Musical Plath commemoration

Go glam with ‘em and they’ll take you back to the success of Sugar Baby Love, a worldwide chart-topper that allowed the band to move forward and rack up a further 15 hits.

Meantime, Stage 2 welcomes Irish singer-songwriter James McGrath, a chap who has been likened to some serious aces in the musical pack; Shane McGowan, Neil Young, Nizlopi and Ed Sheeran. That’s pretty tasty, so far as comparisons go, wouldn’t you say?

Expect a charismatic attention-holder with humour, passion and sincerity in plentiful supply.

Dance Away Friday night with Roxy Magic, and on Saturday nightThe Bon Jovi Experience will be there for you as the venue welcomes in two nights of tributes.

Making their debut on Stage 2 on Saturday night will be Casa Margarita, putting thrilling Spanish music at the fore.

It is “...a riveting fusion of stories, song, solo and ensemble pieces that sparkle like gems amidst an extraordinary percussive soundscape,” they promise.

Expect their take on music by Rodrigo, de Falla, Albeniz, Torriba and much more.

There is still some Bridget Christie availability on Tuesday night.

She’ll find the funny with her new show which will provide the answers to questions like ‘Why has Bridget been sending her stained underpants to George Osborne at HM Treasury every month? And ‘What’s the difference between Eddie Izzard and Caitlyn Jenner?’

When she is done with making your face hurt in that humorous way of hers, Bridget will be present with pen in hand for a book signing. Last up this week is Wednesday’s show in the company of Kathryn Williams.

She is visiting these parts as part of a UK stint in support of her Hypoxia album project.

Kathryn was asked if she would accept an open commission to write material inspired by Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar. It was to commemorate the half century anniversary since the publication, and the author’s untimely death – a month after the book’s UK release and Plath was dead. She had taken her own life at just 30 years old.

“What I wasn’t prepared for was the muscular writing,” said Kathryn, who hadn’t read the book since her teens.

“The shocking brutal honesty. The modernness. Thinking about a woman writing like this 50 years ago was astounding.”

When she had re-read the book, she was unable to let it go, so alluring did the characters prove to be, and so this album came to fruition, aided by Ed Harcourt who both produced, and co-wrote a track on the release.

Call up 01908 280800 or visit www.stables.org