YOU'RE TOO MUCH

According to my blog stats this will be the 50th post on this, it's going to be a brief one because the only thing I want to talk about is Friendly Fires and their revamped version of their stunning track 'Skeleton Boy'. How this band aren't constantly in the charts baffles me, hopefully this next single will have a lot of backing behind it and maybe, just maybe, people will start to really take notice of this massively underappreciated band:

ONE DOWN

Well I'm back in Aberystwyth after what can only be described as a 'hectic' DDJY! The audience probably didn't realise but at 7pm we weren't even sure that Unseen Archives would be allowed to play despite shifting over 50 tickets and not having to share any of the main bands equipment. But this is the sort of red tape nonsense we have to put up with in this industry and after some pleading, puppy eyes and on-my-knees negotiation we managed to get the 'Archives' on stage and we're very glad we did. I haven't seen a crowd react to a local band so much in, well, forever; sure they're all their mates but it's the same for any other local band. Hopefully this is the start of an enthusiasm for live and new music from the local youngsters coming through that has been lacking in recent times.

Of course the main bands were Video Nasties (advertised as headliners but due to some stupid reason now just the 2nd band on), Threatmantics and Swanton Bombs. A review of Threatmantics set can be read here:

http://www.the-fly.co.uk/words/reviews/live-reviews/3850/threatmantics

Video Nasties set was my personal highlight, though heavy with new and unheard material, they captivated the audience and blasted out what seems to be the body of an extremely strong debut album; it's set for release in April so make sure you get yourself a copy!

Photos from the night will be posted here when available.

Listen to: Video Nasties - Jellybean (myspace)

KICKING OFF

Tonight is our first DDJY! of 2009 so I'm getting today's blog done in the early hours because I'm going to be far too busy later. We've managed to shift over 60 tickets for this and, for a night that normally relies solely on 'door tickets', is pretty damn good! This achievement has been thanks in no small part to our local support Unseen Archives; a band we're very proud to have on board as I believe them to be the first local act to be directly influenced by bands that DDJY! has brought to Wrexham in the past. Hopefully this is the start of a number of bands that will come through and doff their caps to the night and in return we will help them, as best we can, to get to where they want to go in this industry.

Listen to: Unseen Archives - Lonely Spirals (myspace)

EASTER TREATS

Right now it's pretty difficult to type due to the fact that we at DDJY! have got our fingers in very many pies (not the Scottish kind). Basically if everything goes to plan then Wrexham's set for some awesome shows in the next few months, on the other hand we could just end up with one big waste of time to look back on, who knows?!

We're particularly looking to sort out our Easter special for this year, attempting to follow up the past 2 years memorable Easter gigs which featured Dead Disco and The Teenagers as headliners. Our shortlist of bands is, quite frankly, vast and we should have someone pinned down sometime in the very near future; BUT whilst we still haven't got a confirmed headliner you can still have the chance to tell us who you think we should book either by a message on the Myspace or Facebook pages (links in the sidebar).

I've noticed Venetian Snares is looking for UK dates in April, oh it would be sweet...

Listen to: Venetian Snares - Gentleman (myspace)

A NEW LEAF

Greetings to all, happy New Year and other such remarks! For those of you keeping track of DDJY! behaviour in the past few weeks you'll have noticed that we've been undergoing a bit of a make-over: new myspace, new posters etc. This blog has not avoided any change of it's own. Instead of the 'tipster' portal it was in 2008 it will now be more of a DDJY! scrapbook with daily segments featuring what we're planning, what bands we're listening to, our DJ sets, exciting music news, videos of upcoming DDJY! acts as well as exclusive interviews with some of the lovely people who'll be performing at DDJY! in 2009.

So keep track and keep supporting one of Europe's most beloved indie nights! x

Listen to: Hatcham Social - Wild Creatures (myspace)