Duke Special Official <DukeSpecial>
"Currently appearing in "Mother Courage and her Children" at the National Theatre, London!"
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 | Duke Special Update - Mother Courage and more! | 48 dni temu | ||
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| Hi Folks! Mother Courage Reviews Duke has received mostly excellent reviews in the press for his part in Mother Courage. Here are a few (we'll put links to all reviews we have - good and bad! - on www.dukespecial.com); "Alongside clamorous military noise, there is music of a wheezing sweetness (as if Tom Waits were singing with a throat lozenge in his mouth) from a dreadlocked Duke Special, who appears on stage, weaving his way through the scenes." Observer "Instead of offering the usual harsh harangue, Duke Special's music has a quirky melodic plangency, but the mysteriously pacific presence of this gentle, dreadlocked composer-singer is itself a kind of alienation effect, given the strife-torn circumstances into which he strays." The Independent "Providing music is Duke Special - a new-age minstrel whose sound mixes Elton John with old Irish crooners The Chieftains, plus a bit of White Stripes thrash thrown in for good measure." Daily Mail "The diminutive, dreadlocked figure of Duke Special laces the action with haunting songs" Financial Times "He has an enchanting voice and his compositions are sinuously melodious, rocking up a notch or two when the action requires it. The Arts Desk Mother Courage arrives atop her wagon sporting sunglasses and a tin hat, accompanied by the dreadlocked Duke Special and his terrific onstage band." Evening Standard "The music is provided by the indie/folk group Duke Special and the Band who deliver some beautifully poignant songs." The Jewish Community online "The outstanding innovation of Deborah Warner�s delayed but exuberant production, in which technicians and costume changes remain in full view, is the music of Duke Special. Dreadlocks flying, he leads his band vocally and on the piano in songs which, softer than Weill, transmit something of the mixture of emotion and sardonic objectivity which are the hallmarks of this modern take on Brecht." The Stage Mother Courage post-play gigs Here is confirmation that Duke will be playing late night shows on Fridays AND Saturdays for the rest of the run, ie Oct 9, 10, 16,17, 23, 24, 30, 31, Nov 27, 28, Dec 4, 5. These are free for anyone to attend - you do not have to have been at the theatre that night! We are hopeful that these will now run from about 10.45pm until midnight, although we'll post actual running times on the site sometime soon! If you are going to see the play and would be happy to hand out Duke wallets to the departing audience after the show, do email us at the address above, letting us know which show you are attending. Duke Shop We're particularly keen for you to frequent our webshop (www.dukespecial.com/dukestore/) as, from this month onwards we will be parting with our record companies, Universal Ireland / Decca, and - for the time being at least - striking out alone. So we're now even more reliant on Word of Mouth to spread the word! Thanks to the 500 or so fantastic souls who asked for Sampler Wallets to hand out to their friends. We still have some left, so email fcm@firstcolumn.co.uk to let us know how many samplers you need if you would like to take part in this guerrilla campaign. Other news The Hector Mann and Huckleberry Finn albums are finally in production, and between shows Duke and the team are busy recording the new Mother Courage album... Until next time! Duke Special Team | ||||
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| All day Dukebox details here! | 89 dni temu | ||
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| Dukebox will kick off with the stunning backdrop of St Anne's Cathedral in the centre of Belfast at 12pm on Saturday 29th August. The main stage supporting lineup in the city’s Custom House Square has already announced as The Magic Numbers, Bell X1, Jerry Fish & The Mudbug Club, David Kitt and David Ford among others. Two further stages of invited musical guests are also announced from 1pm at venues close to the main arena. The heart wrenching melody of London’s Dan Michaelson and the Coastguards, Dublin’s beautiful wordsmiths One Day International and Belfast’s Queer Giraffes will be appearing at The Black Box. Whilst New York singer/songwriter and madcap inventor of musical instruments Thomas Truax, former Watercress frontman currently residing in Brighton Dan Donnelly, and Belfast newbies Katie and the Carnival will perform at McHugh’s Basement. Also from 1pm, upstairs at The Spaniard, there will be spoken word from various special guests, including Aqualung’s Ben Hales and our local Slam Poets, with more to be announced. Out in the streets expect to run into the odd surprise, with for example, sometimes Duke Special band member Rea Curran playing at the base of The Albert Clock from 245pm 12, a 50 minute film by Gyz La Rivière about the Fret Click, a legendary Amsterdam and Rotterdam skateboard gang documented in a fast, humorous and moving way. There’ll be two screenings, at 115pm and 230pm. Custom House Square’s regular Saturday afternoon skateboarders are invited to come along, showing their skateboard for entry! From late morning and through the afternoon demonstrations, workshops and hands on activities will be happening at SpaceCRAFT - a shop, gallery and exhibition area above The Fountain Centre owned and managed by the Craft & Design Collective. The ringing of some bells is rumoured! Traditional Irish Music for the afternoon has been provided at The Duke Of York with a lively open air Street Ceili in Commercial Court with The All Set Group from 2pm, and at McHughs with a traditional music session from 330pm The Belfast City Blues Festival have some great afternoon music in the area as well, evoking the spirit of the city’s great Blues tradition, and Dukebox goers are welcomed for free at their afternoon gigs in some the Cathedral Quarter’s best pubs and small venues: Oh Yeah Centre - The Pontiax Blues Band; The John Hewitt - Speedy Mullan + Shit Hot Helicopters; The Roost - Rab McCullough Blues Band; The Cloth Ear - Lee Hedley Band The main arena in Custom House Square opens at 3pm, with the first performance by The Voluntary Butler Scheme (3.30), and the day proceeding with Panama Kings (4.15), David Ford (5.00), David Kitt (5.55), Jerry Fish & The Mudbug Club (6.55), Bell X1 (8.10), The Magic Numbers (9.35) And the day will end with the only Northern Ireland headlining appearance of 2009 by Duke Special (11.00) | ||||
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| Dukebox needs you this Saturday! | 111 dni temu | ||
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| Hello everyone, I am writing to ask for your help. As you may know I am curating and performing at a one day festival in Belfast at the end of this month called “DukeBox”, as part of Belsonic, and I am planning to do some promotion for it THIS SATURDAY. The plan is to turn up at Custom House Square, (opposite McHughs Bar, near to the Albert Clock) at 1pm where I will do a couple of songs and a shout out for the festival. From there we will travel to the City Hall (1400 approx) and eventually to the Group Space at the Ulster Hall where we will finish up and I will play a short set. What would make it amazing is if lots of you came too!! There is press and media activity through the day. We will also give away lots of flyers to advertise the DukeBox day. So come along, bring your friends, wear a DUKE SPECIAL T-shirt if ya have one but don’t worry if not! I will really appreciate any help you can give, it will be fun! thanks so much Duke xx | ||||
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| Dukebox tickets now on sale! | 129 dni temu | ||
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| As part of Belfast’s Belsonic ’09, Northern Ireland homeboy Duke Special will present DUKEBOX on Saturday August 29th in Custom House Square, in the heart of Belfast city centre. This one day event, curated and headlined by the Duke, will feature many friends and special guests including The Magic Numbers, BellX1, Jerry Fish & The Mudbug Club, David Kitt, Panama Kings and many more to be announced. While Custom House Square will throw open its gates at 3pm for two stages of performers, the Duke will also present a programme of entertainment and street spectacle in the laneways and venues around Custom House Square from 12 noon on the day, which will be open to one and all. Tickets for DUKEBOX are a staggering £29 plus booking fee (approximately €34 plus booking fee) and are available through all the usual Ticketmaster outlets, www.belsonic.com, www.dukebox.tv and the Stiff Kitten bar. | ||||
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| The Duel on TV, UK album release, UK Radio, Vinyl Recording and more! | 222 dni temu | ||
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| Hello all! Well it's been a while... UK album release Exciting times! The UK version of the new album finally sees the light of day next Monday, 20th April. It contains the 4 bonus tracks recorded at Metropolis Studios and can be pre-ordered here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Never-Though... The Duel If you didn't get to see Duke and Neil Hannon on their own fantastic TV show, then you can see it for the next few days: http://www.rte.ie/tv/theview/ After that, it will be available to view on our Youtube channel here: http://www.youtube.com/DukeSpecialOf... UK Radio The album was Record of the Week on Radio 2 all this week! So let's continue the great airplay by asking your favourite DJ to play your favourite track off the album here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/shows/ Album artwork and banners Please use these on your emails and web forums to try to spread the word of Duke! http://nocarbonrecords.com/dukespeci... Vinyl Recording The Metropolis double 7" will be available in the Duke shop in the next week or so, and of course on tour... http://www.dukespecial.com/dukestore/ More shows! April 22nd sees the start of the UK tour. There are some some limited tickets left! http://www.dukespecial.com/tour/ Some of the European supports to Bell X1 have sold out so hurry to get your tickets for these dates! Please post your reviews, questions, comments on the tour on our messageboard, as always! http://www.dukespecial.com/forums/ That's all for now! Duke Special Team | ||||
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| New Tour Dates and other news! | 303 dni temu | ||
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| New UK Tour! We're still reeling from the shows we've been to on this current tour – check out this rather enthusiastic review: http://zaphod.uk.vvhp.net/click/6218... So we're pleased to announce Duke Special is back on the road in the UK with a bigger band playing the following dates; April THU 23 Norwich Waterfront Tickets 01603 508050 FRI 24 Gloucester Guildhall Tickets 01452 503050 SAT 25 Derby The Royal Tickets 08713 100 000 SUN 26 Bristol Thekla Tickets 08713 100 000 MON 27 Birmingham Irish club Tickets 0115 912 9000 TUE 28 London Scala Tickets 020 7403 3331 WED 29 Leeds Cockpit Tickets 01132 455 570 THU 30 Manchester Academy Tickets 0161 832 1111 May FRI 1 Newcastle Stage 2 Tickets 0191 261 2606 SAT 2 Glasgow Oran Mor Tickets 08444 999 990 Most tickets go onsale from usual outlets today. Do You Remember The First Time? Across The Line gets Northern Ireland's finest music acts to join forces for unforgettable event. We thought all the tickets had gone but some went onsale for the gig below at 9am today... To celebrate the reopening of the Ulster Hall, BBC Northern Ireland's Across The Line, in conjunction with The Ulster Hall and Belfast City Council, is staging what is sure to be one of the most memorable gigs of the year and today will be the last chance for music fans to get their hands on the hottest tickets in town. Nearly every music fan in Northern Ireland has made the pilgrimage to Belfast's Ulster Hall for a life changing experience, including many of our beloved rock musicians. The reopening of the Ulster Hall building in March 2009 provides the ideal opportunity to celebrate the rich rock 'n' roll resonance of this historic building and BBC NI's Across The Line is marking this with the epic one-off concert 'Do You Remember The First Time' which will bring together many of Northern Ireland's best contemporary artists for the first time. Among the top acts already confirmed for the Do You Remember The First Time? concert on Monday, March 9 2009 are Therapy?, Divine Comedy, Duke Special, Foy Vance, Iain Archer, Jetplane Landing, Fighting With Wire, Lafaro, Cashier No 9, Kowlaski and Panama Kings. Each act in this exciting line-up will not only perform one of their own tracks but also a song from the set list of a band which they themselves saw rocking the famous old venue. Tickets for this exclusive concert in the Ulster Hall have nearly sold out already through word of mouth alone but now a limited amount of extra tickets are being released for sale at 9am today offering music lovers their last chance to go to this massive event. Tickets cost £5 and are available by calling the Waterfront Hall Box Office on 028 9033 4455. The concert will also be broadcast live on BBC Radio Ulster's Across The Line. Snow Patrol Duke Special main support to Snow Patrol, Belfast Odyssey, March 24. Tickets here: http://zaphod.uk.vvhp.net/click/6218... Tony Hart As you probably know, Tony Hart died last weekend. Alas he never got to judge our little painting competition. Duke said "Tony Hart was a childhood legend, the friend of Morph, the creator of unbelievable pictures, the host of the "gallery". I loved the thought of collaborating in some way and it seemed like it was going to happen. Thank you Tony for all that you have left us with.  x x x Duke."Exhibitions Head to Antrim's Clotworthy Arts Centre on February 3rd for the launch of the Duke Special & Friends, 2006 to 2008 exhibition, which has been assembled by local snapper and Duke online head honcho Stephen Lynn who's been granted unparalleled access to Duke. Starting at 7.30pm, there will be prints available for order, and we expect you-know-who might play a few tunes... Also there is an exhibition of paintings by main illustrator of all things Duke Special Tim Millen on 5-28 February, 7.30 - 9pm at Island Arts Centre, Lisburn. Come along to both! Other voices Duke Special appears on the Other Voices TV show on Programme 3 – Wednesday 28th January featuring Duke Special, Emiliana Torrini, Hugh Cornwell, Mick Flannery, and Chequerboard. That's all for now folks! Duke Special Team | ||||
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| Duke Special News Update! | 348 dni temu | ||
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| Firstly welcome to all of the new people we met on the recent tour! Lots going on – UK and US tour dates! Do visit the messageboard we're a lovely bunch... http://www.dukespecial.com/forums Gigs On Tuesday 16th December - Duke plays the Ruby Sessions in Dublin! The Ruby Sessions is an acoustic club held weekly every Tuesday night in the intimate setting of Doyle's (across from the gates of Trinity college) of College Street, Dublin. Details here: http://zaphod.uk.vvhp.net/click/6218... On Saturday 3rd January Duke Special reprises The Silhouette Old Time Mystery Radio Show, first performed at the Dublin Fringe festival, in Belfast. Shows at 2pm and 8pm! Tickets here: http://zaphod.uk.vvhp.net/click/6218... 2 Duke Special US dates have been announced - check the website for details! Merchandise We're pleased to inform you of a number of new lines in time for Christmas! Duke Special Art prints! Very limited edition Watercolour prints by Tim Millen in the style of the new album sleeve; "Little Revolutions" The Duke Special B side album is now available separately from the Empire Box! Clothing! We have a limited number of T shirts and Hooded sweatshirts left over from the tour Paul Pilot The Paul Pilot CD/vinyl package is also available Visit the store: http://zaphod.uk.vvhp.net/click/6218... Please note last the delivery dates to arrive by Christmas: UK & Channel Islands: 17-12-08 The Post Office state that these were the last posting dates for europe and R.O.W Europe Inc. Rep Ireland and USA: 09-12-08 ROW: 05-12-08 so if we receive orders from outside the UK after these dates, we cannot guarantee they will be delivered by Xmas, though we will be processing orders right up to Dec 17. Please also note that there will be no orders processed from 22-12-08 until the week commencing 5-01-09. Order early to avoid disappointment! Competition Finally we'd like to remind you of the Duke Special painting competition as we've had so few entries... you really do have a chance of winning some great prizes!! The Special Edition of "I Never Thought This Day Would Come" contains paints and artwork for you to use. Paint a glorious picture and send it to: painting@dukespecial.com or post the cards to: Duke Special Painting Competition 60 Compton Road Brighton BN1 5AN. Deadline for entries February 1st, not as originally stated. First prize: A Duke Special gig in your house! Second prize: 2 x limited edition unframed prints (various different animal Hartoons), signed by the competition judge Tony Hart. If you are unaware of such classic TV shows as 'Vision On', 'Smart Hart' and 'Hartbeat' then go to http://www.tonyhart.co.uk The Duke Special Team | ||||
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| Duke Special Painting Competition Prizes Announced! | 372 dni temu | ||
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| We can announce the prizes for the Duke Special painting competition! First prize: A Duke Special gig in your house! Wow!! Second prize: 2 x limited edition unframed prints (various different animal Hartoons), signed by the judge Tony Hart. If you are unaware of such classic TV shows as 'Vision On', 'Smart Hart' and 'Hartbeat' then go to: http://www.tonyhart.co.uk The Special Edition of I Never Thought This Day Would Come contains paints and artwork for you to use. You can get a copy of the Special Edition of the album here: http://www.dukespecial.com/dukestore... Paint a glorious picture and send it to painting@dukespecial.com or post the cards to: Duke Special Painting Competition 60 Compton Road Brighton BN1 5AN. Deadline for entries January 3, not as originally stated. Get painting! | ||||
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| Irish InStore Mini-Tour! | 373 dni temu | ||
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| Duke Special will be making a series of performances and signing-sessions across Ireland during November and December. November Fri 21st BPM 4 Blackfriars, Waterford - 6.30 Sat 22nd Roxy Fairgreen shopping Centre Carlow, - 2 pm Sun 23rd CD World, Town Mall, Drogheda - 2 pm Sun 23rd CD World, Carroll Village, Dundalk - 4 pm Wed 26th Roxy, The Cresent Shopping Centre, Limerick - 6.30 Fri 28th Roxy, Ballincollig Town Centre - 6.30 Sun 30th Downtown Music, Main Street, Casterbar - 2 pm Dec Mon 1st Zhivago, Shop Street, Galway - 6.30 | ||||
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| New album out now! | 401 dni temu | ||
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| Hi Folks! Duke Special's new album "I Never Thought This Day Would Come" is out now, and it sounds fab! Let try to get Duke as close to the top of the Irish album charts as we can! The CD is available from all good records shops - HMV Virgin etc. It's also available online from here: http://www.7digital.com/stores/produ... And from iTunes: http  /clkuk.tradedoubler.com/click?p=23708&a=1311764&url=http%3A%2F%2Fphobos.a pple.com%2FWebObjects%2FMZStore.woa%2Fw a%2FviewAlbum%3Fi%3D292790894%26id%3D29 2790862%26s%3D143449%26partnerId%3D2003 | ||||
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