The Gentleman Magazine Issue 14 | April 2019 | Page 67

from the greatest decade for music, think Blur vs Oasis, Fatboy
Slim, Primal Scream, The Verve, The Chemical Brothers,
Faithless, The Prodigy and a whole lot more. Undoubtedly the
biggest night out you’ll have all year, whether you were living it
large in the 90s, wish it was still the 90s, or can’t quite remember
the decade… Hey girl, hey boy, Superstar DJ… here we go!
If you love Mamma Mia! Saturday night is for you, as Henley
Festival welcomes the internationally acclaimed BJÖRN
AGAIN show. Designed as a rocked-up light-hearted satirical
ABBA spoof, the show rapidly achieved world-wide Cult status
and acknowledged for singlehandedly initiating the ABBA
revival which brought about ABBA Gold, Muriel’s Wedding
and Mamma Mia! Hailed as “the closest thing you can get to
seeing ABBA” by Benny Anderson himself.
Henley Festival is delighted to announce that Classic FM’s
popular film music programme Saturday Night at the Movies
will be brought to life with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
directed by Pete Harrison, with guest soloists Johanna Röhrig
(violin), Oliver Poole (piano) presented by popular Classic FM
presenter Aled Jones. This special showcase dubbed Classic
FM: A Night at the Movies will be filled with popular classical
music used in iconic films from the past 50 years together with
some of the greatest Oscar-winning original soundtracks.
A STELLAR COMEDY LINE-UP
The 2019 comedy line-up is set to be bigger and better than
ever, with the likes of Ed Byrne, Andy Hamilton, Julian Clary
and Murray Lachlan-Young among the biggest names of the 20
comedians performing at this year’s Festival. The comedy line
up will also include a very special performance by the Richard
Herring who will be recording the show for his podcast with
Barry Cryer. One of Britain’s favourite comedians Julian Clary
will also be bringing his jaw-achingly funny show to Henley.
Brit pop era gem, stand up performer and poet Murray Lachlan-
Young will present his latest stand up brilliance at Henley.After
performing with the likes of Dita vo Teese and The Pretenders,
Lachlan-Young’s set is not to be missed. In addition, up and
coming comics including Vikki Stone, Kai Samra, Steve Bugeja
and Luke Kempner will also be keeping audiences entertained.
JAZZ AT HENLEY FESTIVAL
Henley Festival’s very own Jazz Club in the stunning Spiegel
Tent offers dining and live jazz music before and after the main
headline act. Hailed as one of UK’s supreme boogie piano
players after working with heavy weights such as The Rolling
Stones and Chuck Berry, The Ben Waters Quartet will open
Henley’s Jazz Club on Wednesday night with his delicious
melting pot of musical influences. On Thursday night, The
Dime Notes will bring their blues-drenched 1920s style New
Orleans Jazz to Henley.
Friday night sees London’s own Si Cranstoun present his
dazzling show to the festival goers. After touring with Little
Richard and composing songs for Hollywood blockbusters
such as Fool’s Gold – starring Matthew McCounaghey and Kate
Hudson – Cranstoun is one of the most exciting household
names in the UK jazz scene. On Saturday night, Britain’s first
electro swing band Swing Zazou will bring the party to the
Jazz Club with their vivacious set jampacked with energy and
finally, on Sunday Hetty & Jazzato Band will bring a taste of ‘la
dolce vita’ to the festival site with their Anglo-Italian fusion of
classic Italian songs, swing, jazz and foot tapping rock n’ roll.
Using both modern and period instruments, Pocket Sinfonia is
a quartet that focuses on delivering orchestral pieces with the
intimacy of a chamber music performance.
BBC MUSIC INTRODUCING BERKSHIRE
BBC Music Introducing was created in 2007 to support
unsigned, undiscovered and under the radar musicians.
Henley Festival is hugely excited to be working with BBC
Music Introducing discovering breaking acts from the region,
all of whom have featured across the BBC network before.
The Kleeks are a London based four-piece serving a exquisite
mixture of west coast swing, Chicago blues and 1960s RnB.
Inspired by the likes of Muddy Waters, The Kinks and Fleetwood
Mac, this Dan ‘Speed-Dial’ Simmonds led quartet is one not
to miss. Oliver Hoare & The Late Great is a creative polymath
dabbling in the fields of both music and theatre. With songs
described as “delicious expressionist anthems simultaneously
lamenting and delighting” by BBC Radio 3’s own Max
Reinhardt, Hoarne’s show is bound to be a showstopper.
Friday afternoon will be an emotional affair brought upon by
the phenomenal Nate Simpson. Known for his unforgettable
X-Factor performance of Leona Lewis’ Run in 2016 that was
hailed as one of the best performances in the season by Simon
Cowell, Simpson’s Henley Festival show is going to be one to
remember. Emerging artist Calum Foad writes songs that even
Ed Sheeran would envy with their catchy, smart pop hooks
mixed with lyrical vulnerability. Foad is a star on the rise and
has recently collaborated with A-list producers such as Marc
McClusky (Weezer, Bad Religion).
WORLD MUSIC IN THE BEDOUIN TENT
Enter The Bedouin Tent for a taste of global world music as well
as home spun British folk at its best. World Music comes from
London based flamenco and rumba connoiseurs De Fuego
who’ve gathered an impressive list of festival appearances
around the world, ranging from Glastonbury to Sziget Festival
in Hungary. Trio Zimbora are ready to bring the rhythms
of Brazil to Henley through their extatic blend of virtuosic
instrumental Choro music from Rio de Janeiro, right through
to the uplifting songs from the Forró and Afro-Brazilian
traditions in the northeast of Brazil. French musical virtuosos
of Plantec are the leading group working in Celtic Music.
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