With Jonathon Ross retiring from Film Night, we thought we ought to demonstrate we can also talk about movies! Actually, no, we are not going to atempt to be the next Mark Kermode, we just want to bring to your attention some non-mainstream movies we think you ought to check out. Go to the new film review page.

Reunited at the great gig in the sky, the one and only John Peel with John Sicolo, larger than life owner of TJs

The world famous music venue, Newport’s TJs, has closed its doors for the final time. Following the death of owner John Sicolo recently, his daughter has decided that it is not financially viable to keep the venue open.

For the last two decades or so it has been an essential stopping place for touring bands on their way from the gutter to the stars (and occasionally on the way back). The Buzzcocks, The Beat, Catatonia, Chumbawamba, Clutch, Conflict, Cornershop, The Cranberries, The Damned, Echo & The Bunnymen, Elastica, Fugazi, Goldblade, Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, Green Day, Inner Terestrials, The Lemonheads, Manic Street Preachers, Misfits, Mogwai, New Model Army, NOFX, No Means No, Oasis, Offspring, P.A.I.N., Primal Scream, Rancid, RDF, Selecter, Shed Seven, Skunk Anansie, Snuff, Joe Strummer, The Subhumans, Supergrass, Test Department, Therapy?, The Tofu Love Frogs, UK Subs, Voodoo Glow Skulls and The Wedding Present are just a few of the touring bands that have set foot on the TJs stage.

On top of that you can add literally thousands of local bands like The Cowboy Killers, Dub War, 60 Foot Dolls, Novocaine, Flyscreen, Rectify, Four Letter Word and The Terrorist Ballet Dancers from Hell.

Legend has it that Kurt Cobain went down on one knee and proposed to Courtney Love in the club when she played there with Hole in 1991.

The walls of the ‘John Peel Bar’ area of the club are covered in photos of many of the bands that have played there. Pride of place goes to pictures of owner John Sicolo picking up an award at the Brits.

Apparently the club had been in financial difficulty for some time, and solicitors dealing with the estate have advised his daughter Rachel to sell.

Whilst architecturally the place was something of a dive, the building was the organic beating heart of Newport's music scene and as such is totally ireplacable

It would be a cliché to say that Newport will not be the same without TJS… but the fact is, South Wales will not be the same without TJs and Newport will be a poorer place for its loss.

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Reknaw, the long standing London based punk sound system was dealt a major blow today following the torching of their van, with the PA inside.

An official statement on the Reknaw website reads:

"The Reknaw Rocket, which has served us so well for so many years, was burnt out over the weekend. As well as the van being totally destroyed, it had our rig in it. We don't know what we will be able to salvage, but the upshot is that we have lost most of our gear.

This has been a massive blow for us. We are not sure whether Reknaw is going to be able to continue.

We are down but we are not out, and with your support we can get up and running again. If you have facebook, you can join the Benefit for Reknaw Sound System Group ,which has been put together by our friends.

We have had so many messages of goodwill and offers of help. This has given us the strength to carry on when we were considering jacking it all in. It will take a lot of time, money and graft to get Reknaw back on the road. Any donations of equipment will be greatly appreciated. Equipment doesn't have to be working as we can fix it up ourselves. Get in touch through our contacts page. Check back for further developments and news of any gigs that are going to be put on for us. If you can help in any other way, please get in touch via our contacts page.

** If you wish to make a personal donation through paypal, our paypal address is joepublic1@onetel.com. If you want to send a cheque, then email us for our postal address. You can also help us by buying a T shirt. Details are at the bottom of the page. **

Thank you all for your support over the years, with your help we can continue rocking the underground. Without your help ... that will be the end of one of the UK's longest running free party systems. We can't do it on our own, so if you give a shit, get involved.

The Reknaw Crew.

All gigs promoted by REKNAW will still go ahead ... C U there"

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