A Midsummer Moog

A magical night of vintage moogs, gifted musicians, Indian street food, psychedelic light shows, shadow puppets and delicious ales await you at CdA next Friday when we welcome a host of wonderful guests through the doors to celebrate summer solstice.

A Midsummer Moog will be an enchanted evening beginning upstairs in the cyclorama with a concert of live improvised music, hypnotic Indian drones, vintage moog synthesizers and dark fairy tales from the Sawtooth Collective.

Curated by musician Jimi Clancy, this concert re-unites performers, Eva Eden, Jason Kalidas who first joined forces over ten years ago from the fringe live music scene in Brixton along with Rob Jenkins and sitar player Garima.

The concert features three main sets with the individual artists collaborating live in each other’s performances. The walls of the cyclo will be bathed in the chimerical shadow projections of artist Jane Fox whose whimsical fairy tale like characters dance and flicker betwixt layers of film and live illuminations whilst the kaleidoscope of pre-recorded loops, live music and film washes over the audience.

Later in the downstairs café there will be an eclectic mix of records spun by Dj’s Funk & Elsie, Dan & Marc and Synthesize Me along with analogue psychedelic light show courtesy of Innerstrings. Yummy Indian street food provided by Jhal Muri Express, delicious local ales from micro brewery Langhams including their seasonal Flor Ale, Halfway to Heaven and LSD. We will also be serving a new cider from Middle Farm made with Champagne yeast and special summer cocktails with prosecco, elderflower and vodka to get us in the moog.

Tickets are selling fast and are available in advance from Union Music Store Lewes or online from wegottickets priced at £10 plus a small booking fee.  Tickets for the concert can be bought on the door at £12 if not sold out.

Best seats are limited so please arrive promptly to secure a place.

Admission is before and after the concert from 7:30pm-8:25pm and from 11pm onwards. Tickets for newcomers after 11pm will be priced at £5.

Glam up and come on down to play with us this Friday!

ALL ABOARD ARTHUR’S DREAM BOAT

The past few weeks we have been very lucky to have had Long Nose Puppets rehearsing their new show “Arthur’s Dream Boat” here at Café des Artistes. It has been truly delightful hearing the enchanting sounds emanating from the cyclorama and snatching previews of the magical visuals, puppetry and showmanship of this inspired team of writers performers and artists.

We have been witness to the makings of Arthur’s Dream Boat from the early days. At first we would catch glimpses of children’s author Polly  Dunbar and artist Katherine Morton through the window of their studio at CdA beginning to fashion 3d versions of the colourful characters from Polly’s new book of the same name, adorning them with bright pigments and glitter.  Then rehearsals began and Katherine and Polly asked Christian to take a few photos for promotional material.  At the shoot, we saw how the hard-work and skill of this stellar cast of performers and writers with musical direction from Tom Gray of Gomez came together to bring the book and the characters to life.

Polly and Katherine set up Long Nose Puppets together after studying illustration at Brighton University and have toured the country with their vibrant and playful puppet shows loved by children and adults alike. Their first show was adapted from the book SHOE BABY written by Polly’s mum the famous author Joyce Dunbar and illustrated by Polly. The music is also written by musican Tom Gray of Gomez. Shoe Baby has had sell out shows up and down the country and was a great success at the Edinburgh Festival. It also won the award for the best children’s show at the Brighton Festival in 2006 and was the main children’s christmas show at the Komedia in Brighton. Long Nose were invited to perform the sell out production at Downing Street for Gordon Brown’s Christmas party in the same year.

Their second show Flyaway Katie, based on the book by Polly, launched at the Komedia in December 2007 and has toured the UK. The third show Penguin had a sell out run in 2010 also at the Komedia.

As well as touring theatres and festivals, Long Nose puppets are available for school visits and puppet making workshops.

We can’t wait to see Arthur’s Dream Boat in its entirety which will begin its tour at the Komedia in Brighton. Click on the link to find out more about dates and times. We hope that Long Nose will bring the show to CdA in the New Year and maybe we can convince them to run a children’s puppet making workshop too!