Latest news with #SitDown
Daily Record
03-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
Britpop icons James headline opening night as Pavilion Festival kicks off in Ayr
The three-day festival is underway with thousands of music fans heading for town. The Pavilion Festival has officially kicked off with Britpop icons James taking to the stage at Ayr's Low Green last night. Wearing a kilt, legendary frontman Tim Booth danced, crowd surfed and sang his way through an atmospheric set filled with James' greatest hits, including nostalgic moments for 'Sit Down', 'Tomorrow 'Getting Away With All'' and 'She's A Star'. Starsailor, Vistas and Swim School also played epic live performances on the main stage for day 1 of Ayrshire's biggest music festival. Speaking about playing Pavilion Festival, Tim Booth from James said: 'That was a blast! Our first gig in Ayr after 44 years of being a a beautiful reception! Thanks to everyone who came, to Pavilion Festival for making it happen, to all the bands that graced the stage...a special and warm thank you to Starsailor for being one of the best bands from our night!' Pavilion Festival opened its gates at 4pm, welcoming thousands of fans to Low Green for the festival's first ever three day edition. Now in its third year, the event is the brainchild of local boy and international DJ and producer Ewan McVicar and STREETrave pioneer Ricky Magowan. Bringing 90s icons, heritage rave acts and the best in new electronic music to Ayr Beach, Pavilion Festival Day 1 saw fans dance the night away in a brand new 'Electric Brae' 5000 capacity main stage Big Top tent by the beach. Today sees hometown hero McVicar headline his own festival, with a jampacked line up of dance and electronic, curated by Ewan himself. Expect B2B sets with top-tier talent as Ewan is joined by the legendary Annie Mac, Ben Hemsley, DJ Seinfeld and more. The Sub Club stage is the place to be for techno legends with everyone from Optimo, Harri, Domenic Cappello and more taking to the decks on Saturday night whilst Sunday is a streetRAVE takeover. The Happy Mondays will close out Pavilion Festival on Sunday night, after a STREETrave Classical set with a full orchestra and choir.
BBC News
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
'Ullapool helps me recover from life in rock band James'
As a band they have partied through Madchester, experienced Britpop and watched streaming take over the music indie pop veterans James might never have made it that far without a supply of Scottish band's bassist Jim Glennie believes the group were encouraged to keep going in their early years because gigs in Scotland were so Jim, the group's only remaining original member, has another reason to feel fond of Scotland - as he has spent the past 25 years living in Ullapool, a place that provides a relaxing contrast to life on the road. "Outside of Manchester there's no place that's been as devoted to us as Scotland", reflects Jim."In the early days, when no-one was interested, it was amazing to come to play shows in Scotland and to have a boost of 'we must be doing something right, loads of people are coming to shows here and loving it!'"That fuelled us – Manchester and Scotland gave us a feeling we were doing the right thing so we should keep on going. "It was a long period to reach Sit Down [the band's No 2 hit in 1991], and there were a lot of conversations before then about whether to keep going and whether we were making progress." The band did keep on going, from early days that featured constant line-up changes and record label fallings-out to a 90s packed full of hits. After breaking up in 2002 and reforming five years later, the group have enjoyed a prolific second life, releasing several albums and last year enjoying their first ever chart-topper with their 18th record, Yummy."I was surprised how much it meant to me," says Jim. "I've got used to giving my runners-up speech over the years, I think we've had three, number three albums and four number two albums so getting to number one was a complete shock, a ridiculously pleasant surprise."It was a real joy to think that there are people we are still connecting with." Jim has had a long connection with Ullapool, starting when he visited the area on holiday with his the turn of the millennium he found himself the last James member still living in Manchester, and wondered about moving to Scotland for a spell. And 25 years later, he's still here."I love it as a contrast to the bonkers world of James. Often I'll travel from Inverness, and coming back into the airport after a tour feels like the weight coming off my shoulders."The drive to Ullapool is stunning and it's like therapy to me, like someone giving me a massage for half an hour. "Everything else just dissolves into unimportance at that point and a big smile comes on my face. It feeds both my physical and mental health." Despite the full-on nature of life in James, the group's desire to keep making new music is as strong as on a new album is already under way and Jim believes it's crucial the band stays fresh, rather than just relying on old familiar hits like Laid and Say Something."It's that buzz of going into a room and creating something from nothing and getting all excited about taking it into the big bad world", he says. "We want to keep being relevant and keep challenging ourselves. We also always want to change from album to album, so that's not the easiest path through the industry – but it's why we're still here. "You have to do what you need to do to survive and make this work. If you get dragged along by doing exactly what the industry wants then you'll just be destroyed."The band veered close to destruction on several occasions, including discovering they owed hundreds of thousands of unpaid tax in the mid-90s, and a period when Jim says "relationships were getting messed up"."We were being childish and silly and selfish, and were very close to messing the whole thing up," he recalls. "It's ridiculous when it's the best job on the planet pretty much, and to blow it through being childish is really shooting yourself in the foot. But good gigs remind you there is still something worth fighting for." Next on the group's gigging list is the Pavilion festival in Ayr - the event curated by local DJ Ewan McVivar that's now in its third it comes at a difficult time for festivals in general, as the music industry still recovers from a turbulent few years. "The industry's been battered with Covid and Brexit. There's huge pressure on festivals and people don't have an endless supply of money now. "There's so much uncertainty, which is a shame, because people need an uplift in their life, the collective joy they get from something like a festival or a football match. That shared experience can be something that's so euphoric." Give people hope For Jim, the creative arts need support from governments, to ensure that people can get involved - whether it's music, theatre or dance."It's a way out of people's problems and issues, and it can give them hope," he argues. "It can give a voice to people from disadvantaged backgrounds and right across the board, there is no support given to that. "There seems to be no recognition of the importance in that to society. Helping kids into music seems a no brainer to me and it seems to be ignored by government after government."Jim knows of what he speaks - last year he found himself onstage at Greece's legendary Acropolis theatre, performing a special James gig with a orchestra and gospel choir."We'd been trying for years as they only give so many permits a year. It was so hot they closed it three days later - but it was amazing to do, a real pinch me moment. I fancy the pyramids next."
Irish Daily Star
22-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Daily Star
Charissa Thompson sent late night text to woo boyfriend - 'What you doing?'
Charissa Thompson and Steven Cundari have kept their relationship relatively under wraps since going public in July 2022 but that all changed when the marketing executive made a rare appearance on a recent episode of the 'Sit Down' podcast . The popular sportscaster and co-host Erin Andrews were joined by their respective partners for the debut of 'The Plus Ones,' whereby Cundari and former NHL star Jarret Stoll were on hand to help answer questions about their early days of dating. Thompson and Andrews are renowned for divulging into a range of topics on the show , and this episode was certainly no different. However, it soon appeared as though Thompson, in particular, got more than she bargained for with Cundari's appearance on the most recent episode, as she appeared rather red-faced when the media personality opted to recall a late night text she sent him when they first started dating. Read More Related Articles McIlroy and Erica Stoll pictured returning to Florida after PGA Tour decision Read More Related Articles Donald Trump comes up with ludicrous way to look taller next to football team In a clip uploaded to the podcast's Instagram account, which had the caption, "@charissajthompson hit @stevencundari with that late night 'Sup' text", Cundari begins to tell the story in which Thompson texted him late at night. Amazon Prime's Thursday Night Football host, looking far from impressed, immediately interjects with: "Okay. Alright. Relax." Despite Thompson's attempt to brush off the story, however, Cundari didn't stop there. "It was late, you were with Erin and Jarrett at a hockey party," he said, to which the 42-year-old - looking at Andrews and Stoll - replied, "I was at Poncho's. I was with you guys!" Andrews then agreed, before adding: "And then you came to the Quick's house." Cundari, eager to tell the rest of the story, continued: "Charissa texted me at like, 10:30/11, 'What are you doing?' And I'm like, 'Nothing. What are you doing?'. Came over to Poncho's, had a few margaritas, went to the Quick's house. Lovely evening." Thompson, meanwhile, did her best to stay silent. Instagram The couple seemed in good spirits nonetheless and everything was taken in good humor, further highlighting the strong bond Thompson and Cundari already have between them. However, the former FOX Sports star has previously made it clear that she has no plans to marry the 38-year-old - but through no fault of his own. Having already had two failed marriages , Thompson is hesitant to have a ring put on her finger for a third time. 'I am never getting married again. We have already talked about it. We have already gone through all the reasons why," she said on a previous episode of the 'Calm Down' podcast. When Andrews joked about the couple potentially disguising a surprise wedding as a summer party, Thompson doubled down on her stance. 'Listen, I will have a party, though. There's just not going to be vows," she said. 'Who cares about the vows anyway? No one wants to listen to that s--- and promises and this and that. Do that on your own time. People just want to show up for the party. So, if you want me to have a party, I can do that. I'm just not going to have a wedding.'
