There’s a great overview of the recent Live In The Park 2015 at Aylesbury Showcase, including a selection of Toyah related links and clips. Click below to visit the page.
Eighties star Toyah brings the house down at New Mills Art Theatre
In a coup for the New Mills Festival 1980s’ icon Toyah Willcox played a greatest hits concert at New Mills Art Theatre on Saturday evening to an almost sell out crowd.
Drawing on her considerable back catalogue Toyah soon had the crowd rocking as she played hit after hit taking us back to those heady days of the eighties. Opening with Good Morning Universeit was clear Toyah’s voice was as strong as ever, the hair and makeup might have gone but the songs were as powerful as ever and she had the audience in the palm of her hand.
Thunder In The Mountains, I Want To Be Free and Brave New World were all rapturously received as were cover versions of Echo Beach and fellow eighties star Billy Idol’s Rebel Yell.
Of course what most of us remember Toyah for is the massive hit It’s A Mystery and when she played it she brought the house down (almost literally as plaster fell from the ceiling) and got a standing ovation. Coming back for the inevitable encore of Danced, Toyah thanked what was a very appreciative audience and in the words of Rebel Yell left them wanting More, More, More!
• Continue reading at the Derbyshire Times. Also available at the Buxton Advertiser.
Tenter hooks so gentle so sharp | Be on tenter hooks for not much longer. Digital reissue details coming soon…. #desire #pro #ophelia
Toyah plays, and officially opens, the New Mills Festival 2015 tonight, with an Acoustic, Up Close & Personal show at the New Mills Art Theatre.
Setting this year’s New Mills Festival off with an enormous bang, and following on from last year’s hugely successful fundraiser, this year sees the colourful, dynamic and unique Toyah Willcox and her band take to the stage at New Mills Art Theatre on Saturday 12 Sept 2015. Toyah will be belting out all her old hits including the iconic hit singles – It’s A Mystery, I Want To Be Free and Thunder In The Mountains, as well as newer material, in her famous high-energy style.
A limited edition of 50 fine art screen prints of the poster (on the left) for this event will be on sale at the Art Theatre tonight, and afterwards if any are left, online from sindesign.co.uk.
New Mills Community Festival is a 2-week annual celebration of community and cultural spirit through a diverse range of activities from talks and walks to concerts, gigs, exhibitions and an impressive lantern procession.
New Mills is situated on the borders of North West Derbyshire and Cheshire, is part of the Derbyshire Peak District and traces its history back to the 13th century. The town is set in an area of spectacular natural beauty and is a popular destination for walkers of all abilities. There are guided walks as part of the festival and even a Fungi Foray! It’s easily accessible by train or bus and boasts two train stations. Services run direct from Sheffield or Manchester in less than an hour.
• Visit Toyah’s page at the New Mills Festival website. Stay updated via the festival’s Twitter page. Browse all of our New Mills Festival 2015 news.
Toyah is on the cover of Sturminster Newton’s The Exchange brochure for Autumn/Winter 2015, which is published/launched today. She plays an Acoustic, Up Close & Personal date at The Exchange on Thursday 15th October. Click below for further details.
A short feature on the production of the promotional poster for Aaaaaaaah! by The Private Press.
A 6 colour screen printed poster for a brilliant new film called ‘Aaaaaaaah!, written and directed by Steve Oram, including a cast of Julian Barratt, Toyah Wilcox, Julian Rhind Tutt and Holli Dempsey. The poster prints onto Fenner Paper’s Bright Red Colorset 270gsm and the zip prints a shiny metallic silver.
The posters were printed to coincide with the film’s premiere in Leicester Square as part of Frightfest 2015. More information on the film can be found at both the Rook Films and Lincoln Studios sites.
• Continue reading at The Private Press. (Photo © The Private Press)
Punk artist Toyah Willcox hails Derby rock hotspot as one of the best in the country
Punk pioneer Toyah Willcox is back in Derby tomorrow night – at a rock hotspot she hails as one of the best venues in the country! Toyah will be performing at The Flowerpot on her “‘Proud, Loud and Electric” tour.
“My American band, The Humans, played The Flowerpot at least six year ago, it was one of the best gigs we’ve done! I love it there!” Toyah exclaims, when asked about Derby.
Fans who decide to attend the show can expect a truly unique performance.
“I always make sure that the band and I gear the music to the venue. We always look around and judge the audience then tailor our set to what they want so it’s different every night. Some nights they want a heavy set and sometimes they want to hear laid-back music. The Flowerpot is a really intimate venue with a low ceiling so it’s going to be a real rock ‘n’ roll show.
“I wanted to call the tour a name that allowed us to cherry-pick from a retrospective of 36 years of music. Because it’s so small, it’s going to get pretty hot in there so we’ll be playing a lot of music from the punk days.”
• Continue reading at the Derby Telegraph.
Steve Oram’s entertaining drama imagines a world populated by vile beasts who look like humans but behave like apes
The directorial debut of Sightseers star Steve Oram is a singular item of monkey business that imagines a world populated by vile beasts who look like humans, but think, act and converse like apes. Shot for peanuts (or bananas) around decidedly trusting souls’ flats, the result often resembles an actors’ body-language workshop run amok, but between the territory-marking and leg-humping – funny on some primal level – a narrative and wounded psychology does evolve.
• Continue reading at The Guardian.
Toyah is currently onstage at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, London. Here’s a pic! (Photo © RVT)
• Live 2015: Another trio of gigs – Toyah plays an Acoustic, Up Close & Personal date tonight at Vauxhall Tavern, London and tomorrow a Proud, Loud & Electric gig at The Flowerpot, Derby. On Saturday she is the opening music artist of the New Mills Festival 2015.
• Mansfield Chad: See Toyah in full flow at The Flowerpot: Iconic performer Toyah Willcox will be joined by her full band for a gig at The Flowerpot in Derby on Friday, September 11. The popular singer and actor is currently touring with her show, entitled Proud, Loud and Electric – Continue reading…
• Aaaaaaaah!: Another screening at Picture House Central, tomorrow night – View details…
• Get Ready To Rock: Gig review: Cropredy – Oxfordshire, 13-15 August 2015: Last year the festival had a proggy feel to it which I think really worked well but this year I think the attempt to mix in an 80′s pop feel hasn’t really paid off. The Proclaimers, Level 42 and Toyah actually played very good sets; for the folkies they were a bit leftfield – Toyah came out to huge applause and reeled off a set that included ‘It’s A Mystery’ alongside some great covers like ‘Rebel Yell’ and ‘Echo Beach’ – Continue reading…
• Toyah @ Twitter: Stay updated via Toyah’s Official Twitter page….
• Live 2015 +: New dates are sporadically being added to Toyah’s Official Gig page for the remainder of 2015, and also now into 2016 – Check if there’s an upcoming gig near you here…
Toyah performed, and Vintage TV recorded, an acoustic set yesterday for future airing as Live With… Toyah on the music channel (which is currently celebrating five years onscreen). Vintage tweeted: “Lovely, hugely talented @toyahofficial recording today for #LiveWith. See http://toyahwillcox.com & watch this space!” (Photo © Vintage TV)
Toyah Willcox and Madness tribute band to hit Flowerpot stage
Rock star Toyah Willcox is taking to the stage at The Flowerpot in Derby on Friday night.
Willcox, whose music career spans over 30 years, is performing at the King Street music venue with her electric band as part of her Proud, Loud & Electric tour. The singer-songwriter has brought in 13 top 40 singles including I Want To Be Free and Thunder In The Mountains, recording 29 albums during her career and touring worldwide.
Spokesman for the event, Alan Woolley, said: “From punk princess to cult stage actress and high priestess of TV, Toyah Willcox is a gifted performer and an inextinguishable flame.
“Charismatic, outspoken and impossible to categorise, she is one of Britain’s iconic household names – an award-winning rock legend as well as a much-loved stage and screen actress and music composer.”
• Continue reading at the Ashbourne News Telegraph.
Toyah is the cover star of the new issue of Boyz Magazine (10th September 2015). There is also an interview with her inside – Read it online by clicking below.
Another short interview with Toyah from the Aaaaaaaah! premiere at FrightFest 2015 a couple of weeks ago. This one by Red Carpet News TV.
Onion Talking: Steve Oram Opens Wide & Says AAAAAAAAH!
With AAAAAAAAH!, are you trying to say something significant about modern society, or is the construct simply an idea that you liked?
It’s just something I found funny; I didn’t set out to make something that was a satire or a commentary. I just really enjoyed creating an intricate world, and creating the interactions and the characters – making them do silly, extreme things.
You’ve worked with many of the cast members multiple times before, but how did you decide on which new faces to bring on board, like Toyah and Julian Rhind-Tutt?
With Toyah, I loved her work in Jubilee and Quadrophenia – I’ve been a massive fan of hers for years. I was trying to cast a lady in her 50s who wouldn’t mind having to do embarrassing sex scenes and have blancmange thrown at her face. There’s not that many of them! I didn’t know her before, but I sent her the script and she loved it.
• Read the full interview at The Velvet Onion. Browse all of our Steve Oram news.
• Artsbeat: Toyah To Open New Mills Festival: Opening this year’s New Mills Festival with a bang, is the colourful, dynamic and unique Toyah Willcox who will be taking to the stage with her band at New Mills Art Theatre on September 12. At New Mills Toyah will be belting out her old hits including the iconic singles It’s A Mystery, I Want To Be Free and Thunder In The Mountains, as well as newer material, in her famous high-energy style – Continue reading…
• Buxton Advertiser: Organisers promise “something for everyone” at New Mills festival: The annual New Mills Festival returns this Friday and organisers say it will be “bigger and better than ever”. This year’s programme’s theme of toys and games seeks to aim the festival’s programme at a younger audience but the presence of acts such as Toyah Willcox will ensure the festival has something for everyone – Continue reading…
• Visit the New Mills Festival 2015 website for further info and/or to buy tickets. Browse all of our New Mills Festival 2015 news. (Photo © Toyah Willcox/Dean Stockings)
Presenters Alex Jones and Matt Baker with Toyah, Simon Le Bon and John Taylor at The One Show on Tuesday. “Tonight we were joined by the 80s pop legends Duran Duran and Toyah Willcox, they had a quick look back at their iconic fashion style and retro pictures”. (Photo © BBC)
Toyah on The One Show earlier this evening. Recreating the iconic Thunder In The Mountains hair and make-up, with the help of make-up artist Sean Chapman and hairdresser Michael Douglas. Toyah also made a surprise appearance live on the programme, joining guests Simon Le Bon and John Taylor of Duran Duran on the sofa. Watch the programme at BBC iPlayer.
Toyah plays an Acoustic, Up Close & Personal gig at the Vauxhall Tavern, London this Thursday. Click below for further info and/or to book tickets.
Eighties’ legend Toyah to perform at New Mills Festival
Eighties pop princess Toyah adds a touch of stardust to this year’s New Mills Festival.
She will be backed by a full band when she sings at the town’s Art Theatre on Saturday, September 12. Toyah will be performing greatest hits from her 30-year career which include It’s A Mystery, Thunder in the Mountains and I Want To Be Free.
The concert promises to be a highlight of the fortnight-long festival which celebrates the cultural and community spirit of New Mills.
Activities kick off on Friday, September 11, with a Mad Hatters Afternoon Tea Party at The Cakery from 2pm to 4pm and an art trail which turns the town into a gallery.
For the full programme, see www.newmillsfestival.co.uk
• Continue reading at the Derbyshire Times. Visit the New Mills Festival 2015 website for further info and/or to buy tickets. Browse all of our New Mills Festival 2015 news.
It’s a busy Friday night in London’s West End, I escape the hustle and bustle in the new Picturehouse cinema bar; it’s vast and empty… the calm before the storm. The venue anticipates a celeb-studded screening of the new Steve Oram film “Aaaaaaaah!” and I am anticipating meeting Steve to talk about his new (crazy-amazing) film.
I attended the press screening of Aaaaaaaah! a couple of weeks ago & the film completely haunted me. Images and thoughts from the movie were triggered by day-to-day life. In that sense it is extremely powerful and well crafted, well acted. I’m not exactly sure what it was trying to say, but I think like a lot of good art, it says what you want it to say.
… Then who should appear in the cinema bar, but Toyah Willcox (one of the leading ladies in the film) she’s dressed in a beautiful orange dress, her hair coiffed but not overdone. She’s sprightly and bubbly and bounds up to our table chatting about how she still gigs 3 times a week. But who knew Toyah could act? Toyah’s acting is incredible in Aaaaaaaah! & she would like to do more acting, her range is pretty broad, she had just filmed an episode of Doctors (that daytime show on BBC), which couldn’t be further from her character in Aaaaaaaah! I asked Steve about how he came to cast Toyah in his movie, “I’ve always been a long time fan of Toyah’s acting, she’s brilliant in Quadrophenia. People forget Toyah can act, but they shouldn’t forget.”
Robert Fripp is Toyah’s other half, and the music in the film is by King Crimson Projekts, and it’s a perfect otherworldly, primal backdrop.
• Continue reading at The Huffington Post.
