Groundbreaking Events, A Big Radio Show, and Elephant Workshops
Category Archives: Festival Style
The bigger events we do, where we collectively try and feature as much as possible from our city of brum, and which houses the now infamous mr elephant’s midnight mask parade. Expect, poodles, percussion, mask making, djs, performance, live music, vjs, and a lot of happy people.
As you may know we are taking a break from all the monthly events for the forseeable future, to concentrate on other projects, so until we return, we just wanted to say a massive thank you on behalf of the whole Mr Elephant crew for bringing the vibes to our last 41 events, and to everyone who has been part of any Mr Elephant event, workshop, radio show, or website.
We’ll really miss the events, and each one has been a truly inspiring experience, but the time feels right to move on to other projects until next year.
It was really important that we left things on a high, and we’re forever grateful to all the venues that have housed us throughout the last years, the Adam & Eve, Hare & Hounds, Epic Skate Park, Rainbow Beach, the Bulls Head & Prince Wales.
When we return to do events we will certainly be looking to promote local talent through smaller regular events, but there was a unananimous decision that we all wanted to return to another reason why we started Mr Elephant in the 1st place, and that is the larger more festival style events. Like the 1st 2 at Epic skate park in 2007, the family days at the Prince garden, the 12 hour celebration pf Birmingham’s Underground on the Rainbow beach/warehouse, and the workshops & multistage 2nd Birthday at the hare and hounds. Events that are one offs and that encompass all the areas of Mr Elephant in one cohesive event, or to put it another way, a balance of all the events over the last 3 years, and pushing some of the Mr Elephant ideas forward.
We’ll still be hosting our radio show on www.rhubarbradio.com with Marc Reck every monday evening at 6pm & Mr Elephant residents Skeleton & Dolhasz will be hosting The Beat Suite every wednesday from 11.30pm. However to avoid the whole website being taken up with the radio shows, it seems more appropriate for these to exist on their own websites & of course the rhubarb ones, so that the artists & events can remain on the front of this one. One of the main aims of Mr Elephant is to shine a light on great stuff, and so hopefully the videos of the events housed on this website helps further that.
There are many ideas and goals that we have as Mr Elephant and while we’ve achieved so much more than we hoped, (due to the ever expanding platform of talented contributors) there is so much we have yet to explore.
We have always been totally unfunded, and, as most will know, it becomes difficult to devote such a large portion of your life when you have to cover your own costs, and have other ambitions to explore. With that in mind we are looking at ways to fund future events so we can realise their true potential, and we’ll be taking time out to further our own interests in order to bring them back in bigger and brighter. We all want to keep the free party ethos alight wherever possible, simply because it allows the most accessibility to people, regardless of financial status, and therefore the most diverse mix of people, which is always a good thing… The logisitics of sorting the time and resources we can work out.
Anyway, once again, thanks to one and all for a truly inspiring 3 years, and on behalf of all the Mr Elephant crew, we wish you a beautiful hot summer.
Yes another year is almost passed and as we enter a new decade we would like to whole heartedly wish you all a very happy 2010 on behalf of the Mr Elephant crew.
We would also like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you who bought their vibes to any of our 25 events this year, lent their ears to any of the 16 radio shows, or took part in our community workshops back in May.
And of course a big shout to the 50+ artists who delivered their magic at the various Mr Elephant events, and the 100 + people who came together behind to make it all happen, and platform and share their unique skills, with us (and each other.)
You may have noticed that this year we wanted to focus more on showcasing as many Birmingham artists as we could (hence the 3 very different monthly residencies at 3 great Birmingham venues) but we haven’t forgotten why we started Mr Elephant, and in 2010 we will be looking to hopefully bring a balance to both with slightly less regular events and slightly more of the larger events.
Because they require so much time we have had to look at how best to move forward so we will be playing the next quarter by elephant ear, but suffice to say there are plans already in action for another festival style event with the return of the mr elephant midnight parade and featuring all the trimmings of the 1st 2 at Epic from 2007, the 12 hour celebrate underground from 2008, our 1st birthday also from 2008 and our 12 hour 2nd birthday from 2009. We are also aiming to grow our regular monthly events and showcase some great live artists,underground djs, and forward thinking vjs at two of our favourite Birmingham venues.
Our Party Rockin Mammal Sessions will be the first to return with a new home @ the Hare & Hounds room 2 on Saturday Jan 9th (http://www.hareandhoundskingsheath.co.uk/party-rockin-mammal-sessions-free-party/) with a huge free party featuring around 10 of our favourite underground djs in brum, and will of course be on rotation 2nd Sat of every month thereafter with our Cinephonic A/V cinematic dancefloor sessions both bringing you a host of great djs, vjs, and live electronic artists.
Along with his unique visual talents, Vj Blendstate has taken over the promoting reigns of both of these events since mid October, along with our super skilled elephant residents the beat suite (aka skeleton & dolhasz) rocking the decks, and Liam has some big plans afoot, so if you like underground dance music and quality visuals, keep it locked.
I’ll be continuing with our live and free residency at the Adam & Eve which will feature more great live bands, eclectic djs and solo artists on the last saturday of February and each month thereafter, and will of course remain free entry til 4am, and will be returning with our eclectic radio show each monday to its home on rhubarb radio from 6pm – 8pm – (Check out/hear all our past shows and artists here) . – On a personal note i’ll be returning to the decks in around April/May with something i been working on since having a break in October.
Along with Jack and friends we will continue to capture and post footage of all artists as best we can on this website and make a loud elephant noises about the wealth of talent that exists in the city we live in. BIRMINGHAM! and our resident journalist Emily P will be continuing her cool column on the news and reviews front, and is rumoured to be bringing her interviewing prowess to the site in the new year.
The website (like the events, workshops, and of course radio) is totally unfunded, and features over 140 posts, many of which with video, photos, and of course links to all artists, so please have an explore round the various posts, check the videos and support any of the artists you enjoy by following their links and making a noise about whatever you’re into.
We would like to work the site better, so if you know about websites or have any ideas, feel free to let us know on how we can improve the community side of the website, or by dropping a comment. (We’ve had major issues with the mailing list plugin which has now been discontinued, hence no mailouts for almost a year now, but we are migrating to another option in jan)
And finally we would like raise the collective trunk and make a huge elephant noise to everyone who is, and has been, involved with Mr Elephant thus far, (which deserves a post in itself!) Whethers it’s bringing music and events this great city, using the platform to showcase and develop a creative passion, or trying a creative interest with experienced artists in hands on situations, the shared grass roots ethos that seem to run through all people who get involved with the phat mammal, is a testament to the abundance of opportunities that it continues to create.
Whatever you are interested in and however you celebrate, may 2010 bring you all you wish for, and the decade be an evolution of all that interests you.
Our first professional produced video by super talented Jack Brabant. Along with Jules Hyland, we captured the footage, and he’s spent the last week creating the video below.
Both camera’s ran out, so he’s had to work with some other sources, but suffice to say we are all somewhat blown away with the result!
Those lovely people at the Night Times have featured Mr Elephant twice in this month’s issue! An interview and a review! Click on the pics for a readable version
Mr Elephant’s Second Birthday Review by Dom Brotherton
A Large Slice of Birthday Cake – Mr Elephant is Putting on Weight!!
Mr Elephant by Elin Morgan
Since its inception in 2007, Mr Elephant has been on a steadily increasing diet of eclecticism, celebrating some of the best underground club nights, djs, vjs, live bands, dancers, performers and inhabitants that Birmingham has to offer. Now with 5 residencies all offering different slices of Birmingham’s nightlife, it seems appropriate to celebrate Mr Elephants success by sticking 2 candles in a cake to mark its second birthday, but on the 23rd May there was a whole lot more on the cards than our average birthday party…
Dj & Vj Workshops – Photo by Dan Roblin
Throughout the afternoon there were opportunities for all ages to learn an array of different skills in a series of grass-roots workshops, and in most cases enabling those involved to participate in the performances of the night. Drumming, vjing, djing, beatboxing, poi, animation, etc, all workshops were offered for free to anyone who wanted to try the various creative artforms, and were hosted by an excellent cast of contributors.
Drumming Workshop – Photo by Dan Roblin
As the sun set, the herd moved in-doors to be entertained by a fine hour of acoustic music from two of Birmingham’s most modest stars, namely Richard Batsford and Laura Louise, who both delivered magical performances.
Laura Louise – Photo by Dan Roblin
Rich Batsford – Photo by Dan Roblin
At 10pm the Osmosis hosted Dance Stage kicked off with phat breaks & banging techno, while the Live Stage commenced with the mighty Jam Jah reggae collective, who got people up and grooving, providing the perfect backdrop to those of the audience who were adding the finishing touches to their carnival masks.
Jam Jah Crew – Photo by Dan Roblin
As the crowd welled up, the 1st band of the night Circadia took to the stage with new changes to the line-up adding more seasoning to their tasty flavour of psychedelic ska.
Ciradia – Photo by Dan Roblin
Up next was a crowd pleasing half hour of monkey swing from Marc Reck,
Marc Reck – Photo by Dan Roblin
followed by the now infamous mr elephant midnight parade, which invited all poodle creations out for their midnight dance-floor stroll, and offering two prizes for best in breed.
Mr Elephant Midnight Poodle Parade – Photo By Dan Roblin
Following, was an unexpected drumming jam session with beat boxer and host of the Live Stage, Bass6, who as always, entertained and mediated with more energy than an army of Duracell bunnies.
Mr Elephants Midnight Percussion Jam – Photo by Dan Roblin
With the night in full swing, Bristol beat-boxer extraordinaire, Dub FX took control, complimented perfectly by talented female MC, Flower Fairy. There was a lot of buzz around Dub Fx, and he certainly didn’t disappoint! With just his mouth and a loop station with efx unit, he created phat beats, huge basslines and orchestral melodies that cranked up the atmosphere with each track.
Dub Fx – Photo by Dan Roblin
With the crowd almost at fever pitch, the 3 piece live dub, breaks & drum & bass act Alphadrive, delivered a slick set of some of filthiest breaks I’ve ever heard come out of a live band, before handing over once again to Marc Reck who delivered a massive drum & bass finale ending with don’t worry be happy as a 2nd encore.
Alphadrive – Photo by Dan Roblin
Over on the Dance Stage techno superstar Jerome Hill was rinsing it out with a hugely powerful set which sent the osmonauts into overdrive, in amongst big birthday sets from 32DM, Hijacker, and the mighty Dk Roon who finished things off with a big bang.
Jerome Hill – Photo by Tina Taylor
Massive applause is also necessary for visuals maestros Blendstate and The Lab for providing some truly awesome visuals; always interesting, innovative and apt for the occasion.
Blendstate & The Lab Visuals – Photo by Dan Roblin
Mr Elephant comes off as a much more dynamic event than your usual club night, and feels closer to a festival than a club night. Always looking to broaden horizons, it off-sets different musical genres and strives to include much more than just DJs, visuals and a space to dance in the quest to create something groundbreaking, inclusive, and celebratory. Adding to the diverse range of musical styles and the conglomerate social strata that regularly appear at Mr Elephant events, even the barrier of age was broken by the scurry of little feet in the workshops that began early in the day, and it’s refreshing to see an event that appeals to such a huge range of tastes, and ages!
Mr Elephant doesn’t have punters; it has contributors; and the evolution of audience participation from an amusing quirk to a fully fledged feature is a wonderful thing to see, because it gives us all more ownership over the event, engaging us well beyond the boundaries of the venue. Even after the final curtain call, the place was rife with chit-chat and the exchange of phone-numbers, and it’s fantastic to experience such a collective engagement, rather than the typical race for an unoccupied taxi. (My own eventual exit was met by communal singing and a drum performance by an enthusiastic fellow whose flow was only ended after 15 minutes or so due to apparent complaints from the neighbours.)
The organisers of Mr Elephant turn clubbing into a real adventure and I love that they want to celebrate the fun of interaction and offer so many ways for everyone be part of the festivities whilst also having a real desire to make elephant noises about their home city of Birmingham. With the Party Rockin Mammal Sessions @ Bulls Head showcasing Birmingham djs, The Live & Free events @ Adam & Eve showcasing live bands, the new Cinephonic & Intermix events @ the Hare pushing dj & vj boundaries, and with the forthcoming grassroots workshop programme, elephant radio shows, elephant tv, and their large website – www.mrelephant.com, it seems that there are now plenty of large tasty elephant portions that we can feast on in between the big festival style events, and it only looks to be getting bigger and more inclusive! Mr Elephant clearly invites us all to join the conga, if not start our own, so let’s put on our dancing shoes, bang on the Brum, and celebrate!
By Dominik Kai Brotherton
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Massive thanks and respect to Dom for that review and to the Night Times for publishing it! Jack Brabant, and Jules Hyland were videoing the event and Jack is putting together the entire 12 hour footage into a 4 minute video, so that will be online hopefully by mid June. Also Tony from the Lab will be putting together the Elephant Tv dvd episodes which will should be online by July.
Feel free to subscribe to the Rss if you want automatic notification, and we look out for more photos and videos as they return, plus a special Jam Jah recording of their set on Mr Elephant Radio, when it finds a new time slot.
Tony from The Lab who hosted vj workshops, vjed all night, and is to be producing Mr Elephant T.v has wrote his review of the Mr Elephant 2nd Birthday, so until he has a log in on this site (big elephant things afoot with The Lab) i’ll post it. The link one of his many excellent sites is http://www.vurt.org.uk
Tony from The Lab hosting the Vj Workshop – Photo by Dan Roblin
After three hours sleep, I’m awake! and running through the final kit checks for the train journey to Brum. Not only the Mr Elephant birthday party, but also my first VJ workshop. This will be seen as an introduction to hardware VJing using the Edirol kit I have now assembled. With an early start to these preceeding scheduled for 3pm, it’s all hands on decks wilst myself and Liam setup the two rooms for the evenings mayhem and merriement. Anyway, the hardware tutorials went (I think) well, and the star pupil without a shadow of doubt was Charly. Talk about getting it quickly or duck to water (or do feel free to enter your own analogy for that matter) anyhow, I digress ….
Even when I cheekily stepped away from the mixer for a bit and watched, I was bloody impressed! Hopefully though, the participants of the said workshop enjoyed themselves and have a smidge of a better understanding of what a hardware VJ actually does (apart from getting asked to put on some abba or R n bloody bee). Throughout the workshop, Mr Elephants two superb guest camera ops (Jack Braybant and Julie Hyland) were running around the event capturing loads of footage from the setup, the workshops and into the night. I can’t wait to see the footage and begin the editing for Mr E TV!
The night kicked off with a superb loop set from Laura Louise in which I had the oppertunity to play with the mixer and get in some nice feedback effects for her entire set with additional content coming from Liam (Blendstate). Caught up with Mike Freear of Alphadrive before his gig too, absolute top bloke !!! I loved the music! (I danced the whole set!), the energy (did I mention I danced the whole set?), and the reaction of all those sweaty, jumping about bods that were at the front of the stage! and then the finalae from Marc Reck himself was a joy to VJ to. This gentle reader then led to an early morning unwind back at the hostess of the night’s abode. Thanks must go to Laura for the music, hospitality and tea.
As per usual though, there were so many people that came together to macke this an absolute blinder of an event, and I’d like to thank Marc and Pyn for encouraging me to actually begin with the workshops that have been on a drawing board for so long, Liam for lights, visuals and his siter workshop on software vjing, Rich batsford for an amazing set, the osmosis boys for a storming night of techno and heavy breaks (class work!), Charley for participating and playing!, Laura for a storming opening set and hospitality, and Mr Mike Freear and Alphadrive! Hope to catch ya when you visit these lands further south.
Sleep however, never came … and around half nine I was off on my train travels again back to Leicester for the finale of my weekend!
It’s something else to actually see some of the energy and preparation that goes into creating such a mammal and Marc and Pyn have it down to a tee. The revellers were taken on an ecletic evening of sound and light that puts all of the Leicester events to shame. I look forwards to working closer with Marc and Pyn over the coming months and can wholeheartedly recommend that everyone has to experiance a Mr Elephant party at least three times in their life.
For anyone who is interested in trying out the free mr elephant workshops on saturday here’s the programme.
All workshops are FREE, and are aim to give you a taster of various creative artforms in a grassroots stylee.
Some are drop in, Some are tasters, and some will enable suitable participants to perform on the night.
If you want to try out any of the workshops, booking will be on a 1st come 1st served basis from 2pm as from the drop in workshops.
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Main Room : (These workshops must be booked from 2pm on the day)
3.15 – 4.15 – LYRICS and LOOPS – Laura Louise – All Ages
4.30– 5.30 – DRUMMING – Jon Elliot – All Ages
5.45 – 6.15 – BEAT BOXING – Bass6 – Adults
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Room 2 : (These workshops must be booked from 2pm on the day)
3.00 – 3.30 – V.J WORKSHOP The Lab/Blendstate – Adults
4.00 – 4.30 - V.J WORKSHOP The Lab/Blendstate – Adults
4.45 – 5.15 – D.J TASTER WORKSHOP – Marc Reck – Adults
5.30– 6.00 – V.J WORKSHOP – The Lab/Blendstate – Adults
6.15 – 7.00 – D.J SCRATCH WORKSHOP – Jerome Hill (t.b.c) – Adults
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The Garage : (Drop in workshops from 3pm and 7pm – no need to book)
ANIMATION – (to be shown as part of the V.J set on the night) – Claire Evans – All Ages
MASK DECORATING – (Decorate a card mask/elephant flyer) – Jen Commins – All Ages
POODLE PUPPETS – (Poodles will be part of the performance) – Pyn Stockman – All Ages
POI SPINNING – (Festival style poi in the Sun) – Alice Branston – All Ages
(All ages welcome (children must be accompanied by an adult at all times)
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The sun is shining, and the forecast for saturday is hot, so here’s the evenings entertainment for our 12 hour 2nd birthday this Saturday @ the Hare & Hounds.
Please note the Acoustic & Live Stage will be in Room 1 & the Osmosis Room & Dance Stage will be in Room 2.
For the acoustic sets (9pm – 10pm) we will have tables and candles, so please arrive early in order to get a seat and relax with a beer, so you can see the very special acoustic gig from Rich Batsford & Laura Louise.
Acoustic Stage (8pm – 10pm)
8pm – Doors Open (Live Stage) – Soundtrack music
9pm – Laura Louise (Live Loop Pedal / Flute / Beatbox / Vocals)
9.30- Rich Batsford (Piano & Vocals)
Live Stage (10pm – 3am) (Hosted by Bass6)
10pm-Jam Jah (Reggae)
11pm – Circadia (Live Instruments, Electronics, & Skankin)
11.30pm – Marc Reck (Monkey Swing Set)
12pm – The Mr Elephant Midnight Parade (Hosted By Bass6) – Parade Your Mask & Promenade Your Poodle – Prizes for best mask and poodle plus the Percussion Jam (Drummers welcome), Interactive Performers (Their Dogs may bite) & the return of the Kazoos.
12.30 – Dub Fx (Amazing Orchestral Beatbox!)
1.15 – Alphadrive (Live Dub, Breaks & Drum & Bass)
2am – Marc Reck, Bass6 & Mike Freer Celebration Rinseout.
3am – Banana Boat Song!
Dance Stage (10pm – 3am) – Hosted By Osmosis
10pm – Hijacker (Osmosis Resident )
11pm – 32DM (Very Special Birthday Set)
12.15 – Jerome Hill (International Techno Breaks Legend)
1.45 – Dk Roon (El Presidento)
3am – Just one more!
As always if you’d like to get involved with Midnight Parade and/or win a prize, then make sure you make your mask (Cut out/Decorate Mr Elephant flyer) before midnight , or create your Poodle in the day.
If you are a drummer and want to have a jam at midnight, then bring your drum or email us at mrelephantpresents@gmail.com
N.B – Please note that this is a Not for Profit event, and tickets are (always) based on the venue’s maximum capacity to cover as many of the costs as possible.
NB 2- Entry into the the event will be from the back of the Room 1, (which you access from the “rear smoking garden”) & there will be a steward on the stairs to guide you if you haven’t been to the venue before.
Hope you have a huge bank holiday celebration whatever you do, and the doors always open if you want to get involved with the next Mr Elephant event or workshops – mrelephantpresents@gmail.com
P.S In order to thank everyone for the huge amount of work that has gone into this event, we will be having a free party the following week at the Adam & Eve on Sat 30th May til 4am, so please look out for the invite.
After 2 years and 14 events at 6 of our favourite Birmingham venues, the time has come to celebrate Mr Elephant’s 2nd birthday with our biggest festival style celebration to date, featuring lots of interactivity for all ages, the launch of Elephant Workshops in conjunction with Dramask, and the community based Elephant Tv project in partnership with The Lab.
On Saturday 23rd May 2009 @ the Hare and Hounds, Kings Heath, Birmingham, we have a 12 hour, 4 room event over 3 stages, featuring a great lineup and a 3am license. Alongside some groundbreaking international artists, we will also be shining a light on some grassroots workshops and inspirational birmingham artists, promoters, bands, djs, vjs, and local orgs, with plenty of ways for everyone of all ages and tastes to get involved with the festivities.
A Live Stage, A Dance Stage, An Acoustic Stage, A programme of workshops, and local stalls will be the main focus of the 12 hour celebration at the award winning Hare & Hounds venue in Kings Heath Birmingham. As always local artists, and local promoters will be the main feature, though this time we’ve invited a few international artists too.
N.B - Here follows a little background on the workshops, so scroll down if you’re more interested in checking the music side of things
At the first event back in 2007, we invited all to get involved by either playing percussion with our Samba guests, decorating a mask and parading in the midnight parade to win some booze, dressing up and interacting with our interactive performers aka The Tourists. A year later, and the percussion parade, and interactive performance is now totally made up of Da’locals, with local organisations, the midnight parade has grown with each big event, and local shops and creatives are hosting stalls, with many friends of the elephant now developing their own creative practices by being more integrally involved with the events in whatever their area of interest is, mainly on the events side and workshops side.
The main addition/difference this time will be the evolution of the mr elephant workshops. The workshops began as decorating card masks, followed by 2 family/all ages welcome days, which featured a range of drop in activities for all ages from mask making and djing to drum skinning and juggling.
We always wanted the workshops to enable the participants where suitable to perform at the events in a more involved way, so we are very happy to say that this will be a part of our 2nd birthday with a range of free workshops open to the local community of all ages. Drumming, Beatboxing, Poi, Vjing, Animation, Mask Decorating, Juggling, and of course poodle making will all feature from 3pm – 7pm in our workshop area from a host of great workshop facilitators, with the masks and poodle making materials available on the evening too.
The poodles have been so well recieved that they will also feature in the performance (another open door for any budding performers, no experience necessary) with all poodles being judged in the midnight mask poodle percussion parade. Masks will also as always be available to decorate (the flip side of the flyers so keep hold of them) with materials (and masks/flyers) being provided for all.
Participants of the animation workshop will see their creations live in the visuals on the nights on either the live or dance stage. Participants of the vj workshop will get the opportunity to capture, and perform live in front of a full audience, with online support after the event, and the drummers will be invited to perform in the midnight parade (providing we can find enough drums), and there will be range of other interactive workshops and demonstrations to give the local community an opportunity to try out these various creative practices, all for free in a grassroots, comfortable and accessible environment.
We are and have always been not for profit collective, and are currently not funded in anyway with all of us involved with the event,( including all workshop providers working for free, with costs of the event at just under £2000.
We have a commitment to keeping the entry fee at the minimum, as want the event to be accessible to as many people as possible so there are some £5 early bird tickets available for people on low income, with the main advance ticket price at £7. As the capacity is around 300 at the hare and hounds, there are only 50 of these available.
Grassroots approach seems to be working though, as we’ve already had already a huge interest from workshop providers and people wanting to get involved with the next event, and we will be applying for our first funding to support another full programme of workshops at the next big mr elephant due for the summer.
This is kind of an elephant experiment and can only work with the support of the local community, so if you do like what you see, please think about passing on the email to 10 friends, and if you are on facebook, we really appreciate inviting as many facebook friends to the event, and/or the group as you have time to click on… Really does make keeping in touch with interested or local people a whole lot easier.
Alongside the workshops (3pm – 7pm folks) there will be stalls from local people from reflexology to local art, sone fine drinks promos courtesy of the hare and hounds, interactive performance from james, dom and the crew, the mr elephant midnight mask poodle parade featuring local percussionists (with prizes for best mask and poodle made), multi projector visuals from Vj Blendstate & The Lab, and a whole lot more….
We are more than excited to have this guy down from Bristol on the 23rd May 2009. He’s one of the best beatbox and loop pedal artists we’ve seen, and just check out his youtube videos for what you can expect. On heavy rotation on the mr elephant radio show, and one of Bass6’s recommendations, Dubfx is an inspiring artist, and we are going to be making a lot of noise about his incredible skills. He has a new album out on May 30th, and his last cd is available from his website… well worth a tenner.
An introduction to what he does (worth watching these through)
Jamming on the street
At Glastonbury Stone Circle
At Glastonbury on stage (Apologies for sound quality)
Our other headliners for the 2009 may bank holiday gig on sat May 23rd, these guys are quickly gaining a reputation for being one of the freshest live dance acts around showcasing “a perfect fusion of danceable dub, breaks and electronica” (Raise the Roof Festival”. Following a string of high profile appearances at UK festivals and club nights, this up-and-coming live trio have supported acts such as: Atomic Hooligan, Beardyman, The Bays, DJ Deekline, Tayo, Rogue Element, Scratch Perverts, and DJ Yoda. Definitly one to watch.
What can we say about the beatboxer Bass6, a true grassroots star in our opinion. With superb hosting skills, a inspiring attitude and a huge range of skills from beatboxing to workshops, this guy really brings the vibes, with his own productions are opening doors all over the country. He hosted our Midnight poodle parade on the beach at Celebrate Brums Underground, and he’s back for our next big event on Sat 23rd May 2009…not to be missed.
Hosting our last mr elephant midnight poodle parade competition
These guys have really come into their own this year, and one of the reasons why we are chuffed that they will be performing at our 2nd birthday. They house a great line up of talented musicians, which include multiskilled instrumentalist Jon Elliot has been one of the percussionists since our 2nd event.
Osmosis is a a co-operative run by a group of people who are passionate about their music and sharing it with like minded people. Each member of the crew has given their talent, equipment and time freely with any money made being ploughed back in to improve lighting, decor, sound, produce free CDs, and if we’re really lucky, buy us a couple of drinks.
Supported by the vibrant and eclectic venue, Rootys (rip), Osmosis has developed a reputation for it’s atmosphere, music and support of local talent, with names like Paul Damage (1881 Recordings/House of God), Sir Real (House of God) , and Sub Citizen (Resistor Records/Inukshuk) joining Residents and local heroes DK Roon’, Mack, Dr Pepperspray, HijACKER and M-AK.
A huge techno and breaks artist, and an international legend in his own right, we can’t quite get our hat on that he’s going to be headlining the dance Osmosis stage! Prepare yourselves.
Live at Glade (Apologies for Sound quality)
Scratch Practice
We couldn’t find any footage of their residents aside from the osmosis myspace link, so will be looking for mixes to help promote in the next week or two. Suffice to say Osmonauts need no introduction, and their programming and residents skills are hugely respected in the Birmingham Underground. Osmosis have organised legendary packed out parties from day one, and always attract the friendliest crowd of people you could hope to meet on a night out.This will be their first outing at the hare and hounds, so we look forward to a lot of warmth and phat music on the evening.
The other dj appearing is our own resident Marc Reck who will be playing either swing or a live eclectic set on the main stage, or a big room breaks techno, and drum and bass set on the dance stage. Here’s a recent clip of the end of his gig at the Night Times at the Custard Factory.
A core member of Project X Presents, one of Birmingham’s finest piano players, and all round top bloke, Rich Batsford is one of Birminghams’s musical treasures, and his music has been compared to that of the great steve reich, Keith Jarret, Michael Nyman, Claude Debussy, and Brian Eno. His debut album is currently free to download on his website, and his live performances are not to be missed. Check the valentines day Mr Elephant Radio show for a live recording of a gig from 2007.
Rich Batsford – Namaste
Live at Project X Presents
Laura Louise – www.myspace.com/lauralouiseowen – Hailing from New Zealand, Laura is a huge talent, and somewhat undiscovered on these shores. An amazing voice, and multi instrumentalist, she creates beautiful layers and well crafted songs with her loop pedal and a microphone. She performed a great set at the gigbeth fringe show, and we look forward to welcoming her back for our our 2nd birthday.
Cover of Fat Freddy
Laura Louise – So many days (Apologies for first 30 secs of sound ..worth watchin past)
So thats an overview of the eve, more to be added so feel free to subscribe to the mailing list, or facebook group for updates and info over the next fortnight.
All that’s really left for this post is to invite you to come and join the celebration. Its free til 9pm and tickets are needed for main stages entry upstairs
P.s here’s a little footage hashed together of our last 3 bigger events to give an idea.
On Rainbow Beach in 2008
At Hare & Hounds in 2008
At Epic in 2007
Oh and if you want to take part in any of the workshops please get in touch via email, or get there at 3pm. Timings will come soon, and workshops will be Beatboxing, Drumming, Animation, Vjing, Juggling, Poi, Mask Decorating, and Poodle Making. Seperate blog posts will give more details so subscribe to mailing list, facebook group, or the rss feed for instant notification.
We’ve just been sent this at Mr Elephant Hq. A proper review by up and coming event journalist Dominic Brotherton and photographs courtesy of the very talented Alina Ha. The Night Times & Mr Elephant Presents: “Celebrate Birmingham’s Underground” (Saturday 20th September, 5pm till 5am @ Rainbow Warehouse & Beach)
It’s all in the Mix Magnetic, Evolve, Trigger, Breakthru, Osmosis, Drop Beats Not Bombs, Jam Jah, Mr Elephant, House of God, Custom Made, My Bass, Broken Minds, the list goes on… It reads like an elaborate and complex cocktail of contrasting ingredients that bears the danger of becoming explosive, much like the often schizophrenic face of the Birmingham underground. However, like the coffee of Kahlúa that binds the unexpected combination of vodka and milk in a White Russian, the mash up of genres slipped down wonderfully thanks to the open mindedness of the spectators: the key ingredient so core to the prevalence of the Birmingham underground scene.
Attracting such a crowd, as disparate as its line-up, the plethora of different backgrounds the night drew on was reflected in everything, from the faces at the bar to the moves on the dance floor: a spectrum of styles, but consistent smiles. The smooth production of the event also lies in the contributing organisations that themselves embrace a wide range of styles. Custom Made, Drop Beats Not Bombs, and of course, Mr Elephant are no stranger to exhibiting genres such as samba, break-beat, ska and hip-hop on the same stage.
Aside from the eclectic range of DJ’s which kept the herd dancing, there were some amusing quirks which got the crowd involved too, such as a selection of craft stalls, a truly bizarre poodle making competition and hilarious performance art from map-bearing characters known as The Tourists, who could be seen roving around the dance floor asking for directions to their hotel, picnicking on the beach, and commenting on the friendliness of the locals.
Once again, club favourite and skilled beat-boxer, Bass6, was in control of the mic, filling gaps with banter, beat breath and being an all-round brilliant host of the beach party, which it must be said, was certainly the epicentre of the joyous occasion, leaving the Night Times’ hosted Rainbow Warehouse a little under-populated at times.
R-Caine stole the show, however, with a flawless B2B appearance with fellow Drop Beats Not Bombs representative, Boogie Dave; never letting the beat become monotonous, sustaining the audience’s energy with quality break after quality break, and never a sloppy drop.
There aren’t many raves that offer the chance to make sand castles with tourists, get your fingers messy making masks, witness a hand-made poodle parade, try a selection of organic curries, buy clothes (I purchased a fantastic purple shirt which I am sure to don at the next elephantine event), and learn how to turn an old juice carton into a functioning wallet, all in one night.
For the parties of birthday boys and girls present, a member of which told me they “didn’t usually go out to these sort of things”, it must have been the most wonderful fiesta to walk in on, and I am glad they didn’t miss it. Even better was hearing from those involved in the curation of the event, for whom there is usually little time to frolic, that they too had enjoyed themselves. Last Saturday, Mr Elephant and The Night Times were without doubt hosting the best party the second city could offer.
As the 5 O’clock finish line got closer and closer, co-curator Marc Reck stepped up to the decks to provide a perfect concluding set, bringing the curtain to a close with the sublime lyrics “daylight come and we wanna go home” echoing around the venue. An idyllic outro, if not somewhat ironic, as it was clear that no one was yet ready to become bed bound. The rare pleasure of an encore at the end of the night is a true testament to the success of the celebration, and we will certainly be asking for more where that came from. Dominik Kai Brotherton
to all of you that came down on saturday!! It totally exceeded all of our expectations, and the response to the poodles, the music, the visuals and the performance has blown us all away, so first off a huge and very sincere Thank You, from all of us at Mr Elephant Presents and on behalf of Ric and Nik from the Night Times who have been two of the most hardworking and easy people we’ve ever had the pleasure of working with.
So for anyone that wasn’t there what happened?
Well we began at 5pm with Loafers on the decks, 2 huge video projections from Liam Blendstate, and with a host of local creatives hosting their own stalls, all expertly handled by our very own performance and arts co-ordinator Pyn Stockman of Dramask fame.
The stalls featured local alternative fashion designers Youth Decay, recycled tetra purses and charity shop clothes from Lentil aka Lyndall Fitzgerald, and of course our very own Poodle Making Parlor, expertly hosted by our very own Pyn, and a very talented and lovely animator called Claire (website coming soon)
A little later in the eve we were joined by the ever friendly Martha, who runs our favourite local shop on Poplar rd, and who bought a host of traditional Jamaican food. We at Mr Elephant like to feature different local businesses at each one, but i think Martha will have to be at the next one as it worked really well in that venue.
Jam Jah were up next in the beach hut, playing on one deck (until the replacement had arrived) with their residents Robin and Damo on the deck, and mc on the mic, and with effortless class played a blinding set as the sun delivering some of the best music this side of jamaica!
Bass6 also started flexing his hosting mc muscles, and from start to finish proved himself as one of the greatest hosts you could ever hope to have at your event. Really vibing the crowd up and effortlessly switching from music styles to happenings in the event.
Next up was local legend Sam Redmore representing Leftfoot and his own ecletic night Freestyle. Switching it up from reggae to funk, to soul to house, he got the whole room a shaking with some amazing mixes!
By the time Matt Tilley from Bunka had taken over, the beach was nicely full and his minimal house took the levels up and got those asses shaking. Over in the warehouse things had started kicking off, with the Night Times awesome line up, but to be fair we can’t report on that as we were busy all night with the beach.
The poodle making parlour was in full swing, and the vibe was ecletic to say the least, with a really diverse crowd of people and an infectious festival type vibe. Obviously one of the aims was to introduce crowds to other events and it was so nice to see really happen.
All of the 10 drummers had by now arrived and a stack of djembes some of them hand made by a very talented man called Rich, (who you will soon be able to purchase your own from, through the forthcoming Elephant drums nonetheless), all ready for the customary Mr Elephant Midnight Masked Parade, this time with poodles and scratch club at the controls.
Before then however it was Funkatronic’s Dani C who absolutely rocked the crowd with some big breaks and beautiful basslines! One of the sets of the night, and an extremely talented and versatile dj.
By 11.30 the Mr Elephant performers had come out, featuring Pyn and Lucy who last week performed at Project x Presents, and this week teamed up with other Mr Elephant performance resident Adam Skerrit and after her first fantastic performance at our birthday bash, the inspiring Izzy/James, all appearing as the Tourists.
The normal chaos and interest ensued, and the crowd got right behind the interactive characters, not only helping them to find out where they were on their map, but also playing beach games and paddling in the pool!
Then the clock struck midnight and it Bass6 (who’d been rocking it alongside the djs) stepped into his own, and announced the start of the midnight parade. The drummers congregated by the beatboxer and drummer, and laid down the beat while Automaton and Bass6 rocked the glitchy hip hop sound you can find at their seminal scratch club events.
The sound of the live drummers by our local favourites along with the electronic sound of the decks all tied together with the elegance and energy of Bass 6, created an experience yet unmatched in the midnight parade. If you look back at the previous events you will see how the parade has evolved, involving more and more local people and elements. Each time the crowd has got right into it, but this one it was great to see the crowd joining in on the djembes themselves!
12.30 and it was time for the poodle promenade, with the call the the creators to step up, and parade their pooch. There were some great entries and through a process of audience voting/shouting, the rosettes were awarded with the top winner also winning some customary Mr Elephant booze!
The venue was now packed out with smiley happy people from all walks of life, and the vibe was getting postively commented as we walked the venue. Blendstate’s visuals not only further created the festival environment, but were generating more comments from the audience, and even got him a rock gig residency from one of the party goers!
The man puts so much work into his craft, and we are very lucky to have him as one of residents, and we have big plans for the future so keep an eye on his work via his site – www.blendstate.com
Next up on the decks was Custom Made maestro Mark Smallman, an extremely talented promoter and dj. Despite more technical problems from the venue equipment, he effortlessly built up the vibe reaching a crescendo which had the whole crowd rocking.
Bass6 was still on the mic rocking the crowd, and the dj passed over to Russ Caine, who was reppin Drop Beats and Dj Joust, and someone we’ve been wanting to get down to mr e;ephant since seeing him play back to back with our resident Marc Reck at the Anti World festival.
Russ was also one of the co-promoters of Marc and Boogies breaks night Rockfall so it was great to see Boogie join Russ behind the decks, and Mr Elephant favourite Vj Chromatouch jumping on the visuals, and destroying the dancefloor with a huge b2b set.
By now Bass6 had had to retire due to almost losing his voice, but the packed beach crowd and amazing atmosphere remained. On the decks it was down to our resident and music curator Marc Reck, to finish off what had been one of the most amazing events we’ve ever had the pleasure to be involved with.
Effortlessly switching from techno, to all manner of phat breakbeat, and then taking us into a proper mashup of old and new drum and bass, the energy and dancefloor went off in proper party style, finishing with the perfect end of night track (Harry Belafonte’s classic Banana Boat Song)!
All in all we feel that we really did celebrate Birminghams Underground, and not only that, but celebrated ourselves in that true Mr Elephant carnival style party. The Night Times will be taking the idea into a regular thing, and we are working on the next big Mr Elephant for 2009.
You can catch a new little elephant night at the Bulls Head in Moseley from October 11th 2008 (with the next on December 12th 2008 for your diaries), featuring some of our Mr Elephant friends, and the diverse party rocking style you’ve come to know, and alongside the local family events, we will also be launching some more local creative opportunities, working with our network and local people over the next few months, so as always feel free to get in touch at mrelephantpresents@gmail.com.
If you’d like to keep updated, please join the mailing list, or subscribe to the rss if you are familiar with that, and check back for the radio shows, reports and the forthcoming Share to Create.
Oh and there are loads more pics and videos from the night, which we’ll be posting very soon.
If you were at the event we would REALLY appreciate any feedback or comments you have in the comments section of this post, and we wish you a beautiful autumn season.
So what can you expect on saturday night from this so called 12 hour beach and warehouse celebration of our brummie underground scene they eh!?
Well it’s free in from 5pm, and with any luck that big round ball of fire will be shining brightly, and we can all kick back on the beach, drinking bottles of nice beer for £1.50 (up to 11.30pm), listening to some beautiful sunset music from Loafers Lounge and choice dub and reggae from Jam Jah.
(If its not there’s plenty of cover underneath the huge railway arch)
You can peruse the stalls we have on offer, which will include elephant drums (for all your djembe and carving needs), youth decay clothing (alternative hand made local fashion), lentil fashion (tetra pack purses, and choice charity shop finds), and of course our very own Dramask Poodle Making Parlour, (where you can make your own poodle, or decorate your mask)
Pyn from Dramask will also be found instigating beach games as one of the Tourists, along with Adam Skerrit. The tourists went down a storm at our previous Mr Elephant and Rockfall events, and this time they’ve finally found the beach!
From 9pm the sun will have probably set, the visuals will be fired up from Visual maestro Liam Blendstate, and we welcome Sam Redmore from Leftfoot and Freestyle fame with his custom edited soul funk and quantic style grooves to step up the party.
Then he will be handing over the reigns to Funkatronic and Sumo Soundsystem honcho mr Dani C for his baleric style latino ass shakin rhythms, before taking us up another notch with Bunka resident Matt Tilley, who displaying the creme de la creme of minimal and tech house rollers.
About 11pm we can expect custom made custodian Mark Smallman dropping his big dancefloor bombs totakes us up to the midnight mask poodle promenade, which to be fair is probably going to happen at around 1am.
Now for those of you that have bought your flyer, cut it out, and decorated it, you are in line for a prize and this is your time.
For those of you that have made a poodle, now is your time to promenade, in own very own holiday dog show!
Yes thats right, you might be the winner of a rather natty rosette for your self made pooch, or you might win yourself a little drinkie courtesy of the effort youve put in with your mask (or maybe your costume)
The Mr Elephant midnight mask parade this time will be hosted by Scratch Club and Elephant Drums. Hot of the heels of their huge q-bert gig, (Pic below by Thomas Horton) scratch club are the obvious choice to host the dog show.
With Tom Automaton on the scratching, and beatboxer bass 6 on the mic (who’s also hosting the beach all night long btw), and joined by the inspired Laura Louise on beatbox flute and vocals over a jam of glitchy hip hop and live percussion from a makeshift crew of motley drummers from some of the most talented percussionists in brum.
Some of the Mr Elephant regulars, some of them newbies, and of them all wicked drummers. Yannis from frutaloka, Jon Elliot from, Gaz and Tom, Rich W from Elephant Drums, Animal, Dibble and Charlie Brown, (from a kids cartoon?), and not forgetting Hidden Half supremo Paulo from the Hidden Half
Its going to be completely made up on the night, and its your chance to dance around on the beach like your at a festival.
After that still on the beach you can expect the sounds of Project X, Mr Elephant and Rockfall resident Mr Marc Reck dropping his big dancefloor breaks, and then fellow Rockfall and Dj Joust’s, Drop Beats newbie Dj RCaine who will be electrifying the beach with his biggest and best, with an almighty mash up which is obviously going to have a good dose of party rocking drum and bass with an encore featuring Dont Worry Be Happy…
Then… well who knows what will happen…Eh?! Probably an after party of sorts or …..
Eh? Whats that you say? Whats goin on in that big ole warehouse over there?
Oh yeah! Well my friend, a right fxkin royal lot i can tell thee.
Theres not one but TWO more rooms! ? “? ‘ ~ # & and they are BIGGER than the beach!
Yes two rooms as well as the beach and they wil be hosted by the night times and will be opening their doors from 10pm. EVERYTHING will still be open til 5am, so you just make sure you got your dancing shoes on y’hear?
So instead of waffling as i seem to be right now, i’m just going to give you the line up…in no particular order and advise you to get your cute sexy touche down to the rainbow warehouse by 5pm on saturday so you dont miss a thing…Its free, its cheap and its going to be a huge party and whole load of fun.
I wont tell you again Here’s the massive Night Times line up in the warehouse pop pickers! See you there
The Night Times Big Warehouse Party(9pm – 5am)
TRIGGER (KSMKNL / Iytal) – (Bass Heavy Breaks
HOUSE OF GOD (Sir Real / Harvey Lane) – (Hard Techno)
BROKEN MINDS (Phase II) – (Drum n Bass Jungle)
BREAKTHRU (Dan B and Pace) – (Drum n Bass Jungle)
MASTERS OF THE PAST & CLOUD 9 (Reaction & Nolige) – (Old Skool Hardcore)
RAVEOLOGY (Artist t.b.c) – (Old Skool Hardcore)
ULTRA+(Benn Nott/ Tanner Jarvis) – (Tech House)
MAGNETIK (Rich G & Marc Hasler) – (Electro House)
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The Night Times Mini Warehouse Party(9pm – 5am)
JIBBERING RECORDS / THE NIGHT TIMES (Dj Cro) – (Hip Hop)
MY BASS / NIGHT TIMES / EARDRUM – (Emile) (Dubstep)
MY BASS / DROP BEATS NOT BOMBS – Boogie Dave (Dubstep)
SICK ON YOUR SHOES (Boglet vs Phibes) – (Dubstep, Mash ups)
With the big day just 24 hours away, we feel the need to feature not 3 but 6 promoters/residents that you can expect to be shaking your touche too this saturday. Everything is shaping up really well, and i’ll be posting the schedule of treats we have in store in the next couple of hours.
For now however its over to 2 more guests repping their connected brummie events on the beach.
Up around 2am on the beach will be one you’ll all know -
Drop Beats Not Bombs, the online presence for the bi-yearly anti war event that donates 100% of its profits to the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and Campaign Against Arms Trade.
Our aim is to educate the people on these important issues whilst they have a good time. So from the start we have made it our mission to put together an event that comprises of a broad spectrum of sounds and styles.
From Drum & Bass to Techno to Indie to Hard House, we aim to leave you breathless as we relentlessly seek out the cream of up coming talent as well as established acts/artists. And we hevent even mentioned the incredible visual displays at every event. This truly is a full on assult on the senses.
While head honcho Boogie Dave will be representing with his other event My Bass in the mini warehouse, up and comer DJ R Caine will be representing the breaks stage on the beach. Here’s a little bit more about the stage and him
Rcaine runs the breaks stage along with Nuskoolbreaks.co.uk owner Jimmy Brayks and the next event on 08/11/2008 promises to be one of the best to date.
This time the breaks stage is under the arches of adderley street with a line up bigger than ever including Napt, Baobinga, Tom Real, The Beat Assassins, Subsource (live), Ben & Lex, Richie Balboa and Rcaine vs Doc Vin. Visuals will be supplied by VJ Air and all will be broadcast live on NSB Radio.
D-Joust
D-Joust is one of the biggest DJ competitions out there covering the whole of the UK and now Europe. It’s a fantastic opportunity for the local rising talents to make a name for themselves on the circuit and gain exposure all over the UK and Europe.
There are 3 categories in this year’s competition consisting of the London/South, Midlands/North, and Europe.
Rcaine is behind the midlands and northern side of the competition and is confident with the talent on offer up here; we will have someone go all the way and take the crown in London November 15th.
The DJ’s already through from the midlands/north are Mogs, Tom EQ, Miss B and Enigmatik.
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Before Russ you can expect to hear our very own resident dj – Marc Reck who will be representing the dj side of inspired Project X Presents.
“Project X Presents is like nothing else you ever experienced, and was started back in 2004 by 5 friends, including local musician and comedy promoter Rich Batsford, and Birmingham Based Dj and Event Promoter Marc Reck.
The one off 8 hour shows are a culmination of about a year of work for each one, and feature around 100 participants, including a range of musicians, bands, VJ’s, Dj’s, comedians, engineers, dancers, choreographers, costume designers, make up artists, performers, and set designers, all working together to create a omnimedia wonderland of sound, light and performance.
The main body of the event takes place in the main room – in which the audience is surrounded by three stages housing a seamless procession of music, spoken word, visuals, performance and dance – all carefully sequenced and woven into an 8 hour journey, with participants comprising of some of the most talented in the region, each producing work specific to the event and it’s theme.
Expect to see experimental electronica through to balkan gypsy jazz, from mesmerising piano through to big breaks and drum and bass. From energy fulled ska to impovised dance, from interactive performers to intelligent experimental visuals, Project X Presents draws on all of Birmingham’s creative talents to take you on a journey like never before.
A separate room offers a change of pace and the chance for the audience to interact with giant toy-like installations from Object – X, alongside some cutting edge djs, and weird and wonderful suprises.
Project X Presents is, as one reviewer put it – “Simply like nothing else out there” – More details can be found at our website, and feel free to get in touch if you would like get involved – www.projectxpresents.com
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Inside in the Night Times mini warehouse you can expect to see these guys :
Mybass began as the brainchild of three underground DJ’s who sought to conceptualise the element of bass for the purpose of a single night. What came to pass was the launch of a rave filled with an eclectic range of open-minded revellers intent on feeling, if not hearing, Dubstep bass weight. The legendary Loefah and Emalkay more than accommodated the basest of these ravers desires! Since this phenomenal initiation, the likes of Komonazmuk and Headhunter have graced Mybass events, demonstrating the promoters’ endeavour to cater for the whole spectrum of the Dubstep movement. The fluid nature of Mybass has led to its founding deejays throwing free parties incorporating genres such as D&B and Breakbeat, whilst remaining zealously true to the Dubstep sound. Upholding their nonchalant form, the three often unite with other promotions to host events showcasing the best in Birmingham’s underground talent, amalgamating the Mybass style. This night is the epitome of an ‘anything goes’ ethos.
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We are formerly co-promoters of the legendary night Urban Disturbance, which continues to grow in success. We now present to you a new night of heavy bass coming from musical genres across the board focussing on reggae, dubstep, old skool and drum and bass. For the time being we are exclusive to the venue set in the spotlight of live music and DJ’s, the Hare and Hounds in Kings Heath, thereby offering an alternative site to come and have a great night out. Bringing a party vibe to one of the suburbs of Birmingham, never charging more than a few quid entry and having a reasonable finishing time of 2am, [sic]… allows you to escape the confines of the city centre and listen to some of Birmingham’s finest DJ’s, in an intimate environment. [sic]…acts as a brilliant warm-up to what the rest of the night may have in store for you or you can get boozed up, have a dance and leave feeling happy and satisfied. Transforming the inner space using an assortment of artwork, VJ artists and weird but wonderful moving images demonstrates that we want the evening to be a multi-sensory experience.
Our next party called ‘[sic]…in ya Hare’, takes place on Friday November 14th with DJ-X summoning sounds from the darkside, Escape mixing Jungle and Pace incorporating insatiable old school beats into the mix.
It’s wrong to mention Christmas when we’re only in September, but we should let you all know that we’re putting on a fancy festive fandangle on Boxing Day called ‘[sic]…on Santa’. So, if you need an excuse to escape the family then this is a very good one.
So, come and be [sic]…with us!
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And on the warehouse, the Night Times are also showcasing House to Drum & Bass
The Ultra+ brand is known for producing quality events with a party atmosphere that’s second to none, the music styles range from Techno, Tech House, Underground Electro & Breaks or D&B, but the main focus is House & Techno.
The music heared at Ultra+ events is always supplied by the worlds best DJs and its some of the most cutting edge and up front dance music around.
Ultra+ was created by Ben Nott and it began in the States in 1997, at the time Progressive house and trance was the sound at these events and they where usually held in warehouse type venues, these events where a huge success and a handful had over 5,000 people in attendance.
2001, Ben moved back to the UK and started the Ultra+ brand so he could book his favorite DJs but also used it as a platform to regularly promote and play the tech house and techno sound he loves. The events were scattered until 2004 when Ultra+ was finally made a monthly resident at the now legendary Custard Factory in Birmingham.
Moving forward to 2008 onwards, Ultra+ now has residency’s at the Custard factory & Rainbow Warehouse in Birmingham, the Royal in Derby and joint ventures with brands at other venues such as Excentric, Ministry of sound-london, Honey Club-Brighton, Arches-Glasgow, Sankeys-Manchester and overseas events for 2009 include Hacienda & Ultra+ festival in Croatia, Ultra+ in Bucharest, Sofia and Ibiza.
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Drum and Bass, Jungle, Old Skool, Breaks, Dubstep……Birminghams music for the headz. A little something for everyone who likes to go just that little bit deeper.
Today we are featuring two legendary techno events who will be appearing in the warehouse at our Celebrate Birmingham’s Underground Event, and from the beach, a custom made event that already developed a reputation for delivering quality events in Birmingham.
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In the main warehouse (probably around 2/3am) prepare yourselves for the might of
HOUSE OF GOD
House of God was started in January 1993 by Chris Hog, Surgeon, Sir Real & Paul Damage. Named after a seminal electro 12″ by D.H.S., House of God was intended to be an antidote to the cheesy hardcore and house nights that relied on fashion or star DJ’s rather than musical content to make a good party. Over the years, this became the core philosophy behind the HOG, using residents in all of the rooms, supporting the developing UK Techno artists and not relying on star DJ’s for the sake of their names. When HOG moved to the city centre of Birmingham in the summer of ’93, it quickly developed into a seminal night-out for ravers. No dress code, cheap entry and cheap beer created a loyal and large following at the HOG nights in the Dance Factory. These first few years helped develop the core HOG sound of Techno/House alongside Drum n Bass and Breaks rooms overseen by DJ-X which became the template for many other nights around the Midlands and the UK. Always with an innovative music policy and some huge productions, HOG has provided the Midlands with legendary parties of all sizes at venues ranging from the 2,000 capacity Que Club to Subway City and the Sanctuary. HOG has also been responsible for most of the big names in UK Techno playing their first events in the Midlands, with Dave Clarke, James Ruskin, Neil Landstrumm, Billy Nasty, Tim Wright, Andy Weatherall, British Murder Boys among them and also helped to launch the careers of artists such as Surgeon & Louis Osbourne.
15 years on, HOG is the longest running club night in the Midlands and continues to return to haunt the Midlands underground on an irregular basis.
HOUSE OF GOD 16th BIRTHDAY – 30th January 2009 @ the Rainbow Warehouse
And in the mini warehouse room, check out one of the cities most friendliest and most vibrant techno events
Osmosis
“Here’s to the crazy ones, the missfits, the rebels, the trouble makers.
Here’s to the roundheads in square holes.
The ones who see things differently.
They’re not fond of the rules, and they have no respect for the status quo.
You can quote them, dissagree with them, glorify or villify them.
The only thing you can’t do is ignore them, because they change things.
They push the human race forward.
And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see them as genius,
because the people that think they can change the world, are the ones that do“
Osmosis is a a co-operative run by a group of people who are passionate about their music and sharing it with like minded people. Each member of the crew has given their talent, equipment and time freely.
“Any money made is ploughed back in to improve lighting, decor, sound and to produce free CDs.”
Supported by the vibrant and eclectic venue, Rootys, Osmosis has developed a reputation for it’s atmosphere, music and support of local talent, with names like Paul Damage (1881 Recordings/House of God), Chris Finke (Atomic Jam/Split/Flux), Sir Real (House of God)and Sub Citizen (Resistor Records/Inukshuk) joining Residents and local heroes DK Roon’, Mack, Dr Pepperspray, HijACKER and M-AK.
The unique decor was specially produced by Birmingham artist A-109, and is complemented by the incredible light and lazer show by Brad. With a Funktion One state of the art sound system you can truly feel the clarity of sound.
They have also added a Smokers Retreat; no shuffling on the street for Osmosis‘ esteemed members!
In the end though, the night is all about the crowd.
“You can have the best sound, decor and lights in the world…. until the people turn up, it’s just a pretty room.”
Osmosis comes out to play the last Friday of every month at Rooty Frooty, The Custard Factory, Gibb Street, Birmingham B9.
Dress Code: Be yourself. If you can’t be yourself, be someone else, you’ll always be welcome.
Respect your fellow party goers. Bad Attitudes must be checked at the door. You’re welcome to have them back when you leave.
And on the Beach, we welcome the eclectic party rockin maestro’s
Custom Made
The aftermath of a Custom Made recipe is barmy! A unique carnival atmosphere of shiny happy people, soaking up a no nonsense party vibe. Expect loud music, dirty twists and a big dollop of goofball behaviour.
The events are a law unto themselves. Think a boutique snacksize festival – GOOD music of any genre and stimulation for the eyes and ears. Definitely quirky and always seriously good beats. Make of it what you will!
There is no attitude at Custom Made and a very open minded music policy – it is a complete melting pot – if it’s good, it can go in! The tunes are dished out by a massive amount of folk. Past friends and guests include DJ’s Mixmaster Morris, Unabombers and Biggabush, through to crazy raucous underground ska bands like Yes Sir Boss and Royal Gala.
The vibe definitely errs on bouncy ass boogaloo beats: electro, dub, and breaks – but the melting pot has no boundaries.
A typical event is indescribable, but could see people chilling on sofas and deck chairs to the likes of Brian Eno and Tom Middleton through to hanging from the rafters and going bananas to breakbeat, old skool jungle and The Muppets theme tune!!
Add on top anything and everything: graffiti, mad visuals, maracas, bubbles, beach balls, face paints, character dress, limbo, everyday people celebrating the Glamour of Average; and you have gone someway into biting into the sexy pie that is Custom Made…Scoff up!
So in the run up to our big Celebrate Birmingham’s Underground, we’ll be featuring a couple of brummie promoters each day, so you can navigate your way on the night, or in the maze that is Birmingham city centre (dependant on whether you’ve just jumped off the train or not).
Due to the amount of biogs we’ve currently got we’ll be featuring two promoters from the the beach on saturday and one who you can see play in the warehouse. You can also find them in one of the 16, 000 copies of this week’s Night Times.
If you haven’t already please invite your friends.. It’s free for 6 hours and drinks are £1.50 before 11.30pm!!
On the beach from 5pm you can find :
Loafers Lounge
DJ’s and promoters Jon Harris and Justin Bond formed Loafers Lounge in 2006 based on their shared love of chill out music which encompases many music styles. At the time there were no dedicated chill out nights in Birmingham or rooms at other events catering for the genre considering how popular chillout rooms were in the 90′s. Between them they started nights at various bars and clubs around the city including The Bull’s Head in Moseley, Atticus in Bearwood, and The Yardbird in the city centre to name but a few.
After 12 months of promoting and performing at these events the guys started to get requests from various promotors of club events to come along and host their secondary rooms at The Rainbow and Custard factory etc… These gigs led to organising the first ever chillout zone at Drop Beats Not Bombs with friends Custom Made with musicians, artists and DJ’s from all over the world appearing. Both events were hugely popular with all who attended.
They are currently booking acts and DJ’s for the next Drop Beats Not Bombs event in November which will hopefully prove to be bigger and better than the first two so keep em peeled! www.myspace.com/loaferslounge
Friendly Fire Music / Jam Jah Sound
Friendly Fire Music is a reggae collective which includes a soundsystem, the Jam Jah Sound, a backing band, the Friendly Fire Band, a record label, Friendly Fire Music, and organizes reggae events in Birmingham.
Jam Jah Mondays
Each and every Monday night, upstairs @ the Bull’s Head, Jam Jah collective play a strictly vinyl selection of roots, reggae, one drop, dancehall and dub on the Bull’s Head’s bass heavy soundsystem, with able vocal assistance from Friendly Fire MCs.
With free entry, and nuff drinks promos, Jam Jah Mondays is the most inclusive and longest lasting reggae night in Birmingham – the best way to kick off the week, or end the weekend in niceness.
More info: www.myspace.com/jamjahsound
Friendly Fire Sessions
Every third Friday of the month, Friendly Fire Sessions is the only regular live reggae event in Birmingham, showcasing upcoming and established reggae and ska acts from across the UK, with support from the Jam Jah Sound and live visuals by Keyah, at South Brum’s favorite live venue, the Hare and Hounds. Bands that have performed last year include The Beat, Makating, Pama Intl, YT, Daddy Freddy, Friendly Fire Band, Hayeeryah, amongst others..
join the mailing list, download live and studio recordings, and find out more on the website: -
Human Hologram Interference Project. Our mission is to advance conciousness through low frequency bass driven music, enabling you to connect to a higher awareness of yourself. Feel your connection towards it. 2012.
Trigger was born out of Serotonin Sounds, which was formed in 1994 to bring to inner city Birmingham the ethos of the UK’s fading free party scene, due to the introduction of the criminal justice bill which was enforced that year. Trigger offered a unique, mind bending alternative to the often uninspiring ‘club’ experience, and went on to be named Trigger Your Serotonin before becoming Trigger in the summer of ’98, as it remains to this day.
Trigger Recordings was started in 2003 to allow a greater audience to be part of the Human Hologram Interference Project through Electro Breakbeat music, and began with ‘Holographic Bassforms’, a 14 track double CD with nine exclusive tracks on CD1, and CD2 mixed by Ksmknl with an additional five Trigger classics. The release was accompanied by four double A side 12″s featuring exclusive tracks from Tipper, Si Begg, Lawgiverz, Ksmknl and Cold Fusion Mafia.
Trigger continues to utilize the most innovative DJ’s and producers from both the UK and international Electro Breaks circuit, continually pulling large crowds at allnight events, providing a unique experience unrivalled within the scene, with their Funktion One sound system and full technical support from Funktion One, to create the ultimate environment for the Trigger experience to be heard and felt as the sound travels through you, with the likes of Tipper, Si Begg, Son Of The Electric Ghost, Jnr Hacksaw and many many more conducting their experiments in sound alongside Trigger residents Lawgiverz a.k.a. R-Kidz & Noize, Jnr Hacksaw, Ksmknl, Nobody, Iytal and Skeleton.
A very quick post from the phat mammals headquarters with some exciting news.
On Saturday september 20th 2008, we will be teaming up with the Night Times, and about 20 or Birmingham’s best loved promotors and their residents in celebration of Birmingham’s underground.
Not only that but the venue is none other than the Rainbow Beach, with 12 tonne of sand, Real Palm Trees, and a retractable roof, and The mighty Rainbow Warehouse, with a massive 20 k Function One Soundsystem!
We will of course be featuring our midnight mask parade, this time hosted by a drumming circle, a beatboxer, and where you can parade your mask, and promenade your poodle.
And there will be a host of other treats to tantalise from 6pm until at least 4am.
And it will be at the very most £5!!!…It might even be freee!
More news as it breaks but for now, here is the line up for the beach
6pm
Loafers Lounge (Justin Bond) - Sunset Music
VS Jam Jah (Friendly Fire Crew) – Roots Dub & Reggae
VS Leftfoot (Sam Redmore) – Reedited Funk/Soul & Party Tunes
VS Funkatronic (Dani C) - Booty Balearic & Latino Rollers
VS Custom Made (Mark Smallman) – Rump Shaking Minimal Electro House
12am Parade your masks, or your Poodle – The Midnight Masked Poodle Promenade
VS Scratch Club vs Mr Djembe - (Beatboxer Bass 6 Vs Live Drumming Circle) VS Project X Presents – (Marc Reck) – Rockin Mash Up
VS Dj Joust / Rockfall – (R Caine) – Booty Breaks and Techy Rollers
VS Mr Elephant – (Mash Up) – Party Breaks and Drum n Bass
and in the warehouse, you can expect to find the tougher end of the underground with appearances from H.O.G, Osmosis, Trigger, My Bass, Urban Disturbance, Bunka, The Night Times, Magnetik, Broken Minds, Breakthru, Cog, and about 6 others…More news as its confirmed
To everyone who came to our first birthday bash! We are all quite amazed at the response, and just how much fun it was all weekend long. Here’s a quick rundown of the night for anyone who missed it.
After a relatively easy setup (thanks to the in house engineers, and help from Christy), we welcomed the first guests at 9.01 pm, who received their free cd and choice of kazoo from our delectable door hosts, Pyn and Shelly. In room 2, Robin from Jam Jah kicked it off with some choice roots and reggae, against a backdrop Keir’s inspired visuals mash ups on a 6ft Plasma Screen, whilst Manic Organic prepared tasters from their menu to serve up to any hungry guests.
In room 1, Mr Elephant mixtapes provided the soundtrack to a late leon setting up, and much creativity, with the mask decorating table which were all feverishly surrounded by 9.30.
By 11.15 both rooms were bustling with birthday merriment, and it was time for our headline band to don the main stage. Mama Matrix once again showing why they are one of the most exciting bands in the city, delivering a blistering set of balkan gypsy jazz. Their performance even grabbing the attention of one of Birmingham’s most respected music promotor’s, and igniting many questions as to where they were from!
While Dj Christy was keeping room two on fire with more reggae and some old jungle, Room 1 saw people don their masks, and raise their kazoos, ready for the midnight mask parade. Marc announced it using his voice changer, (which unfortunatly made the announcement somewhat hard to distinguish!), but nevertheless the tribal sound of 8 of the city’s local percussionists (who had never played together before the night) commanded the focus of the party goers, and led by Issabella and Katie, who were in character as victorian ladies, the midnight mask parade journeyed around the top floor of the venue, before settling in the main room for a percussion jam that got the whole room moving.
Some people joined in on the kazoo, and our professional mask maker followed in hot pursuit, selecting 3 winners and notifying them with specially made golden tickets. Marc announced the winners, (thankfully in his normal voice!), who each won a cuddly version of me, (with the top prize being an addition of a bottle of smirnoff). Marc dropped his first record (Arthur Conley’s sweet soul music), and it was back to more dancing and merriment for the rest of the evening.
A mix of music from the mr elephant radio shows got the crowd nicely loose and ready for some big breaks, and the arrival of Khalgani Belly Dancers on stage raised the heat even more.
Birthday Boy Lopan took over, and kept the crowd rockin, before a back to back finale of huge breaks, that rock tune from Steve, and a couple of drum and bass favourites. The last two tracks were Harry Belafonte’s Daylight Come, and Don’t Worry Be Happy, leaving everyone with warm feelings and positive vibes as they journeyed to the after party at the last ever weekend sessions of the Church Inn. A truly memorable night, (and a most suitably celebratory weekend! Dave Piper took some fantastic pictures of the evening, and here’s a little video we hashed together.
I’m excited to report we have quite a few flavours from around the world at our next Mr Elephant, which is fitting right in with the journey around the world mixtape we are giving to the first 100 people through the doors.
Room one will be jammed full of rich reggae music, alongside traditional jamaican roots & dancehall.
Food from greece, turkey, spain and a host of other places will be served from Manic Organic with a taster from their menu’s.
Room two see’s Balkan Gypsy Jazz Music from the mighty Mama Matrix, with music from around the world from our djs, before their final dancefloor sets.
And we also welcome 10 local percussionists all playing various drums and rhythms from around the world, in our midnight mask parade. So far we have a cajon, darboukas, djembes, conga’s, bongo’s, shakers, guiros, clavas, jungle snare, 2 sirdu’s, and a cowbell. And thats not forgetting the 200 kazoos, and various masks made from your good selves.
And last but by no means least, we welcome back the Khalgani Belly Dancers, who were most impressive at our 2nd event last year.
So it’s all shaping up to be fitting birthday for all involved, and one that will make me feel a lot less homesick!
So today’s kinda the “launch” of this website, so it might be a good time to introduce what we are doing, and why…..
Well firstly i’m (obviously) a real elephant, and i live in a nice lickle park in Moseley, Birmingham. I came over to this country about 2 years ago, and have many great stories to share of my past…..That however, is for another day.
The first thing that struck me about Birmingham is the wealth of creative talent and this melting pot of cultures. After a short period of getting adjusted, i started meeting people who were showcasing culture’s from all around the world alongside their own slices of life, and the more i dug, the more i found.
While it confused me that it wasn’t in the tourist information office, or on the birmingham websites, i was inspired by this almost underground culture, and it is what has inspired me to create my own events, which i hope will help to shine a light on all this beautiful activity.
The other thing that struck me about this city is the friendliness of people. Human’s not only willing to share their tips and knowledge with you, but also a real sense of wanting to get involved, with many of the city’s creatives and promoters working for little or no money.
It also seems that while this city was once known as the workshop of the world, that the pace of today’s lifestyle doesn’t allow time to share knowledge and skills with each other, with most human’s being restricted by problems that don’t really affect us elephant’s, such as money, time, responsibilities, etc.
So we thought it might be beneficial or/at least interesting to offer a platform for anyone who wants to share what they do. At our events, with support and workshops from our team, and/or on our website as part of the Workshop of World idea, by sharing your tips and links.
We figure if you can share what has moved you forward, it (a) introduces you to the local community, and (b) might be beneficial to others, hopefully creating new opportunities. Either way it’ll be interesting to find out what we like to do, and we will be asking you for your tips at the next Mr Elephant, (and hopefully scratching them into the mix via the djs!)
We are doing short mentoring opportunities for people that are interested in doing what we do at our events, by giving them hands on experience and/or a workshop so they can experience what its like to be doing what they are into. We hope to make this into a Mr Elephant programme of workshops later this year, if we can find some financial support, so the workshops will always be free.
Our other strands of Mr Elephant are currently the explorations and of the 3 part radio show. The Radio show is designed to be accessible to a wide range of tastes, with an ecletic mixtape with narrative , a dj mix, and live recordings from Birmingham. It’s free and the links to the artists are provided to encourage you to check them out. The cd covers and artwork by the way is designed by Aart Tanner, and are available for download.
The explorations will be hosted by me and Ruth Robinson, who will be conducting a period of research into the effects on local businesses of the current eastside development of Digbeth. I’ll be looking at things that i’m curious about from the point of view of an elephant living in Birmingham , e.g like empty buildings, the big city plan, how easy is it to get your voice heard to the local council etc, and we’ll both be blogging and/or recording our journey.
And last but not least, we we are working on/towards hosting festival tents and venues, offering music based on our radio shows, and workshops for all ages, alongside all the rest of what goes into a Mr Elephant tent/experience. We have the setup and the team to deliver events of any size, and are always open to any offer, though aside from the current festival bids, and collaberations with the local venues, this will be something we are looking to expand after the summer.
So that’s about it. Collectively we hope the ideas will continue to evolve, and that it’s something you might like to get involved with in someway. (Even if that be shaking your trunk on the dancefloor
Rabbits! Never understood why saying that word before is supposed to bring good fortune, but it seems relevant as the Hare and Hounds will be the venue for my first birthday! Happy Spring everyone!
Yes, yes, now its starting to warm up, and spring is officially on its way (March 21st apparently!), i’m out of my annual winter hibernation, and am a very happy little elephant (as you can probably see!) Me and the crew have been working really hard, and have some nice tings planned for you and yours in 2008, which we really hope you’ll be into.First up is the birthday party. Friday April 25th 2008 @ the Hare and Hounds, and the theme will be Mr Elephant’s Journey around the World, (which basically means we will be inviting local Birmingham cultural representatives to come and share their delights with you from 9 – 3 am.)
First up is the mighty Jam Jah reggae collective who will be hosting room 2, after they rammed and rocked their room all night long at the 1st Mr Elephant event last year.
In the main room we will be welcoming one of my favourite bands from Birmingham, the mighty Balkan Gypsy pioneers Mama Matrix! We been trying to book them for ages, so we really looking forward to their energy fuelled and emotionally charged pyschedellic experience!
Of course no Mr Elephant birthday would be complete without a midnight samba parade, so leading the midnight mask parade will be one of the two leading Birmingham Samba collectives, (though as we are waiting confirmation, we can’t say which one that will be!)
On the decks will be our very own Marc Reck, who will be starting the night with tracks from his journey around the world mixtape, and finishing the night with his biggest sock rockin breaks and drum and bass, alongside Dj Lopan, and some special guests. It also happens to be their birthday party too, so to celebrate the fact, that they are both turning 30, each guest will receive a free boxed cd of the “Journey Around the World” mixtape on entry.
Dramask will also be on hand to facilitate the mask decorating, and we have live visuals and elephant films, through the night. We are plugging for drinks promos, though the brewery is not as accomodating as we’d like, and we hope to be adding more guests and attractions over the next month.
Tickets will be about a fiver to cover the costs, and should be on sale in a couple of weeks, and please subscribe to the free rss feed for automatic delivery of the latest updates.
With footage from our first two events courtesy of Martin, Jo and Marc. The elephant is going more underground for our next party so keep those ears big for the tremors!
Here’s a lovely review from online birmingham clubbing magazine The Blaggerz Guide, from their clubbing editor Jo about Mr Elephant Presents 2!
“A day of silly fun and phat funky breaks began with the mask making during the hot sunny Saturday afternoon. We gathered at the skate park at 2pm and sparked our creative brain cells into action, with attaching all sorts of sparkly, shiny bits and pieces to our mask shapes producing some weird and wonderful creations. There was plenty of fun had all round and it’s fair to say that the best masks were created by the youngest minds.
By Day
After an afternoon bbq at the Prince, we met up later on that night back at the skate park for the Mr Elephant carnival experience.
Mr Elephant had thought of everything possible for a fun carnivalesque evening. Upstairs, in the early stages of the night, guests could help themselves to the free Indian vegan buffet on offer, the samosa’s were definitely the tastiest and quite obviously the most popular, as they weren’t available for long. While guests were stuffing themselves on the food, Jibbering records spun a vast array of tunes from all corners of the globe.
Downstairs, in the main room, the DJ’s of the night, gave outstanding animated performances. Everyone in there seemed to be having a fantastic night, with the atmosphere and vibe was becoming more a more fun-filled as the night went on. The DJ’s were feeding off the emotions of the crows and the crowd in turn were feeding off the emotions of the DJ’s, with everyone seeming to be having as much fun as a 6 year old at a funfair!
The phat breaks were accompanied by live percussionists Mooncup and Mylo and friends, who gave the funky breaks an almost 3d audio quality as they drummed along to the tempo and rhythm of the tunes.
By Night
Visual entertainment was supplied in 2 parts, the crowd were joined in the main room by Khalaghani belly dancers, whose hypnotic movements and colourful costumes kept many folks attention whilst they were dancing. Behind the DJ’s, Chromatouch’s visuals were a mix of joyously eclectic animations that he amazed the guests with how harmoniously they were mixing with the tunes.
Outside the main room was even more entertainment. Some of the guests watched some of the selection of videos supplied by Indymedia on the 20ft screen, whilst others had loads of fun making themselves a carnivalesque mask (or 3)
Mr Elephant Presents was a brilliant day. He had thought of everything possible for a fun event and more… luckily there’s not too long to wait till the next one as it’s on August 4th.”
Mammoth love to everyone who came down to the last mr elephant, and to all those people who came out for the days activities! We got lots of photos of the workshop, the afternoon in the prince garden, and the second mr elephant event itself, and yet again we were blown away by the response. Despite the last minute cancellations of the samba band and the beatboxer, and all the equipment traumas and license rumours, to everyone who made a mask, played a drum or shook their ass, we salute you with both feet. Nice one
And a huge thank you to all the people who went well beyond the call of duty to make it happen like it did. Pyn Stockman, for hosting the family mask workshop, the prince, and for all her work on and off the night, before playing out the tourists with proper comic skill, alongside the talented Adam Skerrit. To Marc Reck who worked relentlessly from start to finish, despite the floors falling through.
To Adie B, and Dodgy Greg for really going out their way to setup the sound and lights, and working all day in the face of adversity.
To Skinny and Aart, for their visual productions and underground vibes.
To Leon Trimble for amazing visuals and a shiny soul.
To Lyndall and Rich for their love support and warm hosting of the door, to the percussionists Mooncup, Mylo, Nath, and the percussion crew, for some inspired percussion, and live jams
To the djs, Sir Real, Marc Reck, Boogie Dave, and Adie B for completely rocking the Rockfall room all night long.
To the Jibbering soundsystem Oli, Dan, Cro and Muz for bringing some quality music, nice vibes and much needed equipment,
To Indymedia Liam for hosting some proper important films and making the chillout room into a real cinemal,
To Gary and Phil for keeping the sun out in the prince garden with the most sublime acoustic music on their spanish guitars.
To Ben and Kate from Zen for supplying the legal drugs, To the Khalgani Belly Dancers for blowing people’s minds.
To jo from blaggerz, frank, claire, sue and pete, for their support, and of course to the ever amazing hosts Keith and Diane and the Epic bar staff and security for looking after us and our guests.
And last but never least, a massive shout to all the friends that came down and filled the venue despite all the rumours about the license.
I’ll be continuing with our
