Wakey wakey
The big wakeboarding happening that is Red Bull Harbour Reach, descends on the city for the second time this weekend.
Taking place at Albert Dock, 20 of the world’s top wakeboarders will compete and entertain spectators.
Athletes will test their skills on a purpose-built wake course that is designed to push their agility and technical abilities to the max, it says here, with wakeboarding legend Parks Bonifay (for it is he) on hand to judge them on their performance.
"It is also the first time that a UK competition has had access to Liquid Leisure’s innovative Unit Pool Gap, a unique feature that will bring a range of tricks, jumps and falls to the competition," say organisers.
Athletes will include top UK wakeboarder Nick Davies, as well as last year’s champion James Windsor and Canadian star Raphael Derome.
Parks Bonifay commented:“The guys are going to be challenged like never before and will have to really raise their game if they want to master the Pool Gap.”
Whatever you say, Parks, whatever you say.
*Red Bull Harbour Reach, Albert Dock, saturday August 30, 2pm-5pm. Free.
Terri Walker
Last of LIMF
IF you thought the Liverpool International Music Festival was all over, it isn't. The remnants carry on this weekend with some hot RnB action. Weather will not rain on its parade.
It's a bit last minute, but today LIMF have announced that RnB star Terri Walker will join the line up of BET Music Matters, which comes to the UK for the first time, to host the closing event of this year’s festival on Sunday.
Walker joins Liverpool’s alt-pop singer songwriter Jetta, 5-piece male harmony group and MOBO award hopefuls MiC Lowry, hotly-tipped Brit hip-hop pioneer Little Simz, London R&B sensation Raheem Bakaré and MOBO winner Rachel Kerr.
The live show, at East Village Arts Club, will be filmed for the channel Black Entertainment Television and will air in November.
A limited number of tickets are available priced £3 + VAT + booking fee.
Before that, on Saturday (August 30) LIMF presents Club MTV bringing some of the biggest names in dance music to Liverpool including 2MANYDJS, R3WIRE x VARSI, DJ Zeke, Tekla & Greg Burnett. Kicking off at 10pm at East Village, tickets cost £5 (early bird) £7 (standard).
Step on the Track
ONE of the things that has made summer rather pleasurable in 2014 is the Bluecoat's use of its garden for musical evening events.
And there will be plenty of that this weekend, when following a two-year break, grass roots festival Above the Beaten Track returns to the UK's oldest arts centre "to shine a light on the city's cultural underground".
A cast of hundreds will present live music, plus there will be DJs, artists, makers and audio-visual extravaganzas - and displays including a retrospective look at Mellowtone's flyers and gig posters from the Bluecoat archive.
Expect the Bluecoat’s own Bryan Briggs, the Viper Label’s Mike Badger, and original Chibuku Shake Shake resident Phil Charnock among others.
*Above The Beaten track, Bluecoat, School Lane, Saturday August 30, 1.30–10pm, Free
Blimey, John Peel would have been 75 this weekend. Does that rattle you slightly?
The Radio One legend made the careers of dozens of Mersey bands who got their first national break on his sessions.
Who among them can forget the trips down to Maida Vale? The rite of passage that was being reduced to tears by session producer Dale Griffin (the former Mott The Hoople drummer who didn't dish out compliments readily, though when he did you were on the top of the world), and, finally, the playing of the single session cassette all the way back up the M6 in a Transit van in eager anticipation of broadcast of those three tracks on the late night show.
Teenage Kicks indeedy.
Anyway, there's an event at the Kazimier garden tonight (Friday August 29) celebrating Peel who died on holiday in Mexico in 2004.
There are bands, there is a DJ salute at midnight and all proceeds go to Shelter, one of Peel's favourite charities.
If you miss it, there is always BBC 6 Music on Sunday, between 6pm-8pm where Tom Robinson's Now Playing Sunday show will be putting together a playlist in his honour.
