Stars from the bands Toploader and N-Trance, who will perform at a new two day music festival in Swanage in Dorset, have spoken about how important the gig is to them.
More than 20 acts will be playing at Swanalulu in Prince Albert Gardens on Friday 13th September and Saturday 14th September 2024 to raise money for the charity #Willdoes which helps young people in Purbeck and Dorset who may be finding life tough and struggling to cope with daily life.
Top selling 90s dance band N-Trance are headlining Swanalulu on the first night
N-Trance and Toploader back two day gig
N-Trance, one of the biggest selling dance bands of the 1990s, will appear on stage at Swanalulu at 9 pm on the Friday, while Toploader, best known for the huge 2000 hit Dancing in the Moonlight, are on the main stage at 8.30 pm on the Saturday.
Both groups have played concerts around the world, with N-Trance having toured Australia and played shows in Dubai, Singapore and Austria, while Toploader played in Dubai recently and have supported the likes of Paul Weller, Robbie Williams and Noel Gallagher.
But both are looking forward to playing Swanalulu festival and helping to raise money to increase the work that the charity’s mobile youth bus is able to do in Dorset.
Toploader guitarist Dan Hipgrave is a huge supporter of the Willdoes charity
“Willdoes is a great initiative”
Dan Hipgrave, guitarist of Toploader which headlined Music By The Sea in 2023 in memory of both Henry Searle and William Paddy, said:
“We are looking forward to playing Swanalulu so much. It’s a beautiful place – we all grew up in Eastbourne, so we are familiar with a lot of the South Coast, but I don’t know Purbeck very well and when we arrived last year we all said to each other how lucky you are there!
“We are very keen to support the Willdoes charity – we all have kids and think it’s amazing. It’s a great initiative they are running in Swanage and we are really into the idea of it, so when we were asked to come back for a second year we said of course we would.
“The gig last year was very intimate, it was obviously not Glastonbury but there is something about family run, well organised intimate shows that we really like, they looked after us really well and the location was wonderful – Swanage is such a beautiful place.
“We are probably getting more enjoyment now from playing live than we ever have before. We all get on together really well, we enjoy pleasing the crowds and understand that at festivals the name of the game is to deliver entertainment.”
Toploader are looking forward to entertaining the crowd at Swanalulu on Saturday evening
“A little 90s nostalgia won’t harm!”
Dan added:
“Our USP has always been to entertain people and have the most fun possible. We come from a town where there wasn’t a lot to do and going into a pub to drink, having a laugh with friends and playing some music was all we had.
“We are never not busy, but summer is especially busy and Swanalulu is the perfect place to close the festival season. Afterwards, we are going to South Africa, then some firework festivals, and in February we are supporting James Blunt on his arena tour.
“It’s the 20th anniversary of his debut album, while our 25th anniversary is coming up next year and we will do something special to celebrate it.
“We were delighted to see the huge level of interest in Oasis getting back together for new concerts – it’s amazing how many tickets they have sold and how many more they could sell if they wanted to, though obviously they have been responsible for some of the best songs in the world.
“But a little 90s nostalgia won’t harm! Toploader crossed over into the Noughties, and if it brings back memories from that era that has to be good for us.”
N-Trance, pictured here at the Poole Festival in August 2024, can’t wait to return to Dorset
“We love being in Dorset”
Ben McB, the MC, host and rapper with N-Trance, said:
“We love being in Dorset – we played at Poole Harbour Festival in August and to say we had a blast was an understatement! We are really looking forward to playing Swanage, especially as it is in support of such an amazing charity.
“Our set is going to be magic. It’s going to be a mixture of some of our classics with a few remixes thrown in, a really punchy set which will be jam-packed with our biggest hits and lots of energy.
“If you listen to a lot of the kind of nineties and noughties dance acts, some of their songs are just unbelievable, whereas in today’s era – I’m not saying that the music’s not great and it’s not catchy, but it’s just not quite as timeless.”
N-Trance say that their Swanalulu set will be jam-packed with big hits and huge energy
“We want to say a huge thank you”
Ben added:
“When people enter into a particular style of music or a particular time frame in their mind that is linked with great music and great times, then I think it’s something they want to go back to and be reminded of time and time again.
“Live music is all about nostalgia, it’s the things that you were listening to in your youth, the things that got you into creating and formulating your musical habits, the things that people always feel drawn back to.
“We just want to say a huge thank you to everyone all over the globe who dances and sings along with us at all of our shows and to all those who keep loving and playing the tunes! We appreciate you!”
Willdoes founder Lesley Paddy, pictured at the Music By The Sea concert in 2023
Raising funds for Willdoes youth bus
Tickets are on sale for the two days of Swanalulu, which will also feature fairground rides and a small food village in Prince Albert Gardens, which will be festooned with lights.
Other bands playing include Lady Gaga tribute band Maybe Gaga, Nile Rogers tribute Chic To Chic, Rock of the Pops and local favourites Galaxy Thief, along with The Swanage School, The Purbeck School and Allsort’d.
Lesley Paddy founded the charity Willdoes in 2019 after the death of her son William Paddy, and has helped to raise more than £100,000 to buy and convert a double decker bus into a mobile youth centre that can travel across Dorset, providing a range of wellbeing services for youngsters.
The Willdoes youth bus is based in Swanage but visits areas across Dorset in need of youth service provision including Portland, Weymouth, Dorchester and rural villages.
It provides a safe space for youngsters to chat, with a room for confidential discussions, a bean bag area to relax in and a small kitchen to provide drinks and snacks.
With LED coloured lighting and brightly furnished seating it has become a welcoming place where young people can meet up as well as speak to youth workers, counsellors and medical professionals.
Funds raised at Swanalulu will help expand the service offered by the Willdoes bus
“The forecast is looking better!”
Lesley Paddy said:
“We want to be able to increase the usage of the bus and put it in more areas, which is all funding dependent, so events like Swanalulu are vital to help us get more staff on board and send it out to more areas where it is greatly needed.
“Myself and my friends have always called Swanage ‘Swanalulu’, the same as we call Weymouth ‘Weybiza’, so the name for the festival came out of that.
“Preparations are going well and we are praying for good weather – the forecast is looking better, so that’s good!”
Further information
- Buy tickets to the festival on the Swanalulu website
