Bonfire Radicals with special guests The Drystones tickets

The electrifying sound of 6 piece (un)traditional folk band Bonfire Radicals is both intensely creative and irresistibly fun. Expect the unexpected, with global grooves, instrumental fireworks, rich vocal harmonies and delicate a cappella emerging from a melting pot of original and traditional tunes from the British Isles to the Balkans. Emotive vocals, textural washes, intricate woodwind and fierce fiddle are woven together over a pulsating backdrop of guitar, bass and drums. Bonfire Radicals’ music dares their audiences not to dance.

The band have built up a strong fan base following their intense high-energy live performances across the UK including Cheltenham Jazz Festival, Beardy Folk Festival, Moseley Folk & Arts Festival, Purbeck Valley Folk Festival, selling out Birmingham’s legendary Hare & Hounds and Kitchen Garden Cafe, and airplay on BBC Radio 3.

They return to the Hare and Hounds to celebrate the release of their second album The Space Between. The album features a collection of original, traditional, and borrowed tunes all arranged by the band and given a new life and direction. It captures the adventurous breadth of their musical imaginations, revels in enthusiasm for folk traditions from around the globe and delivers it with the effortless dynamism that permeates their live shows. It urges you to dance with abandon, ears wide, hairs raised.

'Boldly raucous … Quite staggeringly special”. (Fatea Magazine)

'Birmingham's finest progressive folk band'. (Tradfolk)

'Raucous and eclectic... sheer merriment bundled into a gorgeous set of ideas and influences' (Songlines ........)

'Complex and contemporary, edgy and exploratory, Bonfire Radicals burn at borders of folk, rock and classical genres'.(Irish Music Magazine)

Electro folk pioneers The Drystones are bringing a night of big bad beats for badass barn dancing to your local venue/nightclub/disco/village hall. All you have to do is leave your preconceptions of folk at the door and maybe bring some sequins…

The ‘indecently talented’ duo of Alex Garden (fiddle) and Ford Collier (guitar, low whistle) have been honing their take on traditional music since their humble beginnings as teenagers busking the streets of Somerset. After years of playing the folk circuit, they are on a mission to make their shows a unique space: where people of all generations can enjoy folk music.

Their new album Vulpus represents Ford and Alex’s transition from rural to city life: blending trad folk with electronic music, the fire and energy of their timeless fiddle and guitar integrated into the modern world of synths, grooves and big beats.

For the Vulpus tour, they are joining forces for the first time with ‘percussion maestro’ Evan Carson (Sam Kelly and the Lost Boys, iamthemorning), who’s powerful grooves make sitting still a difficult task.

Having played slots at Glastonbury Avalon Stage, supported top acts such as Elephant Sessions, Steeleye Span, Ray Davies and got a BBC Radio 2 Folk Award nomination under their belts, The Drystones know how to please a crowd. Whether you’re more at home in a crusty tavern or a sweaty disco, a Drystones show is the place for you.