Mr Elephant Presents “Live & Free Haiti Fundraiser” – Friday 26th Feb @ Adam & Eve – FREE ENTRY til 4am

Its one month ago today that Haiti was struck by the magnitude 7.0 earthquake. Obviously a collossol disaster with 200,000 killed, 1 million homeless, huge international response…everyone is aware of the details.

Something that the quake has thrown up is that there is an urgent need, now moreso than ever, to address the fact that Haiti as one of the world’s poorest and least developed countries is in a very vunerable position.

The long history of oppression by dictators has markedly affected the nation and so as well as provding aid, we must also work towards enabling the people to create a sustainable infrastructure that isnt at the mercy of big businesses or powerful governments, like many previous reconstruction attempts have been (and shown).

Haiti needs rebuilding from the ground up and local economies need to be built in small towns and villages. Local people need to be trained and equipped with skills so that the economy can be built from the ground up, and not the top down.

herefore for this fundraiser, we are looking at 2 (Now 3) organisations, who are setting up long term solutions – http://www.earthship.org/haiti-disaster-relief & http://www.haitifoundation.org/ If you can suggest any other options please feel free to let us know. (UPDATE : We have emailed earthship to define their position, as we werent clear on exactly how the money would be used & are looking at http://www.standwithhaiti.org/haiti as an alternative)

This is a totally free event and on til 4am. Musicans and Djs from Birmingham & Bristol are coming together to produce a quality line up. All costs of the gig will be covered before the event, so that 100% of donations can go directly to two organisations

There are more artists being added to all the time, and the set times and more info will follow next week, but here are the confirmed artists so far.
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DUB MAFIA (Live jazzy drum n bass & dub) – http://www.myspace.com/officialdubmafia

Coming all the way from Bristol, and with one of the most played videos on youtube, this band features seriously talented Vocals, Keyboards, Guitar, Drums, Bass, Turntable, Percussion, Saxophone, musician and are set for very big things. Possibly the only chance to see them (for free) in Birmingham before they go on their big festival tour in the summer.

THE HIDDEN HALF (Flamenco Fusion) - http://www.myspace.com/thehiddenhalf

World fusion at its finest, with spanish guitar, latin percussion, and 2 vocalists. The Hidden Half always go down a storm at our Live and Free Events. Check our website for past videos

EVA LAZARUS (Acoustic and vocal) – http://www.myspace.com/evalazarus
Making a huge storm in Bristol, the vocals are quite simply jaw dropping. Another artist you may be more aware of via a you tube vid that went viral, this exclusive solo performance is going to be something very special.

GARY WILLIAMS (Special Live Acoustic Looping) – http://www.myspace.com/garywilliams74

A legend on the live scene in brum and the man behind many bands from Dr Dan Blues remedy to the ever impressive Playing Django. If you are in anyway interested in guitar or musicianship then very special live looping performance will be a treat.

SMILEY MIC – www.smileymic.co.uk

Another live looping performance but this time in a very different one man band style with human beatbox, acoustic guitar, vox & xylophone. Smiley mic has rocked two of our previous Mr Elephant events and recently supported De La Soul, so if you havent check him out yet, get there early as he’s opening the live sets, and you prob wont have heard anything quite like him before.

GEORDIE BLAKE (Shana Tova) – http://www.myspace.com/shanatova

Inspiring singer, guitarist & part of some of Brums finest bands over the last ten years from the Starries to Baxter, this guy made his solo debut last year at our 4th Live & Free and was literally that good, he caused 2 reviews to be written the very next morning! Another probable early performance as he has two gigs on that night.

JODI ANN BICKLEY – http://www.myspace.com/onenoneblonde

A poet that is making big waves in brum and london at the mo, witty, honest and charming poetry delivered with personality. Just back from a string of special performances in London don’t miss this.

SKELETON (The Beat Suite/Trigger/Mr Elephant) – http://www.rhubarbradio.com/programmes/beatsuite/

Host of the Beat Suite, Resident at Trigger and here at Mr Elephant, Kipp is one of the most versatile and talented djs. We couldnt find any video footage of the turntablist style he’ll be playing on the night, but you can rest assured you’ll be treated to a very special scratch set from one of the city’s best djs.

JAM JAH (Robin G) – http://www.friendlyfiremusic.com/

We’ve said it time and time again, but Jam Jah sound is something to beholden in Birmingham, and is why we at Mr Elephant never fail to get them playing wherever possible. Legends. (Again this footage doesnt do them justice, but gives an idea of the sound at the start of the vid)

JIBBERING (Tangawizi) – http://www.jibbering.com

Jibbering for over 10 years have been bringing bands to Birmingham, the majority of which have gone on to be huge. Tastemakers in their own right with each core member a dj and blatant music devotee, so any opportunity to hear their record collections is always a treat. Tangawizi has a huge spectrum of music and while the vid below is all we could find at the mo, expect funk, soul, reggae, hip hop and maybe even some more underground bizness as he surfs the decks with Jam Jah til 4am.

Vj BLENDSTATE – http://www.blendstate.com

A huge part of Mr Elephant ever since the 2nd event where he bought the indymedia films for the chillout room. Now one of the leading vj in Birmingham3 years later, and a promoter in his own right, with his own cinephonic event going from strength to strength and his managing of the party rockin mammal sessions over the last 6 months. Footage adorns many mr elephant videos, but this is one that doesnt get seen regularly, with soundtrack from another bristol guest from our 2nd birthday mr dub fx.

VENUE – http://www.theadam.co.uk
Located on the 50 route at the top of bradford street, in Digbeth, and a short walk from the city centre, the venue has been putting on music events every week for years. A place to chill and chat, as much as it is to see quality local and international bands and / or dance til 4am. There’s a cool heated smoking area, pool table and chilling areas, quality bar and proper friendly staff, great in house engineer and just they’ve spent loads on new bassbins, so expect the sound to be even bigger and crisper than every before.
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Final note. (Sorry this has been such a loooong event page!)

We moved this event to a Friday as there as there is another haiti fundraiser on from subvert on the Saturday. As we normally do Saturday - http://www.mrelephant.com/category/events/live-and-free we were a little aprehensive, so if you can help spread the word in anyway it’ll make a big difference and be very much appreciated by all involved.

Obviously everyone is coming together to put on a great free night in the hope to raise money, but also we hope will appeal to a wide range of tastes and make for a proper memorable one, so if you’re in birmingham, and can drop by for a beer, drop a few quid into the donation buckets etc, it should hopefully be another night to remember….and raise plenty of cash for where its needed.

Facebook event page is here – http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=479592425470&ref=ts

Last Saturday the Hare and Hounds saw one hell of a party! The place was buzzing all night long, the venue was rammed, the vibes were great and the tunes we’re even better : )

Before we upload a full report from our massive free party we thought we’d get some photos up for you asap. Enjoy

Mr Elephant’s Party Rockin Mammal Sessions launches at its new home in the Hare and Hounds with a huge free party. We’ve gone all out and brought together as many of our guest DJ’s from last year as possible. Nowhere else will you get such an eclectic, quality line-up of Brum’s underground DJ’s for absolutely nowt, so come join us for a night to remember!

Lineup:

Boogie Dave

Dr Pepperspray

Lopan

Mark Smallman

Sam Redmore

Skeleton and Dolhasz

Smokedog

Subcitizen

+Blendstate Visuals & Elephant Crafts!

9PM – 2AM – FREE ALL NIGHT!!

Boogie Dave (Drop Beats Not Bombs)

A man who needs little introduction, Drop Beats Not Bombs founder Boogie Dave has rocked several of our parties with his crazy dubstep sounds, no doubt he will deliver the goods once again. Look out for his latest venture, a full scale DBNB festival this year: https://www.theticketsellers.co.uk/buy_tickets/events/?id=10007162

Dr Pepperspray

Long running DJ and producer, Dr Pepperspray always brings his unique style & sound to Mr Elephant for a set of strangely brewed breaks, tech, funk, bass & humour!

http://www.myspace.com/doctorpepperspray

Lopan (Sexual AllStars/Sumo SoundSystem)

Member of Birmingham legends, the Sexual Allstars, and more recently resident for Sumo Sound System. The breakbeat, electro and drum and bass heavyweight turntablist Mr DJ Lopan, will be once again bringing it for us.

Mark Smallman (Custom Made)

Mark is one of the few DJs who can play chillout all the way through to drum and

bass. He knows how to rock the party, and his (and Shona’s) award winning custom events are testament to his wide musical tastes and party rockin style.

http://www.myspace.com/custommadeevent

Skeleton (Trigger/Secret Wars) & Dolhasz (The Beat Suite)

Skeleton & Dolhasz of the Beat Suite (Rhurbarb Radio) impressed us so much as guests earlier last year we installed them as permanent residents! As always they will be journeying through a varied set of beats and breaks ranging from danceable funk and hip-hop to glitch-hop, breakbeat and dubstep.

http://thebeatsuiterhubarbradio.blogspot.com/

Sam Redmore (Leftfoot/Freestyle)

One of the hottest DJ’s in Birmingham, Leftfoot and Freestyle Resident Sam Redmore, plays a special blend of funk, soul, hip-hop, disco, reggae and more together with his many custom edited tracks. A man going places…

http://www.myspace.com/samredmoreone

Smokedog

With over 15 years experience, Smokedog is a familiar face in the festival and free party scene, and no stranger to rockin hoards of party mammals with a record collection that is brimming with music from the days before the criminal justice bill came in.

Subcitizen (Resistor Records)
Subcitizen has spent years searching for the most experimental edges of any electronic genre he can find. The most glitchy elements are always on show whether he’s playing techno, electro, electronica, drum and bass, dubstep and much more. Expect to hear many genres you’re familiar with, but chopped and hacked up in ways you didn’t think were allowed!

http://www.myspace.com/subcitizen1

Mr Elephant favourites Munchbreak, (this time with multi genre skills of Home Cooking djs) & the mighty Jam Jah once again showed us why Birmingham is packed full of flavour with 2 inspiring live performances and 4 dj sets which kept our last live and free event of 2009 nice and toasty all the way until the 4am close.

Here’s a little video of part one of Munchbreak where they took us back to their seminal jam session days.

Despite being probably the wettest, coldest night we’ve had thus far, nothing seem to hinder a whole pub full of revellers. Robin from Jam Jah kicked things off with their unique blend of roots, reggae, and dancehall.

Followed by some choice genre hopping funk style crowd pleasing cuts from Maxwell from Home Cooking

Then it was time for the headline live act of the night in the first of two sets. First the Jam session you can see above, and then their full live set. Here’s a little more footage this time from their 2nd set.

and if you want more, do go check out their album. It’s well recommended

P.s there are more photos here and our mr elephant facebook group is here.

Cinephonic returns for a big ol’ christmas knees up. To get you seriously moving this month we’ve got the prodigious RCAINE joining us with his driving basslines and techy energetic breaks. Old friend of Mr Elephant, he absolutely smashed it for us back in at our Celebrate Birmingham’s Underground event last year and went down a storm at our Party Rockin Mammal’s event more recently. Be sure to check out his full bio below.

Joining him on the decks as ever are Rhurbarb Radio stars Skeleton and Dolhasz., who are without a doubt running one of the most popular and top show’s on Birmingham’s own www.rhurbarbradio.com at the moment. On the visuals we have resident VJ Blendstate and this month a special guest, Leicester’s finest VJ: The Lab. Having worked with Roland/Edirol around Europe and now working as Lisa Lashes Tour VJ his work has to be seen to be believed.

This month we are going to get in the Christmas spirit, we’ll be mashing up any and all the Xmas movies we can get our hands on to accompany the massive tunes. We wanna hear what your favourites are and we’ll get them in there for you. Just leave a comment below or email us mrelephantpresents@gmail.com.

Also for reduced £2 entry leave us your name below:)

RCAINE

RCAINE has been DJing since 1998, and like most DJ’s, he experimented with many different genre’s until finding his feet with Breaks, Techno and other associated forms. Things got a bit more serious when he won the DJ Mag/Pioneer DJ competition in June 2006 @ Earls court and has since gone from strength to strength. He’s been part of the backbone for many promotions over the years, from London to Birmingham and in his home town Wolverhampton. More recently Drop Beats Not Bombs, Rockfall and his new venture ‘Scandal’ with Boogie Dave @ Gatecrasher Birmingham. Now a regular on the Birmingham scene as well as guesting at parties all over the UK, playing alongside the biggest headliners the world has to offer, fullfilling his early years ambition. He continues to push new innovative music which also inspires his production. With the release of ‘System at Risk’ on ADHD digital featured on the ‘It’s good for the soul’ album, and a remix for a forthcoming Subsource track, from the new album due out March 2010, his productions go from strength to strength.

http://www.myspace.com/djrcaine

Friday 11th December
The Hare and Hounds

Kings Heath
9:00pm – 2:00am

Free Early/ £3 After

Party Rockin’ Mammal Sessions at Jibbering’s 10th birthday

Mr Elephant Presents gave a giant birthday trumpet to Jibbering in in honour of their 10th birthday at the Hare and Hounds.

Jibberings main room was full of great music from start to end, featuring artists like Mc Xander, Dj Rubbish, and Smerins Anti Social Club

In room 2, it was the first Mr Elephant Party Rockin’ Mammal Sessions in the Hare since moving from the Bulls Head last month. The venue seemed to suit the diverse vibe granted from the great line up of DJs. At the tender age of one, Party Rockin’ gave its all with our mighty residents Skeleton and Dolhastz (The Beat Suite) whilst Roy Roastbeef was welcomed back by Mr Elephant, playing a fine blend classic funk.

A sneaky selection of Jibbering’s residents also took time out from the main venue to seduce the room with some cutting edge and vintage hip hop, funk, reggae, jungle and dubstep.

Skeleton and Dolhastz did their usual duty of playing floor filling underground hiphop, glitch-hop, funk, breaks and drum ‘n’ bass – with some skilful scratching which made people’s ears twitch.

And the mr elephant room also featured some arts and crafts, with the “Best Dressed Elephant Competition” keeping many occupied for hours.

Over 70 elephants were dressed up with glitter and rags, and the winner came in the form of an Elvis elephant wearing some impressive shades. A year’s free entry to all Mr Elephant events was the generous prize from the elephant pride.

To close off the evening everyone was herded into the main room for a live set from Gentleman’s Dub Club. This awesome Leeds based 9-piece filled the room with an electric energy, and their heavyweight dub and roots reggae combined with the band’s larger than life stage presence made for a mesmerising experience.

Our camera had unfortunatly ran out by then, so here’s a little footage of Jibbering Jon mixing it up with some dubstep and our Liam Blendstate’s visuals

Catch Cinephonic vs Party Rockin mammal Sessions xmas special at Hare and Hounds on Fri 11th 2009

Rich Batsford’s 40th Birthday / Free Control – 1st B’ham Date / Mark Smallman / Dj Chromatouch

For this month’s Live and Free at the Adam and Eve we saw a very special concert with two of the finest midlands artists, a great chillout dj and a some special guests

Rich Batsford celebrated his 40th Birthday as well as his debut UK album and album relase and peformed a great crowd pleasing set with some new material and 2 special guests. Great talent and brilliant audience rapport. If you havent already head on to his website and get yourself a copy of Valentine Court. You wont be disappointed.

Free Control were up next with their first Birmingham appearance, and they were quite simply awe inspiring. The room was packed with people and like most mr elephant gigs, there was a wide range of people. Aside from the roaring response during their set, they also were congratulated by so many people throughout the night, they are already wanting to come back. Big shouts also to some truly inspired live visuals from The Lab (as he’s the resident visual maestro with Free Control, and their very cool management.

On the decks this month there were 3 great sets from Mr Elephant regulars. Mark Smallman, Vj Chromatouch and our resident Marc Reck. The room was still dancing at closing time, but despite the clocks going back we didnt get an extra hour.

Next month we are well excited to be welcoming the return of Munch Break and their home cooking djs back and Mr Elephant favourites Jam Jah will also be returning.

This month we are very excited to be welcoming a tasty funk and reggae casserole from our city’s favourite chefs!

If your on facebook here’s the invite page – http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=148068927896&index=1

Headliners of our first Live & Free, the fabulous Munchbreak are back!

They truly rocked it last time so we well pleased they’ll be back (if you missed you can hear some on the radio show, or check the vids from the last event)

Home Cooking is amongst others Munchbreak on the decks – real turntablists with a classic selection of funky hip hop, classic funk, and proper ass shaking grooves. As the rest of the band are there – expect some live jamming action similar to that of the classic sessions they used to pioneer in Moseley and the weekly Home Cooking sessions they fill the yardbird with each month.

Jam Jah – If you know Mr Elephant, you must know jam jah by now. If you like reggae or dancing or just pure uplifting vibes Jam Jah are serious delivery men. They rock crowds from whole tents at shambala to their weekly parties at the bulls head and of course their hugely respected monthly events at the hare and hounds which have bought so many great names in roots and reggae to our city. They also release great music with their live bands and talented artist roster and to be fair are just simply, brilliant. They can rock it with roots, ramp it up with jungle and chill it out with dub. Great men on a musical mission with music that truly inspires.

All of this is FREE and is on til 4am with all the usual venue treats like pool table, nice drinks, friendly staff, and nice smoking area and really cool late night vibes.