Acoustic shows such fun says Toyah as she heads to Colne Muni
Considering she has been touring constantly for almost 40 years, you might think that Toyah Willcox would have had her fill of live dates.
But, as she prepares to bring her acoustic show to Colne Muni at the weekend, the singer admits that these intimate performances are something she particularly looks forward to.
“We absolutely adore doing the acoustic shows,” she said. “Harmonically it’s just so nice not to have the drums banging away in the background and the songs kind of have a life of their own.
“It’s also great fun to tell the stories and it’s good to find something new people haven’t heard before.”
Legendary rocker Steve Harley headlined Secret World’s first ever music festival.
Steve and his band Cockney Rebel, were joined by inspirational punk rocker Toyah Willcox and a host of Somerset bands for the inaugural Music in the Meadow one day festival.
Secret World Wildlife Rescue in East Huntspill, near Highbridge was packed on Saturday, September 10 for a day of fantastic live music and activities. Visitors have been flocking to events at Secret World for many years, but it’s usually for a chance to get close to wildlife.
All the money raised from Music in the Meadow will go towards Secret World’s work to rescue, rehabilitate and release injured and orphaned wildlife.
Toyah plays the new Music In The Meadow festival today – An event for a great cause, raising funds for the Secret World Wildlife Rescue, an organisation who provide a 24/7 service, 365 days a year to rescue sick, injured or orphaned wildlife. Read more about this here.
Today’s festival is headlined by Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, with Toyah supporting and a host of local bands, including Daytona, Storm, A Cunning Plan, Twerzels and Luna-C, also playing. It’s going to be a great day of music and fundraising.
Event organiser Keith Weston said, “There’s a real buzz in the air about Music in the Meadow, tickets are selling well and we can’t wait to welcome music lovers and families to this all-day event on 10 September.”
• Further information on Music In The Meadow 2016here.
Punk icon Toyah Willcox has just as much attitude now as she did when she burst on to the music scene in the 1980s.
From punk princess to high priestess of TV, Toyah Willcox is a uniquely gifted performer. 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 actress and music composer.
Toyah is busier than ever, shooting four movies this year, and playing Glastonbury. One of her earliest films was the classic 1979 movie Quadrophenia, and almost 40 years on, it’s her starring role in the sequel.
As the first part in an exciting new series of live events producted in conjunction with Dulcet Sounds, Toyah will be performing live at Tribeca on Sunday 16th October. Tickets now on sale at £10 each plus £1 booking fee via https://dulcet-sounds-events.ticketlight.co.uk.
Some classics – including The Packt – are being dusted down for this Friday’s atmospheric gig at London’s Islington Academy. Support is by Cauda Pavonis and 111. Click below to buy tickets for what is sure to be an unmissable Proud, Loud & Electric gig.
Somerset bands to support Steve Harley And Cockney Rebel and Toyah Willcox
A group of Somerset bands will perform alongside rock legends Steve Harley And Cockney Rebel and Toyah Willcox at the Music In The Meadow festival.
The event, which will be held at Secret World Wildlife Rescue in East Huntspill, will see the artists take to the stage to support the charity while performing alongside their idols on September 10. Bands including Storm, A Cunning Plan, Daytona, Twerzels and Luna-C will perform alongside punk singer Toyah Willcox and London band Steve Harley And Cockney Rebel.
Music In The Meadow will raise money for the charity which works to provide rescue services for sick, injured and orphaned wildlife. The charity is responsible for rescuing more than 5,000 animals each year.
Tickets are available online via www.secretworld.org/musicinthemeadow or can be bought at the Secret World gift shop.
Win a pair of tickets to ‘Music In The Meadow’ at Secret World Wildlife Rescue on Saturday 10th September.
Somerset’s newest festival, Music in the Meadow, sees Yeovil bands Storm and Daytona, Castle Cary’s A Cunning Plan, Twerzels (the West Country’s finest Wurzels Tribute band) and Luna-C from Wedmore, taking to the stage to support Steve Harley and his band. Punk icon Toyah Willcox will also play at this all-day family event.
• Continue reading/Enter competition at Taunton’s Tone FM. More information on this new one-day festival, which is aiming to raise money for a fantastic cause, here.
Eighties pop icon Toyah Willcox will perform her acoustic show on October 22, at Colne Municipal Hall, with music and stories taking centre stage.
From filming pop videos on horseback to acting alongside Katharine Hepburn and Laurence Olivier, Toyah lifts the lid on working in the entertainment business. There will be “meticulous and melodic.” acoustic versions of the hits It’s A Mystery, Thunder In The Mountains, I Want To Be Free and Good Morning Universe.
Visit themuni.co.uk or call 01282 661234 to book tickets.
Rewind South 2016 was 10 days ago, but here’s a newly published review, from the Henley Standard, of the festival anyway…
The weather gods were not kind to Rewind this year, with a very windy weekend punctuated by some heavy rain showers.
However, this did not in any way deter the thousands of Eighties pop fans who visited the riverside site — and certainly not the 23 acts who performed for them.
The festival proper opened with regular Rewind star Tony Hadley — but this time he performed a 45-minute set with the Southbank Sinfonia behind him, as well as the Tony Hadley Band. Fittingly for an artist who cites David Bowie as one of the major influences on Spandau Ballet, he opened with Life on Mars.
More than 30 years on from the band’s Eighties peak, Hadley’s voice has held its strength and power — and ably covered Bowie’s anthem, as well as an Elvis Presley number and Spandau Ballet’s biggest hits. The synthpop era of the early Eighties was well represented by artists such as Hazell Dean, Toyah and Jimmy Somerville, while the big voices came in the form of Rick Astley and Leo Sayer.
Eighties icons helped bring a Hampshire festival to life.
Graze Festival in Twyford saw more than 2,000 people gather where they enjoyed acts like The Beat and Toyah.
Rock ‘n’ roll singer John Otway was also a performer at the event where people also danced to music by Flight Brigade, Polly and the Billets and The Lucky Strikes. Also appearing were Robert Vincent, Rews, Lilo’s Wall, Southampton Ukulele Jam, DJ Super Kat and Luna Rivers.
• Continue reading at the Southern Daily Echo. This morning Toyah tweeted a photo from yesterday’s Graze Festival congratulating them on a successful second year.
Toyah has had a fantastic Summer of festivals yet again this year, with more to come. So far there’s been Rewind South, Cleethorpes Rocks, Wickham, Rewind Scotland, Dartford Festival, Let’s Rock Southampton, Grassington Festival, Glastonbury…
Next is, a festival which looks like it will be a great day, Graze Festival 2016 this Sunday in Hampshire.
• Visit the Graze Festivalwebsite. Book tickets here. View the stage times (Toyah is scheduled for 7.50pm). Browse all of Dreamscape’s Graze Festivalnews.
The Graze Festival returns to Twyford on Sunday. The home-grown music and food festival is once again ready to rock.
Headlining the main stage this year are ska and reggae sensations The Beat, featuring Ranking Roger and his son Ranking Junior. The band have eight top 40 hits to their name, including Mirror in the Bathroom which reached number 4 in the UK charts back in 1980.
Joining them at the top of the bill is Toyah, famous for her hits It’s A Mystery and I Want To Be Free. She has appeared on TV in everything from Doctor Who to Loose Women. She was even in the film Quadrophenia and is currently filming the sequel.
Art exhibitions, walks, concerts, theatre, places to visit and other events and ideas.
Graze Festival, Winchester – Sunday 28 August
Hazeley Fields, Twyford
Graze is a real home-grown fest, started last year by a small group of residents in Twyford. This family day of music and fine food drew crowds of more than 2000 people and raised over £10,000 for local charities. “The feedback we received was ‘please don’t change anything, please don’t go corporate or try to expand too much’”, says co-organiser Tim Smith. So, this year the festival returns, hoping to keep its raw charm, with a line-up including Toyah (Willcox), John Otway and 80s ska revival band, The Beat – whose lively tunes are the perfect accompaniment for a balmy summer evening.
Daytona, Luna C, and A Cunning Plan ‘proud’ to warm up for legends Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel
Somerset bands say they are “proud” to be warming up for rock legends Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel on September 10 at Secret World’s Music in the Meadow. Somerset’s newest festival, Music in the Meadow, sees Yeovil bands Storm and Daytona, Castle Cary’s A Cunning Plan, Twerzels (a Wurzels tribute band) and Luna-C from Wedmore, taking to the stage to support Steve Harley and his band.
Punk icon Toyah Willcox will also play at the all-day event at Secret World Wildlife Rescue near Highbridge in Somerset.
• Continue reading at Somerset Live. Browse all of our Music In The Meadow 2016news.
Former punk princess Toyah Willcox will perform an intimate evening of acoustic music this weekend.
Her concert at Derby Cathedral on Saturday, August 27, will raise money for the upkeep of the cathedral. Toyah has racked up eight top 40 singles during her career. She rose to fame through hits such as It’s A Mystery and Thunder in the Mountains. She is also a popular actress.
Torrential rain is about as welcome at a 80s summer festival as a wasp in your leg-warmers. But when rain soaked the Rewind Festival South crowd every day, forcing them to cover up their colourful costumes, a true disco fever helped to revive their dampened spirits.
Other upbeat acts included the ever-exuberant Leo Sayer who at 68 danced around the stage to songs like You Make Me Feel Like Dancing, with the energy of someone half his age.
And it was certainly a mystery to the audience how Toyah, who sang hits like I Want To Be Free, retains her youthful good looks.
Ringing in the changes at Rewind South for the first time ever was Erasure’s flamboyant Andy Bell who headlined on Saturday night. The Henley crowd were treated to classics like Sometimes and Respect as Andy dazzled the audience in his sequinned shorts.
Toyah Willcox and Cockney Rebel to perform at Secret World festival
Punk icon Toyah Willcox and rock legends Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel will perform on stage at a new music festival near Burnham-On-Sea this September.
Somerset’s newest festival, Music in the Meadow, will take place at Secret World Wildlife Rescue in East Huntspill on 10th September. It will also feature Yeovil bands Storm and Daytona, Castle Cary’s A Cunning Plan, the Twerzels (the West Country’s finest Wurzels tribute band) and Luna-C from Wedmore.
Event organiser Keith Weston told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “We’re so excited to have these great local bands playing at our first ever music festival. There’s a real buzz in the air about Music in the Meadow, tickets are selling well and we can’t wait to welcome music lovers and families to this all-day event on 10 September”.
Acoustic shows such fun says Toyah as she heads to Colne Muni
