Joe's Big Toe » Festivals

Skindred — Sziget 2010

Joe Innes — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 16:31:12 +0000

Whenever I talk about Skindred, it’s very hard not to say “reggae-metal”. So I’m going to get it out of the way — Skindred are a reggae-metal band. There’s no better description, and yet, reggae-metal feels as though it falls a long way short of being an adequate description. Their music is very definitely niche [...]

Bad Religion — Sziget 2010

Joe Innes — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 19:39:18 +0000

One of the bands I was most excited about seeing at Sziget this year was Bad Religion. The band is, of course, absolutely key to the entire punk music scene that inspired me to get involved with MoonMusic, and later, to set up Joe’s Big Toe. There’s not a punk band recording today who wouldn’t [...]

Kispál és a Borz

Joe Innes — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 13:42:40 +0000

Check out a few photos from the Kispál és a Borz gig from Day –1, Sziget 2010

Easy Star All-Stars — Sziget 2010

Joe Innes — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 11:33:24 +0000

Some of you may remember that we have already brought you one review of Easy Star All-Stars this year, but just in case you haven’t had chance to read it, or have forgotten, here’s a quick recap. Easy Star All-Stars are a New York reggae band who specialise in covers of famous rock albums. So [...]

Ska-P — Sziget Festival

Joe Innes — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 19:48:54 +0000

Both of the first two bands we’re reviewing from Sziget Festival are foreign — Kispál és a Borz were Hungarian, Ska-P are Spanish. As with Kispál, this meant that a lot of the patter and banter was lost on me, unfortunately. Ska-P are a very politically vocal band, and this is reflected in their performance [...]

Kispál és a Borz — Sziget 2010

Joe Innes — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 13:21:31 +0000

Kispál és a Borz, frequently referred to as just Kispál (pronounced kishpal) were Hungary’s largest alternative rock band, founded just before the fall of communism in Hungary in the country’s fifth largest city, Pécs (pronounced paytch), which represents a hotbed of cultural and artistic activity within Hungary. Their performance on Day –1 at Sziget is [...]

Pocket Satellite at Tramlines

Joe Innes — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 11:00:05 +0000

Pocket Satellite, who we’ve reviewed a couple of times in the past, played at the Nottingham House on the Saturday at Tramlines. Fortunately for me, the venue were about an hour behind time, which gave me the opportunity to have a chat with Tom (according to the band’s MySpace “percussive diversions/bowed noise”) about what Pocket [...]

I’m A Private In A Private Army

Joe Innes — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 11:00:23 +0000

While I was at Tramlines, something happened which made me think long and hard about the role of security at an event. What are they really there for? I came up with a few theories. The first idea I mulled over was that they’re just there to be bastards to us all, and to make [...]

Tramlines Festival 2010

Joe Innes — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 15:30:32 +0000

There’s been a lot of talk in and around Sheffield about Tramlines this year. The free festival began last year, attracting over 35,000 people, and returned this year bigger and better than before, with an estimated footfall of 60,000 on the Saturday alone. The festival is spread out over fifty or so different venues across [...]

Infected Mushroom — I started when I was about 15 at my late grandmother’s house

Joe Innes — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 18:04:44 +0000

With less than two weeks to go until the start of the festival, we bring you this week’s Spotlight On: Sziget 2010, focussing on the Israeli psychedelic trance group, Infected Mushroom. The band started out with only two members, Erez Eisen (I.Zen) and Amit Dudevani (Dudev) in 1998 in northern Israel. Since then, they have [...]