Programme
| Times | Artists |
|---|---|
| 18:10-19:10 | DOUG SHORTS & The Ruffcats |
| 19:15-20:15 | Oscar Jerome |
| 20:20-21:20 | Blues Pills |
| 21:25-22:40 | Christone "Kingfish" Ingram |
| 22:45-00:00 | Franc Moody |
| 00:00-01:00 | MADMADMAD |
DOUG SHORTS & The Ruffcats
about
Chicago soul meets Berlin funk power: Doug Shorts, singer and songwriter from Chicago, brings more than 40 years of soul history to the stage. Together with The Ruffcats, one of Germany’s most sought after live bands, they create an electrifying sound that blends classic soul, funk and modern grooves.
Following the release of their first single together, “I Ain’t Worried Bout A Thing”, Doug Shorts & The Ruffcats present a captivating show full of soul, funk and groove, driven by an extraordinary voice and a band at the top of their game.
Oscar Jerome
about
Songwriter, guitarist, vocalist and producer Oscar Jerome has recently released his third solo album, The Fork—an introspective and richly layered record that blends his lyrical guitar style with sophisticated, nuanced storytelling.
A former member of the acclaimed collective Kokoroko, Jerome has continued to refine his original and genre bending sound. His distinctive guitar playing can be heard throughout London's thriving music scene both in his collaborations and influence. His music draws as much from the grooves of Prince and Jimi Hendrix as it does the folk story telling of John Martyn, the guitar riffs of Ali Farka Touré or the production of Q-Tip, bridging styles with effortless fluidity.
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Blues Pills
about
Famous for their charismatic and explosive live performances with powerhouse front woman Elin Larsson in the lead, the Swedish-American rock quartet BLUES PILLS had a fast journey to international success. Formed in 2011 in Iowa by Elin Larsson and guitarist Zack Anderson, their modern vintage rock sound have created a universe of their own. Elin’s soulful voice, often compared to legens like Janis Joplin, Adele and Amy Winehouse, ads its magic spell to the signature sound of BLUES PILLS, combining gritty guitars, heavy swag and deep rooted blues in a psychedelic trip that flows into a bold sound that moves hearts in all directions.
Their musical success have led them to bring their live shows all over Europe, Australia and Latin America, and they dominated the stages on some of Europe's biggest festivals, like Rock Am Ring, Hellfest Open Air, Wacken Open Air, Southside, Hurricane, Southside, Download and Roskilde and toured together with bands like Deep Purple, Europe, Airbourne and Rival Sons alongside playing and selling out their own headlining shows.
Christone "Kingfish" Ingram
About
A native son of Clarksdale, Mississippi — a city steeped in blues history — Christone “Kingfish” Ingram stands at the crossroads of legacy and innovation, channelling the spirit of the Delta while fearlessly reshaping its future. His mastery of the guitar, steeped in the tones of B.B. King, Albert King, and Buddy Guy, first turned heads when he was still a teenager. But what sets Ingram apart is how he’s expanded the form, blending in funk, soul, hip-hop, pop, and jazz to create a modern blues fusion that resonates across generations and genres. 2019’s debut album, Kingfish, topped Billboard’s “Blues Albums” for an incredible 91 weeks and earned him his first GRAMMY® Award nomination, plus three Blues Music Awards, including “Album of the Year.” Kingfish followed up with 2021’s 662, titled after his Mississippi area code, which won both the GRAMMY® Award and Blues Music Award for “Best Contemporary Blues Album.” In 2023, the incendiary Live In London received yet another GRAMMY® Award nomination as well as his second Blues Music Award for “Album of the Year” and third consecutive triumph in the “Best Contemporary Blues Album.”
Now, with Hard Road, Kingfish reflects on a journey that’s taken him from local prodigy to global torchbearer for a new era of blues. Executive Produced by Ingram and Ric Whitney for Red Zero Records with production support from Patrick “Guitar Boy” Hayes, Nick Goldston, and Tom Hambridge, the album marks Kingfish’s most introspective and ambitious project thus far, lyrically, emotionally, sonically, and thematically. Songs such as ‘Bad Like Me’ and ‘Nothin’ But Your Love’ explore love, loss, identity, perseverance, and personal growth, but with a harder, emotionally rich edge to Ingram’s signature sound. As always, Kingfish’s renowned guitar work is both explosive and tender, a fusion of rock and R&B sensibilities with vulnerable, honest, resilient blues at its heart. A true statement of purpose from an artist who has already made history and is only getting started, Hard Road is infused with the wisdom of someone who’s lived through transformation, seen the world, and returned home changed.
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Franc Moody
About
Franc Moody’s sound is contemporary funk, awash with electronic inspiration, human touches, and throbbing grooves. Like Daft Punk and Jamiroquai before them, they draw from the sounds, styles and techniques of funk, disco and soul while simultaneously threading in electronic influences of the here and now. And over their short lifespan as a band they’ve shown a masterful knack for creating rich and textured bangers, like “Dopamine” and “Dance Moves” which have amassed more than 20 Million streams. Their hypnotic and free-form live show has garnered a cult following. Earlier this year they sold out London’s 1100 capacity ‘Heaven’, in the Summer played their debut at Glastonbury, took on thousands of festival goers in Germany and Pukkelpop in Belguim – and sold out their upcoming fall European dates in Amsterdam, Berlin, Paris and Copenghagen and have now annunced their biggest show to date at the o2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, as well as their first US dates in LA, San Francisco, & NYC.
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MADMADMAD
Over the last few years, MADMADMAD have built a steady reputation as one of the UK’s most thrilling electronic acts through an unbeatable live show that’s cemented their status as true left-of-center innovators in their class. The London trio have showcased a beguiling and constantly shapeshifting sound best described as Mr Oizo on acid, and inspired by Black Devil Disco Club and Parliament-Funkadelic’s otherworldly looseness, as well as the early 2000’s electro of the Chemical Brothers and Aphex Twin, and the rough-and-ready dance-punksonics of New York City—think Liquid Liquid, ESG, and James Chance and the Contortions with a thoroughly modern coat of paint lovingly splattered atop the framework those bands established.
MADMADMAD emerged out of impromptu late night jam sessions in a London flat-turn-studio. The result of those DIY excursions was a self-released white-label EP that sold like hotcakes and generated an instant level of buzz for the group along with their energetic performances around Europe and the UK.
After the release of their EP “Run” and a successful tour across the UK and Europe at the end of last year, the trio went back to the studio to record “Overload”, a 6-track EP that finds MADMADMAD expanding their fascinating discography, diving deep into the sounds of mutant disco and early electronic music to great effect.
“We’ve been working on this in our new studio under the arches, ” Kevin explains. “We found this place in South London. It’s under the train tracks and the tube goes by every 4 minutes, you can hear it on all our tracks.”
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