This may come as surprise to many but Valentine’s Day is infact the most celebrated holiday around the world after New Years Day!
Valentinus was an early Christian saint who was imprisoned by the Romans for performing weddings for soldiers who were forbidden to marry. His letter to the his jailers daughter signed “From Your Valentine” prior to his execution is for what he will be best remembered.
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It’s no secret that we’re big fans of Edgar Allan Poe – the 19th Century author whose Romantic visions of melancholy and madness helped define Gothic – here at Alchemy. So it was exciting to hear the news that the B-movie legend Roger Corman, who made his name adapting Poe, is planning to revisit the author’s work. Corman’s been in the film business for sixty years now, during which time he’s directed more than fifty features and produced well over 300 more. While he’s best known for shooting his films faster and cheaper than the competition, Corman’s also noted for fostering young talent. Directors such as James Cameron and Francis Ford Coppola and stars like Jack Nicholson and Robert de Niro were given breaks and learnt their respective crafts on Corman productions.
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For over 35years we have offered a unique service manufacturing a vast array of items that are not necessarily alternative! We can create ‘Whatever you want when you want it’ The beauty of working with Alchemy is that we are totally in house from concept, design and manufacture, specialising in merchandise for any occasion or event.
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New year, new you or so the mantra goes. It’s all connected to the custom of making a new year’s resolution, which dates back to ancient times when both the Babylonians and the Romans made promises to their respective gods. These days, our commitments are more about self-improvement than appeasing deities.
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You could be forgiven for thinking that 2012 was a pretty poor year for heavy metal, particularly here in its British birthplace. London hosted the Olympics, with the filmmaker Danny Boyle directing the opening and closing ceremonies, designed to highlight the best of British culture and tradition. Of course the soundtrack was crucial, and Boyle carefully picked a selection of timeless British music and song, from hymns, to TV themes tunes and pop songs, and even some classic punk. The only obvious style conspicuous by its absence was heavy metal. But metal’s used to being regarded as beneath contempt by the media’s accepted arbiters of taste. For many metal fans, being perennially out-of-fashion has become a mark of pride.
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It seems like only yesterday that we were getting ready to go on our summer holidays and now it’s almost Christmas! That means festive parties are on their way and whether you’re going to a student, work or private do, you’re probably already thinking about your outfit.
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When Alchemy’s old friends Gavin Baddeley and Keri O’Shea told us that the Vikings had once more invaded the Norsemen’s former English capital of Yorvik (that’s York to any Angles, Normans or Saxons among you) this autumn, we had to know more. This time the invaders were wielding guitars rather than broadswords, though the locals were just as devastated by the assault that people were calling the Warhorns Festival. A weekend of the best in the kindred genres of folk, pagan and black metal, Warhorns was a truly international affair, with bands hailing from as far afield as Latvia and North Carolina, delivering a heathen feast of the kind of music you might find if the mythic hall of Valhalla had a jukebox. While the dust finally settled some time back, we were still eager to hear who prevailed and who fell on that fateful weekend of Warhorns…
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ZZ Top, The Damned and Lynyrd Skynyrd were among those honoured at the eighth annual Orange Amplification Classic Rock Roll of Honour awards on Tuesday night at a gala evening held at the Camden Roundhouse, London.
The event was hosted by Duff McKagan (Guns n’Roses, Velvet Revolver, Loaded) and was attended by some of the biggest names of Rock! Alchemy were once again proud sponsors of the event, this time sponsoring the re-issue of the year award. We were also honoured to have sculpted and individually crafted each award in our own Leicester studios, as we do each year along with the Metal Hammer Golden Gods awards.
Among the winners on the night were The Damned, rewarded for their outstanding contribution to music, 36 years on from their recording debut. Rush, who received the award for Album of the Year (Clockwork Angels) and Band of the Year. As well as Tracer who received Best new band, having completed their first headline tour earlier this year.
Anthrax were named Metal Gurus and manager Tony Smith was named VIP, while the late Deep Purple keyboard player Jon Lord received the Tommy Vance Inspiration award.
The Final award of the evening was for ZZ Top, claiming the coveted Living Legend Award presented by last year’s winner, Jeff Beck. The Texan three-piece join an exclusive club including Jimmy Page, Alice Cooper and Iggy Pop.
Bringing an end to a great evening was a 30 minute set by Lynyrd Skynyrd, who had earlier collected the Comeback Award. Scroll down to view a video from the night, as the band perform the well known ‘Sweet Home Alabama’
Classic Rock Roll of Honour 2012
The Living Legend Award (Sponsored by Orange Amplification): ZZ Top
Event Of The Year (Sponsored by Roadrunner): Ginger Raises £250k
Breakthrough Act Of The Year (sponsored by Olympus): Rival Sons
The Musicians’ Union Maestro Award: Phil Manzanera
Tommy Vance Inspiration Award (Sponsored by Lewis Leathers): Jon Lord
Classic Songwriter Award (Sponsored by Sennheiser): Russ Ballard
Outstanding Contribution (sponsored by Monitor Audio): The Damned
Classic Album Award (sponsored by Eagle Rock): Status Quo ‘Live!’
V.I.P. Award (sponsored by currencies.co.uk): Tony Smith
Metal Guru Award (sponsored by Mascot Label Group): Anthrax
Best New Band (sponsored by Kraken): Tracer
Album Of The Year: Rush ‘Clockwork Angels’
Reissue Of The Year (sponsored by Alchemy): Pink Floyd’s ‘Immersion’
Film/DVD Award: Pink Floyd ‘The Story Of Wish You Were Here’
Band Of The Year (sponsored by Live Nation): Rush
Spirit Of Prog Award (sponsored by USM / UMC): Family
Showman Of The Year (sponsored by Rimowa): Nikki Sixx
Comeback Award (Sponsored by Jeffery West): Lynyrd Skynyrd
A new survey released this week reveals that, for a large number of Brits, seasonal stress officially kicked in on 12 November. Whether you plan your shopping trips early to avoid the big queues or leave it up to the last minute, there’s no denying that festive times cause the biggest headaches for many of us and there’s now just over a month left until Christmas day itself.
The high street is already full of decorations and festive foods so whatever your faith or culture, the chances are you’ve already started at least thinking about if not planning your festivities. American readers will be a little further into their preparations as Thanksgiving is on 22 November!
You’ll be able to find plenty of gift ideas for the Goth, punk, metaller and steampunk in your life in the 35th anniversary edition of the Alchemy catalogue. Once you’ve made your selection, why not get in the mood with a hot brew served in an Alchemug [ALMUG.1],or maybe something a little stronger in our Viking Horn Tankard [AAT.25]. Don’t forget to stock up on our Alchemist Pen Top [BE.4] decorated ball pens – they’re just the thing for signing your seasonal cards.
Now is the time to get festive, don’t leave it last minute! To buy all the above items and plenty more stunning Alchemy gifts, click on the link to take you to our approved Alchemy Dealers in your area: www.alchemyengland.com/buy
Burlesque is a musical performance commonly known for causing laughter, whilst taking on a serious side to entertain the audience. This genre of performance originated in the Victorian Era, regarded as a theatrical parody.
The performer(s) relied on the audience to understand the ‘mocking’ of other serious artists. When Burlesque first appeared at venues such as Cabarets, Clubs and Theatres, they often featured a female ‘striptease’ alongside elements of comedy which made the shows very diverse. In-fact since the 70’s, a number of big Hollywood movie producers tried to adapt the dramatic Burlesque scenes to feature in films. Some of these include the 1972’s ‘Cabaret’, and ‘All That Jazz’ which premièred in 1979. Costumes in Burlesque were categorised by some as very revealing, wearing stockings, feather boas, skirts above the knee and most importantly, corsets!
Burlesque continues to strive throughout the generations. The new acts of Burlesque such as Dita Von Teese, were influenced by movies and their curvy queens like Marilyn Monroe. With their big hair and fertile hips, these bombshells inspired women everywhere to exaggerate their own voluptuousness, and the corset especially was reborn.
Why not celebrate the long-lived Musical performance with our Corset Burlesque style choker? St.Cyr’s Delight (P587)..’An enticing revue of the Burlesque dancer’s talents. With ribbon lace-up front, black pearls and crystal heart. On deep red velvet with button fastener’
With Christmas just around the corner this would make a stunning gift or even a treat for yourself. Buy yours here to search our list of approved Alchemy Dealers: www.alchemyengland.com/buy