This Weekend's Events (1st to 3rd August)

Hi Everyone

I hear rumour that something called the Commonwealth Games has been in full swing all week.  Crown Green bowlers have thatrare moment where the feel like proper athletes, the Falkland Islands and Papua New Guinea have been hoovering up gold medals like crazy, whilst plucky outsiders such as England and Australia have been overjoyed to pick up the occasional bronze!   (Well... Probably...  I, your humble narrator, have to admit that I've not been paying complete attention)

However, if people monaing about the above event "not being the same as the Olympics" but talking about it anyway, isn't quite your thing, then don't despair as we have a fun-packed weekend for your good selves down here at the Rising Sun

On Friday we bring you the summer edition of TRIBUTE NIGHT

Anyone who has been to a Rising Sun Tribute Night will already know the deal. Every three months we pay homage to a much-loved band or artist.  Everyone picks a song or two, practices them for a bit, then gets together again on Tribute Night to play them to a crowd - always with fascinating results. The next Tribute Night’s hero is announced at the end of the evening. It’s a simple but winning formula and is silly amounts of fun.

This weekend's Tribute Night  is dedicated to THE WHO
 
Spearheading the mid-’60s mod movement, The Who were a dynamic and powerful sonic force as a live rock band, with John Entwistle’s hyperactive basslines and Keith Moon’s vigorous, seemingly chaotic drumming, improvising wildly over Pete Townshend’s foundation of furious guitar, while Roger Daltrey belted out his vocals. On record, Townshend pushed the group toward more ambitious sonic territory, incorporating pop art and conceptual extended musical pieces into their style. The remainder of The Who, especially Entwistle and Daltrey, weren’t always eager to follow him in his musical explorations. Instead, they wanted to stick to their hard rock roots, playing brutally loud, macho music instead of Townshend’s textured song suites and vulnerable pop songs. Eventually, this resulted in the group abandoning their adventurous spirit in the mid-’70s, as they settled into their role as arena rockers. However, there’s little argument that Townshend was one of the finest songwriters of his era and, at their peak, The Who were one of the most innovative and powerful bands in rock history.
 
Admission, as always, is free, but you will be expected to donate extravagantly when the hat-bearers circulate the building during the interval, and you will be thoroughly guilt-tripped until you comply, so bring a spare fiver at the very least.
 
Doors open at 8pm for a prompt 8:30pm start.
 
That reminds me, you can send an email to tributenight@hotmail.co.uk to join the mailing list and stay up to date with all future Tribute Night doings.
 
Don't forget to follow Tribute Night on Facebook too.

On Saturday, THE DEAD RAT ORCHESTRA brings you  ‘THE CUT’

For over a decade the Dead Rats have been one of the UK's most challenging and innovative folk ensembles.

'The Cut' is an exploration of the musical heritage of the industrial waterways from London To Bristol. Travelling 273 miles at 2.5 mph by canal barge, the DRO are seeking to challenge the traditionally held view that there is "no canal music". Having immersed themselves in the murky waters of archives, museums, and many long chats and cups of tea, their performances will bring to light unseen perspectives as to how these historic constructions bring about musical flows. New discoveries are brought forth from formal and informal archives in a vital and vibrant way.
 
Always unconventional - a performance from the Rats can include anything from the familiar to the peculiar; violins, harmoniums and hollering are combined with axes, cleavers, and shards of tuned metal, music made with a sweaty physicality and engaging force.

We're open at 8:00pm. and it'll cost you £5 at door or £3 concessions.

Also , why not pop along to our afternoon creative workshop the same day?  Come along and take part in family friendly creative workshops in collaboration with The Museum of English Rural Life who will use artefacts from their collection as inspiration in creating art and banners, which we will use to decorate the centre during the evening event.  All ages are welcome for the workshop which runs from 2pm to 5pm

Things are a bit quiet on Sunday.  If you're keen to avoid the Commonwealth Games, you might be interested to know that Dave will be having a marathon showing of Lizard Lick Towing (including one or two episodes where a repo goes to plan)

That’s everything for another week, just to remind you that we are, as always, at 30 Silver Street, Reading, RG1 2ST (If you pop it into your satnav or Google, we shall magically appear!)
 
Have a nice weekend!  (Ooh, apparently it's a Gold, Silver and Bronze for Rockall... well done!)