Lonely Robot To Headline Trinity 2017

By Natasha Scharf
( Prog )
published

Cancer charity fundraiser returns with Touchstone and Ghost Community also on bill

LR

Lonely Robot, Touchstone and Ghost Community are the first acts to be confirmed for next year’s Trinity Live, in association with Prog.

The charity all-dayer will be held at The Assembly in Leamington Spa on May 27, 2017 and will raise money for three cancer charities: Cancer Research UK, Teenage Cancer Trust and Macmillan Cancer Support.

“John Mitchell’s Lonely Robot will be headlining and he’s planning a full show with special guests and all the props,” says Touchstone’s Adam Hodgson, who’s one of the organisers. “It’ll be the first public performance of the new material so will be really special and we’re going to film it all as well.”

The idea for Trinity Live came about in 2014. It was originally planned as a triple-headliner tour for Magenta, Touchstone and The Reasoning but was rescheduled as a one-day fundraiser when Magenta vocalist Christina Booth was diagnosed with breast cancer. The original event raised £12,000 for cancer charities, which the team hope to smash next year.

“It was incredibly successful last time and there was such a great vibe,” says Hodgson. “So many people have been affected by cancer, especially in the prog world – Chris Squire, John Wetton and of course Christina Booth – so we were gutted we couldn’t sort the logistics out to do another one sooner.”

More bands are still to be announced for Trinity Live 2017, which will also see the return of the very popular prog auction. “Last time, we had donations from everybody, from Yes to Peter Gabriel, and we’ll be getting more exclusive items for next year,” the musician confirms. “We’ll be taking bids by phone again and we’ll list all the items online nearer the time.”

(Image credit: Chris Walkden)

There will also be the chance to continue the fun into the night with an official aftershow party at the nearby Zephyr Lounge, featuring a DJ set from Prog Editor Jerry Ewing. Says Hodgson, “We’ll also be announcing a surprise acoustic act nearer the time and we’ll have T-shirts for sale as well. We’d love the event to sell out so we can raise even more money for the charities.”

In the meantime, Touchstone have confirmed their Lights From The Sky EP will be released via The Merch Desk on November 27. It’s their first recording to feature new vocalist Aggie and keyboard player Liam Holmes. NRS

For more about Trinity Live, visit www.facebook.com/TrinityLiveConcert

Natasha Scharf
Natasha Scharf
Deputy Editor, Prog

Contributing to Prog since the very first issue, writer and broadcaster Natasha Scharf was the magazine’s News Editor before she took up her current role of Deputy Editor, and has interviewed some of the best-known acts in the progressive music world from ELP, Yes and Marillion to Nightwish, Dream Theater and TesseracT. Starting young, she set up her first music fanzine in the late 80s and became a regular contributor to local newspapers and magazines over the next decade. The 00s would see her running the dark music magazine, Meltdown, as well as contributing to Metal Hammer, Classic Rock, Terrorizer and Artrocker. Author of music subculture books The Art Of Gothic and Worldwide Gothic, she’s since written album sleeve notes for Cherry Red, and also co-wrote Tarja Turunen’s memoirs, Singing In My Blood. Beyond the written word, Natasha has spent several decades as a club DJ, spinning tunes at aftershow parties for Metallica, Motörhead and Nine Inch Nails. She’s currently the only member of the Prog team to have appeared on the magazine’s cover.