2012 London International Ska Festival!

Following on the heels of the wildly successful 2011 London International Ska Festival, Sean Flowerdew is presenting the 2012 London International Ska Festival this May 3 through 6 at the O₂ Academy Islington, O₂ Shepherds Bush Empire, and the Islington Metalworks.

This year's line-up of 1960s Jamaican legends, 2 Tone heroes, 3rd wave stars, and recent killer acts is nothing less than extraordinary: Dandy Livingstone, The Pioneers featuring George Dekker and Jackie Robinson, Dave Barker, Rico Rodriguez, Dawn Penn, The Dualers (UK), Neol Davies aka The Selecter, Ska Cubano (UK), Fishbone (USA), Hotknives (UK), Laurel Aitken’s Original Pressure Tenants (UK), Phoenix City All-Stars (UK), Chris Murray (Canada), The Moon Invaders (Belgium), Los Granadians (Spain), Buster Shuffle (UK), The Skints (UK), Rebelation (UK), Capone & The Bullets (Scotland), The Kinky Coo Coo’s (Spain), and The Delegators (UK).

DJs slated to appear include Jerry Dammers (The Specials), Don Letts (Big Audio Dynamite), Gaz Mayall (The Trojans), Andy Smith, Gladdy Wax, Tighten Up Crew, Count Skylarkin, Steve Rice (Downbeat Melody), Tim Wells (Zoot!), Dreadzone Soundsystem, Mark Barrett (Pressure Drop), Amma, Dave Walker (Thursday Night Fish Fry), and 3DJ (Funkdub).

Click on the image at right to find out which bands/DJs are playing where and when; tickets may be purchased here.

For all of the latest news on the festival, make sure to like their Facebook page.

If London is anywhere near you, make sure to be a part of this incredibly unique and mind-blowing ska experience! And if you have the extra scratch and time to fly in from points much further afield, what are you waiting for--book your flight!

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Breaking news from the festival concerns the two limited edition 7" vinyl singles being released in conjunction with this year's LISF. They are four fantastic new cuts by classic and contemporary artists, including a superb new track from one of 2 Tone's greatest musicians and songwriters--the man who wrote "On My Radio," "Missing Words," "3 Minute Hero," "Celebrate The Bullet" and more--Mr. Neol Davies. More details to come soon!

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New Ska Doc: "Gaz's Rockin' Blues: A Brief History"

Directors Leo Leigh and Zaid Mudhaffer have put together an excellent short documentary film (17+ minutes) for Spine Television about Gaz Mayall's long-running club night titled "Gaz's Rockin' Blues: A Brief History." Filmed during the release of Gaz's book, "Gaz's Rockin' Blues: The First 30 Years" (read The Duff Guide to Ska review here) and an exhibit of his club posters and related paraphernalia at London's Subway Gallery, this doc features interviews with Gaz, one of his main DJs Natty Bo (Top Cats, Ska Cubano), and assorted friends and fans. (An added bonus is a soundtrack featuring cuts from The Ska Flames and Potato 5!)

So much of what Gaz has done and accomplished with his club night is ephemeral (people came, drank, danced, socialized, fell in/out of love, caught a band, went home--then, repeat a week later) that it's really wonderful that at least some facets of it have been documented in his book--and now in this gem of a film.

Gaz Mayall on The Prince's Health

Gaz Mayall (of The Trojans and Gaz's Rockin' Records, etc.) has collaborated many times with Prince Buster over the years, so I've been thinking of trying to call him up to see if he knows what is going on with Buster. (In fact, back in the mid-90s, Gaz and Buster stopped by the Moon Records shop when it was on Second Street, just off Avenue A in Alphabet City--I was working out of my uptown apartment at that time--so when a co-worker rang me up to tell me who was in the store, I had them put Gaz on and said hello and asked if he and Buster could please sign a few singles for me--which they were nice enough to do so!)

Back to the Prince...with a little bit of digging on "The Google," I was able to uncover this sad bit of news from a recent interview from Spoonfed London with Gaz about his soundsystem (Gaz's Rockin' Blues) at the Notting Hill Carnival:

"He's stuck in Miami with health problems, I don't know what's going on..."

Yikes.

Do check out the whole interview with Gaz, as it will make you terribly jealous that you weren't around for it (his soundsystem featured Rico, Ska Cubano, and Duke Vin!).

And I should probably ring Gaz up at some point soon just to find out the latest going's on with The Trojans and his label...