Shed Seven lighting up the Halifax night sky when opening The Piece Hall’s summer season with a celebration of A Maximum High’s 30th anniversary
THIRTY years on, Shed Seven revisited their Britpop magnum opus A Maximum High in full for one night only to launch Cuffe & Taylor’s remarkable summer of no fewer than 41 concerts at The Piece Hall, Halifax.
A Yorkshire start to an international season was a canny choice, and better still, the typically Yorkshire weather forecast of rain at 6pm and 7pm to greet support acts Seb Lowe and The Guest List turned out to be wrong. There was no need to go chasing rainbows; that could wait until the end under the darkening Halifax skies.
Built as a cloth hall for handloom weavers to sell woollen cloth, the 18th century architectural splendour of the Grade I listed Piece Hall makes a natural amphitheatre for outdoor concerts – hence the busier-than-ever 2026 programme – and Shed Seven supporters turned out in full number, 6,500 filling the courtyard and the tiers above that transform as if by magic from two to three tiers. This is Yorkshire’s answer to summer opera at Arena di Verona, no less!
Guitarist Paul Bankson stage against the backdrop of The Piece Hall
The York band had last played here in their first gig out of Covid lockdowns on September 25 2021: strange circumstances, where proximity was gradually being reintroduced; circumstances too where drummer Alan Leach and guitarist Joe Johnson were in their last days before taking an “indefinite break” from the line-up.
The Sheds returned on the crest of their second wave: two number one albums in 2024, a new album and biggest ever ShedCember tour on the way, and drummer Rob Maxfield’s gold drum kit and guitarist and keyboards player Tim Wills settled into their groove alongside the familiar axis of bassist Tom Gladwin, guitarist Paul Banks and frontman Rick Witter.
Saturday’s focus, however, was on the past. Advance notice had suggested the set would open with 1996’s A Maximum High in track order, but Witter had promised surprises in his CharlesHutchPress interview. Wasn’t that Dirty Soul, the opening track to 1994 debut album Change Giver, cutting through the Halifax air after the band entered to Elmer Bernstein’s The Magnificent [Shed] Seven theme tune? Indeed so, to be followed by early favourites Mark and Dolphin.
Going for red: Rick Witter in that dazzling shirt, fit to burn any disco down
The grimy Shed Seven graffiti that formed the backdrop in black and white should have been a clue. Then Witter, as alert as ever to audience vibes, chipped in: “We know why you bought your tickets. We’re not stupid! It’s coming but not quite yet.” Cue Speakeasy, Witter’s first mention of his mum being in the audience, and Ocean Pie.
By now, the brass band, such a swell innovation at the Sheds’ brace of York Museum Gardens shows in 2024, and five-part Shed Seven Choir, as featured at Scarborough Open Air Theatre and Glastonbury last summer, had made their entry.
The Shed Seven scrawl made way for A Maximum High’s album cover – matched by trombonist Tim Hurst, saxophonist Andy Cox and trumpet player Jamie Brownfield’s T-shirts – and Witter jettisoned his black shirt in favour of a sparkling red number. He could have gone for gold, but maybe that was in the glitter.
A maximum high hat: Shed Seven drummer Rob Maxfield
Like any album, A Maximum High has its highs and lows, but those highs a very high – Getting Better, Where Have You Been Tonight?, Going For Gold and On Standby, all from Side 1, where track two, Magic Streets, held its own too, preceded by Witter’s story of the song referring to “a house of ill repute above the Early Learning Centre”. “It’s about prostitutes. No-one knew!” he revealed.
After the audience sang its lusty version of On Standby before Witter joined in, there followed the lesser lights of Out By My Side, Lies This Day Was Ours, Ladyman and Falling From The Sky, some brought out of the vaults for the first time in two decades.
The Sheds gave them their all, Banks’s guitar parts especially so, but it was a lull, nonetheless, saved by the knowledge of what was coming next: schooldays’ crowd favourite Bully Boy, as belligerent and cocksure as ever, and Parallel Lines, the one helluva party album closer, with a light show to boot. No imagery from 30 years ago was shown, Witter painting the picture instead in anecdotes between songs.
The swanky Shed Seven logo, familiar from the past few years, returned for the rushing thrill of encores: High Hopes, latter-day landmarks Talk Of The Town and Let’s Go Dancing and the swaggering finale of Disco Down and Chasing Rainbows, sung by one and all as always as they exited.
Another night, another town, once more Shed Seven had burned this disco down.
Crowd shot: Shed Seven at the finale to Saturday’s A Maximum High 30th Anniversary Showat The Piece Hall
Holly Taymar: Playing City of York Roland Walls Folk Weekend
A FEAST of folk music and Shed Seven’s anniversary celebration, a le Carré thriller and a Willy Russell classic send Charles Hutchinson out and about.
Festival of the week: City of York Roland Walls Folk Weekend 2026, Black Swan Folk Club, Black Swan Inn, Peasholme Green York, today and tomorrow
CITY of York Roland Walls Folk Weekend’s three-day programme of 50 acts continues today and tomorrow with bands, soloists and sessions throughout the pub and in the car park from 1pm each day after last night’s Irish-themed bill in the club room.
Among the performers will be King Courgette, in the return of the original line-up, Leather’O, White Sail, Janglebuddies, Graham Hodge, Monkey’s Fist, Chechelele, Caramba, Holly Taymar, Duncan McFarlane Band, Mary Molloy, Susie Coyle, Soundsphere and Jon Palmer Band. Admission is free, with collections for the Motor Neurone Disease Association.
Stuart O’Hara: York Late Music concert this afternoon
Lunchtime concert of the week: York Late Music, Stuart O’Hara (bass) and Rob Hao piano), Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, York, today, 1pm
MARRYING words and music, bass Stuart O’Hara and pianist Rob Hao’s performance is based around new settings of Yorkshire poets by local composers: James Else &Alan Gillott, Retratos (world premiere, complete song cycle); Tim Brooks & Lizzi Linklater, New Student In The University Cafe (world premiere); Jenny Jackson & Richard Kitchen, Vessels (world premiere) and Nick Carter & Hugh Bernays: The Water Will Not Remember from Requiem for the Arctic (world premiere)
This afternoon’s recital also includes David Power’s Six Songs, based on the poetry of E.H. Visiak, and two new settings by York St John University student composers Robyn Hughes-Maclean and Matthew Jarvis. Tickets: latemusic.org or on the door.
The Elysian Singers: Musical settings of poetry at Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, York. Picture: Linda Dawson
Poetry and music in motion: The Elysian Singers, York Late Music, Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, York, tonight, 7.30pm
DIRECTED by Sam Laughton, The Elysian Singers’ insightful programme celebrates the musical settings of the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins. Benjamin Britten’s A.M.D.G. will be complemented by works by Samuel Barber (Heaven-Haven), Alan Bullard (The Windhover and Spring Morning), Bob Chilcott (The Bethlehem Star) and Ian Stephens (Pied Beauty).
The première of David Lancaster’s new work, Henry Purcell, featuring Hopkins’ tribute to his own favourite composer, provides an opportunity to revisit Purcell’s Remember Not, Lord, Our Offences and O Lord God Of Hosts. David Power’s quirky and imaginative settings of four E.H. Visiak poems completes the line-up, preceded by Lancaster and Power’s 6.45pm pre-concert talk. Tickets: latemusic.org or on the door.
Shed Seven: Marking 30th anniversary of A Maximum High with one-off concert at The Piece Hall, Halifax, tonight
Recommended but sold out already: Shed Seven, A Maximum High 30th Anniversary Show, The Piece Hall, Halifax, today, 6.30pm
YORK band Shed Seven are marking the 30th anniversary of their hit-laden second album, April 1996’s A Maximum High, with a one-off concert at The Piece Hall, featuring the magnum opus in full plus further Sheds’ hits and fan favourites. Expect a few surprises too. The Guest List (6.30pm) and Seb Lowe (7.20pm) support.
Utter Madness: The Nutty Boys stride out at Scarborough Open Air Theatre for the fourth time tonight
Seaside trip of the week: Madness, Scarborough Open Air Theatre, tonight, doors 6pm
IN their 50th year since forming in Camden, Nutty Boys Madness make their fourth appearance at Scarborough Open Air Theatre after previous seaside visits in 2017, 2019 and 2024.
Drawing on 31 Top 40 hits and 11 Top Ten albums, their timeless blend of ska, pop, punk and music hall will be on show as ever in Our House, It Must be Love, Baggy Trousers, House Of Fun et al. The Beat featuring Ranking Jnr and reggae vocalist Hollie Cook support. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
Ralf Little’s disillusioned British intelligence officer Alec Leamas in The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, on tour at Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Johan Persson
Thriller of the week: The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, Grand Opera House, York, June 9 to 13, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees
FOR the first time, a John le Carré novel is being brought to life on stage by Chichester Festival Theatre in David Eldridge’s adaptation of The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, a tale that journeys through the fog-shrouded terrain of Cold War espionage, deception and moral compromise.
Death In Paradise star Ralf Little’s disillusioned British intelligence officer, Alec Leamas, is ready to come in from the cold, until veteran agent George Smiley persuades him to take one final mission against the East German Secret Service. Deep undercover, Leamas finds his convictions tested and his defences breached by Liz Gold, a quietly defiant librarian, whose compassion threatens to thaw his frostbitten heart. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
An open book or something more complex than that?Florence Poskitt’s Rita and Jamie McKeller’s Frank in Black Treacle Theatre’s Educating Rita
Literature lessons of the week: Black Treacle Theatre in Educating Rita, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, June 9 to 13, 7.30pm
YORK actors Florence Poskitt and Jamie McKeller team up for the first time under Jim Paterson’s direction in Willy Russell’s warm, witty and moving double-hander about the power of education to change lives. When Rita, a working-class hairdresser hungry for something more, signs up for an Open University literature course, she meets disillusioned academic Frank, whose passion for teaching has long faded.
Their weekly tutorials become a battle of ideas, humour and honesty as Rita’s confidence blossoms and Frank reckons with his own choices and the possibility of a second chance. Change comes with difficult choices for both student and tutor, who must reconsider who they are and who they want to be. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Director Courtney Brown in Pickering Musical Society’s Let’s Do It!, The Cole Porter Songbook
Musical kicks of the week: Pickering Musical Society in Let’s Do It!r, The Cole Porter Songbook, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, June 9 to 13, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
IN a sparkling showcase of wit, romance, sophisticated melodies and clever lyrics, Pickering Musical Society celebrates the joyous Cole Porter Songbook, performing beloved songs from Anything Goes, Kiss Me, Kate and High Society and such hits as You’re The Top and I Get A Kick Out Of You under the direction of Courtney Brown.
The Sarah Louise Ashworth School of Dance’s vibrant tap, jazz and contemporary routines combine stylish choreography, glamorous costumes and a tribute to the Great American Songbook. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.co.uk.
The Bluffs: Short-form improv games infused with storytelling flair at Rise@Bluebird Bakery
Unscripted silliness of the week: Unwritten: The Literary Improv Show, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, June 11, 8.30pm, doors 7.30pm
YORK troupe The Bluffs take classic short-form improv games and infuse them with storytelling flair in an evening of laughter, silliness and plot twists. Each fast-paced show is shaped by audience suggestions and spontaneous creativity. Expect scenes inspired by classic literature, unexpected character mash-ups and even a fanfiction-inspired musical number.
The Bluffs are drawn from a melange of theatrical, comedy and musical backgrounds, from festival stages to pantomime and competitive Theatresports. Box office: eventbrite.com/e/unwritten-the-literary-improv-show-tickets-1984763723726.
Wright & Grainger: Say It & Play: “Gorgeous weave of our home-grown stuff” at The Old Paint Shop on Thursday. Picture: Afternoon Film
The Old Paint Shop presents: Wright & Grainger Say It & Play it, York Theatre Royal Studio, June 11, 8pm
FRIENDS and working partners since Easingwold schooldays, Wright & Grainger serve a carefully curated evening of stories, poems, songs and gentle chaos. Known for their internationally acclaimed adaptations of Ancient Greek myths, sometimes they do something a tad different.
Say It & Play It will be a set full of Alexander Flanagan Wright & Phil Grainger’s shorter collaborative works, the poems that stand on their own, the beautiful tracks they have been writing. “It’s a gorgeous weave of our home-grown stuff, grown and told on home turf,” they say. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Lincoln Lightfoot: Participating in North Yorkshire Open Studios
In Focus: North Yorkshire Open Studios, Summer edition, June 6 & 7 and June 13 & 14, 10am to 5pm
MORE than 200 artists and makers are taking part in the summer edition of North Yorkshire Open Studios 2026.
Covering three areas of God’s Own Country, from the remote Upper Dales to the Central locations of Harrogate and York and the Moors & Coast, this annual event enables creative talents to open their studios to promote and sell their work directly to the public.
Taking part in and around York will be jewellery designer Helen Drye (Fountains Close, Riccall); oil painter Pennie Lordan (Moor Lane, Copmanthorpe); artist Emma James (Copmanthorpe Lane, Bishopthorpe); oil painter Lucie Wake (Slingsby Grove); abstract seascape painter Alex Ash (Heslington Lane, Fulford); B-movie poster art pastiche surrealist Lincoln Lighfoot (Brunswick Street) and northern landscape linocut printmaker Jon Haste (South Bank Social Club, Ovington Terrace).
So too are eco jewellery designer Rebecca Mihill (Nunthorpe Grove); mixed-media artist Ali Hunter (Alma Terrace); environment and plant-inspired printmaker Rachel Jones (Richardson Street); stained glass artist, ceramicist and printmaker Veronica Ongaro (Richardson Street); oil painter Di Gomery (Southlands Methodist Church, Bishopthorpe Road) and experimental artist Jill Tattersall (Mount Parade).
Further York artists will be geometric jewellery designer Evie Leach (PICA Studios, Unit 4, Enterprise Complex, Walmgate); animal artist Katrina Mansfield (PICA Studios); figurative artist Lesley Shaw (PICA Studios); Irish landscape artist Lisa Power (PICA Studios); rag rug maker Lu Mason (PICA Studios) and cityscape and architecture artist Ric Liptrot (PICA Studios).
In the line-up too will be abstract rust and gold metal-leaf artist Jo Walton (Rogues Atelier, Franklin’s Yard, Fossgate); illustrator and screen-print gig poster artist Kai West (Rogues Atelier); mixed-media figurative artist Mo Nisbet (Acomb Road); nature and animal acrylic artist Nicola Glover (Beech Grove); stoneware potter Hannah Arnup (Arnup Studios, Panman Lane, Holtby); natural world artist Kate Pettitt (Arnup Studios); fine art photographer Lesley Peatfield and enigmatic, ethereal artist Michelle Galloway (Arnup Studios).
Look out too for pattern-led tropical botanical artist Emily Littler (Sugar Hill Farm Stockton Lane); stone and wood sculptor Janie Stevens (Greenthwaite, Chantry Green, Upper Poppleton); Japanese-inspired British plant, flower and animal artist Toby Staunton (The Cottage, Main Street, Shipton by Benuingbrough); landscape artist Gonzalo Blanco (Rose Dene, Moor Lane, Strensall) and multi-media figurative and abstract artist Andrew Bloodworth (Stonelands Close, Sheriff Hutton).
The names keep coming: mixed-media landscape artist Justine Warner (Laburnum Cottage, West End, Sheriff Hutton); “happy accidents” land, sky and water artist Graham Jones (Harland House, Main Street, Huby); nature artist Nora Gaston (Moat House, Boroughbridge Road, Green Hammerton); experimental landscape artist Freya Horsley (Corner Cottage, The Green, Tollerton) and Bee-spoke Quilts’ hand-made quilt, jackets and waistcoats (Apple Croft, Gale Road, Alne),
Completing the list for York & beyond will be milliner Jane de Carteret’s woodland-type creatures (Apple Croft, Alne); Gina Bean’s semi-abstract North Yorkshire landscapes (The Bentleys, Lower Dunsforth); beach, dale and vale artist Richard Gray (Burnside, Spring Street, Easingwold); landscape artist Jeff Parker (Roedeer House, Raskelf Road, Raskelf) and Anya Manfield’s abstract textile wall hangings, mixed media artworks and layered collage pieces (Amber Cottage, Kilburn).
The full list of artists and makers can be found at nyos.org.uk. The Winter North Yorkshire Open Studios 2026, featuring the same names, is in the diary for November 7 and 8, 11am to 4pm.
Going out for the summer: Shed Seven, filmed by the huts on Brighton beach, are heading to Halifax this weekend
TICKETS sold out in only six and a half minutes for Shed Seven’s one-off 30th anniversary celebration of A Maximum High, their hit-laden 1996 album from Britpop’s apogee, at The Piece Hall, Halifax, on June 6.
Enjoying their second coming to the max, the York indie band will be opening the West Yorkshire outdoor venue’s summer of 41 shows, playing the 250,000-selling album in its entirety, complemented by a second set of career-spanning greatest hits and crowd favourites, in their only headline show of the British summertime.
“We are looking forward to giving A Maximum High’ the birthday party it deserves,” said lead singer Rick Witter, when tickets went on sale last October.
“We’re especially excited to be revisiting some of the songs we haven’t played for decades. We hope that fans will come from far and wide to join us at this ‘one night only’ huge celebratory event.”
They will indeed be doing that – and in very different circumstances to the last occasion the Sheds played the Piece Hall courtyard on August 28 2021, headlining an all-Yorkshire bill featuring Leeds bands The Pigeon Detectives and The Wedding Present and York’s Skylights.
The album artwork for Shed Seven’s second album, A Maximum High, released on April 1 1996 on Polydor Records
“My big memory of that night was that it was a little weird because it was our first gig coming out of the [Covid-19] lockdown, when we were allowed to mingle again,” Rick recalls. “To go on stage close to all those people actually span my head a little after sitting on my own in my kitchen for months on end! It took a little time to adjust.”
The primary focus will be on A Maximum High, released in 1996 on Polydor Records on April 1 – this was no April Fool’s Day prank – and going on to peak at number eight, spend 26 weeks on the Official UK Album Charts and spawn five singles, Where Have You Been Tonight? (a hit in 1995), Getting Better, Going For Gold, Bully Boy and On Standby.
Before the year was out, stand-alone single Chasing Rainbows peaked at number 11, making the Sheds the only British band to achieve five Top 40 singles in the UK charts that year.
Thirty years on, Rick looks back to the genesis of that landmark album. “We’d used an unknown producer [Jessica Corcoran] in 1994 for our debut, Change Giver, so it was very innocent, very raw. It was a case of, ‘these are the songs and that’s all we’ve got’, like REM and U2’s first albums,” he says.
“At this point it was all Blur versus Oasis, and we knew we had to hold our own. Out came Where Have You Been Tonight?, and then we kind of scrapped songs, then did a showcase in the record company offices of Bully Boy and Going For Gold, where the record label owner said he wasn’t convinced by Going For Gold!”
Shed Seven’s 2026 line-up: Paul Banks (guitar, keyboards), left, Rob Maxfield (drums), Rick Witter (lead vocals), Tom Gladwin (bass) and Tim Wills (guitars and keyboards)
They could have been dispirited but the Sheds responded by writing Lies, Getting Better and what would become the album-closer, the six-minute Parallel Lines, the Champagne Supernova of A Maximum High.
“I’d written the lyric ‘I’m feeling bright, I feel all new’ and we’d go round town shouting that line,” says Rick. “That set the tone, going into the studio.”
This time, too, they would be working with an established producer, Chris Sheldon, at RAK Studios. “He’d produced Therapy,” says Rick. “They were Mickie Most’s studios, with accommodation rooms for us and big sunken baths that you could imagine Status Quo having been in there!
“We got on a roll with it, and what potentially could have been a ‘difficult second album’ actually became quite easy. We then wrote Chasing Rainbows while we were on tour for the album and thought it was too good to hold back for the next album in two years’ time – and that song is now very much associated with that year.”
For all their achievements in that annus mirabilis, the Sheds did not garner the headlines of the likes of Blur, Oasis and Pulp. “I’ve never really been one to not be myself, and to get magazine covers you had to do something like slap someone around the face, and I’m just not that kind of guy,” says Rick.
Shed Seven’s poster for Saturday’s one-off concert, A Maximum High 30th Anniversary Show, at The Piece Hall, Halifax
“That hindered us in some respects, but that [behaviour] does not compute with me because music is for everybody. There were some nice things said about us by the music press, but also some terrible things, about my haircut, my choice of trousers I was wearing, but if we kept selling records, we were happy just trundling along!
“It was the same story with wanting to stay in York, where we knew everyone and we could stay grounded, whereas if we’d moved to London, I’m convinced we would have been finished by 1999. Going home from London, it was two hours on the train, then you’d be seeing your friends, they’d ask you questions and then they’d tell you about fixing radiators.”
Further hit singles would follow – 15 in total – but A Maximum High would live up to its title until the Sheds’ renaissance was crowned with two number one albums in 2024. “I think we’re now in our second peak,” says Rick, as they look ahead to the biggest ever Shedcember 20 tour in November and December and continue to work on their next album. Already in the can is the video for the first single, filmed in Wakefield, but details will be kept under wraps until early July.
“The surprises” promised for The Piece Hall must remain a secret too until next Saturday’s set.
Shed Seven, A Maximum High 30th Anniversary Show, TK Maxx Presents Live At The Piece Hall, Halifax, June 6, supported by special guests Seb Lowe and The Guest List. SOLD OUT. Doors open at 6.30pm.
Shed Seven’s Paul Banks, left, Rob “Maxi” Maxfield, Rick Witter, Tom Gladwin and Tim Wills: Heading out on tenth edition of Shedcember in November and December
SHED Seven will conclude their Shedcember X 2026 Tour at Leeds O2 Academy on December 12, but no home-city gig will be on the York band’s 21-date itinerary.
The two-time album chart toppers will play a further Yorkshire show at Sheffield Octagon on November 27. Tickets go on general sale on Friday at 10am at https://lnk.to/ShedSevenX; fans can access pre-sale tickets from today (22/4/2026) at 10am by signing up to the Sheds’ mailing list at https://www.shedseven.com/signup.
Marking this much-loved festive run, the band have unveiled a heartfelt fan-focused film, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2um2NroTZ8, celebrating the tenth Shedcember season, written and directed by guitarist Paul Banks, capturing the essence of Shed Seven’s shows and the appreciation they have for their dedicated fan base.
Shedcember X promises to be the Sheds’ biggest and most celebratory yet. Since its inception in 2007, Shedcember has grown into a cult institution for fans, becoming their definitive start to the festive season.
Shed Seven singer Rick Witter: “Expect the big hits, along with a few surprises, and the thrill of us all singing our hearts out together for a couple of hours,” he says
Lead singer Rick Witter enthuses: “We can’t wait to get out there up and down the UK and soak up what is a unique atmosphere at a Shed Seven gig. Expect the big hits, along with a few surprises, and the thrill of us all singing our hearts out together for a couple of hours. See you down the front.”
Each night the Sheds will deliver a career-spanning set packed with anthems such as Going For Gold, Chasing Rainbows, Disco Down, On Standby and Talk Of The Town. Special guests The Academic, the Irish indie band with multiple number one albums in their home country, will join for all dates.
As the Sheds’ tour announcement puts it: “If you’ve never been…this is the one to start with. If you have…you’re already know you’re coming…because every couple of years…this is where we meet again.
“For those who’ve been there before, Shedcember needs no introduction. It’s warm beer, bright lights and songs that never left you. Familiar faces in the crowd and new ones found somewhere between the first song and the last. Arms around shoulders. Voices filling every corner of the room.”
Shed Seven’s poster artwork for Shedcember X
This year, Shed Seven are marking the 30th anniversary of their hit-filled apotheosis A Maximum High, released on Polydor on April 1 1996 with its quintet of singles, Where Have You Been Tonight?, Getting Better, Going for Gold, On Standby and Bully Boy. The landmark Britpop album will be revisited in full at The Piece Hall, Halifax, on June 6. Tickets are on sale at ticketmaster.co.uk.
The full itinerary for Shedcember X is: November 13, Nottingham Rock City; November 14, Birmingham O2 Academy; November 17, Nick Rayns LCR, University of East Anglia, Norwich; November 19, Aberdeen Music Hall; November 20, Glasgow O2 Academy; November 21, Edinburgh Usher Hall; November 23, Leicester O2 Academy; November 24, Brighton Dome; November 26, Cardiff University Great Hall; November 27, Sheffield Octagon; November 28, Newcastle O2 City Hall, and November 30, Cambridge Corn Exchange.
In December: December 1, Bristol Beacon; December 3, Stockton Globe; December 4, Mountford Hall, Liverpool University; December 5, Manchester O2 Apollo; December 7, Lincoln Engine Shed; December 8, Stoke-on-Trent Victoria Hall; December 10, Bournemouth O2 Academy; December 11, London O2 Academy, Brixton, and December 12, Leeds O2 Academy.
In the Sheds’ 2026 gig diary too are: Victoria Park, Warrington, May 23 and 24; Isle of Wight Festival, Big Top Tent, June 18; Engelfield House, Theale, Berkshire, July 24; Shed Seven Live In Belfast, Mandela Hall, Belfast, October 23, and Shed Seven Live In Dublin, Vicar Street, Dublin, October 24.
NEWSFLASH 24/4/2026
SHED Seven have added a second night at Leeds O2 Academy on December 13 in response to “phenomenal demand in the pre-sale” for December 12.
In addition, Shedcember X now will open a day earlier on November 12 at Nottingham Rock City after a similar pre-sale scenario for November 13. Box office: https://lnk.to/ShedSevenX.
The updated poster for Shedcember X with new dates added at Nottingham Rock City and Leeds O2 Academy
Jess Steel, left, Heather Findlay, Annie Rae Donaghy and Beth McCarthy committing to Murder On The Dancefloor big style. Picture: David Harrison
THIS was the 12th edition of Big Ian’s A Night To Remember, the eighth to fill York Barbican en route to raising more than £200,000 for York charities.
Early signs are that a record sum may have been collected from Wednesday’s three-hour fundraiser to boost St Leonard’s Hospice, Bereaved Children Support York, Accessible Arts & Media and York dementia projects. (UPDATE: 18/11/2025. £30, 249.70p was raised.)
You will know Big Ian, HUGE party band frontman Ian Donaghy, who won the Outstanding Contribution Award at the 2025 York Community Pride Awards, organised by The York Press, in recognition of his extensive charity work and efforts to tackle loneliness and raise dementia awareness in the city.
A Night To Remember master of ceremonies Big Ian Donaghy with Shed Seven’s Rick Witter, Big Ian’s pick for “the new Duke of York”
This is one ID who doesn’t need ID, but A Night To Remember really isn’t about Ian, even if he organises the event and finds sponsors to cover all the costs,so that all the ticket money goes to the charities, along with donations and raffle proceeds on the night.
Oh, and he secured an opening message on screen from Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer, arranged all the myriad participants – a hush-hush appearance by Shed Seven’s Rick Witter et al – in a late-changing set-list order, hosted the show with patter and swagger, and sung his lungs out too. No wonder he walked 17 kilometres on Wednesday.
He is frontman, showman, show opener too with Uptown Funk, but A Night To Remember is Big Ian’s night every two years for putting York’s diverse world of music on one stage: a night of York Helping York, a night of celebrating why music can be made by everyone for everyone. Where we became one big family, in unison for the finale of Sister Sledge’s We Are Family, as Ian sang “I’ve got all my sisters with me”. Sisters in soul and much more besides, brothers too.
Making A Night To Remember exactly that: Many, but not all, of the musicians who took part on Wednesday night. Picture: David Kessel
There are plenty of familiar performers that return each time: Las Vegas Ken, now 78, still in jeans, stiffer in leg, joined by fiddler Kieran O’Malley for a singalong Wild Rover; Graham Hodge, now 75, replacing his standard guitar with bow tie and suit for crooning Cry Me A River with full band accompaniment in Las Vegas manner; George Hall, leading the band from the keyboards; the HUGE brass section; Rob Wilson and Simon Snaize on guitar,
And Ian Chalk leading the bright young talents of York Music Forum, now so important to fledgling talent in the city when schools are finding it more and more difficult to fulfil that role.
Participants young and old had their moment in the spotlight. Responding to Big Ian’s challenge, Easingwold-based choir leader Jessa “Hurricane” Liversidge assembled the 10 Decade Choir, aged from seven to Shirley in her nineties, bonding in the joy of Labi Siffre’s Something Inside So Strong, a hymn to the power of music.
York Music Forum brass and woodwind players in action at A Night To Remember. Picture: David Harrison
Annie Rae Donaghy: Solo rendition of Maneater at A Night To Remember. Picture: David Kessel
On the run: Beth McCarthy giving everything to Bat Out Of Hell in A Night To Remember. Picture: David Harrison
Suits you, sir: Graham Hodge taking on Las Vegas cabaret crooner mode for Cry Me A River at A Night To Remember. Picture: David Kessel
The ever-watchful young keyboard player in York Music Forum’s rendition of Dave Kemp’s Fryin, I learnt later, was playing his first ever gig at nine. Keep an eye on him.
Likewise, Big Ian had asked nascent talents to put themselves forward for a solo slot: he picked 12-year-old singer Lacey Hart, performing I Have Nothing to 1,400 people to the accompaniment of the full band, one mightily impressive debut after warm-up slots at a handful of HUGE gigs. Tackling Houston, Lacey had no problem matching Whitney’s dramatics.
North Eastern classical singer Sam Holden hit the heights early on in You’ll Never Walk Alone, ironically performed solo – but spectacularly – to a backing track, and later Y Street Band, their members peppered through other songs throughout, relished the spotlight in Peter Gabriel’s Sledgehammer, immediately followed by Scissor Sisters’ Take Your Mama.
Arms held aloft: Lacey Hart, 12, with A Night To Remember host Big Ian Donaghy, left, and her father, James Hart, after singing I Have Nothing. Picture: David Kessel
Back to those sisters in soul, who are so integral to A Night To Remember: Jess Steel, the singing hairdresser; Beth McCarthy, back in York after playing Glastonbury and an American tour; Annie Rae Donaghy, soon to appear in Next Door But One’s Christmas show When Robins Appear, and Heather Findlay, long-standing folk and prog-rock queen.
They took solo turns, they sang backing vocals, all except Annie changed costumes more often than Cher. Jess’s Running Up That Hill set a high bar; Annie revamped Hall & Oates’s Maneater; Beth surpassed her Mr Brightside with Bat Out Of Hell, preceded by her duet with Annie, Britney at the double for Baby One More Time.
A Night To Remember master of ceremonies Big Ian Donaghy keeping eye on proceedings from the side of the stage, resting on a donations bucket for York charities. Picture: David Kessel
Best of all was Heather’s rendition of Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven, a stairway she not so much climbed as glided up with elan. It was only right they should do a climactic number together, Murder On The Dancefloor, and they nailed it.
What of Mr Witter, crowned the new Duke of York by Big Ian? The man in black might have been expected to conclude the show given his status in York, but no, just like Ian, he said the show was the star, not him.
Instead, his appearance kept quiet until the last minute, he ended the first half, singing It Takes Two with Jess, who has cut his hair all these years (“I’ve lived my dream,” she said “I’ve sung with Rick Witter”), followed, inevitably, by Sheds’ anthem Chasing Rainbows, brass accompaniment and all. Rick may not have closed the show, but he closes this review.
Shed Seven’s Rick Witter duetting with Jess Steel on It Takes Two, the 1966 Kim Weston & Marvin Gaye hit. Picture: David Harrison
Shed Seven in concert at Scarborough Open Air Theatre in June 2025. The Piece Hall, Halifax, awaits next summer. Picture: Andy Little
SHED Seven will be mark the 30th anniversary of landmark 1996 album A Maximum High with a special one-off gig at The Piece Hall, Halifax, on June 6 2026.
In the York band’s only headline show of Summer 2026, they will perform their most hit-laden album in full, followed by a second set packed with the Britpop alumni’s greatest hits. Special guests that night will be Seb Lowe and The Guest List.
Singer Rick Witter says: “We are looking forward to giving A Maximum High the birthday party it deserves. We’re especially excited to be revisiting some of the songs we haven’t played for decades. We hope that fans will come from far and wide to join us at this ‘one- night-only’ huge celebratory event.”
Released on April 1 1996, A Maximum High was a defining moment for the Sheds, reaching number eight, selling more than 250,000 copies and spawning five Top 40 singles, 1995 hit Where Have You Been Tonight?, Getting Better, Going For Gold, Bully Boy and On Standby.
The band achieved chart history when Chasing Rainbows, released later in 1996, made them the only British band to notch five Top 40 singles in the UK charts that year.
The last two years have been nothing short of extraordinary for the Sheds. They achieved two number one albums in 2024 with January’s A Matter Of Time and September’s Liquid Gold – a feat only 19 other acts have managed in the UK charts – and in September 2025 they were crowned Best Live Performer at the AIM Independent Music Awards, an accolade made even more special as it was voted for by the public.
The poster for Shed Seven’s one-night-only A Maximum High 30th anniversary gig
This year too, the Sheds played to 28,000 when supporting Paul Heaton, at Bramall Lane, Sheffield, in May; made their long-overdue debut at Scarborough Open Air Theatre in June, and played Sounds Of The City 2025, at Castlefield Bowl, Manchester, and Leeds Millennium Square in July.
In a summer of 14 festival and open-air shows, they returned to Glastonbury on June 27 for the first time in 30 years, revelling in a late-afternoon set on the Woodsies tented stage.“It appears we have become big-time Charlies,” Witter told the crowd, as the Sheds performed with five backing singers, three horn players and Elvis-fronted Nirvana tribute act Elvana’s frontman Paul Kell (aka Kellvis), who joined Rick on vocals for Suspicious Minds.
Next June’s celebration concert will be a welcome return to The Piece Hall for York’s indie stalwarts after a sold-out headline show in the open-air courtyard in 2021.
Shed Seven join Embrace, Ethel Cain, Billy Ocean, The K’s, Opeth and David Gray among the first headliners to be announced forTK Maxx presents Live at The Piece Hall 2026.
Nicky Chance-Thompson, chief executive officer of The Piece Hall Charitable Trust, says: “These announcements just keep ‘getter better’! It’s going to be quite the party when these Yorkshire heroes head back to our beautiful courtyard.
“Shed Seven played here back in 2021, and marking the 30th anniversary of their iconic 1996 album seemed to perfect time to invite them back. Hearing A Maximum High in full, plus all their greatest hits on top, will make this an unmissable gig for their legions of fans.”
Today’s announcement follows a record-breaking year at The Piece Hall when 36 headline shows drew 185,000 ticket sales: a new box-office record for the historic West Yorkshire venue. Plans are well underway for 30-plus shows next year.
Rick Witter fronting Shed Seven in their Scarborough Open Air Theatre debut. Picture: Andy Little
IT’S been a dream of ours for some time to head out to the coast to play Scarborough OAT,” said Sheds frontman Rick Witter, when tickets went on sale for their long-overdue debut at what he branded “Yorkshire’s very own Hollywood Bowl”.
Overdue? Here’s why. York band, from up the A64. Anthemic hits, ripe for crowd roars from pitch level and the terrace banks behind. Not to mention early singles by the nautical name of Ocean Pie and Dolphin, both aired here in a 21-song set list.
Overdue, yes, and yet the timing felt just right. “It’s worked in our favour,” reckoned Rick in his York Press interview. And here’s why.
Shed Seven are a band re-born, going for gold anew rather than growing old on the Britpop heritage treadmill. Two number one albums in 2024, their 30th anniversary year. Match fit for outdoor exertions, as much as the indoor Shedcember seasons. The back line firmed up by “new” signings Tim Wills, on keyboards and guitar, and Rob “Maxi” Maxfield behind the drum kit that still bore the Liquid Gold livery from last autumn and winter’s travels.
Samantha Seth leading The Shed Seven Choir at Scarborough Open Air Theatre. Picture: Andy Little
Bolstered by 2017’s Instant Pleasures and the more constant pleasures of 2024’s A Matter Of Time, more Premiership-quality songs than ever are worthy of the set list, to the point where Casino Girl, She Left Me On Friday, The Heroes, Devil In Your Shoes, Cry For Help and Why Can’t I Be You? could be left out of the match-day squad.
Back in the distant day, your reviewer once called for more theatricality in Sheds’ shows, coupled with more technological aplomb (projections, razzmatazzier lighting), not merely the addition of a keyboard player, to a band that always had chemistry, terrace tunes that stuck like gum to summer soles, audience rapport aplenty and a lean, lippy totem out front.
Now, if Carlsberg did Shed Seven gigs, they would probably do this one, this way, this set list, getting better all the time. Warm weekend night. Capacity crowd of 8,000. Typically low-key, high-efficiency event management by Cuffe & Taylor and venue staff. Canny choice of supports, the sunshine Liverpool Nineties’ pop of Cast and Jake Bugg, dressed as Milk Tray Midlands Man.
8.45pm, enter Wills and Maxfield, stalwart bassist Tom Gladwin and guitarist Paul Banks, then Witter in dandy sequin shirt (from Phix Clothing, should you be wondering), sparkling from the off in instant singalong opener Room In My House.
Rick Witter and Rowetta: In Ecstasy, in Scarborough, on a seaside Saturday night. Picture: Andy Little
Witter had promised “some great ideas”for the Live Summer 2025 shows, in keeping with Huntington School choir singing Bully Boy in last summer’s Museum Gardens gigs, and boy, did they deliver.
For presentation top marks, there were projections to either side of the stage; razzmatazziest lighting, and a huge Shed Seven insignia, lit up in ever-changing colours.
Content was built on regular rotation of supplementary players. Through the darkening night, the Sheds would be joined by a five-piece Manchester choir, led by Samantha Seth, temporarily christened The Shed Seven Choir for Scarborough and upcoming gigs at Glastonbury, Manchester Castlefield Bowl and Leeds Millennium Square. If it worked for The Rolling Stones, it works wonders for Shed Seven.
Glory be, the brass section was back from Museum Gardens 2024, this time Tom I’Anson, on trombone, Jamie Brownfield, on trumpet, and Mike Smith, on saxophone, kitted out in Shed Seven Summer ’25 T-shirts.
Arms outstretched: Shed Seven fans in excelsis at Scarborough Open Air Theatre
Returning too were York acoustic guitarist Stuart Allan, tucked away studiously to the side, and Happy Mondays’ Rowetta, resplendent in red, to resume her rowdy jousting with Witter at the height of In Ecstasy.
By then, the set had taken in the early urgent days of Speakeasy and Ocean Pie, and Witter looking up to the Scarborough heavens in 2024’s mystical, magical Starlings. Riding on the crest of Wills’ keyboard wave, its yearning poetic beauty promptly met its marrow in a devotional cover of The Smiths’ There Is A Light That Never Goes Out.
In keeping with last summer, Going For Gold segued into Elvis’s Suspicious Minds, this time embellished by both brass and a choral coda, before the Sheds’ answer to Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s Power Of Love, Let’s Go Dancing, the swaggering Getting Better and Parallel Lines, stretched to a maximum high, closed the set.
Still the “great ideas” kept a’coming in the encores. First up, a piano being wheeled on, centre stage, for Paul Banks.“I’ve never played piano on stage before, even though I play piano/ keys on all the records. Been too nervous to do it until now!” he said later.
Rick Witter and Paul Banks, at the piano, performing Your Guess Is As Good As Mine, the song they wrote aged 14, at Scarborough Open Air Theatre. Picture: Andy Little
Cue Better Days, and the next surprise, Your Guess Is As Good As Mine, written by Rick and Paul in Huntington School days and since performed at their acoustic duo gigs but never on piano, nor at a Sheds gig until now. Why the long wait? Your guess is as good as mine.
“Really loved playing it on Saturday,” Paul reflected afterwards. “I don’t think Rick and Paul aged 14 would have believed it.”
And what’s this? A band of drummers, Global Grooves, rehearsed by Maxi in Manchester, whose idea it was to bring them over the Pennines. All a matter of keeping time for extra oomph and visual drama in Talk Of The Town and Disco Down. Catch them again at Castlefield Bowl and Millennium Square.
Chasing Rainbows, what else, bade us farewell, sung into the salted sea air by one and all beyond the final bow and team photo of band, brass, choir and Rowetta. It had been a glittering night to match Rick’s shirt.
Beat that! The Global Grooves drummers playing in Shed Seven’s encores at Scarborough Open Air Theatre. Picture: Celestine Dubruel
Shed Seven set list, Scarborough Open Air Theatre, June 14, 8.45pm
Room In My House; Let’s Go; Speakeasy; Where Have You Been Tonight?; Ocean Pie; Starlings; There Is A Light That Never Goes Out (The Smiths cover); Dolphin; High Hopes; Bully Boy; In Ecstasy (with Rowetta); Going For Gold/Suspicious Minds (Mark James/Elvis Presley cover); On Standby; Let’s Go Dancing; Getting Better; Parallel Lines.
Encores: Better Days; Your Guess Is As Good As Mine; Talk Of The Town; Disco Down; Chasing Rainbows.
The poster for Shed Seven’s Live Summer 2025 series of outdoor concerts
Shed Seven, huts five: Heading to the Yorkshire coast for the York band’s Scarborough Open Air Theatre debut today
OPEN studios, chocolate tales, dinosaurs and reflections on time make for a typically diverse week ahead in Charles Hutchinson’s diary.
Coastal gig of the week: Shed Seven, Jake Bugg and Cast, Scarborough Open Air Theatre, tonight; gates open at 6pm
THE 2025 season of Cuffe & Taylor concerts in the bracing sea air of Scarborough is under way. After two chart-topping 2024 albums in their 30th anniversary year, York band Shed Seven make their belated Scarborough Open Air Theatre debut tonight, supported by Jake Bugg and Cast. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
Ric Liptrot: Taking part in North Yorkshire Open Studios at PICA Studios, Grape Lane, York, today and tomorrow
Festival of the week: North Yorkshire Open Studios, today and tomorrow, 10am to 5pm
MORE than 200 artists and makers are taking part in North Yorkshire Open Studios 2025. In and around York, look out for Helen Drye; Emma James; Alex Ash; Dee Thwaite; Veronica Ongara; Rachel Jones; Laura Duval; Karen Winship; Donna Maria Taylor; Di Gomery; Caroline Utterson; Jacqueline Warrington; Constance Isobel; Jill Tattersall and Adele Karmazyn.
Opening their studios too will be: Mo Nisbet; Robin Groveer-Jacques; Fran Brammer; Rob Burton; Jo Walton; Ric Liptrot; Rae George; Lu Mason; Lisa Power; Lesley Shaw; Katrina Mansfield; Evie Leach; Drawne Up; Sam Jones; Greenthwaite Sculptor (Janie Stevens); Sarah Schiewe Ceramics; Gonzalo Blanco, Gina Bean; Freya Horsley; Graham Jones; Justine Warner; Andrew Bloodworth and Steve Page. Full details can be found at nyos.org.uk.
Theatre Of Connections: Bringing to life the deep roots of chocolate’s story in IxCacao at York Theatre Royal Studio
Chocolate story of the week: Theatre Of Connections, IxCacao, York Theatre Royal Studio, today, 4pm
INSPIRED by the Mayan legend of the Cacao Goddess, IxCacao journeys into an ancient time when the Earth thrived under the care of matriarchs and the rhythm of nature. Movement, song, and storytelling combine in a reclamation of community, pleasure and ancestral knowledge in the face of domination: a reminder that joy is a revolutionary act and that true abundance is meant for all.
Theatre Of Connections, a York theatre group made up of “individuals from the global majority and people with refugee and asylum-seeker background”, brings to life the deep roots of chocolate’s story to honour the many who have carried its legacy forward. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Shepherd Group Brass Band : In concert at Joseph Rowntree Theatre
Brass concert of the week: Shepherd Group Brass Band Spring Concert, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tonight, 7.30pm
FROM their Brass Roots through to their Championship section, the Shepherd Group Brass Band presents a mix of all genres of music, culminating in a grand finale when all band members play together on stage. Tickets update: Last few still available on 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Robert Lloyd Parry: Telling tales from The Archive Of Dread at Theatre@41, Monkgate
Tales of terror of the week: Robert Lloyd Parry in The Archive Of Dread: Revisited, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tonight, 7.30pm
IN late 2019, Southport storyteller Robert Lloyd Parry inherited the contents of a flat belonging to a dead man he had never met. The property was full of boxes, stuffed with chilling documents: letters, diaries, newspaper cuttings, notebooks and postcards. Filed in disarray, they all told impossible tales of terror.
After the stunning revelation of two of these documents in York last year, Lloyd Parry now begs leave to share more items from The Archive Of Dread. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Rock’n’looroll: The Dinosaur That Pooped: The Rock Show at Grand Opera House, York, tomorrow
Children’s show of the week: The Dinosaur That Pooped: A Rock Show, Grand Opera House, York, tomorrow, 12.30pm and 3.30pm
WHEN Danny and Dino’s favourite rock band announce their last ever concert, they go on a quest to acquire the last two tickets. However, a villainous band manager is lurking, so nothing goes to plan. Will the band perform? Will Danny rock out? Or will Dino’s rumbling tummy save the day?
Adapted from the number one best-selling books by McFly’s Tom Fletcher and Dougie Poynter, this new 60-minute stage show, directed by Miranda Larson, promises a “poopy good time” for all the family. Cue new songs by Fletcher and Poynter, loads of laughs and “a whole lot of poo”. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Singer Jessa Liversidge, left, and her poet sister Andrea Brown: Combining in A Tapestry Of Life at Theatre@41, Monkgate
Life, love and loss: Jessa Liversidge: A Tapestry Of Life, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tomorrow, 6pm
EASINGWOLD singer, songwriter and community singing workshop champion Jessa Liversidge presents her 60-minute solo musical performance, inspired by Carole King’s album Tapestry.
Such much-loved songs as You’ve Got A Friend, Will You Love Me Tomorrow?, It’s Too Late, So Far Away, I Feel The Earth Move and Natural Woman will be interspersed with original songs, rooted in the powerful poetry of Jessa’s sister, Andrea Brown, from her Life, Love, Loss collection, reflecting on “life’s big themes of love and friendship and loss, situations and journeys, that every human can identify with”. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Comedian Raul Kohli: Exploring what it means to be British in Raul Britannia at Theatre@41, Monkgate
Comedy gig of the week: Raul Kohli: Raul Britannia, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, June 21, 8pm
COMEDIAN and proud Brit Raul Kohli is the son of a Hindu Indian and Sikh Singaporean, raised in Newcastle upon Tyne, where his best friend was a Pakistani Muslim.
Kohli has lived in every corner of this glorious nation and is fascinated by the diversity of these small isles. Imagine his surprise to hear from politicians and the media that “multiculturalism has failed”: the spark that lit the flame for his exploration of what it means to be British. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Poet Ian Parks: Performing in About Time Too at St Olave’s, Marygate, York, this evening
In Focus: York Festival of Ideas event of the day: Navigators Art presents About Time Too, St Olave’s, Marygate, York,today, 7pm
ABOUT Time Too rounds off a day of free talks celebrating time. Navigators Art’s evening concert features poetry readings, music and original song settings, including works by York-born poet W H Auden and Nobel Prize winner Seamus Heaney, together with time-related works by York writers and musicians.
Taking part will be Jane Stockdale, from White Sail; poet Ian Parks; electronic musicians Namke Productions; writer and University of York creative industries academic JT Welsch and poet and novelist Janet Dean Knight. Box office: bit.ly/nav-events.
Meanwhile, the Micklegate Arts Trail is in its final week, ending on Sunday (15/6/2025) with live music at The Falcon and The Hooting Owl at 2pm and 7pm, as well as works by 35 York artists in shops, cafes, pubs and restaurants.
Look out, in particular, for the display of 3D work in Holy Trinity church, curated by Navigators team member Nick Walters.
Navigators Art’s poster for Making Waves Live!, Sounds of the Solstice
In addition, the Making Waves exhibition is extending the Arts Trail into City Screen Picturehouse, Micklegate, where collage artist George Willmore has curated an exhibition by 20 further artists, including new and more familiar York names. The works are on show in the cafe and the first-floor corridor gallery until July 4.
All events are free and the trail and exhibition are open during business and licensing hours.
In the aftermath of the festival, Making Waves Live! Sounds of The Solsticein The Basement at City Screen Picturehouse will showcase some of Navigators Art’s favourite performers from the past two years of live events, complemented new friends, on June 21.
The first session will run from 4pm to 6.30pm; the second will start at 7.30pm after a break. “We’ve lined up a superb range of local poets, comedians, singers and bands in a celebratory midsummer festival,” says Navigators Art co-founder Richard Kitchen.
Taking part will be folk song duo Adderstone, poet Becca Drake, comedian Cooper Robson, storyteller Lara McClure, punk/jazz trio Borgia, psychedelic band Soma Crew and more. For full details and tickets (from Ticket Source), go to: bit.ly/nav-events.
Shed Seven, huts five: Scarborough Open Air Theatre awaits the York band this weekend
SHED Seven are off to the Yorkshire coast on Saturday for their “biggest ever headline show in their home county”, a long-overdue debut at Scarborough Open Air Theatre.
Joining York’s Britpop titans at the UK’s largest purpose-built outdoor concert arena will be special guests Jake Bugg and Cast.
“It’s been a dream of ours for some time to head out to the coast to play Scarborough OAT,” said Sheds frontman Rick Witter when tickets went on sale last October. “It’s a stunning and historic venue…Yorkshire’s very own Hollywood Bowl!
“It’s going to be a huge celebration following the success we had in 2024. Expect big hits and huge singalongs. See you down the front.”
In addition, Shed Seven will play either side of the Pennine divide for Sounds Of The City 2025, first at Castlefield Bowl, Manchester, on July 4, followed by a return to Leeds Millennium Square on July 11, having headlined the Sound Of The City bill there on July 15 2023. Ian Broudie’s Lightning Seeds and The Sherlocks will be on support duty on both nights.
The first question to ask Rick, after the annus mirabilis of the Sheds’ 30th anniversary year, is “what have you been up to since the chart-topping highs of 2024”?
“It’s been a bit of a quiet beginning to the year, but then suddenly it’s June!” he says. “I was best man to Paul [guitarist Paul Banks] at his wedding at the start of March, when he married Mel.
Rick Witter and guitarist Paul Banks performing on the first night of Shed Seven’s 30th anniversary celebrations at Live At York Museum Gardens last summer. Picture: David Harrison
“I sorted out his stag do, and then at the wedding I sang Chasing Rainbows, changing the words for the happy couple.”
Already the Sheds have played their first outdoor show of 2025, supporting Sheffield United fan Paul Heaton at his beloved Bramall Lane homecoming on May 25. “It wasn’t our gig, so we just rocked up and did our thing. Playing Chasing Rainbows to 28,000 was great,” says Rick.
Rehearsals for Scarborough and the summer season ahead took place on Monday and Tuesday before the Sheds headed to Norway to play Bergen. “We’re really looking forward to Scarborough. Yes, it’s not before time, but it’s worked in our favour because we could do the end-of-year 30th anniversary tour and then do the festivals this summer, knowing we needed to take a bit of a break in between.
“It’s nice not to have the pressure of having to sell albums this year. It’s more like a victory lap for us. We have some great ideas for the shows, but I can’t reveal them – though it could be in keeping with things like having the kids’ choir from our old school [Huntington School] singing with us in the Museum Gardens last summer. Something like that.”
The Sheds take pride in providing good value in the bills they have put together for Scarborough, Manchester and Leeds. “We always want to create as much value for money as we can get, while keeping prices as low as possible,” says Rick. “We talk with our booking agents and promoters, and thankfully all the acts we asked were more than happy to join the Shed Seven party.”
Shed Seven will be playing 14 festival and open-air shows this summer, not least a “career-spanning set” at Glastonbury festival on June 27. “It’s our first time there in 30 years, when we played possibly the NME stage. There was a huge crowd for us back then, and this time we’ll be on the Woodsies stage, which used to be the John Peel Stage, playing mid-afternoon on the Friday [5.15pm to 6pm to be precise].
“It’s going to be in a tent, which is nice because you know the audience are there for you, and the lighting show can be better.”
Reflecting on the maximum highs of 2024 – the brace of number one albums, the Museum Gardens concerts and 30th anniversary tour – Rick says: “What a year! At the end of the day, you never know what’s coming next with what you do, but we could sense something building over the last few years, and then everything seemed to align for us last year.
Shed Seven’s poster for Live Summer 2025 concerts at Scarborough Open Air Theatre, Manchester Castlefield Bowl and Leeds Millennium Square
“How incredible for it to happen in our 30th year, but the fact we are self-managed now and in control gave us our buzz, and we became the biggest we’d been since the mid-1990s.
“It got to the point in November [when on tour], where I was getting up, cleaning my teeth, looking in the mirror and thinking. ‘oh no, not you again’! But I think we’re very savvy as a band at knowing when to push it and when to step back.”
Rick continues: “I’m very proud that we’re among only 20 acts since 1953 to have two UK number one albums in one year – and no other indie guitar band has done it. It’s an exclusive club!”
Looking ahead, “in the down time, we’ll start writing for the next album for a couple of years’ time, with plans for a Shedcember tour at the back end of 2026”.
Rick finished this interview with a recollection from 1995. “We had nowhere to rehearse in York at the time, but Tom [Gladwin], the bass player, knew the owner of the Cockerill potato plant, on Hull Road, where there was a disused office just collecting dust.
“His son said, ‘if you want to go and write and record there’…and that’s where we put together the ideas for A Maximum High. Then B&Q bought the site, and where they now sell sheds at B&Q is the exact spot where Cockerills had that disused office. It’s like it was meant to be!”
Shed Seven play Scarborough Open Air Theatre, supported by Jake Bugg and Cast, June 14; gates open at 6pm. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com/shedseven.
Making her point: Martha Godber’s Sally, left, in a contretemps with Chloe McDonald’s Nat as Emilio Encinoso-Gil’s Kyle seeks to intervene in John Godber’s Do I Love You?
CELEBRATIONS of Northern Soul and British comedy greats are right up Charles Hutchinson’s street for the week ahead.
Weekender of the week: John Godber Company in Do I Love You?, York Theatre Royal, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees; post-show discussion on June 13
THE John Godber Company is on its third tour of John Godber’s hymn to keeping the faith in Northern Soul, with the same cast of Martha Godber, Chloe McDonald and Emilio Encinoso-Gil.
Inspired by Godber’s devotion to Northern Soul, Do I Love You? follows three twentysomethings, slumped in the drudgery of drive-through counter jobs, who find excitement, purpose and their tribe as they head to weekenders all over, from Bridlington Spa to the Blackpool Tower Ballroom, Chesterfield to Stoke. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
The fez, the spectacles and the bow tie: Damian Williams’s Tommy Cooper, Bob Golding’s Eric Morecambe and Simon Cartwright’s Bob Monkhouse in The Last Laugh, on tour at the Grand Opera House, York
Comedy legends of the week: The Last Laugh, Grand Opera House, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm matinees today, tomorrow and Saturday
WHO will have The Last Laugh at the Grand Opera House when British comedy triumvirate Eric Morecambe, Tommy Cooper and Bob Monkhouse reconvene in a dressing room in Paul Hendy’s play?
Find out in the Edinburgh Fringe, West End and New York hit’s first tour stop as Bob Golding, Damian Williams and Simon Cartwright take on the iconic roles in this new work by the Evolutions Productions director, who just happens to write York Theatre Royal’s pantomimes too. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
One of the Famous Faces on show in the Artistic Spectrum exhibition at Pocklington Arts Centre
Exhibition of the week: Artistic Spectrum: Famous Faces, Pocklington Arts Centre, on show until June 27
BOLD artworks feature in Famous Faces, a powerful, large-scale portrait project from Artistic Spectrum, co-created with more than 100 neuro-divergent and Special Educational Needs children and adults across East and South Yorkshire to challenge perceptions, champion inclusivity and put the power of representation into the hands of those too often left out of the frame.
Developed in group workshops over several weeks, participants created striking portraits of people who inspired them, from musicians and sports stars to activists and screen icons, using collage, found materials and personal objects to make works rich with texture, colour and personal meaning.
Comedian Scott Bennett and his daughter in the promotional picture for Blood Sugar Baby, on tour in York and Pocklington
Storyteller of the week: Scott Bennett, Blood Sugar Baby, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tonight, 8pm; Pocklington Arts Centre, August 6, 8pm
ONE family, one condition, one hell of a hairy baby: Scott Bennett, from The News Quiz, relates how his daughter fell ill with a rare genetic condition, congenital hyperinsulinism (CHI).
Never heard of it? Neither have new parents Scott and Jemma as they fight to achieve the right diagnosis for their daughter and are plunged into months of bewildering treatment, sleepless nights, celebrity encounters and bizarre side effects, but a happy ending ensues. Box office: York, tickets.41monkgate.co.uk; Pocklington, 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
Shed Seven: Off to the Yorkshire coast on Saturday to play Scarborough Open Air Theatre
Coastal gigs of the week: The Corrs and Natalie Imbruglia, tonight; Gary Barlow and Beverley Knight, Friday; Shed Seven, Jake Bugg and Cast, Saturday, all at Scarborough Open Air Theatre; gates open at 6pm
THE 2025 season of Cuffe & Taylor concerts in the bracing sea air of Scarborough opens tonight with the Irish band The Corrs and Australian singer and Neighbours actress Natalie Imbruglia, followed by Take That and solo songwriter and The X Factor and Let It Shine judge Gary Barlow on his Songbook Tour 2025 on Friday, when Beverley Knight supports. Expect hits from both his band and Barlow back catalogues.
After two chart-topping 2024 albums in their 30th anniversary year, York band Shed Seven make their belated Scarborough Open Air Theatre debut on Saturday, supported by Jake Bugg and Cast. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
Henry Blofeld: Wickets and wit in cricket chat at Helmsley Arts Centre
The sound of reporting on leather on willow: An Audience With Henry Blofeld, Sharing My Love Of Cricket, Helmsley Arts Centre, tomorrow, 7.30pm, rearranged from March 21
LEGENDARY BBC broadcaster and journalist, Henry Blofeld, former stalwart of the BBC’s Test Match Special commentary box, takes a journey through modern cricket, while looking back at the great games of yesteryear.
Blowers reflects on how cricket used to be and where it is headed: the theme of his September 2024 book Sharing My Love Of Cricket: Playing The Game And Spreading The Word, wherein he explores the big shifts, innovations and challenges facing the game. Box office: helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Saul Henry: On the Funny Fridays bill at Patch at the Bonding Warehouse, York
York comedy bill of the week: Funny Fridays at Patch, Bonding Warehouse, Terry Avenue, York, Friday, 7.30pm
THE second Funny Fridays comedy night at Patch features Saul Henry, Gemma Day, Ethan Formstone, Lucy Buckley and headliner Jack Wilson, hosted by founder and comedian Katie Lingo.
Formstone’s profile reveals he is a bricklayer from York, who grew bored and now, “using his natural stage presence and wild imagination, lays surreal stories that will delight you and leave you slightly confused”. Tickets: eventbrite.co.uk/e/funny-fridays-at-patch-tickets-1353208666549?aff=oddtdtcreator.
The poster for the SatchVai Band’s Surfing With The Hydra Tour, visiting York Barbican on Friday
Rock gig of the week: SatchVai Band, Surfing With The Hydra Tour 2025, York Barbican, Friday, doors 7pm
FOR the first time in nigh on 50 years of playing rock, guitarists and friends Joe Satriani and Steve Vai have united to tour as the SatchVai Band, opening their European travels in York before heading to London, Paris, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Istanbul and Athens.
Powerhouse drummer Kenny Aronoff, bassist Marco Mendoza and virtuoso guitarist Pete Thorn complete the stellar quintet. Box office: for returns only, yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Alex telling her story in EGO Arts’ You Know My Mum at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, on Friday
Cheeky comedy of life, loss and love for all the family:EGO Arts in You Know My Mum, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Friday, 7.30pm.
LEADING EGO Midlands Creative Academy’s disabled and neuro-divergent cast, Alex is a 25-year-old woman with Down’s syndrome struggling with the death of her mum. One day, she discovers Bluey, a baby Blue Tit, in her garden.
While Bluey learns about fried chicken factories and joins a boot camp for birds, Alex battles Harry Potter monsters and dreams about life after death. As her wild imagination comes to life, she learns that the love she thought she lost is all around her. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
