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Three Steps To Shed Seven: past, present and future as 30th anniversary rolls on

Shed Seven performing Throwaways with special guest Peter Doherty at York Museum Gardens on July 19. Picture: Barnaby Fairley

Step One: Night two of the Sheds’ 30th anniversary homecoming concerts, Live At York Museum Gardens, presented by Futuresound, on July 20

Set list: Let’s Go; Speakeasy; Where Have You Been Tonight?; High Hopes (with Duke Witter); Dolphin; Devil In Your Shoes; Tripping With You (with Laura McClure); Bully Boy (with Huntington School Choir); Ocean Pie; Parallel Lines; In Ecstasy (with Rowetta); On Standby; Going For Gold; Suspicious Minds; Talk Of The Town; Getting Better; Let’s Go Dancing.

Encores: Room In My House; Throwaways (with Peter Doherty); Disco Down; Chasing Rainbows (with choir, McClure, Rowetta and support acts Doherty, Brooke Combe and Apollo Junction).

CharlesHutchPress viewpoint: As central as a centre-spot, standing with a cluster of chanting York City fans, former manager Michael Morton (February-August 2023) at their core, and a bunch of Sheds-loving former University of York students, meeting up from all over the country for the first time since 1997.

Different set list? Out went She Left Me On Friday (they left it out on Saturday), People Will Talk and The Heroes. In came: Where Have You Been Tonight? and Parallel Lines.

Other differences?

*Shed Seven arrived on stage at 8.30pm rather than 8.40pm.

*Different members of Huntington School Choir sang Bully Boy.

*The Sheds’ friend Stuart Allan, guitarist and vocalist in York band Johnny And The Dunebugs, guested on guitar throughout the Sheds’ set, introduced by Rick Witter as “the fifth Beatle”.

The same on both nights:

*The show-opening recorded poetry reading of The Boys Are Coming Home – a hymn of praise to York’s “characters, cobbles and quirks” – by Matt Abbott, Wakefield poet, educator, activist and former frontman and lyricist of Skint & Demoralised. Commissioned by guitarist Paul Banks.

*Backing singers Mary Pearce and Beverly Skeete, as featured on the Shed Seven albums Instant Pleasures, A Matter Of Time and the upcoming Liquid Gold.

*Special guests Laura McClure, from Reverend And The Makers, Rowetta, from the Madchester Nineties’ scene, and The Libertines’ Peter Doherty, all reprising their contributions to the Sheds’ number one album, A Matter Of Time.

*Brass section of Tim Hurst, trombone; Andy Cox, saxophone; Jamie Brownfield, trumpet.

*The presence of a film crew, led off on Friday by the camera following Rick Witter from the Museum Street entrance, “walking towards the stage like a boxer entering the ring” (to quote Ste’s comment on CharlesHutchPress’s review of the first night.

Why filming?

“The idea of filming the weekend is trifold,” says Rick. “We wanted to make a video for the most recent Liquid Gold release, Getting Better, which came out on Monday evening (July 22). Worth a watch!

“We’re also releasing a ‘Live At Museum Gardens’ variant to coincide with the release of Liquid Gold on September 27. And then possibly we’ll release a DVD of the Museum Gardens gigs, along with all the promo vids from A Matter Of Time onwards and a small documentary about the Sheds. The year of the Sheds indeed.”

Final CharlesHutchPress thoughts: Loved Room In My House and Talk Of The Town becoming latter-day crowd favourites already. Rick’s “dad dancing” with son and Serotones singer Duke in High Hopes. The set – pre-encores – closing with Let’s Go Dancing’s a cappella coda, “Lonely words seek an empty page/Curtain call, time to leave the stage/ It’s time to stop…”.

Peter Doherty and his dapper chapeau – plonked briefly on Witter’s head – loving every minute, whether in Throwaways or the everything-plus-the-kitchen-sink Chasing Rainbows finale. The departing hordes still singing Chasing Rainbows as they crossed Lendal Bridge, homeward bound and euphoric.

Step two: New single Waiting For The Catch and new album Liquid Gold

Shed Seven with Issy Ferris, of Ferris & Sylvester, guest vocalist on Liquid Gold orchestral reworking of Waiting For The Catch. Picture: Andy Little

“HI MATE. Sorry just shooting a video to a new song. It’s all go.” So messaged Rick Witter, on July 22, explaining his delay in answering a handful of CharlesHutchPress questions.

That song is new single Waiting For The Catch, a duet with Issy Ferris, of UK folk/rock/Americana duo Ferris & Sylvester, who released their second album, Otherness, on March 1 on Arch Top Records.

Premiered on the Zoe Ball Breakfast Show on BBC Radio 2 on August 8, Waiting For The Catch is a new reworking of an Instant Pleasures bonus track from the York band’s career-spanning orchestral album Liquid Gold. Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HKKvnD-tII.

“Waiting For The Catch fits perfectly alongside some of our biggest hits,” says Rick. “The song has the classic ‘Can’t live with you, can’t live without you’ sentiment and we felt making it a duet would fit perfectly with the lyrical theme.

“So we invited the amazing Issy Ferris to add her beautiful voice to the track, which gives it a yearning, but also vengeful energy. You want to hear Shed Seven arena-sized? No problem, it’s our pleasure.”

Liquid Gold’s orchestral reinventions were recorded in collaboration with arrangers Fiona Brice and Michael Rendall. Brice had worked previously with Liam Gallagher and Placebo, while Rendall had teamed up with the Sheds for 2017’s Top Ten comeback album Instant Pleasures and A Matter Of Time.

“This year we celebrate 30 years as recording artists and, after reminiscing about our career, we thought we’d celebrate the milestone by revisiting some key songs from our past,” says Rick.

“The idea being that if we cherry picked a hatful of songs and recorded them now, it would be a coherent stroll down memory lane but also sit sonically beside A Matter Of Time. A logical next step.”

Rick continues: “We see this record as a gateway into the world of Shed Seven. We also felt that adding an orchestra to each track would lend the whole project a unique slant. The songs have become widescreen, full of colour.

“The original recordings will always hold a special place in our hearts but re-recording the chosen songs was an exciting prospect for us. It’s a gift from the band to our loyal supporters and will hopefully introduce some golden moments throughout our career to a whole new audience. Enjoy, and here’s to the next 30 years!”

A signed copy of Liquid Gold: One of multiple formats of the new album

Set for release on Cooking Vinyl on September 27, Liquid Gold can be pre-ordered at shedsevenn.lnk.to/LiquidGoldPR, with formats ranging from signed copies and vinyl to CD and cassette versions.

The Sheds have just launched a new bootleg edition, each with artwork individually hand-stamped by the band, that adds three songs from their BBC Piano Room session, a live recording of Casino Girl, and remix of In Ecstasy.

That Piano Room session in May saw the Sheds perform Chasing Rainbows, Talk Of The Town and a cover of Duran Duran’s Planet Earth with the BBC Concert Orchestra at Maida Vale studios.

The album track listing will be: Getting Better; Speakeasy; Devil In Your Shoes; On Standby; Going For Gold; Waiting For The Catch (featuring Issy Ferris); Better Days; Parallel Lines; Disco Down; Ocean Pie; new composition All Roads Lead To You and Chasing Rainbows.

A special Live @Museum Gardens 2CD edition can be pre-ordered at store.shedseven.com/product/148214?password=LG-YORK-EM. Featuring a bonus disc of live tracks recorded at the two shows, it comes with alternative artwork to commemorate the occasion.

In the immediate aftermath of the Museum Gardens shindigs, the Sheds released a video of the Liquid Gold version of Getting Better, filmed on and off stage over the two days, capturing the band, special guests Peter Doherty, Rowetta and Laura McClure and Friday support acts The Lottery Winners and Serotones, Huntington School choir and audience members…and Witter riding through York on a bike.

Or, as Black Arts PR’s press release puts it: “The video is a joyous celebration of one of the biggest highlights of Shed Seven’scareer. It captures every moment of the day: fans getting the party underway as they arrive; Rick Witter strolling through the audience and posing for photos and pinching a sip of beer; clips of friends including Peter Doherty, Lottery Winners, Rowetta, Laura McClure and Serotones (featuring Rick’s son Duke) all relishing the occasion; and the band embracing before they step on stage. The most emotional moment is saved until the end – the band taking their final bows in front of a sea of adoration.”

Post-gigs, The Shedsposted on social media: “Watch to the end, you won’t be disappointed… you might even feature. Enjoy and thanks once again for making this weekend so special.” Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnJnjir47QE.

Already, the Sheds had previewed the album by releasing two tasters, Speakeasy and Devil In Your Shoes. Pre-orders for Liquid Gold have exceeded the numbers reached with January’s A Matter Of Time. Could Shed Seven notch up two number one albums in a year? Roll on September 27.

Step Three:  T-T-T-Talk Of The Town in multiple towns and cities, 50 shows in all

Shed Seven doing a record store promotion for A Matter Of Time at HMV York in January

AFTER in-store performances and personal appearances, including HMV York, to launch A Matter Of Time in January and the 30th anniversary homecoming celebrations at York Museum Gardens in July, the Shed Seven boys are back in town after town over the rest of 2024.

First up comes a guest spot on Blossoms’ bill at Live From Wythenshawe Park Presents: Blossoms, Inhaler & More @ Wythenshawe Park, Manchester on August 25, followed by BBC Radio 2 In The Park at Moor Park, Preston, on September 8.

Next will be in-store appearances promoting Liquid Gold from September 8 to October 16 and a sextet of gigs in October combining playing 1994 debut album Change Giver in full with a greatest hits set too.

In the traditional biennial Shedcember slot will be a 23-date 30th Anniversary Tour, the Sheds’ biggest-ever winter itinerary, joined by special guests The Sherlocks. Back home in time for Christmas, Rick Witter and Paul Banks will bring down the curtain on the Sheds’ annus mirabilis with a brace of special acoustic duo performances at Huntington Working Men’s Club. Sheds’ bassist Tom Gladwin will do a DJ set each night

AUGUST

25th:  Manchester, Wythenshawe Park (guests to Blossoms)

SEPTEMBER

8th:  Preston, BBC Radio 2 In The Park

27th: Manchester, HMV (1pm – SOLD OUT)

27th:  Bury, Wax & Beans (6pm – SOLD OUT)

28th:  Birmingham, HMV (1pm – SOLD OUT)

28th:  Leamington Spa, Head Records (5pm – SOLD OUT)

29th: London, Rough Trade East (5pm – SOLD OUT)

29th: London, Rough Trade East (7pm  – SOLD OUT)

30th – Southampton, Vinilo (1pm – SOLD OUT)

30th:  Brighton, Resident (6.30pm – SOLD OUT)

OCTOBER

1st: Bristol, Rough Trade (12 noon – LOW TICKETS)

1st: Bristol, Rough Trade (5pm – SOLD OUT)

2nd: Nottingham, Rough Trade (midday – SOLD OUT)

2nd: Nottingham, Rough Trade (6pm – SOLD OUT)

3rd:  Sheffield, Bear Tree Records (midday – SOLD OUT)

3rd: Liverpool, Jacaranda (7pm – SOLD OUT)

4th:  Newcastle, Beyond Vinyl (6.30pm – SOLD OUT)

10th: Kingston-upon-Thames, Pryzm (Change Giver show, hosted by Banquet Records)

11th: Kingston-upon-Thames, Pryzm (Change Giver show, hosted by Banquet Records – SOLD OUT)

12th:  Coventry, HMV Empire (Change Giver show)

16th: Edinburgh, Assai Records (midday – SOLD OUT)

16th: Glasgow, HMV (5pm – SOLD OUT)

17th: Glasgow, SWG3 (Change Giver show, hosted by Assai Records)

18th:  Manchester, Academy 2 (Change Giver show, hosted by Crash Records – SOLD OUT)

19th:  Leeds, Beckett Student Union (Change Giver show, hosted by Crash Records – SOLD OUT)

Party time: Shed Seven’s Rob ‘Maxi’ Maxfield, left, Paul Banks, Rick Witter, Tom Gladwin and Tim Wills celebrate 30th anniversary on November and December tour

NOVEMBER – 30th ANNIVERSARY HEADLINE TOUR

14th:  Sheffield Octagon (SOLD OUT)

15th:  Cardiff University, Great Hall

16th: Liverpool University, Mountford Hall (LOW TICKETS)

18th:  Halifax, Victoria Theatre (LOW TICKETS)

19th: Hull City Hall

21st: Aberdeen Music Hall (SOLD OUT)

22nd: Glasgow, O2 Academy (SOLD OUT)

23rd: Edinburgh, O2 Academy (LOW TICKETS)

25th: Leicester, O2 Academy (LOW TICKETS)

26th: Margate Dreamland

28th: Bristol O2 Academy (SOLD OUT)

29th: Newcastle O2 City Hall (LOW TICKETS)

30th: Leeds O2 Academy (SOLD OUT)

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 (LOW TICKETS)

12th: Bournemouth O2 Academy (LOW TICKETS)

13th: Nottingham Rock City (SOLD OUT)

14th: London O2 Academy Brixton (SOLD OUT)

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)

Any remaining tickets are on sale via shedseven.com at https://gigst.rs/SS24.

Paul Banks and Rick Witter: Concluding Shed Seven’s 30th anniversary celebrations on home turf at Huntington Working Men’s Club on December 21 and 22. Picture: David Harrison
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REVIEW: Shed Seven, Futuresound presents Live in York Museum Gardens, York, July 19

Stars coming out at night: Rick Witter fronting Shed Seven at York Museum Gardens. Picture: David Harrison. To buy David’s photos from Friday’s concert, head to: https://dharrisonyorkphotos.smugmug.com/Music/Shed-Seven-in-Museum-Gardens-2024

COULD this annus miraculum have gone any better for Shed Seven, the year when the York band topped the album charts for the first time, all of 30 years since releasing Change Giver.

Getting even better? It just did, last night, in the first of two 30th anniversary homecoming gigs mounted by Leeds promoters Futuresound in the first rock concerts to be staged in York Museum Gardens since Hawkwind, Pink Fairies and Roxy Music in the long-gone 1970s.

Back where the Sheds’ Rick Witter and Paul Banks had “caused chaos” at 12, 13, 14, their loud ghetto blasters “disturbing all the OAPs”.

The music was rather louder last night, cheered on by 4,000 fans, young, Sheds-aged and quite possibly OAPS alike; myriad Shed Seven T-shirts, from their Bile Beans yellow variation to Bully Boy’s I’ll Fight You Till The Death flipside being the dress code for the hottest weather of this sodden summer so far. Annus miraculum? Even Zeus the weather god was smiling on the Sheds.

Peter Doherty: Name-checking York in Albion in acoustic solo set at York Museum Gardens. Picture: David Harrison

After sets by Serotones (son Duke Witter’s band) and Lottery Winners, enter Peter Doherty, a very unrock’n’roll six minutes early, to play charmingly solo and acoustic in dapper chapeau, name-checking York in Albion, the first song he wrote at 16, inspired to pick up a guitar by the Sheds. “I’m sweating like a Leeds fan in a spelling test,” he said in the night’s best one-liner, nevertheless keeping his suit buttoned up.

Performances in York Museum Gardens, notably the York Mystery Plays, have favoured utilising the St Mary’s Abbey backdrop, but Futuresound have broken with tradition, building a stage on the Yorkshire Museum concourse, looking down to the River Ouse, for Jack Savoretti’s Thursday opener and the Sheds’ back-to-back home fixtures.

A good decision, the abbey ruins still playing their supporting role, lit in resplendent blue as the night sky painted its picture. Witter couldn’t resist addressing those gathered on the far riverside, watching for free (always a Yorkshireman’s favourite price, as the saying goes).

A poem, uncredited alas, floated on the night air, as evocative as the smell of chocolate wafting across the city in capturing the essence of York and its characters, cobbles and quirks, to herald the arrival of the Sheds, not the Britpop veterans of lazy labelling, but a vibrant, propulsive, lippy indie band at the height of their second wave.

Let’s Go: Shed Seven’s Paul Banks and Rick Witter in homecoming union on Friday night. Picture: David Harrison

In Witter’s words, they have been reinvigorated by the arrival of new members Rob ‘Maxi’ Mansfield on drums and Tim Wells on guitar & keys. Last night marked their York debut. No fuss, low key at the back, rock solid as a Championship centre-half, and solidly rock.

The adrenaline rush of Let’s Go, as purposeful a title as the Sheds have ever written, opened the show, just as it does A Matter Of Time, whose name is emblazoned on a stage otherwise devoid of frills (no screens, no projections, plenty of northern lights).

The accusation was always that the Sheds were a meat-and-potatoes band, but that is to ignore the quality of the gravy. The way their songs connect, the pride in wearing the T-shirt, the Made In York but mad for the world brio. You’d rather be in this crowd than with the in-crowd.

If you could put together the wish-list Shed Seven-in-heaven gig, this was surely it: the weather, the historic York setting; the special guests, Reverend And The Makers’ Laura McClure, Rowetta and Doherty; the spot-on set list; Duke duetting with Rick on High Hopes; the Yorkshire brass players; She Left Me On Friday, hitting harder on a Friday night; the balance of A Matter Of Time songs and the orchestral overhaul of the upcoming Liquid Gold hits album.

More? How about the Huntington School Choir in their stubby tie uniforms for schoolyard anthem Bully Boy, Going For Gold segueing into a cover of Elvis’s Suspicious Minds and the perfect encore quartet of Room In My House; Throwaways, Witter arm in arm with Doherty; Disco Down with Rowetta in a Happy Mondays vibe, and everyone, choir, support acts, et al on the stage apron for Chasing Rainbows.

Why, there was even a marriage proposal, from Nicki Sullivan to Kevin, orchestrated by Witter as master of ceremonies. Kevin said yes, of course he did. Going for gold in a year when everything the Sheds do has done exactly that.

Crack open a can of Homecoming Hazy Session IPA, Brew York’s 30th anniversary Shed Seven fruity citrus beer, then reconvene tonight for more Shed heaven. Let’s Go Dancing, York, you, me and Peter Doherty. The t-t-t-Talk Of The Town.

Set list

Let’s Go; Speakeasy; She Left Me On Friday; High Hopes (with Duke Witter); Dolphin; Devil In Your Shoes; Tripping With You (with Laura McClure); People Will Talk; Bully Boy (with Huntington School Choir); Ocean Pie; Heroes; In Ecstasy (with Rowetta); On Standby; Going For Gold; Suspicious Minds; Talk Of The Town; Getting Better; Let’s Go Dancing.

Encore: Room In My House; Throwaways (with Peter Doherty); Disco Down (with Rowetta); Chasing Rainbow (with choir, special guests and support acts).

Futuresound presents Shed Seven, York Museum Gardens, tonight (20/7/2024); gates open at 5pm. SOLD OUT.

Running order: Apollo Junction, 5.45pm to 6.15pm; Brooke Combe, 6.35pm to 7.05pm; Peter Doherty, 7.25pm to 8.10pm; Shed Seven, 8.40pm to 10.30pm.

The queue forming in the Friday afternoon sun for Live At York Museum Gardens
Danielle and Gareth, from Hull, enjoying Shed Seven’s set at York Museum Gardens
Duke Witter leading Serotones on Friday evening at York Museum Gardens. Picture: David Harrison
The Lottery Winners’ bassist, Katie Lloyd, at Futuresound’s Live At York Museum Gardens
Thom Rylance, frontman of Leigh band The Lottery Winners, in full voice on Friday. Picture: David Harrison
York singer Jess Steel, front, centre, enjoying Live At York Museum Gardens. Pictire: David Harrison
Peter Doherty and his dapper chapeau at York Mueum Gardens: Picture: David Harrison
Shed Seven singer Rick Witter and bassist Tom Gladwin
Shed Seven drummer Rob ‘Maxi’ Maxfield making his debut York appearance with the band on Friday night. Picture: David Harrison
Making a mark: A Shed Seven tattoo at Friday’s concert. Picture: David Harrison

Digging deeper: What was the poem that heralded Shed Seven’s arrival on stage

“It’s called ‘The Boys Are Coming Home’,” says Matt Abbott, Wakefield poet, educator, activist and former frontman and lyricist of Skint & Demoralised. “Paul Banks, from the band, commissioned me to write a poem for a York-based homeless charity, Arc Light, back in 2014.

“That was actually my first-ever commission. This was through his production company Digifish. So, I was over the moon when he contacted me to write it.

“Initially, this was only meant to be for the social media announcement, so, it was brilliant to see that they also used it for the shows.”

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Shed Seven promise diffedrent sets, special guests & school choir at 30th anniversary concerts in York Museum Gardens

Shed Seven: Playing York Museum Gardens as the homecoing fulcrum of their 30th anniversary celebrations

AFTER a first ever number one album in January, Shed Seven’s 30th anniversary celebrations hit a homecoming peak with tomorrow (19/7/2024) and Saturday’s sold-out concerts at Futuresound’s inaugural Live At York Museum Gardens festival.

“I’d be quite happy for it chuck it down all week, but then NOT,” says lead singer Rick Witter. “Obviously, it is what it is, but it does make for a better atmosphere if you don’t have to contend with rain.

“We have thought before of selling [Chasing] rainbow-coloured umbrellas, but unfortunately at indoor gigs they’d be classified as offensive weapons!”

Good news for Rick and Shed-heads alike, the weather forecast suggests dry conditions will prevail on both nights, when Shed Seven will perform on the concrete concourse in front of the Yorkshire Museum, rather than against the St Mary’s Abbey backdrop once favoured by the York Mystery Plays.

“We’ll be facing the river [Ouse], with the riverside walk being cordoned off, so I imagine having 4,000 people crammed into the space each night will look amazing,” says Rick, as the Sheds look forward to playing the gardens where The Press first photographed the band after they signed to Polydor Records in late-1993.

“As a small band from York, we’ve managed to close the river for two nights, so it’s going to be a huge York event. We’ve been reminiscing about when we were 13-14, sitting in the Museum Gardens with music blasting out of our ghetto blasters, so it will feel weird but lovely this weekend for me and Paul [guitarist Paul Banks] and Tom [bassist Tom Gladwin].”

If that sepia-faded photo-shoot for The Press does not spring immediately to his mind, “I did see a picture of us in 1992 at the time of the Fibbers’ Battle of the Bands. We looked so hopeful, so youthful. We still do!” says Rick, as whippet-slim as ever at 51.

Shed Seven, who now feature Rob ‘Maxi ‘Maxfield on drums and Tim Wills on guitars and keys, rather than founder members Alan Leach and Joe Johnson, spent last weekend rehearsing intensely for this week’s shows.

“We’re definitely going to mix it up a little bit with the two sets, as we’re in the fortunate position of having too many songs. Some will be played on Friday and not Saturday and vice versa, so those who’ve booked for both nights are in for a treat,” says Rick. “We’ll be cramming in as much as we can into one hour 50 minutes each night.”

Special guests are promised too, but without giving names away, Rick does say: “If you look back to our album that came out in January [A Matter Of Time], we had several guests on that record, and I think you might get to see some of those people in our sets.

“Obviously, Pete [Peter Doherty, of The Libertines] will be in the ‘field’ with us on both nights as a support act, so it would be rude not to perform Throwaways (Witter and Doherty’s album-closing duet] with him.”

Will Happy Mondays’ Rowetta make an appearance for In Ecstasy or Reverend And The Makers’ Laura McClure join the Sheds for Tripping With You? Wait and see, but definitely a York choir will be participating.

“Me and Paul visited our old school last Thursday – Huntington School – for the first time in an awfully long time, which felt lovely but a bit odd as a 51-year-old man being back in the classroom! We’d reached out to the school hoping for a mixture of age groups, boys and girls, and it turns out there’s a choir of 60, so we’ve settled for having 20 on each night.” Which song, Rick? Not telling!

New band members Maxfield, from Manchester, and Wills, from London, will be breaking new ground. “They’ve spent a lot of time with us here rehearsing, but this will be the first time they’ve performed with us in our home city, so that’ll be a big moment for York,” says Rick. “And they’ve both talked about moving to York.”

Likewise, Shed Seven will be playing to more than a home crowd. “It’s just amazing that people from all over the country have bought tickets for these shows, so we’ll have 8,000 people descending on our lovely city, filling our bars and hotels,” says Rick.

The 30th anniversary celebrations do not stop there. “The funny thing is, we’re only half way through. I was speaking to Paul about what we might not be able to fit into the sets from A Matter Of Time, and only six months after its release, it’s almost as if we’re having to put a number one album to one side already, as we’re putting so much into our next album.”

Liquid Gold, an album of orchestral re-workings of 12 Shed Seven hits and live favourites, reimagined by the band in collaboration with arrangers Fiona Brice and Michael Rendall, will be released on September 27.

“We’re very excited about this album coming out to mark 30 years,” says Rick. “Only next year can we sit back and reflect on what we achieved this year.”

Still to come in 2024 are multiple in-store appearances to promote Liquid Gold, with yet more dates soon to be added to the schedule, followed by the 30th Anniversary Tour in the traditional Shedcember slot in  November and December, with Yorkshire gigs at Sheffield Octagon, (November 14), Victoria Theatre, Halifax (November 18) Hull City Hall, November 19, and Leeds O2 Academy (November 30).

Witter and Banks will see out the year with a brace of intimate acoustic concerts at Huntington Working Men’s Club, York, on December 21 and 22. Sold out, of course.

Futuresound presents Live At York Museum Gardens, Jack Savoretti, tonight; Shed Seven, Friday and Saturday. Gates open at 5pm each evening. Box office: seetickets.com/event/jack-savoretti/york-museum-gardens/2929799.

Thursday bill: Ellur, 5.45pm to 6.15pm; Benjamin Francis Leftwich, 6.30pm to 7.15pm; Foy Vance, 7.45pm to 8.30pm; Jack Savoretti, 9p, to 10.30pm.

Friday bill: Serotones (Duke Witter’s band), 5.45pm to 6.15pm; Lottery Winners, 6.35pm to 7.05pm; Peter Doherty, 7.25pm to 8.10pm; Shed Seven, 8.40pm to 10.30pm.

Saturday bill: Apollo Junction, 5.45pm to 6.15pm; Brooke Combe, 6.35pm to 7.05pm; Peter Doherty, 7.25pm to 8.10pm; Shed Seven, 8.40pm to 10.30pm.

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How Rachel Hill brought her passion project to fruition with Futuresound’s York Museum Gardens concert series this summer

Rachel Hill: Project manager for Futuresound’s July concerts at York Museum Gardens

FUTURESOUND events promoter and project manager Rachel Hill has long had her eye on putting on concerts in the Museum Gardens in her home city of York.

This summer that aspiration becomes a reality when chart-topping local heroes Shed Seven play sold-out 30th anniversary shows on July 19 and 20, bookended by Anglo-Italian singer-songwriter Jack Savoretti on July 18 and Sugababes’ original girl group line-up of Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan and Siobhán Donaghy on July 21.

“I used to come to the Museum Gardens as a kid, to sit in the gardens and muck around,” recalls Rachel. “As I got older and Mr H [Tim Hornsby] took me under his wing at Fibbers, I realised I wanted a career in music in some capacity. I remember thinking, ‘the Museum Gardens would be the perfect place for gigs: the landscape, the history, the location. It’s just beautiful.”

Rock and pop concerts are not unprecedented in the Museum Gardens: Hawkwind in July 1971; Roxy Music in July 1973, when they parked their tour van in Marygate; Procol Harum in July 1976 and Wendy Wu’s New Wave band The Photos in June 1980.

Since then, the Gardens have played host to the York Mystery Plays (most recently in 2012), light installations, children’s storytelling days, birds of prey displays and operatic soprano Rebecca Fewtrell’s York Proms concerts since 2017.

Jack Savoretti: Topping the Futuresound bill at York Museum Gardens on July 18

“We’re going to follow the same template as the York Proms because York Museums Trust knows that template works well,” says Rachel. “That’s why the stage will be set up in front of the Yorkshire Museum, rather than by the St Mary’s Abbey ruins [where the York Mystery Plays were staged from their revival for the Festival of Britain in 1951 onwards].

“St Mary’s Abbey might happen in the future, but in order for us to make it work this summer, it was right to use the York Proms template.”

The Futuresound Group, a music management and promotion company based in Munro House, Duke Street, Leeds, already runs the two Live At Leeds festivals (In The Park and In The City) each year, along with the pop-punk, emo and metal Slam Dunk Festival at Temple Newsam, Leeds and Hatfield House, Hertfordshire (May 25 and 26 2024), as well as owning The Wardrobe venue in the thriving Quarry Hill arts, media and education quarter of Leeds.

The four-day York event is the latest addition to the portfolio, as Rachel’s passion project comes to fruition. “York Museum Gardens lend themselves to staging concerts. I’m really passionate about this, and I wanted them to be put on by a local person, a Yorkshire company, with a relationship with the local community,” she says.

“It’s been in the pipeline for a while as a venue for Futuresound. It was about finding the right format, the right dates, taking into consideration what goes on at the Hospitium in the gardens [such as wedding parties]. It came down to careful planning, and thankfully the stars aligned.”

Shed Seven’s Paul Banks, left, Tim Wills, Rick Witter, Tom Gladwin and Rob’Maxi’ Maxfield, in front of St Mary’s Abbey, York Museum Gardens. Two sold-out gigs await in July

Shed Seven’s 30th anniversary was the perfect opportunity. “I know them from when they first performed at Fibbers, when I started working there for Tim Hornsby, and I still see them around town, though we don’t see each other in pubs these days. It’s now in supermarkets – and not even in the booze aisle!” says Rachel.

The chart-topping success of the Sheds’ January album A Matter Of Time gave further impetus to their 4,000-capacity Museum Gardens gigs, both selling out rapidly. Rachel then added Jack Savoretti and 2024 MOBO Award-winning Sugababes too.

“It was really important to have contrasting concerts,” says Rachel. “I’m very aware that York is a really diverse city culturally, and I really wanted to expand the genres over the four days. That was important to Futuresound’s head promoter, Andy Smith, too, who’s followed my lead on it, and that’s why we’ll have local opening acts.

“York singer-songwriter Benjamin Francis Leftwich will be on the Jack Savoretti bill, along with Irish musician Foy Vance, and we’ll be announcing the Sugababes’ supports over the next few weeks.

“The Sheds curated their own bill, which was important for them, with Libertines’ co-frontman Peter Doherty on both nights; The Lottery Winners and Serotones [Rick Witter’s son Duke’s band] on July 19, and Brooke Combe and Apollo Junction on July 20.”

Sugababes: Playing York Museum Gardens on July 21

Rachel has past experience of working with Doherty, one of rock’s legendary wild men. “We assisted on Rock’n’Roll Circus with The Libertines a couple of years ago. You just have to mother him!” she says. “He’s got a great relationship with the Sheds, especially with Rick [duetting with him on A Matter Of Time’s closing track, Throwaways].”

Rumour has it that Doherty will not be the only contributor to A Matter Of Time likely to be making an appearance at the Sheds gigs. “I believe Rowetta will doing the shows too,” says Rachel, referring to the Happy Mondays’ singer, who plays the female foil to Witter on In Ecstasy.

Rachel believes in the importance of building relationships, especially with an eye to establishing Futuresound’s open-air shows as a regular component of the Museum Gardens summer. “York Museums Trust [which runs the Yorkshire Museum] have been very supportive of us running a four-day event, and we’ve been engaging with the local residents too with two community engagement evenings.

“The first one was at the Hospitium and the second one will be held in the Fairfax Room in the Yorkshire Museum, open to those who live in close proximity to the gardens. I’ve done all the letter drops myself. We would really like to keep doing these concerts; that’s something very close to my heart.”

The last word goes to Shed Seven’s Rick Witter in praise of Futuresound. “We’ve really enjoyed the experience of working with them as they’re really forward thinking,” he says. “They like to go down the unusual route, like having us play in the Museum Gardens. That’s something different from playing York Barbican or the new football stadium.

“They’re thinking outside the box by not putting on two more nights with more indie bands but appealing to people who like other types of music by having Jack Savoretti and Sugababes.”

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Let’s Go Dancing is the next step for Shed Seven as 30th anniversary celebrations keep on the move with red vinyl single

“Dancing is a way of reminding ourselves there is love in the world,” says Rick Witter of Shed Seven’s new single, Let’s Go Dancing

SHED Seven release anthemic slow burner Let’s Go Dancing today as the latest single from their chart-topping sixth studio album A Matter Of Time.

Already a fan favourite from the York band’s recent sold-out shows, the song is a plea for one final chance when all appears to be lost, a message of hope at a time when the odds seem stacked against you.

“Dancing, depending on the style of course, can be personal or indeed involve multiple people,” says lyricist and singer Rick Witter. “It may include a certain amount of close contact and can create unforgettable moments.

“It can be filled with romance or alternatively it could be an opportunity to let your hair down and get loose. In this day and age, where we are potentially only six feet away from some kind of hatred and negativity, it’s a way of reminding ourselves there is love in the world. I can hear music and I can see lights, so let’s go dancing…”

Let’s Go Dancing is accompanied by a video animated by Nicolás Morera, of Digifish, and directed by Paul Banks, Shed Seven guitarist, erstwhile art college student and creative director of Digifish, the York and Manchester music video production company. To view, head to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUDzUx31iDE

From March 1, the single is available from https://store.shedseven.com/ in a limited-edition run of 500 7” red vinyl copies, each signed individually by the band and hand numbered. The B-side will be a demo of Let’s Go Dancing.

The Sheds’ 30th anniversary kicked off with A Matter Of Time becoming their first ever number one in the UK Official Albums Chart. This summer’s celebratory outdoor concerts at York Museum Gardens on July 19 and 20 sold out almost instantly, bolstered by the intriguing prospect of support slots by special guest Peter Doherty, from The Libertines, after his vocal collaboration with Witter on A Matter Of Time’s closing track, Throwaways.

Also in the diary is the Sheds’ appearance at Blossoms’ 30,000-capacity Big Bank Holiday Weekend at Wythenshawe Park and Gardens, Wythenshawe, Manchester, on August 25. A Shedcember winter tour will be upcoming too.

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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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More Things To Do in York in 2024…and beyond. Here’s Hutch’s List No. 1 for the New Year, from The Press, York

Shed Seven: Launching new album with meet & greet at HMV, York, on Friday

WHAT lies ahead in the New Year? Charles Hutchinson picks his path through highlights across the city’s venues.

It’s only A Matter Of Time before: Shed Seven release their new album

YORK band Shed Seven will mark the January 5 release of their sixth studio album, A Matter Of Time, on new home Cooking Vinyl with a meet & greet/signing session that day at HMV, in Coney Street, York, at 4.30pm (tickets: shedsevenn.lnk.to/instores). Their midday appearance and stripped-back performance on the same day at Vinyl Whistle, in Otley Road, Headingley, Leeds, has sold out.

In the summertime, when the weather is hopefully fine, The Sheds will celebrate their 30th anniversary with a brace of outdoor concerts in York Museum Gardens on July 19 and 20, supported by Peter Doherty, no less. Both have sold out already. Box office: seetickets.com.

Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company cast members peer out through and beneath the JoRo curtain in Curtains

It’s Curtains for…Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, February 7 to 10, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee

WHEN the leading lady of a new musical mysteriously dies on stage, a plucky local detective must solve this 1959 case at Boston’s Colonial Theatre, where the entire cast and crew are suspects in Kander & Ebb’s musical with a book by Rupert Holmes. Cue delightful characters, a witty and charming script and glorious tunes in the Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company’s staging of Curtains. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Steve Mason: Independent Venue Week gig at The Crescent. Picture: Gavin Watson

Beta times ahead: Brudenell Presents Steve Mason, The Crescent, York, January 30, 7.30pm 

SCOTTISH indie songwriter Steve Mason, founder of The Beta Band, returns to The Crescent as part of Independent Venue Week. Combining a rare melodic gift with an itch to experiment, as heard on his 2023 album Brothers & Sisters, he investigates where the boundaries lie between the craft of songwriting, technology and free expression.

Taking part in Independent Venue Week too will be Leeds band English Teacher, whose January 28 night of dreamy pop and post-punk noise has sold out already. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.

Monster show: The Apatosaurus in Jurassic Live, bound for York Barbican

Dinosaurs take over York: Jurassic Live 2024 World Tour, York Barbican, February 16, 5pm; February 17, 11am and 3pm; February 18, 1pm

LIFE-SIZED monstrous beasts roar into York in an interactive all-star theatrical spectacular featuring the world’s only Tylosaurus in a giant tank (new for 2024), the last flying Pterodactyl, a Tyrannosaurus Rex called Suzie and more dinosaur species than any other show on Earth.

Join little Amber, Ranger Joe, Ranger Nora and the rest of the Jurassic Live rangers on  a musical journey to help save the day from an evil man who is trying to shut down the Jurassic facility. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Amber Davies’s Hollywood prostitute Vivian Ward and Oliver Savile’s wealthy businessman Edward Lewis in Pretty Woman: The Musical at Grand Opera House, York

Most anticipated touring musical: Pretty Woman: The Musical, Grand Opera House, York, February 20 to 24, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm, Wednesday and Saturday

BILLED as “Hollywood’s ultimate rom-com, live on stage”, Pretty Woman: The Musical is set once upon a time in the late 1980s, when Vivian (Amber Davies) meets Edward (Oliver Savile) and her life is changed forever.

Strictly champ Ore Oduba’s Happy Man/Mr Thompson and Natalie Paris’s Kit De Luca will be in the cast too for a musical featuring original music and lyrics by Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance and a book by Garry Marshall and the film’s screenwriter, J.F. Lawton. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

The tour poster for Wise Children’s Blue Beard, opening the bl**dy door at York Theatre Royal from February 27

World premiere of the season: Emma Rice’s Wise Children in Blue Beard, York Theatre Royal, February 27 to March 9, 7.30pm and 2pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees

BLUE Beard will be Wise Children’s fourth visit to York after Wise Children, Malory Towers and Wuthering Heights, this time in a co-production between Emma Rice’s Bristol company, York Theatre Royal, Birmingham Rep, HOME Manchester and the Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh.

Rice brings her brand of theatrical wonder to the beguiling and disturbing folk tale of Bluebeard meeting his match when his young bride discovers his dark and murderous secret. Summoning all her rage, all her smarts and all her sisters, she vows to bring the curtain down on his tyrannous reign. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Rob Auton: At his most Rob Auton in The Rob Auton Show at The Crescent, York

Welcome home: Rob Auton, The Rob Auton Show, Burning Duck Comedy Club, The Crescent, York, February 28, 7.30pm

AFTER nine Edinburgh Fringe shows on themes as diverse as the colour yellow, the sky, faces, water, sleep, hair, talking, time and crowds, York writer, comedian, artist and actor Rob Auton delivers his most autobiographical work, exploring the memories and feelings that create his life on a daily basis. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.

Rhod Gilbert’s poster for his tour show with a Giant Grapefruit at York Barbican

Comedy comeback : Rhod Gilbert & The Giant Grapefruit, York Barbican, June 20, 8pm

IN his last show, The Book Of John, firebrand Welsh comedian Rhod Gilbert dealt with “some pretty pungent life citrus” and an idiot called John. Little did he know that things were about to turn even more sour.

Gilbert, 55, required surgery for metastatic cancer of the head and neck as well as chemotherapy and radiotherapy, receiving his first clear cancer scan in October after undergoing treatment.

“Not bitter, he’s bouncing back and feeling remarkably zesty”, returning with a dark, passionate and way-too-personal tour show that squeezes every last drop out of life’s latest curveballs…with a little help from an old adversary. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Jason Donovan: Doin’ fine at York Barbican in…wait for it…2025

Even further ahead: Jason Donovan, Doin’ Fine 25 Tour, York Barbican, March 8 2025, 8pm  

IF 2023 was the year of Kylie, all that attention on Tension, Padam Padam and ITV’s An Audience With, then 2025, yes 2025, promises a York date with her Neighbours beau, Jason Donovan, in celebration of his “incredible ride” through 35 years in music, theatre, film and television.

His long-awaited sequel to Doin’ Fine 90 will feature Jason’s most beloved songs from his stage shows, nods to his TV times in Neighbours and Strictly Come Dancing and his biggest pop hits. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

In Focus: York Actors Collective in Beyond Caring, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, cleaning up from February 6 to 10

Neil Vincent, left, Clare Halliday, Chris Pomfrett, Victoria Delaney and Mick Liversidge in rehearsal for York Actors Collective’s February production of Beyond Caring

YORK Actors Collective follows March 2023’s debut production of Joe Orton’s Entertaining Mr Sloane with Beyond Caring, a play that highlights the social damage inflicted by zero hours contracts. 

Devised by Alexander Zeldin and the original Yard Theatre cast in East London in 2014, later transferring to the National Theatre, the story of agency cleaners at a meat factory will be directed in York by Angie Millard, working with a cast of Victoria Delaney, Clare Halliday, Mick Liversidge, Chris Pomfrett and Neil Vincent.

Over 90 unbroken minutes, Beyond Caring follows two women, Becky and Grace, and one man, Sam (replacing Sarah from past productions in a directorial decision), as they confront the reality of low wage, zero-hour contract employment, never sure of how many hours they have to work, when they will be paid and whether their ‘job’ will continue.

Director Angie Millard says: “This play is remarkable in its structure and power. It totally represents 2024 where many workers are on the breadline, trapped in employment with no guarantee of further work and no way to improve their position. 

“What drew me to the play, however, is the message it conveys about people surviving and keeping a sense of humour. I loved the intensity of the piece with its silences, its disappointments and its determination to get pleasure out of the smallest things. It gave me hope.”

Stage managed by Em Peattie, Millard’s production will play nightly at 7.30pm, Tuesday to Friday, followed by Saturday shows at 2.30 and 5.30pm. “Ticket sales for our first production indicated that a Saturday matinee was very popular,” says Angie.

“We thought that having two early Saturday performances would give the audience an opportunity to see the show and still have time to go for a drink or meal afterwards, making a night of it.” Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Chris Pomfrett and Victoria Delaney in rehearsal for Beyond Caring

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Shed Seven to play “extraordinary” York Museum Gardens two-nighter for 30th anniversary with Peter Doherty on bill

Shed Seven: 30th anniversary celebrations in 2024. Picture: Barnaby Fairley

SHED Seven will mark their 30th anniversary next year with a brace of “extraordinary” outdoor concerts in York Museum Gardens on July 19 and 20. Tickets go on sale on Friday (3/11/2023) at 9am at seetickets.com.

“It’s been a long time coming, and now we can finally announce two special homecoming shows,” says the York band’s website.

“We’re already planning something truly extraordinary for these shows, so you can expect special guests and grand ideas galore. It’s going to be a jubilant celebration of the last 30 years of Shed Seven and a performance like nothing we’ve done before.”

The announcement continues: “We’re thrilled to be joined by special guests Peter Doherty, The Lottery Winners, Brooke Combe, Serotones and Apollo Junction throughout the weekend.”

Doherty recorded a guest vocal for Throwaways, the closing track of Shed Seven’s upcoming sixth studio album, A Matter Of Time, when his band, The Libertines, were at work on new recordings in their Margate studio.

Throwaways is an anything-but-throwaway duet with Sheds’ singer Rick Witter. “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?’.

“We sent Peter the song Throwaways and he did some harmonising and ad-libbing. It’s a song about outsiders. We’ve always been outsiders, and The Libertines have that about them too.”

A Matter Of Time will be released on Shed Seven’s new label, Cooking Vinyl, on January 5 2024 and can be pre-ordered from shedseven.com.

This will be the first Sheds’ album to feature new members Rob ‘Maxi’ Maxfield, from Audioweb, on drums and Ian Brown band member Tim Willis on keys, along with Witter, guitarist Paul Banks and bass player Tom Gladwin, band stalwarts from the Britpop era.

Did you know?

SUPPORT act Serotones feature Rick Witter’s son, Duke, on vocals, alongside original Sheds’ drummer Alan Leach’s son, Sonny, on guitar.

Did you know too?

SHED Seven’s Museum Gardens shows will be celebrating the 30th anniversary of their debut single for Polydor Records, the double A-side Mark and Casino Girl (March 7 1994), and debut album Change Giver (September 5 2024), rather than the 30th anniversary of the year they formed in York (1990).  

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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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Terry Hall: a Special reflection

Terry Hall, centre, with his fellow long-time members of The Specials, Lynval Golding and Horace Panter

IN Episode 119, Two Big Egos In A Small Car arts podcasters Graham Chalmers and Charles Hutchinson look back on the life, music and cultural impact of Terry Hall RIP.

Under discussion too are the future (or not) of Edinburgh International Film Festival and contrasting music memoirs by errant Englishman Peter Doherty and Barabra Charone, American PR legend for the biggest names in rock.

To listen, head to: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1187561/11991653