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With Just Jack and The Charlatans having meticulously cut down hundreds and thousands of entries from prospering British musical hopefuls, the voting has begun for the final six battling it out for an opening slot on the V Festival Stage both in Chelmsford and Staffordshire come August alongside the likes of Oasis, The Killers and Snow Patrol.

To register your vote, just visit the finalists page to make your choice. And remember, you can vote for the two acts you’d hedge your bets on. If it weren’t enough to support your local music scene or get a mate’s band an unrivalled opportunity, voters will be automatically entered into a competition to win a money-can’t-buy VIP trip to Stafford’s V Festival ‘09. One lucky winner will recieve a pair of weekend tickets, luxury Winnebago accomodation and travel to and from the festival. For more info on your chance to land this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity head here.

Voting closes on 19th July so get clicking!

Following the brilliant semi-final shows at Brighton’s Great Escape, our mentors Just Jack and The Charlatans had a near impossible task to whittle down the Road to V shortlist and come up with the final six artists who’ll face the fans’ vote. Hopefully no small girls will be made to cry and no one will be carted off to The Priory, once the final result is announced. Fingers crossed.

To find out who’s in the running to open V Festival 2009, just visit roadtov.com

And don’t forget, you can watch highlights of both gigs and see what happened behind the scenes at The Great Escape on Friday 5th, 6.55pm on Virgin 1.

And if you’re a Virgin Media customer you can see full performances from all the finalists, as well as The Charlatans and Just Jack, live at the Great Escape on Virgin TV Music On Demand.

Hey guys,

Just a reminder to let you know that the competition to win a copy of Rob Da Bank’s excellent book, A-Z of Festivals, will end this Friday (15th May) . We have five copies to give away, and to be in with a chance all you have to do is post a comment saying which festival you’re most looking forward to this summer.

Click Here to view the original post, which includes a review of the book and is where you need to leave your comment.

Thanks guys, and remember: Leave you comment on the Original post, not here.

Hey guys,Just to let you know that the competition to win a pair of tickets to The Great Escape festival in Brighton ends 4th May (Monday).

The winner will get a pair of tickets for the entire weekend at this years Great Escape festival, and we’ve also got 4 pairs of tickets to just the Road to V gigs in Brighton to give away as runner up prizes. That’s 2 pairs to see Just Jack perform along with the first 5 Road to V finalists on 14 May and 2 pairs to The Charlatans gig with the other 5 finalists on 15 May.

If you haven’t entered yet it’s really easy, just visit the Original post and leave a comment stating which headline band you would rather see; Just Jack or The Charlatans in case you get a runner’s up prize.

DON’T FORGET: leave the comment on the Original post, not here!

Good luck.

As summer approaches in 2009, the only thing you need to concern yourself with is Rob Da Bank’s A-Z of Festivals, a brilliant, informative and colourful guide to the worlds best festivals, perfectly accompanied by his wife Josie’s illustrations.

The A-Z of festivals covers some of the most illustrious and exclusive festivals that touch all corners of the world, from the 400,000 capacity Sziget in Budapest (not to be mistaken with Bucharest, Romania!) to Oxford’s 5,000 capacity Truck festival. Rob works his way through the alphabet, talking about the history, what makes it unique and appealing in addition to his own personal experiences that helps to give the book a more friendly and realistic feel. Also included are some fun and interesting extra’s such as Angus Watt, flag making extraordinaire or tribute’s to some greats like John Peel and Jimi Hendrix. You could argue that there weren’t quite enough to make the full alphabet, but you would be wrong; everything in this book contributes to the best summer you’ll ever have. This website even gets listed in the book (thanks V Festival).

Perhaps the only thing that stops it from getting a 10 is the fact that he seems to refrain slightly from being critical to any of the festivals and that it doesn’t come with a free ticket for each one. A more fun, interesting and gloryfiying presentation of festivals you wont find. An absolute must for every fan of festivals-so basically everyone, right? 9/10.

Rob Da Banks’ A-Z of Festivals will be released on 1st May through Pan Macmillan.

For your chance to win one of five copies we have, all you need to do is leave a comment here saying which festival you are most looking forward to this summer.

We’re giving one lucky winner the opportunity to head to Brighton for this year’s Great Escape Festival where you can catch Virgin Media’s Road to V gigs featuring headline performance from Just Jack and indie legends The Charlatans. Not only that but you’ll also have access to all other gigs happening across The Great Escape between 14th-16th May and with a lineup including Kasabian and British Sea Power, you’re pretty much guaranteed a good time.

• check out the full Great Escape lineup

We’ve also got 4 pairs of tickets to just the Road to V gigs in Brighton to give away as runner up prizes. That’s 2 pairs to see Just Jack perform along with the first 5 Road to V finalists on 14 May and 2 pairs to The Charlatans gig with the other 5 finalists on 15 May.

For your chance to win tickets in the prize draw, simply leave a reply to this post here, write on my Facebook wall or tweet my Twitter - saying whether you’d prefer to see the Charlatans or Just Jack if you’re picked as a runner up. How easy is that!?

Top prize:

• 1 x pair of full Great Escape weekend tickets - Brighton 14-16 May.

Runner-up prizes:

• 2 x pairs of tickets to Road to V gig in Brighton on 14 May to see Just Jack + 5 Road to V finalists
• 2 x pairs of tickets to Road to V gig in Brighton on 15 May to see The Charlatans + 5 Road to V finalists

read full terms and conditions

Grab yourself a pair of tickets to see the fantastic Peaches who marks her return to the scene with an appearance at the Ether Festival on London’s South Bank next weekend. All you have to do to be in with a chance to see the electro-punk princess is add a comment to this post. Then we’ll randomly pick one of you and set you up with your date with the lady herself (and a few hundred other people) next Friday - 10 April - at the Royal Festival Hall.

This is Peaches’ one night only party and your chance to see her incredible live show Every Little Defect Gets RESPECT. The show promises to feature material from her new album I feel Cream, which was produced by James Ford and will be out on XL on 4 May 2009. Support comes from 16-year-old underground ‘queen of the teen scene’ Charli XCX. For full details of this year’s Ether Festival, which also features David Byrne, Brian Eno, Royksopp, Fever Ray, J Spaceman & Squarepusher, visit southbankcentre.co.uk/festivals-series/ether

But right now - add your comment here (making sure you give us your correct email address) and you could be in with a chance to see Peaches for free… !

(NB: prize does not include travel or accommodation)

UK viewers can now see Road to V on Virgin 1. They’re kicking off with a best-of show, featuring some of the highlights of the last few years of Road to V. They’ve also got exclusive interviews with last year’s winners Matt Tracker and The Rebs. They’ll be giving you a real feel of what it’s like to perform at V Festival, in front of thousands of fans. They’ll also be introducing you to Just Jack and The Charlatans – who’ll be acting as mentors for ten lucky finalists, and will let you know what they’re looking for in this years winners, so don’t miss it.

You can catch the first episode of Road to V on Virgin 1 at the following times:

Friday, April 3 - 6.55pm
Saturday, April 4 – 7.55pm
Saturday, April 11 – 7.55pm

Virgin Media customers can check out extended features and interviews from last years winners, as well as from Just Jack and The Charlatans on Virgin TV Presents, Road to V on Music on Demand.

Just Jack and The Charlatans will mentor the finalists of Road to V - the UK’s biggest and longest running search for unsigned musical talent.

Genre-fusing Just Jack, caused a sensation with his breakthrough Brit Hop style… mixing up beats, melodies and witty, conversational lyrics to funky home made loops, creating a sound that has influenced a generation of bedroom beat poets.

The Charlatans, with a history of V Festival performances to their name, now on their tenth studio album and famous for a string of hits including indie classics such as The Only One I Know and Weirdo, will join Just Jack in mentoring the ten lucky finalists of the competition, before two winners are eventually decided by a public vote.

Although coming from two completely different perspectives (both musically and lyrically), these two prolific artists with their combined experience, will offer a complete package of advice to fledgling acts in developing their sound and image, and help set them up for a career in music.

The competition is now open for registrations, and two winning acts will open up the mighty V Festival, which takes place this summer, in Chelmsford and Stafford on 22nd to 23rd August.  Acts have until 12th April 2009 to head to www.roadtov.com to register and be in with a chance of being one of the ten final acts to make it through to the live stage of the competition.

Not only will the lucky finalists be mentored by our established artists, they will also get the once in a life time opportunity to play alongside them at the Great Escape festival in Brighton on 14th to 16th May.  In addition, the ten finalists will all appear, with their mentors, on the Road to V show on Virgin1 which begins on Friday 3rd April and airs on every first Friday of the month until August in the UK.  You can also tune in to watch extended shows with exclusive interviews and performances on Virgin Media’s music on demand service and on the Road to V website - www.roadtov.com.

After the Great Escape, the artist mentors will whittle the final ten down to six remaining acts. Then it’s over to the fans to decide who wins the ultimate prize of opening one of the UK’s biggest music festivals – V.

The Charlatans drummer, Jon Brookes said: “We as mentors will offer the truth to any band that asks us to talk with them about our experiences.  It won’t be a pupil / teacher vibe, but something more subtle, a guide or confidant.  Hopefully it will be a two-way arrangement and we will all get to share something.”

While Just Jack added: “I’m really looking forward to being a Road to V mentor.  When you write songs obviously you put everything into them – however, you need honesty as an artist and you need to hear honest opinions from people”.

Road to V is well and truly back, and the response so far has been overwhelming. Registration has only been open for two weeks and there’s already nearly a thousand unsigned artists sign up for their chance to be the opening act at this year’s – now sold out - V Festival.

Just as excitingly, there are currently over 5000 fans, registered on roadtov.com . And this year it’s the fans who decide who wins, so their comments and votes have never been more important.

Register with roadtov.com and you can listen to all the unsigned acts and become a fan of anyone you think deserves to be heard. You can also comment as much as you like on the artists’ profile pages and let everyone know who you rate and who you hate.

There’s also an official Road to V Facebook page. Becoming a fan gets you up-to-the-minute news, and the chance to watch videos, listen to tracks, chat to fans and artists and enter VIP competitions, exclusive to Fans of the Facebook page.

Register as an artist with roadtov.com, and you can start making your profile page work for you. As well as uploading songs and photos, this year artists can add videos to their profile. Each week, the best videos will be selected to be shown on Virgin Media’s Video On Demand service. So they’ll be reaching thousands more potential fans, and appearing on TV sets across the UK!

And remember to keep checking the site for all the latest news, updates and competitions.

• roadtov.com

This year on Road to V you can be seen as well as heard. Artists can now upload videos, as well as music tracks to really give fans a chance to check out what you can do. Even more excitingly, the very best videos each week will be shown on Virgin Media’s Video On Demand. So you’ll be reaching thousands more potential fans, and appearing on TV sets across the land!

The Road To V people have made it as simple as possible for you to upload a video onto your Road to V profile. They accept AVI, ASF, MOV, WMV and MPEG files, in either 16:9 or 4:9 ratio. Have a look at the FAQs for more info. Just make sure your video is the best quality possible (but please keep it below 100MB in size) and you could be seeing yourselves on Virgin Media’s Video On Demand.

And if you’ve seen a great video on the site, tell the rest of the community about it!

http://roadtov.com

The search is on for the UK’s best new unsigned musical talent so fix up, look sharp! Road to V is back and this year is upping the ante. The UK’s biggest and best search for unsigned musical talent, now in its sixth year, is officially open for entries.

So why take part? Two winning acts, as chosen by you, the fans, get to kick start the mighty V Festival this summer, in Chelmsford and Stafford, on Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd August.

As if that isn’t a big enough incentive, as part of the competition, ten lucky finalists will also get mentored by, and play alongside, two amazing acts who have been recruited especially for the occasion.

If you fancy yourself as the next hellraising indie outfit, hip-hop heavyweight act, dynamite dance collective or perhaps even the next great soul-shimmering soloist, and want to play to an audience of thousands, here’s what to do:

Head to www.roadtov.com between Monday 2nd March and Sunday 12th April 2009 and register your act, your band or yourself to be in with a chance of winning. Simply upload your best track and tell us a bit about yourselves.

Ten acts will then be selected to go through to the live stage of the competition. The first two finalists will be chosen by the public. Before the two (soon to be announced) artist mentors step in to pick four acts each. All ten acts will then go on to play the same stage as their mentors at The Great Escape festival in Brighton on 14th to 16th May.

The Great Escape this year features headliners such as Kasabian and British Sea Power, with Road to V 2007 finalists Jonny Foreigner joining the Brighton line up. Last year The Great Escape helped break some of 2008’s biggest artists including The Ting Tings, Santigold, Sam Sparro and Vampire Weekend.

The ten lucky finalists and their mentors will also be filmed performing at The Great Escape for the Road to V.  After the Great Escape, the artist mentors will whittle the final ten down to six remaining acts. Then it’s over to the fans to head to www.roadtov.com to decide who wins and gets the ultimate prize of opening one of the UK’s biggest music festivals.

For more information on Road To V visit www.roadtov.com.

This one’s for all you budding Aussie rock stars. V Festival Australia wants you to show us all what you’re made of. All you have to do is pick a song from a V Festival Australia 09 artist, no matter how far back in their catalogue, and offer your own interpretation. Capture your performance on camera, upload it to YouTube and the very best (or the worst) will be posted on the V Festival Australia website and an esteemed panel will pick the funniest or the best.

The one the V Fest guys think is the best will get to be a rock star - for real! First of all Virgin Mobile Australia will make sure you get rock star treatment at the V Festival in your city where you’ll watch bands from dedicated viewing platforms, drink and eat for free and of course be on the guest list! Then afterwards you will take a Virgin Blue flight to Sydney and be on your way to LA - the home of all that rocks, thanks to Virgin Blue’s brand spanking new international airline, V Australia.

So what are you wating for? All eligible Aussies should head straight on over to vfestival.com.au to enter. Rock on…

The Kinks are back! And you can get your hands on a sought-after, not-for-sale promo version of the brand new Kinks CD box set. Picture Book is the ultimate Kinks collection - a chronologically-ordered set of 6 CDs. Compiled with the help of Ray Davies, this is a fantastic set of rarities, live versions and classic originals celebrating one of Britain’s most successful and influential bands ever. Without the Kinks - there’d have been no 90s Britpop.

Featuring the song writing genius of Ray Davies and the guitar virtuosity of brother Dave, hits like You Really Got Me, Lola, Waterloo Sunset, All Day And All Of The Night and Sunny Afternoon not only defined British cool in the sixties and seventies, but also cemented the band’s place in rock’n'roll mythology.

Picture Book includes rare demos, mono versions, alternate mixes, live renditions as well as archived BBC television and session material - alongside the classic originals of course.

So you want a very nice promo version of this box set - of the kind that you just can’t buy in the shops? It’d make a brilliant Christmas present for that discerning music fan that’s impossible to buy for…

We’ve got 3 to give away so all you have to do is add a comment below and we’ll pick 3 random names out of the virtual hat before Christmas. Go for it… easy as.

Sorry people - but the comp is now closed. Thanks for all your comments!

• read Rose’s review of Picture Book

Need some more ideas for Christmas? How about The Clash book, CD & DVD, tickets to see the Ian Dury play or  a place in the queue to see Blur’s comeback gig in Hyde Park next year?

From Australia to Canada to the US to the UK - our league of aspiring music journalists have been treated to free tickets to Virgin Festivals in their part of the world in return for sharing their festival adventures with us on music.virgin.com. So a massive big huge thank you to all of our fantastic contributors who have been blogging like… bloggers for the better part of this year in the hope that they will win the awesome grand prize of trips to a Virgin Festival in every participating country throughout 2009, starting with Australia in March.

It’s been a close and hard fought contest and even though it feels a shame that there can only be one winner (you’re all winners in our eyes - ahhhh) we’re delighted to announce that the ulimate winner of the Global VPass is Eleanor Conway. Congratulations Eleanor! You are on your way to Australia, Canada, USA and the UK in 2009 to blog on each Virgin Festival for music.virgin.com.

This girl has had it all going on - video camera in hand, blagging interviews with bands, editing together the most brilliant clips, mobilizing her fans on Facebook and MySpace - is there nothing she can’t do!?

Also of course congratulations to those top contributors who have already won tickets to next year’s Virgin Festivals for their sterling blogging efforts: David Thai, Leopard Lady, Ordinary Boy, Nef West, Livvy, Mae Giglia and Kyria B. Nice work guys - and we’d love you to carry on blogging so we can follow your adventures in music wherever you are.

Don’t worry - the opportunities don’t end there, stay logged on for loads more competitions and exciting stuff on the way from music.virgin.com - the site where the festival season never ends…

Knife fights, street crime and single parent families… it sounds like the backdrop of a quintessential Panorama special as opposed to your NME touting, Alan McGee championing supergroup, also known as Glasvegas. They’ve had a fruitful summer, selling 56, 000 copies of their debut album ‘Glasvegas’ in it’s first week of release and winging their way into the hearts of the nation. In association with music.virgin.com Eleanor Conway Presents: Glasvegas - in a rare insight into the band, the album and how to clean those grubby doors of perception.

Features videos ‘Daddy’s Gone’, ‘Geraldine’, ‘Please Come Back Home’ (and also a wee bit of strong language).

http://www.glasvegas.net

http://music.virgin.com/author/eleanorconway

http://www.eleanorconway.com

****************WIN SIGNED JUSTICE ACROSS THE UNIVERSE DVD*********************

Whatever happens on tour, stays on tour… until now.

THIS IS FOR DIE-HARD JUSTICE FANS ONLY.

I’ve got 3 signed copies of Justice’s Across The Universe (Live CD + Tour footage) to giveaway…

TO ENTER:
Bribe a mate to leave a comment about you on my fanpage wall.

Remember you both have to be fans and the comment must include your name and the word ‘Justice’.
DO IT HERE…..!

I will choose the 3 most original wall scrawlings and get the boys to sign your swag on the next episode of Eleanor Conway Presents: in association with music.virgin.com…
Enter before 00.00 GMT 4th DEC

What happens on tour, stays on tour - until now.

I’ve got 3 signed copies of Justice’s Across The Universe (Live CD + Tour footage) to giveaway - See Trailer.

TO ENTER:
Bribe a mate to leave a comment about you on my fanpage wall. Remember you both have to be fans and the comment must include your name and the word ‘Justice’.

DO IT HERE….!

I will choose the 3 most original wall scrawlings and get the boys to sign your swag on the next episode of Eleanor Conway Presents:

Enter before 00.00 GMT 4th DEC

Also congratulations on the three winners of the signed Goldfrapp Seventh Tree competition —- you know who you are! They’re on their way to yoooooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu………

Keep updated….. find me online (in a non stalker way please)
MYSPACE | FACEBOOK |YOUTUBE | BEBO | RSS

Are you a Guns’n'Roses fanatic? Have you got a better weave than Axl? Can you wield your axe better than Slash? Well now’s your chance to prove it!

Guns’n'Roses fans could win the ultimate prize to celebrate the launch of Chinese Democracy a party for you and 100 of your friends to hear the long-awaited album pumped out of the sound system of your local nightclub. Not only will you be the most popular person amongst your friends you’ll also be the proud first owner of the album in the UK and have one of those shiny platinum discs to hang on your wall as a trophy of your mighty accomplishment. If that doesn’t help you pull I don’t know what will.

So what do you have to do I hear you cry? Video yourself doing air guitar in an inappropriate place and upload it to the official GunsNRoses Youtube page here. For more details watch the video above.

If you don’t fancy it check out the page anyway to watch people dicking about and embarassing themselves in the name of rock. Rock on.

Fan of Goldfrapp? Fancy winning yourself one of three signed Limited Edition CD + bonus DVD copies of Seventh Tree? Then read on.

Fresh from their dates at the marvellous Carling Academy this weekend - a show where Narnia meets Pagan folklore, Eleanor Conway Presents: 3 signed LE copies of Seventh Tree to giveaway.

The DVD contains tracks filmed live on the Summer Solstice at the magnificent De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill on Sea earlier this year plus backstage footage from the show. The DVD also features the fantastic videos for hit singles ‘A&E’, ‘Happiness’ (which has just been nominated for a Q Award) and ‘Caravan Girl’ as well as live performances of ‘Clowns’ and ‘Road to Somewhere’ from a TV special on Goldfrapp.

All you have to do to win is join the Eleanor Conway Presents: Facebook Fan Page before midnight (GMT) 23rd November 2008.

Also fancy a warm fuzzy feeling and the chance to win a pair of V Festival Tickets to your local festival in 2009?

Well I’m through to the last leg of the Global VPass Competition and could do with your vote to secure a 2009 reporting gig around the globe for V.

Just cast your vote here:
http://music.virgin.com/vpass-voting/?voteuser=Eleanor%20Conway
Voting closes 30th November, so please take the time if you can, cheers… xxxx

“Probably the most contrived way to organise a duty free booze run ever” ELEANOR CONWAY

Ok, so V Festival was full of celebs and stars of which I’m sure my fellow VPass peeps will confirm in a global manner. But what about the real stars of the show?

Yep. The dooods paying the cash. To pay the organisers. To pay the stars.

Bring it on crowd stylee.

Please enjoy the first video installment of VPass Ambassador Campaign: ‘Eleanor Conway needs to go global… V Festival Video’. Where topics such as what would you do if provoked by a rampant Wino in it’s natural habitat?

Forget the celebs, we meet Lord Chop A Lot, Barbara Streisand, The Elephant Head Of Doom and many, many more……

If you like my style, PLEASE vote my posts http://music.virgin.com/author/EleanorConway/

Cheers

Elle x

http://www.myspace.com/elleuk/

http://www.elle-online.com/