London’s Wide Awake Festival

Field Day organisers have shared the line-up for the first-ever Wide Awake Festival – with the likes of Dream Wife, Shame, and Goat Girl among those set to perform. The new one-day event, which is due to take place at London’s Brockwell Park, promises to welcome artists across “leftfield indie, post-punk, electronica, techno, jazz” on June 5, 2020. From those behind some of the capital’s best intimate venues – including Moth Club and The Shacklewell Arms – Wide Awake “aims to provide a distinctive counter-culture experience like no other London-based festival.” “We’re proud to provide a platform for so many great up-and-coming bands. And stay tuned, we’ve got some surprises in store before the summer.” Shame Performing on the day will be Black Midi, The Comet Is Coming, Crack Cloud, Daniel Avery, Drab Majesty, Dream Wife, Girl Band, Goat Girl, Lena Willikens, Los Bitchos, The Mauskovic Dance Band, Minimal Violence, Proteus, Shame, Sheer Mag, Snapped Ankles, and Surfbort. Further acts will be announced closer to the date. Festival director Marcus Weedon says: “We’re thrilled to be putting on an event with an ethos that doesn’t really exist at an outdoor festival in London at the moment. It’s great to give bands like black midi, Shame and Goat Girl that have grown out of the South London scene a festival gig in their back garden.

Bugg announces 2020 tour

The Nottingham singer-songwriter will hit the road for a series of shows kicking off at Brighton Dome on March 3 before wrapping up at Cardiff University on March 14. Tickets go on sale at 9am this Friday (November 29). The announcement comes after Bugg recently completed a short tour and shared new single ‘Kiss The Sun’, his first off his forthcoming album which he is currently working on with Andrew Watt (Post Malone, Cardi B). “I love working with Andrew Watt and I’m really pleased with the sound of this track. I wanted to write something that was fun and a bit light-hearted,” The new record, which is his first since 2017’s ‘Hearts That Strain’. is slated to drop in 2020. His forthcoming UK dates for March: 3 – BRIGHTON Dome5 – CAMBRIDGE Corn Exchange6 – LIVERPOOL Mountford Hall8 – EDINBURGH Usher Hall9 – DUNDEE Fat Sams10 – ABERDEEN Music Hall12 – NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE O2 City Hall13 – SHEFFIELD O2 Academy Sheffield14 – CARDIFF University Great Hall

BTS hint at new tour

BTS have teased what appears to be a new tour, which will kick off in April 2020. The K-Pop group’s record label BigHit Entertainment got fans excited on Christmas Eve as they posted a cryptic poster on Twitter. The purple image seemingly shows the upside-down reflection of all seven band members – V, Jungkook, Jimin, SUGA, Jin, RM and J-Hope – while standing in water. While the group’s faces aren’t visible, the word ‘TOUR’ features at the bottom of the poster, alongside the telling caption ‘April 2020. Stay tuned.’ Posting on Twitter, one BTS fan wrote: “Best part of 2020 is getting to spend time with ARMYs and @BTS_twt. Tour hasn’t even started yet but we all know it’s going to be the best part of 2020.” Others have speculated that it could be the follow up album to their 2019 comeback Map Of The Soul: Persona. The latest exciting development for BTS fans comes after the K-Pop giants hinted that a collaboration with Billie Eilish could be on the way. At the Variety hitmakers brunch in Los Angeles earlier this month, BTS and Eilish met and posed for photos together.

Ed Sheeran confirms wedding date

Ed Sheeran has released a new music video which sees him seemingly confirming when he married wife Cherry Seaborn. Sheeran’s video for ‘Put It All On Me’, a collaboration with Ella Mai, sees him telling the love stories of couples from across the globe. In one clip, he is seen together with wife Cherry in their kitchen as they dance together and then share a kiss. “They made out at the castle on the hill. A few years ago they reconnected, there were fireworks. They married in January 2019.” Sheeran, who has remained private about his relationship with Seaborn, confirmed that they were engaged at the start of 2018. In July 2019 he confirmed they had tied the knot, but did not say when the ceremony took place. The ‘Shape of You’ singer achieved the huge milestone after scoring a combined run of 12 number one albums and singles between 2010 and 2019 – more than any other artist in the UK.

New Amy Winehouse exhibition

A new exhibition focused on Amy Winehouse is set to open next month, it has been announced. Beyond Black – The Style Of Amy Winehouse will be held at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles from January 17 to April 13, 2020, before visiting other museums in Chile, London, and Ireland. After its museum run, the items will be returned to the US and sold off at auction in November 2021. According to Associated Press, the exhibition will feature previously unseen handwritten lyrics, journal entries, home videos, and outfits worn by Winehouse during her career, including the dress she wore for her final performance in Belgrade in 2011. In a statement, Winehouse’s father Mitch said: “Amy always credited my mother, her grandmother Cynthia, as a major influence, both stylistically — as she taught her the importance of grooming and having a look — and musically. “She liked to call me a ‘cab-driving Sinatra,’ and her mother’s side of the family were also musicians. Amy not only brought her gift of music to the world but also her fashion. We’re eager for people to see her bold, beautiful spirit through all forms of her creativity.” Proceeds from the 2021 auction will go to the Amy Winehouse Foundation, which supports young people struggling with drugs and alcohol. Martin Nolan of Julien’s Auctions, where the sale will take place, said: “Amy Winehouse is one of the rare and remarkable music icons whose incredible power and soulful expression in every word and note she sang with her distinct voice remains unmatched by no other artist in music history.