More Things To Do in York and beyond when Pride comes before a full diary of big ideas. Hutch’s List No.23, from The Press

Claire Richards: Taking Steps to headline York Pride’s main stage

PRIDE is loud and proud this weekend in a city full of ideas, heated politics and apocalyptic music, as recommended by Charles Hutchinson.

Diverse celebration of the week: York Pride, city-centre parade at 12 noon, followed by festival until after-hours on Knavesmire

NORTH Yorkshire’s largest LGBT+ celebration sets out on a parade march from Duncombe Place, outside York Minster, processing along Bishopthorpe Road to the festival site on Knavesmire.

Hosted by Sordid Secret and Mamma Bear, the Main Stage welcomes Claire Richards, from Steps, Pussycat Doll Kimberly Wyatt, Union J’s Jaymi Hensley and RuPaul’s Drag Race UK finalist Kitty Scott-Claus. Plenty more acts take to the YOI Radio Stage and Family Area and the new Queer Arts Cabaret Tent (1.30pm to 7pm, headlined by York’s pink-attired Beth McCarthy). Full festival details at: yorkpride.org.uk.

In the pink: Beth McCarthy tops the Queer Arts Cabaret Tent bill at York Pride this evening

Festival of the week and beyond: York Festival of Ideas 2023, until June 15

THIS University of York co-ordinated festival invites you to Rediscover, Reimagine, Rebuild in a programme of more than 150 free in-person and online events designed to educate, entertain and inspire. 

Meet world-class speakers, experience performances, join entertaining family activities, explore York on guided tours and more! Topics range from archaeology to art, history to health and politics to psychology. Study the festival programme at yorkfestivalofideas.com.

Ocean-loving Kent violinist and composer Anna Phoebe performs her Sea Soul album with Klara Schumann and Jacob Kingsbury Downs at the National Centre for Early Music, York, tonight at 7pm as part of the York Festival of Ideas. Picture; Rob Blackham

Don’t myth it: The Flanagan Collective in The Gods The Gods The Gods, York Theatre Royal, tonight, 7.30pm; Slung Low at Temple, Water Lane, Holbeck, Leeds, tomorrow, 7.30pm (outdoor performance); Hull Truck Theatre, Stage One, June 29, 7.30pm

WRIGHT & Grainger’s myth-making The Gods The Gods The Gods is performed as a 12-track album in an exhilarating weave of big beats, heavy basslines, soaring melodies and heart-stopping spoken word. In the absence of co-creators Alexander Flanagan-Wright and Megan Drury in New York and Australia respectively, Easingwold birthday boy Phil Grainger, 34 today, will be joined by Oliver Towse and Lucinda Turner from the West End original cast of Wright’s The Great Gatsby.

The 65-minute performance links stories of two youngsters who meet when out dancing, destined to fall hard; a woman on a beach, alone at night, looking at the stars, and a bloke on a bridge, thinking about jumping, just before dark, all at the crossroads where mythology meets real life. Box office: York, 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk; Leeds, slunglow.org; Hull, 01482 323638 or hulltruck.co.uk.

Upwards and onwards: Oliver Towse, left, Lucinda Turner and Phil Grainger survey the auditorium ahead of their Harrogate Theatre performance of The God The Gods The Gods. York, Leeds and Hull dates lie ahead

Comedy gig of the week: Patrick Monahan, Classy, Pocklington Arts Centre, tonight, 8pm

IN a world of groups, hierarchies and class systems, everyone tries so hard to fit in. What’s wrong with being a misfit? Be you, be proud!

From the caravan to the middle-class neighbourhood, Irish-Iranian comedian Patrick Monahan, 46, has taken four decades to realise this. Time for the Edinburgh Fringe regular to pass on his observations on living his contemporary life alongside stories of his upbringing. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

Patrick Monahan: Classy performance at Pocklington Arts Centre

Apocalypse now: Late Music presents Late Music Ensemble, Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, York, tonight, 7.30pm

YORK Late Music concludes its 2022-23 season on a spectacular – if not entirely optimistic! – note tonight when the Late Music Ensemble, conducted by Nick Williams, opens up the End Of The World Jukebox.

Composers and players re-imagine the pop songs they would like to hear if Armageddon were nigh in arrangements of Imogen Heap’s Hide And Seek, David Bowie’s Warszawa, Cole Porter’s Every Time We Say Goodbye and Bob Dylan’s Cat’s In The Well. The Beatles will be represented by The End from Abbey Road, alongside new works by Christopher Fox and Anthony Adams.

Williams’s nine-strong ensemble promises a broad musical spectrum through the presence of Edwina Smith (flute, piccolo), Jonathan Sage (clarinet, bass clarinet), Iain Harrison and Lucy Havelock (saxophones), Murphy McCaleb (bass trombone), Kate Ledger (piano, toy piano, voice), Tim Brooks (keyboards, piano), Catherine Strachan (cello) and Anna Snow (voice).

Due to unforeseen circumstances, today’s lunchtime concert by Stuart O’Hara has been postponed. It will, however, be rescheduled in the 2023-24 season, whose programme will be announced in the next few months.

While the End of the World cannot be avoided, York Late Music adminstrator Steve Crowther is an optimist who believes that, for now at least, the end is no nigher. A 6.45pm, pre-concert talk by Christopher Fox includes a complimentary glass of wine or fruit juice. Box office: latemusic.org or on the door.

Kate Ledger: Pianist playing in the Late Music Ensemble’s end-is-nigh concert tonight

Folk gig of the week: Spiers & Boden, The Crescent, York, Wednesday, doors 7.30pm

THIS weekend the focus falls on the City of York Roland Walls Folk Weekend at the Black Swan Inn, Peasholme Green. Meanwhile, the organisers, the Black Swan Folk Club, have teamed up with The Crescent to present Bellowhead big band cohorts Spiers & Boden in a seated concert next week.

John Spiers and Jon Boden re-formed their instrumental duo in 2021 after a seven-year hiatus to release the album Fallow Ground. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.

Seated gig: Folk duo Spiers & Boden atThe Crescent on Wednesday

Defiant gig of the week: Mike Peters presents The Alarm (Acoustic), The Crescent, York, Thursday, 7.30pm

AFTER a year of health challenges, The Alarm leader Mike Peters returns to the stage this spring with a new album set for release in the summer.

Co-founder of the Love Hope Strength Foundation, the 64-year-old Welshman will be performing a one-man band electro-acoustic set list of songs from all four decades of The Alarm discography. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.

Mike Peters: Setting The Alarm songs acoustically at the Crescent on Thursday

Troubadour of the week: Steve Earle, The Alone Again Tour, Grand Opera House, York, Friday, 7.30pm

AS his tour title suggests, legendary Americana singer, songwriter, producer, actor, playwright, novelist, short story writer and radio presenter Steve Earle will be performing solo and acoustic in York: the only Yorkshire gig of a ten-date itinerary without his band The Dukes that will take in the other Barbican, in London, and Glastonbury.

Born in Fort Monroae National Monument, Hampton, Virginia, Earle grew up in Texas and began his songwriting career in Nashville, releasing his first EP in 1982 and debut album Guitar Town in 1986, since when he has branched out from country music into rock, bluegrass, folk music and blues. Box office: atgtickets.com/york

Steve Earle: Heading from New York to York for the opening night of his British solo tour. Picture: Danny Clinch

Brass at full blast: Shepherd Group Brass Band: Stage And Screen, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, June 10, 7pm

SHEPHERD Group Brass Band’s late-spring concert showcases music from across the repertoire of stage and screen, featuring five bands from the York organisation, ranging from beginners to championship groups, culminating with a grand finale from all the bands. Tickets update: only the last few are still available on 01904 501935 or at josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Thalissa Teixeira: The Royal Shakespeare Company’s first black female Brutus in Julius Caesar, directed by Atri Banerjee, on tour at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Marc Brenner

Power play: Royal Shakespeare Company in Julius Caesar, York Theatre Royal, June 13 to 17, 7.30pm plus 2pm Thursday and Saturday matinees

ATRI Banerjee directs this fast-paced political thriller on the RSC’s return to York Theatre Royal in a fresh interpretation of Julius Caesar with a female Brutus (Thalissa Teixeira) and non-binary Cassius (Annabel Baldwin) that asks: how far would we go for our principles?

Concerned that divisive leader Julius Caesar (Nigel Barrett) poses a threat to democracy, revolutionaries take the violent decision to murder him but without a plan for what happens next. As the world spins out of control, chaos, horror and superstition rush in to fill the void. Civil war erupts and a new leader must rise, but at what cost? Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Charles Hutchinson’s verdict on Big Ian’s A Night To Remember, York Barbican, 8/9/22

Master of ceremonies Big Ian Donaghy pays tribute to Her Majesty The Queen at the start of A Night To Remember. Picture: Karen Boyes

THE wait had been all too long. 922 days since the last blast of A Night To Remember, Big Ian Donaghy’s fundraising concerts for York charities at York Barbican.

Then, suddenly, Thursday afternoon’s focus turned northwards to Balmoral as the nation waited for updates on The Queen’s health, BBC news presenter Huw Edwards already in black tie.

Her Majesty’s passing was announced shortly after 6.30pm. “We’d had a day of chaos, setting up such a big show, uncertain what would happen,” said Big Ian post-show. “Would the show go on? Would it be pulled? Thankfully…the show must go on.”

A Night To Remember would be unthinkable without Jess Steel: Picture: Dave Kessell

Indeed it did, albeit with a few seats now empty as some ticket holders preferred to stay at home to take in the news. Out went the planned opening, a Boris Johnson satirical routine et al . Instead, a photograph of The Queen, against the backdrop of the Union Flag, filled the screen as a sombre Big Ian took to the stage to join the band, 12-strong brass section and multitude of singers.

“Right, I don’t care if you are a monarchist; I don’t care if you are an anarchist, I care that she was someone’s mam,” pronounced Ian, adding “grandmam” and “great grandmam” as he called on his conference-honed public-speaking skills to be the people’s laureate in that moment.

A minute’s silence and a spontaneous round of applause followed. Then, exit the regal elephant in the room, last respects paid, for one Queen to be succeeded so soon by another: Mercury’s Queen. What else could master of ceremonies Big Ian declaim but The Show Must Go On. Right song, right time, right note struck.

Annie Donaghy and Graham Hodge in tandem for Time After Time. Picture: David Harrison

The way these fast-moving nights work, songs are covered, if not in glory, then often spectacularly, affectionately, surprisingly, humorously, always heartily, and invariably with a wall of harmony from participants readily guesting on everyone else’s songs. As many as 30 can be performing at one time, never better than when the young players of the York Music Forum join Huge’s brass section.

In between come Big Ian’s rallying calls for donations, bonny lad bon-mots, quips and jests, and expressions of appreciation for the work of the night’s backers, Nimbuscare, and good causes, St Leonard’s Hospice, Bereaved Children Support York and Accessible Arts and Media.

Raising dementia awareness is another driving force, after the death of both Big Ian’s mother-in-law and father, his own work for this cause highlighted in a series of shorts films, two featuring women with dementia, one being introduced to playing pool, the other singing Yesterday with Ian as she was having her hair done.

Las Vegas Ken becomes York Barbican Ken. Picture: David Harrison

Later, he dug out a video clip of daughter Annie, then aged nine, paying lyrical tribute to her grandma at an earlier A Night To Remember at York Theatre Royal.

York’s very own best football commentator bar none, Guy Mowbray, popped up on screen from Old Trafford with a message of support, signing off with “dementia is a team game”. Lovely touch, Guy.

The hits kept on coming: Jess Steel, blowing away any remaining cobwebs with Ironic; Dan (Boss Caine) Lucas’s country take on Dire Straits’ Walk Of Life; Graham Hodge, Annie Donaghy and a saxophone solo for Time After Time; Big Ian leading the audience finger clicks and hand claps for Wham’s Edge Of Heaven.

Jessa Liversidge and Singing For All lap up the applause. Picture: David Harrison

First-half favourite? How about Heather Findlay, Jess Steel, Annie Donaghy and Beth McCarthy’s rendition of Abba’s Dancing Queen, the one song title of the night with resonance anew. Next, Las Vegas Ken brought the house down, as comprehensively as that Mecca Bingo demolition job across the road.

Kate Bush was an in-vogue choice after her Stranger Things resurrection, but rather than Running Up That Hill, Heather Findlay brought a shawl, fan flicks and theatricality to Babooshka. Musical director George Hall’s keyboard then brought out the crooner in Big Ian in Elton’s Your Song.

Such is the all-inclusive philosophy of these joyous concerts that performers’ ages range from 13 to 96, heralded at the start to the second half by Big Ian introducing Jessa Liversidge’s Singing For All choir, a breath of fresh air in song, with Jessa on keyboard and neighbour Gary Stewart on guitar for You’ve Got A Friend and Lean On Me.

Heather Findlay performing Babooshka. Picture: Dave Kessell

Gary, playing percussion throughout the night as he does for Hope & Social, later took the microphone with sweet-voiced swagger for Paul Simon’s 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover, and Lean On Me made an unexpected comeback as George Hall’s party piece at the impromptu invitation of Big Ian.

The Y Street Band turned Shania Twain’s Man! I Feel Like A Woman on its head; Simon Snaize stepped out of the band to front Rod Stewart’s Maggie May, accompanied by Kieran O’Malley’s violin, whose beauteous impact on a song rivals The Waterboys’ Steve Wickham.

Hodge, O’Malley and The Y Street Band bonded over Stuck In The Middle With You; Findlay’s 13-year-old son, Harlan, took over the keyboard for her rendition of Fleetwood Mac’s Dreams.

Having a blast: Young musicians from York Music Forum playing in the 12-piece brass section

Into the final straight, Beth McCarthy pulled off yet another costume change for Tina Turner’s Simply The Best; Big Ian busted out his Travolta moves for Stayin’ Alive; Jess Steel celebrated seeing Diana Ross in Leeds with a supreme Chain Reaction, and Beth hurriedly found one more pink number for the Lulu part in the finale, Relight My Fire, alongside cheerleader Big Ian.

September 8 re-lit the fire for A Night To Remember in the most challenging circumstances. “How we did that, I’ve no idea. Less than an hour after The Queen’s death was announced. Making a silk purse out of a sow’s ear,” said Big Ian the next morning.

“A lifetime of standing up in front of people came to my rescue for a night to remember that no-one will ever forget.

Beth McCarthy giving it her all in Simply The Best. Picture: Dave Kessell

“I know some people love the monarchy and others do not. Yet I was given 1,400 people and a minute’s silence. I needed an angle to make it not about that.”

Big Ian found one; the audience, band and singers alike responded. The show did go on and how! Watch this space to learn the funding total raised for the three charities.   

“The only thing local about this show is the postcode,” concluded Big Ian. “The talent on stage and the generosity they show to one another is something quite unique.”

“How we did that, I’ve no idea,” reflected organiser and host Big Ian Donaghy in the aftermath of going ahead with A Night To Remember only an hour after The Queen’s passing was announced . Picture: David Harrison

To view more of David Harrison’s photographs of A Night To Remember, head to: https://dharrisonyorkphotos.smugmug.com/Music/ANTR-2022

Unforgettable York Barbican night raises £24,000. Big Ian Donaghy says Thank You

“WHEN money is at its tightest and families are struggling to make ends meet, our community and some of the finest musicians with the kindest hearts came together on September 8 at A Night To Remember to raise money for local causes,” says Big Ian.

“The final figure raised was a staggering £24,311. Not bad for a gang show and a big raffle with a group of mates!

“The night, now in its eighth year, has shone the spotlight on local causes and groups to not only provide much needed funds but also raise their profiles.

“The show featured a 30-piece house band made up of Huge, Kieran O’Malley, Gary Stewart and Simon Snaize and musicians from York Music Forum as they accompanied the likes of Jess Steel, Heather Findlay, Beth McCarthy and Graham Hodge.

“The night saw an 80-year age range of performers on stage as Singing for All -a fully inclusive singing group – had the auditorium sing with one voice.

“Who will benefit from this? St.Leonards Hospice, Bereaved Children’s Support York and Accessible Arts and Media, of which the Hands & Voices Choir are part.

“Rather than give money to larger charities, A Night To Remember supports smaller, local, bespoke projects that help people living with dementia and combatting loneliness.

“These include the gardening project York Hull Road Park Volunteers; bespoke dementia-friendly side-by- side art classes for people living with dementia and their carers, run by York artist Sue Clayton; Singing for All and Xmas Presence, giving older people who live alone a family Christmas and delivering lunches and hampers.

“We were uncertain if the show would even happen as it fell on the day the Queen died, but after having to make the official announcement, we opened with The Show Must Go On.

“This is York helping York. Thank-you to Nimbuscare for their invaluable support and to everyone on stage, back stage, front of house and in the audience.

A Night To Remember will return to York Barbican on Thursday, September 14 2023.

A Night To Remember returns to York Barbican for charity gig after 922 days

Light show: Big Ian Donaghy surveys the crowd’s torch display at A Night To Remember. Picture: Karen Boyes

WHEN Big Ian Donaghy shouted “See you next year!”, as he and the team took their final bow to a standing ovation at A Night To Remember on February 29 2020, they could never have envisaged what was just around the corner.

“A total lockdown. Schools closed. The only place to get a beer was your fridge and theatres stood in darkness because apparently ‘The show mustn’t go on’,” he laments. “Guitars were forbidden to come out of their cases for more than 500 day as crowds at gigs were deemed far more ‘dangerous’ than those watching sport.”

Roll on to 7.30pm, September 8 2022 and, thankfully, the return of A Night To Remember, the charity fundraising concert at York Barbican.

Banding together: Every musician and singer on stage at the finale to A Night To Remember. Picture: Duncan Lomax

“It will be 922 days since this unique group of performers has shared a stage to bring the community together and they promise to live up the name A Night To Remember more than ever,” vows organiser and master of ceremonies Big Ian, whose skills as a speaker and host are in demand at such venues as Birmingham NEC and ExCel, London.

“Over the years, these nights have taken community charity gigs to another level as every detail is focused on giving the York audience a night they deserve. No corner is cut for this unique event, from brilliant sound from Craig Rothery, through thought-provoking films on huge video walls, to a 30-piece band.

“On top of that, this year’s concert has been sponsored by Nimbuscare, who have provided invaluable support in putting on this event.”

On song: Another belter from Jess Steel. Picture: Duncan Lomax

The format is “unlike others shows”, says Big Ian, as it requires “everyone to guest on everyone else’s songs with a wall of harmony”.

“No other show has an 83-year age range in performers from 13 to 96 year olds. Previous years saw the line-up take on the near impossible and succeed with Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody, despite never playing it together beforehand. Somehow it came together!

“A Night To Remember is like Avengers Assemble as the unlikely bunch have now become more like family after eight years together.”

The A Night To Remember crowd having an unforgettable night at York Barbican

In the 30-piece house band will  be members of York party band Huge; Jess Steel; Heather Findlay; Beth McCarthy, on her return to her home city from London; Simon Snaize; Gary Stewart; Graham Hodge; The Y Street Band; Boss Caine; Las Vegas Ken; Kieran O’Malley and young musicians from York Music Forum, all led by George Hall and Ian Chalk.

Singer and choir director Jessa Liversidge will present her inclusive singing group, Singing For All, who previously took part in 2020.

The setlist will take in songs by Kate Bush, Queen, Paul Simon, Wham, Elton John, Fleetwood Mac, Rod Stewart, The Bee Gees, Elvis Presley, Bill Withers, Take That, Tina Turner, Diana Ross and Alanis Morisette.

Heading home: Beth McCarthy at A Night To Remember. Picture: Duncan Lomax

“Now in its eighth outing, A Night To Remember promises to be an evening of singalongs as the city sings with one voice to raise much-needed funds for St Leonard’s Hospice, Bereaved Children Support York and Accessible Arts and Media, who get people with learning difficulties into performing,” says Big Ian.

“This has become the UK’s largest live concert to raise dementia awareness and will be funding some bespoke dementia projects in York, including art classes with York artist Sue Clayton and singing and gardening groups to combat loneliness.”

Big Ian Donaghy with Annie Donaghy, left, Beth McCarthy, Heather Findlay and Jess Steel at A Night To Remember. Picture: Karen Boyes

Two weeks ago, Big Ian took the challenge with four friends to sell 1,000 tickets for the show in one day. “Somehow we achieved it,” he says. “Now we can’t wait to get everyone back together. Expect a night filled with emotion and fantastic music.

“There are some tickets left but be quick to book at www.yorkbarbican.co.uk, and we ask everyone to bring a raffle prize, if possible, and some money for raffle tickets. Who knows how much we can add to the £150,000 we’ve raised since we started these concerts?

“Remember, remember, the 8th of September, not just a night, but A Night To Remember!”

Beth McCarthy is back home in York tonight full of songs of break-ups and love in ruins but feeling in the pink with her London life

BETH McCarthy will play a home-city gig for the first time since March 2019 at The Crescent, York, tonight (2/5/2022).

Much has happened to Beth, singer, songwriter and erstwhile BBC Radio York evening show presenter, since she moved to London.

Lockdown times three may have curtailed her gigging but in that hiatus she has been buoyed by the online response to four singles and videos, drawing 4.8 million likes and 300,000 followers on TikTok and attracting 465,000 monthly listeners and nine million plays of her heartbreak hit She Gets The Flowers on Spotify.

“I moved down to the Big Smoke three weeks before the first lockdown,” recalls Beth. “Got here. World at my feet, then not anymore!

“It was funny really because, in the first stage of lockdown, it was like it was for all performers – everything stopped – so I came back to York and stayed with my parents for a while, and my only outlet for performing was busking on my parents’ drive.

“It got a bit depressing, I’m not going to lie, but I came back to London, as I’d managed to keep my place on, did some songwriting and started busking.”

After Beth was filmed busking, the response to the footage on social media was so positive that she thought, ‘I’d better get on to this’. “I started doing stuff on TikTok, doing something more than straightforward covers by re-working songs to give them a different perspective,” she says.

“That started to take off and the one that really caught on was OMG Did She Call Him Baby?, where I adapted the hook from Will Joseph Cook’s Be Around Me and changed it OMG Did She Call Him Baby?.

“He’s a songwriter from London, he’s got his own label; like me, he’s pretty independent himself. His song was going viral on TikTok, so I contacted him and he said yes to my version, and mine went viral too!”

Beth has settled into London life, living south of the river in Battersea. “That’s uncommon for creatives, but I absolutely love it, even if you could argue I haven’t experienced it at its fullest,” she says.

“But being around its fast pace does me a lot of good, whereas some people are put off by that and feel lonely. Not me. When I did The Voice [the BBC One talent show] in 2014 when I was 16, staying down here for rehearsals, I loved it and I’ve wanted to be here ever since.”

Reflecting on her move, Beth says: “I’ve had what you could call quite a ‘soft release’ to London; going back to York, doing some Radio York shows for a while, and I’ve still got my family there. I’ve had one foot in York, one foot in London, but now this is me, down here full time.”

Last year, Beth supported Sigrid and sold out two headline shows in London and now she has been taken under the wing of Kilimanjaro Live to promote her shows.  This spring, she has appeared on Kilimanjaro Live’s stage at Liverpool Sound City on May 1, and coming next after York tonight are gigs at Camden Assembly, London, on May 3 and Deaf Institute, Manchester, on May 7, followed by a set at Kilimanjaro Live’s new festival in Norwich, Neck Of The Woods, on May 29.

“Having Kilimanjaro Live and Live Nation onside is great, and I’ve also signed to the Paradigm agency, who do everyone! I have two agents there; one works with Billie Eilish, not bad company to be in!” says Beth.

“I haven’t got a manager yet. Finding the right one when you’ve been working on your own isn’t easy.”

Beth is signed to a small Manchester label, LAB Records. “They’re great as I just want to keep releasing songs, and there were sniffs around She Get The Flowers when it took off on Spotify for a bigger release. It almost happened but the industry is still bruised [by the pandemic].”

Check out She Gets The Flowers’ accompanying video on YouTube, the one with a litany of female hurt spelled out on cards – a mode of expression patented by Bob Dylan’s Subterranean Homesick Blues – held silently by assorted friends and cohorts of Beth, among them familiar faces from York’s arts scene such as Annie Donaghy and Livy Potter.

“Because it was lockdown, it was one of the hardest things to navigate, with only a restricted number of people allowed in the room and everyone having to be masked up except when each of us was being filmed, but that was the easiest way to film it at the time,” recalls Beth.

“I did it with Ont’ Sofa [the Old Stables recording studios in Harrogate], who I’ve always done stuff with, working with Ben Dave, who has a company called Dot and Diode, and Harrogate musician and producer Jason Odell.

“I’ve worked with Jason really closely. He co-produced it and every song I’ve done since then, so it’s nice to have a little piece of Yorkshire going in with Jason’s involvement.”

The story arch of She Gets The Flowers and its accompanying video charts those who do not receive the flowers and the circumstances why. “Everyone in the video needed to feel comfortable in front of the camera,” says Beth.

“A couple of them, Annie and Livy, had acting experience but the majority didn’t, but it was vital we set it up to create an emotional atmosphere, so we played them all the lyrics before recording, and that’s what made the song translate so well with their candid expressions on camera.”

For her York, London and Manchester gigs, guitarist Beth will perform in a three-piece line-up, but she remains equally at home singing on her own. “I’m back and forth with what I do when I play live.” she says.

“From the start, I paved the way for being able to just rock up with a guitar and just be myself on a stage. Picking up an acoustic guitar and becoming a singer-songwriter from when I was 13, I feel lucky that I was brought up in the very rootsy music scene in York.”

Beth McCarthy: Performing at Big Ian Donaghy’s A Night To Remember charity fundraiser at York Barbican

Joining Beth at The Crescent tonight will be drummer and musical director Michael Turnbull and keyboard player Christina Hizon. “Michael is connected with Litany (Beth Cornell’s band], from Harrogate, so it’s northerners coming together! I said, ‘You’re from the north, you’re going to have to be in my band’,” she says.

“Christina’s been on tour with Maisie Peters, and next up, after my shows, she’s going to tour with Ed Sheeran. She played with [Queen drummer] Roger Taylor on his tour last year that came to the York Barbican. We first in a social setting in London.”

Positivity courses through Beth as TikTok, Spotify and YouTube give her momentum, now compounded by her return to the concert platform. “I’m just going to push my music as much and as often as possible,” she says.

“I may have no label deal or management, but what I do have is the hope that people just want to listen to music, in whatever form, and the last two songs I’ve released have really instilled that in me.

“The rest is just fluff, and as long as you do the things that matter to you, that’s what’s important.”

Beth is putting together an EP combining her compositions If You Loved Me Right, Friendship Bracelet, No Hard Feelings and You Ruin Love. “The point was to capture as many feelings as possible out of relationships and break-ups,” she says.

“If You Loved Me Right is a classically bitter break-up song, taking the power back, feeling not sad, but angry. Friendship Bracelet says ‘go ahead, burn my bracelet’. I wanted the title No Hard Feelings for one song, knowing that most of the songs would be about hard feelings. But that’s all fine, that’s me! I like things to have a concept, to have an honest purpose.

“I feel like if I ever did fall deeply in love it would ruin my career! To be fair, the songs have all been pretty sad or angry, though No Hard Feelings is like an amicable break-up song where you end up on good terms. It’s still hard, but sometimes love fizzles out, there’s no falling out and you just don’t see each other anymore.”

In the buzz of London, Beth has been taking part in “loads of writing sessions with a bit of the speed-dating culture but for writing”. “I find everybody is pretty happy to share other talented people for you to work with,” she says.

Her song-writing goal is to conceive “songs for people who don’t have songs yet”, by which she means songs that are personal to them. “It’s that thing when people go, ‘that’s the song that feels like it came from me, even though I didn’t write it’,” says Beth. “I’m always searching for the person that doesn’t have that song.”

Beth McCarthy, The Crescent, York, tonight (2/5/2022), supported by Jemma Johnson. Doors: 7.30pm. Box office: the crescentyork.com or myticket.co.uk/artists/beth-mccarthy

More Things To Do in and around York as The Divine Comedy offer something for the weekend. List No. 80, courtesy of The Press

The Divine Comedy’s Neil Hannon: Leading a Charmed Life at York Barbican tonight. Picture: Kevin Westerberg

SEEKING Divine inspiration? Here comes Charles Hutchinson with his guide to what’s hot, from topical comedy to charming songwriters, a steamy thriller to intense jazz.

Charmer of the week: The Divine Comedy, York Barbican, tonight, 7.45pm

THE Divine Comedy’s Neil Hannon plays York this weekend for the first time since the Irish chamber-pop leprechaun’s Minster concert in May 2011.

Hannon will be showcasing his 2022 compilation, Charmed Life – The Best Of The Divine Comedy, marking the completion of the 51-year-old songwriter, musical score composer and cricket enthusiast’s third decade as a recording artist

“I’ve been luckier than most,” Hannon says. “I get to sing songs to people for a living and they almost always applaud.” Hence that Charmed Life title. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Alexander Flanagan Wright feels the Stillington dance vibes

Outdoor dance vibes of the long weekend: Dance Dance Dance, A Damn Big Dance Party, At The Mill, Stillington, near York, Sunday, 6pm to 11pm

HEADPHONES on as At The Mill plays host to a three-channel Silent Disco with a bunch of very cool guest DJs, a live set from Flatcap Carnival and the pizza oven fired up for orders.

Organiser Alexander Flanagan Wright says: “We got Joshua Pulleyn coming. We got Bolshee taking over a channel. We got Sarah Rorke blasting out some Northern Soul vibes. Tom Figgins is metaphorically spinning a track or two.

“Paul Smith has some new punk and old-school hip hop heading your way. Abbi Ollive has a solid hour of girl power. And I’m lining up a lot of Chemical Brothers, Prodigy and Beyoncé as I can. Come dance. It’s gotta be mega. There’s a handful of tickets left at atthemill.org.”

Beth McCarthy: Heading back home to play The Crescent

Homecoming of the week: Beth McCarthy, The Crescent, York, Monday, doors 7.30pm

BETH McCarthy, now living in London, heads home to play her first York gig since March 2019.

Singer-songwriter Beth has been buoyed by the online response to her singles and videos, drawing 4.8 million likes and 300,000 followers on TikTok and attracting 465,000 monthly listeners and nine million plays of her She Gets The Flowers on Spotify. Box office: myticket.co.uk/artists/beth-mccarthy.

Double at the treble: Stewart Lee serves up his Snowflake and Tornado double bill on three nights at York Theatre Royal from May 3 to 5

Comedy gigs of the week: Stewart Lee, Snowflake/Tornado, York Theatre Royal, Tuesday to Thursday, 7.30pm

DELAYED by lockdowns, Stewart Lee finally brings Snowflake/Tornado – a double bill of two 60-minute sets, back-to-back nightly – to York with new material for 2022.

Heavily rewritten in the light of two pandemic-enforced dormant years, Snowflake looks at how the Covid/Brexit era has influenced the culture war between lovely snowflakes and horrible people.

Tornado questions Lee’s position in the comedy marketplace after Netflix mistakenly listed his show as “reports of sharks falling from the skies are on the rise again. Nobody on the Eastern Seaboard is safe.” Good luck trying to acquire a ticket on 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Trouble brewing: Lift-off for Susie Amy’s Alex Forrest and Oliver Farnworth in Fatal Attraction. Picture: Tristram Kenton

Psychological thriller of the week: Fatal Attraction, Grand Opera House, York, Tuesday to Saturday, 7.30pm and 2.30pm matinees, Wednesday and Saturday

JAMES Dearden, screenwriter for Adrian Lyne’s 1987 “bunny boiler” American psycho thriller, has written a new stage version of Fatal Attraction for 21st century audiences, mobile phones et al.

The plot remains the same: happily married New York attorney Dan Gallagher (Oliver Farnworth) has a night on the town with editor Alex Forrest (Susie Amy) that boils up into passion.

Dan returns home to wife Beth (Louise Redknapp), trying to forget what happened, but Alex has only one rule: you play fair with her and she’ll play fair with you. If not…! Box office: 0844 871 7615 or atgtickets.com/York.

All smiles: Marti Pellow on his Greatest Hits Tour at York Barbican

Smile of the week: Marti Pellow, Greatest Hits Tour, York Barbican, Tuesday, 7.30pm  

LET Marti Pellow introduce his Greatest Hits Tour show. “It’s about finally being able to come together to celebrate love, life, and remember those we may have lost along the way. Most of all, it’s about enjoyment and celebrating the here and now. Get your dancing shoes on: it’s time to party with Marti.”

Expect songs from his Wet Wet Wet and solo catalogues up to 2021’s Stargazer album, cover versions too, plus reflective chat as he sits on the edge of the stage. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

The good sax guide: Saxophonist Trish Clowes with her My Iris bandmates, promising earthy restlessness and futuristic dreamscapes at the NCEM

Jazz gig of the week: Trish Clowes: My Iris, National Centre for Early Music, York, Tuesday, 7.30pm

SAXOPHONIST Trish Clowes leads her jazz band My Iris in their York debut, providing pianist Ross Stanley, guitarist Chris Montague and drummer James Maddren with a high-intensity platform for individual expression and improvisation.

Driving grooves and lingering melodic lines combine as they “seamlessly morph between earthy restlessness and futuristic dreamscapes”. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.

Exploring motherhood: Ana Silverio in Me, Myself & Misha

Indoor dance show of the week: Terpsichoring Dance Company in Me, Myself And Misha, York Theatre Royal Studio, Friday, 7.45pm

TERPSICHORING Dance Company’s Me, Myself & Misha  is a heartfelt, autobiographical 40-minute show devised and performed by award-winning dance artist Ana Silverio, who explores the physical and emotional journey, full of challenges and joys, that one woman undertakes to become a mother.

Universal themes of pregnancy and labour are presented, using a mix of physical theatre and dance alongside an original and moving musical score. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

The poster for the Yorkraine benefit concert at the Grand Opera House, York

Fundraiser alert: Yorkraine, for DEC Ukraine Appeal, Grand Opera House, York, May 24, 7.30pm

YORKRAINE’s benefit concert combines four of York’s finest cover bands, The Supermodels, The Mothers, The Y Street Band and Sister Madly, plus acoustic slots from Alex Victoria and Mal Fry and guest speakers.

The evening of pop and rock classics from the past six decades will raise funds for the British Red Cross DEC appeal to aid Ukrainian refugees who find themselves in dire circumstances. All artists, hosts, sound tech and crew have donated their time free of charge. Box office: atgtickets.com/York.

Balancing act: Gary Barlow talks the talk as he walks the walk on his musical journey through A Different Stage

Gig announcement of the week: Gary Barlow, A Different Stage, Grand Opera House, York, June 10 and 11

TAKE That legend, singer, songwriter, composer, producer, talent show judge and author Gary Barlow is adding a theatrical one-man show to his repertoire.

“I’ve done shows where it has just been me and a keyboard,” says Barlow. “I’ve done shows where I sit and talk to people. I’ve done shows where I’ve performed as part of a group.

“But this one, well, it’s like all of those, but none of them. When I walk out this time, well, it’s going to be a very different stage altogether.” Now the bad news: tickets went on sale at 9.30am yesterday and sold out by 10am, but Pray there could yet be a silver lining…

Beth McCarthy heads home from London to play The Crescent in York next month

Beth McCarthy: May 2 concert at The Crescent York

BETH McCarthy will play a home-city gig for the first time since March 2019 at The Crescent, York, on May 2.

Promoted by Kilimanjaro Live, tickets for Beth’s return are on sale at myticket.co.uk/artists/beth-mccarthy.

Beth, singer, songwriter and erstwhile BBC Radio York evening show presenter, has moved from York to London, since when she has been buoyed by the online response to her singles and videos, drawing 4.8 million likes and 300,000 followers on TikTok and attracting 465,000 monthly listeners and nine million plays of her heartbreak hit She Gets The Flowers on Spotify.

Beth has been singing since the age of seven when she started performing in musical theatre shows. She joined a band at 11, picked up an acoustic guitar and became a singer-songwriter at 13, playing 150 gigs all over England and releasing her debut EP by the age of 16, when she appeared on the BBC One talent show The Voice in 2014.

Coming up this spring for Beth is an appearance on Kilimanjaro Live’s stage at Liverpool Sound City on May 1 and gigs at Camden Assembly, London, on May 3 and Deaf Institute, Manchester, on May 7, followed by a set at Kilimanjaro Live’s new festival in Norwich, Neck Of The Woods, on May 29.