Some of indie's heaviest weights have been confirmed for the new Fflam weekender, Wales' first major music festival.
Manic Street Preachers and Keane are the biggest names confirmed so far for the three-day event, which takes place from 13-15 July and will be looking to attract up to 30,000 revellers.
Enter Shikari, Placebo and Feeder will also play at Swansea's Singleton Park this Summer. Oh, and some hip new bunch of cats calls themselves The Levellers. Yo ho ho!
I wonder what John Curd, spokesman for Straight Music has to say about all this.
"Our aim is that Fflam will become to Wales what T in the Park is to Scotland," said John.
"We see this as a long-term investment in Wales, driven by our passion for quality music and giving great value for money.
"As well as giving locals the chance to see some of the best live bands around, we are also dedicated to nurturing new talent and the full line up will reflect that. Fflam will put Wales firmly on the festival map for years to come."
Tickets for Fflam went on sale this morning, and will cost you £115 with camping or £100 for the weekend without camping. Day passes are £40.
Not a bad price, comparatively.
But it is a terrible, terrible line-up.
I give it 6 hours max 'til they announce the addition of Stereophonics to the bill. And/or Travis.
Also in that press release
They say they're going to let 3 unsigned Welsh bands play too. A whole 3 bands. Go to that Tapestry festival instead. The Levellers...sweet Jebus.
They should add
Euros Childs, RadioLuxembourg, and Future of the left, but they probably won't.
What?
Are you implying that I just sit around waiting for press releases to drop on my virtual doormat?
I newshounded this one down. I'm a music news Afghan.
The Levellers
will probably be the highlight.
At least they're never boring live, even if their records have been shite for over a decade.
finally someone
on DiS who agrees with me. I think they're bloody marvellous. Seeing them in december was one of the highlight of the year gig-wise.
And not all of their records have been shite for the last 10 years. I really like Green Blade Rising and A Weapon Called The Word. Admittedly it's not Levelling The Land-good but it's still pretty strong.
Is it me?
or do the levellers go into hibernation, and are really only active for the summer months?
dont the manics
and levellers hate each other. i went to the V festival one year and the singer in the levellers was saying 'when the manics come on chuck stuff at them'
yes
purportedly they do hate each other, but that's just cuz they come from very different political angles, or at least they DID back in the early days / hey-days of each band (circa early-mid 1990s). Pretty sure no-one in either band would really care now.
no they dont,
they're touring mostly, usually 2 tours per year, and the festival round in the summer
i knew
it was gonna be shit. im from swansea and the music scene is the most uninspiring, dull pile of piss shite ever.
Keane? Feeder? Manics?
how is it gonna get on the festive map if you can't differentiate any festivals apart these days