Media Release: NEXT BIG THING new music festival heads for sell-out

ELLIE Goulding, Marina & the Diamonds, Paloma Faith, Jesca Hoop, The Soft Pack, You Me At Six, Example, Joshua Radin, Rox & Jersey Budd, plus many more, head stellar line-up of new artists…

NEXT BIG THING – the exciting new music festival being staged and promoted by HMV and live music partner MAMA Festivals across six London venues from next week, has met with the enthusiastic endorsement of some of the hottest new and breakthrough acts of 2010.

Eighty artists from across the musical spectrum will perform in the inaugural 2010 festival, including newly-crowned BBC Sounds 2010 poll winner and BRITs Critics Choice recipient Ellie Goulding, who will be one of the star performers at the Relentless Garage, and No.2 in the BBC Sounds poll Marina and the Diamonds, who will headline Upstairs at Relentless Garage.

Marina Diamandis, of Marina & the Diamonds, comments: “HMV have provided a brilliant way for the public to see artists who are hopefully on the tip of something great, in an intimate setting very early on in their careers. It’s also great for the artists, as it provides a platform to perform to a new range of fans, who will have never heard of them before, let alone seen them live.”

The aim of Next Big Thing is to showcase the best new talent from the UK, Ireland and from around the world through an annual, multi-venue festival, giving music fans an early and affordable opportunity at the start of each new year to catch some of the hottest acts tipped for breakthrough success. The festival, which is London-based but aims to develop into a nationwide event in time, also has a remit to support different music genres, ranging from Indie & Rock to Folk & Jazz and from Pop & Electronica to Hip Hop.

Next Big Thing is fast-heading for a sell-out. Tickets are priced at an all-in fee of just £10, and can still be purchased online at www.hmvnextbigthing.com or from the venue box offices. See Notes to Editors for full venue details, artist line-ups and dates.

Other new artists on the Relentless Garage bill who have similarly been tipped for breakthrough success this year include Folk-Rock duo from Sheffield Slow Club, Belfast Rock outfit General Fiasco and Hip Hop popster Example.

Surrey Rock band, You Me At Six, already have an avid following but are expected to connect with a much wider audience this year, and they will be joined on the 8th at the Relentless Garage by special guests Young Guns and This City in what promises to be an exciting night of Rock and one of the highlights of the ten-day festival.

Upstairs at Relentless Garage is also set to host some memorable performances, including by Welsh-based Marina & the Diamonds – described as ‘Kate Bush meets Florence and the Machine'; highly rated Leicester Blues/Rocker Jersey Budd; Mercury Music nominees Sweet Billy Pilgrim; and hot new Irish band CODES, who have drawn comparisons with Coldplay.

Across town during the same ten-day period the recently refurbished Borderline will host the likes of San Diego Indie rockers The Soft Pack and unsigned LIPA (Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts) MIBI songwriting winner Polly Mackey & The Pleasure Principle (www.mibi.org.uk).

North London chanteuse Paloma Faith, who has already enjoyed top-10 album success and played the role of Sally in Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus last year; Londoner Rox; Californian singer-songwriter Jesca Hoop; and Scottish former model Alex Gardner, who counts Paolo Nutini among his fans, will be among the headline acts at the London Jazz Café.

Camden Barfly will host a number of great Rock acts that have been ‘bubbling under’ but are now set for major success such as Hadouken! and Joshua Radin, as well as two Transgressive Nights featuring the likes of Mystery Jets and Johnny Flynn. London University’s ULU makes up the list of Next Big Thing venues, and will host an Indie Rock/Dance night with Miike Snow headlining.

Head of hmvlive, Jason Legg, comments: “It’s great that Next Big Thing is on course to be a sell-out in its first year. We’ve had amazing support from across the music community – labels, managers, agents and, of course, from the artists themselves, and now this has been matched by a tremendous response from music fans.

“Next Big Thing came about as we felt that there is space for a different kind of music festival – one that not only showcases the best of new and breakthrough talent at the start of each new year, when interest is at its height, but which also shines a spotlight on what’s going on with different music scenes right now – whether we’re talking Indie Rock and Pop or Folk and Hip Hop.”

Clare Lusher, head of Marketing at MAMA’s Live Division, adds: “We’re delighted to be working with HMV to help raise the profile of these new artists and to introduce them to new and bigger audiences. We hope this event will prove a stepping-stone for quite a few of these acts, many of whom will go on to perform in front of 40,000 plus crowds at Lovebox and Global Gathering and other festivals this summer.

“The response we’ve seen from artists and fans alike underlines our belief that the Next Big Thing has the potential to become established as a much-anticipated annual fixture in the music industry calendar.”

ENQUIRIES

Gennaro Castaldo

HMV Press & PR

020 7432 2033 / 07801 1941 39 / gennaro.castaldo@hmv.co.uk

Liam McMahon

PressOnPR

020 7688 8929 / 07734 739 794 / liam@pressonpr.com

Clare Lusher

MAMA Group

020 7688 8930 / 07507 557 772 / clare@loveboxlondon.com

NOTES TO EDITORS confirmed artist line up and gig details (more names to follow)

Barfly, Camden

Fri, 5 Feb Hadouken!, Unicorn Kid

Mon, 8 Feb Joshua Radin, Alan Pownall, The Boy Who Trapped The Sun

Tues, 9 Feb BELLA UNIO NIGHT: The Kissaway Trail, Lawrence Arabia, Lone Wolf

Wed, 10 Feb TRANSGRESSIVE NIGHT: Johnny Flynn, Mechanical Bride

Sun, 14 Feb TRANSGRESSIVE NIGHT: Mystery Jets, Two Door Cinema Club

The Borderline

Sat, 6 Feb Chew Lips, Charli XCX, Expatriate

Mon, 8 Feb Plasticines, Daisy Dares You, Polly Mackey & The Pleasure Principle

Tues, 9 Feb Little Comets, Goldhawks, Mirrors

Wed, 10 Feb The Wave Picture, Lisa Mitchell, The Miserable Rich

Fri, 12 Feb The Soft Pack, Comanechi, O’Children

Sat, 13 Feb Ian King, Matthew P, Pamela Wyn Shannon, Andrew Morris

Sun, 14 Feb Boys Like Girls, Futures, Kill Casino

Jazz Café

Fri, 5 Feb Jesca Hoop, Lissie, Cate Le Bon

Sat, 6 Feb Hamel, Leddra Chapman

Mon, 8 Feb Rox, Krystle Warren, Andreya Triana

Tues, 9 Feb Mini Viva, Professor Green, Girls Can’t Catch, Eliza Doolittle

Thur, 11 Feb Paloma Faith, Alex Gardner

Relentless Garage

Mon, 8 Feb You Me At Six, Young Guns, This City

Tues, 9 Feb Slow Club, First Aid Kit, Slow Moving Millie

Wed, 10 Feb Ellie Goulding, Erik Hassle, Tinashe

Fri, 12 Feb Band of Skulls, General Fiasco, Birds of Tokyo

Sat, 13 Feb Example, Ou Est Le Swimming Pool, Lights

Upstairs at Relentless Garage

Fri, 5 Feb Marina & The Diamonds, Fenech-Soler, Clock Opera

Wed, 10 Feb The Cheek, CODES, Tiffany Page

Thur, 11 Feb Jersey Budd, Davy Knowles, Cosmo Jarvis

Sat, 13 Feb Sweet Billy Pilgrim, Georgia Ruth, Katriona Gilmore & Jamie Roberts

ULU

Thur, 11 Feb Miike Snow, Music Go Music

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Contact: Gennaro Castaldo
Phone: 020 7432 2033 / 07801 1941 39
Email: gennaro.castaldo@hmv.co.uk
Website: http://www.hmv.co.uk