News

Liars, These New Puritans and Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club To Headline Standon Calling

• 31st Mar 2010

Ten years on from its first poolside BBQ, award-winning, intimate summer festival Standon Calling is excited to announce a unique and uncompromising music line up for its 2010 edition.

Kicking off the first acts confirmed for this year is the special news that the legendary, Grammy-winning Cuban music ensemble ORQUESTA BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB will be headlining Sunday night of the festival, which this year takes place from 6 – 8th August 2010.

Throughout the inventive and party-fuelled Standon Calling weekend, they will be joined by an international line up of emerging talent and hotly tipped acts, including the live tour-de-force that is LIARS, Southend quartet THESE NEW PURITANS who will headline the second stage, curated by East London promoters Twisted Licks. Other highlights include the intense and glorious soundscapes of Danish collective EFTERKLANG plus PANTHA DU PRINCE, the PHENOMENAL HANDCLAP BAND, ESBEN AND THE WITCH, THE MEGAPHONIC THRIFT, CLOCK OPERA, and much more besides. In the coming weeks there will be lots more revealed, including further headliners and very special guests.

Inspired by Havana’s 1940s private dance and music club of the same name, this year celebrates the 80th birthday of the ORQUESTA BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB’s leading lady, Omara Portuondo, and a return to touring after nearly 10 years. An original member of the celebrated Buena Vista Social Club, Portuondo is part of Cuba’s musical soul, a diva from the island’s golden age where she danced and sang at the famed Tropicana Club.

Headlining Friday night on the Main Stage will be rapturous US experimental alt-rock trio LIARS. Long kings of the underground, their exhilarating fifth studio album Sisterworld (Mute) has seen them propelled into the limelight and showered with praise. With their warped and wonderful live performances the stuff of legend, Standon Calling is proud to host a rare UK appearance, reflecting the festival’s legacy of supporting exceptional break through talent which has included Florence and the Machine, Friendly Fires, Delphic, Wild Beasts, Paloma Faith and Mumford & Sons in recent years.

Other highlights include Southend-on-Sea art rock darlings THESE NEW PURITANS who will take to the stage on Friday night, riding high from the success of their recent second album Hidden; German dance maestro PANTHA DU PRINCE whose latest album Black Noise was released to great critical acclaim (Rough Trade, Feb 2010); CLOCK OPERA who bring their unique cut up pop to the fields; plus latest Domino Records signing ANNA CALVI, fresh from supporting the Arctic Monkeys on tour; new Matador Records signing ESBEN AND THE WITCH, already supporting the likes of The XX, Efterklang, Wild Beasts and The Big Pink this year; Norway’s The MEGAPHONIC THRIFT, buzz band of the recent By:larm festival; and mesmerising eight piece New Yorker’s PHENOMENAL HANDCLAP BAND, whose stomping fusion of psychedelia, rock n roll and 60s soul will set Standon’s fields on fire.

The backdrop for this sensational sonic line up is the beautiful 16th century manor house and grounds of Standon, Hertfordshire, which offers glorious rolling countryside only 35 minutes from London. Complete with swimming pool which houses an underwater disco, a host of late night surprises, secret stages and unexpected performances and critically acclaimed market-style street food stalls, Standon Calling will this year also launch its very own local produce boxes in its ongoing support of local agricultural industries, which will accompany the fully stocked festival bars featuring local beers and ales.

Expect some added mystery and mayhem at Standon Calling 2010 as its annual theme takes a dark twist, in the form of Murder on the Standon Express – cue trench coats and trilbies, swag bags and hidden treasure, film noir and pistols at dawn. Further details about on site artwork, additional cultural programming, kids activities, plus lots more music will be announced over the coming weeks.

Check out some of this year’s festival music highlights early, at a special preview party at Hoxton Bar & Kitchen on 4th May, featuring Filthy Dukes DJs, North Atlantic Oscillation, Clock Opera and Tom Ravenscroft.

There is also a special pre festival family event in the pipeline, so watch this space for more news on that.