Archives for Music
Afrit Nebula: What Next?
An Afrit is a powerful demon in Arabian myths. A Nebula is an interstellar cloud of ; Local band Afrit Nebula have been gigging mainly around Hastings, St Leonards and…
Classical Music News
Max Baillie, violinist, musicologist and entrepreneur, has been touring with his outstanding and unusual Lodestar Trio, who many of you will have heard when they played for the first time…
Bohemian Rapsody
A local musician makes his mark CHRIS CONNELLEY Some musicians start early. Mozart, for example, is rumoured to have composed his first piece at the age of five, while Prince…
Big Band at Flatland
HARRY HAWKINS AND VERA BELL Staged within the space of Tawfik Nas’s installation at Flatland Projects in Bexhill, the 17-piece incarnation of the Statue of Liberty Big Band (SoL) was…
Explore The Arch Latest Project
GAIL BORROW In the latest exploration of trailblazing women who travelled great journeys around 1000 years ago, Explore The Arch Theatre explores Agatha of Hungary at Pevensey Castle. Early-career team…
Duck, Toast, and the Sacrament Reimagined
NICK TUCKER For all of you who have seen Bob Log III live before, you will know he defies description. For any of you who haven’t, that makes my job…
Skinny Sunday Youth Fest
HANNAH DEEBLE A fresh wave of emerging talent will take over Studio 27 at Hastings White Rock Theatre on 23 August, as Skinny Sunday – the one‑day festival curated, produced and…
Madagascar to Ethiopia – Hanitra and Haymanot
JUDE MONTAGUE AND VICTORIA KINGHAM Two extraordinary female African musicians, Hanitra Ranaivo from Madagascar and Haymanot Tesfa from Ethiopia, visit Hastings this summer. Hanitra Ranaivo and Jean-Marc Bontemps at the…
Mozart and Movement
ELIZABETH ALLEN A highlight of the Battle Festival was Barefoot Opera’s performance of Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte, and it proved particularly well-suited to the distinctive Barefoot style. That style involves…
John Donaldson New CD Release
VICTORIA KINGHAM Due to be released in August is an album written entirely by pianist John Donaldson, founder of Jazz Hastings. We Were Together, I Forget the Rest, dedicated to…
Perello Duoat the Beacon
Perello, the Liverpool-based guitar and vibes duo who enchanted their Kino-Teatr audience last summer, are back in Hastings on 7 August – this time at The Beacon. The Perello Duo:…
BOO – Love, Loss, and Redemption
VICTORIA KINGHAM BOO – (Battery Operated Orchestra) make “highly charged electronica with incredibly addictive melodies” and are an independent act now based in St Leonards. Their new album Sea Views…
Coven Club at the Carlisle: Female-Led Live Rock Music Night Returns
The Coven Club, a fabulous new live music night to showcase femme-fuelled rock, punk and metal bands, returns to The Carlisle Rock Bar in Hastings in July this year. The…
From the Ecclesiastical to the Educational
VICTORIA KINGHAM Joseph Stannard is an enthusiast. He loves music and he loves film. When he isn’t editing record reviews in a music journal, he is exploring the paranormal. “I’ve…
Love Supreme – Musica Feminina
Rawicz and Spalding – Amazons at the Festival VICTORIA KINGHAM The Love Supreme jazz festival takes place this weekend at Glynde Place, near Lewes. Tickets are still selling but it…
Eight Days of Syd’s Last Stand
NICK TUCKER There’s a good reason The Piper has been hosting Syd’s Last Stand – an annual tribute to Syd Barrett – since opening seven years ago. Syd Barrett, the…
Wertico One-off at Jazz Hastings
Soft-spoken and unassuming, Paul Wertico becomes, behind his kit, a force to reckon with. You can hear why he remained for many years the lynchpin of the Pat…
Unconventional…but Still Music
TOBY BULA-EDGE Shifting in style and sound over a two hour performance, Sonics’ Spin Cycle returned on Sunday 7 June for its fifth edition. The experimental brainchild of James Weaver…
Liberty In Sound
HARRY HAWKINS The Henry Ward Hall on Robertson Street is bringing a massive musical landmark to town, and in the process raising money for local charity The Refugee Buddy Project.…
Matt Ridley’s Antidote at Jazz Hastings
VICTORIA KINGHAM Watching this highly co-ordinated jazz performance, it’s difficult to imagine that the musicians don’t spend all their time together writing, playing, and living the tunes. But the members…
John Donaldson New Release Preview
John Donaldson, pianist, composer, and founder of Jazz Hastings, will launch an exceptional CD in September, featuring Donaldson, Rob Luft, Rebecka Edlund, Tom Wilson, Norma Winstone, and the amazing Jeff…
Piano Picnic
Outstanding young pianists perform in a summer garden Hastings International Piano is delighted to present its annual Summer Picnic Concert at the stunning Fairlight Hall, just outside Hastings, on Sunday…
“Being a rock musician in 2026 is hard, but places like Hastings make it worthwhile”
Ahead of her show at The Carlisle on Friday 5 June, award-winning guitarist, singer and songwriter Chantel McGregor spoke to JOSHUA GEER about music, touring, grief, guitar playing, and why…
Fear of Last Orders go Live
Fear of Last Orders Go Live Hastings-based punk skiffle bar band Fear of Last Orders will be recording a new live LP on Friday 12 June, publicly, at 1200 Postcards…
Powerful Antidote at Jazz Hastings
Hasting’s vibrant jazz scene is set for a powerful dose of energy as Matt Ridley’s Antidote take the stage for a special live performance. Led by acclaimed bassist and composer…
Cosmopolitan Jazz at The Stade
VICTORIA KINGHAM Rob Luft and Elina Duni have been making music together for about nine years, resulting in a near-perfect harmonic rapport. Their choice of numbers is truly universal –…
Let’s Get It Together 2026 Introduces Special Ticket Deal For Local Residents
The Let’s Get It Together Festival have announced a special deal on tickets for local people wanting to join their three day celebration of dance music culture, which is taking…
Open Doors: Fine Music for Free
VICTORIA KINGHAM Hastings Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir, under the redoubtable leadership of Marcio Da Silva, have deservedly secured funds to enable them to perform no less than seven free concerts…
Adventures in Pop
JUDE MONTAGUE Adventures in Pop has been running original creative rock and pop nights at the Jenny Lind for over a year. The scene has built up, and the First…
Utopian Dreams
HARRY HAWKINS It’s a Tuesday evening, and someone can’t quite get the Zoom camera working.”I like it when you’re visible!” says one. “I like it when you’re risible,” replies another.…
Multi-Venue Dance Music Festival Returns to Hastings and St. Leonards
For the May Bank holiday, revellers will see a multi-genre range of dance music showcased across the town with the Let's Get It Together Festival. First put on as a…
Barbed Bard
DAVE MILTON AND SMOKEY BROWN Even in a town that boasts its fair share of post-punk prodigies, sightings of DIY luminary Bing Selfish are as rare and as welcome as…
Jazz: Luft and Duni Reach for the Moon
VICTORIA KINGHAM Guitarist Rob Luft has been a regular visitor to Jazz Hastings, having appeared here with his own band and with other musicians celebrated for their originality: Byron Wallen,…
Father, Forgive Us
VICTORIA KINGHAM It’s always a joy to remember that the first person recorded as having written music down systematically, was a woman. Hildegard of Bingen was a highly-regarded, highly devout…
McNiff Sings Cohen
Talented local singer/songwriter Jason McNiff is launching a new theatre show at the Stables on 7 May, which is lined up afterwards for dates around the country. Songs of Love…
Afrobeat legend Dele Sosimi to Galvanise White Rock Theatre
DAN MCCARTHY On 23 April, multiple award-winning Afrobeat ambassador Dele Sosimi is set to bring his signature grooves to Hastings’ White Rock Theatre. Hackney-born and UK-based, Dele has long been a…
International Connections
VERA BELL This small town must surely be unique in the number and extent of its international musical connections. Think of any venue – the Kino-Teatr for example with its…
On Thin Ice
COVEN CLUB Music Review Local Pink Floyd tribute Band, On Thin Ice, who pay an extraordinary nod to quintessential band Pink Floyd, drew in an extra special energy recently to…
Love of the Awkward, Different,and Strange
Xelis de Toro and ChopChop Jude Montague Xelis de Toro, writer and performance artist from Galicia, performs at the Jenny Lind music pub with the band ChopChop – a collective…
TUFT in Ireland and Rome
Local performance company TUFT are bringing two fascinating theatre events to Hastings this April. First up – the Brighton Fringe previews of storyteller Helen Black’s new solo show A Dublin…