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More Things To Do in York and beyond to put colour in Thomas’s black and white world. Hutch’s list No. 105, from The Press

The Commitments: The return of Roddy Doyle’s story of an Eighties’ working-class Dublin band driven by Sixties’ soul power at the Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Elllie Kurttz

AS The Commitments return, what other commitments would Charles Hutchinson urge you to put in your diary?

Irish craic of the week: The Commitments, Grand Opera House, York, Tuesday to Saturday, 7.30pm; 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees

WHEN schoolteacher Roddy Doyle wanted an excuse to bring a bunch of young people together in book form in 1986 to “capture the rhythm of Dublin kids yapping and teasing and bullying”, he decided to find a setting outside school. “That’s when the idea of a band came to me,” he recalls.

Cue a big band with a brass section and backing vocals, playing Sixties’ Motown and Memphis soul “because it felt timeless”. Cue The Commitments, the novel, the Alan Parker film, and the musical, now revived on tour with Corrie’s Nigel Pivaro as Jimmy Rabbitte’s Da and Andrew Linnie in the director’s chair. Box office: 0844 871 b7615 or atgtickets.com/york.

Dave Gorman: Making his stand in Powerpoint To The People

Analytical gig of the week: Dave Gorman, Powerpoint To The People, Grand Opera House, York, tonight, 7.30pm

DAVE Gorman, the comedian behind Dave TV’s show Modern Life Is Goodish, is touring again, determined to demonstrate how a powerpoint presentation need not involve a man in a grey suit standing behind a lectern saying “next slide please”.

“We’ve all had enough of that, so let’s put it all behind us and never speak of it again,” he says. “There are far more important things to analyse.” Well, they are more important in Gorman’s head anyway. Box office: 0844 871 7615 or atgtickets.com/york.

Oboe player James Turnbull: Performing this evening’s York Late Music concert with pianist Libby Burgess

Power play of the day: York Late Music: Duncan Honybourne, piano, today, 1pm; James Turnbull, oboe, and Libby Burgess, piano, tonight, 7.30pm, St Saviourgate Unitarian Chapel, York

AT lunchtime, pianist Duncan Honeybourne plays David Power’s arrangements of David Bowie (Art Decade) and Bowie & Eno (Warszawa), concluding with Harold Budd/Brian Eno/Power’s Mash Up Remembered. Prokofiev and Satie works feature too.

Power gives a 6.45pm talk tonight ahead of James Turnbull and Libby Burgess’s concert, when his composition Imagine Another receives its world premiere, alongside works by Stravinsky, Tansy Davies, Vaughan Williams, Diana Burrell, Britten and Ravel. Box office: latemusic.org or on the door.

Love’s trials and tribulations: Simon Radford’s Jamie and Claire Pulpher’s Cathy in White Rose Theatre’s musical The Last Five Years

Musical love story of the week, White Rose Theatre in The Last Five Years, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Wednesday to Saturday, 7.30pm; 2.30pm Saturday matinee

FOR York’s newest stage company, White Rose Theatre, director Claire Pulpher and Simon Radford perform Jason Robert Brown’s emotionally charged American musical, charting the path of two lovers over the course of five years of courting and marriage, trials and tribulations.

Struggling actress Cathy Hiatt’s side of the story starts at the end of the relationship; rising novelist Jamie Wellerstein tells his tale from the beginning, but will they ever meet in the middle? The Last Five Years promises laughter, tears and everything in between in a score of upbeat songs and beautiful ballads. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Mark Thomas in Black And White, seeking answers and finding hope

Political points of the week: Mark Thomas: Black And White, The Crescent, York, Tuesday, 7.30pm

BURNING Duck Comedy Club presents political comedy firebrand Mark Thomas on his Black And White tour, promising “creative fun” as he takes down politicians, mucks about, ponders new ideas and finds hope.

Londoner Thomas asks: how did we get here? What are we going to do about it? Who’s up for a sing-song? “After lockdowns and isolation, this show is about the simple act of being in a room together and toppling international capitalism,” he vows. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.

Kaiser Chiefs: All roads lead homewards to Leeds next Saturday. Picture: Edward Cooke

Homecoming of the week: Kaiser Chiefs, plus special guests The Fratellis and The Sherlocks, All Together UK Tour, Leeds First Direct Arena, November 12, 7.30pm

NOW in their 22nd year, Kaiser Chiefs head home to Leeds on their November arena tour, as well as playing Hull Bonus Arena on November 8. “It’s been a while…and we can’t wait to see you all again,” they say. “We’re looking forward to putting on a big KC show. See you there!”

Alongside Yorkshire anthems Oh My God, I Predict A Riot, Everyday I Love You Less And Less and Ruby, listen out for new single How 2 Dance, produced by former Rudimental member Amir Amor as the first taster off their eighth studio album, set for release in 2023 as the follow-up to 2019’s Duck.

“I hope to hear it at weddings, on the radio, and in the last remaining indie discos across the land,” says lead singer Ricky Wilson. “How 2 Dance is about letting go, not worrying about what other people think you should be doing. It may not be the smoothest of journeys, but sometimes you need a bit of turbulence to remind you that you are flying.” Box office: Leeds, firstdirectarena.com; Hull, bonusarenahull.com.

Pulp fact, not fiction: Jarvis Cocker and co’s poster for next year’s comeback shows

Book early for next summer’s comeback: Pulp, Bridlington Spa, May 26 2023, and Scarborough Open Air Theatre, July 9 2023

LET frontman Jarvis Cocker explain why Sheffield’s Pulp have decided to play their first shows since December 2012. “Three months ago, we asked, ‘What exactly do you do for an encore?’. Well…an encore happens when the crowd makes enough noise to bring the band back to the stage,” he says.

“So…we are playing in the UK and Ireland in 2023. Therefore…come along and make some noise. See you there.”. Box office: gigsandtours.com and ticketmaster.co.uk.

Back in action: Ryan Adams to play acoustic solo gig in York next spring. Picture: Andrew Blackstein

York gig announcement of the week: Ryan Adams, York Barbican, April 14 2023

NORTH Carolina singer-songwriter Ryan Adams will play York for the first time since 2011 on his eight-date solo tour next spring, when each night’s set list will be different.

Adams, who visited the Grand Opera House in 2007 and four years later, will perform on acoustic guitar and piano in the style of his spring 2022 run of East Coast American gigs, when he played 168 songs over five nights in shows that averaged 160 minutes.

This year, Adams has released four studio albums: Chris, a tribute to his late brother; Romeo & Juliet; FM, a more traditional rock’n’roll record, and Devolver, given away to fans to mark a year’s sobriety. Box office: ryanadams.ffm.to/tour.OPR and yorkbarbican.co.uk.

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More Things To Do in York as Guy Fawkes heads home. Remember, remember, Hutch’s List No. 103, from The Press

Greg Haiste, left, and York-born writer and actor David Reed cross swords in rehearsal for York Theatre Royal’s premiere of Guy Fawkes. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick

POLITICAL fireworks, street art indoors, beer and bratwurst, a Velvet Underground pioneer and the history of ghosts spark up Charles Hutchinson’s interest.

Premiere of the week: Guy Fawkes, York Theatre Royal, Friday to November 12

WAR-WEARY, treasonous son of York Guy Fawkes vows to restore a Catholic monarch to the English throne, whatever the cost. In the private room of an upmarket tavern, a clandestine of meeting of misfits takes place between this dark dissident, a Poundshop Machiavelli, a portly boob, a clumsy princess, a preposterous toff and a shoddy ham as they plot the most audacious crime ever attempted on British soil.

David Reed, from comedy trio The Penny Dreadfuls, plays York’s traitorous trigger man in his long-awaited combustible comedy-drama with its devilishly dangerous mix of Blackadder and Upstart Crow. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Torrents (Willow Herald Speak), by Michael Dawson, from Navigators Art’s Coney St Jam art intervention at the StreetLife project hub

Exhibition of the week: Navigators Art, Coney St Jam: An Art Intervention, StreetLife project hub, Coney Street, York, until November 19

YORK collective Navigators Art draw inspiration from the city’s rich heritage and vibrant creative communities to explore ways to revitalise and diversify Coney Street. On show is painting, drawing, collage, textile and 3D work, complemented by photography, projections, music and poetry.

Taking part are: Steve Beadle; Michael Dawson; Alfie Fox; Alan Gillott; Oz Hardwick; Richard Kitchen; Katie Lewis; Tim Morrison; Peter Roman; Amy Elena Thompson; Dylan Thompson and Nick Walters.

Woman To Woman: Julia Fordham, left, Rumer, Judie Tzuke and Beverley Craven will be in harmony at York Barbican

Collaboration of the week: Woman To Woman (Beverley Craven, Judie Tzuke, Julia Fordham & Rumer), York Barbican, tonight, 6.30pm

NOT a rumour, definitely true, Beverley Craven, Judie Tzuke and Julia Fordham have invited Rumer to join them for the latest Woman To Woman tour.

In this collaboration between the four female singer-songwriters, they present hit singles and album tracks, such as Promise Me, Happy Ever After, Welcome To The Cruise, Slow, Holding On, (Love Moves In) Mysterious Ways, Aretha and Stay With Me Till Dawn.

“We cannot wait to share a stage together, create beautiful vocal harmonies with each other and collaborate on some possible new material,” they say. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Self aware: Comedian Helen Bauer discusses herself at Theatre@41. Picture: James Deacon

Comedy gig of the week: Helen Bauer, Madam Good Tit, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tonight, 8pm

SELF-AWARE stand-up Helen Bauer is on the road with her Edinburgh Fringe show about self-confidence, self-esteem and self-care. “It’s the year of ‘the self’ and I’m trying to be the change I want you to see,” says Helen, who grew up in Hampshire blandness and honed her comedic craft in Berlin. 

Expect adult themes and language, including natural disasters and eating disorders, forewarns Theatre@41, as York awaits the co-host of two podcasts, Trusty Hogs with Catherine Bohart and Daddy Look At Me with Rosie Jones. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Velma Celli: York drag diva supreme adds sauce to all the bratwurst and beer at Yorktoberfest

Festival of the week: Yorktoberfest Beer Festival, Clocktower Enclosure, York Racecourse, today and next Saturday, 1pm to 5pm, 7pm to 11pm; Friday, 7pm to 11pm. Doors open: evenings, 6.30pm; daytime, 12.30pm.

FOLLOWING up last year’s debut, Yorktoberfest returns in party mood for beer, bratwurst, bumper cars and all things Bavarian. This beer festival mirrors the first Oktoberfest staged in 1810 in Munich, where the citizens were encouraged to eat, drink and be merry at the wedding of Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria and his princess bride.

Step inside a giant marquee to discover the rustic Bavarian Bar and Dog Haus, full of bratwurst, currywurst, schnitzel, apple strudel and pretzels; live music by the Bavarian Strollers oompah band and vocal drag queen entertainment by York’s own Velma Celli. Dodgems and a twister add funfair thrills. Box office: yorktoberfest.co.uk.

Underground overground: Velvets legend John Cale to be spotted at York Barbican on Monday

THE gig of the week, John Cale, York Barbican, Monday, 8pm

VELVET Underground icon John Cale’s only Yorkshire gig of his rearranged 2022 tour has moved from July 19 to Monday on his first British itinerary in a decade.

The Welsh multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer, who turned 80 in March, will be performing songs from a career that began in classical and avant-garde music before he formed The Velvet Underground with Lou Reed in New York in 1965.

Over six pioneering decades, Cale has released 16 solo studio albums, while also collaborating with Brian Eno, Patti Smith, The Stooges, Squeeze, Happy Mondays, Siouxsie And The Banshees, Super Furry Animals and Manic Street Preachers. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Doctor Dorian Deathly: Will his face melt in his horror show at Theatre@41?

From ghost walk to ghost talk: Doctor Dorian Deathly: A Night Of Face Melting Horror (or The Complete History Of Ghosts), Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Wednesday to October 31, 8.30pm

VISIT York Tourism Awards winner Doctor Dorian Deathly, spookologist and ghost botherer, celebrates Halloween season with six nights of ghost stories, paranormal sciences, theatrical trickery, horror, original music and perhaps the odd unexpected guest (with the emphasis on ‘odd’?).

“Together we will huddle around the stage and explore spine-chilling tales of hauntings, both local and further afield, dissemble horrors captured on film and follow the ghost story through from the origins to the Victorian classics and modern- day frights,” says Deathly, whose face-melting macabre amusements are suitable for age 13 upwards. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Ladysmith Black Mambazo: Black History Month concert at Grand Opera House, York

Harmonies of the week: Ladysmith Black Mambazo, supported by Muntu Valdo, Grand Opera House, York, October 29, 7.30pm

SOUTH African singing group Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s York concert marks Black History Month on their first British tour for many years.

When Paul Simon incorporated their harmonies into his ground-breaking 1986 album Graceland, that landmark recording was seminal in introducing world music to mainstream audiences.

Founded by the late Joseph Shabalala, the Grammy Award winners have since recorded with Stevie Wonder, Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris and Barnsley folk singer Kate Rusby. Box office: 0844 871  7615 or atgtickets.com/york.

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Julia Fordham, Judie Tzuke, Beverley Craven and new recruit Rumer find harmony in Woman To Woman at York Barbican

Woman To Woman: The female fab four of Julia Fordham, left, Rumer, Judie Tzuke and Beverley Craven

WOMAN To Woman, the all-female fusion of singer-songwriter best of friends Beverley Craven, Judie Tzuke and Julia Fordham and new addition Rumer, play York Barbican on night two of their 20-date tour tomorrow.  

BRIT Award-nominated Rumer joins after gelling with Craven at a charity event, looking to build on the trio’s success with their 2018 album Woman To Woman and 2018-2019 tour that drew 35,000 people, then last November’s post-lockdown single, a cover of Andrew Gold’s Thank You For Being A Friend twinned with an original vocal piece, Juniper Tree.

A 23-track live album by Craven, Tzuke and Fordham, Woman To Woman – The Live Concert, followed in January, and now comes this autumn’s tour itinerary when York will be the only Yorkshire date for the new fab four.

Londoner Judie and her sisters in song began vocal rehearsals on October 8, followed by rehearsals sessions with their band. “Very scary, but very exciting,” she said, as she contemplated her latest return to the concert platform. “I go into a complete panic, thinking, ‘it’s coming, it’s coming’.”

It was ever thus for Judie, 66, who has always experienced stage nerves from Stay With Me Till Dawn days onwards and is most at home writing songs. “Absolutely. I always have been and I still am. I’ve always loved writing. It’s who I am. It’s my emotional release,” she says.

“I do have quite extreme feelings, and if I write songs, it gets them out of the system, so it’s therapeutic, though I’m quite scared as I’ve had cancer twice and it’s attacked muscles in my throat.

“I’ve never had a vocal coaching before, but now I’m doing it every day, and doing something called Airofit [a respiratory muscle training system], where you put this breathing apparatus in your mouth and you breathe against the resistance to build up the strength of your breathing. More than anything with Covid, I lost power in my breathing.”

How is Judie feeling? “Well, my vocal coach is sure I’ll be fine, but she’s not the one singing. I get terrified on stage, and the thing that keeps me going is my voice, which is now at 90 per cent, but I want to get it back to 100 per cent,” she says.

Confidence in her voice is vital, given her stage butterflies. “I love writing, but I don’t like being centre stage, as I’m chronically shy, but it’s a joy to have people interested in what I do,” she says.

Judie opens up further about her cancer experiences. “I had cancer nine years ago, and when I came back from that, I went back on stage too soon,” she says. “I always had this feeling that people were coming to see me fail, and I did this gig at the Union Chapel where my voice just wouldn’t recover as I sang.

“I thought adrenaline would kick in, but literally everything I’d feared kicked in, but my daughters [Bailey and Tallula, both singers] were with me and I got through it, getting so many standing ovations. That was a game changer.

“It made me less nervous to go out and do a show called Songs And Stories, where Bailey and Tallula did the backing vocals, and I could really get to know my audience, and how they know me through my songs because they’re lucky that I write lyrics that are very honest and are about people like me.

The tour poster for Woman To Woman

“That was the wonderful thing for me, to grow to understand my audience, where they could ask me questions, rather than feeling they were judging me.”

How did Judie, Julia and Beverley come together for Woman To Woman? “I’d met Julia very briefly at a writing retreat, and I met Beverley just before I had cancer, when I was asked to a ‘coat walk’, a charity do, a fashion show, parading up and down with mothers and daughters. But the day I got asked was the day just after I found out I had cancer and I said I’d do it if I was well enough.”

Judie’s treatment was confined to radiotherapy. “I was very lucky I didn’t have to have chemo,” she says.

Beverley later came up with the idea of performing together with a band. “She brought Julia on board too, and how we performed the shows came together naturally. Originally I thought we’d do our songs in rotation but it ended up with us doing backing vocals on each other’s songs,” says Judie. “I think for this new tour we’ll again alternate songs through each night.”

She is delighted that Rumer has come on board too, again at Beverley’s initiation. “I love singing with Rumer. Hers and my voice work well together, and we’ve been writing songs together for a couple of months.

“We don’t know what will happen next. We’ll put that on hold for now, but next year I hope we do a lot of songs for her next album. Right now Woman To Woman is what we’re concentrating on.”

Judie may be best known for her early albums, and particularly for the single Stay With Me Till Dawn, a number 16 hit in 1979, but as she looks back over 43 years in the limelight, she says: “I wish more people knew more of my albums. My favourite albums are my later ones because hopefully I got better as a songwriter.

“I listened to Wonderland the other day [her ninth album, from 1992], and I thought, ‘this is good’! All my songs are a diary of my life and I’m not ashamed of any of the music I’ve made. It all tells a story.

“I make the records for myself, but I also make them to connect with other people, and I kind of wish they did, because when they listen to the newer albums, they fall in love with the songs.

“Like Humankind [from the 2011 album One Tree Less]. I gave that one to Beverley and Julia when we were looking for songs we could do together, and it made me feel so good they loved it and wanted to do it with me.”

Judie continues: “It means I can keep singing, as I have a lot to say, a lot of feelings I want to share, like the way that other people’s music helped me through dark days when I was younger. Jackson Browne. Joni Mitchell. Free, for all sorts of reasons, especially Paul Rodgers’ voice. Marvin Gaye. Tammi Terrell. But the songs that really helped were by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Neil Young, John Martyn too.”

Songs that stay with you till dawn, like that beauteous ballad by Judie Tzuke (born Judie Myers), whose stage name has so often been misspelt or mispronounced. “What I like is when people spell my first name right, ‘Judie’, not ‘Judy’!” she says. “For the surname, I say it like ‘Zook’, because it’s much easier, but it should be more like ‘Zhooka’.”

Woman To Woman, Beverley Craven, Judie Tzuke, Julia Fordham and Rumer, York Barbican, tomorrow (22/10/2022), 7.30pm; doors, 6.30pm. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.   

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REVIEW: Don McLean, 50th Anniversary Of American Pie Tour, York Barbican, 28/9/22

Don McLean: The day the music lived on at York Barbican

THE album sleeve to 1971’s American Pie was spread large across the York Barbican stage, the familiar Stars and Stripes thumbs-up now adorned with the number 50.

It would not be until 1972 that Don McLean’s double A-sided title track – all 8 minutes 42 seconds of it – would make number two in the British charts, making the 50th Anniversary celebrations of this different form of “growing the Pie” apposite for this year’s British tour.

McLean, the singer, songwriter and guitarist from New Rochelle, New York, turned 76 four days after his York show in a year when he has toured for long months, playing songs old and much newer from his ever-extending catalogue.

American Pie may have charted “the day the music died” but that music has never died for McLean, whose love of playing live, and desire to please the audience with his commitment to those performances, remains undimmed, as he expressed at length in gratitude mid-set on his return to a venue he had visited previously in May 2015 and April 2018.

“Are you ready for a good time,” he asked as he stood on a carpet – like the late Leonard Cohen at Leeds First Direct Arena on his last British tour – his eyes shielded by dark glasses, where once they were so expressive on his British television appearances of the Seventies; his dress code more that of a veteran rock’n’roller than a folk troubadour as he led a five-piece band that would have been equally at home in a bar room.

That would be true of his set too, played with a swagger, rather than tenderness of yore, his voice now deeper, worn, weathered, although not to the extent of American Recordings-era Johnny Cash. The thickening years were most noticeable on Vincent, a starry, starry night now gauzed in clouds.

There was to be no Crying tonight, but the boisterous American Boys Invented Rock’n’Roll was a latterday joy, catching the night’s mood.

To his right as ever was pianist and arranger Tony Migliore, his sidesman for 32 years. “That’s longer than my two marriages put together – and a lot more fun,” McLean joshed.

How many times must they have lived out McLean’s words: “And I knew if I had my chance/That I could make those people dance/And maybe they’d be happy for a while”?

Here they were, doing so again, as McLean struck up “A long, long time ago”, the cue for the audience to “still remember how that music used to make me smile”, taking to their feet at his urging for “what you’ve been waiting for”.

That song of mystique and mystery, that cultural landmark, that song karaoke’d by Madonna, American Pie, here served with an extra slice. “Do you wanna sing it some more,” he need not have asked, providing his own answer with a faster reprise.

The music died? Its makers may die, sometimes tragically, too soon, but its heart still beats and always will, here spontaneously prompting a musical stethoscope affirmation: a rousing finale of Heartbreak Hotel, the first number one for one of those American boys who gave birth to rock’n’roll, Elvis. Rearrange those letters, Elvis…lives on, and so will American Pie.

Thumbs up, Don.

Did you know?

Don McLean released the album Tapestry in October 1970. Carole King’s 30 million seller of the same title followed soon after, in February 1971.

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More Things To Do and York and beyond when a design week has plans to make it better. Hutch’s List No. 101, from The Press. UPDATED 11/10/2022

Tudor girl power: Jennifer Caldwell’s Anne Boleyn in SIX The Musical. Picture: Pamela Raith

HENRY VIII’s vengeful wives are not the only show in town. Charles Hutchinson finds alternatives aplenty.

Don’t lose your head over this but…SIX The Musical has sold out at Grand Opera House, York, October 11 to 16. 8pm, Tuesday to Thursday; 6pm and 8.30pm, Friday; 5pm and 8pm, Saturday; 3pm, Sunday

DIVORCED, beheaded, scuppered. Those without a ticket for York’s hottest theatre show of the autumn are too late. Not one seat, even with a restricted view, is still available for Toby Marlow and Lucy Marlow’s irreverent historical musical romp that began as a Cambridge University show at the Edinburgh Fringe.

Welcome to their Queendom where Tudor queens turn into pop princesses as the six wives of Henry VIII take to the mic to tell their tales, remixing 500 years of heartbreak into a 75-minute celebration of 21st-century girl power.

Tom Chaplin: Solo songs of midlife musings from the Keane frontman

Take your pick at York Barbican: Uriah Heep, tomorrow, 8pm; Tom Chaplin, Tuesday, 8pm; Will Young: 20 Years Tour, Thursday, 7.30pm; Boyzlife, Friday, 7.30pm

SPOILT for choice at York Barbican in a busy, busy week. British rock titans Uriah Heep’s 50th Anniversary Tour is now taking place in their 52nd year after playing 4,000 shows in 60 countries. Keane frontman Tom Chaplin showcases September’s release of his second solo album, Midpoint, exploring a part of life that everyone goes through: midlife.

On the pop front, singer, radio presenter, actor and writer Will Young marks two decades since his Pop Idol blossoming. No sooner have Boyzlife performed to 20,000 people at the Yorkshire Balloon Fiesta on Knavesmire than their Old School Tour sends the boy band duo of Boyzone’s Keith Duffy and Westlife’s Brian McFadden back to York. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Will Young: From Pop Idol young man to the polymath of today

Toasting the trailblazers: A Celebration Of Gilbert & Sullivan, Grand Opera House, York, tonight, 7.30pm  

A 26-piece orchestra and soloists perform favourites from The Mikado, The Pirates Of Penzance and HMS Pinafore, complemented by less familiar gems in a glorious night at the light opera.

Taking part will be singers from Opera North, English National Opera, Scottish Opera, Welsh National Opera, Carl Rosa and D’Oyly Carte, such as Alexander Robin Baker, Rebecca Bottone, Barry Clark, Siân Dicker, Yvonne Howard, Judith Le Breuilly, Timothy Nelson and Matthew Siveter. Box office: 0844 8717615 or atgtickets.com/York.

Bongo’s Bingo: A rave new world for a British classic at York Barbican

House music but not as you know it: Bongo’s Bingo, York Barbican, tonight; doors, 6pm; last entry, 7:30pm; first game of bingo, 8pm

MAKING its York debut only a stone’s throw from the demolished Mecca Bingo, Bongo’s Bingo “rejuvenates a quintessentially quaint British pastime with an immersive live show featuring rave rounds, nostalgia-soaked revelry, dance-offs, audience participation and crazy prizes in a night of pure and unadulterated escapism”.

Looking for a full house, promoter Jonny Bongo promises magic and music, mischief and mayhem in a bingo rave experience. Box office: bongosbingo.co.uk or yorkbarbican.co.uk.


Sayaka Ichikawa in Ballet Black’s Black Sun at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Bill Cooper

Dance pioneers of the week: Ballet Black, Say It Loud & Black Sun, York Theatre Royal, Tuesday, 7.30pm

CELEBRATING their 20th anniversary, Black Ballet present two new works on tour. Choreographed and directed by founder and artistic director Cassa Pancho and company artists, Say It Loud charts this pioneering company’s progress, from the uncomfortable reasons behind its existence to the frenetic, creative energy that makes it such a necessary part of the British ballet industry. 

South African choreographer Gregory Maqoma’s Black Sun, danced to an original score by Michael ‘Mikey J’ Asante, extracts energy from the sun and the moon giving rise to descendants of ancestors. These forces only meet to blacken, allowing us to draw from their powers as we prepare for life after life. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Dr Richard Shepherd: Pathologist, professor, lecturer, author, television presenter, apiarist and aviator, whose Unnatural Causes theatre tour will York and Leeds

Bringing death to life: Dr Richard Shepherd, Unnatural Causes theatre tour, York Theatre Royal, Thursday; Leeds City Varieties Music Hall, Friday, both 7.30pm

MEET Dr Richard Shepherd, a forensic pathologist who has solved the mystery of sudden and unexplained deaths aplenty, performed 23,000 autopsies and handled such cases the Hungerford Massacre, the Princess Diana inquiry and 9/11. 

In Unnatural Causes, he not only tells the story of the cases and bodies that have haunted him the most, but also reflects on how to live a life steeped in death. Box office: York, 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk; Leeds, 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.co.uk

Make It Better: The theme for Day One of York Design Week

Festival of the week: Kaizen Arts Agency, United by Design and Dogeatcog unite for York Design Week 2022, Make It Work, October 13 to 17

YORK Design Week turns the spotlight on projects, organisations and people who are breaking and bending rules to create a fairer society, inviting you to explore how we can come together to “Make It Work”. “Let’s find creative and practical solutions to complex problems through collaboration, performance, and play,” say the organisers.

“The idea is to positively shift conversation and behaviour around what design means and how it can offer innovative solutions to knotty problems. Our approach is open, accessible, and seeks to provide space for participants to experience unexpected perspectives and express their own voice.” Full details can be found at: yorkdesignweek.com.

Make It Grow: The green theme for Day Four of York Design Week

120 years and still going strong: York Musical Theatre Company in A Musical Celebration, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Thursday and Friday, 7,30pm

YORK Musical Theatre Company’s 120th anniversary will be marked with two evenings of songs from past productions such as West Side Story, Oklahoma, Guys & Dolls, Annie, Acorn Antiques, Jekyll & Hyde, Jesus Christ Superstar and The Pirates Of Penzance, the company’s first show in April 1903.

Company members combine with guest solo artists in a celebratory production directed by John Atkin. Founded in 1902 as York Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society, York’s longest established amateur theatre company changed its name in its centenary year. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Ellen Carnazza, Andrew Purcell and Zach Atkinson in Badapple Theatre’s revival of The Frozen Roman, on tour this autumn. Picture: Karl Andre

What did the Romans ever do for us? Badapple Theatre in The Frozen Roman, on tour until November 13

GREEN Hammerton’s theatre-on-your-doorstep proponents Badapple Theatre take to the road this autumn with three actors new to the company: Zach Atkinson, Andrew Purcell and Ellen Carnazza.

In this revival of Kate Bramley’s play, they came, they saw, they built a wall, they went away again….or did they? When hapless villagers try to prevent a housing development being built in their midst, could the discovery of a burial site throw them a lifeline?  Expect twists, turns and Latin puns as the situation in the village goes “ballisticus maximus”. For tour details, go to: badappletheatre.co.uk. 

Ocean travel: Billy Ocean heads for Harrogate and Sheffield in 2023

Looking ahead: Billy Ocean, The Very Best Of Billy Ocean Tour, Harrogate Convention Centre, March 31 2023

BILLY Ocean will perform a hand-picked set of greatest hits and fan favourites on his 21-date tour next spring.

The Trinidad and Tobago-born British R&B singer, 72, has notched 30 million worldwide record sales and top ten singles on both sides of the Atlantic, such as Love Really Hurts Without You, Red Light Spells Danger, Caribbean Queen (No More Love On The Run), When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going, There’ll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry) and Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car. The tour also takes in Sheffield City Hall on April 6. Box office: harrogatetheatre.co.uk; sheffieldcityhall.co.uk.

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‘I’ve still got my voice, my hair is still growing. I can’t complain’. Leo Sayer feels like dancing all over again at York Barbican

THE rearranged show must go on for Leo Sayer at York Barbican tonight.

Delayed by the pandemic, it now forms part of a 2022 tour to mark the Shoreham-by-Sea-born singer and songwriter’s 50th anniversary in pop. “I was supposed to be playing in 2020, but then had to hold off the tour for Covid, but all the shows have been rearranged, and if anything, it’s better doing it now,” says Leo, who moved to Australia more than 20 years ago.

Back on home soil, Sayer and his band will perform a Seventies and Eighties’ hit-filled set sure to feature Thunder In My Heart, Moonlighting, One Man Band, I Can’t Stop Loving You, More Than I Can Say, Have You Ever Been In Love, When I Need You, You Make Me Feel Like Dancing and, yes, debut smashThe Show Must Go On.

At 74, “I’ve still got my voice, my hair is still growing. I can’t complain. It’s been lovely coming back. I did a show at the start of the year in Sydney Harbour…one show and then I got Covid,” says Leo, whose home is in a beautiful village high up, between Sydney and Canberra.

“It’s the equivalent of the Caingorms. I love the space, the freedom. I moved there in 2001, and I’ve no regrets at all, but it’s lovely coming back [for the tour].”

Fifty years, Leo, fifty years. Can you believe it?! “It’s like time compresses in an incredible way. You forget the years passing. I’ve got three stents in my heart, a partial kneecap replacement and Crohn’s disease, but with the right medication you can deal with it and I can feel fantastic,” he says.

“I’m still ambitious, I’m still the same guy who started out 50 years ago, still trying to prove myself by finding avenues that mark me out. I’ve always been a great believer in individuality.”

Leo had to break into a dog-eat-dog Seventies’ pop world. “We all hated each other. It was like a war,” he says, the laughter in his voice giving away that he might just be exaggerating. “It was such a competitive industry. If you look back, you can remember all the songs in the Top 40. That music really counted.”

Managed by pop star and actor Adam Faith, Leo struck up a partnership with songwriter and producer David Courtney, co-writing such songs as Long Tall Glasses and Giving It All Away (a 1973 top five hit for The Who’s Roger Daltrey).

“Adam Faith was very dynamic as a pop star, who did the Budgie TV series and a movie with David Essex [Stardust], and wanted to get me a record deal with Warner Music in America. He managed to get Joe from Warner down to Brighton, where David was based, and took them to a fish and chip shop,” recalls Leo.

“Just around the corner, a little guy called Leo Sayer was playing, and on the way back, I was told I had a deal with Warner.”

Sayer’s love of individuality was reflected in his decision to paint his face in the Pierrot clown mode for his early performances. “I loved Les Enfants du Paradis – Children Of Paradise – a movie made at the end of the Second World War by Marcel Carné,” says Leo, recalling the classic French drama that charts the ill-fated love of a mime artist and a sometime actress in 1840s’ Paris.

“I loved how he [the mime artist, played by Jean-Louis Barrault] could describe himself in gestures, rather than speech.”

Sitting with Roger Daltrey, “on the wall were all these big Pierrot pictures, and he said, ‘how do you see yourself’, and I said, ‘like that’, like Jean-Louis Barrault,” says Leo.

He duly borrowed a costume from a street performer called Julian. “He was 6ft tall, I’m 5 ft 4! It became my signature look, and it was extraordinary when we first did it, getting in a famous make-up lady from Australia,” he says.

“They wouldn’t let me look at the mirror as a black bathing cap was put on and the make-up applied, the dark eyes and the dots on the cheeks, and then suddenly I could look at the mirror, and from that moment I knew I’d found my look to be released to the world and really be transformed into Leo Sayer [he was born Gerard Hugh Sayer].

“After shows, I could rush around the block, stand outside in my T-shirts and jeans, and I’d hear people saying, ‘Hey, that guy Leo was amazing’. I got to find out at first hand what they thought!”

Later, Leo would shed that skin. “That was terribly scary. It was me that decided to stop it, which shocked people, but I only ever wanted to do it for a year. I’d seen Gilbert O’Sullivan being stuck for ages with that image of the little lad in the shorts and cap,” he says.

Leo made the transition when he was invited to be the opening act for Rick Wakeman at the Crystal Palace Bowl, South London. “Once I was without the mask, I thought I’d be terrified, but my [now ex-] wife and I put together this Great Gatsby look with the cloth cap, when you had to go from one image to another, as you did with all that glam rock going on, and though it was a baptism of fire, it felt right.”

The hits stacked up, the songwriting continues to this day. “It’s important to still write songs, but over the last couple of albums I’ve been working through a backlog of recordings, like the demos from when I worked with Alan Tarney in 1983. It’s time to put those songs out there,” says Leo. “It’s amazing how those songs from the Seventies and Eighties still sound so current.”

During the pandemic, Leo penned a couple of lockdown songs. “One was about Melbourne, the most locked-down city in the world, My City In Lockdown, which came out on YouTube,” he says. “Then there was How Did We Get Here?, about everyone blaming each other, in the way that disinformation becomes reality.”

Covid-19 reintroduced Leo to wearing masks – albeit of a different kind – all those years later, and although they have now been largely discarded by the public, “I wore a mask on the Tube in London the other day and the negative comments I got really surprised me.” he says.

Leo Sayer plays York Barbican tonight (7/10/2022), 7.30pm. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

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More Things To Do in York and beyond: The Mirror Crack’d and other cracking ideas. Hutch’s List No. 100, from The Press

On the case: Susie Blake’s bandaged Miss Marple and Oliver Boot’s Detective Inspector Craddock in the Original Theatre Company’s production of The Mirror Crack’d. Picture: Ali Wright

COINCIDING with Miss Marple’s arrival, Charles Hutchinson  applies his investigative skills to to pick out the best prospects to see, whether usual or unusual.  

Mystery of the week: Original Theatre Company in Agatha Christie’s The Mirror Crack’d, York Theatre Royal, Tuesday to Saturday, 7.30pm; 2pm, Thursday; 2.30pm, Saturday

SUSIE Blake’s Miss Marple, Sophie Ward and Joe McFadden lead the cast in Rachel Wagstaff’s stage adaptation of Agatha Christie’s 1962 psychological thriller, a story of revenge and the dark secrets that we all hide.

In the sleepy village of St Mary Mead, a new housing estate is making villagers curious and fearful. Even stranger, a rich American film star has bought the Manor House. Cue a vicious murder; cue Jane Marple defying a sprained ankle to unravel a web of lies, tragedy and danger. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

On the move: Dance time for the Barbara Taylor School of Dancing at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre

Every body dance: It’s Dance Time 2022, Barbara Taylor School of Dancing, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, today, 2.30pm and 7.30pm

IT’S Dance Time is “a festival arrangement of dance, infused together to arrange a variety of dance styles”, featuring the whole Barbara Taylor School of Dancing intake.

From tiny toes to fully grown, this song-and- dance parade through the years takes in Commercial Ballet, Tap, and Freestyle Jazz, finishing off with excerpts from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Bingham String Quartet: Playing the first Saturday evening concert of the new York Late Music season

Season launch of the week: York Late Music presents Jakob Fichert, today, 1pm, and Bingham String Quartet, today, 7.30pm, St Saviourgate Unitarian Chapel, York

ON the first weekend of its 2022-2023 season, York Late Music returns with its regular format of a lunchtime and evening concert. First up, pianist Jakob Fichert marks the 75th birthday of American composer John Adams by performing his works China Gates and American Berserk.

Later, the Bingham String Quartet play string quartets by Beethoven, Schnittke, LeFanu and Tippett, preceded by a talk at 6.45pm by Steve Bingham with a complimentary glass of wine or juice. Tickets: latemusic.org or on the door.

Graham Norton: Discussing his darkly comic new novel, Forever Home, at York Theatre Royal

Novel event of the week:  An Evening With Graham Norton, York Theatre Royal, Monday, 7.30pm

BBC broadcaster, Virgin Radio presenter and novelist Graham Norton is on a promotional tour for his new book, Forever Home, published this week by Coronet. Set in a small Irish town, it revolves around divorced teacher Carol, whose second chance of love brings her unexpected connection, a shared home and a sense of belonging in a darkly comic story of coping with life’s extraordinary challenges.

In conversation with author and presenter Konnie Huq, Norton will discuss the novel’s themes and how he creates his characters and atmospheric locations, share tales from his career and reveal what inspired him to pick up a pen and start writing, with room for audience questions too. Tickets update: sold out; for returns only, check yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Sax to the max: Jean Toussaint leads his quintet at the NCEM

Jazz gig of the week: Jean Toussaint Quintet, National Centre for Early Music, York, Wednesday, 7.30pm

SAXOPHONIST Jean Toussaint, who came to prominence in Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers in 1982, after his Berklee College of Music studies in Boston, has released 12 albums since moving to London in 1987.

His latest, Songs For Sisters Brothers And Others, reflects on the turbulent Covid-19 years. “The pandemic caused me to focus on the fragility of life and the fact we’re here one moment and gone the next,” he says of penning songs as a “tribute to my wonderful siblings while they were still around to enjoy it”.

Joining him in York will be Freddie Gavita, trumpet, Jonathan Gee, piano, Conor Murray, bass, and Shane Forbes, drums. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.

Feel like dancing? Leo Sayer steps out at York Barbican on Friday

The rearranged show must go on: Leo Sayer, York Barbican, Friday, 7.30pm

DELAYED by the pandemic, Leo Sayer’s York show now forms part of a 2022 tour to mark his 50th anniversary in pop.

Sayer, 74, who lives in Australia, is back on home soil with his not-so-one-man band to perform a setlist sure to feature  One Man Band, Thunder In My Heart, Moonlighting, I Can’t Stop Loving You, More Than I Can Say, Have You Ever Been In Love, When I Need You, You Make Me Feel Like Dancing and, yes, The Show Must Go On. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Buzzing: Maisie Adam heads home for Harrogate Theatre gig. Picture: Matt Crockett

Homecoming of the week: Maisie Adam: Buzzed, Harrogate Theatre, October 8, 8pm

BORN in Pannal and former head girl at St Aidan’s in Harrogate, anecdotal stand-up Maisie Adam heads home next Saturday on her first full-scale British tour to discuss relationships, house plants, her footballing aplomb, hopefully her beloved Leeds United and that haircut, the one to rival David Bowie’s Aladdin Sane for multiple choices across one barnet.

Adam played her first gig at the Ilkley Literature Festival in 2016 and won the nationwide So You Think You’re Funny? Competition in 2017. Now she pops up on Mock The Week and Have I Got News and co-hosts the podcast That’s A First. She also plays Leeds City Varieties on Friday. Box office: Harrogate, 01423 502116 or harrogatetheatre.co.uk; Leeds, 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com.

Digging the digital: The poster for Foto/Grafic’s Human After All digital-media exhibition at Fossgate Social and Micklegate Social

One exhibition, two locations: Foto/Grafic, Human After All, at Micklegate Social and Fossgate Social, York, today until November 27.

TWO sister bars that “show a bit of art every now and then championing local and innovative creativity” present Foto/Grafic’s group show from this weekend.

Human After All features digital-media artwork by young and early-career artists in celebration of their “leap from physical earthbound creations to the stratosphere of the unlimited digital toolbox”.

December Morning, by Judy Burnett

Exhibition launch of the week outside York: Judy Burnett, Time And Tide, Morten Gallery, High Street, Old Town, Bridlington, today until November 13; open Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 4pm

YORK artist Judy Burnett’s latest show of paintings and collages at Morten Gallery winds its way across the Wolds from the River Ouse in York to the sea.

Over time, water in all its forms has created the East Yorkshire landscape, firstly as a melting glacier at the end of the Ice Age, gouging out deep valleys and folds on its way down to the Vale of York.

The River Ouse then connects with other Yorkshire waterways to spill out into the North Sea at the mouth of the Humber and return on the tide to crash onto the cliffs of the Wolds coastline.

Judy lives by the Ouse in York, with a view from her studio window directly onto the riverbank, leading to the changing effects of light on moving water being an inspiration for her work. The colours and rhythms of the water alter with the weather, the time of day, the seasons and the frequent floods.

This interest in the luminosity and movement of water is also reflected in Judy’s many paintings of the Yorkshire coast, most particularly at Flamborough Head and Bridlington.

During the past year, she has made many trips across the Wolds, observing the rich tapestry of the countryside that links the river to the sea.

Her sketches are completed on-site in varying weather conditions. Back in the studio, they are developed in a range of media, utilising hand-printed collage paper and paint. The aim is to keep all the mark-making fresh and spontaneous, to echo the power of the elements at the time of observation.

 A Meet The Artist event will be held on October 22, from 1pm to 3pm, when “you are welcome to join us for a glass of wine and to enjoy the 30 pieces of work, together with Judy’s sketchbooks on display,” says gallery owner Jenny Morten.

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More Things To Do in and around York: when the love of music and food combine, plan on. List No. 99, courtesy of The Press

Over the Moon: Chef Stephanie Moon, delighted to be cooking in the York Food and Drink Festival demonstration kitchen on Wednesday at 1pm

FOOD for thought from Charles Hutchinson as he contemplates what’s on the menu for autumn days and nights out. 

Festival of the week: York Food and Drink Festival, Parliament Street and St Sampson’s Square, York, packed with flavour until October 2

IN its 26th year, York Food and Drink Festival offers demonstrations and hands-on participation, taste trails and wine tastings, markets and street food, with two marquees and live music until 9pm.

Look out for the free Food Factory cookery classes in the Museum Gardens and the Coppergate Centre; trails through the doors of artisan food producers, delicatessens and restaurants; Bedern Hall crowning York’s finest pork pie at its York Pork Pie competition and York Mansion House hosting a week-long tea exhibition and tasting. Head to yorkfoodfestival.com/programme for the full five-course details.  

For the love of Nina Simone: Apphia Campbell in Black Is The Colour Of My Voice, Grand Opera House, York, Monday, 7.30pm

Apphia Campbell: Brings her play to York on Monday

INSPIRED by the life of Nina Simone, writer, director and performer Apphia Campbell’s play follows a successful jazz singer and civil rights activist as she seeks redemption after the untimely death of her father. 

Complemented by many of Simone’s most iconic songs sung live, she reflects on the journey that took her from a young piano prodigy, destined for a life in the service of the church, to a renowned jazz vocalist at the forefront of the Civil Rights Movement. Box office: 0844 871 7615 or atgtickets.com/York.

Cameron Sharp: Confirmed for Stacee Jaxx role in Rock Of Ages

Musical of the week: Rock Of Ages, Grand Opera House, York, Tuesday to Saturday, 7.30pm; 2.30pm Saturday matinee

CAMERON Sharp returns to the rock demi-god role of Stacee Jaxx on the latest tour on Rock Of Ages after earlier appearances in the West End and on the road. He joins Coronation Street legend Kevin Kennedy, playing ornery Bourbon Room owner Dennis Dupree once more in this tongue-in-cheek musical comedy kitted out with classic rock anthems galore, from The Final Countdown to We Built This City, all played loud and proud.

The storyline invites you to “leave it all behind and lose yourself in a city and a time where the dreams are as big as the hair, and yes, they can come true.” Box office:0844 871 7615 or atgtickets.com/york.

Lucy Worsley: Uncovering the real, revolutionary, thoroughly modern Agatha Christie

History meets mystery: An Evening With Lucy Worsley On Agatha Christie, York Theatre Royal, Monday, 7.30pm

THE Queen of History will investigate the Queen of Crime in an illustrated talk that delves into the life of such an elusive, enigmatic 20th century figure.

Why did Agatha Christie spend her career pretending that she was just an ordinary housewife, a retiring Edwardian lady of leisure, when clearly she wasn’t? Agatha went surfing in Hawaii, loved fast cars and was intrigued by psychology, the new science that helped her through mental illness. 

Sharing her research of the storyteller’s personal letters and papers, writer, broadcaster, speaker and Historic Royal Palaces chief curator Lucy Worsley will uncover the real, revolutionary, thoroughly modern Christie. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Steve Hackett: Revisiting his Genesis past in Foxtrot At Fifty at York Barbican

Golden celebrations of the week: Steve Hackett, Genesis Revisited – Foxtrot At Fifty + Hackett Highlights, York Barbican, tonight, 7.30pm; Don McLean, 50th Anniversary of American Pie, York Barbican, Wednesday, 7.30pm

GUITARIST Steve Hackett, 72, revisits Genesis’s landmark 1972 prog rock album Foxtrot, the one with the 23-minute Supper’s Ready, preceded by an hour of highlights from his six years in the band and his solo career.

New Rochelle troubadour Don McLean, 76, marks the 50th anniversary of his 1971 album American Pie and its 1972 top two single, the poetic 8 minute 36 sec title track, a double A-side that had to be split over two sides of the vinyl with its mysterious, mystical tale of lost innocence “the day the music died”. Expect Vincent, Castles In The Air and  And I Love You So too. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Missus in action: Katherine Ryan mulls over life, love, marriage and motherhood at York Barbican

Comedy gig of the week, Katherine Ryan, Missus, York Barbican, Thursday, 8pm

AFTER previously denouncing partnerships, Canadian-born comedian, writer, presenter, podcaster and actress Ryan has since married her first love…accidentally.

“A lot has changed for everyone,” says the creator and star of Netflix series The Duchess and host of BBC Two’s jewellery-making competition All That Glitters, who looks forward to discussing her new perspectives on life, love and what it means to be Missus. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Budge up! Everyone tries to find Room On The Broom in Tall Stories’ staging of Julia Donaldson and Alex Scheffler’s picture book. Picture: Mark Senior

Children’s show of the week: Tall Stories Theatre Company in Room On The Broom, York Theatre Royal, Tuesday, 1.30pm and 4.30pm; Wednesday, 10.30am and 1.30pm

IGGETY Ziggety Zaggety Boom! Jump on board the broom with the witch and her cat in Tall Stories’ adaptation of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s picture book.

When they pick up some hitch-hikers – a friendly dog, a beautiful green bird and a frantic frog – alas the broomstick is not meant for five. Crack, it snaps in two  just as the hungry dragon appears.

Will there ever be room on the broom for everyone? Find out in this 60-minute, magical, Olivier Award-nominated show for everyone aged three upwards. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Wild Murphys, wild times: Tribute band revel in Irish bar favourites in One Night In Dublin

Irish craic of the week: One Night In Dublin, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, Thursday, 7.30pm

IRISH tribute band The Wild Murphys roll out the Irish classics, Galway Girl, Tell Me Ma, Dirty Old Town, The Irish Rover, Brown Eyed Girl, Seven Drunken Nights, Whiskey In The Jar, Wild Rover and Molly Malone.

Kick back in Murphy’s Pub, sing along and imagine being back in Temple Bar as Middi and his band roar into York. “Ah, go on, go on, go on!” they say. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Tom Robinson at 72: Sing if you’re glad to be grey at The Crescent

2-4-6-8, don’t be late: Tom Robinson Band and TV Smith (solo), The Crescent, York, Friday, 7.30pm

PUNK veteran, LGBTQ rights activist and BBC 6 Music presenter Tom Robinson returns to The Crescent with his band to reactivate 2-4-6-8 Motorway, Glad To Be Gay, Up Against The Wall, The Winter Of ’79 and the cream of his early albums, 1978’s Power In The Darkness, 1979’s TRB Two, and beyond, maybe War Baby.

Support comes from  TV Smith, once part of Seventies’ punks The Adverts, of  Gary Gilmore’s Eyes notoriety. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.

Don McLean: Marking American Pie’s golden landmark at York Barbican on Wednesday
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Steve Hackett revisits Foxtrot to find new revelations in Genesis at York Barbican

Steve Hackett: Visiting York Barbican to revisit Genesis’s 1972 album Foxtrot

GUITARIST Steve Hackett’s 25-date Genesis Revisited – Foxtrot At Fifty tour arrives at York Barbican on Saturday night (24/9/2022).

Hackett had joined the English progressive rock band in 1971, and Foxtrot would be their fourth album, recorded in August and September 1972 for release on Charisma on October 6 that year.

“We were a young, struggling band at that time,” recalls Pimlico-born lead guitarist Steve, now 72, who played with Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks until 1977.

“By the time we were doing Foxtrot, the band was becoming more ambitious. Foxtrot is a must for fans of the early Genesis work. Fifty years ago? It doesn’t feel like those ideas are 50 years old because it was-genre defining, rather than following trends. It still sounds current now.”

Foxtrot, the one with Genesis’s longest-ever song, all 22 minutes and 52 seconds of the album-closing Supper’s Ready, became a college student staple of the Seventies. “I’ve got one or two friends saying it was the record that got them through college, got them through isolation, and that played its part in the Genesis back story, that connection with Foxtrot, that romance with it,” says Steve.

“Peter was enacting things theatrically from his lyrics to personify Genesis, and there were so many elements that went into constituting Genesis’s magic. Music sticks with people when it affects them when they’re young, when the school curriculum is being forced on them and you’re told you have to be good at school.”

Foxtrot became the first Genesis album to make the UK charts, its diversity encapsulated in the science fiction-influenced Watcher Of The Skies and the social commentary of Get ‘Em Out By Friday, with its  depiction of concrete tower blocks replacing ageing slums, not out of concern for communities but driven by the greed of developers.

Hackett, meanwhile, was the lead writer of Can-Utility And The Coastliners and also contributed his classically inspired solo piece Horizons.

Fifty years on, Steve returns to Foxtrot in concert in the company of two Swedes, Nad Sylvan, vocals, and Jonas Reingold, bass and backing vocals; Roger King, keyboards; Rob Townsend, saxophone, flutes and keys, and Craig Blundell, drums.

“Over the years, I’ve played with orchestras to expand the sound, and now, the way it can be presented live is with an expanded sound palette, with real brass, real woodwind, as well as keyboards,” says Steve.

“It’s music that’s survived well beyond its sell-by date. Maybe ‘classical’ music has to be 100 years old, but this is 50 years old. I was part of creating it, and going back to it, I’m struck by the breadth of Foxtrot.

The tour poster for Steve Hackett’s Genesis Revisited – Foxtrot At Fifty

“People will have their favourites, maybe they’re attracted to the more proggy moments or maybe the less proggy, but what matters is that it stuck with them. Songs that first struck me as ‘just another of our pieces’, now I look back and think it’s very detailed music, as detailed as a five-piece band could be.”

Steve is revelling in broadening the Foxtrot canvas. “It takes a lot of rehearsal, but the gigs have been going very well. Now we can add the reverb, which is all part of the detail, and it all sounds much bigger than it did on the record. It’s music that was written to be performed live within palace walls in Italy, where the music could be recorded around the rooms and you got the feel of a space age band playing,” he says.

“Now, on this tour, the little Cinderella songs get the chance to go to the ball. I want to be authentic, but to expand, to extend, the sound is important. I don’t want it to be a slavish reproduction of the record, so we’re doing three-part harmonies rather than one-and-a-half-part harmonies.”

What happens to Supper’s Ready, Steve? “At the end, I tend to take it to the mountain and then keep it going, so I’m striking a balance between reverence and having a rave-up,” he says. “It’s not a heavy metal show but to have these wide dynamics brings it alive.”

Although the term “prog rock” has negative connotations for nay-sayers, Steve prefers to think of the possibilities of such flexible music-making. “It’s supposed to involve everything, so that it will evolve to include world music, the blues, whatever. That’s why it’s ‘music from heaven’,” he says.

“I’ve just got this love of classical music; my guilty pleasure was listening to [Spanish classical guitarist Andre] Segovia at the same time as watching Jimi Hendrix, and then the baroque and the blues did come together. Music without prejudice is the ideal; the stuffed shirt making way for letting it all hang out.”

Steve continues: “John Lennon said some nice things about our [Genesis] music; Yehudi Menuhin used some of my music, and if there was a point that they agreed on, I had their ear for a few seconds.”

Steve, who “wants to be the glue” that bonds different musical forms, reflects on the Steve Hackett of today and of 50 years ago. “The similarities between these two different times in my life is that I’m still trying to get it right. It’s never finished. One lifetime is never enough if you’re dead serious. Music doesn’t end with Chuck Berry. It goes on,” he says.

“In heaven, my ideal band would have both Lennon and Menuhin in it. Maybe their confluence came with Eleanor Rigby, as realised by George Martin.”

Looking ahead to Saturday, Foxtrot will be preceded by an hour of “Hackett Highlights”, drawn from both his Genesis and solo catalogues. Be ready for much more than Supper’s Ready.

Steve Hackett, Genesis Revisited – Foxtrot At Fifty + Hackett Highlights, York Barbican, Saturday (24/9/2022), 7.30pm; Sheffield City Hall, September 30, 7.45pm. Box office: York, yorkbarbican.co.uk; Sheffield, sheffieldcityhall.co.uk; both concerts, hackett.songs.com and myticket.co.uk.