Red Square (forward THE GREAT SQUARIONS!) - Jon Seagroatt, Ian Staples & Roger Telford - live at the Tinderbox Festival (www.myspace.com/tinderboxfestival) (www.myspace.com/redsquarealbum)

Red Square live at the 2011 Tinderbox Festival

Red Square is a remarkable, pioneering British group that was originally formed in 1972, broke up in 1978, before re-forming in 2009 as a result of renewed interest in the band’s ground-breaking bridging of the worlds of psychedelia, metal and avant-jazz. 

Pre-dating Sonic Youth by seven years and the Thing by twenty five, Red Square’s railing aural assaults were once considered too extreme for commercial release. 

Jon Seagroatt, Ian Staples & Roger Telford continue to deliver free-form avant-metal through very big speakers.

The Psychedelic Raiders is the classic power trio vehicle for the incendiary psychedelic guitar playing of Ian Staples, veteran '60's survivor, wired denizen of the Middle Earth Club, and lysergically-fuelled habitué of Round House happenings.
The band is completed by Jon Seagroatt (bass & vocals) and Chris Hills (drums).

Plan's for the 2012 Tinderbox are now well advanced, please visit <a href="http://www.tinderboxfestival.co.uk" target="_blank"><font color="#FF9900"><b>Tinderbox Festival</b></font></a> for the latest information!

Red Square's Tinderbox Festival is a mini-micro festival of challenging music set in unchallenging, positively embracing surroundings, where the trees want to hug you as much as you want to hug them.
The thematic idea of Tinderbox is to present an eclectic range of musics which have improvisation as a core ingredient.
Last June we ran a trial one-day mini-festival-cum-birthday-party at a fantastic canal-side location at Cropredy. We installed a stage, a decent PA system and some engagingly twinkling lights. We dialled up a bit of sunshine, and then we invited a few improvising bands and musicians that we liked to come along and play.
The event proved such a success, with both bands and audience, that, by the next day, we had agreed to repeat the format again for this year.
One thing we found very interesting was the way that people who had never been exposed to this kind of music enjoyed both the music and the day itself. It seems that the setting of a small, outdoor festival creates a user-friendly context for improv and helps to overcome some of the suspicion that often greets experimental musics.
After all, if you're lying in a field in the sunshine with a glass of wine and a nice bun, whilst some crazee cats are busy circuit bending on stage, it's somehow all seems a little less threatening. We will certainly be keeping the relaxed, 'challenging music in a non-challenging environment' feel for this year.
We want Tinderbox to be a place where musicians can meet, hear what one another are up to and exchange ideas (and gigs), and where the audience can dip their toes in some pretty cutting-edge sounds whilst relaxing with a nice picnic and a bun.
All of the bands &amp; collectives represented here played at the 2011 Festival - to them; many thanks for an exceptional day of music.



Red Square live at the 2011 Tinderbox Festival

Tinderbox Festival (2011)