Friday 15th July, 7:30pm
Ramsgate Music Hall, 13 Turner Street, Ramsgate, Kent, CT11 8NJ
Allo Darlin' + Tigercats + Mammoth Penguins

Saturday 16th July, 7:30pm
Ramsgate Music Hall, 13 Turner Street, Ramsgate, Kent, CT11 8NJ
Darren Hayman And The Secondary Modern + The Wave Pictures + Bearsuit

Sunday 17th July, 12 noon - 6pm
The Ravensgate Arms, 56-58 King St, Ramsgate CT11 8NY
Steven James Adams + The Catenary Wires + Pete Astor
+ DJ John Jervis (The Hangover Lounge)

Advance Tickets - http://www.wegottickets.com/f/9989

Fortuna POP! continue their series of 20th birthday events with a weekend of sun, sand, sea and pop shows in Ramsgate on the 15th, 16th and 17th of July. Following on from celebrations in Cardiff at Wales Goes POP! and a show in New York as part of NYC Popfest, the Ramsgate weekend will take place at the award winning Ramsgate Music Hall (Britain’s Best Small Venue – NME) on the Friday and Saturday, before rounding things off with a Sunday afternoon show at The Ravensgate Arms, owned by craft brewery Late Knights.

Headliners Allo Darlin’ (Friday), Darren Hayman And The Secondary Modern (Saturday) and ex-Broken Family Band main man Steven James Adams (Sunday) will be joined by Tigercats, Mammoth Penguins, Pete Astor, Simon Love And The Old Romantics, The Catenary Wires (featuring Rob Pursey and Amelia Fletcher, previously of Tender Trap), and a special appearance by Peel favourites Bearsuit. DJ John Jervis of London club The Hangover Lounge will also be on hand to play a perfect mix of soothing Sunday sounds.

As well as three days of Fortuna POP!’s finest there will also be a Saturday daytime treasure hunt around the Thanet Coast that’s highly likely to end up in some ice cream parlour or other.

All shows are all ages. Tickets are strictly limited to 100 each day.

Fri / Sat - £12.50
Sunday - £10
Weekend ticket - £30

For those of you coming from afar for the weekend, check out the Ramsgate Music Hall website for local hotels, or look on Airbnb or the Visit Thanet website for a range of options. Don't forget that Margate and Broadstairs are only minutes away on the Thanet Loop.

http://ramsgatemusichall.com/hotels
https://www.airbnb.co.uk/s/Ramsgate
http://www.visitthanet.co.uk/plan-your-visit-introduction/places-to-stay

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Friday 15th July, 7:30pm
Ramsgate Music Hall, 13 Turner Street, Ramsgate, Kent, CT11 8NJ
Allo Darlin' + Tigercats + Mammoth Penguins

ALLO DARLIN’
Allo Darlin' are many things. They can turn a room in a famous punk venue into a joyous, jumping, sweaty, pop-mosh pit. Or bring a room of 500 to hushed silence with the few strums of a ukulele and a love song about cooking chilli. Their DIY attitude inspires true dedication from their fans, some of whom will travel hundreds of miles to see them.

The band have toured across the USA and Europe, as well as wowing the crowds at End Of The Road and Indietracks festival. They’ve also been strongly supported by BBC 6music, recording several sessions including one at the BBC’s prestigious Maida Vale Studios at the invitation of Steve Lamacq.

Their self-titled debut was released to universal acclaim in 2010 with plaudits including being named No. 2 record of the year by eMusic, and a glowing 1,200 word essay by legendary Go-Between Mr. Robert Forster in the Australian critical magazine, The Monthly. This was followed by 'Europe' (2012), earning them Rough Trade's Album Of The Month as well as rave reviews in NME and Pitchfork, and their most accomplished work to date, We Come From The Same Place (2014).

“Terrific, witty and heartfelt, like a less moody Belle & Sebastian” – The New York Times

“Breezy rom-pop brilliance” - NME

http://allodarlin.com

TIGERCATS
Tigercats combine the talents of songwriter, singer and guitarist Duncan Barrett with his brother Giles on bass, Laura Kovic on keyboards and vocals, and Jonny Evans on drums, as well as recent recruit Paul Rains from Allo Darlin’ on guitar. Their 2012 debut Isle of Dogs (Fika Recordings) fizzed with jangly punk, afro rhythms and spoken word sections, while their 2015 follow up Mysteries was a more sophisticated pop record, effervescent and spirited, with care and love poured into every song.

A band of outstanding musicians, their infectious hooks and sheer danceability make them a formidable live act and they've toured across Europe and the USA, playing shows at Primavera, Indietracks, End of the Road festival and NYC Popfest.

“An indiepop band you can dance to. That’s actually rarer than you’d think.” - Neon Filler 10/10

http://www.tigercatsband.com

MAMMOTH PENGUINS
When the much-loved Standard Fare called it a day after nine years and two albums, Emma Kupa upped sticks and moved from Sheffield to Cambridge, where she recruited Mark Boxall (bass) and Tom Barden (drums). Previously the bassist and lead singer in Standard Fare, Emma relished the switch to guitar in Mammoth Penguins, allowing her the space to deliver her trademark soaring vocals and to indulge in the occasional mean guitar solo, and with Tom’s driving energy and Mark’s bouncy pop bass they quickly developed their riff-tastic powerpop sound. Their debut album Hide And Seek was released via Fortuna POP! in 2015.

“Loud, thrashy heart-on-sleeve feet-on-the-dancefloor anthems… An infectiously catchy record and brilliant debut.” Louder Than War

https://www.facebook.com/MammothPenguins

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Saturday 16th July, 7:30pm
Ramsgate Music Hall, 13 Turner Street, Ramsgate, Kent, CT11 8NJ
Darren Hayman And The Secondary Modern + The Wave Pictures + Bearsuit

DARREN HAYMAN AND THE SECONDARY MODERN
Best known as the singer-songwriter of the phenomenally successful and much-loved Hefner, Darren Hayman is now well over ten albums into an increasingly idiosyncratic career path, where he has taken a singular and erratic route through England’s tired and heartbroken underbelly. Darren is also writing the best tunes of his career - increasingly complex and mature songs.

Mostly joined by his band The Secondary Modern – a loose, urban folk collective, underpinning Hayman’s concrete sorrow with rural violins and tired pianos – he has released a series of albums, largely focused on place. This allowed for the exploration of nuanced subjects in detail, with a trio of albums based in Essex (2009’s Pram Town and 2010’s Essex Arms) and culminating in 2012’s The Violence, a 20-song account of the 17th century Essex witch trials. From this he developed an album of English Civil War folk songs of the time (2013’s Bugbears) and stayed with the historical theme for last year’s Chants For Socialists, which saw him set William Morris’ words to music, creating an album of kindness and hope that brought Hayman’s most critical acclaim yet.

Hayman’s latest work is his enthralling and ambitious new album Thankful Villages. Hayman visited each of the fifty four villages in Britain where every soldier returned alive from World War I and created a piece of music and a short film for every one.

“London's laureate of sexual dysfunction, discomfort, and dog-eared under-achievement... the match of Ray Davies, or any of the quintessentially English masters.” (The Guardian)

http://www.hefnet.com

THE WAVE PICTURES
The Wave Pictures signed with Moshi Moshi Records in 2008 and have defiantly continued to tread their own path, mining the lost essence of British indie from their critically lauded debut 2008’s ‘Instant Coffee Baby’ to last year’s Billy Childish collaboration “Great Big Flamingo Burning Moon” and their latest album “A Season In Hull”. Their varied discography captures a range of styles and influences, from garage rock to afro-pop to country punk, all recorded live with few overdubs. They never use keyboards or guitar effects pedals yet they have all they need to create the perfect rock and roll record.

One of the most hardworking and prolific bands in the UK, Dave Tattersall, Franic Rozycki and Jonny ‘Huddersfield’ Helm have, over the years, worked as backing band to musicians such as Daniel Johnston, Stanley Brinks and Darren Hayman, and are fixtures on the live circuit, criss-crossing the UK and Europe on a regular basis, renowned for their electric performances featuring Tattersall’s blistering guitar solos.

http://www.thewavepictures.com/

BEARSUIT
Bearsuit are a boy/girl five-piece from Norwich, known for their electric and outlandish performances, especially their many and varied onstage outfits, from blood covered zombies to majorettes. Favourites of the late John Peel they recorded four Peel sessions and scored three Festive Fifty top five hits. Once compared to Belle And Sebastian meeting Sonic Youth in a car crash, Bearsuit have a style very much their own, mixing sweet indie-pop melodies, stop-start rhythms, quirky electronics, and lots of noise.

Their debut album Cat Spectacular! (2004) was followed by Team Ping Pong (2005), a collection of songs previously only released on 7" singles, and their second album Oh:io (2007). For their third album The Phantom Forest (2011) the band underwent a line-up change and swapped violins, flutes and horns for dirty synths and fierce guitars, resulting in a more beefed-up, edgy sound.

Having called it a day in 2013 we are properly excited that Bearsuit have agreed to reform for this Fortuna POP! 20th Birthday show.

"Retro space age, riotously cute disco-punk. This is what my 80s sounded like." Everett True
http://www.bearsuit.co.uk

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Sunday 17th July, 12 noon - 6pm
The Ravensgate Arms, 56-58 King St, Ramsgate CT11 8NY
Steven James Adams + The Catenary Wires + Pete Astor
+ DJ John Jervis (The Hangover Lounge)

STEVEN JAMES ADAMS
Steven James Adams, the former songwriter/singer/guitarist from the critically acclaimed Broken Family Band, released his brilliant second solo album Old Magick on Fortuna POP! earlier this year, proof that Adams’s gift for marrying exceptional lyrics with inescapable earworms is very much intact.

With minimal instrumentation, Old Magick is, in part, a reaction to Adam’s first solo outing House Music (2013), an album recorded in his living room and featuring an array of musical friends, including members of bands as disparate as pop-rockers The Vaccines and folk-idols Lau. House Music followed two full band albums with indie pop-rockers Singing Adams.

Adams’ shows are wonderful to behold: funny, intimate and wildly unpredictable. According to a recent Guardian article "you'd struggle to find a British songwriter of the last 15 years who's had such consistently good reviews." A genuine entertainer, a truly gifted songwriter, and perhaps the closest thing there is to a British Bill Callahan, Adams has produced a high watermark of a record in Old Magick, proof that his reputation is deserved.

“Across his work with The Broken Family Band and the Singing Adams as well as his recent solo records, Steven James Adams has shown a keen eye for the small delights and absurdities of life. It’s pleasing too, this time, to hear Adams singing unadorned and less accompanied; it lets the melody run uncluttered and those brilliant lyrics step forward” Q

http://www.stevenjamesadams.com

THE CATENARY WIRES
The Catenary Wires were formed in 2014 when Amelia Fletcher and Rob Pursey (ex-Talulah Gosh, Heavenly, Marine Research, Tender Trap) moved out of London.

Unlike some of their earlier incarnations, The Catenary Wires are minimalist, melancholy, and a little woozy. Originally forming the band just for themselves at home, Rob and Amelia started playing songs on their daughter's 3/4 size acoustic guitar. They are still refusing to give it back.

The band agreed to play a first gig in public at the Arnolfini in Bristol, in support of a new film about Sarah Records, and, since then, they have played several shows around the UK, and in Tokyo, Madrid and New York. Elefant Records released their debut album, Red Red Skies, in 2015.

“Indie pop royalty Amelia Fletcher and Rob Pursey depart from their usual predilection for fuzzy 60s girl­group hooks on mini-album Red Red Skies and replace it with a more gentle, melancholy sound, though an innate knack for melody remains a constant theme, with Amelia’s saccharine voice being a familiar and prevailing aspect. Red Red Skies will no doubt tug at the heart strings.” London In Stereo

https://www.facebook.com/TheCatenaryWires

PETE ASTOR
Indie auteur Pete Astor, previously of The Loft, The Weather Prophets, and other esteemed acts, released his most recent album “Spilt Milk” via Fortuna POP! in January of this year. It was recorded onto ½ inch tape at the home studio of James Hoare of Ultimate Painting, The Proper Ornaments and Veronica Falls, with James playing guitar, bass, drums, keyboards and singing backing vocals. The album has all the hallmarks of a future Pete Astor classic, drawing together key strands and tributaries of his work over the years, blending intuitive songwriting, acute lyrics and incisive melodies.

Spilt Milk is part of a continuum: from Astor’s beginnings with The Loft and The Weather Prophets on Creation Records in the 1980s, via his solo work through the 1990s and his more left field albums with The Wisdom of Harry and Ellis Island Sound on Matador Records, Heavenly and Peacefrog, through to his return to solo work with the Songbox album in 2012. As well as this ongoing musical activity, Astor is also Senior Lecturer at the University of Westminster, where he teaches, researches and writes about music; 2014 saw the publication of his study of Richard Hell and the Voidoids’ Blank Generation as part of Bloomsbury’s 33 1/3 Series.

“A doleful jangle that often feels like a bedsit Velvet Underground fronted by Lawrence or Ray Davies… the true beauty of Spilt Milk lies in Astor’s wry commentaries on domesticity, raging libidos and the pitiless march of time”

http://peteastor.com