Ventnor Blog

This week, there is another great lineup as The Development Suite presents … Making Waves.

On the bill tomorrow night will be a plethora of Island musical talent with Carousel Era, Al and Scott Watson, Nath Williams and Jord Pennant are no strangers to playing The Venue, and return for what looks set to be a great night of local live music.

Indie darlings Goodbye Stereo will be back again and joined by Ex-BoyRacer and Paul McCann

As usual all bands will be recorded and interviewed and you can hear the results on Live and Local Show on Sunday nights on IW Radio 102/7fm.

All this for only £3.

Kicks off at 7.30pm and you’ll need to order your pumpkins for 11pm.

There is loads going on over the weekend, don’t forget tonight at Ryde Theatre you can catch The Gypsy Ladyland Experience.

If jazz is your thing, at Quay Arts tonight you can enjoy the delights of Philip Clouts Quartet with Carlos Lopez-Real as part of the Quay Arts Jazz Café.
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Don’t forget great live Island talent on stage tonight at Ryde Theatre.

Making Waves sees The Sessions, Drew, Spike Oatley and The Scores all live on stage being recorded for IW Radio Live and Local Show.

The recordings and interviews go out between 7-10pm on 102/7fm on Sunday nights. (more…)

Those of a certain age might remember seeing Jimi Hendrix perform live on the Wight back in 1970, but for those of us a little younger, the closest we can get is by either watching videos or playing albums.

The Gypsy Ladyland Experience, made up of three Island Musicians are not a tribute band as such, but three musicians with a love of Hendrix’s music.

They’ve been performing together for several years (on and off) and Darren Cochrane, Al Gubbins and Rick Stanbridge explore the three stages of Hendrix’s career. They take their hybrid name from ‘The Electric Ladyland Studios’, ‘The Band of Gypsys’ and of course The Jimi Hendrix Experience’.
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Making Waves returns to Ryde Theatre this week with a superb lineup of local Island talent.

Nitonian, Drew will be gracing the stage once again at The Venue. He was one of the first artists to sign to IOW Music, and his second album, Songs From the Devil’s Chimney, has received some great reviews. He’s definitely worth checking out if you haven’t seen him play live before, and supporting if you have.
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Knowing that many of our readers are not only creative, but also technically adept, we thought you might be interested in this opportunity to join Ryde based design team Peekaboo. They’ve done some great work in the past with clients such as St Catherine’s School in Ventnor - somewhere close to our hearts. Ed

Peekaboo Design, a Ryde based design agency, is offering the opportunity for an Island Web developer with some commercial experience to work with them on several projects on a freelance or full time basis.
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Thanks to everyone who entered our ticket competitions this week.

The winner for the Koolwaters competition is Christian Harrison from Ryde who gave the correct answer that Marc Vedo’s hometown is Bristol.

Terry Watkis from Gunnard gave us the correct answer to the question for the DJ Format comp.
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The last in the list of gigs being organised by Nick Painless from Painless Parties (yes, ‘im again) takes place on the 23rd, this time at an altogether different venue.

On the bill are the usual suspects, The Shanklin Freak Show, Puritan Slain, Dirty Habit and the delightful Zombie Groove Machine.

It’ll certainly be poets day for some, as the action kicks off at 5.30pm.

If you want to enjoy a drink without having to worry about driving home, just pack your tent, because there’s free camping thrown in for the very reasonable £5 ticket price.
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Fancy going out for free on Friday night? Well you can with our two ticket competitions.

We have something for everyone with Hip Hop in the shape of DJ Format and Mr Thing in Ryde and house music with live percussion, vocals and saxophone supporting Marc Vedo (Koolwaters) in Newport.

The questions are pretty simple (hint if you use wikipedia or google) and you could bag yourself two tickets to either event. Follow the links and enter tonight - we’ll be choosing winners at lunchtime tomorrow.

A quick reminder for anyone planning their weekend, that as rain is preduicted for Sunday why not make your way to Ryde Studio Theatre (Ryde High School), where you’re invited for some Tea and Cake.

But it’s not just a cup of rosy lee and an eccles you’ll get, but entertainment from a great selection of Island bands and musicians.
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IW Councillor Tim Hunter- Henderson, Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport has taken the decision to accept £6.2m of central Government funding to upgrade the Ryde Gateway.

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It’s that time of year, when there are competitions galore to play at the Isle of Wight Festival and this weekend it’s the turn for the Wightnoize Auditions.

Although we don’t have a full programme of who is playing, we do know that you can expect to see The Emily Jane Band, Skyline Heroes and Goodbye Stereo amongst others.

With industry experts on the judging panel, offering constructive feedback to the bands, this is a great opportunity for talented Island musicians, with the potential prize of playing at the festival being an added bonus.
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This Friday, Ryde Theatre will be welcoming the rather incredible DJ Format to the stage for a bonkers four decks, two mixer show with Mr Thing.

Yet another coup for Ryde Theatre in managing to attract such a big name in the world of Hip Hop and with local support in the guise of Wills O’Steel and DJ Mewtant, this should be a night to remember for all hip hop lovers.

Those lovely people at Happyfeet Productions have kindly donated two tickets for the gig on Friday night which you could win if you enter our simple competition.
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Nick Painless (pictured here in a lovely corset - reproduced courtesy of Charr) is a very busy boy.

As well as the gig tomorrow night at the Liquid Lounge he has a number of other gigs planned for Ryde and Ventnor over the coming month.

If you’re a fan of Carousel Era, Zombie Groove Machine or Twin Beretta (or all three) put this one in your diaries and make sure you show up for this cracking free gig.

It takes place at the Liquid Lounge, Union Street, Ryde. Over 18s only and you’ll need your ID if you got one of those cutesy baby faces

We popped over to the Soul II Soul sound check at The Venue, Ryde on the afternoon before they played to have a chat to the funky dread himself, Mr Jazzie B, OBE.

Proving his reputation as a sound bloke (pun intended), Jazzie B gave us a good 40 minutes of his time for the interview.

We’ve got the bulk of the interview coming out later, but thought you’d be interested in hearing his views on the Ryde Theatre.

To say that he’s keen on the idea of keeping it open is an understatement.

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If you missed our posting about the forthcoming Happyfeet Productions hip hop gig at Ryde Theatre take note now, for this is a one off gig that might never happen again.

Next Friday DJ Format returns for a second performance at Ryde Theatre, playing a four decks two mixer show with Mr Thing and a lot of funk, hip hop, soul, breakbeat, RnB and of course, flair. (more…)

As anyone who was at the Shanklin Freak Show Album launch will agree, Nick Painless is a man who knows how to host a party.

He’s got a few gigs up his sleeve for us over the coming weeks, the next taking place next Wednesday at The Liquid Lounge in Union Street, Ryde.

On the bill will be Island headbangers Puritan Slain (pictured here looking suitably serious in Freshwater). If you’ve not seen them live before, check out some videos on YouTube to get a taste of what they have to offer.

But that’s not all, also on the bill are busy thrashers, Penny’s Dropped and Genera.

It’s not going to cost you a penny to get in but you must be over 18.

Photo courtesy of Alvaro Mari-Thompson

All metal fans don’t forget that it’s metal night at Making Waves tonight.

666 Pack will be playing their last gig before morphing into a new band and Llama is returning for this last get together. (more…)

Congratulations to Sarah Medway from Ryde who has just bagged herself a pair of tickets to see Air Traffic play at Ryde Theatre tomorrow night.

She correctly guessed that Air Traffic will be playing the Rheinkultur Festival in Germany in July.
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THE ISLE of Wight’s Carnival Learning Centre , the first in the UK truly dedicated to the spirit of carnival - is due to open its doors later this week — with a spectacular taste of the Caribbean. (more…)

Making Waves this week will be hosting the very last 666 Pack gig as changes are afoot.

After Thursday the band will be no more, morphing into another new band with three members of the current band and some new friends.

Llama is returning for the final gig and we hear they have one hell of a party planned. He’ll be joined by Jamie, Kev, Rob and Darren as they prepare to rock your socks off.
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We all love a piece of cake and a cup of tea, but to hear great music at the same time is even better.

A fabulous day has been planned to take place at Ryde Studio Theatre (Ryde High School).

There will be five top acts including the fabulous Wild Oats, A couple o’ Chancers, Steve Lowis crossing over the water from Southampton, Zoe & Mike from The Hoops and Hannah Jacobs. (more…)

If you turned up too late to get in to last Saturdays Shoom party (we hear it was so popular punters had to be turned away), fear not, there’s another this weekend at Ryde Theatre.

This time it’ll be the Shoom Forest Party and we understand that this’ll be the last indoor party for a while - what with summer almost upon us. (more…)

Lovers of hip hop spans many generations, so hopefully should ensure a large turnout for the next HappyFeet gig at Ryde Theatre.

After a storming Happyfeet Productions show last year, DJ Format returns for a second performance at Ryde Theatre, playing four decks two mixer show with Mr Thing and a lot of funk, hip hop, soul, breakbeat, RnB and of course, flair.

Mr Thing (pictured left) is a British hip hop producer. Those in the know, will remember him as a former member of the Scratch Perverts.
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Bournemouth lads, Air Traffic are kicking off their UK tour on our fair Isle (let’s hope the fog clears by Wednesday) this week and have a couple of great Island bands, Bastila and Goodbye Stereo as support acts (both of whom are confirmed for Besti this year). (more…)