True North to soundtrack the city
The True North music festival returns to Aberdeen this weekend from Thursday 22 to Sunday 25 September. Django Django, Scottish alt-rockers Travis, soul superstar Mica Paris, and world music legend Nitin Sawhney are among the acts playing.
With this year’s festival celebrating its eighth anniversary, city venues will include the Music Hall and Lemon Tree. True North will also take over the spectacular pop-up venue Wonder Hoose. Furthermore, there’s a Fringe program with free festival performances at Siberia, Waterstones, and the Music Hall’s Coda Café.
Throughout September, Wonder Hoose has been running in the stunning surroundings of Marischal College’s Quadrangle. The venue will host the opening act of this year’s True North festival, local up-and-comer AiiTee, along with Emma Pollock, Stina Marie Claire, and Michael Timmons.
Travis will play the Music Hall on Saturday, 24 September performing classic album The Invisible Band in full. They’ll also play their other greatest hits. Upon its release in 2001, The Invisible Band spent four weeks at number one in the UK album charts. It is certified four-times Platinum. The album was produced by Nigel Godrich He is also known for his work with Radiohead as well as producing Travis’ nine-time Platinum album The Man Who.
A True North tribute to Aretha Franklyn
Mica Paris will be joined by Aberdeen’s own international singing sensation Emeli Sande, celebrated jazz singer Georgia Cecile and other special guests at the Music Hall on Sunday, 25 September for a stunning celebration of the music of the legendary Aretha Franklin.
Internationally renowned composer Nitin Sawhney takes to the Music Hall stage on Friday, 23 September. Described as one the most distinctive and versatile musical voices around today, Sawhney has become a modern-day ‘Renaissance man’ in the worlds of music, film, videogames, dance and theatre. He has over 20 studio albums to his name. These include solo albums, film soundtracks and compilations. Sawhney also has over 50 film scores! He has received a substantial wealth of major national and international awards for his work.
A diverse exciting line-up
Aberdeen Performing Arts’ Ben Torrie said that True North has always been a fantastic opportunity to celebrate great music. “This year is no exception with world renowned artists like Nitin Sawhney, Travis, Mica Paris and Emeli Sande sharing the bill with some of Scotland’s brightest new talent.
“It’s a really diverse, exciting line up, and our beautiful pop-up venue Wonder Hoose, which has been open throughout September, has warmed us up nicely for the festival this weekend. “It’s a chance to have a great night out, enjoy your favourite music, discover amazing new artists and let us entertain you this weekend.”
The line-up also includes alt-rock favourites Django Django, latino outfit Los Bitchos and the exuberant African Groove Machine at the Lemon Tree, and joining AiiTee on the Wonder Hoose line up over the weekend will be Emma Pollock, Honeyblood’s Stina Marie Claire and Michael Timmons as well as interactive family shows from CBeebie’s favourite YolanDa’s Band Jam and Sprog Rock.
True North’s free fringe programme
The Fringe programme, taking place across venues including the Music Hall’s Coda Café, Waterstones and Siberia, features a line up of some of Scotland’s brightest talents. This includes Callum Gibson, Nani, Nikhita, Adam Thom and Michael Timmons.
Full details for True North Festival are available at www.truenorthfestival.co.uk. Tickets are on sale now. They are available from www.aberdeenperformingarts.com.
About POST
Kevin Mitchell and Chris Sansbury founded POST. This was from a desire to cut through the noise to share the great things that happen in Aberdeen. They focus on community, culture and also the interesting people of the city. The local artists, businesses and charities; photographers, musicians and entertainers. These are the people that make a positive impact on our city every day. So they use video, audio, writing and social media to amplify the voices in our community. And to ultimately give a platform to Aberdeen folk to engage and tell their own stories.
Recent work includes coverage of Spectra 2023, interviews with We Are Here Scotland founder Ica Headlam; Paralympic gold medalist, Neil Fachie; Aberdeen rapper Chef and his push for success; an article about the pedestrianisation of Union Street; coverage of Nuart Aberdeen and TEDx Aberdeen, as well as coverage of the campaign to Save the Belmont.
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