Natives - Band Review

A new band are emerging. Get ready to be excited!

Natives are a pop/rock band from The New Forest, Southampton who were   formally know as ‘Not Advised’ but changed their name to ‘Natives’ at the start of 2012 creating (in their words) "a new and fresh start!".

The band consist of Jim Thomas the front man, Jack Fairbrother and Ash Oliver on guitar, Greg Day on bass and last but not least Andy White on the drums. As a 5 piece they work together and give “20% each” to   create their inspiring lyrics full of pure passion.

They have recently supported Mayday Parade alongside The Summer Set which really helped to define their sound further and bring their message out to many more people. This touring experience should really help them to create the name for themselves they deserve.

In December they are going on a quick tour of their own in the UK to London, Southampton, Manchester, Glasgow and Birmingham playing material from their upcoming debut album. Seeing them live is something I’m definitely going to try to do!

So give them a try and check out the band’s latest self-released single – This Island. If you’re a fan of Deaf Havana then I’m sure you won’t be disappointed!

Check them out:
www.youtube.com/user/follownatives
www.facebook.com/follownatives

Reviewed by Harriet Stevenson

Fun things to do for Halloween

Halloween is fast approaching but traditions seem to be lost and people are running out of ideas so here are a few tips to stave away boredom this year!

Halloween gives way to a variety of amusing pranks. Below are a few favourites;

Caramel onions
A classic prank to pull on unsuspecting family and friends: Wrap an apple-shaped onion in a caramel-apple wrap (You should be able to fin these in your local super market). Add a Lolly stick, melt the caramel lightly in the microwave for an authentic look, and leave it to set. Then you are free to serve to your victim of choice.

Spooky Messages 
Visit friends' houses and write on the mirror with your finger, delivering a scary message such as "I'm watching you!" Breathe on the mirror and you can see your words. Let it dry naturally. When your friend takes a shower, the words will appear again when the mirror fogs up.

Living dead scarecrow
This timeless classic requires careful setup, but it scares the candy corn out of trick-or-treaters of all ages. Dress up as a scarecrow or other suitable character so your body and face are completely concealed. Slump down onto a hay bale next to your front door, as though you're a dummy. When visitors have rung the bell and await the door opening, you come to life in any variety of ways: jump up and scream hideously, slump over and moan, say "hello" as though you've been waiting for them to arrive...anything will get a good reaction.

Of course there is more to Halloween than pranking so here are a few traditional ways of celebrating the holiday!

Dressing up
One of the best parts of the Halloween season has to be dressing up as scary characters or well liked idols.

Apple bobbing
An old tradition; Unmarried people would attempt to take a bite out of an apple bobbing in a pail of water, or suspended on a string. The first person to do so was believed to be the next to marry.

Credit for the pranks goes to lolpranks.com

By Emily Thomas

V Festival Review

Now in its 17th year, V Festival returns with a huge line-up including The Killers, Nicki Minaj, David Guetta and Ed Sheeran.

The organisers of the festival could not have picked a better weekend to have the 2 day festival. It was possibly one of the hottest weekends of the summer, which makes a change compared to earlier years. While most people dressed as minimally as possible to keep cool, there was still the annual V Fest attenders who like to go dressed in crazy outfits - an example this year being a group of 15 Flintstones!

Although it was impossible to see everyone, I saw some really great acts, my favourite being one of half of The Last Shadow Puppets, Miles Kane. After seeing him join Arctic Monkeys on stage at V Festival 2011, I was really excited to see him again after hearing his album ‘Colour of the Trap’. And, despite being under the blazing sun and stuck in a sweaty crowd, everyone was singing and dancing along to hit songs like ‘Rearrange’ and ‘Inhaler’.

A minor down-point to the weekend was Nicki Minaj cancelling her set last minute due to a throat infection, which left some disappointed fans. Although, it wasn’t all bad. DJ Fresh did an extra set in order for LMFAO to take Nicki Minaj’s place, which brought most peoples moods back up. With dancers pouring champagne on the crowd, LMFAO got the whole crowd dancing too hits ‘Champagne Showers’ and ‘Sexy and I Know It’ , which for me, was a great way to end a really memorable weekend.

By Molly-Rose Gosling

Beacon by Two Door Cinema Club - Album Review

Finally, after 2 years, 6 months and 3 days we have at last been given a new album Beacon from the incredible Irish trio; Two Door Cinema Club. Even though the songs are not as upbeat like on ‘Tourist information’ the lyrics are still as meaningful to us and the songs are still as catchy as ever. Their Indie-pop sensational music is becoming more popular and well-known as they tour the UK where everyone can come together and relish their music by singing (or screaming) in unison. Since the album came out I have listened to it almost every day and can now order them with number one being the best and the last still being great but not as good as the first:

1. Next year
2. Pyramid
3. Sleep Alone
4. Wake up
5. Someday
6. Sun
7. The World is Watching
8. Spring
9. Handshake
10. Settle
11. Beacon

What do you think? How would you rank them?

Ironically the song ‘Beacon’ which is the name of the album is last on my list, as I don’t find it as appealing and memorable like ‘Next Year’ which always seems to be stuck in my head after listening to it once. As well as the song being catchy, I think many teenagers will be able to relate to the lyrics especially in the chorus:  ‘Maybe someday, you’ll be somewhere, talking to me as if you knew me, saying I'll be home for next year, darling I'll be home for next year.’ Whereas in ‘Pyramid’ ‘We have seen the world for what it’s worth’ and maybe they’re saying that the world is not perfect and we know it, but we can still live flawlessly good lives despite the depraved things on this planet. Even though ‘We have seen the lies beneath the earth’ it doesn’t stop us from living happily.

It is a very positive album as they are trying to pick out all the good things in life, which is maybe reflecting their optimism about their future careers and how they have a lot ahead of them. If they release another album which can top the last two, then I’m sure they will be just fine. Hopefully, we might not even have to wait another 2 and half years for the next album. But we will see.

By Mikaela Benson

Top 10 Movies to watch at Halloween

After the sweets, the slutty costumes, excessive drinking, pumpkin flavoured everything, and themed parties, the best part of Halloween is the scary movies! Scary movies keep you up late and give you an excuse to hold someone’s hand, so let Halloween be your excuse to throw a movie party. So here we have some of the best Halloween flicks of all time.

10. The Omen
A remake of the 1976 horror classic The Omen an American official realizes that his young son may literally be the devil incarnate. and as the child’s evil becomes more and more apparent in a world full of hate, the Biblical prophecies slowly begin to fall into place.

9. The Ring
A young journalist must investigate a mysterious videotape which seems to cause the death of anyone within a week of viewing it.

8. Jaws
The story of a Long Island town whose summer tourist business is suddenly threatened by a great-white-shark. This film may be old and the special effects may be less than impressive for the 21st century, but it’s still an excellent and truly terrifying film which will continue to remain a golden oldie for some time to come.

7. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
In the early 1980's, a psychopath named Freddy Krueger murdered several children with a glove fitted with razor blades attached to the fingers. When a foolish decision by a judge sets him free, Krueger is burned alive in the boiler room where he worked by an angry mob of the parents whose children he terrorized & murdered. Years after his death, the children whose parents were responsible for Krueger's death - including Nancy Thompson, daughter of the police officer who arrested Krueger - are experiencing terrifying nightmares about him and begin to die in their sleep. Nancy realises she must do something or die.

6. Coraline
A young girl walks through a secret door and discovers a parallel reality that is eerily similar to the life she already knows, yet deeply unsettling in a number of ways. As her ‘other mother’ encourages her to make her stay permanent, she begins to find out the unsettling secrets of this other world. This adaptation of Neil Gaimon’s best-seller is perfect for those who don’t like scary slasher films as it’s not classified as a ’horror’ but it’s still an excellent film perfect for Halloween.

5. Let the Right One in
Oscar, an overlooked and bullied boy, finds love and revenge through Eli, a beautiful but peculiar girl who turns out to be a vampire. This film is both scary and heart-wrenching as Oscar and Eli’s love is doomed from the start, it will have you in tears.

4. Pan’s Labyrinth
Like Coraline, this film isn’t a horror, but it’s still chilling and very dark. It’s one of the best films I’ve seen and completely appropriate for a night in on Halloween. In the fascist Spain of 1944, the daydreaming young stepdaughter of a sadistic army officer escapes into an eerie but captivating fantasy world.

3. The Shining
Another Golden Oldie, A family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where an evil and spiritual presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from the past and of the future.

2. The Exorcist
When a girl is possessed by a mysterious entity, her mother seeks the help of two priests to save her daughter.

1. The Silence of the Lambs
At number 1 we have an adaptation of the book, ‘The silence of the lambs’.A young FBI cadet must confide in an incarcerated and manipulative killer to receive his help on catching another serial killer who skins his victims.

By Ruby Butler

London 2012: Danny Boyle's Opening Ceremony

Danny Boyle’s £27 million  opening ceremony has caused a stir in the media. With Beijing’s spectacular ceremony what we have to live up to, is it really fair to compare? China spent £63 million+ on their four hour ceremony. With less than half the budget that China had, Danny Boyle doesn’t have as much to work with. The media have recently described it as “Looking like the opening title of Eastenders”. The ceremony is meant to show the quirky side of Britain.

Boyle recently had to defend his idea to use live animals in the show, writing to Peta to assure them they wouldn’t be killed after the performance.

Let’s face it, whatever happens I think we can be assured it will be quirky - in the way that Britain always is. And if Boyle’s adaptation of Frankenstein is anything to go on, we need not fear because that was visually amazing.

By Lucy Allen

London 2012: The Lesser Known Olympic Sports

Somewhat hidden behind the famous Olympics sports (running, jumping, swimming) lie many obscure, yet still prestigious sports - here’s your guide on different events to look out for this year!

Handball, as the title suggests involves a two teams (7 players each), touching a ball, using only their hands to try and score a goal – this is not a rare occurrence, most 60 minute matches endure over 50 goals! The sport is fast paced and physically demanding; it has appeared in The Olympic Games since 1936 in Berlin and is played on the largest court of all indoor sports – in the past, Russia has proven itself an excellent competitor, it may be the country to bet money on this year. The first Handball event is broadcast on July the 28th at 9.30am.

The aquatic love child of rugby and handball - male water polo - men have been competing for the gold Olympic medal since 1900 (women have had to wait until the 2000 Olympics in Sydney). The sport is ferociously played in a 2m deep swimming pool; and due to the level of intensity, all 14 players (7 on each team) must wear swimming caps and ear protectors – this is also a great way to distinguish between players as they one-handedly aim the ball into the goal. You can get your water polo fix on the 29th of July when the first men's team go head to head: the game starts at 10am.

Like sword fighting? Fencing is the hip, modern incarnation of said medieval sword fighting. Now aside from the insanely impressive metal spikes each competitor lunge at each other with, the sport has the coolest lingo associated to it: the “piste” is the area that the players must fight on (14m long, 2m wide), “foil” “sabre” “epee” are the types of weapon/category that you can use/compete in, and the “parry” is the defensive move used to block your opponent’s blade. The sport operates in a knock out format (where speed and wit is crucial) and hits on your opponent are recorded electronically. The first fencing fight kicks off on July 28th at 10.30 with the women's individual foil!

By Sarah Beard