Tag: Weather Balloons

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Arts collaboration of the week: Navigators Art/Projects presents YO Underground #7, The Basement, City Screen, York, Saturday

The poster artwork for Navigators Art’s YO Underground #7 at The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York

CONTINUING its mission to present adventurous left-field music and words from York and the region, Navigators Art plays host to an eclectic mixed bill of uniquely styled indie acoustic song-writing from Weather Balloons, the Joe Douglas Trio’s North African-inspired free jazz and a collaboration between audiovisual projections and Ben Hopkinson’s quartet Synaefonia.

“Weather Balloons feature Leeds’s premier soft-rock renegade Annie Prior, singing by moonlight or hot coal of old feeling or burnt terror, new loves or curled spiders,” says event organiser Richard Kitchen. “She has a harmonica and a waking dream. Her favourite colour has always been gold.

Annie Prior of Weather Balloons

Tenor saxophone player Ben Hopkinson

“The Joe Douglas Trio takes an exhilarating ride into free space via North Africa, driven by local legend Joe on drums, Felix Edwards-McStay on keyboards and Louie Hanley-Pir on sax and guembri (a three-stringed, skin-covered bass lute central to Moroccan Gnawa music).”

The Ben Hopkinson’s Synaefonia performance will contain projections of flashing imagery that “communicate musical ideas in real time to a highly creative quintet”. In the band will be Ben Hopkinson, tenor saxophone and Osmose synthesiser; Kit Shepherd & Manlu Du, violins; Desmond Clarke, oboe and cor anglais, and Iris Casling, double bass.

Doors open at 7pm for 7.30pm start. Tickets cost £5 in advance at https://www.ticketsource.com/navigators-art-performance or £10 on the door. 

Ben Hopkinson’s Synaefonia violin players Kit Shepherd and Manlu Du

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Festive arts menu of the week: Navigators Art, As Yule Like It, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, Dec 20, 7.30pm

Weather Balloons: Boschian vignettes and betrayals of guitar music at As Yule Like It at The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse

YORK arts collective Navigators Art promises “All cracker, no cheese” at As Yule Like It, Saturday’s live, local and loud showcase of “some of York’s finest and most individual sounds”.

On the Musique en Croute menu are Beatbox In Blankets: University of York music student Cast Beatbox, racing up the ranks in national contests; Post-Punk Profiteroles: Knitting Circle, York’s socially conscious and urgent post-punk trio, and Folk & Figgy Pudding: York St John University folkies The Queeries, purveyors of fun, frolicsome fiddling.

Being served up too will be Singer-Songwriting Surprise: Tang Hall Smart tutor and passionate singer-songwriter Toemouse, offering an invitation to a mystical ride, and Renegade Rock-y Road: Weather Balloons, off duty from regular band Fat Spatula but here on soft-rock on duty with Boschian vignettes and betrayals of guitar music.

The Queeries: Fun, frolicsome fiddling

Knitting Circle: Urgent post-punk tunesmiths

Expect “all the trimmings to kick-start your festive week”. Please note, some material may not be suitable for young children. The Basement is fully accessible. Doors open at 7pm. Box office: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/navigators-art-performance.

Navigators Art’s regular Folk & Word open-mic session at  The Artful Dodger, Micklegate, York, returns on December 18. Further 7.30pm bills will follow on January 15 and every third Thursday of each month.

“We welcome writers and ‘wordful’ acoustic musicians who’d like to share their work in a warm and appreciative environment,” says co-founder Richard Kitchen. “We operate a safe and friendly ethos. Entry is free with a purchase from the bar. Access is by stairs only.”

Toemouse: Invitation to a mystical ride

One more date for the diary: Navigators Art will be hosting A Feast Of Fools III at the Black Swan Inn, Peasholme Green, York, on January 4 2026 at 7.30pm (doors 7pm).

“Welcome to our annual end-of-season celebration of Twelfth Night and Old Christmas, with a nod to the pagan and the impish,” says Richard. “On the bill are traditional song and contemporary treatments; hurdy gurdy, squeezebox and fiddle; harmonies, electronics and sound spells, headlined by York’s alt-folk legends White sail.” Access is by stairs only. Tickets will be available on the door, as well as at www.ticketsource.co.uk/navigators-art-performance.

Cast Beatbox: University Of York music student performing on Saturday’s bill for As Yule Like It