Archives for Music
Edlund Jurd and Goller at Barnaby’s
VICTORIA KINGHAM A couple of years ago I interviewed Rebecka Edlund for this paper. At that time she had fairly recently graduated, and the band she was touring with was…
Celebration of Live!
Celebration of Live! is a two-day festival celebrating everything that makes live music special. It will bring together some of Hastings’ most beloved musicians, exciting emerging talent and internationally recognised…
Pictures at The White Rock
VICTORIA KINGHAM Hastings Philharmonic Orchestra’s 10 years in the business was celebrated on 13 October with a concert at the White Rock, with the largest orchestra Marcio Da Silva has…
Halloween Spooktacular
The Coven Club, showcasing femme-fuelled rock, punk and heavy metal bands, returns to The Carlisle Rock Bar in Hastings for a spooky night of full-throated live music on Friday 30…
Get Yourself a Gun – Alabama 3 Come to St Leonards
Alabama 3 will bring their celebrated acoustic show to St Leonard’s Church, St Leonards-on-Sea, on Saturday 14 November 2026, for a rare intimate performance in one of the town’s most…
James Brute Solo Album Launching at Brewing Brothers Courtyard
Hastings-based singer-songwriter James Brute is set to launch his debut album, Move To The Ghost, on Friday 16 October with a special event at the Brewing Brothers Courtyard in ;…
Hastings Jazz Festival – A Dedication to Joy
VICTORIA KINGHAM Last weekend’s Jazz Festival was a sell-out, hugely successful, supremely managed and organised, with some of the best performances from all across the genre. Musicians and audiences alike…
Salon Music
Worlds collapse into one St Leonards House VICTORIA KINGHAM On a brief internet search, it was fascinating to discover that while the earliest known musical instrument, a Neanderthal flute carved…
Hastings Chamber Music Festival 2026 – Transfiguration
Hastings Chamber Music Festival 2026 presents four varied programmes united by the theme Transfiguration, exploring music shaped by change, reflection, conflict and the search for peace. The Festival opens with…
Jazz Hastings Next Gig
Next week Jazz Hastings will host an innovative trio consisting of three excellent, award-winning musicians who also happen to be women. With all the excitement surrounding the upcoming Jazz Festival,…
Behind the Scenes at the Jazz Festival
VICTORIA KINGHAM talks to the organisers behind this year’s event Last year, the first year of Hastings’ newest jazz venture, the Festival was very much a home-grown enterprise. Not at…
Wot Italian? Forcione and Graffoe
After 20 years, award-winning comedian Boothby Graffoe and Italian guitar legend Antonio Forcione are reuniting for Wot Italian?, a new tour that brings high art and high comedy together on…
Exploring Vietnamese Music in Hastings
JUDE MONTAGUE Van Nguyen, Jude Montague and MaryAnn Royse have been exploring Vietnamese music from the mid-twentieth century and will be presenting some of this emotional and moving music at…
RIP to a Local Legend
JUDE MONTAGUE Andy Neate died suddenly, sending a shock through the Hastings music community. A regular at the Jenny Lind pub with his Balearic chill band, Los Twangueros, and more…
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 –…