Australia – The Glitterbox Australian tour is a wrap with it’s final 2023 Oz show in Perth! The Australian edition of the tour was a huge success with classic house and disco DJ’s from around the globe coming together to provide an unforgettable night of music and fun – gracing Aussie cities Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth. Prior, the tour also touched down at the Studio on Auckland, New Zealand turf.
Melvo brought funking cool classics to the deck, mixing with head bopping rhythms representing the UK.
Natasha Diggs, Brisbane AU
Simon Dunmore kept the drive with uptempo rolling melodic baselines all the way before handing over to Ms Diggs. Last but certainly not least, the emanating twirl Queen herself Natasha Diggs delivered a smashing set along with an entertaining display of dancing by ‘Lucy Fizz’ and ‘Tete Bang’; accompanied by glitter bombs and abounding fire blasts throughout the night.
The crowd remained in high spirits until close, dancing to tunes that filled the room with feel-good vibes.
The down-under tour delivered by One Hit Agency was a blast, filled with bumping tunes. For disco lovers and house music enthusiasts alike, this event was not to be missed.
Whilst a huge majority of concert goers turned up for headline act Macklemore, every artist delivered their unique engagement with the audience. Hit dropped after hit familiar to every mainstream radio listener. Whether you were a die hard fan or not, the atmosphere was buzzing.
In no particular order we’ve highlighted the hottest performances in our opinion.
Shaggy won the audience over
Arguably, the king of hybrid reggae, Shaggy was the first household name to ignite hype with his powerful stage presence performing radio hits Bombastic, It Wasn’t Me and Angel. Some fans were expecting him to sing more saying “Shaggy had amazing energy, but would start the first chorus then got the crowd to sing most of it which was a let down.“ Nevertheless, Shaggy won over a sea of hearts with evident crowd response throughout the stadium.
Although Shaggy is known for his classic and tongue in cheek sing along hits, nominated with seven Grammy Awards, winning two for Best Reggae Album, he’s been also focusing on making music with a message, addressing personal matters in his life. In 2018 he collaborated with the legendary Sting on an album called 44/786 (named after their respective country codes). Their music wasn’t easily classified and some fans were confused by the duo. Nevertheless it spent seven weeks at No.1 on the Billboard Reggae Chart, and they took pride in the fact that their music was a mash up of genres.
Shaggy recently dropped a new album called “Com Fly Wid Mi,” featuring a Frank Sinatra classic, “Fly Me to the Moon.” It’s an easy listening vibe with a jazz, holiday and reggae influence, perfect for the fast approaching holiday season.
Baltimore group Dru Hill were on set earlier in the evening singing soul, gospel and hip hop anthems with their 7 members. With dozens of top 40 hits including In My Bed, Never Make a Promise and How Deep is Your Love, the group showcased suave choreography with lead singer Sisqo most actively working his famous flips and dance moves. One concert interviewee stated “Dru Hill was the star class act for me, they had that bass added to their songs that made it very festival-like. Production and performance was spot on.”
Prior to Dru Hill, Lumidee kicked off the eve with a short but sweet set. Getting into the groove with her party starter ‘Never Leave You’. Then, the only English representing performer of the festival, singer songwriter and record producer Jay Sean performed his most successful hit “Down” released in 2009. Jay Sean was followed by US artist Jeremih delivering smooth vocals, production and a stage backdrop screen imagery well suited for club banging RnB.
The woman of the night was crowned ‘Ashanti’ who confidently strutted across the stage in a latex yellow neon bodysuit and high ponytail. Possibly too sexy for some, Ashanti looked great and brought positive vibes to the stage. Her set included a number of her hits that the crowd recognised and resonated with.
Akon lifted the night a notch with his undeniable signature auto-tuned vocals. As soon as Smack That, Lonely, I Wanna Love You came on, crowd participation instantly turned into a mass karaoke session. Akon’s energy in his performance was authoritative. This sheer entertainer sure knows how to start a party.
As TLC performed their songs, it was a realisation of how much airtime and influence they’ve had over the sound waves with their songs. When ‘Waterfalls’ dropped, every person in sight seemed to shout along every lyric. The duo still carry their star appeal with Tboz looking super chilled in her choreography, Chilli eased into her slick signature moves over their third late member Lisa Left Eyes rap breaks.
McDonalds sponsored a ‘Maccas Run’ presented by host Fatman scoop, as others enjoyed unlimited complimentary McDonalds iced coffee’s for the entire event.
In general, people seemed to be easy going with a few characters here and there escorted out by security and paramedics. Feedback varied, where some people had the time of their lives, and some say significant improvements could have been made. Overall, it’s a progressive journey to an inspirational movement in Australia, that we would rather have than not. The future for RnB Fridayz Live could be even brighter and better with every year of success.
We want to hear from you! Real experiences of RnB Fridayz Live Australia. Contact us for your feedback.
The SoundBank blessed the grounds of Pop Brixton with a massive footfall of creative geniuses from all over the globe.
A smorgasbord of panelists, artists and industry experts took to the stage to share inside industry tips and talent. If you missed this be sure to get down to the next Digital Creators Music Seminar.
Natori Blue is a singer and writer from the small town of Hearne in Texas, USA. She was brought up in a musical family where she was known for her angelic voice.
With a firm upbringing in her grandfather’s church, it was then that she fell in love with the message of hope.
During her tenure at the University of Texas at Austin, it became evident that she carried a unique voice, one that was respected and of high demand, that eventually the requests for her to feature and sing at numerous events and music projects made it evident she had a call to sing.
While she earnestly sought God for direction concerning her personal musical aspirations, she united with local ministries and traveled to various cities and states, harmonising and gaining great exposure and valuable experience.
As time passed and God revealed deeper aspects of her destiny, it was evident that He was calling her into her own ministry. The journey officially began at her debut concert on February 15, 2009, before an eager audience of hundreds. She mounted the stage and exhausted her physical limitations as she revealed her heart for God through a one-hour set of her original compositions. Her debut Album entitled, “Long Live the King,” was recorded live and proved a life-altering experience for many in attendance and was released in 2013.
Natori has since continued to travel and spread the good news. From worship leading at local venues to stages in Johannesburg, South Africa, and launched her into the next phase of her career with her latest single “Spirit Moves”.
Spirit Moves, is a simple but powerful message that has brought in numerous testimonies from listeners around the world. In this power-packed tune, Natori acknowledges the musical traditions of her southern baptist upbringing and musical influences, while weaving them through contemporary pop and soul vibes. The unique experience of “Spirit Moves” quickly created a buzz and a demand for a music video. – And in July of 2020, Natori delivered: four uninterrupted minutes of tranquil intensity…moving visuals that perfectly convey every lyric.
In 2021, Natori released her ballad ‘Oh Heaven’ which features an organ-ic sound with a fairly tale feel, pulling heart strings with memories of loved ones and heaven. Watch here
In addition to Natori’s musical abilities, the talented singer has also written music and books for children, and her storytelling through poetry and music has wonderfully captured children’s hearts by producing intriguing characters and adventurous stories with relevant themes, fostering the perfect little epiphany moments for young readers. Her latest children’s book will be released in the near future on the www.natoriblue.com website.
This is what fuels her. Through her writing and singing, she hopes to continue contributing to a greater message of hope –gracefully engaging, and ultimately leading them into a life-changing experience.
Watch Natori Blue’s Official Music Video ‘Oh Heaven’ and “Spirit Moves” below:
London, UK – The Golden Lion Awards, presented by The Charles Gordon Trust, is set to take place on 23rd September at the Fairfield Halls in London. This highly anticipated event aims to celebrate Croydon as the London Borough of Culture for 2023 and acknowledge the efforts of others in the community by recognising individuals, groups, brands, and organisations for their outstanding contributions and inspiring impact on the community.
The Charles Gordon Trust Awards has a history of magnifying the importance of community involvement and the stories of those who embody a spirit of excellence. This year’s Golden Lion Awards will be an evening to celebrate the celebrities in the community and those who are doing good work in it.
“The Golden Lion Awards offers more than just a platform to celebrate exceptional achievements. It serves as a reminder of our social responsibility to meet the needs of our communities,” emphasised Charles Gordon, founder of The Charles Gordon Trust. “During the event, we will also pay tribute to the victims of knife crime, inviting their families on stage to acknowledge their tireless efforts in reducing violence and safeguarding our youth.”
Hosted by renowned UK comedian Richard Blackwood, and Kaz Crossley, best known for her appearance on Love Island, the Golden Lion Awards promise an evening of excitement and glamour, bringing together celebrities and illustrious guests from various industries to celebrate communities and the efforts of others in the community. Among the attendees, the Mayor of Croydon, Chief Superintendent Andy Brittain, and MP Claudia Webbe will present awards.
The star-studded show will be televised and headlined by ‘So Solid Crew’, who will take the stage alongside other talented performers including Michelle John, Slim the Comedian, IMD Legion from Britain’s Got Talent, Poetess Jess, Steppaz UK CIC, LMR – Stormzy’s Mirky Christmas Winner, Stush – Performing artist and Songwriter from South London and Omar.
Kelle Bryan, known as a member of girl group Eternal and a part of the Loose Women panel, as well as former WBO Champion Johnny Nelson, have also confirmed their attendance.
The event will be a black-tie affair with a three-course dinner, and memorable music. However, the highlight of the night will undoubtedly be the award show itself with the top 4 nominees in each category along with the winners announced.
The Charles Gordon Trust Awards invites media personnel to attend and cover this grand celebration of community excellence.
Please reach out to our media contact below for press passes, interviews, or any additional information.
The Bluesfest is an annual music festival held in Byron Bay, Australia, featuring a wide range of musical acts. The festival attracts thousands of music lovers from all over the world and has become one of the most popular events on the Australian music calendar.
Overview: Bluesfest promised to be an exciting event, with a diverse lineup of artists from various genres. From blues legends to up-and-coming artists, there is something for everyone, every year at this festival.
Performances: One of the highlights of the festival was initially to be from international music icon and Pianist, Robert Glasper. Unfortunately following some controversy, his tour alongside Soul Rebels was cancelled.
Nevertheless, notable performers who took the stage included Grammy-winning blues musician, Keb’ Mo’, and Scottish singer, songwriter and musician Paulo Nutini.
In addition to the big names, there were also plenty of up-and-coming artists to discover at the festival. From blues rockers to soul singers, there was no shortage of talent on display.
Atmosphere: The atmosphere at the Bluesfest was electric, with a friendly and laid-back vibe. The festival grounds were spacious, and there were plenty of food and drink options available.
The Sound Bank is delighted to announce the opening of its pioneering 24-hour South London creative urban hub in July 2021. This unique space has been designed exclusively to cater for the current times, with a host of creative opportunities including recording studios, live streaming locations, photo studios, podcast studios, meeting rooms and visual production studios.
The Sound Bank is a collaboration between a number of industry professionals, who have well over 20 years of experience in the ever-evolving arts and media world.
Located in a historic ex-Barclays building in South East London, which dates back to 1925, this venue will now be the home of virtual concerts, live streaming and culturally relevant industry events. Recognising that the live events industry will never be the same, over £250,000 has been spent transforming the old bank into a 2000sq ft creative centre. The Sound Bank team has created a safe and inclusive space for artists to develop new and creative ways of sharing their art with the world.
A spokesperson for The Sound Bank said: “The Sound Bank has been designed to allow artists to experiment with new forms of content creation. All of our building’s spaces provide a fully-equipped professional experience, within a flexible infrastructure that allows the entire space to act as one venue for live streaming events, virtual concerts and listening parties.”
Mutya Buena, a former member of the Sugababes, added: “This is fantastic and exactly what creators need.” While Christina Aok, co-founder of VAMP PR, was also impressed by the space. She said: “The Sound Bank is a great content creation space and I see it becoming a hub for creatives in London. My favourite space was the vault studios in the basement as it was made to perfection! We recorded a podcast and received the edited audio the next day.”
The venue has wheelchair access on the ground floor, a meeting room for workshops and training courses and a fully equipped live room that connects to two separate recording studios, one of which is designed to be an interchangeable fluid mixing stage capable of seamlessly shifting between stereo and 5.1/7.1 surround sound mixing. With industry experts on hand for advice, and 24-hour spots available to book, this innovative venue is sure to be the start of an incredible artistic renaissance.
London duo 633 are set to release their latest single ‘Run Around’, seeing them collaborate with Drowse and Dan Onkar. The laid back track encapsulates their rhythm centric sound, telling the story of a woman giving two men the run around, also giving the song it’s title. Layered vocals and strong hooks, ‘Run Around’ is a reimagination of their sound that is better aligned with the duo both musically and culturally.
Made up of DJ Jevanni Letford (Royal Wedding DJ / KSI DJ) and Eugene Diabour (D double E / Kele Le Roc) 633 first rose to public attention in 2018 following a viral video with Prince Harry. Taking influence from the rising popularity of afro pop and dancehall, the duo have drawn from their wealth of personal industry experience and are poised for a promising 2020.
633 had been scheduled to play Reading & Leeds Festival and Parklife Festival having already played at Kiss Fest.
‘Run Around’ will be available on all major platforms from 29th May.
The Ends festival had guests from all over the globe. We spoke to multiple US visitors who said that Afrobeat festival doesnt exist as such in America, thus they over to the UK for the event. The show also hosted a number of Dutch concert goers on the Saturday show.
On Sunday, raggae lovers came down for their music man Damian Marley and showed up their anticipation for J.Balvin and representing reggaeton.
The festival has the potential to become a word wide attraction.
This year’s Bluesfest Byron Bay drew over 105,000 punters to its 30th-anniversary bash over five days.
That puts it among one of its biggest crowds, equalling that of the 2015 event.
It beat its 25th anniversary in 2014 of 104,526 and 2013 which reached 104,244.
The highest remains 115,000 when Bob Dylan headlined in 2011 and the event ran for a one-off six days.
With such crowd numbers, Bluesfest is on target to beat its economic impact last year, when it pumped $32.8 million into the Byron Shire, $54.6 million to the wider Northern Rivers region, and $73.7 million to NSW.
The event’s economic impact figures for 2019 will be officially released in a few months.
It will also be interesting to see if the festival continued its trend of drawing more younger audiences.
The average age was 45.4 last year, and 52.1 in 2017.
The crowd is traditionally 58% female and 42% male.
OTHER BLUESFEST 2019 NUMBERS
150 performances from 88 artists
Over 2000 staff to run the event, aided by over 900 volunteers
4 kms of fencing on site
21 days to build the festival site
2 tonnes of organic waste collected post festival and used to feed pigs and chickens locally
2.5 tonnes of vegetables consumed by artists and staff alone!
912kg of meat eaten in the crew and artist catering this weekend!
Over 600kg of avocados sold at the Avocado Hut on site.
1 tonne of fresh produce (7 herbs and 16 veggies!) used by Pink Lotus
1 man’s weight (75kg) in sauerkraut used at Sauerkraut Sisters
COLLABORATIONS
Aside from The Veronicas joining Kasey Chambers onstage, as already reported in TMN, the audience was delighted when:
Ben Harper was joined by Kasey Chambers and Jack Johnson.
Gary Clark Jr. brought on Lukas Nelson and Marcus King..
Chambers’ other guests included Ben Harper, The War & Treaty and Tommy Emmanuel.
Mavis Staples and Ben Harper were a crushing couple during a spectacular Saturday afternoon set.
Lukas Nelson invited Leesa from Hussy Hicks for their rendition of ‘Shallow’.
Yothu Yindi & the Treaty Project swelled their ranks with Deline Briscoe, Emma Donovan, Baker Boy, Mojo Juju and indigenous dancers including Rako and Malu Kiai Mura Buai on stage with them for their Bluesfest performances.
Jack Johnson’s Sunday night headliner set was spiced up with Lukas Nelson, Gary Clark Jr. and Paula Fuga.
George Clinton ft. Parliament Funkadelic brought up Little Steven.
Colin Hay was joined by Chris Tamwoy.
Melbourne Ska Orchestra got Allen Stone’s drummer, Jason Holt up for a solo. RozkWiz brought on Casey Donovan and Ian Moss.
NEW STARS
Bluesfest director Peter Noble was particularly excited that new acts who made their presence felt included Deva Mahal, Larkin Poe, the Marcus King Band, I’m With Her, Ray LaMontagne, Anderson East “as well as Jack White with his band the Saboteurs, the incredible Miss Velvet and the Blue Wolf and so many more delighted our audience.
“But I would like to take a moment to hail Melody Angel who is emerging as a bonafide star at Bluesfest and we expect to see major things for her, just like Lukas Nelson.”
BOOMERANG
The Bluesfest team stated: “As always, the (indigenous) Boomerang festival precinct was the heart and soul of Bluesfest and home to dozens of inspiring performances from artists including Archie Roach, Yothu Yindi & the Treaty Project, Dallas Woods, Benny Walker and many others.
“Not forgetting Baker Boy who drew crowds in their thousands to his performance on Friday afternoon.
“It ended on Sunday afternoon with a powerful Closing Ceremony with artists from across the festival coming together to perform dances, chants and traditional calls form the nations represented to celebrate the beauty and sacred power of First Nations people from Australia and across the world.”
Festival director, Rhoda Roberts said “Boomerang had a spirit this year that resonated across the Bluesfest site, from the eclectic line up of First Nations music, to the dance, story and workshops.
“There truly was something for everyone”.
