Down for the Count appearing at Twinwood Festival 2025!
We're delighted to announce that Down for the Count All-Stars will be returning to Twinwood Festival in 2025!
Our first Twinwood Festival performance was in 2013 and since then, we have been honoured to be invited back nearly every year. It's a very special festival and every year we love making new memories there. Join us in 2025 on the following days:
Sat 23 Aug - Control Tower, evening show (exact time TBC)
Mon 25 Aug - Arena Stage, afternoon show (exact time TBC)
Both shows will feature the 10-piece Down for the Count All-Stars.
Down for the Count's Twinwood Festival memories
2013: our first performance at Twinwood Festival - we were invited to close the festival on the Bank Holiday Monday. It had been a challenging weekend with awful weather, but on Monday lunchtime the sun came out... and suddenly everyone got in the festival spirit.
Our show went down amazingly well and moments after the third encore, the promoter came on stage to book us for the 2014 event literally there and then.
2014: we were back at Twinwood for the second time, this time performing in front of a full Arena of 6000 in a prime-time Saturday afternoon slot - what an amazing experience this was, and one we won't forget in a hurry!
2016: in 2016, we were honoured to be asked to start a new Twinwood tradition! The organisers decided that they wanted to keep the vintage spirit going into the evening, whilst headline acts performed on the main stage - so invited us to host a 1940s dance on the Control Tower.
We've done it almost every year since - and we love it, always trying to bring something new to each year's show.
2018: this is a Twinwood we'll never forget! We were always down to do the Saturday evening Control Tower set, but 5 days before the festival we had a phone call from the promoter saying that the Friday evening headliner was unwell - and could we cover the show? Of course, we said yes!
We were asked to do a soul and Motown show; and, because the legendary Aretha Franklin had passed away a few days before, we decided that our show would be a tribute to her. Cue some frantic music arranging of 5 brand-new Aretha charts which we rehearsed and premiered at the festival just a few days later.
The only downside was the weather - for years, we had considered ourselves a "Twinwood good luck charm", as every time we performed at the festival the weather was glorious. Sadly in 2018 it was not to be and at the last minute the performance was moved inside - but we still had a great party!
2022: this year saw our largest ever band to grace the Twinwood stage - the Down for the Count Big Band! 20 musicians performing the music of Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman the way it should be done (particularly poignant as the former RAF Twinwood, which is where Twinwood Festival takes place, is the last place Glenn Miller was seen alive before his tragic death in December 1944). It was a great afternoon captured wonderfully by Jack Childs.
2024: was another very special year because once again we were invited to headline the Friday night... and this time, the weather played fair, and we were outside on the Arena stage. It was a glorious evening and we absolutely loved performing soul and Motown music to get the festival off to the best possible start.
We can't wait to make more Twinwood Festival memories in 2025!
Many photos in this article are courtesy of Twinwood Festival and Stephen Astley-Jones
About the author
Mike Paul-Smith is the musical director of Down for the Count. He formed the band in 2005 and since then has directed them for performances at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, Cadogan Hall London, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, The London Jazz Festival, Twinwood Festival, and at countless other theatre and jazz club shows.
