Last week it was Hockley that was bustling, this week the party heads out of the city centre making the short tram trip to Beeston for the annual Oxjam Beeston Takeover an annual event that has seen the town put on one heck of a party year after year.
In the name of charity Oxjam will be party town as a host of bands and performers appear across around twenty venues including pubs, cafes and even the local library as the team look to top the £14,000 raised last year.
As in previous years access to all venues will be completely free before 6pm, after that it’s wristband only, though with prices at £8 in advance and £10 on the day it’s quite a bargain given the number of acts you’ll be able to enjoy.
So, with so much going on during the day we figured the best way to bring you this preview was to split the festival into three areas – Beeston High Road/Middle Street, Beeston Central and High Road/Chilwell Road.
Beeston High Road
There are a plethora of venues on Beestons’ main High Road run. At Rye Cafe & Bar it all kicks off at 2pm with Frazer Quinn, followed by Andy & Beth Denham, Megan Ashmore, Jiji LaVolpe and Naomi Lee. There will then be a break before the action returns at 8.30 with the excellent Prysms, Plyci, §ylex and finally Donna Bentley.
The Greyhound may well be closing its doors soon, much to the chagrin of all Beeston music lovers, but they’re sticking around long enough to be a part of this years Oxjam Festival, and they’ll be hosting acts from 1pm until 18.30, kicking off with Watch Ths Sp.ce, then comes Andy & Beth Denham, who play here ahead of their set at Rye, Lee Robertson, Kerry Johnston, Mollie Ralph, Kev Richards, David Fagan, TFI Acoustic, Jessica Smith, Rambling Rosh and Tim Khan all play before Luke Broughton rounds things off.
Just off the High Road is the much loved The Malt Shovel and given it’s a regular home for live music it’s no surprise that they’re getting in on the action during the afternoon. The Terminal Five Experience start things off here at 2pm, ahead of Oxjam Regular and perennial NottinghamLIVE favourite Emma Bladon Jones, The Corndodgers follow Emma before The Doobius Brothers Band finish up at 5pm.
Micropub Pottle of Blues has become a Beeston institution and will be squeezing in some live performers, first up will be Ben Mark Smith, then comes Rambling Rosh. Cameron Sinclair Harris, Luis Ogando and ABII will also play the cosy little bar.
Next door at coffee shop The Bean there will be live music from Lost Kind Words, The Rachel Broadcast, Phil Matthews aka The Village, Steve & Julie Wigley and, rounding things off, the fantastic comedy songs of The Edi Johnston Bit.
Another couple of cafe bars who are getting in on the action are Greenhoods and Rudyards Tea House. At Greenhoods you can catch sets from David Haslam, Rachel Baker, Rebecca & Richard Cullen and Francesca Cullen, while over at Rudyards there will be sets from The Lost Highway, Madeline Beestin, Omar El-Halawani and Pop Orchestra.
As well as the High Road a short trip across Broadgate Park will take you to Middle Street Resource Centre right across from the Middle Street Tram stop, where there will be an Acoustic Chill Out taking place throughout the afternoon.
Beeston Central
The next leg of our journey takes us on to Beeston Central, by which I’m talking about the area around the Beeston Interchange (Beeston Central Tram stop), where there are several venues which are taking part in the festival.
Over the road from the bus depot is the White Lion a place that has become a focal point for great events since Sergei and his team took over running the venue. Andy & Dave Ain’t Misbehavin’ are first on stage at 3pm. Colin Tucker will be up next, followed by The Unreliables and The Outriders. Temporary Deafness, Skyscrapers on Mars, Foreign Accent, The Cluedo Club follow before The Tontos take to the stage at 11pm to round up the live music there.
Next door at The Star, the 2017 LocAle Pub of the Year, are also in on the action, and getting things underway will be Beeston Ukulele Group. They will be followed by Lucia Holmes, Shiela Waterfield Band, The Phil Langran Band, Moose Malloy, Oldish Spice, Creakin Bones, Married to the Mob and, rounding things off, Goose McCoy.
Another of the town’s award winning venues is The Crown, tucked away behind the bus station on Crown Street and a regular jaunt for the Oxjam Festival, and they are taking part once again and have a great line up for you to check out starting off with The Halam Session, the wonderfully named The Alan Partridge Project follow them, ahead of Anteloup and then the QM Barbershop Quartet, then come The Pictons and finally Delirium.
Fresh from a multi-million pound refurb Beeston Library will be playing a part in events this year, and what better chance to check out how great it’s looking – if you haven’t already. Cameron Sinclair Harris will be first to perform here, followed by Simran Johal, Olivia & Finn and Call After Midnight.
Finally, in this area, is Beeston Square where you can kick start your day from 12pm with performances from Rock Choir, Midnight Special and Scribble Victory.
High Road, Chilwell/Chilwell Road, Beeston
The final leg of our Oxjam Preview journey takes us down to Chilwell Road & The High Road and we start things off at the one place that sits in both Beeston and Chilwell – The Hop Pole. One of the town’s best loved pubs and live music venues The Hop Pole has been there from the start with Oxjam And you will be running live music throughout the event, starting with Jim Dunn at 2pm. Deylise follow at 2.50 ahead of Tierney, The Fine Art Society, Cottonmouth and Paul Carbuncle. The wonderfully named Barbarella Ella Ella take to the stage at 6.45pm, followed by The Blue Shack. Transposition, Crooked Smile, then last up, at 10.40pm is Ramshackle Man.
Next door to the Hop Pole you can check out a host of live bands at The Berliner one of the town’s newer venues that has already become a firm favourite. The venue, which also has an Oktoberfest event this month, will have appearances from Jodie Rose, George Gadd, Neon Coast, Nactus Kunan, Boss Magnet and Water For Dogs before long-time faves of ours Blue Vulture round things off at half ten.
Totally Tapped, the town’s newest micropub, located on Chilwell Road, are taking part in their first Oxjam And have performances through the course of the afternoon,starting with Mister E at 2pm and culminating with Al Appleby at 5.20. Between the two will be sets from Meg Gemini, David Ochromboel and Kerry Johnston.
Next door you can enjoy some relaxing music at Beeston Methodist Church with some great choir performances. Beeston Voices start things off, followed by Harlequin. Then you can check out the Tuneless Choir, a choir for those who just don’t have the voice, finally, and almost ironically given the prior at, is Everybody Can Sing.
As in previous years the old Bartons bus depot is one of the festival’s biggest focal points, and with the site set for redevelopment in the not too distant future, this could well the last time the famous building plays a part in things, but they aren’t going out quietly, with three stages all of which are wristband only.
The Engine Shop will host an acoustic stage which will include performances from Joey Collins, Midnight Special, friend and long time favourite of ours Josh Kemp and former The Voice contestant Lia White.
Meanwhile in the Docking Shop you can check some more heavier stuff from the likes of 3 Stone Monkey, Miss Bowie & The New Killer Stars, Prime – fronted by some-time NottinghamLIVE contributor Lee Hair – and Skeleton Crew.
Action at Bartons Gallery starts up at 6pm with Scriptures, and runs through the night with sets from Vega Bay, Fiona’s Run, Black Cats & Magpies, Jar of Atoms and Dirty Scroungin’ Bastards before Glass Onion take to the stage at midnight to bring the 2017 festival to a close.
So as you can see there is absolutely loads to enjoy throughout the day, whether you want to head down with the kids during the day or party on into the night – or maybe you want to do both! It’s all for a fantastic cause and, for those coming from out of Beeston, you can get a special ‘event ticket’ for the tram meaning you can travel for just £2 and there are several stops near various venues.
Oxjam Beeston Takeover has established itself as one of the country’s best Oxjam events over the years, and raised thousands of pounds for Oxfam along the way, and this year looks set to be another cracker.
Don’t forget the festival is completely free until 6pm, after that it’s wristband access only, with tickets (which can be exchanged for wristbands) costing just £8 in advance and £10 on the day. For more information check out the official Oxjam Beeston Takeover website, or head over to their Facebook page.
Darren Patterson
