Finishing Touches Made to Music Stage

Big in Falkirk has added more fantastic acts to perform on the Music Stage at the award-winning, free multi-arts festival taking place at the stunning 180-acre Callendar Park on Saturday 3 & Sunday 4 May.

In addition to the already-announced headliners Levellers (Saturday) and 10cc (Sunday), as well as The Complete Stone Roses, Peatbog Faeries, Ross Fairweather, Esther O’Connor, Danse or Die and Kissmet, more names have now been unveiled. These are The Hazey Janes, Kobai, Soft Toy Emergency, Umdumo Wesizwe, 5th and Pontiac, Big Hand, and winners of this year’s Making It competition to find the next big thing in music, Hungry Ghosts.

Dundee-based quartet The Hazey Janes have supported Snow Patrol, Idlewild, Electric Soft Parade and Brakes, had two Top 20 Independent Chart singles, two trips to SXSW and national publications (Q, Uncut, Mojo, Classic Rock and Word), regional media, BBC Radio 2, Radio 1, 6Music, Radio Scotland and XFM have all given the band and debut album Hotel Radio their seal of approval.  The life-affirming country rockers blend of power pop has been likened to Ash and Teenage Fanclub and release single New York in May, following their appearance at Big in Falkirk.

Glasgow's Kobai are a no-nonsense, six-piece slab of acid-tinged rock that you can dance to. Drawing influence from a wide range of styles through Indie, rock, electro, punk and techno, Kobai have had their style in the past compared to the likes of The LCD Soundsystem, Kasabian and Muse amongst many others. Within months of first forming Kobai won the UK wide Emergenza unsigned competition playing in front of 1000s at the Glasgow Carling Academy and London Astoria. They have supported The Fratellis, Union of Knives, The Whip, Drive by Argument, Blood Red Shoes and Filthy Dukes to name a few.

Soft Toy Emergency are purveyors of fitful electro-pop. The Liverpool based bunch are not overly slick, annoy-rave chancers but something a little weirder. The guitars crunch rather than funk and the beats are choppy, making the sort of music that makes your knees go all herky-jerky.

Umdumo Wesizwe is the newest and hottest acapella sensation to come out of Bulawayo (Zimbabwe's cultural melting pot).  The ten dynamic young singers present their own style of Imbube music (made popular by the award-winning Ladysmith Black Mambazo) that is laced with music styles of Afro pop, jazz, r&b and reggae.

Taking the ancient one-man band formula to a new level, 5th and Pontiac is best described as a punk dj armed with a guitar. Synthetic beats and samples wrapped up in guitars that range from the smooth and soulful to ska punk rockabilly tones. Gentle when it wants, in your face with beats when it doesn’t; he adds a limitless, modern edge to all the old constrictions and wraps them up in a fractured mix of ambient soundscapes.

With their incredible live shows and unforgettable songs, Big Hand are now ready to transcend their cult underground status and to take their unique brand of Zorbic ska music to the unsuspecting, hungry masses! Big Hand have shared stages with the likes of Feeder, The Beat, The Automatic, The Sunshine Underground, The Herbalizer, Neville Staples, The Selecter, Bad Manners, Nizlopi, Hayseed Dixie and many more.

York’s Hungry Ghosts were crowned winners of Making It 2008 – Big in Falkirk’s competition to find the next in thing in music. The four-piece wowed the judges with their brand of quirky, alternative rock. With catchy hook driven tunes, Hungry Ghosts try their utmost to drive a crowd past foot tapping and swaying to dancing and jumping around like mad!

The Music Stage will be compered by the wonderfully surreal Ian Smith from Mischief La Bas on Saturday and Big Rory on Sunday, who will also be performing at the Festival on both days. DJ support will come from DJ Isambard Kingdom Brunel to ensure that the crowds are whipped up into a frenzy.

Big in Falkirk has a proud history of presenting both acclaimed names and emerging talents just before they hit the big time with Amy MacDonald, Snow Patrol, McFly, Orson and Sandi Thom all having performed on the Music Stage.