Skin Côntact tickets on sale now

Tickets for wine trade supergroup Skin Côntact’s second charity gig are now on sale, as the identities of two DJs from the industry set to battle it out on the dance floor are revealed.

Skin Côntact founders Anne McHale MW, Matt James, Richard Hemming, Helen Chesshire, Ben Smith and Alex Hunt MW

Last year the band performed a one-off charity gig in partnership with Côtes du Rhône Wines that raised more than £10,000 for Comic Relief. Now back for a second “one-off” gig, this year’s event will take place at the O2 Islington Academy on Thursday 12 May, again in partnership with Côtes du Rhône wines,

The event’s DJs have now been announced, with DJ Neal Martin and DJ Dan Keeling set to take to the decks.

Neal, wine writer for eRobertParker.com, DJ-ed at Skin Côntact LIVE 2015, but this year he is taking centre stage to battle arch-rival, Dan Keeling of wine magazine and wine bar Noble Rot.

“A DJ Battle is like Game of Thrones but with vinyl 12-inches instead of axes”, said Neal. “Trust me, vinyl cuts deeper. There’s gonna be blood. I’m serious. Keeling’s going down.”

Dan meanwhile is a music industry veteran who signed Coldplay while working for EMI and has experience of DJ-ing in front of tens of thousands of people at events including Tribal Gathering and Rolling Stones concerts throughout the 1990s.

“Back in the day, DJs would fight to the death armed with nothing more than two turntables, a mixer and a bag of 12 inches … now it’s the turn of Leigh-On-Sea’s finest vs The Dance Floor Destroyer.”

The event will feature a performance by Skin Côntact, along with guest spot singers from the wine trade, and a performance by the winner of Skin Côntact’s singing competition. Open to everyone in the wine trade, Skin Côntact are calling upon budding singers to submit a short recording of themselves singing to one of three songs with the winner set to join the band on stage. Closing date for entries is 26 February.

Skin Côntact’s members include Richard Hemming MW, writer for JancisRobinson.com, on keyboard; Alex Hunt MW, purchasing director for Berkmann Wine Cellars, on lead guitar; Ben Smith, head of communication for Concha y Toro UK and former member of ’80s chart-toppers Curiosity Killed The Cat, on bass guitar; and Matt James, founder of The Bordeaux Cellar and former member of ’90s indie band Gene, on drums.

Tickets for Skin Côntact LIVE AGAIN! are priced at £20 plus booking fee with 100% of the face value going to Wine Relief, the wine trade’s fundraising initiative for Comic Relief.

Find out more and buy tickets at skincontactlive.com