Author: Charles Hutchinson

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Shed Seven add instore shows after speedy sell-outs as new single The Centre of My Everything adds strings to their bow

Selling fast: Shed Seven’s instore tour itinerary

“WE are lost for words,” say Shed Seven. “Most of our January instore shows sold out in seconds.”

Their reaction? “We’re absolutely blown away. Thank you so much to everyone who bought an album and is coming along to celebrate with us. It genuinely means the world.

“The response has been so incredible that we’ve managed to add extra matinee performances: January 8, Rough Trade, Bristol; January 10, Rough Trade East London; January 11, Rough Trade, Nottingham, and January 12, Wax & Beans, Bury.”

The York band’s statement continues: “A very small number of tickets remain for HMV in-stores in Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow. If you missed out first time around, now’s your chance…

“We loved every minute of our last record shop tour and, after that response, we already know these are going to be something special.”

Tickets for the Sheds’ instore tour of stripped-back performances and signings went on sale at 10am this morning. Entry is available by pre-ordering a copy of January 8 2027’s new album, Shed Seven, from the selected retailer hosting each event at https://s7.lnk.to/s7instores.

To coincide with the ticket launch, the Sheds have released new single The Centre Of My Everything, ahead of next year’s arrival of their self-titled seventh studio album on Cooking Vinyl. Pre-orders can be made at https://s7.lnk.to/shedseven.

This follows the album’s lead single, Stand Together, a “muscular, sky-scraping” song that was added quickly to radio playlists. Now, The Centre Of My Everything shows another side of the upcoming album, calling on sweeping strings and a rousing chorus to deliver “one of the most widescreen songs of their career”.

Lead singer Rick Witter comments on the feeling behind the song: “That feeling when love is all there is, when two are entwined as one, when nothing else matters apart from the other, when you can’t imagine a life lived alone, when you truly think of someone as being The Centre Of My Everything.” Listen to the track at https://s7.lnk.to/myeverythingPR.

The Sheds originally announced Up Close & Intimate Album Release Tour 2027 dates at: Rough Trade, Bristol, January 8; Vinolo, Southampton (matinee), January 9; Rough Trade East, London, January 10; Rough Trade, Nottingham, January 11; Wax & Beans, Bury, January 12; Jacaranda, Liverpool, January 13; HMV Vault, Birmingham, January 14; HMV, Manchester, January 15, and HMV, Glasgow, January 16. Now the new shows have been added, as highlighted above.

Matinee idols: Shed Seven are adding more shows to their instore tour

This is the state of play on Shed Seven’s 2026 shows:

A Maximum High live dates

Oct 15 – Birmingham O2 Institute

Oct 16 – Kingston Circuit – SOLD OUT

Oct 17 – London Scala – SOLD OUT

Oct  29 – Northampton Roadmender – SOLD OUT

Oct  30 – Manchester Academy 2 – SOLD OUT

Oct 31 – Glasgow Barrowland – SOLD OUT

SHEDCEMBER X 2026 live dates

Nov 12 – Nottingham Rock City – LOW TICKETS

Nov 13 – Nottingham Rock City – SOLD OUT

Nov 14 – Birmingham O2 Academy 1 – SOLD OUT

Nov 16 – Blackburn King George’s Hall

Nov 17 – Norwich The Nick Rayns LCR, UEA – LOW TICKETS

Nov 19 – Aberdeen Music Hall – LOW TICKETS

Nov 20 – Glasgow O2 Academy – SOLD OUT

Nov 21 – Edinburgh Usher Hall – LOW TICKETS

Nov 23 – Leicester O2 Academy 1

Nov 24 – Brighton Dome

Nov 26 – Cardiff University Great Hall

Nov 27 – Sheffield Octagon – SOLD OUT

Nov 28 – Newcastle O2 City Hall – SOLD OUT

Nov 30 – Cambridge Corn Exchange – LOW TICKETS

Dec 1 – Bristol Beacon – LOW TICKETS

Dec 3- Stockton Globe

Dec 4 – Liverpool Uni The Mountford Hall – LOW TICKETS

Dec 5 – Manchester O2 Apollo – SOLD OUT

Dec 7- Lincoln Engine Shed

Dec 8 – Stoke-On-Trent Victoria Hall

Dec 10 – Bournemouth O2 Academy

Dec 11 – London O2 Brixton Academy – SOLD OUT

Dec 12 – Leeds O2 Academy – SOLD OUT

Dec 13 – Leeds O2 Academy – LOW TICKETS

The track listing for Shed Seven’s Shed Seven album will be: Stand Together; The Fifth Amendment; The Centre Of My Everything; Lost In Space (featuring Lotte Witter); Winter; We Got The Love (featuring Elles Bailey); What Becomes Of The Ones You Left Behind; Can’t Help It; Let The Good Times Roll and Drifting.

The Sheds will be seeking to match their achievements in 2024, when they topped the album charts for the first time in January that year with A Matter Of Time, followed only ten months later by a second number one with Liquid Gold, placing them alongside artists such as The Beatles, Elton John and David Bowie in notching two UK number one albums within a single calendar year.

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York Theatre Royal launches first ever staging of Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs with Tommy at the treble

Robin Simpson’s Dame Dolly and Tommy Carmichael’s Muddles at York Theatre Royal’s pantomime launch for Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick

YORK Theatre Royal’s cast for this winter’s pantomime, Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs, has assembled for the first time.

Present at the launch day were CBBC and CBeebies’ star Richard David-Caine, who will play Herman Von Badapple; regular dame Robin Simpson (Dame Dolly this time) and his fellow returnees Tommy Carmichael and Christian Mortimer, who will take the roles of Muddles and Prince Charming respectively.

In attendance too were the cast’s latest addition, Marcavia McCarthy, who will play Snow White, Jenny Gayner, cast as the Wicked Queen, and Dean Whatton, who will lead the Seven Dwarfs as Sarge. Lucy Blenkiron, Richard Blenkiron, Willie Coppen, StijnKeuleers, Maria Popska and Harrison Taylor will complete the line-up.

Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs is the apt choice for the seventh collaboration between pantomime partners York Theatre Royal and the award-wining Evolution Productions, whose director-producer, Paul Hendy, pens the script.

As ever, Theatre Royal creative director Juliet Forster will direct the show. “We are so delighted to have such a brilliant cast lined up for the show. It’s the first time Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs has been performed on our stage and audiences can expect something really special. I can’t wait to get started on rehearsals and see this fabulous show come to life with this amazing team.”

Doncaster-born Tommy Carmichael has signed up for a third winter of daft-lad tomfoolery in Snow White after starring as ever-cheerful Charlie in Aladdin in 2024 and Jangles in Sleeping Beauty last Christmas.

“It was confirmed in March. I got two emails in one day, one from the Theatre Royal, one from Evolution!” says Tommy. “I’m so grateful to be asked back, and it’s a lovely team to work with. When you work with Robin [Simpson], it feels so easy and it’s fun – as opposed to hard work – and I love working with Juliet [Forster] as well. It’s always nice to see faces you know.

Hi-ho, hi-ho, and off to work they go: York Theatre Royal’s cast for Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs assembles for the first time. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick

“Muddles is not far from Buttons as a role. When people think of a comic role in panto, they usually say, ‘oh you’re playing Buttons’ and Muddles is the second one they mention. I’ve never done Snow White before, so it’s going to be fun working with a bigger cast than usual.”

Two years ago, Tommy moved to Livingston, Scotland, where he teaches young actors aged six to 18 at the Proscenium Stage School. “Wonderfully, they gave me the job when I moved north,” he says. “I’d taught at the Pauline Quirke Academy in Doncaster, and Taunton, after I’d trained at Bath School of Music and Performing Arts, at Bath Spa University, where I  was surrounded by cows and fields. Very different to training at a city university!”

Rehearsals for Snow White will begin on November 16. Before then, Tommy will return to Yorkshire on October 1 for a one-off performance of Big Strong Man at the Montgomery Theatre for the Open Works Festival in Sheffield.

Last year he toured in this interactive cabaret show about masculinity with the Doncaster company The Growth House. “It’s like a game show, where four different types of masculinity all fight for who should be ‘the ruler of all men from now until the end of time’. Four Northern men are given the impossible task of fixing the men’s mental health crisis in one night. We took it to spaces where men in various works of life feel more relaxed,” says Tommy.

“I think it’s really important to talk about these things as getting men to talk about their feelings can be a challenge, especially as last year we went into working men’s clubs, where the challenge was to get them to feel comfortable to talk about the subject – which was more likely to be the case than in a theatre.”

Tommy also headed back to Yorkshire a few weeks ago  – “I love the commute,” he says – to film his role in Miles Watts and Maria Gray’s second feature film for North Yorkshire company Outward Films: Drop Dead, a no-budget horror mystery shot on iPhone.

“I play Hugo, this really kind actor who’s in the film within the film, where all the actors had trained at the same theatre school” he says. “He sees below people’s surfaces, so he’s very perceptive. It’s my first feature film, so it was lovely to do, coming about for me through knowing Maria and her husband, Ed, the Theatre Royal pantomime musical director. We filmed my scenes in a wood by a leisure centre in Harrogate.

Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs will run at York Theatre Royal from December 4 to January 3 20927. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

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Velma Celli finds two new homes in York for drag diva delights at JoRo and Silver Spur

Velma Celli: Heading to Joseph Rowntree Theatre on October 18

YORK vocal drag act deluxe and international multi-award winning cabaret superstar Velma Cell is on the move to a new location for her camp, spectacular song and comedy home-city shows.

“My first ever show with a dance solo as a kid was at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, so I thought it would be fun to go back there,” says Velma’s creator, actor and West End star Ian Stroughair, who will be presenting The Velma Celli Show at the JoRo on October 18 with special guest Jessica Steel and guitarists Stuart Allan and Olly Chilton.

“My last two shows at York Theatre Royal – Snow Queen and Rock Queen – had been among my favourites, so next month’s show will be a mixture of Snow Queen and Rock Queen and musical theatre material.”

Ian continues: “The first set will be musical theatre favourites, songs from my career in West End musicals – Cats, Fame, Chicago and Rent – and an homage to Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand. In the second set we’ll rock out with York. There’ll be songs by David Bowie, Freddie Mercury, Bryan Adams, Bonnie Tyler…

Velma Celli and special guest Jessica Steel

“I was supposed to be doing a cruise show with Bonnie, but that couldn’t happen [after her passing in July].”

Velma Celli’s rock repertoire also will take in Guns N’ Roses’ Sweet Child O’ Mine,  rock songs re-imagined as power ballads and a rock revamp of Chris Isaak’s Wicked Game. “There’ll be some Roxette, some Alanis Morissette, possibly Ironic, from Jagged Little Pill, which has to be one of the greatest albums ever. I’ll probably do the Alanis number as a duet with Jessica.”

October 18’s audience should expect one more ingredient. “There’ll be a Dolly Parton section too – there has to be,” says Ian.

Velma Celli has another October engagement in the diary, appearing as the master of ceremonies at the Yorktoberfest Beer Festival for the sixth successive year, this time in its new Big Top tent in the Clocktower Enclosure at York Racecourse on October 16, 17, 23 and 24.

In the pink: Velma Celli launching Country Drag Brunch at Silver Spur Saloon Bar tomorrow

“I’ll be doing six appearances,” says Ian. “I’m going to be in butch German lesbian mode as usual, singing my hit song Das Ist Gut, Ja! There’ll be plenty of sausage, lots of audience participation, and of course alcohol – and we’ll be joined by a fabulous oompah band, The Bavarian Strollers, to fill in the gaps between me.”

Velma, the only drag queen to appear in both EastEnders and Coronation Street, has found another new home too, switching the Bottomless Drag Brunch from Impossible York to The Silver Spur, the Nashville-inspired, cowboy-themed saloon bar and restaurant in Bridge Street. “We’re going country, rock, pop and bottomless [drinks], with food and Velma in pink,” says Ian, whose first brunch with a country & western theme will be at 1pm to 3pm tomorrow (26/9/2026).

“I hosted a show at the O2 in London in June last year for Flight Centre, the travel agents, with a Day-Glo Rodeo theme, so I learned a lot of country material for that. Now country music is really in, here in York, with the opening of the Silver Spur, followed by Ruby Rae’s Bar.  

“Dolly Parton’s songs will be heavily featured, along with Shania Twain, LeAnn Rimes, Kelly Clarkson, Beyonce’s country songs and Miley Cyrus.”

The Velma Celli Show, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, October 18, 6pm. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk. Yorktoberfest, yorktoberfest.co.uk/entertainment. Country Drag Brunch with Velma Celli, Silver Spur Saloon Bar, York, tomorrow, 1pm to 3pm; silver-spur.co.uk. 

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Season announcement of the week: The Old Paint Shop, York Theatre Royal Studio

Portuguese jazz singer Raquel Alvaro: Performing with The Jazzville Quintet on October 24

YORK Theatre Royal Studio will be transformed into The Old Paint Shop cabaret club once more for an autumn season of 13 shows spanning spoken word to vibraphone, burlesque to anarchic bingo from October 7 to 24.

As ever, seating will be cabaret club style and unreserved, offering a unique theatrical experience where you can “grab a drink at the bar, sit back, relax and enjoy the show in York’s most exciting nightspot”.

Here are the acts in store:

October 7, Vibe-ology

LED by John Settle’s vibraphone, underpinned by blazing Hammond Organ, soulful drums and Al Morrison’s guitar, York quartet Vibe-ology play jazz, blues, funk and Latin.   

Collectively, band members have worked Corinne Bailey, Rae, the New Mastersounds, Haggis Horns, Martina Topley-Bird, New York Brass Band, Larry Carlton, Alan Barnes, Dennis Rollins and countless others. Expect an eclectic programme from four of the north’s busiest players.

October 8, Evolution Of Fishermen

BROUGHT together by a mutual love of storytelling, harmony and original folk songs in 2021,  contemporary folk band Evolution Of have played venues such as Green Note, O2 Academy Islington, Old Blue Last in London and The Crescent in York. They have appeared at festivals such as Wilderness, Deer Shed, Gate To Southwell, LOOP Fest and Sam Lee’s The NEST stage at Medicine Festival too.

October 9, Boogaloo Stu presents Big Squiffy Bingo

BOOGALO Stu is “altogether completely ridiculous, simply fabulous and utterly idiotic” as he hosts a night of gloriously playful and anarchic bingo where utter filth, joyous fun and flashmob dances collide.

“You’ll get non-stop nonsense, outrageous antics, buttock-clenching workouts, hilarious prizes and some very ballsy bingo to boot,” promises Stu, whose gift hamper will be stuffed to the brim with all manner of exotic prizes. “So come on down and win it big!”

October 10, Beverley Beirne Quartet

JAZZ singer Beverley Beirne has performed at leading clubs throughout the UK and Europe. For this performance, she brings with her two highly regarded jazz musicians from the London scene, pianist John Crawford and double bassist Andy Hamill, along with northern drummer Steve Hanley.

October 14, Henry Raby, Hope and Anger

YORK punk poet and Say Owt supremo Henry Raby wrestles through the twin emotions of hope and anger with a spoken-word cocktail of poetry and comedy as he seeks to understand the righteous and the rotten. “Come and share in fist-clenched frustration and celebrate examples of the world, and the heartfelt people in it, at their shiniest and brightest,” says Henry.

October 15, Hannah Rowe

NORTHERN silky vocalist Hannah Rowe will be backed by her ten-piece band at The Old Paint Shop on the first stop of her autumn tour. Described as Yorkshire’s answer to Raye and Olivia Dean, she is a standout in the independent music scene, gracing stages at Tramlines, Truck, Y Not and Victorious Festival with her jazz-infused soulful sound and timeless writing.

October 16, Freida Nipples presents…The Exhibitionists

JOIN York’s own internationally award-winning burlesque artist Freida Nipples as she welcomes some of her favourite and most fabulous performance artists from across the UK and further afield to The Old Paint Shop.

“From burlesque to drag and beyond, be sure to expect the unexpected,” says Freida. “Only a few things are guaranteed: glamour, gags and giggles. Get ready to explore the world of The Exhibitionists.”

October 17, Alligator Gumbo

THE seven-piece Alligator Gumbo 7-piece play jazz from the heyday of the New Orleans swing/jazz era, in particular the “Roaring Twenties”, when music was raw and largely improvised with melodies and solos happening simultaneously.

Performing extensively for more than ten years, Alligator Gumbo have made numerous appearances at international jazz festivals and clubs throughout the country, establishing themselves as favourites on the British jazz scene.

October 20, Coming Out Scratch Night

THIS sparkling one-off night of new LGBTQ+ performances by actors, poets and writers features eight stories in various styles, each exploring the highs (and occasional lows) of coming out.

The show is produced by Yorkshire queer touring theatre company Roots, winners of an Edinburgh Fringe First award for Happy Meal, with all proceeds going towards their support of new local artists.

October 21, Pen and Stu – Folk!

MODERN folk duo Pen and Stu play original contemporary folk with BIG whistles, tenor guitars and an assortment of other instruments. Their songs, written by Pen and arranged by Stu, tell stories of famous characters from history and folklore, heroes, villains and pirate queens.

Their Folk! show comprises plenty of wonderful traditional and original tunes and songs, including unreleased tracks and favourite folk covers.

October 22, (Fool)ish Improv: About Time

YORKSHIRE improvisers Fool(ish), return to The Old Paint Shop to deliver their usual comedic chaos inspired by you, the audience. “Together, we will rewrite the history of York by travelling through time, ignoring the experts and rediscovering what really makes York tick,” they say.

“Unvictorious Vikings, Random Romans, Wandering Wizards and brand-new ghost stories (that you wish had stayed buried) all combine in this unlikely history instantly improvised in the present moment. About Time is the time-travelling improv comedy show powered by laughter and inviting you to play with our past.”

October 23, Say Owt Showcase

THE Say Owt Showcase evening of poetry, music and comedy veers from the righteous to the raucous to the heartfelt and back again, brought to you by the same gobby gang that have been proudly packing out The Crescent for years.

Veterans of the Edinburgh Fringe and highly commended in the York Culture Awards, let Hannah Davies, Stu Freestone, Jarmouse and Henry Raby entertain you.

October 24, The Jazzville Quintet with Raquel Alvaro and Alec Robinson

AFTER two sold-out shows at The Old Paint Shop, The Jazzville Quintet return for a joyful celebration of Latin, swing and haunting jazz ballads, led by the fabulous Portuguese jazz songbird, Raquel Alvaro.

A graduate of Leeds Conservatoire, Raquel is adept at many styles of singing, embracing classical, Fado and all styles of jazz. Joining Raquel is piano maestro, arranger and composer, Alec Robinson, her fellow Leeds Conservatoire graduate, alongside saxophone star, Alex Fisher, Chris Sykes on drums and Tim Murgatroyd on double bass.

All shows start at 8pm apart from Coming Out Scratch Night at 7pm. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

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National Centre for Early Music goes global for autumn season opening on Sept 27

Denys Baptiste: Teaming up with Tomorrow’s Warriors band leader and double bass player Gary Crosby in an all-star quartet for A Love Supreme on November 25

THE National Centre for Early Music’s autumn season presents a host of artists from across the world at St Margaret’s Church, Walmgate, York.

Opening the season on September 27 will be Irish singer and bouzouki and mandola player  Andy Irvine, “ a tradition in himself” after 60 years of telling tales and making music. Joining him on the 6.30pm bill will be the award-winning Swedish folk band Quilty, celebrating their 30th anniversary.

Described by the late Jeff Beck as “the best guitarist in the world” and by Pat Metheny as “one of the most awesome solo guitar players in history”, fingerstyle player Martin Taylor returns to the NCEM on October 4 at 6.30pm.

Six decades into his career, his new solo show, Standards, celebrates the golden age of jazz through evocative arrangements of tunes from the Great American Songbook.

Polish-Belarusian band Hajda Banda: Rural music performed on acoustic village instruments on October 9. Picture: Michal Kalita

On October 9, the NCEM teams up with Songlines to present Polish-Belarusian band Hajda Banda, who specialise in traditional dances from eastern Poland’s Podlaise region, the western provinces of Belarus and the wetlands of Polesye, a cultural crossroads on the Poland-Ukraine- Belarus border. Audience members will be encouraged to dance, if they wish, to rural music performed on acoustic village instruments.

City Of Poets’ concert on October 10 reunites musicians across the Soviet-Chinese divide through an exploration of the maqam-based classical repertoire of the Central Asian Uzbek and Uyghur peoples. A group of players from different sides of the border, led by Abror Zufarov and Saniyem Ismail, focus on the works of 17th century mystic poet and wandering dervish Baba Rahim Mashrab, whose poetry continues to inspire musicians on both sides of the divide.

Grammy Award winners Tim Garland, mezzo-soprano saxophone, and Geoffrey Keezer, piano, return to the NCEM on October 12 with their new duet album Mezzo, recorded in a single, five-hour session in New York, capturing the intensity, fearless creativity and breathtaking interplay of their 25-year musical partnership.

The concert will begin at 7.20pm with a performance by York Music Forum young jazz players  after they worked with Garland and Keezer earlier in the day.

Fiddlers at the double: Grace Smith and Sam Sweeney, playing the NCEM on October 25. Picture: Kate Griffin

Revered English folk acoustic and slide guitar player Martin Simpson plays solo on October 20, combining passion, sorrow, love, beauty, tragedy and majesty in his performance after 32 nominations over the 18 years of the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. His new album, Some Kind Of Jubilee, arrives on September 25 on Topic Records, marking 50 years since the release of his debut, Golden Vanity.

Bellowhead alumnus Sam Sweeney joins fellow fiddler Grace Smith at the NCEM for the first time on October 25 at 6.30pm. Rooted in tradition, yet constantly pushing boundaries, they bring a shared passion for reimagining archive material, championing new compositions and creating music both authentic and forward-looking.

Northern Silents presents Curtis Bernhardt’s 1929 German silent film The Woman Men Yearn For with a live music score performed by pianist Jonny Best on October 28. Marlene Dietrich ignites the screen in a tale of danger and desire, wherein Henri marries a wealthy heiress to save the family business , but on the eve of his honeymoon, he glimpses a mysterious woman through a frosted train window. Once their eyes meet, a chain of  passion and betrayal hurtles towards disaster.

Based in London, She’Koyokh arrive at the NCEM on November 1 at 6.30pm with a line-up as diverse as their music-making. Their members hail from Turkey, Serbia, Spain and the UK: three are graduates from London’s Royal Academy of Music; two are esteemed jazz players; accordionist Zivorad Nikolic is among Serbia’s finest exponents of traditional folklore; singer Cigdem Aslan is a celebrity in the world of rembetiko music and Susi Evans is a queen of the klezmer clarinet. Together they perform  the folk music traditions of Jewish Eastern Europe, Turkey and the Balkans.

She’Koyokh: Performing folk music traditions of Jewish Eastern Europe, Turkey and the Balkans on November 1

Led by composer, musician and visionary James Lascelles, now returned to the Harewood estate, Talking Spirits play a blend of world-jazz, folk and Caribbean grooves on November 11. Between them, the band members have performed, recorded and collaborated with avant-garde luminary Frank Zappa, pioneering violinist L Shankar, the rock theatricality of Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel and the soulful Joan Armatrading.

Presented by Nava Arts, on November 14, the soulful voice of Samin Ghorbani, the enchanting shurangiz of composer Vahid Taremi and the electronics, clarinet and modern arrangements of Rouzbeh Esfand bring to York what the Persian trio calls “the sound of their shadows from a Trembling Land”, drawn together from three separate cities across Europe.

The Instituto Cervantes, in Manchester, and Iberian and Latin American Music Society link up with the NCEM to present a 7.30pm concert on November 17 and workshop from 1.30pm to 5.30pm on November 22. First up, Spanish soprano Lorena Paz Nieto and British-Hispanic pianist Helen Glaisher-Hernandez present The Secret Art, featuring Spanish and Latin American art song as conceived by beguiling women composers.

Then, as part of The Secret Art: Mujeres Presentes project, the inimitable Odaline de la Martinez leads a half-day Sunday workshop focusing on the sounds of 17th-century Mexican convents, Afro-Cuban beats and the rhythms of the Rio Carnival. The workshop will finish with a short run-through for family and friends at 5pm. Places must be booked by November 8.

Odaline de la Martin: Hosting workshop on November 22. Picture: Malcolm Crowther

King Kong directors Merian C Cooper and Ernest B Schoedsack’s epic 1925 silent film Grass, a documentary about the heroic annual migration of the nomadic Bakhtiari tribes of Iran, will be accompanied by a live performance by Iranian pianist and composer Peyman Yazdanivan, joined by Adib Rostami on kamancheh and tonbak, on November 24.

Mercury Prize-nominated saxophonist Denys Baptiste and Tomorrow’s Warriors band leader and co-founder, double bass player Gary Crosby, lead an all-star quartet for A Love Supreme, a 60th anniversary celebration of John Coltrane’s jazz masterpiece,  on November 25.

The 7.20pm concert will begin with a 20-minute performance by York Music Forum young players after a workshop with band members earlier in the day.

Each December since a one-off pilot in 2015, “festive folk supergroup” A Winter Union reconvene to share their joyous Christmas party around the country, complementing reimagined winter classics from both sides of the Atlantic with little-known Yuletide gems and songs direct from the pens of the songwriting quintet of Jade Rhiannon (from The Willows), Katriona Gilmore and Jamie Roberts (from Gilmore & Roberts) and Hannah Sanders & Ben Savage. On December 12, they make their NCEM debut.

National Centre for Early Music director Delma Tomlin

By way of contrast, Awake Arise make their fourth visit on December 18 to present A Christmas Show For Our Times. Lady Maisery members Hannah James, Rowan Rheingans and Hazel Askew will be joined by Jimmy Aldridge and Sid Goldsmith to celebrate winter traditions and reflect on how the hope and resilience in music and song can bring joy in the darkest season.

Looking forward to the autumn season, NCEM director Delma Tomlin says: “It’s partly serendipitous that so many are on tour, but I’m extremely pleased at the quality of the names and also by the mix of world music artists drawn from all over the globe.

“It means so much to us to continue to share this cultural world with York at this introspective time, whether from Persia or Spain, with our relationship with the Spanish Embassy bringing in acts.

“The Polish-Belarusian band Hajda Banda are a bit of a wild-card that came through a recommendation from my friends at Songlines, and so we decided to book them for the first time. They’re a dancing band, so we’ll need room at the edges because you’ll be encouraged to dance to this Polish high-energy music. Off you go!”

Tickets for the autumn season are on sale on 01904 658338 or at ncem.co.uk. Events start at 7.30pm unless stated otherwise.

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Gig announcement of the week: The Jesus And Mary Chain and The Psychedelic Furs, Leeds O2 Academy, January 19 2027

The Psychedelic Furs, left, and The Jesus And Mary Chain’s Jim and William Reid

THE Jesus And Mary Chain and The Psychedelic Furs will open their 2027 co-headline tour at Leeds O2 Academy on January 19.

Tickets for these post-punk titans’ eight-date head-to-head tour will go on sale at 10am on Friday at https://www.aegpresents.co.uk/event/the-jesus-and-mary-chain-the-psychedelic-furs/.

Masterminded by East Kilbride brothers Jim and William Reid in 1983, The Jesus And Mary Chain transformed alternative music with their noisy, feedback-heavy yet melodic sound, announced by their influential 1985 debut Psychocandy.

From their chaotic performances to their distinctive style, the Scottish siblings inspired the shoegaze genre.  Reuniting in 2007, The Jesus And Mary Chain have continued to tour and record, releasing their Top Ten-charting eighth studio album, Glasgow Eyes, in 2024.

The poster for The Jesus And Mary Chain and The Psychedelic Furs’ co-headline tour next January

Formed by brothers Richard and Tim Butler in London in 1977, The Psychedelic Furs redefined the meaning of punk and art rock. Landmark 1981 album Talk Talk Talk brought major recognition, topped by the single Pretty In Pink featuring in John Hughes’s 1986 film of the same title.

The Furs reunited after a 1990s’ hiatus and have continued touring and recording, releasing Made Of Rain in 2020.

The Jesus And Mary Chain and The Psychedelic Furs toured together previously in the United States in 2024. Their 2027 travels will take in Leeds O2 Academy, January 19; Edinburgh Usher Hall, January 20; Glasgow O2 Academy, January 22; Manchester Academy, January 23; Bristol Beacon, January 25; Birmingham O2 Academy, January 26; Brighton Dome, January 28, and London British Airways ARC, January 29.

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 39, from Gazette & Herald

David Essex: Playing York Barbican and Hull Connexin Live this week

FROM David Essex’s night of memories to the terrors of Paranormal Activity, Tony Blackburn’s Sixties’ celebration to Dirt Road Band’s blues, Charles Hutchinson heads into a fruitful autumn.

Still rocking on: David Essex, Thanks For The Memories, York Barbican, tomorrow, doors 7pm; Hull Connexin Live, Friday, doors 6.30pm

SINGER, composer and actor David Essex, now 79, is into the last week of his 21-date Thanks For The Memories tour, celebrating his 55-year career that began with playing Jesus in the London premiere of Godspell in 1971.

Essex has notched 19 Top 40 hits in the UK alone, such as the Grammy-nominated Rock On, Lamplight, Gonna Make You A Star, Stardust, Hold Me Close, Oh What A Circus, Silver Dream Machine, A Winter’s Tale and Tahiti. Box office: York, yorkbarbican.co.uk; Hull, connexinlivehull.com.

Dirt Road Band: “Punchy blues rock music to make your heart beat faster”

Blues gig of the week: Ryedale Blues Club presents Dirt Road Band, Milton Rooms, Malton, tomorrow, 8pm

THE Dirt Road Band’s line-up of Steve Walwyn, guitar and vocals, Horace Panter, bass, and Ted Duggan, drums, play hard, punchy blues rock music to make your heart beat faster.

Walwyn spent 32 years in Dr Feelgood; Panter was a founding member of The Specials and Duggan has played with Banco de Gaia and Badfinger. They began Dirt Road Band  as a side project five years ago, since when it has moved centre stage with the album release of Righteous in 2024. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

Peter Brush: Quirky one-liners and original routines at Hilarity Bites Comedy Club

Ryedale comedy gig of the week: Hilarity Bites Comedy Club, Milton Rooms, Malton, Friday, 8pm

FRIDAY’S bill comprises Peter Brush, Pete Selwood and Al Stevenson. Brush,  a deft writer of finely crafted jokes, takes to the stage unassumingly with his slight, bespectacled frame and scruffy hair to deliver quirky one-liners and original routines in an amusingly awkward fashion.

Yorkshireman Selwood focuses on tales of northern life, while being born with only one hand gives him a unique experience of the world around him, as he pokes fun at having a disability in modern Britain. Stevenson is a  quick-witted Newcastle cheeky charmer who has hosted The Stand Comedy Club in his home city. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

Mayhem, madness and muppetry of the week: Riding Lights Theatre Company presents Right Here Right Now!, Helmsley Arts Centre, Friday, 7.30pm

YORK company Riding Lights goes on the road to Helmsley with its improvised show Right Here Right Now!, promising “no script, no clue, all chaos”. You bring the ideas for the   merry band of improvisers to turn them into high-speed comedy, using witty games and gags to bring side-splitting stories to life. Cue joy-filled nonsense and feel-good fun for the family. Who wins the comedy crown? You decide! Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Infectious pop punk covers of the week: Captain Clap & The Burning Sensations, Milton Rooms, Malton, Saturday, 7.30pm

SOME years ago three men, all old enough to know better, decided the time was right to play pop punk, only missing the genre’s peak by a couple of decades. Since then, they have been bringing covers, bad jokes and loud, lively nights to pubs and clubs around Yorkshire, playing festivals and organising fundraisers too. “Expect pop punk classics, scene anthems and inappropriate song choices,” they say. Mooch support. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

The Jake Leg Jug Band: Songs of murder, betrayal, gambling, liquor and redemption at Kirk Theatre, Pickering

Ragtime gig of the week: The Jake Leg Jug Band, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, Saturday, 7.30pm

THE Jake Leg Jug Band delivers the authentic sounds of 1920s and 1930s’ America – jazz, blues, ragtime and gospel – in songs of murder, betrayal, gambling, liquor and redemption.

Since self-releasing debut album Cotton Mouth, Duncan Wilcox, vocals and double bass, and Warren James,  vocals, guitar and banjo, have released a further eight albums in 12 years, among them Next Stop!, Everythin’s Jake, Break A Leg, Fifth Avenue, Goodbye Booze, Hello Central and 2024’s spirituals collection Some Glad Morning. Box office: kirktheatre.co.uk.

Eighties’ double bill of the week: Thompson Twins’ Tom Bailey and Blancmange, York Barbican, Saturday, doors 6.30pm

REMEMBER the Thompson Twins, makers of such 1980s’ hits as Hold Me Now, Doctor Doctor, In the Name Of Love, Love On Your Side, If You Were Here, Lies, Lay Your Hands On Me and King For A Day. Tom Bailey, the Sheffield-founded group’s lead vocalist and instrumentalist, now performs under the name Thompson Twins’ Tom Bailey, revisiting his past and showcasing debut solo album Science Fiction.

On Saturday, he closes his autumn tour at York Barbican, the only Yorkshire location on his 14-date itinerary, when fellow 1980s’ chart act Blancmange support. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Psychological thriller of the week: Paranormal Activity, Grand Opera House, York, September 29 to October 3, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees

IN a new story inspired by the worldwide horror phenomenon, Paranormal Activity is directed by immersive theatre pioneer and Punchdrunk artistic director Felix Barrett and written by Levi Holloway, the playwright behind Broadway hit Grey House.

When James and Lou move from Chicago to London to escape their past, soon they discover that places are not haunted, but people are. Can you hold your nerve in the face of this chilling production on its first British and Irish tour? Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

The poster for Sounds Of The 60’s Live at York Barbican

Sixties’ celebration of the week: Sounds Of The 60’s Live, hosted by Tony Blackburn, York Barbican, September 29, 7.30pm

BBC Radio 2 presenter Tony Blackburn hosts an evening of stories and songs from “perhaps the most iconic ten years in music, fashion and popular culture” on the Sounds Of The 60’s tour, 62 years since his first broadcast on pirate radio station Radio Caroline South in 1964.

The Sounds Of The 60’s All Star Band and Singers perform hits by The Everly Brothers, Elvis Presley, The Drifters, Marvin Gaye, a Rolling Stones medley, The Walker Brothers, Diana Ross & The Supremes, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Stevie Wonder and more besides. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

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Last Chance To See: Kai West, A New Collection of Art, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, until September 24

Skylark, by Kai West, at Bluebird Bakery

YORK illustrator, screen print artist, Bull and Hyde Family Jam bassist and event organiser Kai West has made a name for himself over the past decade from screen printing posters for bands, both in Yorkshire and globally.

From his studio in Rogues Atelier Art Studios, in Walmgate, Kai has developed a unique style, using bold colours and striking imagery to grab people’s attention, while applying  traditional screen-printing methods to realise the power of contrast and shape.

York artist Kai West with assorted artworks from his Bluebird Bakery exhibition, placed either side of the Acomb bakery & cafe’s signature bluebird mural

His Bluebird Bakery exhibition sees Kai move away from posters. Building on previous exhibitions and intrigues, he explores Great Britain’s native ground-nesting birds, concentrating mainly those threatened on the UK Red List.

“I explores their folklores and stories as a means to learn more about our relationships with the creatures, and what this might mean in a world that’s heating up and rapidly changing, and where bird species are ever more at risk of extinction,” says Kai.

One of Kai West’s screen prints at Bluebird Bakery, Acomb

Kai West mounting his exhibition at Bluebird Bakery

Toad, by Kai West, from his Bluebird Bakery exhibition

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Stephen Joseph Theatre’s actor-musician co-production of Calendar Girls The Musical nominated in UK Theatre Awards

Christina Meehan’s Annie and Karen Holmes’s Chris in Calendar Girls The Musical. Picture: Tony Bartholomew

STEPHEN Joseph Theatre artistic director Paul Robinson’s production of Calendar Girls The Musical is on the shortlist for a major award.

Gary Barlow and Tim Firth’s 2015 show has been revived this year in a co-production between the SJT, Scarborough, Keswick’s Theatre by the Lake, the New Wolsey Theatre in Ipswich and the Octagon Theatre, Bolton. 

Opening at the SJT, in late-June in its first-ever actor-musician staging in the round, Calendar Girls has been nominated for Best Musical Production, sponsored by Tysers Live, in the upcoming UK Theatre Awards.

Robinson’s production moved on to Keswick throughout August and is now playing the New Wolsey before moving on to the Octagon throughout October.

Barlow and Firth’s much-loved show charts the story of a group of Yorkshire women who create a fabulous fundraising calendar after the death of one of their husbands.

CharlesHutchPress’s review concluded: “Honorary Yorkshiremen Barlow and Firth, in tandem with Robinson – a director at his best in comedy – have delivered the best version of Calendar Girls yet, not least thanks to the leading performances of Karen Holmes’s Chris and Christina Meehan’s Chris, Yorkshire women of such spirit and resilience.”

Robinson says: “Being nominated for a UK Theatre Award is an incredibly proud moment for us in Scarborough. It reflects not just the work on stage, but our shared commitment, alongside our vital regional partners, to bringing high-quality and engaging storytelling to local audiences.

“This production simply wouldn’t have been possible without the immense trust of Tim Firth and Gary Barlow; allowing us to take their beautiful show and create its first-ever actor-musician version was a huge leap of faith.

“I am immensely proud of our spectacular, multi-talented cast and crew, and our visionary creative team who pushed all the boundaries to bring our ambitious vision to life.”

Calendar Girls The Musical faces stiff competition in the awards, to be announced in London on October 12. The fellow nominees are: The High Life (National Theatre of Scotland & Dundee Rep Theatre co-production in association with Aberdeen Performing Arts and Capital Theatres); Kiss Of The Spiderwoman (Curve, Bristol Old Vic & Mayflower Southampton co-production) and Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street (Birmingham Rep).

Since 1991, the annual UK Theatre Awards have celebrated the creative excellence and outstanding work seen on and off stage throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

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Book launch of the week:  John Wheatcroft, The Strange Death Of Football, York Explore, Library Square, today, 3pm kick-off

Matthew Wood’s cover illustration for John Wheatcroft’s collection of football-related short stories, The Strange Death Of Football

YORK author and journalist John Wheatcroft set out to write a volume of stories in which football was the subject or the starting point.

“I’m using the sport to explore universal themes such as love, friendship, family and loss,” he says of The Strange Death Of Football’s resulting tales of winners and losers. “Even the pastiche boys’ football story, Portsmouth v Jupiter, satirises English post-war insularity.”

Introducing the stories, John says: “The lives of two international players are changed forever following a road accident. A young orphan learns lessons for life from his great-uncle, helped by a shared love of fooball, words and story-telling.

“A referee faces the toughest decision of his career in a testimonial match. A vicar thinks about his life and faith as he watches his relegation-bound team losing heavily.

“These inter-connected stories often have the feel of a novel as their protagonists, from Manchester to Portsmouth and Glasgow to Naples, cope with life’s highs and lows. For them, football is occasionally a curse, more often a blessing but always more than a game. There’s also a sting in the tail, a warning from the future.”

After publishing two novels, Here In The Cull Valley (2016) and Rocket Boy (2019), John has ventured into short stories for the first time. “However, to some extent I’ve tried to have it both ways, giving the 11 stories the occasional feel of a novel by revisiting characters and themes.

“With one stand-alone exception, The Footballer In Spite Of Himself, every story ties up with at least one other tale. The book also offers a picture of what football was like during different stages of its development, from war-time to the modern (and perhaps final!) era.”

Nostalgia plays its part, albeit without the slightest sentimentality. “The misery of one former player in the 1950s (in The Daft Wee Game) suggests that there was never a truly golden age for the sport,” contends John.

Author John Wheatcroft

“The sting in the tail, which explains the title, is a rather gloomy view of football’s (and the world’s) future, although it should perhaps be read as a warning rather than a prediction. In any case, many stories are quite upbeat and the protagonists predominantly likeable. Problems and conflict arise from how other people (and the football world) treat them.”

Sports journalist, broadcaster and My Father And Other Working-Class Football Heroes author Gary Imlach says of the book: “Like all well-chosen starting XIs, this book is more than the sum of its parts. The stories play off each other, key figures recur, connections reveal themselves. The result is a heartfelt narrative that’s as much about family as football.”

The Guardian sports journalist, author, tactical historian and The Blizzard editor Jonathan Wilson describes The Strange Death Of Football as “a beautiful album of short stories that performs the rare feat of using football successfully as a stage, a structuring device and a metaphor. Wise and moving.”

“Both Gary and Jonathan seem to have really understood what I was aiming for,” says John.

Tickets for today’s 75-minute launch can be bought via Explore York’s tickettailor.com site, priced at £2.50. Published by Blue Bunting, of York, the book also is on sale at Little Apple Bookshop, High Petergate, York.

Author’s note by John Wheatcroft

“MOST of my football sides [in The Strange Death Of Football] are current names or clubs that existed in the past. The exceptions are Inter Campania, Valley Cordials and the war-time Forces United.

One story, The Footballer In Spite Of Himself, contains some unfamiliar teams. Most football fans with an interest in the past will have heard of Ardwick and Newton Heath. Not so many, perhaps, will know that Oldham Athletic were Pina Villa and Stockport County were Heaton Norris Rovers.

“It’s my whimsical nod to the way the history of football might have panned out quite differently. After all, Bury were winners of the FA Cup twice before Manchester City and Manchester United won anything. And United survived by the skin of their teeth during the inter-war years.

Perhaps, had they folded, there might have been a ‘phoenix club’ like FC Newton Heath. And Manchester Central might have thrived.”

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