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

Going giggin'

Went to visit the gig venue for the first time today. I'm hosting my night at The Old Queen's Head in Angel, a brilliant little pub stuffed full of squashy armchairs and decked out with faux antiques and a great sound system. Liam, the event organiser there, showed me the top floor, where my three bands and the DJs will take to the stage. It's a great venue and can hold 150 people, so hopefully we'll be able to fill the place for Macmillan on 25 August. Well be publicising it soon, so look out for the posters soon.

One last bit of news, the third band has been confirmed- Zoo for You http://www.myspace.com/zooforyou - some local lads from my hometown - cheers guys and a big thanks to Jack Joslin, their manager and all round fab guy who's been helping me out with all this gig stuff.