In the spirit of the holidays, Geordies Maximo Park (with frontman Paul Smith pictured above) are giving away the Mumdance’s KERPLUNK! remix of ‘Let’s Get Clinical’.

It’s a bit schizophrenic with plinky plonky synths at one part and marching band / fiesta noises in another. But everything goes crazy around the holidays, am I right? You can download it from here.

Looking for a review of the Saturday of the Big Weekend? Click Here.

BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend is an annual musical festival with bit of a twist. Every year, the 2 day event takes place in a different town, with past locations including Dundee, Preston and Maidstone. This 2009, Radio 1 will be bringing their Big Weekend to Lydiard Park, Swindon, on Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th of May. Tickets to the event are free, and are obtained through a random lottery on Radio 1’s website (registration has now closed). Lucky winners will blag a pair of tickets to their selected day (Saturday or Sunday), with Swindon residents receiving allocation priority in order to make the event more accessible to locals.

Every year the event has boasted an impressive line-up (past artists include Madonna, Muse and Foo Fighters), and this 2009 is absolutely no exception. Snow Patrol (pictured top), Kasabian (pictured right)and Dizzee Rascal will be headlining the ‘Main Stage’ on Saturday, while Lily Allen, Akon and Franz Ferdinand will be taking over the top slots on Sunday. Other artists who will be featuring within the main arena over the weekend include The Script, Calvin Harris, The Wombats, The Saturdays, Scouting for Girls, Ne-Yo, Alesha Dixon and N-Dubz.

Meanwhile, headline acts hitting the smaller ‘In New Music We Trust Stage’ on Saturday include Basement Jaxx, Doves and Jack Penate, while Sunday will be tastily offering up The Enemy, Maximo Park and Gossip. Further impressive artists appearing on this stage across the May weekend include Friendly Fires, Florence and the Machine, Fightstar, Enter Shikari, Ladyhawke and White Lies.

Should you fancy checking out some new music while at the event, why not head over to the ‘Introducing Stage’, where you can get up and close with a range of upcoming talent including Stornoway, The Temper Trap, Bombay Bicycle Club, Thee Vicars, Gallop and Marina and the Diamonds. And if that’s still not enough, you can catch a wide-range of top DJs spinning the decks over at the ‘Outdoor Stage’, with Radio 1 favourites including Chris Moyles, Annie Mac, Tim Westwood, Zane Lowe and Rob da Bank all making an appearance.

Registration for tickets to the event has now closed, but never fear, as the BBC will be broadcasting highlights of the festival on Radio 1 and BBC Three across the weekend. You’ll also be able to catch footage online, as well as on your trusty red button. If you’d like more information on the event, along with a full line-up, head over to the Big Weekend’s website now.

Top photo comes from Radio 1’s Flickr Stream.

Maximo Park have announced a string of live dates around the UK for mid to late May.

Tickets for the below go on sale at 10am (according to See Tickets) on Friday (30th January).

Thursday 14th May 2009 – Newcastle O2 Academy
Saturday 16th May 2009 – Liverpool University
Monday 18th May 2009 – Southampton Guildhall
Tuesday 19th May 2009 – Birmingham O2 Academy
Wednesday 20th May 2009 – Nottingham Rock City
Friday 22nd May 2009 – Leeds O2 Academy
Saturday 23rd May 2009 – Manchester University
Sunday 24th May 2009 – Norwich UEA
Wednesday 27th May 2009 – London O2 Brixton Academy
Thursday 28th May 2009 – Bristol O2 Academy

Top Photo comes from Tim Broddin’s flickr stream under the Creative Commons License.

To find tickets, we suggest you try using Needtickets. Needtickets.com offers you the most comprehensive ticket service in the UK. With one click you can search every nationwide online ticket agent and as a result you can find tickets for any live music event that can be booked online. Every ticket is 100% guaranteed as Needtickets.com only offers links to official agents.

XFM have announced details of their now anual Big Night Out in October.

Saturday October 13th sees the radio station celebrate its 10th birthday in style at Brixton Academy. Maximo Park are headliners, and will be joined by a host of special guests who have yet to be announced though will be pretty big – in past years Hard-Fi, The Fratellis, The View, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, We Are Scientists and The Feeling have all played the night.

Tickets go on sale at 9am on Wednesday August 29 priced at £20 plus booking fees. Doors are from 8pm – 2am.

Photo is taken from XFM’s 2006 Big Night Out photo album on XFM’s website by Darran Armstrong.