Chaplins swing looks anything but Bedshaped.....

Tom Chaplin, the lead singer of noughties indie rock band Keane, will perform live at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth on Sunday May 29^th. The European Tour seems to be pretty happy about it too, as they say it will add “a further dash of glamour to an already star-studded event”. I’m not too sure about the glamour, but you have to praise the European Tour for realising that live music brings in crowds, so why not have more bands playing shows after the golf has finished?

Chaplin, who has sold more than ten million albums worldwide with Keane is an extremely Keane golfer too (sorry, I couldn’t resist), therefore he is also set to play in the Celebrity Pro-Am on the Wednesday prior to the tournament.

“I’ve always loved playing in the BMW PGA Championship Pro-Am, so I’m really excited that this year I’ll be performing there too.”

"Me and this bloody golf club might as well be strangers!!"

“Being able to watch world-class golfers up close is an amazing experience and you learn so much from being alongside them for 18 holes. I’ll definitely be back in my comfort zone on the Sunday night though, and we’ll be looking to sign off a fantastic week in style with a great performance.” Said Chaplin.

The night before Chaplin, ‘super-group’ Mike and the Mechanics will be taking to the newly expanded Wentworth stage, and here lies the problem. No offence Mike but surely we can find someone a little more current to fit the bill? We’re not saying Arctic Monkeys should start playing at the British Open, we know that will never happen, but come on…

The Wentworth Show takes place every year as part of the BMW PGA Championship and in our opinion; over the years it hasn’t always had the greatest of line-ups… Instead they seem like a breeding ground for the bands straight out of your local record store’s bargain bin. Hardly the type of bands that would attract new punters to the game.

18th hole at Wentworth. A sight of true golfing lovliness. 

Jamie Birkmyre, Championship Director, said: “The BMW PGA Championship has become the perfect mix of golf and live music. Tickets are selling fast, so I would urge people to visit the website or call the hotline as soon as possible to guarantee being there.” This is all very well and good, but seen as the game is changing and the new guard have taken over, (McIlroy, Spieth, Day, Fowler, Fitzpatrick) surely the live music at European Tour events needs to reflect this.

The GolfPunk team seem to think they know a thing or two about music so here’s 5 musicians and bands that could and SHOULD be playing at these golf events.

1.

Kings of Leon – Huge golfers themselves, it's been said that Kings of Leon have organised certain parts of their tours to actually coincide with golf courses they have on their bucket lists. Cool right? With this being the case, surely the European Tour and the Nashville based quartet could come to some kind of golfing/guitaring agreement? With a bucket full of instantly recognisable tunes and a huge global following, there’s no reason why this couldn’t become a GolfPunk dream come true.

2.

Public Service Broadcasting – Although not everyone may have heard of Public Service Broadcasting yet, in another 6 months, I promise you, they will have. The duo from London have become a favourite amongst the GP team having become a regular in recent GP jukebox’s. They fuse archive audio of space flights with a Daft Punk meets the Maccabees sound and the result is something rather amazing. They also dress pretty dapper too, so we it comes to fitting in at a golf event, they tick all the boxes.

3.

Stereophonics – When combining this fairly optimistic list, I could have just written a list of all my favourite new bands that realistically would never play a show at a golf tournament in a million years. But instead I’ve tried to be a little more realistic and think about bands that wouldn’t look too out of place. Stereophonics are certainly one of those bands. It would be pretty impossible to say that you didn’t like Kelly Jones and his merry men, a band who could play anywhere, to anyone, at anytime and the audience would still know the majority of the words. There most recent release: Keep the Village Alive saw the band go back to some pretty punky roots with lead single C’est La Vie, which has led to them still appealing to younger audiences too. Happy days.

4.

Paolo Nutini – Quite simply the cool of cool, getting Mr Nutini to come and play tournament after shows would be a pretty tough task. He’s hardly the most manageable man in the world to say the least. But in terms of his music and the audiences he could bring, having the outstanding vocalist on board would do no harm whatsoever. The variety in his music also means that nobody would feel left out. From ‘Pencil Full of Lead’ to ‘Iron Sky’ as long as Nutini remained marginally sober for most of the set, the European Tour would be laughing.

5.

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Firstly, there’s probably more chance of the Noel Gallagher reforming Oasis than him going anywhere near even uttering the word golf. But, like most of my articles I’m being pretty optimistic, and taking on the mind set of “yeah but, what if…” To get NG on board the European Tour would probably have to fork out a serious amount of money, but with tournament prize funds growing at a rapid rate, they can’t be too strapped for cash in the old piggy bank. He would bring humour, publicity, guitar solos, denim and most of all anthemic choruses that even middle-aged golfers can’t ignore. Surely it would be worth the call. 

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