Festival Previews Video Blog

There was a rare 5.2 magnitude earthquake in Lincolnshire, England, early this morning, causing minor structural damage and a few injuries.

So what has this got to do with festivals? Not a lot really, except one of us here at Festival Previews has to confess to their “anorak” hobby of detecting earthquakes. Being just a few hundred miles north of the epicentre, a good graph was obtained and we felt we just had to share it!

Melissa Western tells us about her experiences performing at the Adelaide Fringe.

I’m really looking forward to performing my brand new show “Melissa and the Cunning Accompanist” at the Adelaide Fringe Festival from February 28th to the 9th March 2008. This will be my second time to the Adelaide Fringe … my first experience was in 2000 and it was a pretty amazing and overwhelming experience for someone very new to the industry! Seven years later, having now performed at many festivals and events nationally and internationally and with my most recent show “Ella, Marilyn, Marlene and Me” being an official “Sell Out” show at the 2007 Edinburgh Fringe, I am looking forward to launching myself at the world’s second biggest performing arts festivals in my home country next year.

The first thing I remember about the Adelaide Fringe was sleep … or more accurately, lack of it! As we all do in most festivals I was at the venue or other venues until the wee hours of the morning then getting up and seeing media and promo people during ‘normal’ work hours …it was like living two work schedules without the gap in between! I also recall the bizarre Adelaide weather. There were days when it was 40+ degrees with this hot, dry wind (like you’re being blow dried with a hairdryer the size of Tasmania) and then the next day it would be 15 degrees and wet. My advice to performers, especially those from overseas, is to be ready for crazy weather!

If you can make it out of Adelaide for a bit, the hills around Adelaide are beautiful to drive around. There is also the amazing Barossa region which is well known for its brilliant wine. Try and factor in a bit of rest and relaxation pre or post festival if you can … the nervous system will thank you later on.

The market in Adelaide is smaller than it is in Edinburgh, so it’s a good idea to try and be really clever about how to sell your show on the streets. Make sure your show has a strong marketing presence and be prepared to get out there on the streets to spruik it.

One of the most important things about being at a festival is seeing other shows. I always use festivals as an opportunity to learn, network and draw inspiration. If you turn up and only do your show, chances are you’re only getting half the experience. Get out there, spend whatever money you’ve got on other people’s shows (you can always claim it back on your tax) and use the opportunity of being at the Adelaide Fringe to really feed your creative soul.

I hope to see heaps of you at my show - I personally guarantee you a good night out!

You can also read Melissa’s answers in our 10 Questions series.

Check out Melissa’s review by The Australian Stage.

The Fringe Report Awards Ceremony takes place at The Arts Theatre in London tonight. We sincerely thank the Fringe Report for their kind invitation but regretfully we could not make it on this occasion, hopefully next time as this is not something to be missed.

The Fringe Report is based in London and review all things fringe in the UK and Ireland and have permanent writers world-wide too - including Hawai’i where we used to live for a number of years which was amazing to read about! What makes the Fringe Report stand out for us is that they have a wonderfully fair way of choosing which shows to go and see and review at fringe time. They created an Excel spreadsheet and applied their own formula to randomly create a nominal list for each fringe they attend. This way they cover all genres, large and small, well-known and unknown and all the subjective elements are siphoned off making them wonderfully impartial. Each year you can nominate your chosen fringe performer and lodge them with the Fringe Report in time for the next Awards Ceremony which takes place towards mid- to the end of February.

Being one for checking out the weather, London is overcast and dry with no rain forecasted for tonight…so far! We wish you all a wonderful evening and look forward to reading and checking out the pictures of what went on.

LENTfest is relatively new offering an annual festival of Faith and the Arts. It opened its doors on Wednesday, 6th February, and runs through to the 23rd March. It evolved from The Arts Project which was established in October 2006 by the Archbishop of Glasgow, [Scotland] Archbishop Mario Conti. The festival’s programme celebrates art and religion through festival theatre, music, poetry, visual arts, film screenings, schools art competitions and drama workshops. You can sign up to their e-mail newsletter and catch up with what is going on.

LENTfest is managed by Stephen Callaghan who is also Manager of The Arts Project. Stephen is a graduate from the University of Glasgow and from the London College of Music & Media. LENTfest looks set to becoming a well established festival into the future.

Have a great festival!

Today I have great pleasure in interviewing The Oxford Gargoyles. A young group of 12 talented students from Oxford University, England, UK. A passion for jazz singing and sharp attire, their repertoire also includes pop, soul and gospel all neatly choreographed to produce a polished show. So taking a question each, lets interrupt their studies and their music to hear what these talented song birds have to say….

1. What made you become a performer and musician?

Callum: I suppose I’ve just been inclined that way. Someone gave me a piano when I was 6, and a trombone not too much later, and everything followed from there. All music from then was for three main reasons: firstly it being fun, secondly, it paying well, and thirdly, it being interesting. The first and third and the second are generally mutually exclusive!

2. What is your show/future show about and what should the public expect from your show?

Edward: Expect jazz standards, pop and soul sung entirely without instruments. Soupy chords and tight rhythms. Comic skits and cheesy choreography. Black tie and the blues. Wailing high trumpet parts and mean walking bass. In short, expect 12 Oxford students making utter fools of themselves for your edification.

3. What is your favourite Festival or Fringe and why?

Emma: I’ve never been to Edinburgh outside of festival time, but I should think that if I did, I would be in for a great shock. ‘Edinburgh’ for me conjures up images of rushing up and down a busy Royal Mile with flyers thrust at you every fifth step by a weird and wonderful costume-clad performer doing something ever more outrageous in an effort to convince you that their show will in fact be even more exciting than the last. To my disappointment, I have been assured that this does not in fact happen outside of the festival.

I’m sure I would be equally disappointed should I return to Grahamstown, South Africa, in the absence of their National Arts Festival. Here, instead of flyers, there were countless bands of marimbas, African drummers, Zulu dancers and, rather depressingly, impoverished black children posing as living statues with painted white faces. The undertones of social imbalance were carried throughout the festival, but this only served to make each performance ever more thought provoking.

Both of these experiences were irreplaceable, but completely incomparable: so when it comes to choosing a favourite, I just don’t think that it’s possible. The Edinburgh Fringe certainly allows more scope for obscure creativity, but could never be as eye-opening as Grahamstown.

4. What’s your best advice for aspiring artists/performers/ musicians on the Festival/Fringe circuit?

Paarul: Probably to make use of Edinburgh’s High Street stages. If you can find a way to draw attention to your act on the normally busy and noisy Royal Mile – and can showcase the best and most tantalizing parts of your show quickly – then the High Street stages are one of the best ways of convincing an undecided onlooker to check out your production.

5. What is your funniest experience and also your worst experience performing or attending a Fringe/Festival?

Woody: My funniest experience was seeing a show in which a drum was hit very hard every 10 seconds for about half an hour, while ghosts ran about, collapsing on every beat. At the time it was very unpleasant, but time heals even very deep wounds, and my ears have recovered, and I look back at that with a smile.

My worst experience was eating haggis, neeps and tatties with extra gravy at the Edinburgh Fringe. I enjoyed it while eating it, but have never felt so internally ravaged as I did after finishing.

6. As you travel performing to different festivals/fringes, where is your favourite place to vacation and chill out and why?

Natasha: Taking part in a festival/fringe is an amazing experience, but also an exhausting one. There is so much to do and see, as well as putting on and publicising a show every day, and so any downtime is always much appreciated. Last year our show was on at C venue 34 and it soon became our second home. I found it a great place to chill out and meet other performers (and also the hard working staff.) There’s always loads of activities in the evenings and it’s just generally a great place to relax and have fun.

7. Who is the person you most admire/d and why?

Daniel: Peter Griffin from Family Guy, because he’s everything my dad isn’t (apart from female).

8. What is the best tip you have ever been given?

Freya: Never apply fake tan in the dark was a fairly useful piece of advice. Other than that, to enjoy yourself when you perform because it really comes across and makes it a totally different show.

9. What is the best book you have read and why do you like it?

Rhiannon: The best book I have read is The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, because it generates so many different emotions in the reader. It’s amusing, romantic, exciting and depressing, whilst also being incredibly thought provoking.

10. If you could change one thing about the world what would it be?

Jisung: Apart from the Bush administration? Maybe I’d like the day to be longer, say, 36 hours?

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Thank you one and all for your warm, witty and wonderful interview.

Do check the out the real The Oxford Gargoyles and find out lots more about this dazzling dozen.