If you go down to the woods today...

... as the old story goes, you're sure of a big surprise and that is because the Forestry Commission have been running their series of Summer gigs in Forests all over the UK.

Status Quo have done their bit, as have KT Tunstall. The Zutons and the Charalatons have one date left on the 28th June in Staffordshire and Thetford forest will see Crowded House perform on the 10th July McFly on the 11th.

Page8 will be sending a screaming teenage girl (well almost) to the McFly gig where they will be supported by Go Audio.

-----

The Forestry Commission is committed to taking woodlands to new audiences, and making them relevant to people in new ways. The forest tour is self-sustaining, paying for itself, and providing valuable revenue to plough back into the woodland in a variety of environmental and social projects.

McFly will be performing at:

High Lodge, Thetford Forest, Nr Brandon, Suffolk on Friday 11th July

Tickets £26 (subject to booking fee) available from 9am Friday 11th April from: Ticket Hotline 01842 814612 or buy online at: www.forestry.gov.uk/music

Info: www.mcflyofficial.com / www.myspace.com/mcfly / www.forestry.gov.uk/music

Paramore 01/02/08

There’s Paramore Where That Came From

With only two moderately successful albums to their name, you can’t help but feel that Paramore’s two day headlining stint at Brixton Academy is due more to lead vocalist Hayley William’s obvious fan base, rather than their overwhelming originality. Sure, they’re talented and they write catchy songs, but the audience in this cramped, sweaty London venue is either preoccupied with wanting to be her or, in the case of the males in the crowd, wanting to be on her.

Kids in Glass Houses first start the sold out party with their infectious pop-rock. Although simple melodies are their key to success, they do it well with songs such as ‘Me, Me, Me’ and ‘Easy Tiger’, showing that they have enough talent to be headlining venues not much smaller than this when they release their debut album in a couple of months time.

Globally, it could easily be argued that main support act New Found Glory are a bigger name than the teen headliners. With countless albums to their name and a massive fan base in force for tonight’s gig, the quintet use their prince of punk pop status to convert the younger audience members. Infamous for its sound, the venue does nothing to help their cause, providing both messy distortion and drowned out vocals. However, with sing-a-long tunes, a massive dinosaur backdrop and smiles on show nearly as much as at a Miss World beauty contest; New Found Glory can say it was another job well done.

As expected, high pitched screams of adolescent girls greet the Franklin, Tennessee quartet. Powering through opener ‘For a Pessimist, I'm Pretty Optimistic’, Paramore can do nothing wrong in the eyes of the pubescent crowd, (disregarding the middle aged bald headed man seen moshing). Despite the flashing lights and video screen in the background, Paramore can’t do anything about the way their songs seem to merge into one hour and a half pop hit. With nothing to set each song apart, it’s left to their final, (and undoubtedly their best), song ‘Misery Business’ to provide the last screams of the night. There’s no doubt that with another album under their belts Paramore could be the cream of the pop crop, but having a desirable vocalist singing one-dimensional tunes can get you only so far.

Good? Yes. Amazing? Not quite.

7/10

ZOO Preview

4th - 6th July 2008, Lympne, Nr Ashford, Kent

Mark Ronson, The Cribs, Dizzee Rascal, The Hives, Ash, Athlete and The Rascals all named among the artists for debut of Zoo Thousand music festival









July 2008 will see over 100 top live acts, bands and DJs descend on The Garden of England as they perform beside the Port Lympne Wild Animal Park’s mix of ferocious, fearsome and friendly animals.

Superstar DJ and producer Mark Ronson is the first-ever headliner at Zoo Thousand and will play a full live set with backing band The Version Players on the Friday night. Support on the Main Stage comes from leading UK rapper Dizzee Rascal, while the Tap ‘N’ Tin Stage is headlined by hardcore punk outfit Gallows, who are joined by Lethal Bizzle and NME’s hot tip, F***ed Up.

Raucous Yorkshire trio The Cribs top Saturday’s Main Stage on a bill that also sees indie favourites Ash and British Sea Power perform alongside Roni Size / Reprazent. Joining them will be The Rascals as Miles Kane returns to the day job after teaming up with Arctic Monkey Alex Turner for side project The Last Shadow Puppets.

The Tap ‘N’ Tin stage – programmed by the underground Chatham venue that have signed many of the top acts for the festival – sees The Young Knives headline and appearances come from the Rolex-wearing Wiley, local favourite Kid Harpoon and Chas and Dave for some Cockney Rock and Roll.

The curtain will be brought down at Port Lympne by garage rockers The Hives, but Athlete, Funeral For A Friend Flogging Molly and Does it Offend You, Yeah? will all perform on the Main Stage before the Swedish showmen play out the festival. Bringing and end to the weekend on the Tap ‘N’ Tin stage will be The Holloways, who follow Late of the Pier, Charlotte Hatherley and Pete & the Pirates on the final day.

Other performances throughout the weekend include DJ sets from Bloc Party’s Kele Okereke, a 90 minute stint from Aussie drum and bass group Pendulum and a two hour marathon from Andy C as Zoo Thousand and Eight caters for a range of musical tastes.

Freemasons, Bodyrox, Bassment Jaxx’s Vula, Seb Fontaine, Yousef, Friction, Goldie, Fabio, MSTRKRFT, Switch and Stanton Warriors are among some of the other names playing the various stages and tents through the weekend.

The festival will accommodate 20,000 revellers and camping is onsite, meaning that it will be among the largest music festivals in the South East. And keeping in mind its location, ZOO8 will be one of the greener festivals on the calendar.

Port Lympne Wild Animal Park is run by registered charity The Aspinall Foundation and the festival is making a donation to the Foundation to help pay for the upkeep of the animals and their enclosures. A car-sharing scheme will be in place to minimise the number of visitors arriving by vehicle, and there will be a tree-planting initiative to take part in.

While the animals will be kept at a safe distance from the crowds and artists in the 600-acre site, festival-goers will be able to visit the Animal Park for a reduced price which is home to The Palace of the Apes, the biggest gorillarium in the world and the largest breeding herd of black rhino outside Africa as well as Siberian and Indian tigers, African elephants and many endangered species besides.

There will even be the opportunity to take the African Experience Safari, where giraffes, rhinos, wildebeest, ostrich antelope roam free.

PAGE 8 will be bringing you details of the full line up shortly.

Zoo Line-up

Friday 4th July

ZOO8 Main Stage
Mark Ronson and the Version Players
Dizzee Rascal
Little Man Tate
Delays
The Rumble Strips
Metronomy
Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip
Nick Harrison
Marner Brown

Saturday 5th July

ZOO8 Main Stage
The Cribs
Ash
British Sea Power
Roni Size / Reprazent
Hadouken!
The Rascals
The Teenagers
Frank Turner
Underground Heroes
Jacobs Stories

Sunday 6th July

ZOO8 Main Stage
The Hives
Athlete
Funeral For A Friend
Flogging Molly
Does It Offend You, Yeah?
Friendly Fires
Ida Maria
In Case Of Fire
Maker