Gig tonight at Lancaster’s Kanteena on the first night of Light Up Lancaster

Idiot Box is a new regular night of live music promoted by the Lancaster band TV FACE.

The noise rock trio has recently signed to Preston label Crackedankles Records, home to the masked multi-bass guitar mammoths Evil Blizzard, Steve Lamacq botherers Thank, and Hot Wax who have recently toured with Royal Blood.

TV FACE said: “We had the idea of putting on our own shows, because we were travelling around gigging and meeting all these cool acts that no one has heard of, and we wanted to share them with Lancaster audiences.

"Plus, the pandemic has hit grassroots venues terribly, we lost The Yorkshire House which was well-known amongst the touring community up and down the country and is sorely missed. But instead of complaining about what we don’t have, we wanted to create a new space for underground and lesser-known acts to do their thing.”

Celebrating four years in business this month, the team at Kanteena were keen to partner with Idiot Box to make this happen.

Kanteena owner Pablo is a big music fan and said: “It’s something we have always been passionate about here but also found tricky, so working with TV FACE/Idiot Box is very exciting. We have the perfect spaces here to make these gigs work, and some great contacts to make sure we’re consistently bringing in top bands.

"We can’t wait to unleash amazing up-and-coming bands on the people of Lancaster!”

So far Idiot Box and Kanteena have put on two very popular shows – an all-dayer in the main venue and a more intimate show in the upstairs room called Attika.

Next up for Idiot Box is a gig today, Thursday, (November 2).

It’s the first night of Light Up Lancaster, and Kanteena are hosting one of the LUL light sculptures in the yard, and once you’ve done that there’s street food, beers, and live music to enjoy.

The incredible lineup features:

· Maz and the Phantasms - the post-lockdown project of Catalan-Egyptian Mariam El Sadr and her band, inspired by surf guitars, Krautrock, noise, psych rock, dance music and punk;

· Uhr - a post art-punk song and dance band from Manchester featuring former members of 90s sensations Cornershop.

· Da Quincey - a local enigma brandishing a unique and quirky art-music-poetry-sound.

Idiot Box and Kanteena are also announcing that Evil Blizzard will be making their first appearance in Lancaster on Saturday February 10 2024, with support from TV FACE and Whinge. Tickets are on sale now, and they are not expected to hang around for very long.

For tickets for Maz and the Phantasm tonight visit https://www.skiddle.com/whats-on/Lancaster/Kanteena/Maz-And-The-Phantasms--UHR--Da-Quincey/36684639/

For Evil Blizzard tickets visit https://www.skiddle.com/whats-on/Lancaster/Kanteena/EVIL-BLIZZARD--LIVE/36702225/?fbclid=IwAR3RCQWHHVQb6eVN0KYGUwvPTvRt30DWdsxTOWiknIuzr-pK0w8g3PXKOyI