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Singer from local band Peaness pulled up on stage with Paramore in Manchester – and ‘slayed’

This is so amazing.

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 19th April 2023

Hayley Williams, lead singer of Paramore, was up to her usual tricks on stage in Manchester last night, pulling audience members up on stage with her.

But the huge crowd at the AO Arena got an unexpected treat when one of the people handed the mic ended up being the singer of a local band.

Jess Branney from Peaness, an up-and-coming all-female group from Chester, shared the same space as the American rock band, and fans have absolutely loved it.

Paramore also invited a pair of best friends up at the same time as Peaness, with Hayley joking that the four of them were The Spice Girls.

On Instagram, Jess’s bandmate Rach Williams shared videos of the insane moment, which saw her catapulted from their usual intimate stage size (like their recent gig at Gorilla) to the mighty 21,000-capacity AO Arena.

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She wrote: “Absolutely LOSING MY SH*T at Hayley Williams talking about Peaness loooool.”

Jess later shared a video where she said: “It’s 2am. I’ve been processing in bed. I’ve calmed down a bit now.

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“Firstly, I’m sorry I messed it up – no one’s more upset than me. But um, what a night, and it’s been nice to see some footage back from different spots in the arena. Because honestly, when I was up there, I didn’t know what was going on.

“My body was reacting, flailing around, having a party, going ‘oh my god it’s Paramore’. What a night.”

She also posted on Twitter: “Can’t believe that just happened. Like, Hayley Williams knows our band. I pushed my air into her personal microphone. WTFFFFFF. Thanks for all the love but holy heck what a night and what a band @paramore are.”

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Other people on Twitter were showering Jess and Peaness with praise after the Paramore gig – although some did struggle with their band name.

One person wrote: “JESS of the p*nis (?) band, wherever you are, please know you slayed mizbiz (i thought for a sec hayley was still on the mic)

Someone else wrote: “Living for Jess from @peanessband getting pulled up onstage to sing with @paramore and smashing it!”

Another said: “Okay so everyone who was at @paramore in Manchester (and actually just everyone regardless) should go and follow @PeanessBand right now. Jess did Miz Biz and they are just the most wonderful band, and deserve all of our love.”

One person tweeted: “Amazing to see @BlocParty and @paramore on the same line up with a little bonus @PeanessBand!”

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Someone posted: “i am having an asthma attack this is so amazing an ABSOLUTELY deserved you absolute legend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PEANAMORE TOUR NOW”

Featured image: Twitter, @ana_cisternas9

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Bands panic as Easy Life report they’re being sued by EasyJet

Danny Jones Danny Jones are easyJet really suing easy life over their name?

The music industry and social media at large are taking aim at easyJet in light of what might be one of the most ridiculous stories we’ve ever heard, as the airline is reportedly suing alternative indie-pop band, Easy Life, because their names are apparently too similar.

Like the majority of people who first saw this online, we thought it was a joke at first too. Apparently not…

Despite having been formed in 2017 and having seemingly caused no disruption to the company’s business in the past six years, Easy Life shared a statement on Monday evening claiming that popular UK airline easyJet is set to sue them simply because they share the word ‘easy’ in their name.

Much to our and everyone else’s shock, the lawsuit appears to be real after a spokesperson for the budget flight operator told NME: “Stelios and easyGroup founded and (now) own the right to the easy brand name… We cannot allow unauthorised third parties to simply use it free, gratis and for nothing. That would be very unfair.”

They basically believe they have a copyright on the word ‘easy’. Simply flabbergasting and, as you can expect, it has led to some very low-hanging fruit and amusing reactions:

The full statement by the Leceister-based band reads: “Okay… never imagined having to do this but we’ve no choice but to address the situation we find ourselves in. As some of you have already discovered, we are being sued, easyjet are suing us for being called easy life.

“They’re forcing us to change our name or take up a costly legal battle which we could never afford. we’ve worked hard to establish our brand I’m certain in no way have we ever affected their business.

“Although we find this whole situation hilarious, we are virtually powerless against such a massive corporation. I don’t really know what else to say, will keep you lot updated.”

The five-piece signed off by joking, “for those of you who bought gig tickets and ended up on a budget flight to Tenerife, I apologise, for the rest of you, thank you so much for your support”. Naturally, they aren’t the only ones laughing at the absurdity of it all.

While a large proportion of the comments are versions of “surely they are joking?” and “this has to be a p*** take?”, for those that have clocked on to the fact this is somehow real, easyJet are currently being called every name under the sun.

Big up the guy who commented, “Jet from Gladiators should sue Easyjet. Pretty sure she was around before they were a thing.”

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As for the company’s stance on the matter, they went on to insist to the NME that “Stelios and easyGroup founded and (now) own the right to the easy brand name.

So yes, although it might sound silly that they are basically trying to copyright a common word in the English language which has been used in various different phrases since the start of the Middle Ages, easyJet have indeed been trademarking a number of different names including easyVan, easyProperty, easyCurrency and more — the suggestion being that they could be angling for easyLife insurance next.

It goes without saying that we find this whole thing stupid we’re still in disbelief that it’s actually genuine. Then again, we shouldn’t be too surprised as the company’s owner Stelios Haji-Ioannou has tried to sue everyone from the creators of Come Fly With Me, who parodied him back in 2010, to a small taxi company that also had easy in their name.

What they’ve actually done is just lost even more faith amongst Brits who travel from time to time and might have been considering using the airline and given easy life one of the best bits of inadvertent publicity and nationwide exposure we’ve ever seen.

Here’s hoping the boys’ nightmares turn into daydreams soon and in case it wasn’t already hammered home just how daft this whole thing is, just check the comments underneath this statement of solidarity from music label Blood Records.

Featured Image — easy life (via Instagram)/Bene Riobo (via Wikimedia Commons)

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Bluedot will NOT take place in 2024 after extreme weather halted this year’s festival

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson Bluedot Festival

Bluedot, one of the North’s best-loved festivals, will not be taking place in 2024, it has been announced.

The family-friendly festival in Cheshire takes place every summer in the staggering setting of Jodrell Bank, with the Lovell Telescope providing a backdrop to the main stage.

Bluedot had to partially cancel its 2023 festival and turn away day guests on its final day, after heavy rain left areas of the festival site ‘unpassable’.

Unprecedented rainfall in July turned Jodrell Bank into a muddy swamp that made it unsafe for day ticket holders to attend, despite the team on site laying more than 1.5km of additional track mat and track way, 130 tonnes of sustainably sourced wood chip, and bringing multiple trucks on site to pump out standing water.

Sadly, the damage done by this summer’s miserable weather is lasting.

Bluedot has now confirmed that its 2024 instalment will not be taking place, with the ground needing a fallow year to recover from the extreme weather.

The award-winning festival said that the record-breaking rain before and during the festival has had a severe impact on the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The mud at Bluedot 2023 means that it will take a fallow year in 2024. Credit: The Manc Group
The mud at Bluedot 2023 means that it will take a fallow year in 2024. Credit: The Manc Group
The mud at Bluedot 2023 means that it will take a fallow year in 2024. Credit: The Manc Group
The mud at Bluedot 2023 means that it will take a fallow year in 2024. Credit: The Manc Group

Organisers said: “When we set out on the journey that is bluedot, our mission was to create a unique experience – a combination of discovery, exploration and grand cosmic ideas, soundtracked by the finest musicians from across the planet.

“An opportunity once a year to explore new and unique collaborations between science, music and the arts, to be amongst like-minded adventurers, and to rediscover and celebrate our shared humanity.

“Underpinning bluedot’s mission is a sincere love and respect for the earth and environment we are lucky to be part of. However, the earth beneath bluedot took a lot of strain.

“Experiencing the highest level of rainfall on the festival weekend since records began (records courtesy of Jodrell Bank’s own weather station!) we have patiently waited to see what the effects of this have been on the land itself. We have now sadly reached the conclusion that the ground on which the bluedot universe is built desperately needs some time to recover; a period of rest during which the soil will recover and regenerate.”

Bluedot has shared a full statement on its website.

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Featured image: The Manc Group

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