Stephen Dunstan, Author at Blackpool Social Club

18 Aug

Hip Hop Duo Still Hungry For Blackpool

DJ Format and Abdominal just can’t stay away from touring the UK. After a successful tour earlier this year, hip hop duo DJ Format and Abdominal head out once again to showcase their very first full-length album together, ‘Still Hungry’. Local fans will get the chance to see them on 11 November at Bootleg Social. Still Hungry was released in May this year and it saw the duo play live on BBC 6 Musicwith Lauren Laverne. The first single from the album, ‘Behind the Scenes’ received more than 50 plays on 6Music. Several videos accompanying the album have clocked up over 150K plays so…

17 Aug

Opinion – Gull Appreciation Weekend 12th-13th August

Stephen Dunstan0 CommentsColumns & Opinion

We don't do too many opinion pieces on altBlackpool these days, but here is one on Blackpool's seagulls. So why 'Gull Appreciation Weekend'? Well when the altBlackpool editor asked round the contributors for airshow pictures I made a jokey comment about it being the only weekend people valued the presence of gulls on the Promenade. 'Seagull overtaking Red Arrows' or similar is fast becoming the photographic cliche of our annual sky based event, I saw at least five on Facebook today. I do find it ironic that we claim to be a nation of animal lovers, but treat any wildlife that…

11 Aug

Food Festival Cooks Up Healthy Twist

Stephen Dunstan0 CommentsLocal News

Marine Hall's Fylde Coast Food and Drink Festival has firmly established itself as a signature dish on the local culinary calendar over the last four years. It returns for the fifth edition on Sunday 20 August with added ingredients. New for this year will be nutritional therapist Katharine Tate, aka 'The Food Teacher'. Katharine will be doing cooking demos and talks focused on healthy eating. If you are keen to get a better understanding about how the food we eat affects our bodies, health and even how well we sleep then this is not to be missed. The staple dishes of…

08 Aug

Curator Position – Closing Soon

Stephen Dunstan0 CommentsVisual Arts & Exhibitions

A few months back I interviewed Jill Reidy regarding her planned road trip photographing seaside towns. You may have seen this, you may even have contributed to the successful crowdfunding campaign. Now there is an exciting opportunity with LeftCoast for a budding curator to contribute to the forthcoming exhibition showcasing the project. LeftCoast are working with Jill to create an opportunity to support her in the selection and presentation of works for her forthcoming exhibition, Seaside Towns out of Season at Abingdon Studios in late September 2017. LeftCoast's Studio scheme offers professional practice development opportunities at three levels; this is…

02 Aug

Switch-On Stage For College Birthday

Stephen Dunstan0 CommentsLocal News, Music & Gigs

Blackpool and The Fylde College students will take the stage along with top local acts at this year’s Blackpool Illuminations Switch-On event as part of the College’s 125-year celebrations. The Friday night event will start with a 'Blackpool Introduces' showcase featuring the best of talent from the local area, including local singer songwriter James Edgar, the vocal harmonies of District 12, upcoming new band Pacific and the soulful vocals of Gloria Alderetti. This will be followed by an exclusive performance from B&FC’s student choir who will lead the crowd in a special rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ to commemorate the College’s…

02 Aug

Witty Woman Wanted

Stephen Dunstan0 CommentsLocal News

Are you a woman? Are you Northern? Are you really funny? By 'eck lass the following could be reet up your street tha knows. The North has a great tradition of female comics, Caroline Aherne, Carla Lane and Victoria Wood being three sadly recently departed greats. Now the BBC has announced a new bursary scheme for aspiring northern female comedians in memory of the former, who passed away in 2016. Aimed at comedy writers and performers, the Caroline Aherne Bursary for Funny Northern Women seeks to foster a new generation of female comedy performers in the North and will award funding…

28 Jul

Stars wanted for Lytham TV

Stephen Dunstan0 CommentsMusic & Gigs

Budding pop and rock stars are being offered the opportunity to perform live on Lytham Festival’s dedicated online TV channel. If you are free Monday afternoon or evening read on. LF:TV launched last year and attracted guests ranging from Indie god and DJ Clint Boon and uber cool guitarist Jeff Wooton, to rock bands Reverend and The Makers and The Dunwells, Country stars The Shires, popstar Jake Quickenden, 70’s pop heroes Bay City Rollers and musical theatre stars Jodie Prenger and Collabro. And this year Festival organisers are searching for talented musicians and singers from across the Fylde who believe…

26 Jul

Review – Walk Like A Man

Stephen Dunstan0 CommentsMusic & Gigs

The Grand Theatre have an extended run of this Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons showcase over the summer, and it was a privilege to be reviewing on opening night. Overall it delivered an authentic but very entertaining tribute which went down well with the large audience. The premise of the night from the outset was that you were watching an actual Four Seasons concert, with introductions as though the original group were performing. This was based on the classic line up of Valli, Bob Gaudio, Nick Massi and Tommy DeVito. Clearly at times there was a lot of poetic…

25 Jul

One Day Wonderland On The Glorious Twelfth

Stephen Dunstan0 CommentsTheatre, Dance & Performance

There probably aren't many grouse shooters among the altBlackpool readership. Like them however you can get excited about August 12 if you have little ones to entertain over the summer holidays, as Step into the Story present their interactive Alice in Wonderland at The Lowther Pavilion. Blackpool creative Linda Hampton and her business partner Carol Little are the team behind this production. Linda is the script writer, director plays the Red Queen. Carol is the creator of a vividly colourful set and props, all of which contribute to the audiences’ memorable experience. Children and their grown-ups meet Alice, the White…

21 Jul

Kay Has His Say At Sellout Q&A

Stephen Dunstan0 CommentsTheatre, Dance & Performance

Today altB unleashes a couple of reviews that have been a little delayed (sorry, we are only human). First up, Peter Kay's one night only sellout Q&A at the Opera House. A few weeks back Peter Kay announced a one-off charity Q&A on Sunday 4 June in aid of cancer sufferer Polly Haydock. Whilst there was always going to be a solemn undercurrent for a comedy night, this was heightened by events in Manchester and London since the date was set. It was interesting to see how Bolton’s finest comic would approach that dichotomy. To be honest I think he made…