French and German musicians join Northants acts as Twinfest returns to town

Twinfest begins this week with musicians from Marburg in Germany and Poitiers in France in Northampton to play alongside acts from the town.

The annual festival takes place at venues across Northampton and runs from Thursday, July 27 to Sunday, July 30.

This year’s visiting acts are LDMR and Hyll from Marburg and Elektrikgirrl from France.

Talking about this year’s visiting musicians, co-organiser Paul Brown said: “This year we have a real mixed bag in regards to the visiting bands. Elektrikgirrl, from Poitiers, is a real friendly firebrand.

“She has political stuff to say, but she does it with real humour in her lyrics and the hard techno beat is harmonised brilliantly with soaring melodies and pop grooves, she’s a true techno pop superstar in the making.

“Hyll, from Marburg, are a hard rocking fun indie popping guitar band, a riotous three piece of fuzz and nonsense, they have an absolutely brilliant live show full of energy and passion.

“Hyll played a few years ago in Northampton and also at the inaugural King of Hearts festival, so they already have a dedicated following in the town.

“LDMR mix luscious fuzz and psychedelic guitar playing with solid stoner rock rhythms taking you on a spiritual musical journey, a truly magical band to watch - full of emotion, blood sweat and tears.”

Six venues across Northampton will be hosting performances – The King Billy in Commercial Street, The Lamplighter in Overstone Road, The Garibaldi in Bailiff Street, The Charles Bradlaugh in Earl Street, V & B in St Giles’ Square and The Black Prince in Abington Square.

All of the visiting acts will be playing alongside acts from Northamptonshire including The Barratts, Sunny Gym, Deaf Trap, Thistle, Sarpa Salpa, The Vandervalls, The Bootworks, In Atoms, Beings, Canyons, Pavilion, Beaucats, Tom Oi, Sophie Joiner, Lucy Brown, Mikee Carr Esq, Nikolas Gray, J E Martin, Ross Alexander, Leo Robinson, Fountain, Tablet, Chargr, The Wax Lyrical Sound, Utopia Development Corporation, The Dodo Appreciation Society, Dayhood & Co and Saving Amy.

This year, Twinfest heads to The King Billy for the first time, a move which Mr Brown said had been in discussion for several years.

“We had a very enthusiastic conversation with the new management and we were really excited to see their plans to return the Billy back to a proper venue again,” he explains.

“We’re delighted to be able to help that process by bringing Twinfest to them. We feel it’s going to be a very special opening night.

“The Lamplighter team have been incredibly supportive of Twinfest, hosting us for over 10 years now. They are incredibly welcoming to our guests providing meals and drinks to our Twintowners even when they’re not officially open.

“We’re really excited we’ve managed to get The Barratts to headline the Friday night, it’s going to be electric in there.

“We return to the Garibaldi again this year, that’s four Twinfests on the trot, the atmosphere in there is always amazing and Tom is a great host and very supportive of the local music scene and our festival.

“The Bradlaugh will be packed out all day on the Saturday and the ability to have two stages in such a big venue really gives us scope to put on as many of the great bands Northampton has.

“This year we also have a dedicated venue for solo artists - VandB.

“Having a French management team we thought it was the perfect venue for Twinfest and given its ethos, it’s the perfect surroundings for a more chilled out afternoon of music.

“On Sunday, we return to the Black Prince, in our opinion, the best live room in the town.

“The Prince really has cemented itself as a true destination venue again and we’re really looking forward to showcasing our final day and the best bands in the town on their awesome stage.”

Mr Brown organises Twinfest alongside Kenny and Bee Precious – with the support of other volunteers and those who also help provide accommodation for visiting bands.

He said: “It is incredibly rewarding and none of us in team Twinfest would be able to volunteer so much of our time if it wasn’t.

“One of the most rewarding elements of the festival for us is the time and effort put in by the local acts that perform over the weekend.

“This town we call home is an absolute hot bed of fantastic talent, it’s quite incredible the bands that come out of Northampton.

“And without the fantastic artwork of Joe Martin, the festival wouldn’t be anywhere near as visual as it has been the last two years. Joe’s work really grabs attention and gives us an individual identity.”

Last year, Twinfest celebrated its 25th anniversary. Each year, organisers of the event also work to give acts from across Northamptonshire the opportunity to play at both the MaNo Musikfestival in Marburg and at Les Expressifs in Poitiers.

Admission into Twinfest 2023 gigs is £6 or a weekend pass for all Twinfest gigs costs £10. Admission into gigs on the Friday at The Lamplighter and The Garibaldi and V&B on the Saturday is free.

Advance tickets are available from https://stalkersstudio.bigcartel.com/products

A full breakdown of the lineup is available at https://www.facebook.com/twinfest.northampton