NOT since Paul Weller and Jess Glynne in June 2019 has Forestry England hosted Forest Live concerts at Dalby Forest, near Pickering.
The hiatus that followed the Covid-enforced cancellation of Leeds band Kaiser Chiefs and the double bill of Will Young and James Morrison in 2020 comes to an end this week.
Glory be, the weather forecast looks favourable for Canadian rocker Bryan Adams, back in a forest tonight after the Julien Temple-directed video for 1991’s 16-week chart topper (Everything I Do) I Do It For You from Robin Hood – Prince Of Thieves.
More sunshine over the weekend too when Nile Rodgers & Chic and support act Sophie Ellis-Bextor turn the woodland into a dancefloor on Saturday night and Richard Ashcroft, the two-time Ivor Novello Award-winning Wigan singer, songwriter and frontman of The Verve, completes the line-up on Sunday.
Ashcroft’s set list will draw on his five solo albums, along with The Verve’s anthems Bittersweet Symphony, The Drugs Don’t Work, Lucky Man and Sonnet that night, when Leeds band Apollo Junction will be supporting.
Overseeing the Forest Live programme at not only Dalby Forest, but at Cannock Chase Forest, Delamere Forest, High Lodge, Thetford Forest, Sherwood Pines and Westonbirt Arboretum too, will be Rhodri Jones, Forestry England’s national events programme manager.
Nile Rodgers: Disco delights with CHIC on Saturday night
“After scaling back our operation, for the reintroduction of Forest Live we wanted to make sure we came back in a way that was sustainable after Covid, rather than all guns blazing everywhere, so we returned in a gradual, controlled way,” says Rhodri, who took up his post in 2023 after a decade at Southbank Centre, London, where he became senior producer for all music events and festivals, including Meltdown.
“We’re really glad that Forest Live is back at Dalby Forest this year. We think we have a really good programme, in a really beautiful setting, and with three concerts this time, it gives us the chance to appeal to different people, providing something for everybody.”
This summer’s return to Dalby Forest marks the start of a partnership with Cuffe & Taylor, promoters of the highly successful summer series at Scarborough Open Theatre, where the likes of Tom Jones, Johnny Marr & The Charlatans, Paul Weller, Rick Astley, Fatboy Slim, James, Madness and comedian Bill Bailey will be coast-bound this season.
“It’s brand-new partnership for this year and will be ongoing,” says Rhodri. “We were looking for a partner for a number of reasons. Firstly, Cuffe & Taylor have an amazing track record of attracting artists of the status we want.
“Secondly, we are very proud of Forest Live, and its contribution to making a difference by raising funds for woodland conservation, and by partnering with such big guns as Cuffe & Taylor, who do concerts 365 days a year and, like us, are advocates of sustainability with the Green Nation charter, we can strengthen that.
“It’s essentially an initiative to look at all elements of putting on the events to make them as sustainable as possible, so one of the things we were determined to introduce this year was a shuttle bus service to Dalby Forest, with coaches from Malton, Pickering, Scarborough and York.”
Richard Ashcroft: Sunday’s headline act at Forest Live at Dalby Forest. Picture: Dean Chalkley
He is delighted by the link-up with Cuffe & Taylor. “It’s a 50-50 partnership, and one of the great things is how aligned we are in how we want it to work. They can call on our expertise in staging concerts in beautiful surroundings and we can benefit from their knowledge, such as putting on the shuttle buses.
“Our sites are more remote and often that can be overlooked, with the last thing being thought about being the experience of getting to and from the forest, but we are aware that if it takes ages to get out, it might be the last time someone comes, so we’re addressing that.”
Rhodri highlights a further benefit of the return of Forest Live to Dalby Forest. “The fundamental aim of these concerts is that it’s beautiful to have these amazing musicians there, but it’s also our aim to get people into the forest for the first time and maybe next week they’ll come back to walk their dog or go mountain biking.
“The funds we raise go towards the work we do, whether tree planting or researching the health of trees and the impact of climate change. One of the big things we’re doing is looking at how trees will be sustainable in 50-100 years’ time. We’re always planning something ahead; it could be the next Forest Live or the rest of the team working on the future of the forests.”
Forestry England presents Forest Live at Dalby Forest, near Pickering: tonight, Bryan Adams (9pm to 10.30pm), supported by Cassyette (7.30pm to 8.15pm) and Rocketsmith (6.30pm to 7pm); Saturday, Nile Rodgers & Chic (9pm to 10.30pm), supported by Sophie Ellis-Bextor (7.30pm to 8.15pm), Deco (6.30pm to 7pm) and DJ Sam Flanagan (Demented Disco, 5.45pm to 6.15pm); Sunday, Richard Ashcroft (9pm to 10.30pm), supported by Apollo Junction (7.30pm to 8.15pm) and Tom A Smith (6.30pm to 7pm). Box office: forestlive.com.
Rhodri Jones: National events programme manager at Forestry England
Rhodri Jones: the back story
NATIONAL events programme manager at Forestry England, leading on the national portfolio of forest events including the open-air concert series Forest Live.
Joined Forestry England in 2023 from Southbank Centre, London, where he worked for a decade, becoming the senior producer for all music events and festivals, including Meltdown festival.
Prior to that, he worked for Hay Festivals worldwide, on the flagship event in Wales, along with festivals in Bangladesh, India, Columbia, the Maldives, Spain, and Kenya.
Schoolchildren taking part in the 2023 Make Music Day in the Chapter House at York Minster. Picture: Duncan Lomax, Ravage Productions
THREE hundred primary schoolchildren from Yorkshire and the North East are taking part in Make Music Day in York today.
This special celebration of all things musical is run by the Richard Shephard Music Foundation, the charity set up as a memorial to the late York composer and Minster School headmaster Dr Richard Shephard.
Since its creation, 5,000 children have been receiving weekly music lesson within their schools, subsidised by the foundation, and today’s event will give some of them even more opportunities to express themselves musically by spending the day singing, playing instruments and composing music in the Chapter House of York Minster and the Creative Centre at York St John University.
Make Music Day 2023 in the Creative Centre at York St John University. Picture: Duncan Lomax, Ravage Productions
Cathy Grant, from the foundation, says: “The day is all about celebrating children’s natural musical talent, supporting their wellbeing, and raising children’s musical aspirations.
“What drives us forward is the ambition that every child should have music in their lives. It shouldn’t be for the privileged few. I’ve been lucky over the past two years to witness the transformational experience of music for young people.
“Working alongside our partners, we’re seeking to remove the geographical and financial barriers to a high-quality music education so that every child can experience the great many educational, health and well-being benefits it can bring.”
Schoolchildren enjoying the 2023 Make Music Day in York. Picture: Duncan Lomax, Ravage Productions
Cathy continues: “I can get absolutely lost in the swathes of research that seek to prove the benefits of music education, particularly from an early age. Researchers are even working on proving the ‘psychoneuroimmunological’ benefits – essentially evidencing how music is not only good for our minds, but also the long-term health of our bodies. And what’s not to like about schools being full of music and singing?”
As well as an inspiring day for young people, the event will give supporters a glimpse of what the foundation has done since 2021. “We’ve got ambitious plans,” says Cathy. “We aim, over the next three years, to allow over 10,000 young people to receive a high-quality music lesson each week and to have the opportunity to join a choir, to come along to a music holiday club or take up an instrument.
“The day’s activities will include plenty of singing, a folk workshop, an introduction to the Gamelan – a set of huge traditional percussion instruments – and the chance to play the ‘Bamboo Tamboo’, an instrument that can be used to play vibrant Caribbean grooves. We hope it will not only inspire the children but also the teachers accompanying them.”
A session at the 2023 Make Music Day in York. Picture: Duncan Lomax, Ravage Productions
The schools taking part today are: Easterside Academy, Middlesbrough; St George’s RC Primary School, Scarborough; St Joseph’s RC Primary School, Pickering; Abingdon Primary School, Middlesbrough; Badger Hill Primary Academy, York; Clifton Green Primary School, York; St Francis of Assisi Primary School, Stockton; Ainderby Steeple CofE Primary School and Middleham CofE Aided School.
Make Music Day: the back story
MAKE Music Day is the largest single-day music festival in Great Britain, encouraging musicians, producers, promoters and music lovers to collaborate and organise in-person and online performances in and for their communities.
Since beginning as Fête de la Musique in France in 1982, Make Music Day has grown into a global phenomenon that takes place annually in 125 countries, always on June 21. Solo performers, groups and music creators of all types are invited to take part, regardless of age, ability or musical genre.
To more information, go to: makemusicday.co.uk.
Giving instruction at the 2023 Make Music Day in York. Picture: Duncan Lomax, Ravage Productions
Stuart Vincent’s Amir in The Kite Runner at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Barry Rivett
THE return of The Kite Runner and Forest Live, a mega-musical full of nuns and a new case for Holmes & Watson add intrigue and woodland joys to Charles Hutchinson’s week ahead.
Play of the week: The Kite Runner, York Theatre Royal, running until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees
DIRECTED by Giles Croft, Matthew Spangler’s adaptation of Khaled Hosseini’s novel presents a haunting tale of friendship that spans cultures and continents as it follows Amir’s journey to confront his past and find redemption.
In his childhood recollection, Afghanistan is on the verge of war and best friends Amir (Stuart Vincent) and Hassan (Yazdan Qafouri) are about to be torn apart. Amid the excitement of a Kabul kite-flying tournament, no-one can foresee the terrible incident that will shatter their lives forever. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Murder mystery to solve: Calf 2 Cow in Sherlock & Watson – A Murder In The Garden at Helmsley Walled Garden
Immersive murder mystery experience of the week: Calf 2 Cow, Sherlock & Watson – A Murder In The Garden, Helmsley Walled Garden, tomorrow, 7pm (gates, 6pm)
WHEN a body is mysteriously found lying in the middle of Landsdown Manor Gardens, the police have no option but to persuade Sherlock Holmes to take on his toughest case to date.
Assisted by the loyal Watson, the detective duo must battle through villains to discover who is behind the murder in Bath comedy troupe Calf 2 Cow’s new adaption, full of slapstick, multi-role playing and rock’n’roll, penned by artistic director Matthew Emeny. Bring chairs, blankets and picnics. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Richard Hawley: Made in Sheffield, performing in Scarborough
Yorkshireman of the week: Richard Hawley, Scarbrough Spa, tomorrow (20/6/2024), 7.30pm
ON the heels of his Olivier Award-winning Sheffield musical Standing At The Sky’s Edge opening a six-month West End run at the Gillian Lynne Theatre, Richard Hawley showcases his ninth studio album In This City They Call You Love on his late-spring tour. Scarborough hosts the closing night. Box office: scarboroughspa.co.uk.
Nile Rodgers: Turning Dalby Forest into a disco floor with CHIC on Saturday, when Sophie Ellis-Bextor & Deco will be on the bill too
Welcome return of the week: Forest Live at Dalby Forest, near Pickering, Bryan Adams, Friday; Nile Rodgers & CHIC, Saturday; Richard Ashcroft, Sunday; gates 5pm
FORESTRY England revives Forest Live at Dalby Forest for the first time since 2019 for three nights of open-air concerts in aid of woodland conservation. Canadian rocker Bryan Adams, he of forest fame from (Everything I Do) I Do It For You for Robin Hood Prince Of Thieves, on Friday night will be followed by disco icons Nile Rodgers & CHIC on Saturday and the Wigan singer, songwriter and The Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft on Sunday. Box office: forestlive.com.
Jessa Liversidge: Two Bards And A Songbird, one concert and a workshop in Helmsley. Picture: David K Newton
English and Scottish union of the week: Jessa Liversidge, Two Bards And A Songbird, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, 7.30pm
EASINGWOLD singer and choir leader Jessa Liversidge presents her celebration of song inspired by two bards: William Shakespeare and Robert Burns, from her native Scotland. Her heartfelt performance spans traditional folk, pop and musical theatre, sung to her piano accompaniment plus a loop pedal to layer melodies and sounds.
Audience suggestions are invited to enable Jessa to improvise a new song around a Shakespeare/Burns quotation. From 4pm to 6pm, she will host a harmony-singing workshop for participants to sing in the evening show, with a combined ticket available for the workshop and concert. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
York Light Opera Company cast members in rehearsal for Nunsense: The Mega-Musical
York musical of the week: York Light Opera Company in Nunsense: The Mega-Musical!, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, 7.30pm, June 26 to 28, July 2 to 5; 3pm; June 29 and 30, July 6
AFTER the unfortunate passing of four beloved sisters in a “culinary catastrophe”, the remaining Little Sisters of Hoboken find themselves in a sticky situation. To raise funds for a proper burial (and perhaps a new cook), the nuns take centre stage for a riotous revue unlike any other.
Director Neil Wood brings Dan Goggin’s musical to mega-sized life in a version that boasts an expanded cast, new characters and even more musical mayhem. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk
Tom Jones: Returning to Scarborough Open Air Theatre, where he last performed in July 2022
Coastal gig of the week: Tom Jones, Scarborough Open Air Theatre, June 26, gates open at 6pm
SEATED tickets have sold out for Welsh whirlwind Tom Jones’s outdoor gig in Scarborough but that still leaves room for standing. Sixty years since releasing his first single, Chills And Fever, in 1964, he is still blowing those bellows as powerfully as ever at 84, having made history as the oldest man to notch up a number one with an album of new material in the UK Official Album Charts in 2021 with Surrounded By Time, overtaking Bob Dylan.
Expect It’s Not Unusual, What’s New Pussycat?, Delilah, She’s A Lady, Green, Green Grass Of Home, Kiss, You Can Leave Your Hat On, Sex Bomb et al from Sir Tom. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
Sully O’Sullivan: Putting the comedy boot in on June 28 in Malton. Picture: Andy Hollingworth
Comedy gig of the week: Hilarity Bites Comedy Club, Sully O’Sullivan, Don Biswas and host Danny Deegan, Milton Rooms, Malton, June 28, 8pm
SULLY O’Sullivan has played New Zealand, Australia, Croatia, Canada and all over Great Britain, now adding Malton to that list. Politically charged Don Biswas covers such subjects his Asian upbringing, his neuro-diversity as someone with dyspraxia, ADHD and ASD [Autism Spectrum Disorder], topped off with conspiracy theories.
Northern comedian, writer and actor Danny Deegan hosts the show with tales of mischief and multiple characters. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Alison Moyet: 40th anniversary album and 2025 tour, visiting York Barbican next February. Picture: Naomi Davison
Gig announcement of the week: Alison Moyet, York Barbican, February 20 2025
MARKING 40 years since she left Yazoo to launch her solo career, Essex soul singer Alison Moyet will play York Barbican on her 25-date 2025 itinerary, her first headline tour since 2017.
After graduating from Brighton University in 2023 with a first-class degree in fine art printmaking, Moyet will combine art and music on her 18-track October 4 album, Key, creating the artwork as well as reworking singles, fan favourites and deep cuts, complemented by two new songs. Box office from 10am on Friday: yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/alison-moyet-2025/.
Childhood friends: Stuart Vincent’s Amir, left and Yazdan Qafouri’s Hassan in The Kite Runner, on tour at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Barry Rivett
THE Kite Runner has flown into York for the first time since its May 2018 visit to the Grand Opera House, and it finds relationships on the global stage even more fractured and fractious in 2024.
The United States at war with itself in Trump versus Boden, the re-match. Afghanistan back under control of the Taliban. Putin signing a pact with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un. Russia invading Ukraine. Israel and Hamas, never-ending.
Whenever Giles Croft’s production returns, the impact of Californian playwright Matthew Spangler’s adaptation of medical practitioner and writer Khaled Hosseini’s novel grows incrementally, as does a feeling of despair.
Spangler is a professor of playwriting and theatre of immigration in San Jose, where Hosseini settled after leaving Afghanistan, mirroring the path of protagonist Amir, who moves to Fremont, California.
After omnipresent musician Hanif Khan sets the mood with his table-playing on stage, Stuart Vincent’s warts-and-all Amir narrates his confessional story, heading back to his 1970s’ Afghanistan childhood as the privileged son of a wealthy Kabul family.
As in Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers, adults play childhood friends, in this case Amir and Hassan (Yazdan Qafouri), the kite-running son of long-serving family servant Ali (Tiran Aakel).
The innocence of playing cowboys (like in Blood Bothers, incidentally) and sharing stories of mythical deeds will be swamped as the boys become entangled in a web of betrayal and guilt in a male-dominated world of masters and servants, bullies and victims, where Amir’s blossoming talents as a writer are not appreciated by his authoritarian, widowed father, Baba (Dean Rehman).
Reconciliation and redemption – the chance to be “good again” – will emerge eventually, but what a shocking price, both destructive and self-destructive, has been paid, as Vincent’s Amir leads the story between his crushing past and haunted, guilt-shrouded present.
For all the beauty of kites in flight, the essence of Kabul’s kite-flying tournament is the skill required to cut the line of the losers: a metaphor for the damage inflicted in such a macho world (from Baba and Ian Abeysekera’s General Taheri’s lack of appreciation of books and writing to the schoolboy bullying inflicted by Bhavin Bhatt’s Assef).
Matching this male-prescribed culture, the cast has only one significant female role: Daphne Kouma’s Soraya, the intransigent General’s literature-loving daughter. Later to become a teacher, she is the first female voice to enter Amir’s ear, and what a transformative effect she has, after his cowardly childhood behaviour had so tragically damaged the ever-loyal Hassan and himself.
At odds with our age of alternative truths and doctored recollections, Amir’s account is painfully truthful as he introduces scenes and steps in and out of the story, so frank in exposing his own faults and fallibilities as much as those of the men around him.
Such is the theatrical intelligence of Croft’s nuanced production, at once brutal yet deeply humane, playing to heart and mind in equal measure. You will laugh initially, feel rising anger, and then cry too, in direct correlation with the ebb and flow of Vincent’s superb performance, and all the while Qafouri’s Hassan, and later in his second role as his son Sohrab, will tear at your heart.
Barney George’s designs, in tandem with William Simpson’s skyline projections, capture the fiery heat and stifling culture of Afghanistan and the contrasting freedoms of California, complemented by Charles Balfour’s lighting design, as once more the intense drama and soul-searching honesty of The Kite Runner makes for confrontational theatre at its best.
The Kite Runner, York Theatre Royal, 7.30pm tonight; 2pm and 7.30pm, Thursday; 7.30pm, Friday; 2.30pm and 7.30pm, Saturday. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Inkie’s work Rise Of The Vandals, on show at 2, Low Ousegate, York
YORK art collective Bombsquad will launch Rise Of The Vandals, a celebration of the city’s street art scene, in a disused office block at 2, Low Ousegate, on Saturday.
Spread over four floors in one of the tallest buildings in the city, the exhibition will showcase retrospective and contemporary spray paint culture, graffiti, street art and public art and will feature three galleries, a cinema room, an art shop and live DJs.
Rise Of The Vandals is the fourth project by the not-for-profit Bombsquad, whose aim is to “cut through the pretensions of commercial galleries, which often cater for privilege and affluence”, instead creating an experience that “enriches the city and connects its communities, while supporting York charities”.
Keith Hopewell: York graffiti artist and archivist
On show will be work by Yorkshire and international contemporary artists, featuring film, artefacts, site-specific installations and sculpture, plus works painted directly on walls and canvas.
One floor will explore the largely unseen history of York’s graffiti scene from the 1980s to the present-day street art scene, showcasing photography, video and press clippings from the exclusive archives of York-born graffiti artist and music producer Keith Hopewell (alias Part2ism), alongside his new work.
James Prigoff visiting Keith Hopewell in York in June 1991. Prigoff, who died in April 2021, was an American photographer, author and lecturer, who focused on public murals, graffiti and spraycan art. Copyright: Keith Hopewell
“Those early years were purely explorative and identity defining,” recalls Keith. “There was no template to move beyond the mass transit art from New York City and no ‘street art’ careers on the table.
“The grassroots spray paint practice in the UK was largely developed using standard automotive car spray and home-made nozzles. Growing up in York gave me distance from the bigger cities to develop my skill sets and explore the use of spray paint and my creativity’.”
Vultures: Lincoln Lightfoot’s staircase mural artwork
Alongside Keith’s carefully curated historic collection, the exhibition floors will display elements of the wider UK graffiti and street art scene. Every interior wall of the disused building will be full to bursting point with visual art, while a film room will show rare and previously unshown footage of the early 1980s’ graffiti scene in York.
Prominent too will be 18 substantial canvasses by James Jessop, covering three decades of his work from his personal archives.
Unleashing a whirlwind of colour, imagination and storytelling, the event will highlight the internationally acclaimed talent of Hopewell, Jessop, Chu, Rowdy, Kid Acne, Remi Rough, Prefab77, SODA, Replete and Jo Peel (creator of the new wall mural near Severus Hill, in Holgate, York, by the way).
A street mural by Remi Rough
“The event will show the merging of artistic brilliance as this diverse group of artists, each bringing their own unique style and creative vision, pushes the boundaries of creativity to elevate your senses,” says Bombsquad’s Sharon McDonagh, one of the York Open Studios regulars participating in the show, along with Lincoln Lightfoot and Boxxhead.
“The inspiration for Rise Of The Vandals originated as many of the artists exhibiting are now reflecting back on their contribution to highly influencing the movement over the last three to four decades, which needs to be documented and shared.
“Our event will provide an interactive and engaging experience with opportunities for visitors to engage with artists, learn about an alternative history within our city and explore a wide selection of art and merchandise in our fourth-floor shop with proceeds going to SASH.”
After raising funds for York Food Bank and York Mind from past shows, this year’s chosen charity is SASH (Safe and Sound Homes), a youth homeless organisation that offers emergency and longer-term housing to young people aged 16 to 25 across York, North and East Yorkshire when they have nowhere else to go.
Young people who work with the charity have been invited to exhibit work, prompting SASH fundraising officer Aimee Harding to say: “We are delighted and honoured to have been selected as Bombsquad’s chosen charity. Being involved in this event is a life-changing opportunity for our young people.
“As part of our SASH Enhancement Service, they are creating work for the event that will be showcased alongside world-renowned artists. Not only is it a fantastic experience for them but the vital funds raised from the event means SASH can help more young people in need who are facing homelessness”.
Box Work, by Boxxhead, on the staircase at 2, Low Ousegate
Rise Of The Vandals, four floors of galleries, a cinema room, resident DJ, plus guest DJs, wall art, installations and an art shop, at 2, Low Ousegate York. Opening times: Weekend 1, June 22 and 23, 11am to 6pm; Weekend 2, June 28 to 30, 11am to 6pm; Weekend 3, July 5 to 7, 11am to 6pm. Free entry; donations are encouraged. Dog friendly.
Who is taking part in Bombsquad’s Rise Of The Vandals?
THE featured artists will be: Kid Acne; Remi Rough; James Jessop; Keith Hopewell; Nikki Goldup; Jo Peel; Soda; KMG; Lincoln Lightfoot; Inkie; Boxxhead; Real State; Rizak; Anonymouse; Coloquix; Prefab 77; Replete; Rowdy; Chu; Sola: Dan Cimmermann; 3 Dom; Acerone; Mul; Sharon McDonagh; Steve Bottrill; Michael Dawson; Jim McElvaney and Listen04.
Two James Jessop works on show in Rise Of The Vandals
Bombsquad: modus operand
“WE believe that art has the power to unite and transform lives,” says the York art collective. “The key objective for us as a group is to grow the non-conventional art movement, resonating with a wider audience outside of the art world and beyond.
“We endeavour to grow as an organisation, supporting artists and improving the landscape by way of murals and exhibitions within our community and to raise funds for our local charities.
“With our grassroots and authentic approach, our core members bring decades of experience in the art world. We go far beyond our non-profit organisation status in that we take nothing away from funds raised during our events and contribute our time and self-fund at our own personal risk to ensure that these events are possible.
A Speck Of Dust In The Cosmos, print, by Kid Acne, featuring in Bombsquad’s Rise Of The Vandals
“We are not controlled by anyone; we are non-conformists whose authenticity brings in the support of local businesses and artists who champion our cause. One of our York artists would summarise this as ‘Another world is possible’.”
Past Events
June 2021: Tempting Fete, in June 2021. Free family-friendly outdoor spray art event in York, raising £1,327 over eight hours for York Food Bank.
October 2022: Totally Hammered, charity art auction held in collaboration with Tennents Auctioneers. Thirty-seven artists contributed artworks to a ticketed fundraising party, raising £20,000 for York Food Bank.
Works by Mul and KMG, on show in Bombsquad’s Rise Of The Vandals
July 2023: Educated Vandals, on top two floors of disused office block on Low Ousegate, where internationally renowned artists and York artists were invited to produce wall art and exhibit art. Raised £11,753 for York Mind.
What is SASH?
SASH works to prevent youth homelessness across North and East Yorkshire, providing the Nightstop emergency accommodation placement service, where young people are placed with hosts for up to two weeks.
SASH also provides a longer-term placement service, Supported Lodgings, with hosts for young people who cannot return home and cannot yet live independently.
Style Stars in York in 1988, from Keith Hopewell’s archives
Ordinary citizens who are concerned about young people and homelessness apply to SASH to become hosts. They are assessed, DBS checked, trained and supported by the charity’s placement co-ordinators.
SASH says: “The young people we work with are often vulnerable. Our placement co-ordinators support them throughout their placement. Loneliness, poor mental health and self-esteem are all issues that can affect young people who have faced homelessness.
“Our enhanced support service provides additional support to vulnerable young people, helping them to break the cycle of homelessness and build a bright future for themselves.”
All the young people that SASH works with are referred through councils and other local organisations after presenting as homeless.
Alison Moyet: Returning to York Barbican next February for the first time snce November 2017. Picture: Naomi Davison
MARKING 40 years since she left Yazoo to launch her solo career, Essex soul singer Alison Moyet will play York Barbican on February 20 on her 25-date 2025 itinerary, her first headline tour since 2017.
After graduating from Brighton University in 2023 with a first-class degree in fine art printmaking, Moyet will combine art and music on her 18-track October 4 album, Key, creating the artwork as well as reworking singles, fan favourites and deep cuts, complemented by two new songs.
Moyet, who will turn 63 tomorrow, has announced the album’s release on Cooking Vinyl by sharing one of the new compositions, Such Smale Ale, and her re-working of All Cried Out, her second single from 1984 en route to two number one albums, six Top Ten singles, two BRIT Awards and a Grammy nomination.
The lavish Such Small Ale, at once contemporary but with a hint of 1960s’ nostalgia, was co-written with producer, arranger and musical director Sean McGhee and Suede guitarist Richard Oakes, who performs on several tracks on the new album.
The track listing will be: Where Hides Sleep; All Cried Out; Such Small Ale; All Signs Of Life; Can’t Say It Like I Mean It; Fire; Filigree; The Impervious Me; More; Is This Love?; Tongue Tied; My Right Arm; So Am I; My Best Day; World Without End; This House; Love Resurrection and You Don’t Have To Go.
“I wanted to take the opportunity to look at the trajectory of the past four decades and explore songs that, in their original form, were never fully realised or have had their relevance to me altered by time,” says Moyet.“I hope this collection will be the key to those unopened doors. Let yourself in.”
Alison Moyet’s artwork for October 4 album, Key, designed by Moyet herself after her fine art printmaking studies at Brighton University
The songs were all reimagined alongside McGhee. Some remain closer to the originals;All Cried Out and Love Resurrection are refreshed rather than reinvented, their 1980’s motifs switched for a more timeless production. Others are cast in a new light, typified by McGhee’s arrangements of Filigree (co-written by Guy Sigsworth) andIs This Love?, now translated into a shimmering, epic ballad.
Keyis available to pre-order at https://alisonmoyet.lnk.to/Key in a range of physical formats, with exclusives for Amazon, HMV and select indie stories. The official store has assorted bundles, including marble colour vinyl, CD and cassette, each one accompanied by a print signed by Moyet.
Fans who pre-order Key from the official store will receive the chance to access a UK and Ireland pre-sale for tour tickets from 10am on June 19.
Moyet’s York Barbican show will be her first English date of the 2025 tour after Irish performances in Dublin and Belfast. A further Yorkshire gig will follow at Sheffield City Hall on March 3 (box office: sheffieldcityhall.co.uk).
“Live work really matters to me,” says Moyet, who last played York Barbican on November 19 2017 in a night of soulful electronica with keyboard players John Garden and Shaun McGhee.
“I can’t dial in a performance. I love the physical feeling that singing gives me. It’s totally primal and euphoric. On stage I remember how to connect with myself.”
In addition, last week she launched 40MoyetMoments, a 40-part podcast series featuring Moyet in conversation with her long-time digital manager, Steve Coats-Dennis, discussing the key moments of her career: the highs, the lows and everything in between. Listen at https://alisonmoyet.lnk.to/Podcast.
Richard Hawley: Made in Sheffield, performing in Scarborough on Thursday. Picture: Dean Chalkley
RICHARD Hawley concludes his 13-date tour with the only Yorkshire gig at Scarborough Spa on Thursday night.
On the heels of his Olivier Award-winning Sheffield musical Standing At The Sky’s Edge opening a six-month West End run at the Gillian Lynne Theatre, the South Yorkshireman will be showcasing his May 31 album, In This City They Call You Love.
Released on BMG, the track listing is Two For His Heels; Have Love; Prism In Jeans; Heavy Rain; People; Hear That Lonesome Whistle Blow; Deep Space; Deep Waters; I’ll Never Get Over You; Do I Really Need To Know?; When The Lights Go Out and ‘Tis Night.
Latest single Two For His Heels is a blues rumble reminiscent of Link Wray and Duane Eddy: a sparse, atmospheric and cinematic song about a deal that goes wrong.
The album title is derived from the lyrics for People, a hymn to his beloved home of Sheffield, the steel city’s proud industrial past and the enduring determination of its citizens.
Summing up his new material, Hawley, 57, says: “I’ve made three albums where I had the title before I’d even begun to record, where I had an agenda. One was Truelove’s Gutter. Another was Standing At The Sky’s Edge, when I wanted to turn everything up and make the music a lot more aggressive, and then this one.
“I wanted it to be multi-coloured in a way…focusing on the voice and what voices can do together. I deliberately only played a handful of guitar solos, to keep it focused on voices, the song and space.”
Two decades have elapsed since Hawley abandoned band life full-time, first withThe Longpigs and then as Pulp’s guitarist. Nine studio albums have ensued, along with film scores, a self-titled mini album and the 2023 compilation Now Then: The Very Best Of Richard Hawley, his fourth Top Ten album.
The cover artwork for Richard Hawley’s new album, In This City They Call You Love
In addition, he has worked with such collaborators asArctic Monkeys, Manic Street Preachers, Elbow, Paul Weller, Duane Eddy (co-producing his 2011 album Road Trip), Nancy Sinatra and English folk royalty Martin Carthy and Norma Waterson on 2013’s Bright Phoebus Revisited tour.
In 2002, he co-wrote Clean for Robbie Williams’ debut solo album, Life Thru A Lens; in 2009, he wrote the smouldering ballad After The Rain for Shirley Bassey, and down the years he has performed with All Saints and Texas.
His song Tonight The Streets Are Ourswas featured inThe SimpsonsandExit Through The Gift Shop: A Banksy Filmand Hawley numbers have featured in television dramas Peaky Blinders, The Full Monty and Hijack.
Dear Alien (Who Art In Heaven), co-written with Jarvis Cocker and Wes Anderson for Anderson’s film Asteroid City,was shortlisted for Best Original Song in this year’s Oscars.
Premiered at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre, the musical Standing At The Sky’s Edge combines 20 Hawley songs with a book by University of York-educated Chris Bush. Winner of Best New Musical and Best Original Score at the 2023 Olivier Awards, the show has moved to the Gillian Lynne Theatre after sold-out Crucible and National Theatre runs.
In 2023, Hawley played five shows with American musician John Grant, former frontman of The Czars, performing the songs of country legend Patsy Cline.
In This City They Call You Love has become his sixth Top Ten album in a row, available on digipack CD, standard black vinyl, limited-edition transparent blue vinyl exclusive to HMV and indie stores and transparent yellow vinyl, on sale exclusively from the official store, richardhawley.co.uk.
Richard Hawley, supported by James Bagshaw, Scarborough Spa, June 20, 7.30pm. Also plays Don Valley Bowl, Sheffield, with The Coral and The Divine Comedy, on August 29. Box office: Scarborough, scarboroughspa.co.uk; Sheffield, richardhawley.co.uk.
Barbara Dickson: Second night added at All Saints Church, Pocklington
AFTER their October 4 gig sold out in record time, Scottish folk singer Barbara Dickson and her pianist Nick Holland are adding a second acoustic performance at All Saints Church, Pocklington, on October 16.
On each night, they will explore her catalogue of songs in this intimate and historic setting, where the pair will let the words and melodies take centre stage as they draw on Dickson’s folk roots, contemporary greats and her classic hits, Answer Me, Another Suitcase In Another Hall, Caravan and the million-selling chart-topper I Know Him So Well.
The shows are the second collaboration between All Saints and Pocklington-based Hurricane Promotions and follow on from a sold-out event in December with BBC Radio 2 Folk Award winners The Young’uns. Two further shows are due to be announced later this month. Watch this space.
Emerging from the late-Sixties’ Scottish folk scene, Dickson has become Scotland’s best-selling female album artist, earning six platinum, 11 gold and seven silver albums. Her stage career has included the roles of the original Mrs Johnstone in Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers and Viv Nicholson in Spend Spend Spend, both bringing her an Olivier Award for Best Actress. In 2002, she was awarded an OBE for her services to music and drama.
Holland joined her touring band in the 2000s, playing keyboards and adding vocals on her September 2004 album Full Circle, the first to feature the style of music she now performs.
Dickson and Holland work as a duo where she plays guitar and piano, her vocals being complemented by his keyboards and harmonies, whether in cathedrals, festivals or theatres.
“It’s a different experience to working with the bigger band, but just as enjoyable, and gives the music breathing space,” says Dickson, 76.
All Saints Church is “always delighted to see the church used for community events”. “Churches historically have been the social hubs of their communities, bringing people together for fellowship, entertainment and the sharing of ideas and opinions,” says the church statement. “This concert wraps those three things up in one great package.”
Barbara Dickson & Nick Holland, All Saints Church, Pocklington, October 4 (sold out) and October 16, 7.30pm. Also: Leeds City Varieties Music Hall, October 20, 7.30pm. Box office: barbaradickson.net; Leeds, leedsheritagetheatres.com.
Jessa Liversidge: Two bards, one songbird; two performances, two workshops. Picture: David K Newton
EASINGWOLD singer and choir leader Jessa Liversidge presents her celebration of song inspired by two bards, William Shakespeare and Robert Burns, from her native Scotland, in York tomorrow and Helmsley next Saturday.
Her heartfelt performance spans traditional folk, pop and musical theatre, sung to her piano accompaniment with judicious use of a loop pedal to layer melodies and sounds.
At each concert, at Theatre@41 and Helmsley Arts Centre, audience suggestions are invited to enable Jessa to improvise a new song around a Shakespeare/Burns quotation.
At both venues, from 4pm to 6pm, she will be hosting a harmony-singing workshop for participants to sing in the evening show. Box office: York, tickets.41monkgate.co.uk; Helmsley, helmsleyarts.co.uk.
The poster for Two Bards And A Songbird
Here, Jessa discusses Shakespeare, Burns, songs, poems and her next show with CharlesHutchPress
What part did Robert Burns and Shakespeare play in your education, being brought up in Scotland?
“I was brought up and went to school in Dundee, and in my younger years we all had to learn a Burns song to take part in a competition called the Leng Medal. This was my first experience of Burns’s songs, and of course we learned several of the poems in school too.
“At this young age, I didn’t really appreciate the poetry and power of his words, and certainly didn’t fully appreciate the speeches from Macbeth and Hamlet as I crammed them the night before my Higher English exam! I wouldn’t have predicted that years later I’d be improvising songs around those same words.”
How did you first come to participate in the Durham Fringe Festival?
“Durham is quite a young Fringe, and I’ve been involved since it started in 2021. Mick [actor husband Mick Liversidge] and I had put a show together inspired by our outdoor lockdown singing and poetry reciting called Fields and Lanes, and this was featured in an afternoon showcase the Fringe put on, alongside aerial artistes and dancers! A great experience and a friendly bunch of volunteers running the festival.
“It has grown since then, and I performed my Songbirds show there in 2022, then Two Bards And A Songbird in 2023. My inspiration to put this show together was a callout by Durham Fringe for Shakespeare-inspired shows, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the First Folio.”
Sum up the show in a nutshell…
“It’s a musical exploration of work inspired by the two bards. Just me, a piano and my loop pedal. Very different, very eclectic!
“I could be singing a beautiful Robert Burns song one moment, improvising around a Shakespeare sonnet the next, looping around with a Taylor Swift song, then throwing in a musical theatre number, such as Sondheim’s Fear No More The Heat O’ The Sun or So In Love from Kiss me Kate.
Mick and Jessa Liversidge on one of their walks in lockdown in 2020 for Fields and Lanes
“I even combine the two bards in two of the pieces. There’s also a fun, but scary element of the show, where audience members pick a quotation from their table for me to improvise around.”
Shakespeare’s plays feature songs; Burns’s poetry has a long tradition of being turned into folk songs, alongside his own songwriting. How has that shaped the content of your show?
“Several of Burns’s original songs feature in the show – Red, Red Rose, Ae Fond Kiss, A’ The Airts – as well as the most famous song Burns actually didn’t write! (Auld Lang Syne, which he heard someone singing, then wrote down!)
“In the early stages of developing the show, I looked at some of the original songs used in Shakespeare plays, but I ended up using a more contemporary mix of songs for the Shakespeare element. His work features such universal themes that just about anything can be said to be inspired by Shakespeare!
“What I’ve chosen is a mixture of pop and musical theatre inspired by his words and stories, songs from musical adaptations of his plays (including some from a fairly recent adaptation of As You Like It, performed in Central Park, New York, featuring hundreds of community performers and music by Shaina Taub.)
“Plus of course the more improvised sections, where I develop my own musical interpretations of Shakespeare’s words, such as Come Away Death and Shall I Compare Thee To A Summer’s Day.”
How do you use the loop pedal?
“I love looping! It’s so addictive and fun, and a great, if sometimes baffling, experience for the audience, some of whom have never heard anything quite like it!
“I basically layer up keyboard chords, vocal harmonies, melodies, sometimes even recited poetry, together. Everything is done live, nothing pre-recorded.
The poster for Jessa Liversidge’s new show, A Tapestry Of Life, at the 2024 Durham Fringe Festival
“So, with the Taylor Swift song in the show, I build up harmonies in a chorus first, as part of the performance, then use that within the song.
“It’s great for the improvised sections too, and where I mash Shakespeare and Burns together – so at one point I sing a Burns song (John Anderson My Jo) and layer a suitable sonnet over the top – as a great way of creating harmony and different effects as a solo performer.” https://youtu.be/_Gsvwqzt6Bw?si=PFAUtyRsZE169dLM
Explain your choice of Burns and Shakespeare works to intertwine.
“The Burns song, John Anderson My Jo, speaks in a light-hearted way of the longevity of love, how it changes over time. Quite ironic as Burns never reached old age sadly. (N.B. I am doing one of the more polite versions of this song!).
“I then layer Shakespeare’s sonnet 104 over the top, which speaks, “to me, fair friend, you never can be old”.
“Another features a short segment from the Royal Shakespeare Company production of Julius Caesar that I was lucky enough to be involved with this time last year: Ghosts, used with permission of the composer, Jasmin Kent Rodgman.
“This haunting, repetitive piece is used in one of the battle scenes – and as a nod to the more pacifist leanings of Burns, I recite his Logan Braes over the top.”
Jessa Liversidge leading one of her choir workshops
What will the workshops involve? Who can attend? Is there a charge?
“The workshops are open to all voices – anyone who enjoys singing and wants to get more involved with the show. We’ll work on some vocal technique and fun warm-ups, then learn some of the material from the show – which the group can then get up and perform alongside me in the evening, in between enjoying the rest of the show as an audience member.
“I will tailor each workshop to whoever comes along. I am used to working with all ages and abilities and just love bringing people together to sing! It’s such a joyous way to connect with others.
“Both venues are offering a combined ticket for the workshop and show, only £5 extra for the two-hour workshop.”
Have your performed Two Bards And A Songbird in Scotland?
“I’ve been up to my native land for a couple of weekends performing the show in Dundee and Fife. Quite a moment, having not performed there since I was at school! And even then, I was never a singing soloist in those days, only really finding my voice in my mid-twenties.
“One old school friend who came to the Dundee performance said, ‘you were a violinist at school’! Lovely, though, to be able to have some family members come and support who don’t usually get to witness my antics in real life.”
How did you find your voice in your mid-20s, and was that part of the inspiration for encouraging others to do likewise in your choirs?
“My vocal journey has been a long and winding one! I’ve always enjoyed singing, but as I reached my 20s, I found I was limited in what I could do as a soloist, so decided to have some proper vocal training.
“I could be singing a beautiful Robert Burns song one moment, improvising around a Shakespeare sonnet the next,” says Jessa of her Two Bards And A Songbird show. Picture: Andrea Denniss
“I spent ten years training with York’s Jacqueline Edwards, finding my full range and surprising myself with what I could do. Then since having my own children in my 30s, I have built up my freelance work around singing, and sharing the joy of singing with others.
“I’ve undertaken so much more training in the past ten years or so, from vocal health first aid to vocal cross-training (all the different techniques and characteristics of singing in different genres), and now I feel so lucky to spend my week singing with, and for, such a wide range of people of all ages and abilities.”
Describe your new Carole King show, A Tapestry Of Life, premiering at next month’s Durham Fringe Festival?
“Like many, I’m a huge fan of Carole King. Her songs (a bit like the bard himself!) focus on those universal themes everyone can identify with: life, love, loss. My sister, Andrea Brown, has recently written a book of poetry with that very title.
“As we were born in the 1970s, when Tapestry was released, I came up with the idea of A Tapestry Of Life. It will be the classic Carole King songs, interspersed with songs I’m writing from Andrea’s poetry. Lots of them about pretty moving and emotional family events, and situations and journeys that will resonate with a lot of people, I’m sure. Quite scary for me as I am quite new to songwriting!
“But the words are so beautiful, I am very excited about performing this combination of old and new.”
What drew you to the music of Carole King?
“I first got to know some of the best-known songs, such as You’ve Got A Friend and Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow, then decided to explore further. I love the messages behind her songs, the catchy and moving melodies, and how the songs mean so much to people. These songs were released over 50 years ago but the themes and messages are eternally relevant.”
How have you found the experience of writing songs?
“It’s a whole new world for me. I really only started writing songs in 2020, and even then, that was only short rounds and partner songs to teach to my choirs. I’ve dabbled a little but not often had the confidence to share much of my own writing.
“My sister Andrea has always been the poet in our family. She’s written poems for events at work and home, and even wrote and recited beautiful poems for our parents’ funerals.
“I am used to improvising short melodies, and layering up harmonies, like I do in Two Bards, but this is a different ball game! I’m loving the process of putting these moving words to music and linking the themes of the Carole King classics to the themes of these beautiful poems.”
Jessa Liversidge, Two Bards And A Songbird, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tomorrow (16/6/2024), 7.30pm, and Helmsley Arts Centre, June 22, 7.30pm. Box office: York, tickets.41monkgate.co.uk; Helmsley, 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk
Jessa Liversidge, A Tapestry Of Life, Durham Fringe Festival, The Pemberton Rooms, Durham University, just off Palace Green, July 25 to 28, 4.30pm. Box office: durhamfringe.co.uk.
Preview show at Easingwold Library on July 17 at 7.30pm (doors 7pm). Suggested entry donation of £8; all profits in aid of community library funds. Bookings: email willowtreevent@gmail.com or ring 07526 107448 and leave a message with contact details.
Jessa Liversidge: the back story
SINGER and positive and encouraging singing leader, experienced in working with singers of all ages and abilities.
Runs several choirs, including HAC Singers, Easingwold Community Singers, Singing For All and York Military Wives Choir, as well as teaching singing privately and teaching music to young people, lifting the spirits of hundreds through song each week.
For more information, head to: jessaliversidge.com.
Bhavin Bhatt’s villainous Assef, left, and Stuart Vincent’s Amir in The Kite Runner, on tour at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Barry Rivett
THE return of The Kite Runner and Forest Live, a family art show and coastal concerts, a Scottish-English union and a girl group tribute spice up Charles Hutchinson’s week ahead.
Play of the week: The Kite Runner, York Theatre Royal, June 18 to 22, 7.30pm plus 2pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees
DIRECTED by Giles Croft, Matthew Spangler’s adaptation of Khaled Hosseini’s novel presents a haunting tale of friendship that spans cultures and continents as it follows Amir’s journey to confront his past and find redemption.
In his childhood recollection, Afghanistan is on the verge of war and best friends Amir (Stuart Vincent) and Hassan (Yazdan Qafouri) are about to be torn apart. Amid the excitement of a Kabul kite-flying tournament, no-one can foresee the terrible incident that will shatter their lives forever. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Amy Stubbs: Exhibiting with her sister Emily and father Christopher in Canvas, Clay and Cloth at Pyramid Gallery, Stonegate, York
Family exhibition launch of the week:Stubbs3 – Canvas, Clay and Cloth, Pyramid Gallery, Stonegate, York, today until August 3
FAMILY artistry unites in Stubbs3 – Canvas, Clay and Cloth, a unique exhibition featuring works by sisters Emily Stubbs and Amy Stubbs, regular participants in York Open Studios, alongside their father, Christopher Stubbs, from Hepworth, West Yorkshire.
Their first-ever joint showcase brings together diverse artistic media in a celebration of family creativity. Contemporary ceramicist Emily Stubbs works from PICA Studios, in Grape Lane; Amy specialises in textile and surface pattern design in a range of homeware and wearable art; Christopher will be exhibiting framed paintings and sketches. All three will attend today’s launch in a Meet The Artists session from 12 noon to 2pm.
Christopher Stubbs: Exhibiting framed paintings and sketches at Pyramid Gallery
Film music of the week: A Tribute To Hans Zimmer and Film Favourites Illuminated, Grand Opera House, York, tomorrow (16/6/2024), 3.30pm and 7pm
EXPERIENCE cinema’s most iconic soundtracks performed by the London Film Music Orchestra in a tribute to Hans Zimmer and more besides in an immersive illuminated setting.
The chamber orchestra will be performing music from Harry Potter, Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Gladiator, E.T., Pirates Of The Caribbean, Jaws, Interstellar, Indiana Jones, Schindler’s List and Inception. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Jessa Liversidge: Two Bards And A Songbird, two concerts and two workshops. Picture: David K Newton
English and Scottish union of the week: Jessa Liversidge, Two Bards And A Songbird, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tomorrow, 7.30pm, and Helmsley Arts Centre, June 22, 7.30pm
EASINGWOLD singer and choir leader Jessa Liversidge presents her celebration of song inspired by two bards: William Shakespeare and Robert Burns, from her native Scotland. Her heartfelt performance spans traditional folk, pop and musical theatre, sung to her piano accompaniment with judicious use of a loop pedal to layer melodies and sounds.
At each concert, audience suggestions are invited to enable Jessa to improvise a new song around a Shakespeare/Burns quotation. At both venues, from 4pm to 6pm, she will be hosting a harmony-singing workshop for participants to sing in the evening show. Box office: York, tickets.41monkgate.co.uk; Helmsley, helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Paul Sinha: In conversation at The Crescent, York. Picture: Andy Hollingsworth
Show title of the week: One Sinha Lifetime, Paul Sinha, The Crescent, York, June 17, 7.30pm
COMEDIAN, white-suited chaser on ITV quiz show The Chase, former doctor and villainous Abanazar in his 2016 pantomime debut in Aladdin at York’s Grand Opera House, Paul Sinha has plenty to discuss in conversation at The Crescent as he marks Penguin Books’ June 20 release of his coming-of-age memoir One Sinha Lifetime.
Subtitled Comedy, Disaster and One Man’s Quest for Happiness, broadcaster and quiz champ Sinha’s book charts his unconventional odyssey through love, family and the joy of general knowledge. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.
Simple Minds in Scarborough: Charlie Burchill and Jim Kerr head to the East Coast on Tuesday. Picture: Dean Chalkley
Coastal gig of the week: Simple Minds and special guests Del Amitri, Scarborough Open Air Theatre, June 18; gates open at 6pm
SOMEONE somewhere in summertime, namely Simple Minds in Scarborough on Tuesday, finds Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill’s band revisiting such hits as Promised You A Miracle, Glittering Prize, Alive And Kicking, Sanctify Yourself, Don’t You Forget About Me and, aptly for Scarborough, Waterfront.
Opening the Scottish double bill will be fellow Glaswegians Del Amitri, led as ever by Justin Currie. In further Scarborough OAT shows, Hampstead pop singer Jess Glynne performs tonight and yet more Glaswegians, Deacon Blue, Ricky Ross and Lorraine McIntosh et al, appear on Friday. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
Wannabe: Celebrating 30 years of Spice Girl power at Grand Opera House, York
York tribute show of the week: Wannabe – The Spice Girls Musical, Grand Opera House, York, June 20, 7.30pm
WANNABE, the “world’s longest-running” Spice Girls tribute stage production, celebrates three decades of girl power in a nostalgic journey through the Spice World.
The show charts the English girl group’s meteoric rise, from July 1996’s debut number one, Wannabe, to Scary, Sporty, Baby, Ginger and Posh’s reunion at the 2012 London Olympics Opening Ceremony. Expect “meticulously crafted costumes, unique vocal and musical arrangements exclusive to Wannabe, iconic dance routines and stunning visual flair”. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Richard Hawley: Made in Sheffield, performing in Scarborough
Yorkshireman of the week: Richard Hawley, Scarborough Spa, June 20, 7.30pm
ON the heels of his Olivier Award-winning Sheffield musical Standing At The Sky’s Edge opening a six-month West End run at the Gillian Lynne Theatre, Richard Hawley showcases his May 31 album In This City They Call You Love on his spring tour. Scarborough hosts the closing night. James Bagshaw supports. Box office: scarboroughspa.co.uk.
Nile Rodgers: Turning Dalby Forest into a disco floor with CHIC next Saturday, when Sophie Ellis-Bextor & Deco will be on the bill too
Welcome return of the week: Forest Live at Dalby Forest, near Pickering, Bryan Adams, June 21; Nile Rodgers & CHIC, June 22; Richard Ashcroft, June 23; gates 5pm
FORESTRY England revives Forest Live at Dalby Forest for the first time since 2019 for three nights of open-air concerts in aid of woodland conservation. Canadian rocker Bryan Adams, he of forest fame from (Everything I Do) I Do It For You for Robin Hood Prince Of Thieves, on Friday night will be followed by disco icons Nile Rodgers & CHIC next Saturday and the Wigan singer, songwriter and The Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft next Sunday. Box office: forestlive.com.
Alison Moyet: 40th anniversary album and 2025 tour, visiting York Barbican next February. Picture: Naomi Davison
Gig announcement of the week: Alison Moyet, York Barbican, February 20 2025
MARKING 40 years since she left Yazoo to launch her solo career, Essex soul singer Alison Moyet will play York Barbican on her 25-date 2025 itinerary, her first headline tour since 2017.
After graduating from Brighton University in 2023 with a first-class degree in fine art printmaking, Moyet will combine art and music on her 18-track October 4 album, Key, creating the artwork as well as reworking singles, fan favourites and deep cuts, complemented by two new songs. Box office from 10am on June 21: yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/alison-moyet-2025/.
In Focus: British Wildlife Photography Awards exhibition, Nunnington Hall, Nunnington, near Helmsley
What’s All The Fuss About?, Will Palmer’s photo of Arctic walrus Thor on the Scarborough harbour slipway, from the British Wildlife Photography Awards exhibition at Nunnington Hall. Courtesy of National Trust
THE British Wildlife Photography Awards exhibition at Nunnington Hall aims to raise awareness of British biodiversity, species and habitats.
On display are award-winning images selected from 14,000 entries in more than a dozen categories, including film and three for juniors, all in celebration of the diversity of British wildlife and wild spaces.
In particular, look out for What’s All The Fuss About?, taken by Scarborough photographer Will Palmer, who captured the headline-making Thor as the Arctic walrus rested ashore on the harbour slipway cobbles on December 31 2022.
Scarborough photographer Will Palmer with his photograph of Thor, the Arctic walrus, at Nunnington Hall
Will’s image was judged the runner-up in the Urban Wildlife category. “It’s always a huge privilege to be recognised for your work and especially when the awards are as prestigious as this,” he says.
“I captured the image by laying on the cobbles to capture Thor at eye level with the harbour behind. I was very fortunate to get there early and capture the moment at night and before the crowd arrived.”
Nunnington Hall is the nearest National Trust property to the Scarborough coastline. “It’s really special to see the image included in the exhibition and especially at Nunnington Hall, with such a wonderful exhibition space and grounds to boot.
“I’ve hugely appreciated seeing all the effort that’s gone into the exhibition, and with it being on my doorstep, I’m looking forward to visiting it again soon.”
Ocean Drifter, overall winner in the British Wildlife Photography Awards, by Ryan Stalker. Courtesy of National Trust
Laura Kennedy, experience & programming manager at Nunnington Hall, says: “We’re delighted to offer our visitors the opportunity to see this year’s selected images. They are always of such a high quality and the variation of categories means there’s something for everyone.
“More than 14,000 images were submitted into this year’s competition, so you really are seeing the very best of British wildlife photography when you visit the exhibition here at Nunnington.”
British Wildlife Photography Awards exhibition, Nunnington Hall, Nunnington, near Helmsley, until July 7. Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 10.30am to 5pm; last entry at 4.15pm. Tickets: nationaltrust.org.uk/nunnington-hall.Normal admission prices apply, which includes entry to the exhibition, with free entry to National Trust members and under-fives.
For more information on the British Wildlife Photography Awards, visit www.bwpawards.org.
British Wildlife Photography Awards’ Hidden Britain winner: Ross Hoddinott’s Three’s A Crowd. Courtesy of National Trust
