Chumbawamba head for Bridport Arts Centre (From Dorset Echo)

Chumbawamba head for Bridport Arts Centre

9:10am Saturday 13th March 2010 in

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PROBABLY best known for their fantastic 1997 smash hit Tubthumping and for giving John Prescott a good drenching, Chumbawamba are a positive riot of a band.

The Labour politician, who was Deputy Prime Minister at the time, became the unwitting target of their own brand of direct political action at the 1997 Brit Awards when they threw a vase of water over him.

But real fans have no fear of a soaking when the group are joined by contemporary folk legends O’Hooley and Tidow for the launch their new album ABCDEFG at Bridport Arts Centre next week.

ABCDEFG is musically eclectic and wide-ranging, from acapella to pop to folk to jazz, a mix-up of ideas to reflect its subject matter. That subject matter includes a gentle hymn to teenage under-the-pillow discovery of music heard on late-night transistor radio; a celebration of the marching songs written by soldiers in the First World War and the story of how people had to battle against state communist ideology to play their music.

There is also a poke at the folk world’s obsession with collection and authenticity, plus the story of the concentration camp survivor who disrupted the first playing of Wagner in Israel by swinging a football rattle.

Chumbawamba perform a rare and intriguing blend of post punk attitude with traditional folk and their evening at Bridport Arts Centre promises to be as interesting as it will be exciting.

It will be a rollercoaster of a journey, contemporary folk at its very best, with targets ranging from (somewhat grumpy) wearing of iPods in public to (outright angry) Simon Cowell.

Chumbawamba with O’Hooley and Todow are at the Bridport Arts Centre in South Street, on Thursday, March 18 at 8pm.

Tickets are £12 plus concessions from the box office on 01308 424204.