What is the Rock and Bike Fest?
It’s a family-friendly music and bike/trike event in the grounds of Elvaston Castle over the weekend of July 12 to 14, with Pendulum, the Quireboys, the Sweet, Toyah Willcox and lots of tribute acts, plus a custom bike and trike show, live wrestling, tattoo competitions and more.
What is its history?
It was started five years ago by a team of people who share a passion for music and bikes. The first major event was in 2008 but there were a couple of smaller scale ones prior to that.
Who are the big music names who’ve played the festival in the past?
Saxon, Girlschool, T-Rex, Bad Company, the Levellers, the Quireboys, New Model Army, Toyah Willcox and Nazareth.
How many people are expected to attend this year? Around 5,000.
A short preview of the forthcoming ‘Wayne’s Asylum’ Toyah interview will air on tomorrow night’s show on Switch Radio. Info from Wayne:
This Friday I will be giving you an interview teaser EXCLUSIVE of the Toyah interview I did last week with the lady herself. She’ll be letting you know about the gigs she has coming up in here in Brum including the Hare and Hounds gig and a massive Halloween special @ Birmingham Ballroom . Do not miss this prequel to the Friday 13th/ Toyah special being aired in July..
Pop Idol and punk princess look to build on success
The stars were out in force ahead of the new Marlowe Theatre pantomime for 2012, Sleeping Beauty.
Pop Idol star Gareth Gates and punk legend Toyah Willcox head the cast which also includes Katrina Bryan, better known as Nina from the CBeebies series Nina and the Neurons.
A stint on Dancing on Ice in 2008 prompted Gareth to change musical direction and he went on to take the lead role in Joseph And His Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. He has since appeared in Les Miserables, both on the 25th anniversary tour and in the West End. Former punk princess Toyah appeared in six productions at the old Marlowe and is delighted to be returning to the new venue, where she will play the Wicked Fairy
Sleeping Beauty is at The Marlowe Theatre from 30 November to 20 January 2013. To book tickets, call the Box Office on 01227 787787 or go to marlowetheatre.com
Gareth Gates made a promise to the county as he led the cast of Sleeping Beauty at the Marlowe Theatre pantomime launch. The singer and actor, who has sold more than 3.5 million records in the UK, will play a cheeky Prince who is “more Prince Harry than Prince William” when the show gets underway. Gareth, 27, was joined outside the theatre in Canterbury on Monday, June 25, by punk princess and actress Toyah Willcox and CBeebies’ Katrina Bryan from Nina and the Neurons.
Toyah Willcox, who has a home in Canterbury, has only had one Christmas off from panto since her first one in 1993. This will be her seventh Marlowe Theatre pantomime. She said: “It’s a great Christmas tradition which you get nowhere else in the world. It is a time for the family to be together. I love it. I wouldn’t know what to do if I didn’t do panto.”
Today was the press launch/photo call for Toyah’s 2012 panto Sleeping Beauty. Gareth Gates and Toyah were in Canterbury for numerous photos and interviews. Toyah also tweeted a photo. Click on the image below to view a larger version. (Thanks to Mark Whitney)
• A good response, via Twitter, yesterday to Toyah’s Mylor Sessions gig on Saturday, with tweets from people saying how much they enjoyed the concert.
• Toyah was included in the lastest Connections (Show 127): ‘It’s A Mystery’ was lodged between Hazel O’Connor’s ‘Will You’ and Susan Cadogan’s ‘Hurts So Good’.
• Rabbit… Rabbit: WillyFred has his very own thread over at the ‘Rabbit Rehome’ forum. View here.
Seven years apart and very, very different music and imagery, but both “classic” Toyah – The iconic ‘Danced’, the live version from ‘Toyah! Toyah! Toyah!’ released as a single in late 1980, and ‘Desire’ the album released in Summer 1987 that includes some of Toyah’s best lyrics, showcasing what a fine songwriter she is. Please click on each to zoom.
The ‘Desire’ photo is actually from a 1986 shoot but image/time wise it’s close enough to be associated to the 1987 album! (Thanks to Andrew York for working his magic on the photo)
• Toyah talked David Bowie in The Stardust Memories on ‘BBC Radio 4’ this morning. The radio documentary marked the 40th anniversary of the release of the ‘Ziggy Stardust’ album. Toyah tweeted about it: “Turned BBC Radio 4 on whilst travelling & I was on talking Bowie! Can’t remember recording it!”. Unfortunately this isn’t available at ‘BBC iPlayer’ but view more info on it here.
• ‘BBC Radio 2 – Now Playing’: Toyah – I Want to Be Free – Tweeted by “now playing” earlier this afternoon!
• The Changeling by Melissa Mailer-Yates: “First batch of Toyah prints arrived yesterday, simply awesome tone matching and detail, fabulous 290gsm paper, great work by Ginger in Warwick, they’re on their way people x“.
• Jelly: ‘Get Out Of Jail’ at You Tube, ‘Say Hello’ at You Tube.
Toyah plays at ‘Mylor Sessions’ tonight, with a full-band gig.
The concert sold out within a couple of weeks of being announced. It’s sure to be a great night and Toyah has been tweeting about it over the last couple of days. View all of our ‘Mylor Sessions’ news.
The Hare & Hounds, King’s Heath, where Toyah will play a homecoming show on 16th July to mark her inclusion on the King’s Heath Walk Of Fame, now have a dedicated Toyah page at their website.
Dirty Sexy Funny: Olivia Lee: Comedy Central Extra: Saturday 7th July: 03.40am
Olivia Lee stars in this hidden camera sketch show. Deaf Bubba makes a mess of things at the marina, Door Bitch takes a punt and Elaine Caine meets Toyah Willcox.
I spent most of yesterday colouring this photo. Crazy I know, but I’ve always wanted to see a non b&w version of it as it’s my favourite band shot from that era… Click to zoom!
with a pop punk sensibility infused with a hint of the troubador.
A one off advertisment from Switzerland, fused with a once only look at the classified ads….
The synchronicity of these events put our hero`s Mickey Howard, Stevie Bray and Vera Wild into the same frame for the first time.. All from ex name bands and all hungry to get playing live,
As players they gelled well, already having more than an albums worth of material written, they looked forward to getting the band together and seeing the songs come to life…
Jelly are: Stevie Bray, Mickey Howard, Vera Wild and Martin Drees. Their influences include: Bowie, Ian Hunter, Neil Young, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Lords of the New Church, Kinks, Small Faces, Beatles, Buzzcocks, Led Zeppelin and Django Reinhardt.
Two more Dreamscape creations. Toyah has such a rich history of visuals, it’s good to dip into the photos and try to construct something ‘new’ from the familiar images. I never tire of ‘The Blue Meaning’ and ‘I Want To Be Free’ is an iconic single. Click on each to zoom.
One of the best singles of 1981, excellent production by Nick Tauber and iconic visuals on the single’s sleeve (and 12″ picture disc) and the accompanying video. I’ve always believed that this could be a massive hit again if it was included on the soundtrack of a big movie…
Andrew York continues to add a whole new dimension to well, and not so well, known Toyah photos. Here are just a few of his latest, fantastic, creations. View all of our Andrew posts.
A great selection of photos of Toyah from ‘The Changeling Resurrection’ gig at Bush Hall, London (22nd April 2012). Toyah looking fantastic in monochrome. Click below to view them all at Dreamscape Changeling Resurrection Gallery. (Thanks to Mark Evans for the photos)
• View all of our ‘Changeling Resurrection’ news, photographs and the London gig updates.
A new Toyah interview, by ‘Vision4Dreams’. It runs for just under six minutes and Toyah chats about her career, education, building a career via the internet and more.
What is the Rock and Bike Fest?
Toyah plays at ‘Mylor Sessions’ tonight, with a full-band gig.
