The Errol Linton Band – 4th Emsworth ‘January Blues’ Festival – in association with Harbour Records

A welcome return to the Emsworth BluesFest for Errol Linton, who has graced our WemsFest stage several times over the years, always impressing us with his true-blue voice, wailing harmonica skills, and brilliant band.

The Errol Linton Band are deserved winners of the UK Blues Federation Blues Challenge 2024, and nominees for 2023 and 2022! Mixing blues, boogie, reggae, and more, we can’t wait to have this 5-piece act back on our stage.

We are delighted to have him closing out our 4th Emsworth ‘January Blues’ Festival!  Presented in association with Harbour Records, this weekend festival will feature two nights of ticketed shows at St James Church Parish Hall on Friday and Saturday night, and a Saturday afternoon of FREE performances at various pubs in Emsworth.

The Errol Linton Band will play St James Church Parish Hall (20A Church Path, Emsworth, Hampshire, PO10 7DP) on Saturday 17th January

Doors open 7.30pm for an 8pm show
Unreserved seating

As always, we’ll have our licensed bar serving delicious beers from Langham Brewery 🍻 as well as wines, local cider, nonalcoholic beers, and soft drinks

🎫 Tickets on sale now at Bookends and Harbour Records in Emsworth village, at The Westbourne Cafe in Westbourne Village, and online at www.WeGotTickets.com/WemsFest

This year our charity bucket on the bar is fundraising for ❤️ Cardiac Risk in the Young ❤️, and all profits from bar and ticket sales are reinvested into our local community

If you require special assistance or have mobility difficulties, please contact us in advance at adwemsfest@gmail.com or 07802 500 050 and we will do our very best to accommodate you so that you are comfortable.

Flook – celebrating their 30th anniversary!

Anglo-Irish cutting edge folk music doesn’t get much better that this !

Flook are returning to WemsFest, to celebrate their 30th anniversary!
Weds 26th Nov 8pm
St James Church, Emsworth, PO10 7BY

🎫 Tickets available now at Bookends and Harbour Records and online here

FLOOK : CELEBRATING 30 YEARS IN 2025!

What began in 1995 as a ground-breaking union of musicians and instruments, has continued as a unique musical offering through one live album, four studio albums and countless outstanding performances.

A new recording is due for release in early 2025. After 30 years Flook show no sign of letting-up in their brilliance, their dynamism, or their inventive flair.

The band early on evolved an inimitable trademark sound and hold fast to their rightful reputation as exceptional musical innovators; the whistles and flutes of Brian Finnegan and Sarah Allen, the guitar of Ed Boyd and the bodhran of John Joe Kelly weaving and spinning tunes rooted in tradition over precise acoustic grooves, with a rare blend of fiery technical brilliance, delicate ensemble interaction and a bold, adventurous musical imagination.

There is an ever present abundance of individual virtuosity amongst Flook’s four members, but there is also something wholly unique when this iconic Anglo-Irish band step on stage together, their playing always an intuitive, almost symbiotic, exchange between the various flutes, whistles, frets and skins. An evening and a celebration you don’t want to miss out on.

‘An absolute powerhouse, a flute and whistle-led, eight-legged jig machine. Jigs, reels and waltzes whirl by. Each as glorious as the last, the musicianship as extraordinary, the mood never any less than euphoric’ – Fatea Magazine Live Review, November 2023

‘Nothing short of transcendent… No other band sound like Flook and the new material has pushed them to new, exhilarating heights’ – Songlines Magazine , July 2019

‘Never have I seen so many people so completely and utterly spellbound…the most magical of experiences’ – The Irish Post

Doors open 7.30pm for an 8pm show
Unreserved seating

As always, we’ll have our licensed bar serving delicious beers from Langham Brewery 🍻 as well as wines 🍷, local cider, nonalcoholic beers, and soft drinks

Tickets available now at Bookends and Harbour Records and online here

Frigg

After 25 years, 12 albums, countless thousands of road miles we’ve finally managed to get this 6-piece band from Finland to perform in Emsworth – Frigg will play St James Church, Emsworth (PO10 7DP) on Friday 31st October.  

Expect Finnish polska, bluegrass, balkan, and even classical music in the mix and you’ll soon become a fan of these exemplary musicians!

Doors open 7.30pm for an 8pm show.
Unreserved seating.

As always, we’ll have our licensed bar serving delicious beers from Langham Brewery 🍻 as well as wines, local cider, nonalcoholic beers, and soft drinks
 
🎫 Tickets on sale now at Bookends and Harbour Records Emsworth in Emsworth village, and online at www.WeGotTickets.com/WemsFest
 
This year our charity bucket on the bar is fundraising for ❤️ Cardiac Risk in the Young ❤️, and all profits from bar and ticket sales are reinvested into our local community
 
If you require special assistance or have mobility difficulties, please contact us in advance and we will do our very best to accommodate you so that you are comfortable.

 

Fairport Convention

A welcome return to our friends who have pushed the term ‘folk-rock’ to the edge of the universe over several decades – too many to mention.

Expect consummate musicianship, and a liberal amount of corny jokes, and you won’t be disappointed !

Whether you are a long-time fan, a dedicated Cropredy festivalgoer, or a newcomer to their music, an evening with Fairport Convention is sure to surprise and delight you 🎶❤️🎵

As usual we’ll have our licensed bar serving delicious Langham Brewery beer🍻 , alongside wines, local cider, nonalcoholic beers, and soft drinks.

Doors open 7.30 for an 8pm start
Unreserved seating

Tickets available now at Bookends and Harbour Records and online here

Feast of Fiddles (note early start time 7.30pm)

The clue is in the name !

Born in Nettlebed on Valentine’s Day 1994 as a one-off special concert, Feast of Fiddles has done 29 spring tours, 26 festivals and has 7 CDs to its name. Not bad for a bunch of old folk-rockers!

This is a band of friends that puts on a show of huge dynamic range performed with passion, joy and a liberal dose of fun. Fiddlers Garry Blakeley (Band of Two), Ian Cutler (Bully Wee), Marion Fleetwood (Trad Arr, Sandy Denny Project), Tom Leary (Joe Brown), Brian McNeill (Battlefield Band), and Simon Swarbrick (Merry Hell) bring a large range of fiddle playing styles to the rock back-line – all held together by legendary drummer Dave Mattacks, Martin Vincent on guitar, Dave Harding on bass, and genial host Hugh Crabtree on accordion.  This is a live music entertainment like no other on the circuit which is guaranteed to be enjoyed by even the most doubting of friends dragged along!

“Absolutely awesome!” – Sue Marchant, BBC East

“Britain’s fiddling supergroup” – Mark Radcliffe, BBC Radio 2

“The best fiddle players of a generation” – Ian A Anderson

** NOTE EARLY START!!** Doors open 7pm for a 7.30pm start.

Licensed Bar helps support WemsFest – As always, we’ll have our licensed bar serving delicious beers from Langham Brewery 🍻 as well as wines, local cider, nonalcoholic beers, and soft drinks.  All profits from bar and ticket sales are reinvested in the local community.

Tickets available now at Bookends and Harbour Records and online here

Please don’t try to park on Church Path or the other small local roads – there is plenty of free car parking in local car parks.

If you require special assistance or have mobility difficulties, please contact us in advance and we will do our very best to accommodate you so that you are comfortable.

Oysterband – A Long, Long Goodbye Tour! (SOLD OUT)

 

Going out on a high!

Since they started as a noisy, politicised ceilidh band in the late Seventies, Oysterband have remained true to their beliefs and never wavered as they’ve worn their hearts on their sleeves whilst delivering a plethora of acclaimed albums, winning multiple awards, and travelling the world.  Now they’re taking the tour bus out for it’s last ride – and stopping in Emsworth on the way!

John Jones (vocals & melodeon), Alan Prosser (guitar), and Ian Telfer (violin) are joined by longtime producer Al Scott (bass), Adrian Oxaal (cello & guitar) and Sean Randle (drums)

Let’s give them the send-off they deserve !

“We’re hanging up our travelling shoes, but we’re taking a year or so to say goodbye to our lovely live audience.  And we mean to enjoy every minute!”

Emerging in the early 80s from their folk club and ceilidh band days, Oysterband infused both the tradition and their own songs with a passion and energy that was electrifying for the time. Polkas, politics and a heaving dance floor seemed just right for Thatcher’s Britain. Signing to new roots label Cooking Vinyl, headlining English Roots Against Apartheid, playing Glastonbury and the Fleadh several times each, touring with The Pogues in Europe and Billy Bragg in North America, hosting the Big Session Festival….. all gained them a large and loyal international following.

Their collaboration with June Tabor in 1990 produced the cult-classic album Freedom & Rain, and it was renewed 21 years later for Ragged Kingdom, one of the best-selling folk-rock albums of the new millennium.

Winners of several BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, including Best Band twice, Oysterband’s song-writing has never stood still, and classics such as The Oxford Girl, When I’m Up (I Can’t Get Down), Everywhere I Go and Put Out The Lights have entered the folk canon.

“It’s been a long, tough, joyful journey, but the time has come.  In the words of our own song Granite Years, we’re waving you a long, long goodbye…..come help us celebrate!”

Licensed bar helps support WemsFest – As always, we’ll have our licensed bar serving delicious beers from Langham Brewery 🍻 as well as wines, local cider, nonalcoholic beers, and soft drinks.  All profits from bar and ticket sales are reinvested in the local community.

Tickets available now (well – there are about 5 left at the time of posting!) at Bookends and Harbour Records and online here

Doors open 7.30 for an 8pm start

Please don’t try to park on Church Path or other local roads – there is plenty of free car parking in local car parks.  Better yet, take the bus or train!  St James Church is less than 5 minutes’ walk from either.

If you require special assistance or have mobility difficulties, please contact us in advance and we will do our very best to accommodate you so that you are comfortable.