Since his debut album, Empty Sky, in 1969, Sir Elton John has sold over three hundred million albums worldwide. His immense discography with thirty-two studio albums and plenty of live, compilation, and soundtrack records have put him upon the title of one of the biggest rockstars of his generation. In …
Whenever we listen to a hit song on a streaming service, vinyl, or radio, we do not often think about its backstory. Behind a catchy tune are hours of recording, writing, and performing in the booth to deliver a final song that follows us long after its production. Besides the …
In 2021, while the world was still heavily facing the COVID-19 pandemic, the Sundance Film Festival introduced its hybrid version with drive-ins in different states of the country, an online option, and the traditional Park City venue in Utah. Coming off a year of complicated production for the film industry. …
Veteran documentary filmmakers Sam Pollard (MLK/FBI and Citizen Ashe) and Daniel Junge (Challenger: The Final Flight and A Lego Documentary) come together to direct I Was Born This Way. Borrowing the title name from the 1975 song by Valentino, globally famous through the voice of Carl Bean in 1977. The …
Rock Werchter is the premier rock festival in Belgium and undergoing a radical shift this year in the lineup thanks to sponsors LiveNation (boo) – running between July 3 and 6 2025. No longer four days of hard rock (was it ever really when Dua Lipa headlined last year?) instead …
2000 Trees is an indie festival that takes place between 9-12 July in Cheltenham over a four-day split that switches gears from indie rock to metal and everything in between. It’s a fascinating mix of genres and talent and one of the most lovely, friendly festivals in the UK that …
At times it’s best to encounter a movie as a blank slate, even for film critics like me who have never been put off by any ounce of spoilers. If anything, there’s a different kind of pleasure that arises from experiencing something for the first time, and it’s often ambrosial …
Japanese director Masayuki Suô’s 1996 romantic comedy, Shall We Dance? Follows Shohei Sugiyama (Kôji Yakusho), an accountant who is surprisingly discontented. Despite his successful career and a wife and daughter who love him dearly, there’s something missing in Sugiyama’s life. On his daily commute, he spies from the train a …
Up until a few months ago Wide Awake was just a normal indie festival with the kind of music that would play bands with names like “Psychedelic Porn Crumpets” and “King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard”; and nobody would be none the wiser of to its existence. However, that would …
On October 11th, 1975, television changed forever. NBC premiered a revolutionary concept. It combined a bunch of young and innovative comedians who would perform sketches written during the week. The show, commanded by the young Canadian writer Lorne Michaels, was Saturday Night Live. Fifty years later, SNL became a place …
In French director Emmanuel Courcol’s comedy drama, The Marching Band (En fanfare), the celebrated orchestra conductor, Thibaut Desormeaux (Benjamin Lavernhe) is diagnosed with leukemia. To his surprise, the tests to identify a bone marrow donor reveal that he was adopted. The search for his brother leads him to Jimmy (Pierre Lottin), …
Ahmir ‘Questlove’ Thompson returns to the directing chair with SLY LIVES! (aka The Burden of Black Genius). He became a legend in the music industry with the iconic hip-hop group The Roots. Alongside Black Thought and company, the group achieved critical success with their albums and popularized jazz rap within …
Left of the Dial is already shaping up to be one of the hotspots on the DIY calendar for Europeans or those with the ability to travel. Situated in the port city of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, now accessible through the Eurostar direct from London, it may not have your …
In 2021, the well-known director Stanley Nelson received his first Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Feature for his film Attica. The film uses archival footage to tell an untold story about the most significant uprising in the American criminal system. Nelson fills a crucial vacancy in American filmmaking. He …
Ritual Union Festival is a yearly, one-day event taking place in the heart of Bristol, one of the UK’s cultural capitals, to shine a spotlight on some of the brightest up-and-coming musicians in the scene now. Taking place over four venues – the iconic SWX; Rough Trade and Strange Brew, …
Pitchfork Music Festival London is a multi-day highlight of the best music has to offer. Pitchfork are the taste-makers – their reviews having been the point of discussion alone; expertly curated tastemakers. It was only a matter of time before they put on a festival and it expanded to cities …
Outer Town is one of the best one-day festivals in the UK; a celebration of the DIY spirit and the indie upcoming rising stars that you won’t see at the big, buzzy festivals like your Coachellas or your Reading and Leedses, or even in London; taking place in Bristol highlighting …
Wide Awake Festival has changed. It has moved from a Saturday in its now-historic Brockwell Park to make room for Field Day; the electronic festival – on the same venue, meaning that you could now potentially go indie/leftfield, electronic and then jazz/soul over the course of one weekend and experience …
Welcome to the Modern Era of metal. The two-day festival is London’s newest metal festival; taking place in the famous New Cross Inn in south London – one of the most iconic venues for the scene. It’s a barricade free venue famed for its intense pits; and the all-day nature …
RALLY Festival is a festival with two years under its belt; a newcomer to the London scene. I’ve attended both years in the past and both years it’s taken place on the only wet day in August; despite the date change. Now fixed in on its date – 23 August, …