Stars play gigs in an Oxfam shop to launch the UK’s biggest ever charity music festival

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:00:09 GMT

A diverse range of the biggest names in music, including pop princesses Diana Vickers and Gabriella Cilmi, Razorlight frontman Johnny Borrell, and Britpop legends The Charlatans will perform their most unusual shows to date - inside an Oxfam shop.

A London Oxfam shop will stage a series of exclusive, intimate performances, among the books, clothing and charity gifts on the shop floor itself to launch the charity’s month-long Oxjam music festival.

The confirmed lineup so far, with more to be added, is:

Monday 27 September: The Charlatans (plus special guest Tom Furse from The Horrors), dan le sac vs Scroobius Pip plus more TBC. Hosted by BBC Radio 1’s Huw Stephens.

Tuesday 28 September: Diana Vickers, Gabriella Cilmi, Pearl & The Puppets

Wednesday 29 September: Johnny Borrell plus more TBC

Thursday 30 September: Four Tet plus more TBC

The Oxfam shop in London, whose location remains a secret until the week of the gigs, will become an Oxjam shop for the week, selling the best second-hand music in the city during the day. During the evening, it will be converted into a gig venue, playing host to these intimate performances in front of a just a handful of fans lucky enough to get their hands on a ticket.

Tickets to the shows will be limited to less than 200 per night, and will go on sale from 9.00am on Thursday 2 September exclusively from www.wegottickets.com/oxjam. Tickets for these exclusive one-off performances cost £25 and all profits go to Oxfam’s lifesaving work around the world.

Former X-Factor star Diana Vickers, who headlines Tuesday night’s Oxfam shop show, said:

“Oxfam shops have always been one of my favourite places to hunt for a bargain, so to be performing in one will be a thrill for me. The best thing, though, is that everyone who takes part - from singers like me to musicians, promoters and audience members - is the real star of Oxjam. It’s exciting to think that anyone can get involved and every single gig will help to raise loads of money to change lives around the world.”

Tim Burgess, who will be performing Charlatans classics on the opening night, added:

“We’ve been playing shows for twenty years now, but performing in an Oxfam shop has to go down as the most unusual venue we’ve ever played. I’ve been buying music from Oxfam shops for years, so it’s great to be able to take our music onto the shop floor and kick off a whole month of great music with a global impact.”

Razorlight frontman Johnny Borrell, whose new band performs on Wednesday night, said:

“Playing intimate shows up close to the audience is very important to me, and to do it in an Oxfam shop will be very special. Our gig is only the beginning of a movement of thousands of gigs, club nights and events right across the country, all raising money to fight poverty. ”

The charity shop gigs officially launch the Oxjam month of music, which runs through the whole of October. During October, more than 950 venues, 2,000 volunteers, 6,000 bands and musicians and 135,000 audience members will enable Oxjam to raise £500,000 to help Oxfam fight poverty. Oxjam is a festival with a difference: thousands of fundraising music events are put on by ordinary people - from large-scale festivals to local sponsored busks - making it the biggest line-up of any music festival in the UK.

The highlight of the month-long festival will be the Oxjam Takeover, a series of city-wide mini-festivals taking place in 31 locations across the UK, from Aberdeen to Bournemouth, on the weekend of 23 and 24 October. During a single weekend, around 3,000 musicians will perform to an audience of more than 35,000, all raising money to help Oxfam fight po

Top Articles Tagged with gigs

Stars play gigs in an Oxfam shop to launch the UK’s biggest ever charity music festival