Macmillan Music hits The Queen's Head

So I admit... I've been bad with writing the rest of my blog- after the excitement of Iceland and my final big event, I lost the momentum slightly. It's been a long stretch, but the sense of achievement is worth it in the end. One word of advice to anyone thinking of doing this sort of thing- it's easier to fundraise before you go away rather than afterwards.
But back to the gig that I held in August. With £1000 left to raise I was hoping this event would break the back of it all, and thanks to the help of lots of fabulous people it certainly helped, raising over £440.

Firstly huge thanks to:

Jack J, Ana, Sharon, Eva, Pete, Folu, the bands and DJs on the night- Andrew Balkwill, Super Tennis, Zoo for You and Phoebe and Anna-Marie, the guys at the venue and lastly all those fantastic people who came along on the night. The room was packed out and the petty cash box overflowing.

In the few moments before the gig began I don't think I've ever felt so nervous, which wasn't exactly alleviated by the fact that the event (and unphotogenic old me)were being filmed for Leapanywhere.com (if you fancy a giggle you can see my attempts at stardom here: http://www.leapanywhere.com/media/show/1333).

But soon enough the room filled up and Andrew and his band took to the stage, wooing the crowd with simple jazz melodies and catchy riffs. Next came crowd pleasers Zoo for You, an eight piece afro-funk band with punchy brass section and at least two encores. The final live act was indie three piece, Super Tennis, already tipped for the top by NME magazine. Finally Phoebe and Anna-Marie rounded the evening off on the decks, with crowd-pleasing retro tunes.

A massively fun, if daunting night, a little part of me was pretty proud of what we'd all accomplished - so a huge thank you to everyone that helped out before and during the event.

Macmillan Music Jam -25th August

So the date's set, all the bands are in and the poster's have been fabulously designed by one talented Ana Nicolau... now all that's left is for you lovely people to attend.

Details are:

With live performances from:

Super Tennis

Pamflet DJs

Zoo for You

Andrew Balkwill

Doors open:

7pm-midnight

Address:

The Old Queen's Head, 44, Essex Rd, N1 8LN Angel tube station

£5 Buy tickets in advance at www.justgiving.com/jenthorley

All proceeds to Macmillan Cancer Support

You can find out more and see the map to the venue here:

http://www.facebook.com/editpicture.php?success=1#/event.php?eid=132229782552

Bands galore!

Well, it's been about over a month since I had my first planning meeting with Jack to arrange my fundraising gig, and it's amazing how something that started off so slowly can come together so quickly (fingers crossed anyway!) I spent three weeks chasing bands and leads and pleading with everyone I knew to ask their friends, friends of friends and neighbour's ex girlfriend's brothers and so forth and got nowhere. A brief spark of 'oh my god, I am the female version of Simon Cowell' came when I thought I had bagged an act on the cusp of her fame, but alas, she just became that bit too famous for the likes of me! Although if I run into her after her set at Glastonbury I will be asking her again.

So after a lot of emails and a little bit of bribery on the part of my Big Sis, (thanks Kat!) who bartered a performance for a web address the artist was after, I pretty much got my line up together in a week. There's still one spot to fill but I can officially announce that the following will be playing at a venue (to be confirmed) for Macmillan:

Phoebe Frangoul... DJ and all round fabulous Pamflet crusader: http://www.myspace.com/pamflet

Andrew Balkwill and band... think Ben Folds 5, with floppier hair

http://www.myspace.com/andrewbalkwill

and the fabulous Super Tennis... a London indie trio already applauded by NME and Rocksound

http://www.myspace.com/supertennislovesyou

There may well be a late addition to the line up, but I'll keep you posted on that one.

So this weekend it's all about finding the venue, and I'll be using that as a great excuse for a pub crawl in Camden this weekend.

Training update: an impromptu 100m relay and long jump participation at the Macmillan sports day on Wednesday has shown just how many muscles I don't use on a regular basis and has put me out of action for the last couple of days. However, as the 10k is only two weeks away, I'll be forcing myself to complete a 4.5 mile run on Sunday, hangover or no hangover. Bring it on!