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Could 2024 get any better for Shed Seven? Two number one albums, sold-out shows, and now four outdoor gigs set for 2025

Shed Seven celebrate topping the Official UK Album Chart with Liquid Gold, their second number one of 2024. Picture copyright: Ofiicial Charts Company 2024

IF at first you succeed after 30 years, then succeed again only a matter of months later.

Like buses, no number one ever arrived for York band Shed Seven until not one but two album chart toppers came their way in one year, making the Britpop survivors only the 20th act to achieve that feat in the Official UK Album Chart.

In good company too, standing on the shoulders of such giants as Frank Sinatra (1957); Elvis Presley (1962); The Beatles (1963, 1964, 1965); Bob Dylan (1965, 1970); Led Zeppelin (1970, 1976) and Elton John (1973, 1974, 1990).

Who else? George Mitchell Minstrels (who?! * See answer below); The Monkees; Slade; Mike Oldfield; Abba; Queen; Diana Ross; Robbie Williams; Blue(yes, really); Rihanna; Taylor Swift (2020, 2021, 2023) and Ed Sheeran.

Shed Seven’s final promotional push to take Liquid Gold to the number one spot

Rather than chasing rainbows in 2024, it’s Getting Better and better for Shed Seven, the band with the alchemist’s touch in a year of Going For Gold.

The Sheds began their 30th anniversary celebrations by entering the charts at number one with sixth studio album A Matter Of Time on January 12, a record-breaking gap of 29 years and three months between their debut, September 5 1994’s Change Giver, and first chart topper.

Could Liquid Gold, their second release of the year on indie label Cooking Vinyl, follow suit? Sitting at number one in the UK Midweek Album Chart, the Sheds saw off the challenge of Bring Me The Horizon’s Post Human: Next Gen, pulling ahead by 2,500 sales by Thursday morning in what had shaped up to be a two-horse race heading into the final straight, before cantering away to a lead of almost 5,000 at Friday afternoon’s finishing post.

“We can’t quite believe we are writing these words, but we’ve only gone and done it again!!” posted the band on their shedsevenofficial site on Instagram. “Our second number one album this year!!!

Liquid Gold Covers Edition: One of multiple formats that secured the top spot for Shed Seven



“Liquid Gold is the official UK Chart number one album beating new releases from major artists including Ed Sheeran and Lady Gaga! Firstly, thank you to everyone who has bought the record – you truly are the best fans.

“Also, a huge thanks to all the amazing people we worked with on the album, and for helping us create the most beautiful record. Thanks to Cooking Vinyl for believing in us.”

Later the band posted: “This is one of the most rare feats on the Official Chart: securing two Number 1 albums on the Official Albums Chart within a single calendar year. In all of recorded Official Charts history, this has only happened to 20 acts, and now Shed Seven joins the likes of The Beatles, David Bowie, and Elvis!”

As with A Matter Of Time, a combination of myriad versions of Liquid Gold, a resourceful, rallying social media campaign and on-going record store tour of intimate gigs and personal appearances ensured the industrious five-piece were first past the post.

Huts five, Shed Seven: Tim Wills, left, Rob ‘Maxi’ Maxfield, Rick Witter, Paul Banks and Tom Gladwin promoting next summer’s Scarborough show at the seaside

The promotional campaign also took in a Radio 2 In The Park live set in Preston, a BBC Radio 2 Piano Session, plus Radio 2 playlist exposure and Amazing Radio’s Track of the Week status for the single Waiting For The Catch, a duet with Issy Ferris, of Ferris & Sylvester.

Recorded at Vada Recording Studios, Stratford-upon-Avon, with producer Michael Rendall, the album features the orchestral reimagining of past hits, less discovered band favourites and one new song, All Roads Lead To You, embossed with strings, brass and gospel vocal arrangements.

Numerous formats have sold out already, now complemented by the Demos Edition CD, a set of demos that crystallises the raw energy that the Sheds exuded in their early days. All profits from Demos Edition CD will be donated to the Music Venue Trust, which supports grassroots music venues across the UK – multiple venues that have been “vital to every moment of Shed Seven’s long and storied career”.

Front man Rick Witter said: “It’s important for all new up-and-coming young acts to have the opportunity to play venues like these, as it’s a crucial part of any artist’s journey to get a foothold on the musical path. Long may these venues exist.”

Guitarist Paul Banks added: “Shed Seven has had an incredible 30 years, and this year has been nothing short of unforgettable. We’ve climbed every rung of the ladder in this industry, starting out in independent venues.

Shed Seven celebrate notching their second number one of 2024

“When we look back at the places we played in 1994, it’s heartbreaking to see how many have closed their doors. Independent bands need independent labels, record shops and venues, and we want to give something back.

“That’s why we’re thrilled to release a limited-edition Liquid Gold CD, with all profits going to the Music Venues Trust. It features demos that really capture the rawness of Shed Seven, that same energy we had when we played those venues early in our career. Without independent venues, there would be no Shed Seven.”

The Sheds’ run of in-store appearances and Change Giver concerts since Liquid Gold’s release may have been brought to a temporary halt by Rick Witter’s sinus infection – has the City of York Council’s plan to launch a Rick Gritter road gritter this winter arrived early in his throat?! – but plans are taking shape already for 2025.

Tickets go on sale at 9.30am this morning for their “biggest ever headline show in their home county”, a long-overdue debut at the 8,000-capapcity TK Maxx Presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre, the UK’s largest purpose-built outdoor concert arena, on June 14, when Jake Bugg and Cast will be their special guests. To book, head to: scarboroughopenairtheatre.co.uk or ticketmaster.co.uk.

Witter said (before the sinus infection struck): “It’s been a dream of ours for some time to head out to the coast to play Scarborough OAT. It’s a stunning and historic venue…Yorkshire’s very own Hollywood Bowl!

Shed Seven’s poster for next summer’s trio of outdoor headline concerts

“2024 has been an amazing year for us. We’ve had our first number one album, sold out shows across the land, and now to announce our biggest ever headline show in Yorkshire – it doesn’t get much better!

“We can’t thank our fans enough and we want them to join us in Scarborough next summer for what will be a magical night at this incredibly special venue.”

In addition, Shed Seven have announced two further live dates for next summer, either side of the Pennine divide for Sounds Of The City 2025: Castlefield Bowl, Manchester, on July 4 and a return to Leeds Millennium Square on July 11, having headlined the Sound Of The City bill there on July 15 2023, when Cast and fellow York band Skylights supported.

Ian Broudie’s Lightning Seeds, from Liverpool, and the Sheds’ upcoming winter tour opening act, The Sherlocks, from Sheffield, will be on support duty on both nights. Again, tickets go on sale today at  www.gigsandtours.com and ticketmaster.co.uk or via https://tix.to/SS25.

The promotional poster for Paul Heaton’s Bramall Lane concert next May, featuring Shed Seven on the support bill

“We can’t wait to get out next summer for these big shows,” said Rick “It’s going to be a huge celebration following the success we’ve had in 2024. Expect big hits and huge singalongs. See you down the front.”

And now there’s more! Shed Seven are to support Sheffield United fan Paul Heaton at his beloved Bramall Lane, Sheffield, on May 25, when Lightning Seeds will be on the bill too.

Singer, songwriter and former front man of Hull bands The Housemartins and The Beautiful South, Heaton grew up in the Steel City. He will perform with his live and special guest singer Rianne Downey.

Today he releases his new solo album, The Mighty Several, produced by Lightning Seeds’ Ian Broudie, on Blood Records. His autumn tour will open with Yorkshire shows at Bridlington Spa on November 29 and Leeds First Direct the next night.

Did you know? Shed Seven are champions of National Album Day

 

Shed Seven: Championing the album as an artform

SHED Seven have been announced as the first champions of National Album Day ahead of its return on Saturday, October 19.

The official statement reads: “National Album Day announces iconic alternative rock band Shed Seven as the first album champions to celebrate this year’s theme of Great British Groups.

“Hailing from York, Shed Seven released their debut album Change Giver in 1994, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. To honour the anniversary, Shed Seven have partnered with National Album Day to present a special tour celebrating 30 years of the record and to promote the art of the album format.

“Paul Banks, member of Shed Seven, says: ‘For Shed Seven, albums are a powerful medium – a journey that tells a story, like a book or film. This belief shapes our music, including our new LP, Liquid Gold.

‘To us, an album is more than a collection of songs; it’s a cohesive experience with a theme, mood, and intentional moments of tension and release. Every detail, even the silences, is deliberate and meaningful.

‘Making an album involves more than music; it’s a full artistic endeavour. We’re deeply involved in every element, from the songs to the cover art, which extends the album’s narrative. The album as a format deserves to be protected and cherished because it blends multiple artistic disciplines into one experience.

‘That’s why we support National Album Day on October 19th, which celebrates Great British Groups and highlights the importance of albums. As long as we make music, we’ll craft albums that tell stories and provide a full experience, like our latest, Liquid Gold. We hope you’ll join us on this journey.’

“Released earlier this year, Shed Seven’s album A Matter of Time marked two huge milestones for the band; becoming their first No.1 album, and making them the first ever band from York to have a #1 record on the Official Albums Chart.

On fire: Shed Seven top the charts for the first time with A Matter Of Time in January

“The album also out-sold the rest of the Top #10 physically combined (competing with heavy-hitters Lewis Capaldi, Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, and The Weeknd) in week one!”

Since its launch in 2018, National Album Day has been supported by a broad range of artists, such as Kylie Minogue, Joy Crookes, Sharleen Spiteri, Lewis Capaldi, Mark Ronson, La Roux, Elbow, Paloma Faith, Blossoms, Alice Cooper, Novelist, Tom Odell, Mahalia, Toyah Willcox and Jazzie B.

Last year Gabrielle, Declan McKenna, Tricky, Nuno Bettencourt, Shola Ama and The Corrs added their voices as passionate advocates of the album. 

National Album Day is organised jointly by the BPI – the UK association of record companies and independent labels (BRIT Awards and Mercury Prize) – and ERA, the digital entertainment and retail association (Record Store Day).

The event is supported by BBC Radio 2 and the breadth of BBC Sounds, radio, TV and online channels, and is backed by the wider recorded music community, taking in UK record labels, AIM, PPL and other trade associations, independent record stores and specialist chains, including HMV, and online retailers and digital/streaming services including Amazon, Spotify and YouTube.

The cover artwork for Change Giver, Shed Seven’s 1994 debut album on Polydor Records

THE Change Giver shows were scheduled to start with sold-out performances at Pryzm, Kingston, yesterday and today, hosted by Banquet Records, but Rick Witter’s sinus infection forced their postponement.

The Instagram statement from guitarist Paul Banks reads: “We’re absolutely heartbroken to let you know that we have to postpone this week’s shows at Kingston Pryzm due to Rick suffering from a sinus infection.

“He’s been gradually getting worse over the last few days, but he’s carried on and honoured the interviews he had as he didn’t want to let anybody down. However, it’s gotten so bad today [October 10] that, on doctor’s orders, we have no choice but to postpone the shows.

“Ticket holders, please check your email for more information. We’ll be in touch again a soon as the rescheduled dates are confirmed. Apologies for the very obvious disappointment.”   

Further sold-out performances, playing the album in full, are scheduled for HMV Empire, Coventry, tomorrow (12/10/2024); SWG3, Glasgow, hosted by Assai Records, on October 17; Academy 2, Manchester, hosted by Crash Records, October 18, and Leeds Beckett Student Union, hosted by Crash Records, on October 19. An update on Rick’s vocal health will be forthcoming.

Likewise, sold-out in-store appearances are booked for Assai Records, Edinburgh, at midday on October 16 and Glasgow HMV at 5pm the same day.

Meanwhile, Change Giver is being released on heavyweight vinyl for the first time since 1994 in a re-issue that faithfully replicates the original Polydor UK pressing.

Shed Seven’s Paul Banks and Rick Witter performing on the first of two sold-out nights at York Musem Gardens in July, promoted by the Futuresound Group. Picture: David Harrison

NOVEMBER 30th ANNIVERSARY HEADLINE TOUR

14th – Sheffield, Octagon (SOLD OUT)

15th – Cardiff, University – Great Hall (LOW TICKETS)

16th – Liverpool, University – Mountford Hall (SOLD OUT)

18th – Halifax, Victoria Theatre (LOW TICKETS)

19th – Hull, City Hall (LOW TICKETS)

21st – Aberdeen, Music Hall (SOLD OUT)

22nd – Glasgow, O2 Academy (SOLD OUT)

23rd – Edinburgh, O2 Academy (SOLD OUT)

25th – Leicester, O2 Academy (LOW TICKETS)

26th – Margate, Dreamland

28th – Bristol, O2 Academy (SOLD OUT)

29th – Newcastle, O2 City Hall (SOLD OUT)

30th – Leeds, O2 Academy (SOLD OUT)

Stairway to Shed Seven: Rick Witter, left, Tom Gladwin, Tim Wills, Paul Banks and Rob ‘Maxi’ Maxfield step up in 2024. Picture: Barnaby Fairley

DECEMBER – 30th ANNIVERSARY HEADLINE TOUR

2nd – Oxford, O2 Academy (SOLD OUT)

3rd – Lincoln, Engine Shed (LOW TICKETS)

5th – Stockton, Globe

6th – Manchester, O2 Victoria Warehouse (SOLD OUT)

7th – Birmingham, O2 Academy (SOLD OUT)

9th – Norwich, The Nick Rayns LCR, University of East Anglia (SOLD OUT)

10th – Cambridge, Corn Exchange (SOLD OUT)

12th – Bournemouth, O2 Academy (LOW TICKETS)

13th – Nottingham, Rock City (SOLD OUT)

14th – London, O2 Academy Brixton (SOLD OUT)

Very limited tickets for select shows are available via shedseven.com.

DECEMBER – RICK WITTER & PAUL BANKS INTIMATE ACOUSTIC SHOWS

21st – York, Huntington Working Men’s Club (SOLD OUT)

22nd – York, Huntington Working Men’s Club (SOLD OUT)

*Who were the George Mitchell Minstrels?

THEY were formed by Scottish singer George Mitchell OBE, who devised the long-running Black And White Minstrel Show.

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More Things To Do in York and beyond as new beetle invasion blazes a trail. Here’s Hutch’s List No. 32, from The Press, York

The Delma Tomlin sculpture in the York Trailblazers trail of tansy beetle artworks

TRAILBLAZERS in beetle form, Georgian festivities, colliery band dramas, and riverside art take Charles Hutchinson in different directions in the week ahead.

Trail of the week: York Trailblazers, around York city centre, August 1 to September 30

FACT of the day: the river Ouse has the largest population of tansy beetles in the United Kingdom. Now sculptures of these insects form a new trail, York Trailblazers, a celebration of York’s unsung heroes mounted by York Civic Trust and Make It York with National Lottery Heritage Fund support.

Nominated by the public and community groups, the Trailblazers project highlights remarkable individuals who have made a difference to people’s lives either locally or globally. 

Author Terry Deary: Introducing his new novel at the York Georgian Festival this evening

Festival of the week: York Georgian Festival, today to Sunday

THE second York Georgian Festival opens tomorrow, when Horrible Histories author Terry Deary’s 6pm showcase of his new novel, A History Of Britain In Ten Enemies, will be an early highlight. 

Tours, talks and fascinating hidden Georgian gems will be at the heart of the festival. The first York Georgian Ball will be held at the Grand Assembly Rooms (now home to the ASK Italian restaurant) on Saturday at 7pm. Look out for Mad Alice’s Rogues Gallery Tour around the city at 4pm on Saturday and Sunday. For the full programme and tickets, head to: yorkgeorgianfestival.co.uk.

Brass band blues: A scene from Brassed Off at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough

Play of the week outside York: Brassed Off, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, tomorrow (2/8/2024) to August 31 

ADAPTED for the stage by Paul Allen from the 1996 screenplay by York filmmaker Mark Herman, Brassed Off takes to the stage in a co-production by Keswick’s Theatre by the Lake, Scarborough’s Stephen Joseph Theatre and Bolton’s Octagon Theatre, directed by Liz Stevenson.

The setting is 1994, ten years after the miners’ strike, when the tight-knit mining community of Grimley, Yorkshire, is fighting to keep the colliery open. Once the uncertainty around the pit’s future becomes too much for the pit band members, loyalty is tested, pressure mounts and the community begins to break apart. Can the band find a way to play on? Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.

Yard Act: Leeds art rock band play in their backyard on Saturday. Picture: Phoebe Fox

Leeds gig of the week: Yard Act, Here’s Our Utopia, Leeds Millennium Square, August 3, doors 6pm; 10.30pm finish

LEEDS art rock band Yard Act play their biggest gig yet on home turf at Leeds Millennium Square this weekend in the wake of the March release of second album Where’s My Utopia?.

Co-produced by James Smith’s indie quartet and Gorillaz member Remi Kabaka Jr, the album peaked at number four, following the number two success and Mercury Prize shortlisting of 2022 debut The Overload. Support acts will be English Teacher, Fat Dog and Ultimate Thunder. Box office: 0113 376 0318 or millsqleeds.com/whatson-event/yard-act/.

Laura Joy’s poster design for the 2024 York River Art Market weekends. She will be participating in all six days. Check out her work at laurajoydesign.co.uk

York’s answer to the Left Bank in Paris: York River Art Market, August 3 and 4; August 10 and 10; August 17 and 18, 10am to 5pm

ORGANISED by jewellery designer and York College art tutor Charlotte Dawson, York River Art Market returns to the riverbank at Dame Judi Dench Walk for a ninth summer season from this weekend.

Up to 30 artists and makers per day will be exhibiting ceramics, jewellery, paintings, prints, photographs, clothing, candles, T-shirts, shaving products and more. “We care that each of the six events are never the same, so we host a different variety of creatives at each one,” says Charlotte. Admission is free.

Richard Hudson’s Unwind: On show at Thirsk Hall Sculpture Garden. Picture: Celestine Dubruel

Exhibition of the week: Thirsk Hall Sculpture Garden, Kirkgate, Thirsk, open Wednesdays to Saturdays, 11am to 5pm, last entry 4pm

THIRSK Hall Sculpture Garden showcases modern and contemporary sculptures in 20 acres of walled gardens and parkland at the grade II-listed town house, complemented by artwork in Gallery One and The Orangery.

Artists on show include Farnoush Amini, Kenneth Armitage, Tere Chad, Tim Ellis, Laura Ford, Richard Hudson, Jeff Lowe, Gerald Laing, Michael Lyons, Trory Menage, Zak Ové, Tim Pomeroy, William Tucker, Austin Wright and Emily Young. To find out more about the 2024 exhibition, visit willoughnygerrish.com. Tickets: thirskhall.com/sculpture-garden.

Chris Hagyard, pictured in Guys And Dolls mode, will sing in Bev Jones Music Company’s One Night Of Broadway Hits

Musical revue of the week: Steve Coates and Bev Jones Music Company present One Night Of Broadway Hits, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, August 3, 2.30pm and 7.30pm

BEV Jones Music Company performs hits from 26 musicals, including Guys And Dolls, in an unashamedly traditional fashion under the musical direction of James Rodgers.

His band is joined in this moving, lively and at times funny show by vocalists Chris Hagyard, Annabel Van Griethuysen, Anthony Pengelly, Ruth McNeil, Sally Lewis, Stephen Wilson, Geoff Walker and producer Lesley Jones, back on stage for this show, wearing a silver cat suit unseen since 2010, when she played Vera in Stepping Out. Box office: 01904 501395 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Hurry up Harry: The Three Inch Fools cast for The Secret Diary Of Henry VIII at Helmsley Walled Garden

Ryedale play of the week: The Three Inch Fools in The Secret Diary Of Henry VIII, Helmsley Walled Garden, August 6, 7pm; gates 6pm

THE Three Inch Fools, founded by the Cumbrian Hyde brothers, producer James and writer, composer and director Stephen, present an essential guide on how to keep your head in the Tudor Court in a new comical take on Henry VIII and his six-pack of infamous wives.

Unexpectedly thrust into the limelight, Henry must navigate the ups and downs of courtly life, all while fighting the French yet again and re-writing religious doctrine. Bring chairs, blankets, picnics, but not umbrellas. Park in the Cleveland Way car park. Box office: 01439 771700, helmsleyarts.co.uk or threeinchfools.com.

Korn-ucopia of heavy metal hits at Scarborough Open Air Theatre on August 8

Coastal gig of the week: Korn, Scarborough Open Air Theatre, August 8, gates 6pm

FORMED in California in 1993, Korn continue to push the limits of alt. rock and heavy metal after 40 million album sales, two Grammy awards and countless tours. Expect to hear such anthems as Blind, Falling Away From Me, Here To Stay, Freak On A Leash, Twisted Transistor, Make Me Bad and Did My Time as their European tour arrives in Yorkshire. Support acts will be Wargasm and Loathe. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com/korn.

Riley Catherall: Playing Pig & Pastry, York, on a tour that takes the Australian singer-songwriter to Nayland, Kirton in Lindsay, High Wycombe and Stockholm, Uddevalla and Oland in Sweden

Introducing: Riley Catherall, Pig & Pastry, Bishopthorpe Road, York, August 8. Doors: 7.30pm for 8pm start

MELBOURNE singer-songwriter Riley Catherall’s graceful trajectory into the Australian alt-country world has not gone unnoticed. So much so that he will be playing in York on Thursday, promising songs of poetic sincerity from his June 14 sophomore album The Light, The Beautiful Liar and his 2021 debut When I Go, a record focused on leaving, losing love and finding somewhere to settle down. Box office: wegottickets.com/event/624233/.

Anastacia: Playing York Barbican next May on her Not That Kind 25th Anniversary Tour

Gig announcement of the week: Anastacia, Not That Kind 25th Anniversary Tour, York Barbican, May 4 2025

CHICAGO singer-songwriter Anastacia will play York Barbican as the only Yorkshire concert of the 13-date British and Irish leg of her Not That Kind tour next year, marking the 25th anniversary of her debut album.

“I didn’t get to do a tour for my first album, which makes this all the more special,” says Anastacia. “I can’t believe it’s been 25 years since Not That Kind; we will be sure to celebrate in true Anastacia style. It’ll be one big anniversary party. I can’t wait to see you all there !” Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/anastacia-2025/.

In Focus: The Magpies Festival, Sutton Park, near York, August 9 and 10

Actress, vocalist and accordion player Natalia Tena fronts Molotov Jukebox at The Magpies Festival, backed by Balkan fiddle, Latin trumpet and a pounding rhythm section, on Friday

RUN by transatlantic folk band The Magpies, The Magpies Festival is rooted in the trio’s native Yorkshire, where they first met. Now in its fourth year, the 2024 event will be headlined on Friday on the main stage by bi-lingual six-piece Molotov Jukebox at 10pm, preceded by Chris While & Julie Matthews, 6pm, and Jim Moray, 8pm.

Friday’s Brass Castle Stage bill features Em Risley, 5pm; Taff Rapids Stringband, 7pm; The Turbans, 9pm, and Easingwold musician Gary Stewart’s Graceland, 11pm.

Saturday’s main stage bill will be topped by Sam Kelly & The Lost Boys at 10pm, preceded by Charm Of Finches, 12 noon, The Often Herd, 2pm, Jesca Hoop, 4pm, The Magpies, 6pm, and Nati (formerly known as Nati Dreddd), 8pm. Saturday’s Brass Castle Stage line-up comprises Painted Sky, 1pm; Suntou Susso, 3pm; Northern Resonance, 5pm; Awkward Family Portraits, 7pm, and Marvara, 9pm.

Festival organisers The Magpies

The all-female The Magpies – Bella Gaffney (singer, songwriter, guitarist and banjo player), fellow founder Holly Brandon (fiddle player and tunesmith) and Ellie Gowers (guitarist, singer and songwriter) – are set on championing gender equality in the music industry, achieving gender parity in both line-up and staff, as well as providing a safe and comfortable environment for female musicians and festival goers.

Festival director Holly Brandon says: “We are so excited to put on The Magpies Festival. We’ve been over the moon at the response to the festival, from the incredible performances from world-class folk musicians to the high-energy spirit that our attendees brought along. It’s felt like a whole new feel to a folk festival.”

Box office: themagpiesfestival.co.uk/tickets.

Sam Kellly & The Lost Boys: To be found at The Magpies Festival at Sutton Park on Saturday
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Shed Seven launch new album A Matter Of Time in meet & greet session at HMV York

Shed Seven band members Paul Banks, left, Tim Wills, Rob ‘Maxi’ Maxfield, Rick Witter and Tom Gladwin at today’s meet & greet and signing session upstairs at HMV York

LET’S go. Shed Seven launched their 30th anniversary celebrations today with the release of sixth studio album A Matter Of Time, an accompanying video for opening track Let’s Go and an hour-long late-afternoon meet & greet, photo opportunity and signing session at HMV York.

Earlier in the day, the York band played in stripped-back mode at The Vinyl Whistle, in Headingley, Leeds, signing copies there too.

Released on their new home of Cooking Vinyl, A Matter Of Time has achieved a “phenomenal” amount of pre-orders, resulting in all copies of the live edition, Blood Records vinyl and all test pressings selling out months in advance.

The Sheds are marking the album’s release with a ten-date record store tour as A Matter Of Time looks set to become their highest-charting album ever: a record held by their 1999 compilation, Going For Gold: Greatest Hits, which peaked at number seven.

The campaign to take the Sheds to a maximum chart high has been bolstered by today’s announcement of a new Digital Deluxe edition of the new album that adds a re-recorded version of their September 1994 debut album, Change Giver, now retitled Changed Giver, available at store.shedseven.com.

“Let’s Go is the Sheds’ inner rock animal rearing its head and showing its teeth,” says Rick Witter

“2024 marks the 30th anniversary of our debut album,” says the Sheds’ website. “’To mark the occasion, we’ve taken a trip down memory lane and revisited the entire album in recording sessions at Reel Studios in Elvington, giving it a stripped-back, unplugged vibe that we think sounds amazing.

“We’ve poured our hearts into re-recording these songs, rediscovering the magic of the songs that started it all. It’s been a fantastic journey, and we’ve fallen in love with them all over again.”

Physical formatsof A Matter Of Time can bought at shedsevenn.lnk.to/AMOTPR, available as signed copies, vinyl and cassette editions in various colours, a regular CD and a deluxe edition with three extra tracks, Watch Out World, Feels Like Heaven and Starlings (demo).

The video for the raucous, punk-tinged rock’n’roller Let’s Go captures incendiary footage from July 15’s sold-out 6000-capacity headline show at Leeds Millennium Square last summer.

Hot news: The cover artwork for Shed Seven’s new album, A Matter Of Time, out today

Frontman Rick Witter, 51, says: “Let’s Go was always intended to be the grand opener to the album. It shows a statement of intent. It’s the Sheds’ inner rock animal rearing its head and showing its teeth. It’s an invite for us all to hold hands and travel the globe. It’s tight, frenetic and a potential punch in the gut. Let’s go!”

A Matter Of Time features Sheds stalwarts Witter on vocals, Paul Banks on guitar and Tom Gladwin on bass, joined by 2022 recruits Rob ‘Maxi’ Maxfield, from Audioweb, on drums and Tim Wills, from Ian Brown’s band, on keys.

The recording sessions in Spain reunited the Sheds with Youth, the Grammy Award-winning producer of their 2017 comeback album Instant Pleasures, and mixing was by Cenzo Townshend, whose credits include Florence + The Machine and Inhaler.

The singles In Ecstasy (featuring Happy Mondays’ Rowetta), Starlings, F:K:H and Talk Of The Town were introduced to a rapturous reception on last autumn’s headline tour. Further tracks include the sky-scraping melancholia of Let’s Go Dancing, the dreamy folk-rock of Tripping On You, complete with backing vocals from Reverend & The Makers’ Laura McClure and the buoyant, vintage Britpop vibes of Ring The Changes.

The curtain comes down with a special collaboration with long-term Shed Seven fan Peter Doherty, who contributes vocal harmonies to Throwaways.

The artwork for Changed Giver, Shed Seven’s re-recording of 1994 debut album Change Giver, available to download with the digital edition of A Matter Of Time

This month’s Stripped Back, Signing and Meet & Greet record store tour will take the Sheds to London, Southampton, Brighton, Bristol, Birmingham, Leamington Spa, Nottingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow and back to London.

They will end the month with a series of sold-out album release shows at Pryzm, Kingston upon Thames, on January 25; HMV Empire, Coventry, on January 26 and Project House, Armley Road, Leeds, on January 27 at 7pm, promoted by Leeds record store Crash Records. Each night, the Sheds will play A Matter Of Time in its entirety – for the only time, exclusive to these gigs – plus a greatest hits set.  

This summer’s special 30th anniversary concerts at York Museum Gardens on July 19 and 20 have sold out too. Peter Doherty will be the guest act on both nights. “We discussed adding a third night but thought selling out two so quickly was a good look – and we’re going to announce a big Shedcember tour sometime soon,” says Rick. “We’re conscious of overkill, even though I’m sure a third night would have gone pretty quick.”

Look out too for Shed Seven’s appearance at Blossoms’ Big Bank Holiday Weekend at Wythenshawe Park, Manchester, on August 25. Box office: ticketmaster.co.uk/blossoms-tickets.

Expect further 30th anniversary plans to be announced in the near future. Watch this space.

“We’re going to announce a big Shedcember tour sometime soon,” says Shed Seven’s Rick Witter. Picture: Barnaby Fairley
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Only a matter of time now before Shed Seven’s new album arrives, launched with in-store appearances and special shows

Shed Seven in 2023: Rick Witter, left, Rob ‘Maxi’ Maxfield, Tim Willis, Paul Banks and Tom Gladwin

SHED Seven release their fourth single off upcoming album A Matter Of Time this week as their autumn tour rolls on with a climactic week of sold-out shows.

Starlings joins Kissing California, F:K:H and In Ecstasy – featuring Happy Mondays’ backing singer Rowetta – in previewing the York band’s January 5 2024 sixth studio set on their new home of Cooking Vinyl.

Building up melancholic layers of piano, strings, dramatic beats and swooping vocal harmonies into a slow-burning finale, frontman Rick Witter’s lyrics offer the hope that perhaps not all goodbyes are forever [as proven by the Sheds’ return to the concert platform in 2007 after splitting in 2003!].

“Starlings showcases the album with a different kind of emotion,” says Rick. “It’s a love letter to a departed partner. I had an idea about a couple who have been together since forever, only for one of them to pass away, and the remaining partner is basically treading water until the time comes where they can be reunited for eternity in the ether.

“Some may say it’s dark subject matter, but I find it also pretty uplifting and is more of a common thing than one might think. The beautiful strings and piano add everything that is needed for such a heartfelt song. It’s nostalgic and reflective but has a feeling of evermore too.”

Yorkshire is missing out on the Sheds’ eight-date “Shoctober” autumn itinerary – originally timed to coincide with a September release date for the album that was subsequently put back – but they did play a 6,000-capacity Sounds Of The City 2023 gig at Millennium Square, Leeds, in July that sold out in a day.

What’s more, hush-hush plans are being made for celebrations of their 30th anniversary in 2024 in home city York. Watch this space; announcements are expected very soon.

Before then, the Sheds will embark on a run of in-store appearances next January to promote A Matter Of Time with a mix of intimate, stripped-back performances and meet-and-greet/signing sessions. Such has been the ticket demand that the schedule has expanded to encompass 16 sessions in ten days.

Among them will be Vinyl Whistle, in Otley Road, Headingley, Leeds on January 5 at 12 noon (sold out) and the HMV store, in Coney Street, York, on January 5 at 4.30pm (tickets: shedsevenn.lnk.to/instores).

Three special album launch shows for A Matter Of Time sold out in a matter of minutes in Kingston upon Thames (January 25), Coventry (January 26) and closest to home, Project House, in Armley Road, Leeds, hosted by Crash Records on January 27. Each will feature two sets: A Matter Of Time, played in its entirety for the first and only time (well, three times), followed the Sheds’ greatest hits.

Meanwhile, album pre-orders have seen all test pressings and all copies of Blood Records’ hand-numbered vinyl rapidly sell out already.

Hot off the presses: Shed Seven’s album cover artwork for A Matter Of Time

The usual Shed three of Witter, guitarist Paul Banks and bassist Tom Gladwin recorded the album in Spain with new recruits Rob ‘Maxi’ Maxfield, from Audioweb, on drums and Ian Brown band member Tim Willis on keys, replacing founder members Joe Johnson and Alan Leach, who left after the 2021 summer festival season.

As with November’s 2017’s Instant Pleasures, the sessions were produced by Youth – famed for his work with Pink Floyd, Paul McCartney, The Orb and The Verve – at his residential El Mirador Studios in Andalucia, southern Spain.

Maxfield and Willis had first joined for the Sheds’ rearranged “Covid tour” dates in 2021, whipping 20 songs into shape at ten weeks’ notice. “They’re amazing, very professional musicians, who’ve brought a new kind of vibe to the band, but it’s still very much Shed Seven, with the spirit of the band rising high,” says Rick.

“It’s given us a kick up the backside, and that’s proven by me and Paul beginning to write the album seriously in March 2022 and finishing the songs by December, the quickest since we wrote A Maximum High in 1995. We must have hit a rich purple patch; pretty much everything that came out of us was good.”

For A Matter Of Time, the Sheds reconnected with the classic albums that first inspired them to form a band in York in 1990: The Smiths, R.E.M., U2, Simple Minds, The Cure, even Duran Duran.

As Paul Banks puts it, the songs are a heartfelt homage to those cherished times, while embodying the essence of rebirth, leading to three titles out of 12 featuring “Let’s Go”.

“This record is Shed Seven but with a new edge,” says Rick. “This is more the next rung on the ladder after Instant Pleasures. It just feels better and more grown up.”

Listen out for special guest contributions, not only from Happy Mondays back singer Rowetta’s fervent gospel vocals on In Ecstasy and Reverend And The Makers’ Laura McClure on the folk-pop Tripping With You, but also The Libertines’ Peter Doherty duetting with Witter on the dramatic closer Throwaways.

“We played Bingley Festival a couple of summers ago when The Libertines were headlining the main stage, and as we played, there was Peter at the side of the stage, singing along to all our songs,” recalls Rick.

“When I met him afterwards, he said he used to sit on his bed learning our guitar parts, so I said, ‘would you sing on our new album?’.”

Doherty duly recorded his vocals for Throwaways remotely at Margate. “He did some harmonising and ad-libbing,” says Rick. “It’s a song about outsiders. We’ve always been outsiders, and The Libertines have that about them too.”

A Matter Of Time can be pre-ordered or pre-saved at https://shedsevenn.lnk.to/AMOTPR.

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More Things To Do in York and beyond when Connecting with culture. Here Hutch’s List No. 29 for 2023, from The Press

Shed Seven, 2023: Vocalist Rick Witter, left, guitarist Paul Banks, second from right, and bassist Tom Gladwin,right, are joined by drummer Rob ‘Maxi’ Maxfield and keyboardist Tim Willis at Millennium Square,Leeds, tonight. Picture: Barnaby Fairley

GOING for gold, whether with the Sheds or down at the maze, Charles Hutchinson heads outdoors but is drawn back indoors too.

Outdoor gig of the weekend: Shed Seven, Sounds In The City 2023, Millennium Square, Leeds, today, from 6pm

FRESH from announcing next January’s release of their sixth studio album, A Matter Of Time, York’s Shed Seven head to Leeds city centre for a sold-out, 6,00-capacity Millennium Square show.

Performing alongside regular vocalist Rick Witter, guitarist Paul Banks and bassist Tom Gladwin will be Tim Willis on keyboards and Rob ‘Maxi’ Maxfield on drums. Support slots go to fellow Britpop veterans Cast and rising York band Skylights.

Be amazed: York Maze reopens for a new season today

Opening of the weekend: York Maze, Elvington Lane, Elvington, near York, today until September 4

THE Cobsleigh Run race and Crowmania ride are among the new attractions when York Maze opens for its 21st season today with a new show marquee too – and the giant image of Tutankhamun cut by farmer Tom Pearcy into a 15-acre field of maize.

Created from one million living, growing maize plants, Britain’s largest maze has more than 20 rides, attractions and shows for a fun-filled family day out. Where else would you find a Corntroller of Entertainment, corny pun intended? Step forward Josh Benson, York magician, pantomime star and, yes, corntroller. Tickets: 01904 608000 or yorkmaze.com.

Gary Stewart: Celebrating the songs of Paul Simon at Helmsley Arts Centre

Show title of the week: Gary Stewart, The Only Living Boy In (New) York – An Evening of Paul Simon Songs, Helmsley Arts Centre, tonight, 7.30pm

GARY Stewart, singer, songwriter, guitarist, Hope & Social drummer and programmer for At The Mill’s folk bills, turns the spotlight on the songs of New Yorker Paul Simon, his chief folk/pop influence.

Born in Perthshire, Stewart cut his Yorkshire teeth on the Leeds music scene for 15 years before moving to York (and now Easingwold, to be precise). He is sometimes to be found fronting his Graceland show, another vessel for Paul Simon songs. Tonight, his focus is on The Boxer, Mrs Robinson, Me & Julio Down By The Schoolyard, Kodachrome et al.  Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

The Young’uns: Playing Ryedale Festival on July 20 at 7pm at the Milton Rooms, Malton. Picture: Pamela Raith

Festival of the week outside York: Ryedale Festival, running until July 30

DIRECTED once more by Christopher Glynn, Ryedale Festival returns with 55 concerts, celebrating everything from Tchaikovsky to troubadours in beautiful North Yorkshire locations. Artists in residence include Anna Lapwood, Nicky Spence, Korean violinist Bomsori Kim and pianist Mishka Rushdie Momen.

Taking part too will be Boris Giltburg, the Dudok Quartet, Jess Gillam, Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective, guitarist Plínio Fernandes,trumpeter Aaron Akugbo, pianist George Xiaoyuan Fu, the National Youth Choir of Scotland, jazz singer Clare Teal and north eastern folk musicians The Young’uns, among others. For the full programme and tickets, go to: reydalefestival.com.

Mark Thomas: Performing one-man play England And Son at Selby Town Hall on Sunday. Picture: Tony Pletts

Work in Progress of the week: Mark Thomas in England And Son, Selby Town Hall, Sunday, 7.30pm

POLITICAL comedian Mark Thomas stars in this one-man play, set when The Great Devouring comes home: the first he has performed not written by the polemicist himself but by award-winning playwright Ed Edwards.

Directed by Cressida Brown, England And Son has emerged from characters Thomas knew in his childhood and from Edwards’s lived experience in jail. Promising deep, dark laughs and deep, dark love, Thomas undertakes a kaleidoscopic odyssey where disaster capitalism, Thatcherite politics and stolen wealth merge into the simple tale of a working-class boy who just wants his dad to smile at him. Box office: 01757 708449 or selbytownhall.co.uk.

Bee Scott: Presenting her queer sci-fi interactive travelogue If You Find This at Connect Festival on Thursday

Festival of the week in York: Four Wheel Drive presents Connect Festival, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Wednesday to Sunday

FOUR Wheel Drive’s Connect Festival opens with Women’s Voices on Wednesday, staging two new shows, Giorgia Test’s Behind My Scars and Rhia Burston’s Woebegone. Thursday’s Non-Linear Narratives features Bee Scott’s queer sci-fi interactive travelogue If You Find This and Natasha Stanic Mann’s immersive insight into hidden consequences of war, The Return.

Friday’s Comedy and Burlesque bill presents Joe Maddalena in Gianluca Scatto and Maddalena’s dark comedy about male mental health, Self Help, Aidan Loft’s night-train drama On The Rail and A Night With York’s Stars burlesque show, fronted by Freida Nipples. More details next weekend. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Four Forty Theatre’s cast for the Macbeth and Romeo & Juliet comedy doube bill: Amy Roberts, Luke Thornton, Dom Gee-Burch and Amy Merivale

Unhinged comedy of the week: Four Forty Theatre in Macbeth and Romeo & Juliet, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, Thursday, 7.30pm

MACBETH in 40 minutes? Romeo & Juliet in 40 minutes? Both shows performed by only four actors on one raucous night? Yes, welcome back Four Forty Theatre, returning to the JoRo with a brace of Shakespeare’s tragedies transformed into an outrageous, flat-out comedy double bill.

In the line-up will be actress and primary school teacher Alice Merivale; Liverpool actress, musician, director, vocal coach and piano teacher Amy Roberts; company debutant actor-musician Luke Thornton and company director and pantomime dame Dom Gee-Burch. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

The poster for Legend – The Music Of Bob Marley

Tribute show of the week: Legend – The Music of Bob Marley, York Barbican, Thursday, 7.30pm

LEGEND celebrates the reggae music of Jamaican icon Bob Marley in a two-hour Rasta spectacular. “Don’t worry about a thing, ’cause every little thing is gonna be alright” when the cast re-creates No Woman No Cry,  Could You Be Loved, Is This Love, One Love, Three Little Birds, Jammin’, Buffalo Soldier, Get Up Stand Up and I Shot The Sheriff. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Jorgie Willingham’s Referee and Jim Carnall’s boxer Paul Stokes in rehearsal for The Sweet Science Of Bruising at York Theatre Royal. Picture: James Harvey

Knock-out show of the week: York College BA (Hons) Acting for Stage and Screen Graduating Students in The Sweet Science Of Bruising, York Theatre Royal, Thursday and Friday, 7.30pm

JOY Wilkinson’s The Sweet Science Of Bruising is an epic tale of passion, politics and pugilism in the world of 19th-century women’s boxing, staged by York College students.

In London, 1869, four very different Victorian women are drawn into the dark underground of female boxing by the eccentric Professor Sharp. Controlled by men and constrained by corsets, each finds an unexpected freedom in the boxing ring as they fight inequality as well as each other. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

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Shed Seven head for Leeds Millennium Square this weekend with new album A Matter Of Time confirmed for next January

Shed Seven 2023: Regulars Rick Witter, left, Paul Banks, second from right, and Tom Gladwin, right, with new additions Rob ‘Maxi’ Maxfield and Tim Willis. Picture: Barnaby Fairley

SHED Seven will mark their 30th anniversary by releasing their first album in more than six years, A Matter Of Time, on new home Cooking Vinyl on January 12 2024.

Look out for special guest contributions from The Libertines’ Peter Doherty, Happy Mondays’ backing singer Rowetta and Reverend And The Makers’ Laura McClure.  

The announcement coincides with today’s release of lead single Kissing California, their first new material since November 2017’s fifth studio album, Instant Pleasures, on BMG. Their first too since guitarist/keyboardist Joe Johnson and drummer Alan Leach left the York band after the 2021 summer festival season.

The remaining Shed three, vocalist Rick Witter, guitarist Paul Banks and bassist Tom Gladwin, have since been joined by keyboardist Tim Willis, from Ian Brown’s band, and Audioweb/Ian Brown drummer Rob ‘Maxi’ Maxfield for their live engagements, and they now play on the new album too.

This also will be the line-up for the Sheds’ Sounds Of The City 2023 outdoor gig at Millennium Square, Leeds, on Saturday, when Cast and York combo Skylights will be on the 6pm bill too, and for an eight-date headline tour (with no Yorkshire shows, alas) in October.

For A Matter Of Time, the Sheds reconnected with the classic albums that first inspired them to form a band in York in 1990. The resulting record “sparkles with the liberated exuberance and full-throttle rock’n’roll attitude of a group who are making music for the sheer joy of expressing themselves and performing together”. Three songs out of 12 featuring “Let’s Go” in the title would testify to that!

Sheds’ publicist Simon Blackmore, of Black Arts PR, reports: “While the album broadens the Shed Seven sonic palette a touch, it’s full of the towering, arms-in-the-air anthems and yearning melancholia that fans have come to love them for.”

Shed Seven line-up, 2007-2021: from left, Tom Gladwin, Joe Johnson, Rick Witter, Alan Leach and Paul Banks

As with Instant Pleasures, the album was produced by the Grammy Award-winning Youth – famed for his work with Pink Floyd, Paul McCartney, The Orb, Killing Joke and The Verve – at his residential El Mirador Studios in Andalucia, southern Spain, before being completed by leading mixer Cenzo Townshend (Florence + The Machine, Inhaler).

Paul Banks says: “For this album, we took a nostalgic journey back to our roots, immersing ourselves in the records and sounds that ignited our passion for songwriting at the tender age of 12.

“The influences of bands like The Smiths, R.E.M., U2, Simple Minds, The Cure and Duran Duran permeate every note, making it a heartfelt homage to those cherished times. It embodies the essence of rebirth, empowering individuals to embrace their true selves without inhibition.

“With utmost conviction, we declare this as the pinnacle of our musical endeavours: the record we’ve always yearned to create.”

Lead single Kissing California is billed as “instantly addictive, with chiming guitars, sun-scorched melodies and charismatic vocals all contributing to its life-affirming positivity”.  

Rick Witter asserts: “Kissing California is Shed Seven’s summer anthem. It’s essentially a celebration of being alive and grabbing the opportunity to paint the town red with someone special and have the best of times. It’s the medicine we all need sometimes.”

Elsewhere, A Matter Of Time flows from adrenalised punky power-pop right through to epic slow-burners, further bolstered by Rowetta contributing fervent gospel vocals to In Ecstasy, Laura McClure singing on the folk-pop Tripping With You and Peter Doherty duetting with Witter on the dramatic closer Throwaways.

The poster for Shed Seven’s sold-out outdoor show at Millennium Square, Leeds, on Saturday

A Matter Of Time can be pre-ordered or pre-saved at https://shedsevenn.lnk.to/AMOTPR. A wide range of physical formats is available with exclusives for Amazon, Assai Records, HMV and selected indie stores. A special bonus A Matter Of Time: Deep Cuts CD is available only with bundles purchased from the Sheds’ official store, with options including a signed digipak CD, a signed dolphin-coloured vinyl and a dual pink/green cassette.

Shed-heads who pre-order A Matter Of Time from the official store will receive access to a pre-sale for tickets for this autumn’s UK tour. The pre-sale will open at 9.30am on Wednesday, July 19 and will remain live until any remaining tickets go on general sale at 9.30am on Friday, July 21.

Those autumn dates will be: October 19, The Tramshed, Cardiff; October 20, London O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire; October 21, Rock City, Nottingham; October 23, Victoria Hall, Stoke-on-Trent; October 24, Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton; October 26, The Barrowlands Ballroom, Glasgow; October 27, Middlesbrough Town Hall, and October 28, Albert Hall, Manchester.

Before then come this weekend’s sold-out, 6,000-capacity gig at Millennium Square, Leeds, and a headline set at Party At The Palace, Linlithgow, Scotland, on August 12.

Shed Seven emerged as one of the big hitters during the heyday of Britpop, their catalogue of singles taking in 15 Top 40 hits from 1994’s Dolphin to 2003’sWhy Can’t I Be You?. Seven made the Top 20: 1995’s Getting Better and Going For Gold (a maximum high of number eight); 1996’s On Standby, Chasing Rainbows and She Left Me On Friday; 1998’s The Heroes and 1999’s Disco Down.

This was complemented by the albums Change Giver (1994), A Maximum High (1996), Let It Ride (1998), Going For Gold: The Greatest Hits (1999) and Truth Be Told (2001).

Their popularity has risen anew since reforming in 2007, notably with 2017’s Instant Pleasures album debuting at number eight, their highest-charting record in 18 years. Sold-out shows have included Leeds First Direct Arena, the Brixton O2 Academy, London, and Manchester’s O2 Victoria Warehouse, while their June 2018 open-air concert at Castlefield Bowl, Manchester, drew a crowd of 8,000.   

Hot off the presses: The artwork for Shed Seven’s sixth studio album, A Matter Of Time, released next January

A Matter Of Time: album track listing

1.Let’s Go

2. Kissing California

3. Talk Of The Town

4. Let’s Go Dancing

5. In Ecstasy (featuring Rowetta)

6. Tripping With You (feat. Laura McClure)

7. Let’s Go (Again)

8. Real Love

9. F:K:H

10. Ring The Changes

11. Starlings

12. Throwaways (feat. Peter Doherty)

Just to clarify

SHED Seven were formed in 1990 by Rick Witter (vocals), Joe Johnson (guitar/keyboards), Tom Gladwin (bass) and Alan Leach (drums). Next year’s 30th anniversary celebrations mark the 1994 release of debut double A-side Mark/Casino Girl and debut album Change Giver.

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Shed Seven to play ‘gig of the Millennium’ in Leeds city centre next summer with Cast and Skylights. When do tickets go on sale?

The poster for next summer’s Shed Seven invasion of Leeds Millennium Square

YORK heroes Shed Seven will take over Leeds Millennium Square on July 15 in an exclusive open-air Yorkshire show next summer.

Joining them on Sounds Of The City 2023’s 6pm to 10.30pm bill will be Britpop cohorts Cast, John Power’s Liverpool indie rock combo, and fellow terrace-anthem York group Skylights.

“This is a HUGE show for us, and we hope the Shed Seven family will make the pilgrimage to Leeds and join us on what’s sure to be a special night,” say The Sheds, who played to a 10,000 crowd at Leeds First Direct Arena in December 2019. 

All tickets for this standing-only outdoor triple bill with a 6,000 capacity are priced at £35 (£38.50 with booking fee) and go on sale tomorrow (18/11/2022) at 9am at millsqleeds.com/whatson-event/shed-seven-sounds-of-the-city/

Shed Seven’s Paul Banks and Rick Witter

UPDATE 19/11/2022

GONE in a flash. All tickets have been snapped up within a day for Shed Seven’s Leeds Millennium Square gig.

The Sheds took to Twitter today to say: “SOLD OUT. A massive heartfelt thank you to everyone who bought tickets for our Leeds Millennium Square show yesterday. We can’t wait for this show, 6,000 people singing along with us in the sunshineeeeee …. Old and new tunes… maybe some special guests too! Love the Sheds x”

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More Things To Do in York and beyond on not only Bob Dylan’s rough and rowdy days. List No. 91, courtesy of The Press, York

NE Musicals York cast members climb aboard a City Sightseeing bus to publicise their upcoming production of Priscilla Queen Of The Desert

AS Madness and Sugababes canter up to York Racecourse, Charles Hutchinson picks his favourites from the upcoming entertainment runners and riders  

Musical of the week: NE Musicals York in Priscilla Queen Of The Desert, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, July 20 to 24, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday and Sunday matinees

CREATIVE director Steve Tearle’s cast of 30 features Finley Butler, Tom Henshaw and Tearle himself as three drag queens who take an epic journey from Sydney to Alice Springs across the Australian outback in their bus Priscilla.

“The journey is full of drama and dance routines but also so many laugh-out-loud moments,” says Tearle. “There’ll be costumes – 300 in total – that have never been seen before in York and the star of the show, the bus, will take your breath away.”  Box office: 01904 501935 or at josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

John Cale: Rearranging his gig date at York Barbican

Underground movement of the week: John Cale, York Barbican, from July 19 to October 24, 8pm

VELVET Underground icon John Cale, now 80, is moving his first British itinerary in a decade to the autumn. Tickets for Tuesday – the only Yorkshire gig of his seven-date tour – remain valid for the new date in October.

The Welsh multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer will be performing songs from a pioneering six-decade career that began in classical and avant-garde music before he formed The Velvet Underground with Lou Reed in New York in 1965. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Bob Dylan’s poster for his Rough And Rowdy Ways World Wide Tour, visiting Hull Bonus Arena

Gig announcement of the week: Bob Dylan, Hull Bonus Arena, October 27

BOB Dylan will play Hull Bonus Arena as the only Yorkshire gig of his Rough And Rowdy Ways World Wide Tour 2021-2024 this autumn.

The Nobel Prize-winning American singer, songwriter and cultural icon last visited Britain in 2017 on his Never Ending Tour. This time the focus will be on his 39th studio album, June 2020’s chart-topping Rough And Rowdy Ways, his first set of original songs since 2012’s Tempest. Box office: hurry, hurry, to ticketmaster.co.uk.

Resting up: Tears For Fears’ Scarborough concert is cancelled due to Curt Smith’s rib injury

One on, one off, tonight: cheers for Richard Ashcroft, Sounds Of The City, Leeds Millennium Square; tears for Tears For Fears, Scarborough Open Air Theatre

IN the Leeds outdoors tonight, Richard Ashcroft, frontman of Wigan’s Nineties’ rock gods The Verve, performs songs from his chart-topping band days and solo career in the wake of re-recording his prime work for 2021’s Acoustic Hymns Vol 1. Gates open at 6pm; support slots go to DJ Wayne and Cast. Last few tickets: millsqleeds.com .

Shout, shout, let it all out, these are the things they could do without: Curt Smith’s rib injury has forced Tears For Fears to call off tonight’s gig in Scarborough.

Jane McDonald: Letting the light in at York Barbican

Yorkshire favourite of the week: Jane McDonald: Let The Light In, York Barbican, July 22, 7.30pm

WAKEFIELD singer and television star Jane McDonald plays her long-awaited Let The Light In Show in York, rearranged from the lockdown gloom of 2020.

The BAFTA award-winner, Cruising With presenter and Loose Women panellist  will be joined by her band and backing singers for a night of cabaret song, laughter and fabulous dresses. Box office for last few tickets: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Madness this way lies: The Nutty Boys are returning to York Racecourse next Friday

On course for race days: York Racecourse Music Showcase Weekend, Madness, July 22; Sugababes, July 23

CAMDEN’S Nutty Boys, Madness, return to the Knavesmire track next Friday, having first gone One Step Beyond there in July 2010. Once more Suggs and co will roll out such ska-flavoured music-hall hits as Our House, Baggy Trousers, House Of Fun, Wings Of A Dove, My Girl and Driving In My Car after the evening race card.

The re-formed original Sugababes line-up of Keisha Buchanan, Mutya Buena and Siobhán Donaghy are next Saturday afternoon’s act. The London girl group last appeared in York as long ago as 2003 with a line-up of Buchanan, Buena and Heidi Range at the Barbican Centre, as was.

Here come Freak Like Me, Round Round, Hole In The Head, Push The Button, Walk This Way and About You Now et al. Tickets: yorkracecourse.co.uk.

Low-key festival of the week: Crawfest, Partings Lane, Ebberston, YO13 9PA, off A170, July 22 and 23, noon to midnight

THE line-up is in place for Crawfest, the family-friendly music festival held on farmland near Pickering, in memory of Alan Crawford, a friend of the organisers, who lost his life to Covid in 2020.

Next Friday will be headlined by The House We Built (9.40pm), preceded by Edwina Hayes (2pm); Paint Me In Colour (3.20pm); Nalgo Bay (4.20pm); Sean Taylor (5.30pm); Breeze (6.50pm) and Friday Street (8.10pm).

Next Saturday’s bill toppers will be Big Me (9.40pm), preceded by Kelsey Bovey (12 noon); Bongoman & The Bongomaniacs (1pm); Danny MacMahon (2pm); Beetlebug (3.15pm); Rocketsmith (4.10pm); Nalgo Bay (5.30pm); Red Box (6.50pm) and The Feens (8.10pm). Box office: tickettailor.com/events/crawfest/641880.

Anne-Marie Piazza and Pete Ashmore in rehearsal for Brief Encounter at the SJT. Picture: Tony Bartholomew

Romance of the summer: Emma Rice’s Brief Encounter, in The Round, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, July 22 to August 27

SJT artistic director Paul Robinson directs this new co-production of Emma Rice’s playful adaptation of Noel Coward’s Brief Encounter, presented in tandem with Theatre by the Lake, Keswick, and Octagon Theatre, Bolton.

Rice turns Coward’s film inside out, adding joyous musical numbers and physical comedy while still maintaining the classic love story of the 1945 black-and-white original, where Laura and Alec are married – but not to each other – when a chance meeting at a railway station hurls them headlong into a whirlwind romance that threatens to blow their worlds apart. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.

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Brutus Gold goes virtual for Love Train Christmas Disco Ball streamed from Leeds

Brutus Gold and the crowd when The Love Train packed out Leeds Millennium Square in 2019

THE Love Train Virtual Disco Ball will be premiered in its spiritual home of Leeds Millennium Square on December 18.

After drawing a sell-out capacity crowd in Summer 2019, Brutus Gold has “pulled out all the stops to create the ultimate interactive online Christmas disco party in a bid to spread some seasonal joy and solidarity with legions of fans throughout the UK”.

Streamed directly from the Carriageworks Theatre,overlooking Millennium Square, the world premiere of this virtual disco inferno can be viewed from the comfort of home with the promise of transporting people back to the glorious and carefree days of boob tubes, platform shoes and flares.

Pay-per-view video streamers can boogie the night away to a soundtrack of A-Z disco classics, led by Puerto Rican love god and guardian of masculinity DJ Brutus Gold, complemented by his dance troupe, The Brutus Gold Affair, and collective of Seventies’ throwbacks.

Speaking from his luxury yacht, anchored somewhere in the Caribbean, Brutus Gold says:“Hey groovers ‘n’ movers of Yorkshire and the world! We all prisoners, chicky baby. We all locked in!

“Don’t worry, guys ‘n’ gals, your disco hero Brutus Gold and the whole gang are coming to the rescue to bring some joy into your home virtually in December. So, push that sofa back, put on those flares and wigs and turn your living room into a 70s’ nightclub.

“And remember, it’s Christmas time, baby. So, bring out the Blue Nun wine, the Cherry B and Babycham. I want to see your living room transformed to how things were back in the day. Let’s make this a Christmas ball to remember, man.”

Against the backdrop of retro scenery, The Love Train event will feature disco throwbacks, dance-offs, competition giveaways and a full cast of crazy characters, from enigmatic Alberto Balsam, Berni Inns, Chad Valley and Carlito to Disco Dick, Camp David, Ana Glypta and the outrageous Polly Ester.

“Don’t be feelin’ down, don’t be feelin’ blue, Brutus is comin’ to entertain you. That’s right, it’s time to unite for the ultimate disco night,” says Brutus. “Dress up, get down and party with the whole family on board my Love Train this Christmas. I gotta sack full of fun, funk and good times!”

Craig Shackleton, Leeds City Council’s events manager, says: “After sadly missing out on this year’s live summer event in Millennium Square due to the ongoing Coronavirus crisis, we are really excited to be able to re-imagine the ultimate disco party night directly into people’s homes.

“Leeds has a long-standing association and a special relationship with Brutus Gold and The Love Train, and following an amazingly successful sell-out show in the summer of 2019, it simply wasn’t enough for us to only reschedule to next year.

“We appreciate in these tough times that everyone needs a bit of escapism from what is going on around them and what better way to put some smiles back on people’s faces than with a Friday night full of fun, laughter and Seventies’ disco on board the legendary Love Train”

In the lead-up, families can send in pictures from home to compete for the Best Dressers Competition Prize worth £300. The winning entry will be confirmed on The Love Train social media channels.

The Love Train Virtual Disco Ball has been organised in partnership with Leeds City Council and the show is suitable for people of all ages with parental discretion. Pay-per-view tickets go on sale at £9.99 from 10am on Monday, November 16; to buy tickets and watch the show, head to: love-train.co.uk.