Two Wounded Birds are a hot new band coming out of the south east; so interest in the band from us was always going to happen. The bands lead man Colin Halliwell writes,sings,plays the drums,piano & organ on the tracks that they recently recorded (songs can be found on their myspace, link below) and Ally Blackgrove who plays bass.

The band are looking set for big things with the tracks on myspace already racking up hundreds of hits. Expect more news relating to Two Wounded Birds over the next few weeks including updates on gigs and any new tracks recorded.

Take a few minutes to check out their myspace, they can also be found on facebook. (Myspace|Facebook).

The group will also be having a track played on BBC Radio Kent tonight at 8pm so tune in, check out and text the show with your thoughts.

you can listen to BBC radio Kent tonight at 8pm by tuning in to 96.7 & 104.2FM on DAB or Online at www.bbc.co.uk/kent

Hey all,

The forums are now open click the forums link above to visit, please sign up and start posting as we would love to hear about your festival trips and gig visits! We also want all you bloom legends to join up as it would be great to hear from you all!

See you on the forums!

We would just like to thank everyone at Bloom for making this weekend one of the best southeastgigs has experienced despite the weather! Would like to give a shout to Bob and his two sons Albert and Joe. Along with everyone that spread the southeast love with the “can’t dance like me” slogan. We will have t-shirts available very soon so send in your “…..can’t dance like me” requests to mail@southeastgigs.com, they will be £19.99 including postage.

We will have the gallery up within the next day or two along with some videos, which features an amazing crimp!. Keep locked in. pz.

As you can see the site is now starting to fill up with vital information on upcoming festivals. We are also expanding our review catalog and have teamed up with page8.co.uk to bring you even more reviews. Our next few festivals are Bloom Festival & Get Loaded In The Park so watch out for full reviews and media on both of them events.

Remember we are giving away two tickets for bloom festival, all you need to do is join the facebook group. The draw will be made on wednesday so hurry up and join! spread the word! We will also be launching a message board so check back often for information regarding that.

Featuring : Roni Size Reprasents, Stereo MC’s, Roisin Murphy, The Presets, Brand New Heavies & MORE!

The dates for Bloom 2008 are confirmed as Friday 8th to Sunday 10th August. The site has been confirmed as being at Seven Springs, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

Bloom describes itself as “a boutique festival of cultured electronic beats and bass”. Expect around four arenas with a blend of up-and-coming and established groups, artists, DJs and labels. Sounds will include music from a plethora of genres including electro, house, hip hop, jazz, funk and drum’n'bass. There’s also comedy and cabaret.

For your chance to win these tickets simply join the facebook group (link on the blue F button on the right hand menu and join the group! These tickets include camping for the weekend! Tell everyone you know to gain more chance of attending this event for free!

With  just  less  than  three  weeks  to go to this  summer s  third  Bloom  festival we have a plethora of new acts to announce to the ever expanding line-up.

Now joining the ranks of Stereo MC s, Reprazent, Roisin Murphy, Ewan Pearson, The Black Seeds and many more we have   the likes of Audio Sculptors, Danny and the Champions of the World, Dom Coyote, Domino State, Duke, Funk from the Trunk, Gloria Cycles, Hit & Run DJs, Jalapeño Soundsystem, Jujuman and the  Program,  Lizzie  Curious,  Mandibles  (The),  May  Contain  Nuts,  Moe  Foe, Rainy and The Dust, Rainy Gai Band, Salon Kitty, Sam  Kills  Two, Scubaroots, Turbowolf, Two Spot Gobi, We Like to Party joining the Bloom party massive with added visual help from Triggerset and Chromatouch.

The Epstein

We headed straight for the Cow Shed on Sunday to see The Epstein playing. Their performance had us glued from the start, and they brought a different element to the afternoon with their infectious beats and sizzling guitar strokes. They are very much a country style band played by a group of very talented multi-instrumentalists offering a variety of sounds. They exhibit some excellent guitar skills and we think Olly Wills’s vocals are comparable to R.E.M with a hint of David Gray; No one song sounds the same and it kept the crowd wanting more.

They decided to include a ‘Dance-off’ in their performance, offering a t-shirt to the winner! Olly Wills the lead singer of The Epstein was really approachable and didn’t hesitate when it came to talking to the crowd and giving out stickers after their set. Unfortunately there wasn’t much of a turn out in the Cow Shed for their performance, but this was the first time we’d heard of them and were really impressed. If you’re looking for something a bit different then definitely check them out.

Natty

The highlight of the weekend for us was definitely Natty, who we saw performing in the Cow Shed on Sunday evening. The huge hollow shed was quickly filled as word spread about Natty’s arrival on the stage with his three-piece band. The 24-year old London boy started off with some of his more upbeat songs such as ‘Bad Man’ and ‘July’ and then slowed it down a bit with ‘Bedroom Eyes’ (in his own words- a song about ‘cotching’ with your girl when the weather is bad outside!) and ‘Say Bye Bye’ which definitely calmed the crowd down but kept them fixated if not a bit teary eyed!

We weren’t really sure what to expect from Natty’s performance as he’s quite new on the scene, but we thought he was amazing and brought something unique to the weekend. His music is a modern take on reggae with a soulful twist and we can’t wait for his album release- ‘Man Like I’ on August 4^th.

The Bees

As the Cow Shed filled up for the show the crowd were left waiting (not for the first time in the day) for the bands roadies to set up a vast amount of classic amps and vintage looking instruments. It gives you a different edge on the show seeing it being set up as you get to see all the hard work and effort that is put in behind the scenes to make it all happen, which is inevitably forgotten.

Usually home to the cows of the farm, the shed this evening was all about another type of animal, The Bees. Lounge on the farm is a different type of music festival to your usual major promotion commercial type that are spread over the summer. In its quaint farm surroundings, folk sets the scene from the small food counters to the wide spectrum of visitors and The Bees slotted in perfectly.

Once the show started we were graced with a near perfect performance from The Bees. Filled with great music, well played instruments and an air of confidence which beamed through the performance. The most interesting part of the show was how the members of the bands seamlessly changed between instruments virtually every song. The Bees are often known for this but to see it live sent a tingle down the crowd’s spine.

They opened the proceedings with ‘Who Cares What the Question Is’ which has a cockney feel, another review I saw mentioned ‘Chas and Dave-esque’ which described it perfectly. They performed tracks from all three of their albums. The Bees were a great addition to the Cow Shed and performing just before The Coral really got the crowd going. 10/10 for the performance, my suggestion would be to headline The Bees on another evening next year.

The Coral

To follow were The Coral who are still in the charts and popular as ever after five albums, their most recent of which Roots & Echoes (August 6, 2007) debuted at #8 in the UK album charts.

However the weeks to follow saw it drop out of the top 50, which was mainly the reason why the band didn’t tour the album greatly. But they are back…without Bill Ryder-Jones who left the band in January 2008, the band has continued as a five piece and what a relief as once again The Coral put on a great show.

They started their set with ‘Who’s Gonna Find Me’ which had an old sounding style but following from that they performed their pop classics ‘In the Morning’ and ‘Pass It On’ which got the whole crowd jumping and singing.

I can see from this performance that The Coral, despite not selling the volumes of albums that they have wanted to over the last few years, still have a lot in the tank. Expect an album release from The Coral and it expect it to be good because I don’t think they are done quite yet.

Overall we had an amazing weekend and were really impressed with the friendly ethos, the appetizing food stalls and most importantly the astounding performances by all.

After visiting lounge on the farm this weekend its easy to see why its called ‘The Bestest Festival’, it was a great weekend and several reviews relating to the event will be up within the next couple of days. We already have a gallery up which is ever expanding so keep checking back for more and more media.

We have also got a LOTF forum in the forum section to discuss LOTF 2008, and post ideas for LOTF 2009 which will be passed onto the event organisers. Sign up now and discuss festivals with other festival fans; The site will be updated within the next few days with full reviews of the festival and the major (and some minor) performances of the weekend.

We also have a festival survival guide which can be found on the right hand menu, hope it helps!