York-Shires: Crissie Rhodes and Ben Earle move their Barbican concert again
COUNTRY duo The Shires are rescheduling their May 23 show at York Barbican for May 6 2022.
All tickets remain valid for the new date, but ticket holders are advised to contact their point of purchase if they have any questions.
Ben Earle and Crissie Rhodes, Britain’s best-selling country act, had first moved their York show from May 20 2020 to November 1 2020, but the pandemic continues to play havoc with the best-laid plans of Crissie and Ben.
York Barbican is the only Yorkshire venue of their rearranged 25-date tour, when they are billed to be joined by Texan country singer and songwriter Eric Paslay.
The first Brits to win Best International Act in the American Country Music Association awards, Earle and Rhodes released their fourth album, Good Years, in this anything but good times on March 13 2020, reaching number three in the charts.
As with their past albums, 2015’s Brave, 2016’s My Universe and 2018’s Accidentally On Purpose, the recording sessions took place in Nashville, Tennessee.
“We are so excited to be releasing Good Years,” said Earle and Rhodes last spring. “Honesty and storytelling have always been such an important part of our song-writing. We’ve poured some of the incredible experiences and life we’ve lived into these songs.
“We can’t wait to play these live across the country. The songs mean so much to us personally, but there really is nothing like looking out at our fans in the crowd and seeing how much of an impact they can have in someone else’s life. It’s truly a very special thing”.
The Shires last played York Barbican in May 2018 and performed a headline set at Pocklington’s Platform Festival at The Old Station in July 2019 .
For an update on ticket availability for May 6 2022, go to: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
THE Lovely Eggs will play The Crescent, York, on May 29 next year after reorganising the gig for a second time.
The Lancaster lo-fi psychedelic punk rock band had rescheduled their York date already from February to summer 2021.
Married couple Holly Ross and David Blackwell last released an album in April 2020 when I Am Moron went straight to number one in the UK Independent Album Chart.
“The response to I Am Moron blew us away and we couldn’t wait to get on tour and play the songs live”, said Holly last year.
“We just can’t wait to play live again,” echoed David. “We’re really looking forward to playing all the songs off I am Moron. This is a way of life for us.”
The duo run a Lovely Eggs WhatsApp Lockdown group for supporters to offer support and a friendly ear to anyone struggling during the pandemic. “We’ve just got to try and get through this together” said Holly.
“We set up one What’sApp Group and it was oversubscribed, so we had to set up another. Our fans have always been there for us and it’s important at this time that we are there for them.”
The Lovely Eggs’ York concert is promoted by Please Please You and The Brudenell; tickets cost £15 online via seetickets.com.
Steeleye Span: 50th anniversary tour date at Pocklington Arts Centre is on the move
FOLK legends Steeleye Span are moving their May 7 show at Pocklington Arts Centre to May 5 2022 in a further delay to their 50th anniversary tour.
Those golden celebrations should have taken place from 2020 onwards but the pandemic ruled out the original Pocklington date in 2021 and now the rearranged tour is being put back to next year.
Pocklington Arts Centre (PAC) will be among the smallest venues on the 2022 itinerary, when the seven-piece band, fronted by Maddy Prior, will complement key songs from their ground-breaking June 1970 debut album, Hark The Village Wait, with familiar career favourites.
PAC director Janet Farmer says: “We were, of course, disappointed that Steeleye Span were unable to perform as part of our 20th anniversary programme of live events last year, but we are incredibly excited to be able to bring the legendary band to Pocklington next year for a night of celebration filled with some absolute gems from their famous first album.
“Things may have been delayed due to the pandemic, but it will absolutely be worth the wait.”
Next year’s concert will be Maddy’s second visit to PAC after appearing there more than a decade ago, billed as Maddy Prior & Friends.
Tickets for Steeleye Span’s 8pm gig are on sale at £35 at pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk. Visit the website too to keep up to date with PAC’s planned live events once reopening is permitted.
UB40, featuring Ali Campbell & Astro: New date for Scarborough show
UB40, featuring Ali Campbell & Astro, is the first concert of the Scarborough Open Air Theatre summer season to be rearranged after the Government’s roadmap roll-out.
The Birmingham reggae-pop stalwarts will play on August 28, switched from June 19, with tickets remaining valid.
Promoters Cuffe & Taylor say: “We now have a roadmap for live shows to return and we cannot wait to welcome audiences back to Scarborough OAT this summer. However, due to new Government guidelines, a number of shows scheduled to take place before June 21 will need to be rescheduled.
“Rest assured we are working with artists to find alternative dates for these shows, so please bear with us and we will announce further details very soon. Take care and stay safe x.”
Should pandemic lockdown-easement measures be lifted fully on June 21, the other concerts now in need of a new date are Crowded House on June 8; Lionel Richie, June 12; The Beach Boys, June 13 and RuPaul’s Drag Race: Werq The World, June 20.
In the Scarborough OAT diary for this summer too are Bryan Adams on July 1; Snow Patrol, July 3; Duran Duran, July 7; Keane, July 9; Olly Murs, July 10; Kaiser Chiefs, July 11; Lewis Capaldi, July 25; Westlife, August 17, and Nile Rodgers & Chic August 20.
UB40 founding members Campbell and Astro, re-united seven years ago and will play with a seven-piece band on their second visit to the Yorkshire coast, following their 2017 debut.
They have been active during the pandemic-enforced hiatus, writing songs for their forthcoming album and reassembling their touring band remotely to record a lockdown single, a poignant cover of the late Bill Withers’ Lean On Me, in aid of NHS Charities Together.
Campbell and Astro will return to the road in 2021 with bassist Colin McNeish, guitarist Winston Delandro, keyboardist Michael Martin, drummer Paul Slowly, backing singer Matt Hoy and a brass section of trumpeter Colin Graham and saxophonist Winston Rose.
A handful of new songs will complement multiple UB40 classics, notably King, a hymn to the legacy of American Civil Rights leader Dr Martin Luther King and One In Ten, a paean to the rising tide of unemployment in Margaret Thatcher’s Britain, both as resonant today as they were when first sung in 1980 and 1981.
Campbell says: “We wrote King 40 years ago, but it’s still representative of what’s happening in America. It’s depressing that nothing has changed. It’s the same with One In Ten in the UK. With the impact the Coronavirus could have on jobs, we could soon be looking at unemployment figures on a par with the early Eighties.”
Campbell adds: “Those songs will feature in a show we’ve been honing for the past 12 years. We’ll always play the classics, like Red Red Wine and (I Can’t Help) Falling In Love With You, but we like to change the beginning and end of the show.
“We’ll play Lean On Me and maybe add three or four new songs. The band members are all fantastic musicians and we’ve climbed back up to the biggest venues.”
Tickets for the Scarborough OAT season are on sale at scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
Hands up for the Children’s University online workshops led by Ernest Acquah
THE Stephen Joseph Theatre is teaming up with the Scarborough & North Yorkshire Children’s University to present exciting and entertaining online versions of their after-school clubs.
Three sets of four workshops, separately covering dance, drama and junk band music, are available from the Children’s University’s Vimeo channel and via the Scarborough theatre and the university’s social media.
Aimed at children aged five to 11, the lively and fun 15-minute workshops will be led by regular tutors Clare Maxwell (dance) and Ernest Acquah (drama and junk band music) and will count towards learning hours in a Children’s University passport.
Cheryl Govan, the SJT’s associate director for children and young people, says: “These are join-in, fun taster sessions: young people can pick when they want to do them and whether to do all of them or just one or two, if they prefer. They’re lively and a great way to try something new at home and maybe encourage children to have a go in ‘real life’ when we can.
“The SJT is a learning destination for the Children’s University and we’ve been running after-school clubs with them for several years now. This is a great way to continue them at the moment and reach even more children.”
Richard Adams, outreach officer for the University of Hull, hosts of the Scarborough Children’s University, says: “Watching and taking part in these videos counts towards learning hours in their passports for those participating in Children’s University through local schools, but also for children from any area in the UK where the Children’s University operates.
“They are also available for any individual child, whether they are part of a participating school or not.
“This programme forms part of a wider outreach Covid response for North Yorkshire coast schools and colleges by the University of Hull, which includes online after-school clubs in a range of subjects, alongside progression support throughout secondary and college year groups.”
Ernest Acquah works at the SJT in stage and production support, creating props, looking after actors and stage-managing shows behind the scenes. He is a sound designer too, also composing music and creating sounds for various productions.
He has run youth theatre groups at the SJT, teaching drama skills and directing plays with young people.
Clare Maxwell is a dance and drama teacher who works with the Stephen Joseph Theatre. She teaches children of all ages all over Scarborough in schools, after-school clubs, in the theatre, for shows and now on video.
The Children’s University charity works in partnership with schools to develop a love of learning in children by encouraging and celebrating participation in extra-curricular activities in and outside of school. For more information, go to: childrensuniversity.co.uk.
Echo & The Bunnymen’s Ian McCulloch and Will Sergeant
ECHO & The Bunnymen are rescheduling their May and June itinerary for next year, now opening the tour with two Yorkshire shows on February 1 2022 at Sheffield City Hall and the next night at Leeds O2 Academy.
All tickets for the 20 dates remain valid as influential Liverpool legends Ian McCulloch and Will Sergeant look forward to celebrating their 43-year career, with its 13 Top 40 singles, such as The Back Of Love, The Cutter, The Killing Moon, Bring On The Dancing Horses and Nothing Lasts Forever, and nine Top 40 albums, the latest being The Stars, The Oceans & The Moon, in October 2018.
Frontman McCulloch, 61, says: “Well then, here are the rescheduled dates for our 2022 UK tour. I can’t wait to be out there with the band on all those stages in all those towns and cities, doing what I love most, playing our songs to our brilliant fans and, hopefully, making all our lives a little bit happier along the way”.Tickets are still available at: http://gigst.rs/EATB.
The poster for Echo & The Bunnymen’s rearranged tour
CHART-TOPPING rapper slowthai will play the Refectory, University of Leeds, on March 18 2022 on his Hell Is Home tour.
Last Friday, he had the rapper’s delight of his second album, Tyron, entering both the UK album chart and UK vinyl chart at number one, already selling more than double the units of his May 2019 debut, Nothing Great About Britain.
A stand-out from Tyron being championed by fans is the affecting album closer, adhd, where slowthai “digs deep and finds untold courage to expose the inner workings of his mind”.
The video is a counterpoint to the commotion caused by those for singles Cancelled and Vex, finding Northampton-born slowthai, 26, in a contemplative space: a one-take shot of him with a city-scape backdrop, feeling distant from the noise and bustle of the world. To watch adhd, go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAYNdjIqcFA.
Tickets for slowthai’s Leeds gig, one of 12 dates on next year’s tour, will go on general sale on Friday (5/3/2021) via slowthai.com.
Did you know?
Tyron takes its title from slowthai’s name, Tyron Kaymone Frampton.
A socially distanced audience at the Milton Rooms, Malton, in 2020
THE ambitious programme to transform the Milton Rooms in Malton into a “21st century community and arts venue” is to be boosted by £193,000 funding from Ryedale District Council.
The grant was confirmed at last Thursday’s meeting of the full council, prompting chairman of trustees Ray King to say: “We are grateful for what is the first major investment in the Milton Rooms, probably since it was built in the 1930s, and the money will be focused on key infrastructure areas that our local community and audiences have identified as being issues.”
Welcoming the kick-start funding, King says: “It will allow us to upgrade toilet areas, further address the access challenges that a building of this age presents and look at improving the overall fabric and technical facilities to prepare it for reopening after Covid restrictions are fully lifted.
“But, at the same time, the trustees recognise that this has to be regarded as simply the first in a new phase of investment to transform the building into a 21st century community and arts venue and we are constantly looking for additional funding from a range of sources.
“I believe this funding is also a recognition of the tremendous work that has been put in by the dedicated volunteers past and present, who have kept this iconic building open and available to all.’’
At an earlier meeting, on February 18, Ryedale District Council voted to ring-fence £307,000 in this year’s budget for the Milton Rooms to carry out further improvement work to bring it up to standard as a top-class venue for the 2020s.
The money will be released only for fully costed projects agreed by the Milton Rooms committee and the council and its officers.
King says: “While we are delighted to receive the £193,000, the hard work starts now in developing a business plan to access the further funds and so make the Milton Rooms an even more attractive venue for the community to use and enjoy.’’
Run as a charitable company, mainly by volunteers, the Milton Rooms has just had its Covid-safe accreditation extended for 2021 by British tourism body Visit Britain.
Venue manager Lisa Rich says: “We always welcome new volunteers to the team, particularly any with experience of the technical side of arts production and presentation, so please make contact by emailing info@themiltonrooms.com, should you have a few spare hours.’’
Time to go surfing again: James frontman Tim Booth looks forward to riding the wave of crowd adulation once more at Leeds First Direct Arena in November
JAMES are to release their “sweet 16th” studio album, All The Colours Of You, on June 4.
Billed as a “miraculous conception” by Clifford-born frontman Tim Booth, it was recorded in part before the Covid pandemic struck, with the Grammy award-winning Jacknife Lee on production duties with the Manchester band for the first time.
Lee has been at the desk previously for U2, REM, Taylor Swift, Snow Patrol and The Killers, and has brought a fresh approach to James’s sound. Working remotely from his studio, he liaised with vocalist Booth, his neighbour in Topanga Canyon, California, and bassist Jim Glennie in the Scottish Highlands, reimagining their demos and capturing the band in all their virtual glory.
“The result is a record with the most arena-ready and fresh tracks of their 38-year career; the sound of one of Britain’s best bands deconstructed and reassembled by one of the world’s most renowned producers,” proclaims the press release.
The artwork for James’s 16th studio album, All The Colours Of You, blooming in June
Booth says: “With all the s**t that went down in 2020, this was a miraculous conception and another big jump forward for us on the back of the last three albums. I hope it reflects the colours of these crazy times. Sweet sixteen is a proper album, no fillers and is up there with our best. With love, Tim.”
Glennie is pleased, proud and surprised by the record in equal measure. “Jacknife has pushed us and the songs somewhere new and it’s very exciting,” he says. “After all these years, we are still challenging ourselves and our fans. Enjoy.”
All The Colours Of You follows last December’s release of Live In Extraordinary Times, a live double album and DVD with a title twist on their 2018 studio set, Living In Extraordinary Times.
“As requested by many lovers of the band – a live DVD and album to capture the spirit of the gigs of the last few years,” said Booth at the time. “Hopefully, this will help us through the long nights of lockdown – reliving these gatherings of intimacy and passion. Thank you for coming along for the ride in the crazy world of James.”
“Hopefully, this will help us through the long nights of lockdown,” said Tim Booth, when James released their live double album, Live In Extraordinary Times, last December
All The Colours Of You will be James’s first album since being signed by joint managing directors Jim Chancellor and Mike Roe to Virgin Music Label & Artists Services, formerly Caroline International.
They have a new publishing home too in Kobalt Music, these changes “reinforcing the endless and restless ambition they have” as they approach their fourth decade as a band.
The track listing will be: ZERO; All The Colours Of You; Recover; Beautiful Beaches; Wherever It Takes Us; Hush; Miss America; Getting Myself Into; Magic Bus; Isabella and XYST.
From the first line on ZERO – “We’re all gonna die” – Booth addresses difficult subjects throughout the 11 tracks, with themes ranging from politics and climate change to dealing with the loss of a loved one during the pandemic.
James: Touring in the autumn in a maverick Manchester double bill with Happy Mondays
Miss America examines that disunited country’s tarnished image through the eyes of a beauty pageant (“Miss America’s wearing thin, she’s all tiaras and glamour”), while Beautiful Beaches focuses on the fires that ravaged California and follows a vision Booth had of an earthquake that caused his family to flee for refuge (“That life we left behind, we’re racing down to those beautiful beaches”).
The title-track first single tackles the Trump years head on. Based in the USA for many years, Booth, 61, has witnessed at first hand the divisiveness and hatred stoked by the former President. Highlighting the sharp rise of white supremacy during Trump’s four years in office, the song nevertheless ultimately offers hope of a new and brighter future with the refrain “Love all the colours, all the colours of you”.
Recover, the album’s most poignant and delicate song, deals with the death of Tim’s father-in-law from Covid-19 in the UK. Uplifting and joyful in honouring a loved one’s legacy and spirit, it offers a celebration of life, not the sadness of death, affirming that “We will remember how to pass your spirit on”.
All The Colours Of You will be available in myriad formats: standard CD; D2C deluxe CD with bonus artwork, photos and pictures in a DVD hardback book package; standard LP; D2C deluxe LP on swirl coloured vinyl; D2C deluxe LP on picture-disc vinyl; indies and HMV deluxe LP on multi-coloured vinyl and even on cassette. Pre-orders can be made at: https://james.lnk.to/AllTheColoursOfYouSo.
The tour poster to accompany last November’s announcement of James and Happy Mondays’ 2021 itinerary
James will open their seven-date 2021 tour at Leeds First Direct Arena on November 25, supported by fellow Manchester maverick institution Happy Mondays. “Soo looking forward to seeing you,” said Booth, when announcing the gigs last November on Twitter and at wearejames.com. “We’re playing with the brilliant Happy Mondays. Last played with them in 1988, hopefully this time they won’t steal our rider or try and spike my drink…”
The tour has sold faster than any previous James tour, chalking up 60,000 ticket sales for shows in Leeds, Birmingham, Cardiff, Glasgow, Dublin, Manchester and London. Remaining tickets are available at: https://wearejames.com/live/
In the summer, James will headline the Saturday bill at Deer Shed Festival 11, confirmed to run from July 30 to August 1 at Baldersby Park, Topcliffe, near Thirsk. “In light of the recent Government unlocking roadmap, we are now working flat out to bring you an amazing festival,” say the festival team, led by director Oliver Jones.
“We will bring you the maximum possible fun in July and that currently looks like a full fat Deer Shed 11. The safety of everyone in attendance will always come first, and should circumstances change, none of our audience will lose out.” Tickets are available at https://www.deershedfestival.com/tickets/.
History on the move: Neal Foster and Morgan Philpott will be performing Horrible Histories: Barmy Britain on later spring dates than first planned on the Car Park Tour. Picture: Mark Douet
HORRIBLE blow for Harrogate, as the Government roadmap out of the lockdown has consigned the April 3 performances of Horrible Histories: Barmy Britain at the Yorkshire Event Centre to history.
Other dates on the nationwide Car Park Tour booked originally for before April 12 have been rearranged after the proposed timing of the Government’s four-step plan necessitated a later itinerary.
Seventeen locations will accommodate the tour, ranging from racecourses to sports stadia, showgrounds to an airport, an exhibition centre to country houses, but no new space in the diary could be found for the Great Yorkshire Showground show in Harrogate.
By contrast, the April 5 performance of the live-action version of Barmy Britain at Harewood House, near Leeds, has been switched to Sunday, May 2 at 11am.
Tickets holders have been notified of the changes but tickets are still available via carparkparty.com, priced at £39.50 upwards, plus £2.50 booking fee. Further information can be found there too.
Heads you lose: Horrible Histories’ King Henry VIII will not be heading to Harrogate after all
The Barmy Britain tour will present two actors playing a multitude of classic characters from barmy and horrid British history, taking in Queen Boudica, King Henry VIII, Guy Fawkes, Dick Turpin, Queen Victoria and plenty more besides.
Based on Terry Deary’s broad-humoured historical books of the same name, Horrible Histories have transferred from page to stage for 18 live shows presented by Birmingham Stage Company, as well being made into a musical sketch comedy television series.
In the Covid-safe Car Park Tour show, on tour from April 13 to May 3, families sit in their cars watching the actors on stage and on a large screen while listening live on their radios and, if so inclined, honking their horns in appreciation.
Birmingham Stage Company and “concept creators” Coalition Agency “plugged the pantomime-less gap” with Horrible Christmas and now they are teaming up again for two Horrible Histories tour shows: Barmy Britain and Gorgeous Georgians & Vile Victorians.
Neal Foster, actor-director of Birmingham Stage Company, will be joined on stage by Morgan Philpott. “I’m over the moon to be back on tour with Barmy Britain after its hugely successful tour last summer,” he says. “It’s weird and wonderful to be performing in car parks and to see the audience having fun behind their windshields. We can’t wait to get back out there”.
Harewood House, here we come: Morgan Philpott, left, and Neal Foster , will take a humorous journey through history in Horrible Histories: Barmy Britain on May 2 on the Car Park Tour. Picture: Mark Douet
