From 9 to 13 October City Showcase, the not-for-profit organisation that provides support for new musicians through career development, advice and opportunities to perform will be holding its tenth annual London festival, which celebrates new talent with a series of gigs across the capital. This year the festival partner is Kids Company, the charity that supports vulnerable children and young people across the UK.
There are a whole host of events taking place under the City Showcase banner throughout the week. Highlights include:
9 October – Tin Soldiers and My Little Empire at 93 Ft East/Random Impulse at Barfly
10 October – Josephine and Alexander Wolfe at the Borderline/Danny Shah and Boy Cloud Kid at 100 Club
11 October – Passport to Stockholm at 229 The Venue (Great Portland St)
12 October – A +14s afternoon for young people at the Amersham Arms in Deptford featuring Floodliners and Callum Rafferty
13 October – On Saturday, the final day of City Showcase, there will be live music performances at City Showcase’s event hub at 10 Heddon St, W1B 4BY, as well as at twenty Regent St retail outlets. The Apple Store will be hosting Linn Oberg, the dynamic young musician from Sweden.
The Phoenix near Oxford Circus will also be acting as a multi-media hub, with photography exhibitions from previous alumni of City Showcase documenting its ten-year history. The venue will also be hosting networking events throughout the week. Talks and advice sessions will also be held for budding musicians at several venues across London – you can find details of all of the gigs and other events through the City Showcase online guide here
Many of the gigs taking place this week are free – for those that have a door charge this has been set at a maximum of £5. Given the quality of the music that is in store this year that’s a real bargain – in years past Amy Winehouse, Hot Chip and Razorlight have performed at the festival. Who knows which stars of the future might be involved this year – why not go along and check out some of these new bands for yourself?
About Pete Stean
