Edinburgh has its fringe-festival; Glasonbury has some kind of party in a field, apparently. Southampton? We have Music In The City. It's local - it's amazing - it's family-friendly - and it's all free this weekend (Oct 3/4), writes Dan O'Farrell, pictured playing guitar at the event in 2014. Pic: Sharon Lockyer
This Saturday (Oct 3) will see some of the most interesting and little-known nooks and crannies in our fair city echoing to the sounds of every musical genre imaginable. Now in its seventh year, Music In The City always provides an absolute smorgasbord of musical entertainment, with singers, duos, bands and orchestras appearing in some truly fascinating venues.
Just like Edinburgh and Glastonbury, the problem immediately arises: what to see when? Modesty obviously prevents me from directing you towards my own slots (solo at 1:30 pm in the Platform Tavern, 6pm with Accrington Stanley at The Weigh House, thanks for asking!), but I will throw a few other names at you in case that helps...
Southampton's new cultural Nandos
Local troubadour Grant Sharkey - fresh from giving the mayor his opinions on the new cultural Nandos in town – plays his entertaining and deeply political songs in The Weigh House courtyard at 4pm. Shimmering dream-poppers The Diamond Age will light up the Platform Tavern at 2pm, whilst the frantic, punky R&B of The Bullybones can be caught in its limb-flailing glory in the Weigh House vault at 3:30pm.
For those who appreciate a more gentle musical mood, the velvet voice of Lucy Kitchen can be heard at the Dancing Man Brewery at 5, just after the melodic alt-country of Sleeping Tigers...
I could go on but, as with any arts festival, part of the pleasure is to stumble upon unexpected pleasures and discover artists that you'd never heard of before.
I'll see you there...
Dan O'Farrell
Dan O'Farrell performing at Southampton's Music in the City in 2014. Pic: Adam Barnes