Oxjam Islington Takeover returns for 2012

After raising nearly £10,000 for Oxfam last year the Oxjam Islington Takeover will return in October 2012.

If you are interested in getting involved please get in touch with us.

We need:

Volunteers - are looking for brilliant people to help with marketing, ticketing, production and fundraising.We’re on the lookout for Venue Managers, Sound Engineers and Bucket Shakers, to name a few; If you have a related skill, we need you to get involved!

Performers - We are interested in hearing from musicians, bands, DJs, dancers, comedians and any other type of performers. If you make music you can connect with us on our SoundCloud page or drop us an e-mail. Last year we had over 70 performers. 

Sponsorship and support - If you’re a local business or project and are interested in becoming part of this event we would love to hear from you. We are very grateful to all those who helped us with the 2011 Takeover.

Keep in touch with us on Facebook and Twitter

Time for Oxjam to Takeover Islington!

Oxjam Islington Takeover features an action packed line-up of 70 acts across 7 venues on along Upper Street and Essex Road on Saturday 22nd October. It all kicks off at 2pm.

If you have pre purchased tickets online please go to our wristband exchange at Islington Assembly Hall from 1.30pm. There will be some additional wristbands available on the door at each venue. The £9 wristband gives you access to all 7 venues (£3 for under 18s who can visit the Assembly Hall only - ID may be required).

Below are the times for all our acts. You can check out our line-up for more details on all our performers.

We are sorry to announce two bands are now unable to play. Tony Christie has sent his apologies and is very sorry to disappoint fans, as he is unavoidably unable to come. We do not have all the details, but we wish him all the best. The lead singer of Xsara is unable to play due to a throat infection, and so they send their apologies to their fans. We have popped some lozenges in the post. 

The Kings Head Theatre Pub

115 Upper Street, Islington N1 1QN
Music: Classical, Jazz, Folk, Rockab illy and Blues from 2pm.
14.00 Sister Mary & The Choir Boys
15.00 Break
17.15 Wavytones
17.55 Andrew Mckay
18.40 Johnny Bee
21.30 Troubadour Rose
22.10 JD Smith
22.55 The Bookhouse Boys
23.40 Rhino & The Ranters
00.25 Sweetie Pie & The Guttermen. 

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The Old Queens Head

44 Essex Road, Islington N1 8LN
Burlesque and live music from 2pm.
Performances at 14.15 and 16.15 featuring Burlesque from Lady Cave, Aurora Galore, Queen V, VJ Spankie, Ambellina Dreamer, Twinkie Pink and music from Elliot Mason.

17.45 Holly Walker
18.30 Bow Street Revolt 

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The Library

235 Upper Street, Islington N1 1RU
Music: Soul, Indie and Rock from 2pm.
14.00 Haywire Saint
14.40 The Fierce and The Dead
15.20 The Standards
16.00 The Good Suns
16.45 TBC
17.25 Akayzia
16.10 The Jamie Fallon Band
19.00 Goat Patrol
19.50 Alchemy
20.40 Faithful Child
21.30 The Superficial
22.20 Bow Street Revolt
23.10 The Investigation
23.50 King With No Throne
00.35 Victor Talking Machine 

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The Hope & Anchor

207 Upper Street, Islington N1 1RL
Music: Rock, Punk, Ska and Reggae from 2pm. 

14.00 Station Agents
14.40 Nukebnana
15.35 Venice Ahoy
16.30 The Tomorrow Men
17.25 House Party Massacre
18.20 M.O.T
19.15 Dharma Sunset
20.10 Midnight Wire
21.05 The Jude
22.00 Dirty Nelly
23.00 Cytota
23.55 Static Plan
24.45 The Briffs

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The Wenlock & Essex

18-26 Essex Road, Islington N1 8LN
Music: Electronic and Pop from 2pm.
14.00 Kiss The Girls
15.00 TBC - poor Xsara has a throat infection and simply can not sing for us. We are sorry to disappoint fans. 
15.45 Sara Lilly
16.30 Refuge for the Meek
17.15 Sharliza Jelita
18.00 The Winter Olympics
19.00 Halcyon Heart
19.45 Andi Fraggs
20.30 Will Spin
21.15 Louisubsole & Breezy Lee

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The Slug & Lettuce

1 Islington Green, Islington N1 2XH
Music: Acoustic from 2pm. 
14.00 Davey Stu
14.35 Queeny
15.15 Holly Walker
15.55 Isolda
16.35 Huw Price
17.25 Mr Wolf & His Music
18.05 Bethia Beadman
18.45 Henrik
19.25 Funmilayo
20.05 Antonio Lepore
20.45 Reuben Remus
21.25 Allen Smith
22.05 Federici
22.45 Steve Puddle
23.25 Ae-mess
00.05 Martin Lowes
00.45 TBC

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Islington Assembly Hall

Islington Town Hall, Upper Street, Islington N1 2UD
This is our family friendly venue where you’ll be able to join in various dance styles, have a go at mixing and MCing and maybe find a new passion for an instrument or 2! Then kick back and enjoy the evening’s entertainment laid on for you. Starts at 2pm.

14.00 Festival openend by Jeremy Corbyn MP
14.10 Swing Patrol
14.50 Performances from Rain Crew, Huseyin Govtepe and Ashleigh-Mae Schoburgh-Crooks
16.10 KEY CHANGES performances
16.50 EC1 Music Project performance
18.20 Shake The Belly - belly dancing lessons
18.40 Record Breakers and Wheel of Tat Misfortune
19.30 Shake The Belly performance
19.40 My Preserver
20.30 The Institute of Modern Love
21.20 Matt Stevens
22.20 TBC - we are sorry to announce that Tony Christie will not be performing at Oxjam Islington. He was very sad to disappoint his fans. We do not have all the details, but we wish him all the best. 

Please note: Under 18s Assembly Hall only. ID may be required on the day when collecting your wristband.

Times and line ups are subject to change.

Thanks to our supporters

Nearly time for the festival!! Before that we would like to thank our sponsors and supporters - the event on Saturday would not be happening without their generosity and help. We are really grateful to the local businesses and initiatives who are helping us to put on a great festival and raise loads of cash for Oxfam.

Big thanks to John Henry’s, The Hub Islington, Stormont Studios, Islington Chamber of Commerce, EC1 Music Project, Angel Aim, Key Changes and Islington Council.

Rock on!

Early Bird tickets now on sale

Oxjam Islington Takeover is next weekend on Saturday 22 October! We have 70 acts in 7 venues so it’s going to be an epic event to remember.

If you would like to rock out with us on the day, tickets are on sale now: £6 early bird, £9 on the door and £3 for under 18s. Please note, under 18s can only gain access to the Assembly Hall. You can get the six pound tickets in advance online http://www.wegottickets.com/event/136987  or simply come along on the day!

The day will be a big mix of musical genres and entertainment, with rock, acoustic, indie, metal, folk, dance and more, including burlesque, jazz dance classes, cover bands and DJs. Top up and coming original acts include Matt Stevens, The Jude and Troubadour Rose. We are championing local bands and emerging talent, but we are proud to announce that household name, Tony Christie will be showing us the way to Amarillo by headlining our family friendly venue, The Assembly Hall! There really is something for everyone.

The Islington Tribune and Islington Gazette newspapers have both been covering our story, and the online listing site All in London also put us top of their list for things to do next weekend. It’s not hard to see why - under a tenner for 12 hours of music and entertainment, across seven famous venues along one of London’s favourite high streets. And did we mention it is all in aid of the good causes Oxfam supports?

Acts announced for Oxjam Islington Takeover!

What an amazing day! To make it even better we’re pleased to be able to announce the acts that will be playing over the 7 venues we’re taking over on 22nd October.

Line-up

Check out the bands and find some tunes for your chilling!

Oxjam House Gig Fundraiser

In the build up to the Takeover on 22nd October along Upper Street we had a warm up gig at a secret location in Highbury. One of our team persuaded their housemates to convert the downstairs of their house in to a live music venue. 

This ‘house gig’ was a great chance to raise awareness of the main event and get a few quid for Oxfam in the process. Lots of people chipped in to help with food and drink donations which we sold including the excellent Oxjam cupcakes above, which sold like..er..hot cakes.

We are very grateful to Jellystar, The Investigation, The Jamie Fallon Band, Matt Stevens and Troubadour Rose for performing and sending everyone home with big smiles and empty wallets!

More photos can be found on our Facebook page.

Want to perform at Oxjam Islington Takeover?

Want to peform at Oxjam Islington Takover on October 22nd? Then we want to hear from you!

We’ve already had a great response from people wanting to get involved in making the Takeover happen. If you haven’t been in touch yet then we want to hear from all types of musicians, bands, DJs, MCs, dancers, comedians, ventriloquists or any other performers interested in participating - get in touch with us. 

You can drop us a line oxjamislington@gmail.com if you’re interested in performing. 

If you’re on SoundCloud then check out our profile and you can even drop your track in our DropBox. We also have Facebook and Twitter profiles.

We want to finalise our line-up as soon as possible so we can start promoting the performers - you’re the event!

Quizjam pub quiz - our first fundraiser

The time has come for our first Oxjam fundraiser event! We are having a pub quiz at The Hideaway on Junction Road on Wednesday 3rd August. Things will kick off at 7.30pm and there will be a number of dazzling prizes on offer for the sharpest tools in the box.

So come along and bring friends especially if they are smarter than you!

If you want to find out more get in contact with us or sign up to the event on Facebook. 

Help us organise the Oxjam Islington Takeover

If you’re looking for music experience or just want to get involved but don’t feel like putting on your own event, why not help organise the Oxjam Islington Takeover on 22nd October!

The Oxjam Islington Takeover team are looking for brilliant people to help with marketing, ticketing, production and fundraising and loads more.

Being involved in an Oxjam event looks great on your CV and you will also be helping to raise money to help Oxfam fight poverty and suffering around the world. There is loads to do before October and we need you to get involved!

If you think you can help, please e-mail us at oxjamislington@gmail.com or use the form on our contact page.

The Holloways play emotional final gig

Islington four piece The Holloways played their final gig at The Garage on Holloway Road last night (Monday 23rd May). It was an emotional affair with former members returning to support the current line-up and the encore of “F*ck-Ups” leading to a stage invasion - see home made video for evidence of this.

The band had announced earlier this year their decision to split but not before they supported Chas and Dave in their last ever London gig.

The Holloways released two albums in their career, 2006’s ‘So This Is Great Britain?’ and 2009’s ‘No Smoke, No Mirrors’.

“As many of you will know we have had a few problems through the years. Fires burning all our stuff down. Labels going bust, friends leaving the band to name but a few. This has left us deciding to call it a day.”
The Holloways 

Judging by some of the comments on their Facebook page today a lot of people will miss them.

Dizzee Rascal visits his Islington barber shop

Fresh from winning the Inspiration Ivor Novello Award last night Dizzee Rascal visits his favourite barber shop - D&L’s on Hornsey Road.

Dizzee said: “Nothing compares  to the  little local places, like the Barbers I still go to in London. To this day I still go there because I love catching up with my barber and hearing about the old crew. My mate Damon owns it and has cut my hair before every album cover shoot I’ve done, he’s a talented man. I’d never ask him to come to me though, I like the routine of going there.”

Ian Curtis remembered, Joy Division and Islington

Today is the 31st anniversary of the death of Joy Division front man Ian Curtis.

Joy Division have some special links to Islington:

The Hope And Anchor on Upper Street staged Joy Division’s first gig in London on 27th December 1978.

Britannia Row Studios on Britannia Row was the recording venue for the Closer sessions with Martin Hannett in March 1980.

The Buzzcocks / Joy Division tour ended at the Rainbow Theatre, Seven Sisters Road with two performances on 9th / 10th November 1979. Joy Division also performed at a benefit concert for Stranglers’ lead singer Hugh Cornwell on 4th April 1980. This former cinema near Finsbury Park tube is now owned by Universal Church of the Kingdom of God.

The NME have set up a tribute page for Ian on their website.

Oxjam Islington needs you!

Oxjam Islington part of the Oxjam Music Festival will be held in Islington this October.

The event is run by a group of volunteers and we are looking for more people to help as well as performers, venues, potential sponsors and a crowd to come along and cheer everyone on!

Contact us if you would like to be involved.