Due to the lack of a large event in the Stafford Calendar for the winter months ‘The ‘Ford Squad’ have put together a selection of bands and dj’s to make a winter weekend go with a bang, in association with Staffordshire University record label Phoenixx Records. The event will be running from 4pm until 3am and music will be performed across the main arena and the bar area. The main arena will host bands until just after 12am, before Danny Spencer (Soul Mekanik) and ‘Main Stem’ Dj’s Ben Shenton & Rob J will take to the decks spinning cosmic house, disco and electro until the wee hours. In the bar acoustic acts will sing for the day before DRIVEBYDISCO and Resonate Dj’s (Aidan Jeal and Sam Newby fill the area with dirty breaks and dubstep, again until the nights end at 3am. Entry will cost £7 / 5 NUS for a selection of entertainment that could cost a whole lot more! In keeping with the attitude found at the annual Live @ The Castle festival in the summer The ‘Ford Squad aim to bring a bit of light and fun to Stafford and it’s students population. The event is open to the public but punters will require ID to enter regardless of their age.

BLURBAGE:

Headline acts include ‘The Lines’, ‘New Education’ and ‘Silent Riot’, and Dj Danny Soul Mekanik..

The Lines although based in Wolverhampton have strong Stafford links via drummer Dave O’Connor. The band make a massive sound of arms in the guitar melodies, soaring vocals and a driving rhythm section that really does elevate them to having the potential to be a great band. Among the plaudits the band have received are the following; Robert Plant - Led Zeppelin. "There aren't really many good bands coming out of wolverhampton, just one great band called the Lines�. Steve Lamacq - Radio One top5. "Making big noises in more ways than one, blasting out of Wolverhampton". The Fly - "The fever has only just started". Emma Scott - Kerrang Radio. "I loved Domino Effect, but it wasn't until I saw them live that I realised just how good The Lines really are. Powerful and massive sound, this band will be big!" .Invitations to support fellow Midlanders the Twang and Editors came rolling in thick and fast. These were then followed by unforgettable gigs with Jack Penate, the Holloways, Little Man Tate, the Maccabees, Babyshambles, Supergrass and The Charlatans. The boys have played at Austrias biggest Outdoor Music festival, Frequency and were the first band ever invited to play ‘Blast Off’, Wolverhamptons longest running and most successful indie club night, and lets not forget their invitation to perform in Russia. Domino Effect reached the Indie chart top 10, filling the airwaves on XFM’s Evening Playlist (Manchester / Wales / Scotland), Xposure London and Steve Lamacq’s Top 5.With radio stations and artists beating a path to their door, it won’t be long before the Lines are massive. Influences range from the Verve through to Radiohead and the Rapture, but the music these boys make is truly their own. Catch one of their explosive live shows soon and make it yours too.

New Education, the latest, greatest noise to emanate from Stoke-On-Trent, a town resembling “the grey areas of Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham amalgamated into one little city.� They have the thump of Kasabian, the epic everyman appeal of The Enemy and the swagger of Weller, but there’s no living and dying in malicious towns in their songs. Instead, like Oasis circa ‘Champagne Supernova’, they aim at liberating their listeners with life-affirming melody. In October they released a limited-to-500 single ‘Today’, the balladesque totem of the band. The single sold out; the whirlwind struck. Within six months New Education had toured with The Twang, The Holloways, Peter Doherty and The Rifles, prompting scenes of devotion, delirium, frugging moshpits and flung pints wherever they went. Some of the following buzz has attached itself to these boys; NME - 'The light at the end of the tunnel for proper British rock'n'roll.' Get ready to rock - 'The band have a bright future. Soaring anthemic pop.’‘
‘Shout4Music - ‘This is heartfelt rock well done. A polished anthemic offering.’
' Pure Groove -  'Big booming choruses and thrusting swagger, more widescreen sonics than most of the other pretenders. New Education will get you waving your pints around and smiling and the possibility.

Silent Riot are currently based in Birmingham, but having studied at Staffordshire University last year they remain signed to the university’s record label Phoenixx Records. The band play the kind of energetic, jerky, angular little pop-rock reminiscent of Gang of Four with an element of the kind of noise band grooves that exist today, but always in touch with a pop sensibility and twisted hooks. This is a band growing from strength to strength with some powerful driving lead vocals across all three front men and some incredibly tight backing vocals. Young and full of energy Silent Riot make a welcom return to the university venue. 

Soul Mekanik, Danny Spencer has been in and around the dance scene for two decades now. Danny produced his debut single during the birth of acid house in 1988 with his classic 'Ride the Rhythm' under the name of This Ain't Chicago. By 1990, not even out of his teens and giddily fuelled by the playful spirit of the times, he was on Top of The Pops and the cover of Smash Hits in his cult incarnation of Candy Flip with a cover of the Beatles' 'Strawberry Fields Forever'. During his and brother Kelvin’s career their unfailing touch meant that they were called to remix for artists such as Aretha Franklin, Sister Sledge, The Doobie Brothers, South Street Player, Sly and The Family Stone and Marvin Gaye. As 'Sure is Pure' they set up their own Pharm label and created another slew of club hits. This culminated in the global chart success of Blueboys 'Remember Me', which they plucked from a scratchy B side that most people had ignored into one of the mid-90s anthems that spread way beyond its house music origins. Most recently they have been working with an old friend one Robbie Williams, producing many of his recent songs, including 'Rock Dj' which Sould Mekanik received an Ivor Novello songwriting nomination for. Danny will be spinning tunes that encapsulate House music in it’s truest form, dirty, funky and freaky.

Amongst the other bands playing on the day, there is further brilliant local talented to be spotted; Everything on Red formed in early 2007 members hailing from Stafford/Stoke/Manchester and play their own unique brand of punk rock. Switching from rapid rhythms to anthemic breakdowns in a heartbeat, frenetic drums and solid bass-work provide the backbone for electrifying synths, crunching guitars and a triple-pronged vocal attack. Each of the four tracks on their EP on Cash-for-Pig Records are a testament to the passion and drive of each band member. Their influences are never obvious, but combine to create the rich, diverse sound which is unleashed during every live show. The Lost Scenes, hail from Stone, just down the road from Stafford and play uplifting 'Vocally driven melodic, Indie-Rock with a Pop-edge it’s a sound that is instantly likeable and yet has some real depth’. Stafford band HoneyMoon Fresh showcase great song writing talent from Andrew Salt, ably supported by the rest of the ‘Freshers. The band have been playing gigs in and around Stafford for the last year or so and have slowly been honing their live set which features often charmingly melodic songs. Also performing will be October Revolution a Staffordshire University based band playing metal in various forms, the much improved Platypus Duck with power-pop rock and Malacite were initially a purely thrash based outfit, twinning the breakneck chug of early Slayer with Matt's love of romantic harmony. Cutting their teeth on the Stafford scene, Malacite quickly became local favourites, in the process going through several lineup changes before stabilising with guitarist Ben Cresswell & bassist Jack Traveller.



There will also be acoustic acts throughout the event in the bar area, inlcuding Katy & Emily Thompson, Nathan Alexander, Neil Pennington, Grace, Joseph Gravil and more.