Velma Cellli: A night of song, laughter and York Gin
YORK drag diva Velma Celli invites you to “celebrate your inner outlaw” at York Gin’s outrageous cabaret soiree at the National Centre of Early Music, Walmgate, York, on March 25.
“York is a city of outlaws: Guy Fawkes was born here. Dick Turpin was hanged here,” says York Gin Company events coordinator Harri Marshall. “It’s even home to the super-strength York Gin Outlaw, which comes with a warning: ‘Drink, with ice, tonic … and care’.
“Now – for one night only – one of the UK’s ‘baddest’ drag queens will be celebrating all that’s naughty, villainous and defiantly outrageous about York and its outlaws.”
Back home in York from America after a month of shows on Atlantis Gay Cruise ships, Velma Celli promises a night of song, laughter and York Gin as Velma and friends “unleash a riot of glamorous outrage”.
Ingredients for Outlaw Live: Velma Celli + York Gin + Cabaret + NCEM
Tickets are selling fast at tickettailor.com/events/yorkgin/590817/ and admission includes a gin cocktail on arrival.
“If you love drag, gin, and being just a little bit naughty, this one’s for you,” says Velma, the vocal drag creation of West End musical actor Ian Stroughair, 39.
In Velma’s diary too is a March 19 performance of Me And My Divas at York Theatre Royal at 7.30pm and a June 30 performance of A Brief History Of Drag at Pocklington Arts Centre at 8pm. Box office: York, 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk; Pocklington, 01759 301547 or at pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
YORK writer, musician and storyteller Miles Salter is back with a new Chain Gang for a headline gig at The Black Swan Inn, Peasholme Green, York, on February 19.
“We had some line-up issues with the first version, so I’ve re-wired the band and it sounds great,” says Miles, introducing Daniel Bowater on keyboards and accordion, Steve Purton on drums, Mat Watt on bass and Mark Hawkins on lead guitar.
“Daniel previously played with Acko Pulco And The Cliff Divers and has been musical director at the Richmond Theatre pantomime for a number of years; Mark is a veteran of hundreds of gigs, including as stand-in guitarist for NoWaySis, the touring Oasis tribute.”
Counting down to the debut gig with the new gang in tow, Salter says: “After a very quiet couple of years – we played just one gig in 2021 – I’m pleased with how the new line-up sounds; it feels great. We’re looking forward to playing more gigs in the area soon.”
The support slots on the 8pm to 11.30pm bill go to Sarah Louise Boyle, Lee Moore and Monkey Paw. “It’ll be a diverse and fun evening, so do come along,” says Salter.
Tickets are on sale for £5.50 at prime4.bandcamp.com/merch/miles or at £7.50 on the door.
CAROLE – The Music Of Carole King celebrates the 80th birthday of the Manhattan songwriter, singer and musician at the Grand Opera House, York, on October 27.
From the producers of the West End shows Seven Drunken Nights – The Story Of The Dubliners and Fairytale Of New York – Coming Home For Christmas, this landmark tribute takes a musical journey from her early beginnings in New York as part of the Brill Building song-writing team to Los Angeles, the Troubadour Club and the Laurel Canyon singer-songwriter movement of early 1970s’ California.
King, who wrote her first number one, The Shirelles’ Will You Love Me Tomorrow, at only 17, turned 80 on February 9.
Carole – The Music Of Carole King: Visiting Grand Opera House, York, this autumn
The show features not only songs from the Carole King songbook but also hits written and recorded by Aretha Franklin, The Drifters, The Shirelles, The Monkees, The Beatles, The Everly Brothers, Dusty Springfield, Little Eva, Herman’s Hermits and James Taylor.
Co-producer Ged Graham says: “Carole King is one of the most influential songwriters in pop music history. Her music has rocked the world for so long and all the songs have been laced into the fabric of life for over 60 years. This production is a showcase of not only her music but just how much she has been a force that has shaped pop music.”
The autumn tour show brings together singers, musicians and dancers to cover more than six decades of music. Tickets are on sale on 0844 871 7615 or at atgtickets.com/York.
Liza Pulman, left, Dillie Keane and Adele Anderson raise a glass to Fascinating Aida returning to the stage. Picture: Johnny Boylan
SATIRICAL cabaret trio Fascinating Aida are heading for their 40th anniversary next year.
How they will celebrate remains under wraps, but the comedy singing group’s founder, Dillie Keane, is delighted to be back on the road for 61 winter and spring dates with key writing partner Adele Anderson, who joined in 1984, and Liza Pulman, who first teamed up in 2004.
Among the shows will be York Barbican on Saturday and Scarborough Spa Theatre on May 13.
“We first toured this new show in the autumn, and it was such a relief. It felt like going home,” says 69-year-old Irish actress, singer, pianist, comedian and columnist Dillie.
“Sometimes, I’m overwhelmed in the wings, thinking ‘’I’m home’. I love being backstage too and all the routine that goes with that.
“After nearly four decades, I’m enjoying it as much as ever, having started the group as something to do when we weren’t acting!”
During lockdown, Dillie penned three songs that she posted on YouTube. “I’m not one for livestreaming,” she says. “There’s something depressing about seeing people performing a ‘show’ from their bedroom.
“Instead, I wrote these rather bitter and angry songs. There was one about Cummings ‘wanting all us old people to die’ [Song For Dominic Cummings], and one about Gavin Williamson ‘stuffing up the education system’ [Song For Gavin Williamson].
“Then, Nothing To Do Blues (‘and all day to do it in’), that came about from the moment when I was queueing in a little farm shop and a chap turned round and said, ‘Sorry, I’m taking ages’, and I said, ‘that’s OK, I’ve got nothing to do’. I got that one properly edited and made a little film of it.”
Those songs will not feature in Fascinating Aida’s set. “No, they were of the moment and they would only have been in my solo show,” says Dillie.
She had anticipated spending her pandemic-enforced hiatus from the stage rather differently. “I always felt in my year off, ‘I’ll write my autobiography’; ‘I’ll write the novel of my dreams’; ‘I’ll read [James Joyce’s] Ulysses and Proust’…
… “Well, I did start Proust – I’m halfway through the first book! – and I listened to 13 Anthony Trollope stories read by Timothy West and enjoyed some audio books, and I grew a lot of vegetables. I’ve now used almost all the courgettes; pounds and pounds of them.”
Experiencing the Nothing To Do Blues, Dillie missed seeing shows as much as she missed playing them. “It broke my heart,” she says. “I will go and see anything. I’m very eclectic. High opera. Low opera. Mongolian throat singers. Anything you can name.
“Not being able to see stuff was a killer – then someone told me it took 18 years to reopen theatres after the plague.”
From 1984’s Sweet FA to 2012’s Cheap Flights and onwards, Fascinating Aida have captured the political and social fixations of our times. For 2022, Fascinating Aida’s cabaret compound will combine “old favourites, songs you haven’t heard before and some you wish you’d never heard in the first place” as Dillie, Adele and Liza are joined by musical director, composer and pianist Michael Roulston, under the direction of Paul Foster (whose credits include Kiss Me, Kate and Annie Get Your Gun at Sheffield Crucible).
“I think there are several reasons for our longevity, and one of them is that we’ve always had a director for our shows, which is incredibly important,” says Dillie. “You should have someone on the outside to say, ‘no, this is better’.
“Working with a director makes it sharper focused, and we now have the wonderful Paul Foster, who I worked with on another project [a solo show off-Broadway and on tour].”
Summing up Fascinating Aida’s chemistry that will be clicking once more from January 29 to June 20, Dillie says: “We’re terribly finickity, driving each other crackers! But when we get a line right, when we’re together in Liza’s kitchen, or mine, it’s wonderful.
“Like when we were writing a song about one thing, and Adele came up with a few lines that were nothing to do that but were all to do with ‘fake news’, I thought, ‘that’s awfully good, we should use that for the opening song’.
“We stopped what we’re doing and wrote the new song in full, writing everything in black and white terms: that’s how True True True Or Fake News came about.”
Further assessing the trio’s bond, Dillie says: “A very silly sense of humour helps too. That’s never changed. People come up after a show and say, ‘have you been hiding in my kitchen? You are singing about my life’.
“We’ve also never been starry. We’ve been relentlessly down to earth; there’s a genuine rootedness about us, and we’ve never been seduced by the idiotic side of showbiz.”
One other factor lies behind Fascinating Aida’s continuing success. “Satirical songs are different to doing stand-up, where the rules of comedy say you’re not allowed to repeat old jokes, but though a song like Cheap Flights is no longer topical, people still sit there in hysterics,” says Dillie.
“Songs are a different discipline altogether. Give us a stand-up script and we wouldn’t be very good at it, so we say, ‘let’s keep the chatter to a minimum; let’s stick to the songs’ as we seem to be rather good at them!”
Fascinating Aida, York Barbican, Saturday (12/2/2022) and Scarborough Spa Theatre, May 13, both at 7.30pm. Box office: York, yorkbarbican.co.uk; Scarborough, 01723 376774 or scarboroughspa.co.uk.
The Bluejays: Ready to Rave On at York Theatre Royal
GOLDEN hits, blue art, a grotesque puppet, raucous inventions, a brace of musicals and an on-trend comedian are Charles Hutchinson’s fancies for cultural gratification.
Nostalgia trip of the week: The Bluejays in Rave On, York Theatre Royal, Saturday (5/2/2022), 7.30pm
THE Bluejays, a group comprised of West End stars from The Buddy Holly Story, Million Dollar Quartet, One Man, Two Guvnorsand Dreamboats & Petticoats, head back to the fabulous Fifties and swinging Sixties in Rave On.
Charting the meteoric rise of rock’n’roll, this joyful journey through these revolutionary musical decades revels in the golden days of Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, The Beatles, Neil Sedaka, The Kinks, Connie Francis, Lulu and The Shadows. Box office: 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Rebecca Taylor: Soloist for Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 1 at York Guildhall Orchestra’s concert
Beethoven at the double: York Guildhall Orchestra, York Barbican, tonight, 7.30pm
REBECCA Taylor will be the soloist for Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 1 in the second concert of York Guildhall Orchestra’s 41st season.
Under conductor Simon Wright, the orchestra also perform one of Beethoven’s rarely played overtures, an 1811 commemorative work to King Stephen 1st, founder of Hungary in 1000AD.
The second half features a stalwart of the symphonic repertoire, Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No 5, a popular work that “demonstrates his darker side, perhaps ultimate victory through strife,” says Wright. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Jane Dignum’s poster for Westside Artists’ Into The Blue exhibition at Pyramid Gallery, York
Group exhibition of the week: Westside Artists’ Into The Blue at Pyramid Gallery, Stonegate, York, until March 13, open Monday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm
EACH of the Westside Artists, a group from the west end of York, has created new work to portray a personal interpretation and concept of the exhibition title, Into The Blue, at Terry Brett’s Pyramid Gallery.
Taking part are Adele Karmazyn (digital photomontage); Carolyn Coles (painting); Donna Marie Taylor (mixed media); Ealish Wilson (mixed media and sculpture); Fran Brammer (textiles) and Jane Dignum (printmaking).
So to are Jill Tattersall (mixed-media collage); Kate Akrill (ceramics); Lucie Wake (painting); Mark Druery (printmaking); Richard Rhodes (ceramics); Sharon McDonagh (mixed media) and Simon Palmour (photography).
Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company cast members in rehearsal for Kipps, The New Half A Sixpence Musical
Who will he choose? Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company in Kipps, The New Half A Sixpence Musical, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, February 9 to 12, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee
IN the coastal town of Folkestone, Arthur Kipps knows there is more to life than his demanding but unrewarding job as an apprentice draper.
When he suddenly inherits a fortune, Kipps is thrown into a world of upper-class soirées and strict rules of etiquette that he barely understands. Torn between the affections of the kind but proper Helen and childhood sweetheart Ann, Kipps must determine whether such a simple soul can find a place in high society.
Tickets for this Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company fundraising show for the JoRo are on sale on 01904 501935 or at josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Blackeyed Theatre in Frankenstein, on tour at the SJT, Scarborough, from Wednesday. Picture: Alex Harvey-Brown
Fright nights ahead: Blackeyed Theatre in Frankenstein, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, February 9 to 12
SOUTH Yorkshire playwright Nick Lane has reinterpreted John Ginman’s original 2016 script for Bracknell touring company Blackeyed Theatre, built around Mary Shelley’s Gothic novel set in Geneva in 1816, where Victor Frankenstein obsesses in the pursuit of nature’s secret, the elixir of life itself.
This highly theatrical telling combines live music and ensemble storytelling with Bunraku-style puppetry to portray The Creature. Designed and built by Warhorse and His Dark Materials alumna Yvonne Stone, the 6ft 4inch puppet is operated by up to three actors at any one time. Box office: 01723 370541 or at sjt.uk.com.
Jonny Holbek in rehearsal for his role of Che in York Light Opera Company’s production of Evita
“Big sing” of the week ahead: York Light Opera Company in Evita, York Theatre Royal, February 9 to 19
DIRECTOR Martyn Knight has decided to use double casting for the five main roles in Evita, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s musical of people, politics and power, in response to Covid-19’s ongoing impact.
The principals have been rehearsing separately, with Alexa Chaplin and Emma-Louise Dickinson sharing the lead role of Eva Peron; Dale Vaughan and Jonny Holbek playing Che; John Hall and Neil Wood as Juan Peron, Dave Copley-Martin and Richard Weatherill as Agustin Maglidi, and Fiona Phillips and Hannah Witcomb as Peron’s Mistress.
Covid, long Covid and even physical injuries have necessitated Knight drawing up his 18th cast list at the latest count. Box office: 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Con Brio, by Mark Hearld, at Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Picture: Red Photography
Last chance to see: Mark Hearld’s Raucous Invention: The Joy Of Making, Upper Space and YSP Centre, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, near Wakefield, ends tomorrow (6/2/2022)
THIS weekend is the finale to Raucous Invention: The Joy Of Making, an ambitious, vibrant, and creative journey wherein York artist and designer Mark Hearld explores connections through collaboration and risk-taking to create bold and challenging works, including tapestries and ceramics.
Working from his Portland Street studio across a range of media and using the natural world as inspiration, Hearld has made collages, lino-cut prints, letter-press prints and a large-scale mural that fills the walls of the YSP kitchen in the visitor centre. You will need to book at ysp.org.uk.
Pandemic pontifications: Russell Kane’s new tour show, The Essex Variant!, is heading to York Barbican
Still the only subject in town by then? Russell Kane Live: The Essex Variant!, York Barbican, December 14
ENFIELD humorist Russell Kane offers his “gut-punch funny, searing take on the two years we’ve just gone through” in his new stand-up tour show, The Essex Variant!. More like, three years, by then.
Comic, writer, presenter and actor Kane presents two podcasts, Man Baggage and BBC Radio 4’s Evil Genius and is a regular on Channel 4, BBC and ITV. “I drink lots of coffee and I’m ‘like that in real life’,” he says. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Making Light work of it: John Hall (Juan Peron), Alexa Chaplin (Eva Peron) and Dale Vaughan (Che) as one principal trio for York Light’s Evita at York Theatre Royal
WHY will York Light Opera Company have two Evas, two Juan Perons and two Ches in Evita?
Director Martyn Knight has decided to use double casting for the main roles in the February 9 to 19 production at York Theatre Royal in response to Covid-19’s ongoing impact.
“For the five principal roles, they’re all double cast, because we’re still in a pandemic and we wanted to protect ourselves,” he says. “We’ve kept the principal casts separate, which has required us to double the rehearsal time and rehearse in separate rooms.
“But we’ve had cast members drop out with Covid; we’ve had cast members drop out with long Covid; we’ve had cast members suffer injuries. We are on our 18th cast list due to people having to pull out. It’s been a nightmare but it’s also been a labour of love.”
Explaining his reasoning behind “doing the double”, he says: “It’s a fully sung show and double casting provides each team with sufficient rest. The main character parts are huge and it would be a colossal ‘ask’ of any understudy to learn and have to perform those roles without significant rehearsal.
“Double casting provides the best possible cover, which is needed more than ever when putting on the production during a pandemic.”
All the while, Martyn had his annual pantomime commitment – for the 18th year –from November to January as the resident dame at Eastbourne’s Devonshire Park Theatre, playing Nellie Nightnurse in Sleeping Beauty.
Martyn Knight in the poster for this winter’s Eastbourne pantomime role as Dame Nellie Nightnurse
“The gutting thing for me is that I’d never missed a performance, in all those years, working through shingles, ear, nose and throat issues and stomach problems, but then I tested positive for Covid on New Year’s Eve,” he says. “Out of 13, ten of us went down with it during the run; at one point, we had no ensemble and the baddie [Carli Norris’s Carabosse] had to use the stage crew as her minions.
“But I managed to return for the last day, and it was a very powerful, emotional feeling doing the panto this winter, playing to 25,000 people. They needed it, the joy of seeing a show, and that’s why we’re so determined to get theatre back on.”
Hence the precautions taken by York Light for Evita, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s musical account of the rags-to-riches life story of Eva Peron as she goes from poor provincial child to First Lady of Argentina on her “Rainbow Tour”, using popularity and politics to serve both her people and herself.
For this musical of people, power and politics, Alexa Chaplin and Emma-Louise Dickinson will share the lead role of Eva Peron; Dale Vaughan and Jonny Holbek will play Che; John Hall and Neil Wood, Juan Peron; Dave Copley-Martin and Richard Weatherill, Agustin Maglidi, and Fiona Phillips and Hannah Witcomb, Peron’s Mistress.
Since initial rehearsals last autumn, Alexa and Emma-Louise had not seen each other until their paths crossed in the car park at last Sunday’s rehearsals.
“It’s been a very different experience, where we were only together early in the process, when Martyn was blocking the show, but that was a long time ago,” says Alexa. “It feels very odd not knowing what the other set of principals will be like, but doing it this way, dividing the performances, has meant I could do a show I couldn’t otherwise do, with childcare requirements.
“It will be interesting to see if each night off will feel restful or whether we’ll be chomping at the bit to get back on stage.”
Double act: Neil Wood (Juan Peron), Emma-Louise Dickinson (Eva Peron) and Jonny Holbek (Che) as the other principal trio for York Light Opera Company’s Evita
In preparing for the lead role, Alexa says: “I’m quite a nerd, when it comes to research, reading biographies, finding out about the character, but then, what writers do to a character in a musical is not fully true to life, and you have to bridge that gap of how they interpret her.
“But I feel whatever you think about her politics, Eva’s absolute tenacity and drive and endless energy is incredible – and the musical demands that you match that energy, with it being such a ‘big sing’.”
Emma-Louise was last on stage in a musical in February 2020, playing Nancy in Oliver! at York Theatre Royal, in the weeks before the first Covid lockdown. “The only thing I’ve done since then was the Raise The Roof fundraiser for the Joseph Rowntree Theatre with everyone spaced out and a restricted audience capacity,” she says.
“If someone had said you won’t do a musical for two years…but at least I’ve been fortunate in being able to engage in singing online as a music teacher. It’s such a discipline, performing, and after such a long time off, it’s been a challenge building up the stamina again since we started rehearsals in September.”
Contemplating playing Eva Peron, Emma-Louise says: “Whenever you’re playing a real-life character, there’s an added pressure to make it accurate, so there’s not as much room for interpretation.
“I’ve learned how fascinating it is that someone can be so adored but so reviled, and the only thing I can liken it to is the story of Princess Diana. They were both controversial figures, but when Diana died there was this huge devastation, and her legacy has grown and grown, just as it has for Eva Peron.”
York Light Opera Company in Evita, York Theatre Royal, February 9 to 19, 7.30pm (except February 13); 2.30pm matinees, February 12 and 19. Box office: 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Pasadena Roof Orchestra: “Feeling this music in their bones like no other group”
IN times of stress, a little nostalgia goes a long way. And nostalgia doesn’t come any better than the Pasadena Roof Orchestra’s evocative excursions, mainly into the 1920s and ’30s.
PRO’s ten players, many doubling on a second instrument, were led by singer-compère Duncan Galloway, who also proved a mean tap-dancer. They feel this music in their bones like no other group I know.
Believe It Or Not (‘I’m Walkin’ On Air’) got everyone going and soon we were into Zing Went The Strings, with pianist Simon Towneley lending his voice to Galloway’s in this James Hanley hit from 1934.
From exactly that era came the short-lived Alex Hill’s I’m Crazy ‘Bout My Baby. English composers were not neglected either, with the dreamier What More Can I Ask?, which Ray Noble wrote to words by Anona Winn.
Irving Berlin’s first really big hit was Alexander’s Ragtime Band, which was launched as early as 1911 by the contralto Emma Carus, although when Al Jolson took it up in New York it really went viral.
Two of Berlin’s big film tunes also found their way onto PRO’s menu: Puttin’ On The Ritz (1929) and Top Hat, White Tie And Tails (1935). All three were given terrific verve.
PRO boasts some of the best soloists in the business, none finer than banjoist Harry Wheaton, who brought lightning fingers and considerable sparkle to Frosted Chocolate. His is a rare talent these days.
Oliver Wilby’s tenor sax brought swinging life to Body And Soul, the number that made Johnny Green’s name in 1928. Percussionist Dominic Sayles gave a more than passable imitation of the legendary Gene Krupa in Drummin’ Man (1939).
Malcolm Baxter’s trumpet took the lead several times, none better than in a six-man Dixieland group that gave a vigorous account of Indiana (‘Back Home Again In Indiana’, 1917).
The best slow smooch came in Duke Ellington’s Black And Tan Fantasy of 1927, although Sam’s tune from Casablanca, As Time Goes By – actually Dooley Wilson in the film – ran it pretty close.
Duncan Galloway has a slick way with these vocals, and his diction improved notably in the second half when the microphones were made to work properly, spearheaded by Cole Porter’s Anything Goes.
It ended with Tiger Rag, a medley of four tunes that hark back to New Orleans of the 1890s. It was right up PRO’s street and brought this stimulating evening to a rousing finish, not forgetting the band’s signature tune, Pasadena, which was actually made famous in this country by the Temperance Seven.
We may be hugely grateful that the Pasadena Roof Orchestra is keeping these traditions alive and kicking. They are welcome back in Yorkshire any time.
York Musical Theatre Company’s artwork for Jekyll & Hyde The Musical
REHEARSALS are underway for York Musical Theatre Company’s May staging of Jekyll & Hyde The Musical.
“The production team were blown away by the high standard of talent that attended the two days of auditions in January, resulting in a very tough task in the casting of roles,” says company stalwart Mick Liversidge. “In fact, deliberation went on to the early hours of the morning after the final auditionee had left on the second day.
“YMTC feel that the resulting cast will deliver a fantastic show, worthy of marking the company’s 120th year. Rehearsals began on Monday and the cast couldn’t wait to get stuck into the sumptuous music of this fabulous show.”
Based on Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic story, the epic struggle between good and evil comes to life on stage to the thrilling pop-rock score of Grammy and Tony Award-nominated Frank Wildhorn and double Oscar and Grammy-winning Leslie Bricusse.
An evocative tale of two men – one, a doctor, passionate and romantic; the other, a terrifying madman – and two women – one, beautiful and trusting; the other, beautiful and trusting only herself – finds both women in love with the same man and both unaware of his dark secret.
A devoted man of science, Dr Henry Jekyll is driven to find a chemical breakthrough that can solve the most challenging of medical dilemmas. Rebuffed by the powers-that-be, he decides to make himself the subject of his own experimental treatments, accidentally unleashing his inner demons, along with the man that the world would come to know as Mr Hyde.
York Musical Theatre Company invite audiences to “be immersed in the myth and mystery of 19th century London’s fog-bound streets, where love, betrayal and murder lurk at every chilling turn and twist” in the May 25 to 28 run at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York.
Tickets are on sale on 01904 501935 or at josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk. For the Early Bird discount of £2 off each ticket, use the promo code JEKYLL22HYDE when booking online.
Jekyll & Hyde cast:
Dr Henry Jekyll/Mr Edward Hyde: Steven Jobson Emma Carew: Alexandra Mather Lucy Harris: Nicola Holliday & Claire Pulpher (shared role) John Utterson: Anthony Gardner Sir Danvers Carew: Nick Sephton Simon Stride: Matthew Ainsworth Lady Beaconsfield: Helen Spencer Lady Savage: Elizabeth Vile Archibald Proops: Ryan Stocks General Glossop: Rob Davies Bishop of Basingstoke: Ryan Richardson Spider: Ben Caswell Nellie: Erin Keogh
Hawkwind keyboardist Tim Blake and guitarist Dave Brock in concert . Picture: Oz Hardwick
YORK poet, musician, academic and photographer Oz Hardwick is exhibiting “very much a labour of long-standing obsession” at City Screen, York.
On show in the upstairs corridor until February 19 are his photographs of Hawkwind, one of the earliest space rock groups, who formed in Ladbroke Grove, London, in 1969 and have since gone through many incarnations, taking in hard rock, prog rock and psychedelic rock.
Lemmy, later of Motorhead, and Silver Machine, the June 1972 single that peaked at number three, are but part of a story that Oz has photographed from 1980 to 2021.
For many years he has focused on poetry and the academic world, way back in the 1970s, Plymouth-born Oz trained as a photographer, combining that skill with his passion for music and alternative culture.
Over the years, he has contributed to many album covers and books, most recently being the main photographic contributor to Martin Popoff’s Hawkwind: A Visual Biography, published by Wymer last year.
Oz exhibited a selection of his photographs at a festival at the Alhambra in Morecambe in 2018. “Then I was going to have a little exhibition to coincide with the band’s York Barbican show on their 50th anniversary but that didn’t quite work out,” he says.
“And so, it was going to be City Screen to coincide with the 50th anniversary of their first album [August 1970’s Hawkwind by Hawkwind], which was in 2020, so that didn’t happen either.
“But here it is at last, upstairs in City Screen, a bit of a celebration of a countercultural institution that’s probably been more influential than most people realise and is still going strong.”
Oz Hardwick: Poet, musician, professor of creative writing and photographer
Here Oz answers CharlesHutchPress’s questions about that “labour of long-standing obsession”.
What first drew you to Hawkwind, Oz?
“In 1972, I was a 12-year-old boy who loved music, with a particular enthusiasm for glam rock and a growing interest in heavy rock that came via my elder sister’s friends. I’ve read many times how David Bowie’s Starman on Top Of The Pops ‘changed everything’ for many people, and I remember the performance.
“However, it was the week after that Silver Machine appeared and for me that was really exciting. It’s up on YouTube now, but in those days all your friends would be watching the same thing at the same time, and I recall having to ask a friend the next day what this band had been called, because the clip – filmed in concert and cobbled together to accompany the single (and watched on a black-and-white TV) – had absolutely blown me away.
“I had no idea what was making some of those noises, the energy was like nothing I’d heard, and the band looked unhinged. It wasn’t just an exciting new group; it was a little glimpse of an alternative universe, which looked way more exciting than the one I was in. These people weren’t dressing up like Bolan and Bowie (who I really liked, by the way); there was a sense of this being real.
“And then, when I finally acquired an album the following year – the monumental Space Ritual – there were passages of poetry accompanied by unearthly electronic sounds. I’d picked up a love of poetry by osmosis from my grandfather who lived with us.
“He’d had no education, really, but had a passion for the Lake Poets and Burns, who were deeply attached to the places where he’d grown up and become a farm worker, and this was something which set that linguistic energy into the cultural context in which I was growing up – pop music, Apollo-era science fiction, and so on. And the artwork was amazing, too. It was the full package.”
Lemmy, photographed by Oz Hardwick in his post-Hawkwind years leading Motorhead. Not featured in the City Screen exhibition
Did you meet Lemmy [Hawkwind’s bass player from 1972 until being fired in 1975, when he formed Motorhead]? If so, what are your memories?
“Lemmy was still in the band when I first saw Hawkwind in Plymouth Guildhall in February 1974, but I didn’t meet him until the early Motorhead days.
“When they started out, they were getting awful reviews and nobody much was interested as they were slogging around fairly grotty little clubs. I, of course, turned up to their first Plymouth gig early – I always wanted to get down the front – and the first few of us to arrive were roped into carrying a grand piano down the fire escape.
“Those were the days. It meant we got to hear the soundcheck, and I think we were let in free, too. And there was a bit of a tongue-tied greeting.
“They played a few times locally while they were still struggling along, and the band were always really welcoming, chatty, funny and down-to-earth. Then they went off to be pretty huge and no longer played to small but passionate audiences in sticky-floored clubs. “However, several years later I was at an open-air Hawkwind gig at Crystal Palace – the legendary event at which they shared the stage with Vera Lynn – and during the afternoon I happened to be walking vaguely towards Lemmy in the field.
“Amazingly, he stopped me and asked how I was. He was a fully-fledged rock star by then, but he still remembered those people who supported the band when there weren’t all that many of us. And I don’t think many people would be like that.”
Hawkwind’s stage set with the band logo at its heart. Picture: Oz Hardwick
You know the drill: “First three numbers only. No flash”. What are the challenges of photographing a band in concert under those circumstances?
“They will insist on moving about! I think the particular challenge with rock music is the lighting changes. It’s true with many artists, but Hawkwind were always particularly tricky as there was never much light on the band, who were quite often shadowy figures against brighter backgrounds. There’s still some of that, but less so than there used to be.”
Do you prefer photographing a band on stage, in the studio or off-guard?
“I much prefer photographing bands on stage. I’ve done some more posed off-stage work from time to time, but my enthusiasm has always been for capturing artists doing what they do, rather than imposing myself too much on things.
“When I was training as a photographer, I got really into theatre work, and it grew out of that, I think. Also, I’m a very socially awkward person (cripplingly so when younger), so it’s good to vanish into the background.
“In relation to this, I have to say how generous Hawkwind were, letting this awkward young bloke with a camera onto the side of the stage, into the dressing room, and so on. Again, I think this is probably quite unusual, to say the least.”
Where and when did you train in photography?
“I was at Plymouth College of Art in the late 1970s. I’d already learned the basics there on Saturday mornings while I was at school and I’d taken an O-level, so it was the logical next step – and I had no idea what else I might do.
“I’ve never been very career oriented. I’m now professor of creative writing over at Leeds Trinity University, but it’s not something I ever intended: I just always wanted to create things and was looking for ways to do so that worked for me. These days I only do a little bit of photography and it’s mostly writing, but they’ve both been constants for years, with just the balance shifting.”
Hawkwind: Black Sword. Picture: Oz Hardwick
You describe Hawkwind as a “countercultural institution”. In what ways?
“They emerged from that vibrant countercultural movement which had a bit more edge and political substance, which drew on agit-prop theatre, cutting-edge graphic design, the alternative press, and so on.
“They were effectively the ‘house band’ of that culture, supporting various causes, and while things have changed immensely, they have remained on the edge. They were at the heart of the free festival culture of the 1980s, for example, and they still have close associations with the Sea Shepherd and wildlife charities in particular.
“And they are a band who have evolved their own community, too, with their own small festivals and also taking artists under their wing to an extent.”
How have Hawkwind “probably been more influential than most people realise”?
“Anyone with a vague interest in ‘classic’ rock music will know Silver Machine but the chances are good that they won’t know anything else. Their influence is disproportionate, though.
Hawkwind founder member Dave Brock: 53 years and counting. Picture: Oz Hardwick
“Because of the directness of their music and their disdain for the mainstream, they were a major – and frequently cited – influence on punk rock, while most of their contemporaries were being derided.
“Their experiments with electronics fed into ambient and New Age soundscapes and that was one of the roots of synth-pop, and the extended, repetitive structures are one of the foundations of the dance music that evolved from the late 1980s and continues to do so. In the diverse niches of contemporary alternative rock, they’re pretty much everywhere.”
Playing devil’s advocate, what does it take for a band to survive for 53 years on one hit?
“Now, that’s a complex one to answer, but part of it, I suspect, is that there was just the one hit. The follow-up, Urban Guerilla, was famously withdrawn amidst controversy as its release coincided with terrorist attacks, and that was pretty much it for pop stardom.
“Instead, they used the money from Silver Machine’s success to fund the elaborate staging of their ambitious Space Ritual tour, which led to the double album that is still regularly cited as one of the best live rock records ever.
“With the live reputation they built up, they didn’t really need to be on Top Of The Pops. I guess the ‘what if?’ scenario raises the question of whether, if they had managed a couple of follow-up hits, they might have had a brief flare at the top and just disappeared once they started slipping down the ratings.
“Interestingly, a couple of albums in recent years have made higher chart placings than anything they’ve released since the mid-’80s, so things haven’t worked out too bad. And, of course, they still have the instantly recognisable big hit on pretty much every ’70s rock compilation that gets released, which in itself is one up on thousands upon thousands of bands.”
Huw Lloyd-Langton in his days as a Hawkwind guitarist. Picture: Oz Hardwick
When did you first photograph Hawkwind; when did you last photograph them?
“My earliest (not great) photos are from 1980, the most recent from 2021. As it happens, though, the first time I ever took a camera to a gig was a Motorhead show in, I think, 1978, so there’s a connection there.”
What is the story behind you exhibiting your Hawkwind photos at a festival in 2018?
“The band organise their own little festivals and suchlike. In 2018, they had a weekend at the Alhambra in Morecambe, which was put together with poet, performer and all-round good guy Matt Panesh, to contribute towards keeping this beautiful old theatre open in quite a deprived part of the country.
“Hawkwind played a couple of times, along with assorted friends and relations; there were performances of plays by the late Robert Calvert (who, along with mainstay Dave Brock, wrote Silver Machine) and amongst the peripheral events and attractions I had a small photographic exhibition, with a number of pictures that had been on album covers, in books, and so on.”
How did you select the photos now on show in the City Screen corridor?
“The exhibition features most of those I had printed for Morecambe, along with a few more oldies and some taken in 2021. Though it was another terrible year for the performing arts, Hawkwind managed a couple of shows.
“The highlight was definitely their Hawkfest over a sunny weekend in north Devon last summer. With a little under a thousand attendees and a great line-up – including two sets by Hawkwind and various members playing with other bands – and a lovely bunch of like-minded people getting together after months of lockdowns, it was a wonderful celebration of the music and of that community I mentioned earlier. There are a few photos from that weekend.”
Mr Dibs: Hawkwind’s vocalist, cellist, guitarist and bass player from 2007 to 2018. Picture: Oz Hardwick
How has the art of rock music photography changed over the past 40 years?
“I think it’s changed in the way all photography has changed. In the 1980s and 1990s, you’d really read the performance and get a few gems from your 36 or maybe 72 frames. Nowadays, anyone with a phone can get a couple of good shots from the 600 they take, all of which they upload onto Facebook.
“If I can get a bit cosmic for a second, though, the relationship between a photographer and the performance is very, very different. There’s an intensity of focus in the moment, coupled with a kind of acquired second sight, whereas I suspect someone waving their phone over their head is outside the moment. But we can maybe talk about ‘art’ another time!”
Which camera do you favour?
“The shorthand techie answer is Nikon for film and Canon for digital. Really, though, it’s anything that can capture a decent image (and most can) because all a camera does is capture what you see. It’s much more about looking than technology. As an aside, I do rather like seeing what the flaws in really poor cameras can do – I do like a bit of chaos.”
Do you keep a list of the album covers and books to which you have contributed photographs?
“I’m really bad at keeping records. I’ve built up quite a body of work in both writing and photography and am generally looking at the current project and the next thing. In terms of Hawkwind, the photos that have given me most satisfaction are the front cover and booklet of TheFlicknife Years box set of 1980s’ recordings.
“I was following the band all over and really immersing myself in that wonderful world I glimpsed on Top Of The Pops back in ’72, and the idea of having something on the front of an album just seemed like fantasy.
“There were two United States reissues in the’90s – Zones and Do Not Panic – that came with posters of my photos, which were special to me in themselves, but also my parents had them on their hall wall for the rest of their lives and would proudly show them to all visitors. “Beyond that, there are a lot of album covers by the band and also off-shoots (there are a lot of ex-members after 53 years).
“Of the books, I’ve a number of pictures in Ian Abrahams’ Hawkwind: Sonic Assassins, the revised edition of which has one of mine on the front; and last year’s Hawkwind: A Visual Biography, by Martin Popoff, has well over 200 of my pictures, including the front cover. “Again, there are other books and magazines and so on. None of which I could even have imagined as I sat dumbstruck in front of that rented black-and-white telly half a century ago.”
Oz Hardwick’s Hawkwind exhibition runs at City Screen, York, until February 19.
Oz Hardwick’s book cover for Martin Popoff’s Hawkwind: A Visual Biography
“We cannot wait to get back on the road and this time play Boyzlife original material,” say Brian McFadden and Keith Duffy
BOYZLIFE, the Irish superboyband formed by long-time pals Keith Duffy and Brian McFadden, will play York Barbican on October 14 on their 27-city Old School tour.
Boyzone’s Duffy and Westlife’s McFadden will be performing songs from their upcoming studio album of original material, Old School, alongside multiple hits from their Nineties and Noughties’ boybands.
Boyzone have chalked up six UK number one singles and worldwide sales of 25 million records; Westlife have notched 12 UK and Irish number one singles and four chart-topping albums.
Boyzlife’s debut album, Strings Attached, revisited nine Boyzone and Westlife number ones, performed by Duffy and McFadden with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Angel Studios, London.
Released on July 17 2020, it topped both the UK and Irish iTunes and Amazon music charts and peaked at number 12 in the UK Official Album Chart.
Duffy, 47, and McFadden, 41, wrote and recorded Old School in studio sessions in between last year’s tour dates. Giving a glimpse into what fans can expect of the May 6 release, McFadden says: “Keith and I grew up in the ’80s and ’90s; the sound of that era is what made us want to be musicians in the first place.
The album cover artwork for Boyzlife’s Old School, out on May 6
“When we first started talking about making this record as Boyzlife’s first studio album, we naturally talked about those influences a lot and have loved bringing these familiar sounds into our studio sessions and onto this record and cannot wait to take those songs live.”
Boyzlife add: “Working with our producer Jackson has been an extremely creative process. We went into the studio with lyrics ideas, worked together to find a melodic sound to go with the lyrics and built the songs from there.
“Some things just fit into place and others get chopped and changed until we all agree we are on the right track. We are very excited about this album and can’t wait for people to hear it.”
The track listing will be: Burn For You; first single The One (co-written by McFadden with Guy Chambers); A Little Saving; All This Time; Glory Days; Because I Love Somebody; Coming Back To You; Her; If I Asked You To Love and Distant Sun.
Boyzlife, who made their York Barbican on October 17 2021, say: “We cannot wait to get back on the road and this time play Boyzlife original material alongside all of our music over the last 25 years. The show will be a Rolla-coaster through old and new songs and we cannot wait to take our fans on the ride.”
Boyzlife’s Old School tour will take in further Yorkshire shows at Sheffield City Hall on September 29 and St George’s Hall, Bradford, on October 15. Box office: York, yorkbarbican.co.uk; Sheffield, sheffieldcityhall.co.uk; Bradford, Bradford-theatres.co.uk.
