The line-up for The Whole She-Bang #2 promises another spectacular night

She-bang-ing on!

‘Easter Thursday’ heralded the launch night of a classier-than-average and more-female-focussed-than-usual spoken word night at The Printworks. HOT’s Erica Smith was there to watch The Whole She-Bang kick off and is preparing herself for the second, Election Night Special event.

Emma Joliffe, the co-organiser and MC wanted to put on a night in Hastings which mixed spoken word, music and cabaret. She has been active on the spoken word scene, but never promoted a club night before. Along with her Civil Partner-in-Crime, Tain, she dreamed up a night that would include spoken word, music, cabaret and dancing. Most spoken word nights have a hefty bias towards male performers, and whilst The Whole She-Bang (TWS-B) celebrates women performers, it is certainly not a women-only club night.

TWS-B #1 had a lively, and very mixed audience. Whilst the main performers were all women (with the exception of the male half of Duo Bogoff), the spoken word event that followed was a truly mixed platform of age, gender and proclivities.

From left to right: Emma Joliffe (MC), Andrea Knights, Amy Acre and Michelle Madsden

You get a lot of She-Bang for your bucks – an MC, a musician, 2 poets and the fabulous Duo Bogoff performing 2 solo cameo pieces with special effects for good measure. This was followed by a busy open-mic slot and then dancing til 3pm! It was really refreshing to see Michelle Madsden and Amy Acre perform – I really welcome the opportunity to see experienced spoken word performers from other parts of the country. I also loved local musican Andrea Knights whose comic songs accompanied by ukelele had the audience in stitches. Even Ella, the Assistance Dog who happened to be in the audience that night barked in all the right places during Andrea’s choruses. Plus, the audience were encouraged to write Guess-Who Haikus about famous people, and Dillon Jaxx the lucky winner of the Open Mic round went home proudly clutching a chocolate hen! She also won the opportunity to perform at TWS-B #2.

TWS-B #2 is on Thursday 8 June so it’s turned into an election special. Make sure you vote before the gig! The acts are:

Andrea Hubert – cynical, dark, sarcastic, witty – Andrea has been performing stand up since 2009. In 2016 she took her show, Week, to Edinburgh fringe, garnering 5 star reviews across the board, and winning Best Debut Show.

Gwyneth Herbert – award-winning songwriter, singer and multi-instrumentalist who has shared stages with the likes of Boy George, Amy Winehouse and John Cooper Clarke. She draws on influences from the worlds of jazz, folk, contemporary classical music and storytelling. I call her The Human Theremin because of her vocal range and remarkable singing style.

Keith Jarrett – thoughtful, funny, moving, honest, and beautiful- if you missed Keith at Polari last year, you really must come to see him perform at TWS-B #2. He’s a knock-out.

Plus of course, MC Emma Joliffe, Open Mic winner Dillon Jaxx, and a whole new bunch of open-mic-ers, including Rye’s best kept secret – lounge singer, post-modern juke-box chanteuse and burlesque star Ms GiGi Martini!

Grab your polling card, cast your vote and rush along to The Printworks for The Whole She-Bang!

Tickets available from eventbrite (£5 general entry or £3 for open mic.)
The Whole She-Bang starts at 7.30pm on Thursday 8 June
At The Printworks, 14 Claremont, Hastings TN34

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