Xfm favourite Eddy Temple Morris kicks off the London countdown to the seventh vinspired Lake of Stars festival
As the building of the vinspired Lake of Stars festival site gets underway on the sun-kissed shores of Lake Malawi, Eddy Temple Morris kick starts the countdown to the festival with a rabblerousing gig in rainy London.
The Xfm DJ warmed up for his performance at the vinspired Lake of Stars festival in Malawi, 15 to 17 October, with a gig at Rich Mix in London last night [Sept 8]. And he revealed that he has some tricks up his sleeve to get the crowd on his side when he does the real thing. Eddy said: "I know there will be a few Brits there who know me, but my shows are not big in Africa, so I'm going to get a local MC to join my set which will be a nice bridge between me and the crowd.
"I don't play a lot of African music in my sets for obvious reasons – I'm famous for dance music – but I'm going to play some records that I hope the crowd will relate to and that will go to their hips. So it will be a case of suck it and see.
"I'm expecting they will be up to have a good time. I've been told that they really like a party so I'm just going to do my thing. I know some of the bands who went out last year were really nervous about playing but they got on stage, did their thing and the crowd loved them."
Eddy was joined at the vinspired Lake of Stars Festival gig by London act Benin City. The show was part of the official launch night of the autumn programme of Bethnal Green Road cultural centre, Rich Mix.
Back in Malawi, tickets have just gone on sale for the festival and building work has started on the site itself. This year's festival promises to have the eclectic mix of music on offer at previous Lake of Stars' outings but with a new broader arts and development programme, featuring theatre, film, interactive workshops and a local food fair.
And with just five weeks to go until it all kicks off, Eddy Temple Morris is getting geared-up. "It's not long to go now and I'm very, very excited about the festival," he said. "I haven't properly been to Africa before – except for a trip to Morocco – so I can't wait to get slap bang in the middle of the continent where life started.
"I was keen to get involved with Lake of Stars because it’s a great festival and I really wanted to help. I was looking to do something to help people who really need it and what a lovely way to be able to do that – by playing music.
"I'll be staying for the whole festival but unfortunately won't have time to explore more of the country. My good friend Jon McClure from Reverend and the Makers is trying to make me stay for longer but my debut album is coming out at the end month so unfortunately I have to come back to the UK.
"But hopefully this will be a case of dipping my toe in the water and I will be back."
Eddy also gave a shout out to the volunteers who are powering the vinspired-sponsored festival. "A festival like this would be so hard to do if it didn't have volunteers helping it," he said. "So big up to the volunteers and I am doing everything I can to help them."
For images of the gig go to: http://bit.ly/RMLaunch
Blog photo by Steve McInerny www.sharpsharp.co.uk
Words by Jenny Clover
Event production and promotion by vinspired volunteers
http://www.vinspired.com
