Here we are, with our very first Band Weblogs Stance Awards, 2009.

One thing often overlooked when it comes to Rock ‘N’ Roll and unforgettable live performances, are the many great stances that we’ve seen on stage over the years.

With the Band Weblogs Stance Awards, there is a certain criteria to fill when it comes to picking the best stances on stage – along with a unique formula that we’ve used to determine our Top 5.

Since funds are limited this year, unfortunately, we were unable to give the winner an actual, physical award, but what they can walk away with, is knowing how high in our estimation they are.

After lengthy discussion and consideration, and having to narrow down quite a few great Glastonbury stances to the Top 5, the decisions were made.

Counting down from 5:

5. Karen O – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
With her, shall we say, interesting fashion sense and loyal fans, Karen O never lets us down when it comes to stage stances.

Website: Yeah Yeah Yeahs

4. Alex James – Blur
During his Glastonbury set, bassist Alex James from Blur played a stand-out performance, but it was his stance that took it to another level. He spent a lot of time standing with both feet on the monitor, looking cool, while continuing to play hit after hit.

Website: Blur

3. Tom Jones
What can we say? He’s Tom frickin’ Jones. It was great seeing the legendary singer at Glastonbury. His voice is so good, it tends to overshadow his stage stances, but he’s able to pull both off with ease.

Website: Tom Jones

2. Gareth McGrillen – Pendulum
The second bass player in the Top 5, Gareth McGrillen from the Australian now British-based band Pendulum was a contender from the start. The band probably played one of the best shows at Glastonbury Festival this year, and it was Gareth’s stance that was a surefire stand-out – and it almost got him to #1.

Website: Pendulum

1. Bruce Springsteen
Talk about unforgettable live performances. Bruce Springsteen blew us away. The band was top notch, playing the classic Bruce Springsteen songs we all know and love, like “The River” and “Born To Run” and the couple of songs that I hadn’t heard before, like “Outlaw Pete”, by the end, I was singing along like I’d been listening to them for years. The band played a 2 hour and 40 minute set, breaking the Glastonbury curfew, which just goes to show the passion and dedication that Bruce has for his craft – and his fans. However, it was Bruce’s legendary stage stances, sometimes reminiscent of Joe Strummer, that got him to #1 on this list, and during the long set, we were entertained with countless amounts of them. 5 stars.

Website: Bruce Springsteen

Global Gathering has revealed the magnetic headliners set to make waves at this summer’s festival.

Set to cause a commotion this year will be electronic heavy weights The Prodigy, kings of improvised techno Orbital, and bullish beat maestros Pendulum – on July 24th-25th at Long Marston Airfield, Stratford Upon Avon, UK.

Watch video: The Prodigy – “Firestarter”

Expect some heavy beats and high energy hooks at this year’s Global Gathering Festival as 55,000 people congregate at the Long Marston Airfields for a two day, non-stop electronic music weekender that brings together the world’s greatest live and DJ talent. The festival takes place at the height of summer and is set apart by its commitment to next generation technology with inter-galactic visuals and sound systems guaranteed to take the crowd “to another dimension”.

The Prodigy, renowned for classics such as “Firestarter” and “Breathe” are the ultimate rave renegades. With fans such as Prince William and Harry, this year’s Global Gathering may be the first to have a royal stamp of approval. The devilish trio, Liam, Keith and Maxim are renowned for their high-octane shows. There is no doubt their headline performance will have an ocean of fans dancing and jumping together for one of those never to be forgotten festival moments.

Techno time lords, Orbital, will be celebrating their twentieth anniversary with their headline show at this year’s Global Gathering. With fifteen years of active service and a back catalogue of roof-raising anthems such as “Chime” and “Belfast”, Orbital are masters at building crowds into a frenzy of excitement. Mixing euphoric dance gems with perfectly placed samples of Bon Jovi, Belinda Carlisle and Ian Drury, they deliver a wicked sense of humour to their sets that never fail to impress.

Having tasted their first bit of success following a remix of influencer and co-headliners, The Prodigy’s track “Voodoo People”, Pendulum single-handedly conquered the world of drum and bass in their first twelve months together. The Australian trio relocated to the UK after taking the charts by storm. Their rock-fuelled brand of drum and breaks has helped win them a much broader audience than most drum and bass acts.

Global Gathering throws open its gates from Friday 24th until July 25, 2009. Electronic music aficionados and the world’s most glamorous clubbing cognoscenti abandon themselves to a euphoric marathon of aural ecstasy from all ends of the dance spectrum including House, Trance, Leftfield, Breaks and so much more.

James Algate, Global Gathering Festival Organiser: “This year’s festival once again promises electronic music fans a stellar line-up. With the live stage, eight musical arenas, including the Godskitchen marquee, the biggest in Europe holding a staggering 15000 people, this summer’s weekend is set to be a crowd pleaser. The festival has always been pioneering in improving the customer experience and listening to feedback through the busy online community. This year is no exception and we are pleased to announce a deposit ticketing scheme for this summers festival.”

More information will be released over the coming weeks. Check out the website, www.globalgathering.co.uk for information, behind the scenes interviews and regular podcasts.

Payment Options:

A new installment ticketing system allows people to put down a deposit and pay later in just two easy steps:

Pay just £50 plus £11.50 booking fee prior to midnight on 31 March 2009 for either a General Admission or VIP weekend ticket.

Then pay the balance before midnight on 15 May 2009.

To purchase tickets and view full terms and conditions please visit:
www.globalgathering.co.uk/tickets

Listings:

Location: Long Marston Airfield, Nr Stratford-upon-Avon
Warwickshire, England
Date: Friday 24th and Saturday 25th July 2009
Times: Friday 5pm-2am / Saturday 2pm-6am
Website: http://www.globalgathering.co.uk
Map: http://www.globalgathering.co.uk/map

Prices:

Earlybird Weekend General Admission tickets – £115.00 + booking fee
Earlybird Weekend VIP Admission tickets – £165.00 + booking fee
Deposit Tickets – £50 + booking fee – Available until 31st March 2009
Tickets include FREE weekend camping & FREE car parking

To find out more or to book your Cloud 9 luxury accommodation including Podpads, Kip n’ Kit, Campervans and many more options visit: www.globalgathering.co.uk/cloud9

Global Gathering 2009 international festival dates:

June 6th – Global Gathering – Poland [Poznan]
June 27th – Global Gathering – Belarus [Minsk]
July 4th – Global Gathering – Turkey [Istanbul]
July 11th – Global Gathering – Ukraine [Kiev]
August 1st – Global Gathering – Russia [St. Petersburg]
September 18th-19th – Global Gathering – South Korea [Seoul]

Dates to be announced for Australia soon

Log onto www.global-gathering.com for more information.

Global Gathering UK Official Website

Relentless NASS returns for its tenth consecutive year on June 13th – 15th 2008 for three days of action sports and live music at the Royal Bath and West Showground in Somerset, England. The highly charged festival has seen crowds in excess of 15,000 attending to take in not only a premier music and sports line-up, but also an extensive trade and adrenaline village, paintball arena and climbing area. Traders selling everything from clothing to action sports equipment are set to make this year’s festival the definitive destination for any action sports and music enthusiast.

This year’s Relentless NASS marks a return to form with the festival promising fans more action sports than ever seen before, including everything from skate to FMX. The Vans European skate team will be making a welcome first appearance to the festival bringing with them local heroes and top international names.

Tony Hawk protege Jean Postec will be stepping up to try and level with his mentor by completing the near impossible fakie-to-fakie 900. The King Ramps vert ramp will also be graced by some of the best riders on the US circuit taking time out from the world renowned Action Sports Dew Tour.

Relentless NASS will also be delivering a top-end BMX course. Some of the world’s most notorious riders including UK heavyweights, Mark Webb and Dew Tour 07 victor Daniel Dhers, will be battling it out to try and take home some of the total event prize purse of over $80,000.

FMX fans will not be disappointed at this year’s Relentless NASS, UK legends Gary Taylor, Danny Veale and the Relentless UK FMX team will be taking the helm ensuring that this year’s course and prize fund will be the most competitive to date.

Alongside some top ranking action sports, Relentless NASS will feature an impressive music bill boasting 35 internationally renowned acts across two live stages and the Relentless Bar.

Friday night’s main stage which is sponsored by Rock Sound magazine, will play host to a live set from Pendulum. The drum and bass collective hailing from Perth, Australia have been in heavy rotation on the dance and commercial circuit for the past five years, reaching critical acclaim with their debut album ‘Hold Your Colour’ in 2007. Pendulum will be supported by newcomers Late of the Pier. The four-piece are no strangers to the likes of NME, MTV2 and Channel 4’s cult show Skins. The band are taking new rave into a second season, ditching the glow sticks and reaching for the synthesizers to create heavy electro inspired indie with nods to everyone from The Cure to Klaxons. Friday will also feature Does It Offend You, Yeah?, Metronomy, Ghost Frequency, Devils Gun and We Smoke Fags.

The Subways

Saturday night will welcome some of the best names in rock and punk with headliners Less Than Jake and The Subways setting the standard with another very special band that is yet to be announced! Less Than Jake, the ska-punk five-piece veterans have been a household name on the skate and BMX scene for over 15 years spreading their sun-soaked Floridian sound worldwide, filling up stadiums, skate parks and just about every skate movie you can think of. Their headline show at NASS 08 will be their only UK date this summer and is set to be a welcome return after 6 consecutive sell-out shows in London last year. Saturday’s stage will also feature music from Elliot Minor, Beat Union, In Case of Fire, Skirtbox, *Shels and Lioness.

Relentless NASS’s music bill also includes two days of renowned drum and bass and electro in the Indoor Arena. A 3am late license has paved the way for some big name DJ’s including Eddy Temple Morris, Micky Slim, Adam F and Subfocus.

The final facet of the music-based entertainment comes in the form of the Relentless Bar – hosted by Streetwise Music. With DJs all day and a few acoustic sets from bands, this bar will be rounding off musical proceedings perfectly.

This year’s Relentless NASS will be home to a host of world class action sports and music acts, for the latest information on attendees and tickets please go to www.nassfest.com.

Tickets are £24.50/day and £59.50/weekend on sale now from www.nassfest.com and locally from Shepton Mallet Tourist Information centre and Bristol Ticket Shop.

Full June 13th, 14th 2008 line-up is as follows:

(Subject to change)

ROCK SOUND STAGE

Friday 3.00pm – 10.30pm

PENDULUM
LATE OF THE PIER
DOES IT OFFEND YOU, YEAH?
METRONOMY
THE GHOST FREQUENCY
DEVILS GUN
WE SMOKE FAGS

Saturday 3.00pm – 10.30pm

LESS THAN JAKE
THE SUBWAYS
ELLIOT MINOR
BEAT UNION
IN CASE OF FIRE
SKIRTBOX

*SHELS

LIONESS

SECOND STAGE

Friday 6.00pm – 3.00am

AUDIO: PRESSURE PRESENTS:
EDDY TEMPLE MORRIS
UTAH SAINTS (DECKS & FX)
STREETLIFE DJS
MICKY SLIM
UNCLE BUCK
CHARLIE G
FREERANGE PARTY SOCIETY

Saturday 6.00pm – 3.00am

HOSTED BY: JAKES, SCRIPT MC, BENNY C
FRICTION
ADAM F
SUB FOCUS
JUNGLE DRUMMER vs DJ FU
CRISSY CRISS
DJ KLIMAX & SCRIPT MC

FREERANGE PARTY SOCIETY

RELENTLESS BAR – HOSTED BY STREETWISE MUSIC

Friday 13th June – BREAKS / DNB / DUBSTEP

01:00-03:00 BEAT MANIACS (BREAKS)
03:00-05:00 A:B:S (BREAKS)
05:00-07:00 DEF STEREO (ECLECTIC)
07:00-09:00 T_! (DUBSTEP)
09:00-11:00 BUD (DNB)
11:00-01:00 PERFECTION (DNB)
01:00-03:00 DEETOX (DNB)

Saturday 14th June – BREAKS Live all Day on www.nsbradio.co.uk

01:00-03:00 THAT GIRL DJ
03:00-05:00 MJOOGOO
05:00-07:00 DOUBLE U & 2TONE (Streetwise Set)
07:00-09:00 RICHIE BALBOA
09:00-11:00 BEN & LEX
11:00-01:00 HIGH EIGHT
01:00-03:00 MERKA

NASS fest Official Website