before]

Ould Lammas Fair (Ireland) [Last Mondday]

Social Justice Day (Antarctica) [4th Monday]

Weekly Holidays beginning August 26 (4th Full Week of August)

National Composites Week (thru 8.30)

National Safe at Home Week (thru 8.30)

Festivals Beginning August 26, 2024

Alaska’s Midnight Sun Great Pumpkin Weigh-Off (Palmer, Alaska)

Leeds West Indian Carnival (Leeds, United Kingdom)

Odense International Film Festival (Odense, Denmark) [thru 9.1]

US Open Tennis Championships (New York, United States) [thru 9.8]

Feast Days

Adrian and Natalia of Nicomedia (Eastern Orthodox Church)

Adrian of Nicomedia (Greek Feast Day) [brewers]

Alexander of Bergamo (Roman Catholic Church)

Bernardino Poccetti (Artology)

Brant Parker (Artology)

Ceferino Namuncurá (Christian; Saint)

Christopher Isherwood (Writerism)

David Lewis (Christian; Blessed)

Dichetul Do Chennaib (Celtic Book of Days)

Elizabeth Bichier des Ages (Christian; Saint & Virgin)

Feast of Our Lady of Czestochowa (Poland)

The First Thnork of the Year (Shamanism)

Gelasinus (Christian; Saint)

Genesius of Arles (Christian; Saint)

Genesius the Comedian (Christian; Saint)

Guillaume Apollinaire (Writerism)

Ilmater (Finnish Goddess of the Water Mother)

Jeanne-Elisabeth Bichier des Ages (Christian; Saint)

John Buchan (Writerism)

Julio Cortázar (Writerism)

Kirby and Jeffy (Muppetism)

Krishna Rebirth Midnight Mass (Hindu; Everyday Wicca)

Lizzie Borden Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Mariam Baouardy (Melkite Greek Catholic Church)

Martha Darley Mutrie (Artology)

Melchizedek (Christian; Saint)

Ninian (Christian; Saint)

Our Lady of Częstochowa (Christian; Saint)

Robert Vickrey (Artology)

Rufino Tamayo (Artology)

Simplicius, Constantius and Victorinus (Christian; Saints)

Teresa Jornet Ibars (Christian; Saint)

Teresa of Ávila (Christian; Saint)

Usuki Stone Buddhas Fire Festival (Japan)

Vancanson (Positivist; Saint)

Women’s Equality Day (Pastafarian)

Yoshida no Hi Matsuri (End of Mt. Fuji climbing season; Japan)

Zephyrinus, Pope (Christian; Martyr)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Lucky Day (Philippines) [47 of 71]

Taian (大安 Japan) [Lucky all day.]

Premieres

An American in Paris (Film; 1951)

Bodyguard (BBC TV Series; 2018)

The Bookworm and the Raven (MGM Cartoon; 1939)

Bosko’s Picture Show (WB LT Cartoon; 1933)

Boy in Darkness, by Mervyn Peake (Novella; 1956) [Gormenghast #5]

Colombiana (Film; 2011)

Crossing Delancey (Film; 1988)

Cup of Gold, by John Steinbeck (Novel; 1929)

Detouring America (WB MM Cartoon; 1939)

Dog Gone South (WB MM Cartoon; 1950)

Elijah, by Felix Mendelssohn (Oratorio; 1846)

Eragon, by Christopher Paolini (Novel; 2002)

Fire and Ice (Animated Film; 1983)

Flying Fists (MGM Cartoon; 1930)

Hey Jude, by The Beatles (Song; 1968)

Lamb in His Bosom, by Caroline Miller (Novel; 1933)

Leisure, by Blur (Album; 1991)

Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (Film; 1983)

Natural Born Killers (Film; 1994)

The New Mutants (Film; 2020)

Our Idiot Brother (Film; 2011)

The Reckless Driver (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1946)

7th Heaven (TV Series; 1996)

Strange Brew (Film; 1983)

String Bean Jack (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1938)

Sunshine Superman, by Donovan (Album; 1966)

Tennis Racquet (Disney Cartoon; 1949)

Those Were the Days, by Mary Hopkin (Song; 1968)

Three Thousand Years of Longing (Film; 2022)

To Catch a Woodpecker (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1957)

We’re in the Money (WB MM Cartoon; 1933)

Your Name (Anime Film; 2016)

Today’s Name Days

Gregor, Margareta, Mirian, Teresa (Austria)

Adrian, Adriana, Adriyan, Adriyana, Natali, Nataliya (Bulgaria)

Aleksandar, Branimir, Melkisedek (Croatia)

Luděk (Czech Republic)

Ienæus (Denmark)

Hilma, Ilma, Ilmatar, Ilme, Ilmi (Estonia)

Ilma, Ilmatar, Ilmi (Finland)

Natacha (France)

Margarita, Miriam, Patricia, Teresa (Germany)

Adrianos, Natalia (Greece)

Izsó (Hungary)

Alessandro, Oronzo (Italy)

Broņislava, Broņislavs, Glauda, Natālija, Nate (Latvia)

Aleksandras, Algintė, Gailius, Zefirinas (Lithuania)

Eivind, Even, Øyvind (Norway)

Dobroniega, Joanna, Konstanty, Maksym, Maria, Wiktorian, Zefir, Zefiryn, Zefiryna (Poland)

Samuel (Slovakia)

Teresa (Spain)

Östen (Sweden)

Andrian, Andriana, Natalia (Ukraine)

Percival, Percy, Travis, Trevis, Trevon, Trevor (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 239 of 2024; 127 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 1 of Week 35 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Coll (Hazel) [Day 24 of 28]

Chinese: Month 7 (Ren-Shen), Day 23 (Ren-Xu)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 22 Av 5784

Islamic: 20 Safar 1446

J Cal: 29 Purple; Eighthday [29 of 30]

Julian: 13 August 2024

Moon: 50%: 3rd Quarter

Positivist: 14 Gutenberg (9th Month) [Vaucanson]

Runic Half Month: Rad (Motion) [Day 4 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 68 of 94)

Week: 4th Full Week of August

Zodiac: Virgo (Day 5 of 32)

[eurovision-revisited]

Eurovision 2004 - Number 36 - Kristina Oberzan - "Mavrica"

Kristina Oberžan is an unlikely singer to have performed at EMA. She's a saxophonist and jazz singer from Krasinec who in 2004 is part-way through a course in Berklee College of Music in Boston in the USA. For this year's EMA she's be recruited to sing a song by Milan Ferlež - guitarist and tamburitza player, and long time musician in the Slovenian jazz scene.

He'd already written one song for a Eurovision candidate... ...in 1976. He was credited as the writer of Šepet poletnih trav (Whisper of Summer Grasses) for Oto Pestner at the Opatja Festival that served as Yugoslavia's selection final in that year. That is the only Eurovision or national final experience that anyone on this song has.

So what is this song? Mavrica (A Rainbow) is a mellow dalliance that kicks off with a gentle flute and rhythms from bongos and maracas. There's a guitar (possibly Milan) and a bowed bass and a soft trumpet and a string section. This is the smoothest of jazz from the most laid back jazz orchestra you can imagine. It's so relaxed, it's almost Portuguese. That smoothness hides all sorts of intricacies and embellishments over which Kristina's voice drifts in no hurry. She only wants to take in the rainbow and it's making her happy.

There have been other jazz songs at national finals in the past, but I can't remember one that's in this style. Even though Kristina is the credited artist, this is much more of a jazz ensemble to which all of the players contributes a line woven through the whole. You can listen to this multiple times and follow what one instrument is doing and find something new.

Even though this is so out of the expected envelope when it comes to national finals, it still managed to garner enough televotes to finish fourth in its heat. This year the top three made it through to the final with the jury able to select their favourite from the remaining entrants. You might have expected a jury to go for this given the musicianship on display, but no. They left it in the semi-final and thus the only YouTube record of it is a still of a pixelated mug rather than video.

That is a missed opportunity. If you've read any more of my picks from the previous years, you'll know that I value variety in a national final almost above everything else, and Mavrica gives that. There is nothing else like it.

Experiment over, Kristina finished her studies and went on to have a career with several other bands. She has given many performances at festivals and on stages with big bands, jazz bands and even rock bands on occasion. One of her bands was called Yellow, Green and More which is one of the best band names in this, a year of amazing band names throughout the national finals.

She continues to sing, in fact here's a performance of hers from less than a month ago at the time of writing. Kristina Oberžan sings Molitva za Magdalenu

[scotianostra]

 Happy Birthday Scottish singersongwriter  KT Tunstall

Edinburgh born singer-songwriter KT Tunstall is one of Scotland's most successful musicians having sold over six million albums worldwide.

Kate “KT” Victoria Tunstall was born on this day 1975,  her birth mother was a  Hong Kong-born exotic dancer, who put her up for adoption her parents David and Rosemary Tunstall adopted her and raised her in St Andrews, she has always been aware that she was adopted. 

Strangely enough for a musician of her magnitude, KT Tunstall did not grow up in a musical household. Her parents’ only tape was a Tom Lehrer album on tape, leading Tunstall to discover the world of music entirely on her own , but it didn’t hold her back, KT was musical from an early age, learning to play piano, flute and guitar as a teenager.

KT moved to the USA, hungry for experiences and independence, she gained a scholarship to Kent School in Connecticut, New England. Whilst out there KT spent time on a hippy commune and formed her first band, The Happy Campers, she also spent a lot of time on busking in Burlington, Vermont.

After her time in the U.S she enrolled in a  music course at Royal Holloway College in London, before finally moving back to St Andrews, she joined a group of folk musicians from around the East Neuk  called The Fence Collective, which included the very talented Kenny Anderson aka King Creosote, in time she decided folk music was not for her and went on her way.

She began writing projects with Swedish songwriter/producer Martin Terefe and London-based Orcadian Jimmy Hogarth and London’s Tommy D. She started work on her debut album with her new band and legendary U2/New Order/Happy Monday’s producer Steve Osborne at the helm. ‘Eye to the Telescope’ saw her whittle down a massive catalogue of over 100 songs to just 12.

Luck played a part in her big break when due to another artist pulling out she appeared on  'Later With Jools Holland’ performing ‘Black Horse and the Cherry Tree’ it went on to become one of the most played songs of the summer. Her double platinum selling debut album 'Eye to the Telescope’ was nominated for the prestigious Mercury Prize. 

KT has now had 6 top 20 albums, the latest, Wax was in 2018, it reached number 6 in Scotland and 15 in the UK charts, her new album, Nut, is due out in September.

I remember her being interviewed on The Proclaimers, This is the Story documentary in 2017, where she chose their excellent song Scotland’s Story, commenting “Scotland’s Story just really struck me as quite a different song for them, that they were really saying something incredibly poignant and quite brave. It’s quite a critical song of the way that Scotland’s history is logged.

“Here we are in 2017 and it couldn’t be a more poignant, relevant song for what’s going on in the world and I just thought for right now, it’s an amazing song to sing.”

KT  has suffered hearing problems since 20n July 2021, she announced that she was having to pull out of her summer tour dates and permanently avoid lengthy runs of closely consecutive performances, citing issues with her right ear which were "exactly how the breakdown of my left ear began"  In July 2021, she announced that she was having to pull out of her summer tour dates and permanently avoid lengthy runs of closely consecutive performances, citing issues with her right ear which were "exactly how the breakdown of my left ear began"   Hearing problems have always been a worry to her; her brother  was profoundly deaf since

KT is touring just now, dates are all over the world, North America next month, then back home, she will n=be in Ireland, England and back in Scotland for the Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival.

The song is a duet of Caledonia with Alan Cumming.