City Showcase Festival Preview

LONDON, UK (Top40 Charts/ Virgin Records) - City Showcase is an annual event dedicated to bringing a plethora of genres and acts to various venues in the Capital for your viewing and listening pleasure. But wait a second. Looking at the bill its obvious there's a LOT of bands but who the hell are they? With the exception of Master Shortie and recently confirmed, The Magic Numbers, it's hardly Reading or Glasto's next big contender... don't fret, there is a logical reason for this. The event is not for your Kings of Leons or your Lady Gagas (thank god), it's for small, new and innovative bands in need of exposure, and most of them deservedly so.

After hours of scouring MySpace pages I've whittled down a list of the bands I'm gonna check out (and you've probably never heard of but should):

May68 - Headlining the Borderline venue on May 6th, they aren't usually my cuppa but their infectious electro undertones are incredibly difficult to dislodge. There's a real funkiness to their songs, they lay down these 70s disco throwbacks and I go all disco Stu.

https://www.myspace.com/may68uk

Hungry Kids Of Hungary - Simplifying indie (I didn't think it possible either), they boil it down to easy-listening accessibility with tuneful sing-along vocals. If you like Vampire Weekend and The Kooks then you can't afford to miss these guys (they're from Australia).

https://www.myspace.com/hungrykidsofhungary

The Plight - These Northern boys have been kicking about for a while now, they take aspects of hardcore Gallows'esque punk and add some southern-stoner-rock charm. Their old-school hooks are tantalising to anyone who likes their rock ballsy and masculine, one of few bands at the event of headbanging calibre.

https://www.myspace.com/theplight

These Monsters - Ah yes, some progressive-psychedelic rock for your ear holes. Churning out songs which don't rely on awful catchy vocals but on intriguing, experimental soundscapes, these guys are, dare I say it, pretty damn original. They even use brass, cool eh?

https://www.myspace.com/thesemonsters

Patch William - Their imperfection, or at least their avoidance of studio producing perfection, makes this band. I have a big feeling that Patch William are going to be the biggest band coming out of this year's event, in fact I'm willing to put a wager on it.

https://www.myspace.com/patchwilliam

Did I mention wristbands for this festival are only �5? Absolute bargain. Seeing as, in previous years, they've had Amy Winehouse, Gallows, Razorlight and N-Dubz (to name a few), it's anyone's guess as to who's the next big thing this year.

The festival takes place from May 5th - 9th.

For more information on the acts performing and the venues please visit: https://www.cityshowcase.co.uk