Throw those curtains wide and breathe in the summer – although it’s probably raining by the time you read this.

Watching some highlights of the Isle of Wight music festival at the weekend made me realise we are now in festival season! This reminded me to give you a nudge and tell you that you can still get your tickets for the wrexhammusic.co.uk GOOD TIMES! Festival which is taking place on 25th and 26th July. Go to www.wrexhammusic.co.uk/goodtimes for more on that!

Although there has already been an article about this earlier on this week, I think it’s important to remind you about the petition running to keep outdoor live music at The Old Swan in Wrexham. Last Thursday they had their outdoor music license revoked after the council discovered it had been issued in error last year. The petition will back up their fresh application to the local authority. Sign it at www.tinyurl.com/6nsm32 and make sure live music is back there asap – the music scene will not be the same without it!

Here’s the gig rundown for this week:

Four local bands are taking to the Central Station stage in aid of Cancer Research UK tonight. The gig, organised by local music lover Laurie Jones, will feature The Roseville Band, Little Caesar, Gasana and Roy Destroy. Show your support for this worthwhile cause by buying a ticket for a reasonable £5 (that’s £1.25 per band) and getting down there for 7:30pm.

As part of his coursework at Yale College, Danny Gruff has to organise a live music event and this is where ‘Bucket Full of Punk’ comes from. It’s tonight and is at the Club House on Oak Road in Wrexham, the bands playing are Oswestry’s the Smackrats, Ladderpill and new punk covers band Run Baby Run (featuring the sexy, SexyPhil). It’s £4 a ticket and £5 on the door, doors are 7pm.

Tomorrow night The Collards (who were formerly called Katch) are playing the Queens Head in Bradley. It’s free entry and starts at 9pm.

A new dance night is starting at Central Station tomorrow evening. ‘Mayaku’ is organised by the people who brought you Selectro (Leon Roberts and Cy Tukay) and will involve dollops of house, techno and minimal muzak. It’s £4 entry and begins at 10pm. Downstairs at the Yales Bar you will find the weekly Indie Rock n Roll night.

Charity is the theme this week as another philanthropic event is happening, this time on Saturday at Llay Welfare Club. It’s in aid of Teams4U, which is a charity setup by the founder of Operation Christmas Child, to give opportunities to young children to benefit from sports activities. A local group are making a trip to Uganda later on this year to help out. It’s an impressive line-up, with Polly Mackey, Parody, Craig Williams, Trader, The Maydays and Tom Foolerie & the Jesters playing. Tickets are £5 and are available from Hannah Jones who is contactable on 07528452174.

On Monday Thea Gilmore is returning to Telfords Warehouse in Chester. Often acclaimed by the press as one of the best singer/songwriters of her generation, she is due to support The Zuton’s on their latest tour and has just released her new album ‘Liejacker’. Tickets are £12.50 and doors are 8pm.

On Wednesday the Frog & Nightingale in Chester host the monthly Blue Lantern open mic night, where you any budding musicians and singers can perform in front of likeminded souls. Be there for 8pm to book your slot.

And in other news…

JKLMNO have been short listed from thousands of entries to the last 30 in a competition to play the FIB Festival in Spain. This year artists such as Morrissey, Sigur Ros, Leonard Cohen, Gnarls Barkley, The Racounters and Mika are performing. To get the band into the final 5, who then get to play in front of a panel of judges in London, you need to vote for their song ‘The War Song’ by clicking on www.tinyurl.com/46ck64 and registering your choice.

By voting you can also win tickets to the festival and there will be tickets to the London gig up if they get through. Good luck!

A week after The Collards supported teen rockers One Night Only at Central Station, they travelled down south to Guildford to play with Satellite State – a band they battled with in the Climb The Tail competition at the William Aston Hall in January. During their visit to Guildford they managed to bag themselves a slot at the Guilfest Festival, which is a popular (capacity 25,000) music and arts festival based in Guildford, Surrey on the 4th, 5th and 6th July. The festival attracts some popular acts, and this year they have already booked The Levellers, Kula Shaker, Blondie, Fightstar, British Sea Power, Cerys Matthews, Bowling For Soup, Frank Turner and more. For ticket information visit www.guilfest.co.uk.

Enjoy your week, and don’t forget to email me your news to ben@wrexhammusic.co.uk before Monday.