Vale Earth Fair 2020 – Vale Castle – 30/08/20

When it was announced that this year’s Vale Earth Fair would be able to take place on it's originally intended date of Sunday 30th August it was great news... since then, as it became clear the line up would have to be entirely bands based on the island and that it would be one of...

Music in Guernsey in 2019

After a couple of years where music in Guernsey had upped its game, across the board, to a level that continues to surprise many visitors to the island, or those who hear Guernsey based bands when they venture away, 2019 has had to me a slightly different feel. While the quality of music certainly hasn't...

St James Presents… WaterColour Matchbox Album Launch with Isle Stone, Case On The Base and Rachel Dawson – St James Concert Hall – 28/09/19

Since St James Concert Hall started their 'Presents...' series of events showcasing Guernsey bands in a different way a few have certainly stood out; the inaugural one from Track Not Found saw them present their music as time line showing their songwriting evolving while Lord Vapour became the Buds In Bloom and created a whole...

Vale Earth Fair Weekend 2019 – 24-25/08/19

For the third year in a row the Vale Earth Fair expanded to a two day event with the main festival, this year celebrating 43 years, in its usual place at the Vale Castle on the Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend but with Sound Guernsey taking over the castle for the Saturday afternoon,...

The Recks, Hot Plastic, Ukuladeez and Isle Stone – The Fermain Tavern – 14/06/19

The last time The Fermain Tavern changed hands it was marked with a full refit for Guernsey longest running live music venue and a launch show featuring 70s British R'n'B legend Wilko Johnson. This time things have been less obvious, externally, but nonetheless, following a a few big name dance events this line up, featuring...

L’Islet Records Presents To The Woods, Coastal Fire Dept and Isle Stone – The Fermain Tavern – 20/04/19

When a show is announced featuring a rare appearance from To The Woods, a grunge and indie inflected hard rocking trio who built a formidable reputation a couple of years ago, there is always something of a sense of anticipation. When you add to that a newly expanded version of grunge band Coastal Fire Dept...

Sound At St James – St James Concert Hall, Guernsey – 27-28/10/18

For as long as I can remember St James, the impressive looking former church on the main road into St Peter Port, has been the home of classical music in Guernsey with rarely anything even bordering on pop gracing its impressive main hall, or at least that's the perception. Over the last year this has...

Vale Earth Fair 2018 – Vale Castle – 25-26/08/18

For the second year in a row the 2018 Vale Earth Fair, marking the Channel Island's longest running music festival's 42nd year, was split across two days with the first day again being run by Sound Guernsey and the second being the long-established event we've come to expect. To use an old cliché this made...

Chaos 14 – Pleinmont, Guernsey – 29/06-01/07/18

Now in its 14th year I think it's safe to say that, after the Vale Earth Fair, Chaos (aka Chaos Weekend or Chaos Festival) is one of the most established events in the Channel Islands music calendar regularly attracting visitors from Jersey, the U.K. and mainland Europe. Over that time it's developed hugely from a...

Music on Liberation Day 2018 – Albert Pier and The Mariners – 09/05/18

It's something I've said before but something that seems to feel truer every year that, on Guernsey's Liberation Day, amongst the various forms of celebration and commemoration it's music that brings it all together and allows us to feel truly free. From the hymns at religious services to the 'Proms-like' concert at St James to...