Category: Music

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James promote Nothing But Love – The Definitive Best Of compilation at Crash Records signing session in Leeds today

The artwork for James’s new compilation, Nothing But Love – The Definitive Best Of

JAMES are promoting their Nothing But Love – The Definitive Best Of album with a signing session at Crash Records, The Headrow, Leeds, at 6pm this evening. Unlike upcoming appearances in Liverpool (Cavern) tomorrow and Kingston (Circuit) on Friday, there will be no acoustic set or Q&A.

Released on November 21 on UMR in triple CD, five LP and double LP formats, as well as all download and streaming platforms, the album is a comprehensive, career-spanning collection, documenting the Manchester band’s journey from their early singles through to fan favourites and special selections curated by band members.

The 3-CD deluxe version takes fans on a chronological journey and includes a booklet with exclusive track commentary from the band and features the original Sit Down (Rough Trade Version), available to buy for the first time in 35 years.

James in 2025. In the line-up are Tim Booth, Jim Glennie, Saul Davies, Adrian Oxaal, David Baynton-Power, Mark Hunter, Andy Diagram, Chloe Alper and Deborah Knox-Hewson. Picture: Ehud Lazin

The 5-LP vinyl set includes tracks from Yummy and is housed in a rigid slipcase with accompanying booklet, with 14 tracks and versions being made available on vinyl for the first time. The 2-LP colour vinyl set is a highlights selection of the tracks.

All three versions include two new numbers, Wake Up Superman and Hallelujah Anyhow, both produced by Leo Abrahams, who worked with James on their chart-topping 2024 album Yummy.

Fronted by Boston Spa-raised singer Tim Booth, James have announced their biggest-ever UK arena tour for next spring with Wilmslow band Doves as special guests. The eight dates on the Love Is The Answer itinerary include a return to Leeds First Direct Arena on April 4 2026. Tickets are available from wearejames.com, gigsandtours.com or ticketmaster.co.uk.

Listen to Wake Up Superman at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0kks1KOsmY; Hallelujah Anyhow at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PULiInpashg

Nothing But Love’s indie store events, including today’s signing session at Crash Records, Leeds

James: back story

FORMED In Manchester in 1982, James have chalked up more than 30 million albums over a longstanding career, making them among the most commercially and artistically successful English alt. rock bands of their era.

After gathering a cult following around art rock gallops such as Johnny Yen and Hymn From A Village in the 1980s, they broke through to mainstream success with 1990 major label debut Gold Mother, followed by a slew of euphoric anthems, led off by Come Home and Sit Down.

Fifth album Laid saw them break the American charts in 1993, while Whiplash (1997), Millionaires (1999) and Pleased To Meet You (2001) cemented their standing, typified by Tomorrow, She’s A Star and Just Like Fred Astaire.

The itinerary for James’s biggest-ever UK arena travels on the Love Is The Answer Tour next April

James returned from a six-year hiatus in 2008 with Hey Ma, followed by Girl At The End Of The World (2016),  Living In Extraordinary Times (2018) and All The Colours Of You (2021), returning the band to a sustained run in the upper echelons of the album charts.

In 2023, James celebrated their 40th anniversary with the release of Be Opened By The Wonderful, a double album of orchestral re-workings of their biggest hits and rare cuts, and were presented with The PRS For Music Icon Award at the Ivor Novello Awards, a testament to their enduring influence and contribution to British song-writing.

In April 2024 James released 18th album Yummy, their first-ever studio album to reach number one.  Songs addressed the subjects of politics, AI and conspiracy theories, documenting the creative process of a band that continues to evolve and defy expectations.

James: Continuing to evolve and defy expectations after more than 40 years

They played their largest UK Arena tour to date in 2024, selling out the 20,000-capacity Co-op Live Arena in Manchester and The O2 in London, followed up by a co-headline tour with Johnny Marr in the USA and Canada.

This year, their multiple shows across the globe included performing to 20,000 people on the streets of Penamacor, Portugal, and opening the summer season at The Piece Hall, Halifax, on June 6 and 7.

Now comes Nothing But Love – The Definitive Best Of, their sixth compilation after the chart-topping The Best Of (Mercury/Fontana) in March 1998; B-Sides Ultra (Mercury), December 2001; The Collection (Spectrum Music), October 2004;  Fresh As A Daisy – The Singles (Mercury), April 2007, and Justhipper – The Complete Sire & Blanco Y Negro Recordings 1986- 1988 (Cherry Red Records), July 2017.

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REVIEW: Martin Dreyer’s verdict on Chapter House Choirs & Jervaulx Singers, Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, University of York, October 25

Conductor Benjamin Morris

THIS was a strange programme. Ostensibly a celebration of the Chapter House Choir’s upcoming 60th anniversary in December, it somehow morphed into marking the season of remembrance. Celebration and remembrance do not often make easy bedfellows.

Furthermore, the choir’s founder, Andrew Carter – who is also a distinguished choral composer – was in the audience. But he barely got a mention in the programme, was not invited to take a bow and had none of his works performed. Taken together, these were inexcusable omissions.

Judging by the programme, the two conductors involved were much more interested in furthering their own careers than seeing themselves as part of a noble chamber-choir tradition in York, which Chapter House Choir has spearheaded.

The nearest we came to a sense of celebration was in Roderick Williams’s setting of Siegfried Sassoon’s Everyone Sang, given a lusty account by the full forces here: the Chapter House Choir itself, the Chapter House Youth Choir and the octet Jervaulx Singers, making a grand total of nearly 60 singers, with Benjamin Morris conducting.

Otherwise, the mood was restrained, bordering on lugubrious, with mainly slow tempos. The full group opened with Arvo Pärt’s setting of Bogoroditse Djevo (the Russian Orthodox version of the ‘Hail, Mary’) and John Tavener’s take on it. Conducted by Charlie Gower-Smith, it was impressively sung by rote.

 He also directed the Youth Choir in Sullivan’s The Long Day Closes, which was nicely phrased even if its relevance here was doubtful.

The Chapter House Choir alone, under Morris, developed an excellent atmosphere in Elgar’s They Are At Rest, R.I.P. piece if ever there were. Rather less engaging was Owain Park’s Footsteps, which apparently uses texts by no less than nine different authors, but has a restricted harmonic palette that lends it a nebulous feel. It outstayed its welcome.

Jonathan Dove’s Into Thy Hands, sung by the Jervaulx Singers alone, was much more focused as a piece and well modulated.

Howells’ Requiem, a marvellous work, concluded the evening. For all its glories, it seemed out of keeping with the stated headline of celebration. But it was treated with considerable reverence: its smooth, prayerful invocation benefited from beautifully sustained lines.

Psalm 121, with a noble baritone solo, brought hope; sopranos were impassioned, not to say fearless, in the subsequent Requiem before the elegiac composure of the final bars. But let us hope that this is not the final celebration of Chapter House Choir’s anniversary.

Review by Martin Dreyer

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REVIEW: Martin Dreyer’s verdict on British Music Society, Amabile, Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, University of York, October 31

Amabile clarinettist Lesley Schatzberger

TOO rarely do we get the chance to hear and acknowledge the professional musicians living in our midst.

The clarinettist Lesley Schatzberger has played internationally with several distinguished orchestras and ensembles, but makes her home in York. She also spearheads Amabile, whose other members are pianist Paul Nicholson – like her, a University of York graduate – and cellist Nicola Tait Baxter. All three have enjoyed successful solo careers.

Not all soloists coalesce easily into chamber music. This British Music Society concert proved otherwise, with works by Shostakovich and York composer Steve Crowther framed by trios from Clara Schumann and Brahms.

Clara’s Piano Trio in G minor, her first chamber piece, is widely regarded as her finest achievement. Its violin part converts easily for the clarinet. Immediately there was lovely shading, as the voices ducked in and out of the texture.

The skittish scherzo has an attractive cello melody in its trio section which Tait Baxter relished. The centre of the Andante was aptly nervy and the spicy fugue shone out of the finale. Best of all, the players did not attempt to press Clara’s cause; they allowed the score to unfold naturally.

The mellow music of Brahms’s last decade regularly relies on the clarinet and Schatzberger’s smoothly fluent tone brought a perfect touch of velvet to his Clarinet Trio in A minor. The ebb and flow in the broad sweeps of the opening typified Romantic yearning.

Eloquent cello led the way in the slow movement. In the lilting scherzo-substitute that follows, Nicholson’s piano backing was a model of restraint. Yet in the finale, after the pause, he re-electrified the momentum for a dramatic finish.

Steve Crowther’s Morris Dances (2012) are a theme and 11 variations, originally for piano solo, dedicated to Philip Morris. In the last two years he has orchestrated six of them for clarinet trio.

They remain delightful cameos of friends and family but have here gained in colour. They always had a tendency to minimalism, but their emotional range is wide, from nervous energy and angry argument to hesitancy and nostalgia. The trio seemed to enjoy them as much as the audience.

Tait Baxter had tackled Shostakovich’s only cello sonata with a laser focus. Thrown straight into the fray by the frenetic opening, she yet found a proper moodiness for its second theme. There was wry humour to follow, another allegro that is essentially a literal ‘scherzo’ (joke). One had to marvel at the sotto voce ending to the slow movement.

She and Nicholson were alive, too, to the martial connotations of the finale’s scatty melody. Indeed he was a tower of strength throughout, never pushy, but always urging.

Amabile is a trio of experts brilliantly submerging their solo instincts to make much more than the sum of their parts.

Review by Martin Dreyer

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REVIEW: Martin Dreyer’s verdict on Opera North in Susanna, Leeds Grand Theatre, October 22

Anna Dennis as Susanna with Yasmina Patel from Phoenix Dance Theatre in Opera North’s Susanna. Picture: Tristram Kenton

HANDEL’S Susanna, billed as oratorio, might have been an opera but the Bishop of London banned staged performances of biblical topics not long before it was premiered in 1749.

Winton Dean even called it “an opera of English village life, and a comic opera at that”. Few these days would agree with him, given its tale of thwarted would-be abusers accusing their prey of adultery.

The story comes from ancient Greek sources via the Book of Daniel, where it is known as Susanna and the Elders. It’s not a comfortable topic but Opera North has never shied away from difficult issues.

Here that included its fourth collaboration with Leeds-based Phoenix Dance Theatre, adding a choreographic element not immediately evident in the anonymous libretto. That would seem to play into the hands of Dean’s vision of a pastoral idyll. In fact, Olivia Fuchs’s production, with choreography by Marcus Jarrell Willis, could hardly have treated such a serious theme with greater reverence.

Zahra Mansouri’s gantry set and modern costumes in pastel shades kept the focus firmly on the drama, with Jake Wiltshire’s lighting a constant ally.

Anna Dennis inhabited the title role to her fingertips. Her glorious tone gave life and substance not merely to Susanna’s happy marriage but to her painful trials, so that we felt every ounce of her desperation when she was falsely accused.

‘Crystal streams’ was sinuously luxuriant, while defiance was tangible in her final aria, as the Elders had their comeuppance, one debagged, the other receiving a painful kick. It was a sensational performance, riveting throughout.

Although given much less to do, James Hall as her husband Joacim was noble in support, with stunningly clear coloratura to match. Both ornamented their da capos appealingly.

Claire Lees as the young prophet Daniel – a role originally allotted to a treble – overcame the handicap of a comically androgynous costume to deliver a shining denouement with her ‘Chastity’ aria.

Fuchs resisted the temptation to make the Elders figures of fun: tenor Colin Judson and bass Karl Huml were well contrasted in both stature and temperament, the one with oily refinement, the other more impatient for conquest. Matthew Brook was firmly reliable as Chelsias, Susanna’s father.

The chorus was as forceful as ever and made more relevant with smaller gestures that chimed with the dance.

Handel provided an original overture, unusually devoid of borrowings, and the orchestra under Johanna Soller, conducting from the harpsichord, gave it fresh, enthusiastic treatment, with cleanly muscular lines in its fugue.

This set the tone for the evening, as the players gave every indication of knowing exactly what was required for a ‘period’ sound, not something you can expect from an opera orchestra. It led gracefully into perhaps the work’s greatest chorus, ‘How long, O Lord’, with the Israelites moping about their oppression – which is otherwise almost completely irrelevant to the story.

This was the first occasion where the choreography helped, with the writhings of the nine dancers enlivening an otherwise static scenario. This proved a telling feature throughout, particularly effective when the dancers acted in consort, thus reflecting the lines of the music.

At the other extreme, modern dance movements sometimes jarred with the Baroque underlay. When solo dancers acted as alter ego to a character delivering an aria, it added emotional depth; when they attempted to share too closely in the lovers’ idyll, for example, by providing an extra ring of embrace, it was intrusive, an invasion of personal space in modern parlance.

However, the continued collaboration between the two companies has undoubtedly benefited both, not least in broadening the limitations of each art form. We do well to remember that dance was regularly a component of opera from earliest times. The two need each other.

Review by Martin Dreyer

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REVIEW: Martin Dreyer’s verdict on Opera North in La Bohème, Leeds Grand Theatre, October 28

Anthony Ciaramitaro as Rodolfo and Olivia Boen as Mimì in Opera North’s La Bohème. Picture: Richard H Smith

PHYLLIDA Lloyd’s career as an opera director began here in 1991 and she is still around, in spirit at least, through this Bohème, which was here revived by James Hurley.

Now into its fourth decade, it keeps popping up every five years or so and has lost none of its pulling power. Lloyd’s dramatic instincts, honed in straight theatre, have had a ripple effect on this company in the way its singers interact. So much so, that when a principal fails to fall into line, it becomes all the more noticeable.

The four principal roles were double-cast. In this matinee we had two American newcomers to Leeds in Anthony Ciaramitaro as Rodolfo and Olivia Boen as Mimì, backed by the familiar Elin Pritchard as Musetta and Yuriy Yurchuk repeating his Marcello from 2019.

The tone was set early by Ciaramitaro’s Rodolfo. He was distrait even before his encounter with Mimì, concerned with getting his focus right rather than portraying a character. There was never any doubting his resonance, impressively ringing throughout the range, in traditionally Italianate style if with a tendency to dally at cadences.

However, he was also largely nuance-free. ‘Che gelida manina’, always the touchstone of Rodolfo’s tenderness, is marked dolcissimo and piano. This one was neither. There was later evidence of his ability to tone it down: he simply chose not to use it here.

Conversely, Boen’s Mimì was a model of restraint, with a comely diffidence in ‘Sì, mi chiamano Mimì’; she reserved her strongest emotions for Act 3, but always phrased intelligently. It was really not her fault that there was so little chemistry between them.

Yuriy Yurchuk as Marcello, Seán Boylan as Schaunard, Jeremy Peaker as Benoît, Anthony Ciaramitaro as Rodolfo and Han Kim as Colline in Opera North’s La Bohème. Picture: Richard H Smith

Yurchuk was a tower of strength and reassurance as Marcello, with a serious side to his leadership of the Bohemians’ hi-jinks. Seán Boylan’s flexible baritone suited Schaunard while Han Kim’s sterner bass as Colline contrasted well.

Elin Pritchard was quite the bossy man-eater as Musetta, hogging the spotlight at the café, but relaxing into sensitivity at the death.

Jeremy Peaker repeated his redoubtable double act as a put-upon Benoît and a henpecked Alcindoro. Act 2, with its ever-swivelling banquette, was a rowdy affair, teetering on the verge of ill-discipline in Maxine Braham’s revival choreography but entertaining for all that; it was good to have the involvement of so many children (some of whom had briefly invaded Act 1).

Act 3 continued to benefit from the intermittent visibility of the nightclub, whose warm lighting (revived by Richard Moore) made the outside air all the chillier in Anthony Ward’s set.

Garry Walker was thoroughly attuned to Puccini’s specific demands – thrilling trumpets in Act 2, for example – even if his general approach was less romantic than is customary. His players remained steadfastly responsive.

Review by Martin Dreyer

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REVIEW: Martin Dreyer’s verdict on York Musical Society, St Lawrence Parish Church, York, November 8

David Pipe: “Charismatic conductor with a knack for motivating his charges”

YORK Musical Society abandoned York Minster, the traditional venue for its autumn concert, in favour of a much cheaper option, St Lawrence on Hull Road.

The church’s acoustics are clearer than the Minster’s, but it meant squeezing 130 singers into the choir and chancel and leaving no room for an orchestra. So we heard Vivaldi’s Gloria in D, RV 589 and Haydn’s ‘Nelson’ Mass with accompaniment from organ and timpani.

The hero of the hour was certainly Shaun Turnbull, whose organ accompaniments were a sterling replacement for the tricky violin parts of both these works, demanding focus and stamina. The timpani were skilfully handled by Taneli Clarke, although at the front of the aisle he was too far forward for balance with the organ.

David Pipe is a charismatic conductor with a knack for motivating his charges. There was no lack of willing on their part. But there was a feeling on the night that several passages were not as assured as they might be.

The Vivaldi got off to a vivid start, but ‘Et in terra’ suffered from an unvarying dynamic, apart from the diminuendo at its close. In the ‘Domine Deus, Agnus Dei’, the choir’s responses to the alto soloist’s intercessions were too forceful, out of keeping with the prayerful mood. It takes a confident choir to sing softly.

Thereafter the choir was in good form, both in its brief ‘Qui tollis’ and especially in the fugal ‘Cum sancto spiritu’, which was pleasingly lively. The soloists, soprano Ellie Miles-Kingston and mezzo-soprano Holly Gowen, had blended neatly in ‘Laudamus te’ and the former’s straight tone was an asset in ‘Domine Deus, Rex coelestis’, but their diction was more or less non-existent. It should be a given that soloists use words as an aid to projection.

The Haydn gets off to a dramatic start. For all her bravery, the youthful Miles-Kingston does not yet have the weight of tone needed for the ‘Kyrie eleison’, perhaps the most taxing solo passage in all Haydn’s masses. It requires full-on operatic treatment with coloratura to match.

But her ‘Et incarnatus’ was effective and she led the solo quartet well; here it was tenor who needed to give more. The bass Dominic Rose might have been more convincing in ‘Qui tollis peccata’ had he raised his eyes from his copy more often.

The choir brought considerable conviction to the start of the ‘Credo’, with bold lines in all voices. ‘Hosanna in excelsis’ took off admirably. There were signs of sagging stamina in the ‘Agnus Dei’, with not all sopranos reaching the high entries cleanly. But given the cramped conditions the choir deserves congratulations for its perseverance.

Review by Martin Dreyer

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 50, from Gazette & Herald

James Swanton: Returning to York Medical Society with his Dickensian ghost stories

FROM Dickensian ghost stories and Gothic tales to mischievous mice and a festive talent showcase, ’tis the season to be out and about, reports Charles Hutchinson.

Storyteller of the week: James Swanton presents Charles Dickens’ Ghost Stories, York Medical Society, Stonegate, York, until Sunday

YORK storyteller supreme and Gothic actor James Swanton returns to York Medical Society with two of Dickens’ seasonal ghost stories: The Haunted Man, a neglected Gothic classic (November 27, 7pm) and A Christmas Carol, Scrooge’s saga (November 28, 7pm, and November 30, 2pm and 6pm).

“Their words unlock a world teeming with chain-rattling spectres, with dark and shadowy doubles, with Ghosts of Christmases Past and Present and Yet To Come,” he says. “These tales chill the marrow and tickle the funny bone, but always they enchant, as only the works of a master storyteller can.” Box office for returns only: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Steve Tearle: Directing NE Theatre York in Charlie And The Chocolate Factory

Musical of the week: NE Theatre York in Roald Dahl’s Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tonight to Friday, 7.30pm; Saturday, 2.30pm and 7.30pm

DIRECTED by Steve Tearle, this musical will take you to a world of pure imagination in Roald Dahl’s devilishly delicious tale of young golden ticket winner Charlie Bucket entering the scrumptious chocolate factory. There, he and his grandpa Joe, along with five more children, will meet the mysterious confectionary wizard Willy Wonka for an adventure like no other.

“The story of chocolate is at the very heart and history of this amazing city and it is only fitting that NE Theatre York brings Charlie And The Chocolate Factory to York,” says Tearle. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Rebecca Vaughan: Telling haunting tales of the festive season at Theatre@41

Frailties of human nature of the week: Dafyd Productions in Christmas Gothic, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Thursday, 7.30pm

REGULAR York frequenters Dafyd Productions return with Christmas Gothic, an invitation to enter into the Christmas spirit as spectral woman (Rebecca Vaughan) tells haunting tales of the festive season, lighting a candle to the frailties of human nature and illuminating the chilling depths of bleak wintry darkness. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Tucking into the cheese at A Christmas Mousequerade at Fairfax House

Mischievous mice takeover of the week: A Christmas Mousequerade at Fairfax House, Castlegate, York, until January 4 2026

FAIRFAX House’s much-loved Christmas display returns for 2025 with a new theme of A Christmas Mousequerade, combining more mice than ever before in the “ultimate 18th century house party”.

A multitude of mice is dressed in hand-crafted and exquisitely miniature Georgian finery, custom made by Fairfax House volunteers, as you step into the glittering world of Georgian York and join the Fairfax family’s preparations for the most spectacular ball of the season. Tickets: https://fairfaxhouse.co.uk/event/christmas-at-fairfax-house/.

Poetry gig of the week: Stairwell Books presents Poetry For All, National Centre for Early Music, York, Friday, 7.30pm

THIS annual event is designed to remove as many barriers as possible from enjoying live poetry events. All poems are projected on a screen, and BSL (British Sign Language) interpreted by Dave Wycherley and Vicci Ackroyd in a venue with fab acoustics and level access throughout.

Headliners Dominic Berry and Pete Kalu will be supported by five York poets, co-hosted by Fay Roberts and Rose Drew. Service dogs are welcome; entry for carers is free. VI tarot card reader Gillian Avart will read your potential future. Look out for special guests too. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.

Kevin Daniel: Relatable storytelling at Milton Rooms, Malton. Picture: Steve Best

Ryedale comedy gig of the week: Hilarity Bites Comedy Club, Kevin Daniel, Paul Tonkinson and Stephanie Laing, Milton Rooms, Malton, Friday, 8pm

KEVIN Daniel combines a commanding stage presence with relatable storytelling and jokes aplenty. Paul Tonkinson, Yorkshireman, marathon runner and two-time Time Out Comedian of the Year, is noted for his effervescent physicality and skilful impressions, bringing alive exuberant, tender comic reflections of love, family and the day-to-day idiosyncrasies of 21st century living.

“Goofy and peculiar” host Stephanie Laing, an Edinburgh Fringe regular since 2010, fuses silliness, filth and unusual observations, underpinned by a disarming honesty and charming vulnerability. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

The Catenary Wires team up with poet Brian Bilston at Pocklington Arts Centre

Poetry-and-song union of the week: Brian Bilston & The Catenary Wires, Pocklington Arts Centre, Friday, 8pm

POET Brian Bilston started out by sharing his brief, direct, and witty poems online and now has more than half a million followers on social media. The Catenary Wires comprise Amelia Fletcher, Rob Pursey and Ian Button, who also play as Heavenly, whose T-shirt Bilston was spotted wearing at one of his gigs.

Word reached Fletcher and Pursey,  introductions were made, friendships were formed, and the Sounds Made By Humans album took shape: a collection of songs, where words and music have become intertwined. Friday’s first half features a solo spoken-word set by Bilston and a music set by The Catenary Wires; in the second, they unite to perform tracks from the album. Box office: 01759 301 5 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

Poet Brian Bilston

Talent showcase of the week: HAC Studio Bar Festive Open Mic, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, 7.30pm

HELMSLEY Arts Centre plays host to a cosy evening for creatives to share their talents in the relaxed and friendly environment of the Studio Bar. Mulled wine and mince pies are on the menu and festive tunes will be the order of the day.

This Open Mic is a comfortable space for both seasoned performers and those taking the stage for the first time, as well as anyone who wants to enjoy a drink from the bar and be entertained by Ryedale talent. No need to book to listen or perform, just turn up.

Jake Lambert: The Sunshine Kid with bright ideas at Pocklington Arts Centre

Debut tour of the week: Jake Lambert, The Sunshine Kid, Pocklington Arts Centre, Saturday, 8pm

RAPIDLY rising stand-up comic Jake Lambert has chalked up more than 500 million views of his online videos featuring his gag-filled storytelling. Having supported Michael McIntyre on his worldwide tour, he is undertaking his inaugural international tour with his show The Sunshine Kid, selling out across the UK, Europe and Australia. Box office: 01759 301 5 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

Thornton Le Dale Ukuleles: Christmas concert at Kirk Theatre

Christmas Singalong of the week: Thornton Le Dale Ukuleles and Scoble and Friends, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, December 4, 7.30pm

THORNTON Le Dale Ukuleles’ Christmas Singalong is divided into two parts, kicking off with Scoble and Friends, a small group of talented singers and musicians.

Thornton Le Dale Ukuleles, the brainchild of leader John Scoble, will fill the stage with 40 players. Scoble provides tuition free of charge, while singer-songwriter David Swann gives lessons too. The group performs all genres of music, but virtually no George Formby, playing the melody as well as strumming and complementing ukuleles with other instruments. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.co.uk.

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REVIEW: Paul Rhodes’s verdict on The Unthanks At 20, All Saints Church, The Pavement, Pocklington, November 22

Becky Unthank, left, Rachel Unthank and Niopha Keegan in harmony at All Saints Church, Pocklington. All pictures: Paul Rhodes

SHOWING no signs of slowing, this tour marks 20 years in showbusiness for the Unthanks. Mercifully, these North Easterners are the perfect antidote to the shallow and throwaway nature of much of what’s spun out for popular entertainment.

All Saints Church in Pocklington is an ideal intimate venue for them. All 200 seats sold out quickly, and the welcome and sound were both warm and inviting.

The Unthanks have been prolific, with a range of releases including lots of diversions to cover the works of others. It made for a really varied evening, with 19 tunes drawn from all corners of their repertoire.

The Unthanks’ musical director, Adrian McNally

The opening salvo of John Dead, On A Monday Morning and What Can A Song Do To You encapsulated this. The last of the three was a cover of Molly Drake’s home recordings (their last recorded diversion). Molly was the mother ofsinger-songwriter Nick Drake and an enormous musical influence on her son who took her inner journeys and piano tunings and made them darker, more abstract and universal.

With all its twists, the set was still steeped in the darkness that we have come to expect from the Unthanks. Their voices conjured a devastating account of The Trimdon Grange Explosion and it was a rare treat to hear Keen And Cry And Weep from the sisters’ musical score to the play Elmet (adapted and directed by Javaad Alipoor from York writer Fiona Mozley’s novel and performed at The Loading Bay, Bradford, as part of Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture).

The Unthanks are one of many, many folk groups, so why are they so beloved? It’s partly their natural North Eastern authenticity (not weakened a jot by adding London Irish Niopha Keegan, who sang and played fiddle).

The Unthanks’ set list for their November 22 concert at All Saints Church, Pocklington

There’s definitely their canny knack of choosing and arranging songs, and their sharp ears for a good story that can last. Most of all, however, it really comes down to the voices and our love of siblings harmony. Becky and Rachel really know how to make the most of what nature has given them.

The goose bump moments also happen when, rarely, all four sing together, bringing in musical director Adrian McNally’s voice at the low end. A grand example was King Of Rome, majestic in its new brass-less arrangement, which brought the second set to life after a less than diverting start.

Twenty years not out, and comparative striplings still, we can hopefully look forward to many more evenings in the Unthanks’ fine company.

The Unthanks performing under the lights at All Saints Church, Pocklington

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Move over Night Fever, here comes Day Fever daytime dancing at York Barbican

Jonny Owen and Vicky McClure: Two of the co-founders of the Day Fever daytime dancing phenomenon that hits York Barbican tomorrow

LET Line Of Duty and Trigger Point star Vicky McClure introduce Day Fever, tomorrow’s disco-dancing destination of choice at York Barbican from 3pm to 8pm. Yes, you read that right, 3pm to 8pm.

“It feels like a massive house party at your nan’s. No drama, no egos, just people acting daft, getting dressed up, and having the best time,” says Nottingham actress Vicky, who launched this daytime clubbing phenomenon with filmmaker and broadcaster husband Jonny Owen, Reverend & The Makers frontman Jon McClure (no relation), his brother Chris McClure and Sheffield businessman James O’Hara at Christmas 2023.

From its debut in the Sheffield City Hall Ballroom to a nationwide tour that sees thousands hit the dancefloor each month, the message remains the same: people everywhere are craving a space to let loose, laugh and dance, all before 8pm

“It started as a WhatsApp idea,” says Jon McClure. “Jonny [Owen] just said, ‘A daytime disco, how good would that be?’ We’re all a bit nuts, so we just said, ‘Come on then’!”

What began as a spark of an idea among friends has turned into a full-blown national movement, and after a record-breaking September, the good times are rolling into November before the team turns up the tinsel for a Christmas takeover when Day Fever will transform into Sleigh Fever.

Should you feel that your clubbing days are behind you, think again with Day Fever. No dress code, no pressure, and the hangover is optional; just wall-to-wall feel-good tunes and an open invitation to dance like nobody’s watching.

Looking forward to this weekend, Jonny says: “It’s our first one ever in York. It’s been a city that we’ve been looking to come to for quite a long time. Jim (O’Hara), our business partner on this, has worked hard to make it happen. He was a big fan of coming to York. He said it’s a great city to go for a day out and a night out.

“Obviously a famous tourist city too; I’ve been there myself, so the idea was to take it to York and the ticket sales have been fantastic, so it was the right decision.”

Jonny partly puts Day Fever’s popularity down to Vicky’s impact. “She has an amazing following, because of her acting and the work she does with the Dementia Choir, so Vicky’s brought a lot to it and people trust her. It’s just something that’s really connected,” he says.

“There are a myriad of reasons, I think, why people really enjoy it, from people wanting to go out earlier in the day, if they’re a bit older, to the fact that you’re going out dancing and socialising and listening to great music, but I do think at the very apex of it all is definitely Vicky and her connection with people. Her  mantra is always that music is medicine.”

Vicky says: “When we started, it was addressed to people over 30 but we very quickly scrapped that.  People came and they came with their families, mothers and daughters and aunties and nieces. The thing is, the hits are still the hits today. Motown or disco, those kind of tracks, they’re known across the world as songs that will never die.

“Then we’ve got a great Nineties’ section as well, which hits a slightly younger audience, so from my nephew, who’s 18, to people in their late-80s; it really is for everybody.”

From Nottingham to Newcastle, Glasgow to York today, every Day Fever event has its own flavour. Local DJs who know their crowds keep the energy high with a nostalgic mix of Northern Soul, disco, indie and Nineties’ classics. “If Vicky’s there, we have to play Whitney, it’s non-negotiable!” says Jon.

“With our DJs, it sounds like a football team,” says Jonny. “We’ve got a stable of people who are very good and they do tend to be more localised; often we use local presenters…people who are very experienced, who know how to speak to a crowd, play the right music.

“We encourage people to come up on stage and dance, a bit like the old days on Top Of The Pops used to be, right in the centre of it. We know that these events are going to go off brilliantly if people play the right stuff.”

What you wear is all part of the fun. “What I love about Day Fever is that some people will get absolutely dressed up to the nines,” says Vicky. “Some people will do fancy dress; somebody came to Day Fever in London not so long ago in an inflatable giraffe! They got in without any bother!

“Basically, it’s not really got a dress code, and I think people love having the option of not being forced into feeling you’ve got to be dressed up. I always wear trainers, and I wanna dance, and I can’t dance in heels. So it’s joggers, a T-shirt, some trainers. I’m super-comfy.

“I don’t care if I look silly or people are taking pictures. I get lost in the music – and it’s not just me, it’s everybody getting lost in it.”   

From December, Day Fever will don its festive finery for its rebrand as Sleigh Fever, a run of special Christmas editions that promise all the usual joy, dancing and daftness, sprinkled with extra sparkle, singalongs and seasonal surprises.

Expect glitter, Santa hats, Mariah moments, and maybe even a mince pie or two on the dancefloor. As Jon puts it: “It’s like a wedding party where everyone actually wants to be there, only this time, Santa’s invited too.”

Day Fever, York Barbican, tomorrow (22/11/2025), 3pm to 8pm. Box office:  https://www.yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/day-fever/ 

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There’s no place like this home as Castle Howard goes down the Yellow Brick Road for The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz

York actress Maria Gray puts on a dazzling display of green in Emerald City High Street in the Long Gallery at Castle Howard. Picture: Tom Arber

CLW Event Design began working on The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz as long ago as January, and now the Yellow Brick Road is stretching through the rooms and corridors of the transformed North Yorkshire country house to dazzling effect.

Headed up by Charlotte Lloyd Webber and York-based Adrian Lillie, working in tandem with Leeds theatre company Imitating The Dog, this immersive experience is on the grandest scale yet since Castle Howard first partnered with CLW Design in 2017.

Huge set pieces were fabricated and built on the Castle Howard Estate before being moved into the house in an installation process that took ten days to complete, requiring 30,000 baubles to be put on display, while the creative team has reused and recycled products where possible and favoured more sustainable materials such as paper and glass.

There really is no place like this home, now dressed in set pieces, decorations, floristry, projections, lighting and soundscapes that culminate in the show-stopping Emerald City High Street in the Long Gallery, with its life-size fabricated shop fronts inspired by York and Malton’s  Shambles (or Harry Potter’s Diagon Alley, if you insist).

The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz creative team in the Great Hall at Castle Howard, led by CLW Event Design’s Charlotte Lloyd Webber and Adrian Lillie. Picture: Tom Arber

Look out too for Castle Howard’s famous 28-foot Christmas tree that sparkles in the Great Hall, installed by a team of 30 using a specialist forklift and winch system. 

Unique musical compositions accompany each room in the house, alongside the soundscapes that bring the narrative from the original book to life.

The momentum provided by Wicked and now this week’s opening  of Wicked: For Good made The Wizard Of Oz the ideal choice for the 2025 show; momentum further buoyed by Castle Howard receiving the Historic House Restoration of the Year award at Sotheby’s for its 21st Century Renaissance project, topped off by the unveiling of the lost Tapestry Drawing Room.

The journey down the yellow brick road is all the more magnificent for this once-in-a-generation transformation as Castle Howard enters its busiest time of the year, when as many as 100,000 visitors will enter the building: one third of the year’s total, condensed into the Christmas season.

The Wicked Witch of the West in Christmas at Castle Howard with The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz. Picture: Celestine Dubruel

“We’re very much thinking about the house whenever we decide what to do, and this time we’ve gone back to L Frank Baum’s original 1900 story, which seems to fit really well with the house, designed by playwright John Vanbrugh,” says Adrian.

“So some things will be new to you that differ from the 1939 film. Like the slippers being silver, not ruby, and we feature all four witches [whereas the film combined the Good Witch of the North and Glinda the Good Witch of the South into one character, Glinda].

“We’ve also played with colours, so each territory has a tone, such as blue for the Munchkins, yellow for the Winkies [as opposed to green in the Judy Garland film], red for the Quadlings, and white for Glinda, the Good Witch of the North.”

In the original story too, everything looked green in the Emerald City as everyone was equipped with green glasses to look through, another detail acknowledged amid The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz props.

The Wicked Witch Of The West in an Andy Warhol-style portrait in The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz at Castle Howard. Picture: Celestine Dubruel

CLW Event Design continues to set itself ever bigger challenges for the Christmas season, this year expanding its portfolio from three to six sites: Castle Howard, Bamburgh Castle; Kensington Palace, Polesden Lacey, Beaulieu, and Chiswick House.

Castle Howard remains the jewel in the crown. “We are always developing our team, and in the week leading up to Castle Howard, we had 18 people working here, and 23 on the night before we opened, including the Imitating The Dog team,” says Adrian. “What I’m most proud of is that our team has really delivered. I was nervous at the beginning as to whether we could do it, but we’ve pulled it off.”

Charlotte adds: “I have to say the most spectacular achievement is the Emerald City High Street that transforms the Long Gallery into The Wizard Of Oz’s Shambles.”

Detail is important and so is humour, typified by Imitating The Dog’s soundscape. “We do have our Dorothy with a North American accent, but just as we had a Yorkshire-voiced Peter Pan, we now have a Good Witch of the North with a Yorkshire accent,” says Charlotte.

There’s no place like home: Dorothy’s bedroom in The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz at Castle Howard. Picture: Celestine Dubruel

The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz draws on source material aplenty. “There are more than 14, maybe 17 books in L Frank Baum’s series. I got through four books, then I stopped,” says Adrian. “You have to extrapolate and you have to make sure all the magic parts are in there, but it’s good to go back to the roots and look at how it would fit into the house.

“The thing that we were very clear about from the start was that we really wanted to embrace this year’s redecoration of the house to integrate it into our design and we have certainly done that.”

Summing up this year’s wizard show, and the creativity that went into it, Adrian says. “Out of the six Christmas shows that we’ve done this year, this would always be the project that we would be working on up to the last minute. It’s just the scale of this house and our ambition as artists that demands we do that.”

CLW Event Design’s The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz dazzles at Castle Howard, near York, until January 4. Tickets: castlehoward.co.uk.  

The poster for Christmas at Castle Howard with The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz

Christmas at Castle Howard events

Christmas at Castle Howard with the Wonderful Wizard Of Oz, in the House, until January 4

Father Christmas in the Castle, in the House, November 22 to December 24

Santa’s Grotto in the Boathouse, December 6 to 24

Oz Twilight Tours, November 28, December 5, December 12 and December 19

Wreath Making Workshops, in the Garden Centre, available selected Thursdays and Fridays, November 20, 21 and 28; December 11 and 12

Christmas Afternoon Tea, in the House, until December 31

Accessible Events

CASTLE Howard is offering an expanded series of accessible events to open The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz immersive experience to even more people, including British Sign Language- interpreted shows and Calm Sessions.

Calm Sessions

Saturday, November 15, 9.30am to 10.30am

Tuesday, November 25, 2.30pm to 3.30pm

Friday, December 19, 5.30pm to 6.30pm

Thursday, January 1, 3.30pm to 4.30pm

BSL Interpreted Session

Saturday, December 13, 11am and 3pm

Follow the Yellow Brick Road through Castle Howard with The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz. Picture: Tom Arber

Touch Boxes

AVAILABLE in select rooms as part of the Christmas at Castle Howard with The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz experience. Touch boxes are sensory objects creatively designed to tell the story of the space and are available for anyone who would like to use them as part of their experience. Available to everyone on the day of their visit.

Father Christmas in the Castle

Relaxed performance: Friday, December 19, 6.30pm

Santa’s Grotto in the Boathouse

Relaxed performance: Saturday,  December 6, 4.40pm

BSL-interpreted performance:  Saturday, December 13, 10am

Did you know?

CASTLE Howard has employed 100 additional Christmas staff from the area to facilitate its Christmas event, on top of their year-round staff. They are supported by a team of 200 volunteers too.

Did you know too?

CASTLE Howard  is hosting a Bettys shop in the Stable Courtyard for the duration of the Christmas event, selling confectionery, chocolates, teas and coffees. alongside Castle Howard’s Farm Shop with Christmas food-to-order service, Courtyard Café with seasonal winter menu, Garden Centre selling British-grown Christmas trees and marshmallow fire pit are open too for Christmas shoppers.

And finally

A DOCUMENTARY film crew has followed the Christmas creative team, CLW Event Design, as they prepare Castle Howard’s Christmas experience. The documentary will be broadcast in the Christmas At… spotlight on Channel 4 this winter, although the dates are yet to be confirmed.