Benefit for tsunami reconstruction
The Forum, 9-17 Highgate Rd, Kentish Town, London NW5
7pm-1am
BILLY BRAGG
& The Acoustic Blokes
ELIZA CARTHY
with Shrine Synchro System
THE GLOWORMS
with Cat Kelly
OYSTERBAND
TIGER MOTH
with Gordon Potts
ALL-STAR OYSTERMOTH BIG CEILIDH BAND
and too many surprise guests!
MCs ANDY KERSHAW & VERITY SHARP
Hammersmith Morris
Morris Offspring
Ticket hotline: 0870 060 3777
Online at meanfiddler.com
(no booking fee to in-person callers at the Jazz Cafe and other Mean Fiddler box offices)
Although it has been widely publicised that charities like Oxfam have closed their appeals for short term relief following the great generosity of the UK public, longer-term projects for continuing post-tsunami reconstruction being undertaken by Action Aid are still very much in need of funds. We aim to contribute a substantial sum to this, plus smaller amounts to specific projects such as providing new boats for the Moken Sea Gypsies of the Andaman Islands whose whole unique culture is endangered, and working with the Womad organisation who have local cultural projects in Sri Lanka around a festival they will present there in September in the very region hit by the wave.
Way back in early days of the English roots rebirth in 1987, at what was is now The Forum, a giant ceilidh raised a substantial sum for the anti-apartheid cause. Numerous luminaries appeared, and the night famously finished with a giant all-star ceilidh band blasting away while the youth of London got down to some not-so-serious country dancing! There had been many wistful calls for the event to be repeated, all resisted until the tsunami disaster gave a real reason to do so - and this time for something rather than against. fRoots magazine, Sincere Management and the Mean Fiddler organisation have joined forces to repeat the 'Hottest Ceilidh In Town' with many of the original artists offering their services again. With English ceilidh having enjoyed a massive rebirth in the last few years among students, teenagers and the hip, one time ceilidh bandits Oysterband had already returned to their roots last year with a brief Oyster Ceilidh Band tour, and 1980s all-star band Tiger Moth had similarly re-formed to play 2004's Womad and Sidmouth festivals. Billy Bragg was immediately up for it again with a unique acoustic version of his famed Blokes (who include various ex-members of 3 Mustaphas 3 and the Mekons who participated in the famous '87 gig). And from the younger generation comes Mercury nominee and BBC Folk Award winner, singer/fiddler Eliza Carthy, in action with DJs Max Reinhardt & Rita Ray's Shrine Synchro System, plus a great new young dance band trio The Gloworms. All these and many more surprise guests will come together at the end of the night in a giant all-star Oystermoth Ceilidh Band, no doubt trying to break the record from 1987 of 29 people on stage playing Speed The Plough! The capacity of the Forum is being restricted to 1600 to allow free-flow from dance floor to balcony and a real party atmosphere.
MCs for the night will be Radio 3 presenters Andy Kershaw (who'll also DJ) and Verity Sharp (who'll no doubt join in on fiddle as well).
Add to that spots from two of the best Morris dance sides around, the young Morris Offspring and the longer established Hammersmith Morris, some of the best dance callers in Gordon Potts and Cat Kelly (these are the people who herd inexperienced country dancers into a reasonably co-ordinated rabble!), plus a separate Acoustic Session Room, and it ought to be a night to remember!
And, of course, raise a huge amount of much-needed cash for the continuing reconstruction work on the devastated Indian Ocean rim.
- Read our feature about English ceilidh