The Human League’s Joanne Catherall, Susan Ann Sulley and Phil Oakey
SHEFFIELD’S new wave synth-pop pioneers The Human League will headline Futuresound’s Live At York Museum Gardens bill on July 3 next summer.
Joining the South Yorkshire electronic combo will be three very special guests, all hailing from the vibrant 1980s’ music scene: Go West, Blancmange and new wave punk singer Toyah [Willcox].
This is the second headline act to be announced by Leeds promoters Futuresound Group after pop-soul singer Olly Murs was confirmed for July 9 as part of the event’s expansion to two weekends for the first time in its fourth summer season.
The Human League’s Phil Oakey leading the Sheffield band at Scarborough Open Air Theatre in June 2025. Picture: Cuffe and Taylor
Synonymous with English electronic music since forming in 1977, The Human League gained international acclaim in 1981 with third album Dare! and its quartet of singles, The Sound Of The Crowd, Love Action (I Believe In You), Open Your Heart and the UK chart-topping Don’t You Want Me.
Championed by the then brand-new television tastemakers MTV, Dare! catapulted Phil Oakey, Joanne Catherall, Susan Ann Sulley and co across the Atlantic as leading players in the “Second British Invasion” of the United States.
A further six hit albums, an innovative remix album, a live album, six EPs, 29 singles and 13 career-spanning compilations later, The Human League have sold more than 20 million records worldwide.
They notched further hits with Mirror Man, (Keep Feeling) Fascination, The Lebanon, Life On Your Own, Louise, Human, Heart Like A Wheel, Tell Me When and One Man In My Heart while Oakey reached the top three with Together In Electric Dreams, his 1984 collaboration with Italian producer Giorgio, long incorporated in The Human League’s live sets.
Blancmange’s Neil Arthur at Scarborough Open Air Theatre in June 2025. Next summer Blancmange will support The Human League at Live At York Museum Gardens. Picture: Cuffe and Taylor
The Human League last played outdoors in York at the York Racecourse Music Showcase Weekend in the evening rain on July 28 2023: contrary weather to contrast with the set’s highlight, Being Boiled. In June 2025, they performed to a sold-out 8,000-capacity crowd at Scarborough Open Air Theatre.
This summer’s third Live At York Museum Gardens series featured sold-out headline performances by Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, Self Esteem and Super Furry Animals, topped off with a Sunday York Comedy Festival headlined by Russell Howard and Ross Noble.
Watch this space for more concert and comedy announcements for Futuresound’s newly extended collaboration with York Museum Trust in the Museum Gardens.
Did you know?
YORK Museum Gardens welcome around 1.3 million visitors a year as a space for relaxation and enjoyment.
Futuresound’s poster for The Human League, Go West, Blancmange and Toyah at Live At York Museum Gardens on July 3 2027
Georgina Fairbanks and Johnson Willis in Wilko: Love and Death and Rock’n’Roll at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Nick Haeffner
WILKO Johnson’s miraculous renaissance, Alan Ayckbourn’s first courtroom drama, Phil Wang’s wise moustache and The Dunwells’ indie-folk rock spark Charles Hutchinson’s attention in the week ahead.
Punk godfather of the week: Wilko:Love and Death and Rock’n’Roll, York Theatre Royal, tomorrow to Saturday, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee
WHEN Dr Feelgood co-founder and iconic guitarist Wilko Johnson faced a terminal cancer diagnosis in 2012, he was given only one year left to live. Declining medical intervention, Wilko chose to dedicate his remaining time to a meaningful farewell tour of the people and places that defined his life…only for an unexpected miracle to change the narrative entirely.
Jonathan Maitland’s Wilko: Love and Death and Rock’n’Roll examines the life of this punk-movement godfather, tracing a career that spanned Dr Feelgood, the Solid Senders, Ian Dury and The Blockheads and a late-career turn to acting in Game Of Thrones. Integrating live music and storytelling with Wilko’s own words, this show serves as a practical masterclass in living life to the fullest. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Richard Stacey’s war hero RSDO 83 and York actress Frances Marshall’s defence counsel Allistra Clay in Alan Ayckbourn’s The Trial of Romeo Oscar. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
Premiere of the week: Alan Ayckbourn’s The Trial Of Romeo Oscar, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, until October 4
ALAN Ayckbourn’s 92nd play is his first courtroom drama, one set in the future, as he explores the question that artists have been asking for centuries: what makes us human?
In 2194, humanity is scattered around the solar system and day-to-day life on Earth looks very different. Preparations are underway for a landmark legal case. Romeo Oscar, a military issue android, is on trial for murder: the first non-human to be tried in a court of law. The evidence is polarising and selecting an impartial jury is proving a challenge. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.
Movies In The Moonlight at Picturehouse Outdoor Cinema’s season in York Museum Gardens
Cinema event of the week: Picturehouse Outdoor Cinema, Movies In The Moonlight, York Museum Gardens, Friday to Sunday, 6.30pm
CITY Screen Picturehouse moves outdoors for three evenings of open-air screenings, comprising Grease (PG) on Friday, The Shining (15) and Evolution Of Horror podcast introduction on Saturday and Jurassic Park (12A) on Sunday. Screenings start at dusk or as soon as darkness falls.
Blankets, cushions and small picnic chairs are allowed. A limited number of deck chairs will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis; rain ponchos can be bought at the event, should the need arise. Guests are encouraged to take away waste for recycling where possible. Box office: picturehouses.com/outdoor-cinema/venue/york-museum-gardens.
Uh Oh! Here comes Phil Wang and his moustache that will “bristle with wisdom” at York Barbican
New moustache of the week: Phil Wang: Uh Oh, York Barbican, Friday, 7.30pm
PHILIP Nathaniel Wang Sin Goi is a Malaysian-British stand-up comedian, comedy writer and member of the sketch comedy group Daphne, who co-created the BBC Radio 4 series Daphne Sounds Expensive.
Now comes his new stand-up show, Uh Oh. In the words of Phil, “he’s older than ever before. He’s got a moustache now. It bristles with wisdom. His eyes shine with good humour. His shoulders groan under the weight of being the only cool millennial left. Everyone’s an idiot but him. Nice is out. Right is in. The vibe shift is real. Old Wang’s riding it.” Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
The boys Dunwell: Brothers Joseph and David, heading to Milton Rooms, Malton
Ryedale gig of the week: The Dunwells, Milton Rooms, Malton, Friday, 8pm
LEEDS indie-folk pop band The Dunwells have combined strong vocals, powerful melodies and heartfelt lyrics across four studio albums, a live album and a number of standout EPs and singles.
Prolific songwriting brothers Joseph and David Dunwell, along with friends Adam Taylor and Rob Clayton, have toured extensively in the USA, Europe and the UK, as well as undertaking support slots with Mumford & Sons, Elbow, Tom Jones, Scouting For Girls and Bryan Adams on British tours. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Sax to the max: Snake Davis heads to Helmsley on his Everlasting Love Tour
Saxophonist of the week: Snake Davis Band, Everlasting Love Tour, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, 7.30pm
SAXOPHONIST Snake Davis is “so happy to be back at Helmsley Arts Centre yet again”, this time showcasing new tunes and a new album on the Everlasting Love Tour with his four-piece band featuring guitar, bass guitar and drums.
The set spans “floaty to danceable, soul & Northern Soul to pop, jazz to world”, embracing original material and classic sax pieces such as Baker Street and Night Train as Snake swaps performing arena and stadium gigs with stellar acts for playing intimate venues with his favourite musicians. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
James Felice & William Lawrence: Dreamy and quiet evening of Americana music and storytelling at Pocklington Arts Centre
Americana gig of the week: James Felice & William Lawrence, Pocklington Arts Centre, Saturday, 8pm
JAMES Felice and drummer William Lawrence, two members of New York State’s Felice Brothers, are taking to the road to perform songs from their respective solo works in a dreamy and quiet evening of Americana music and storytelling. James and William last appeared at Pocklington Arts Centre alongside Ian Felice and Jesske Hume in the Felice Brothers gig in June 2021. Box office: 01759 301547or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
Alfie Moore: Offering the antidote to the breakdown of law and order, fake news and the price of baked beans in Acopalypse Now
Comedy gig of the week: Alfie Moore, Acopalypse Now, Milton Rooms, Malton, Sunday, 7.30pm
THE Four Horsemen of Rising Crime, Global Warming, AI and Culture Wars are galloping towards us. Are we on the road to hell? Can we avoid the potholes? In this new tour show, ‘Fair Cop’ Alfie has the antidote to the breakdown of law and order, fake news and the price of baked beans.
Moore has encountered more than his fair share of egotistical dictators in his policing career and learnt when pragmatism, and more than a dash of humour, can defuse even the most menacing showdown. Join him as he saddles up to see off those bullies on their pesky ponies. Doomsday is no laughing matter, but this show will be. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Chance to perform of the week: HAC Studio Bar Open Mic – Under 18s, Helmsley Arts Centre, Sunday, 2pm to 4pm
IN a special edition of Helmsley Arts Centre’s regular social event in the studio bar, young musicians and artists have the opportunity to perform. There is no need to book to take part or listen; just turn up. All under-18s must be accompanied by an adult.
Towering performances: Matthew Rutherford’s giant, Smog, and Jared More’s giant, Miff, in Riding Lights Theatre Company’s The Selfish Giant
A GIANT in a garden, Wendy turning piratical in a re-imagined Peter Pan, Alan Ayckbourn’s 92nd play and Wilko Johnson’s miraculous renaissance spark Charles Hutchinson’s attention in the week ahead.
Inspirational tale of love and generosity of the week: Riding Lights Theatre Company in The Selfish Giant, Friargate Theatre, Lower Friargate, York, today, 1.30pm and 4.30pm
STEP into the magical world of the Giant’s garden, a place full of music, beauty, bird song and stories in Jon Boustead’s stage adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s The Selfish Giant. The Giant, however, is cross when he returns to find children – children! – playing happily in his beautiful orchard, whereupon he erects a big wall to terminate the fun.
Once winter seizes the garden in its icy fingers, will summer ever return? Through storytelling, interactive games, live music and puppetry, York company Riding Lights presents a 50-minute play for family audiences. Box office: 01904 613000 or friargatetheatre.co.uk. Age recommendation: Three upwards.
Neverland revamped: York Theatre Royal Youth Theatre in Wendy & Peter Pan, York Theatre Royal, today, 2pm and 7pm
YORK Theatre Royal Youth Theatre returns to the Main House stage for the first time since 2019 for 46 performers, aged eight to 19, to present Ella Hickson’s feminist take on J M Barrie’s Peter Pan in Lydia Crosland and Sophie-Jade Howell’s large-scale production.
A quiet sadness permeates the Darling household, until the unexpected arrival of a mischievous young boy called Peter and a rather sassy fairy, Tink, whereupon Wendy leads the rebellious lost boys, takes on the terrifying Captain Hook, finds the key to her parents’ lost happiness and discovers the power of being brave and strong. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
York actress Frances Marshall in rehearsal for Alan Ayckbourn’s first courtroom drama, The Trial Of Romeo Oscar. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
Premiere of the week: Alan Ayckbourn’s The Trial Of Romeo Oscar, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, until October 4
ALAN Ayckbourn’s 92nd play is his first courtroom drama, one set in the future, as he explores the question that artists have been asking for centuries: what makes us human?
In 2194, humanity is scattered around the solar system and day-to-day life on Earth looks very different. Preparations are underway for a landmark legal case. Romeo Oscar, a military issue android, is on trial for murder: the first non-human to be tried in a court of law. The evidence is polarising and selecting an impartial jury is proving a challenge. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.
Silky: Hooking up at York Barbican tonight
Comedy bill of the week: Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club, featuring Silky and Dave Johns, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, tonight, 8pm
SILKY, Liverpudlian-in-exile and international act, is joined by Dave Johns, North Eastern stand-up, scriptwriter and stage and screen actor, and Jimmy Shirley, whose material addresses growing up in Liverpool in the 1990s, the absurdity of being a Scouser in Greece and the everyday things that annoy him every day.
Completing the line-up will be Gary Jennison, a surrealist force of nature who brings unscripted, unbridled chaos to dance-offs, game shows and observations with a twist while inviting the audience to steer his performance with suggestions and participation. Box office: https://lolcomedyclubs.co.ukor on the door from 7.30pm subject to availability.
See the world more curiously in: Be Like Blippi, York Barbican, today, 1pm and 4pm
JOIN Blippi and Meekah for a one-of-a-kind interactive adventure that inspires children to move, play and explore like Blippi in a new show packed with high-energy music and surprises, featuring fan favourites The Excavator Song, Monster Truck, Dino Dance and Curious Like Me.
Equipped with Blippi’s signature mix of play, learning, and exploration, Be Like Blippi invites you to break out your orange Blippi glasses and ignite your spark of curiosity. Please note, Blippi and Meekah will be played by professional stage performers. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Andrew O’Neill: Charting the history of punk through the comedy lens. Picture: Andrew O’Neill
When punk rock meets comedy: Andrew O’Neill, History Of Punk, Theatre@41, Monkgate, tonight, 8pm
FRESH from asking “How do we get out of this mess” in his Halfway To Edinburgh preview of his surreal, political show Escape at Theatre@41 on July 24, cult comedian Andrew O’Neill returns to York, switching from suggesting ways we can find our way out of disagreements to refracting punk rock through stand-up comedy.
In the wake of A History Of Heavy Metal, he delivers a full-volume love letter to punk, from The Stooges to Pussy Riot, Amebix to X-Ray Spex. “Punk’s not dead,” says O’Neill, who has appeared on Good Omens, Never Mind The Buzzcocks and Steve Coogan’s Saxondale. Box office: https://tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
The Illegal Eagles: Checking in at the Hotel California
Tribute gig of the week: The Illegal Eagles, Hotel California Tour, York Barbican, Sunday, 7.30pm
THE Illegal Eagles mark 30 years on the road in 2026 with their new Hotel California Tour. Renowned for their vocal and guitar prowess and ability to re-create the legendary sound of the Eagles, the tribute act’s milestone itinerary features a full performance of the iconic Hotel California album, featuring Life In The Fast Lane, New Kid in Town and the unforgettable title track. Expect all the timeless Eagles greatest hits too. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Jeanette Hunter’s Pearl, Jackie Cox’s Jan, Nicky Clay’s Shelley and Gemma McDonald’s Linda in MARMiTE Theatre’s Ladies Day. Picture: Lucy Baines
Racing romp of the week: MARMiTE Theatre in Ladies Day, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, September 8 to 12, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
LIFE is one long slog for four fish factory packers from Hull, Pearl, Jan, Shelley and Linda, but their fortunes could change when they head to Knavesmire on the day Royal Ascot came to York in 2005.
Factory hairnets make way for fascinators as the friends hit the racecourse for an unforgettable day out. Secrets are spilled, along with copious amounts of champagne, as friendships are tested to the limits in Martyn Hunter’s s production of Amanda Whittington’s comedy gem. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Georgina Fairbanks and Johnson Willis in Jonathan Maitland’s Wilko:Love and Death and Rock’n’Roll. Picture: Nick Haeffner
Punk godfather of the week: Wilko:Love and Death and Rock’n’Roll , York Theatre Royal, September 10 to 12, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee
WHEN Dr Feelgood co-founder and iconic guitarist Wilko Johnson faced a terminal cancer diagnosis in 2012, he was given only one year left to live. Declining medical intervention, Wilko chose to dedicate his remaining time to a meaningful farewell tour of the people and places that defined his life…only for an unexpected miracle to change the narrative entirely.
Jonathan Maitland’s Wilko: Love and Death and Rock’n’Roll examines the life of this punk-movement godfather, tracing a career that spanned Dr Feelgood, the Solid Senders, Ian Dury and The Blockheads and a late-career turn to acting in Game Of Thrones. Integrating live music and storytelling with Wilko’s own words, this show serves as a practical masterclass in living life to the fullest. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Movies In The Moonlight in Picturehouse Outdoor Cinema’s season at York Museum Gardens
Cinema event of the week: Picturehouse Outdoor Cinema, Movies In The Moonlight, York Museum Gardens, September 11 to 13, 6.30pm
CITY Screen Picturehouse moves outdoors for three evenings of open-air screenings, comprising Grease (PG) on September 11, The Shining (15) and Evolution Of Horror podcast introduction on September 12 and Jurassic Park (12A) on September 13. Screenings start at dusk or as soon as darkness falls.
Blankets, cushions and small picnic chairs are allowed. A limited number of deck chairs will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis; rain ponchos can bought at the event, should the need arise Guests are encouraged to take away waste for recycling where possible. Box office: picturehouses.com/outdoor-cinema/venue/york-museum-gardens.
Uh Oh, here comes Phil Wang’s moustache, “bristling with wisdom”at York Barbican
New moustache of the week: Phil Wang: Uh Oh, York Barbican, September 11, 7.30pm
PHILIP Nathaniel Wang Sin Goi is a Malaysian-British stand-up comedian, comedy writer and member of the sketch comedy group Daphne, who co-created the BBC Radio 4 series Daphne Sounds Expensive.
Now comes his new stand-up show, Uh Oh. In the words of Phil, “he’s older than ever before. He’s got a moustache now. It bristles with wisdom. His eyes shine with good humour. His shoulders groan under the weight of being the only cool millennial left. Everyone’s an idiot but him. Nice is out. Right is in. The vibe shift is real. Old Wang’s riding it.” Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
VISITORS are invited to experience York Museum Gardens “like never before” as the botanical gardens open after hours for exclusive Friday evening events on August 14 and 28.
Guests can enjoy Evening In The Gardens, a relaxed adults-only experience offering rare access to one of York’s most beautiful green spaces after the gardens have closed to the public at 6pm.
York Museum Gardens will reopen exclusively for ticket holders from 6.30pm to 9.30pm, giving visitors the chance to be in the gardens at this peaceful time of day.
Against the backdrop of the ruins of St Mary’s Abbey, guests can unwind with a cocktail, listen to live music, sample street food and soak up the atmosphere as the sun sets over the historic gardens, whether you are on a date night, linking up with friends for the evening or simply wanting to experience this iconic spaces in a completely different way.,
Run by York Museums Trust, the event is suitable for age 18 upwards. Tickets cost £7.50 and include a cocktail on arrival. Additional drinks and street food will be available to buy throughout each evening. To book, go to: yorkmuseumgardens.co.uk.
York Museum Gardens, leading to the rear of York Art Gallery. Picture: York Museums Trust
York Museum Gardens: back story
ESTABLISHED in the 1830s by Yorkshire Philosophical Society (YPS). Noted for collection of trees, shrubs, perennials and bulbs.
The land was granted to YPS under the condition that botanical gardens would be established on the site. These were created Sir John Murray Naysmith and originally contained a conservatory, pond and menagerie.
In 1960, the gardens and Yorkshire Museum were given in trust to the City of York Council. Since 2002, they have been managed by York Museums Trust.
Opening hours: 9am to 6pm, daily. For more information, head to yorkmuseumgardens.org.uk.
Tom Grennan: Performing after this afternoon’s race card on Knavesmire
VETERANS James Taylor and Tom Jones on the coast, Knavesmire’s music showcase, York Proms and Johnny and June’s country musical stand out in Charles Hutchinson’s recommendations for the week ahead.
Race day concert of the week: York Racecourse Music Showcase Weekend, Knavesmire, Tom Grennan, today
BEDFORD singer-songwriter Tom Grennan is today’s post-racing performer, drawing on such hits as Little Bit Of Love, Let’s Go Home Together, Remind Me, Here and How Does It Feel, plus songs from his number one albums Evering Road, What Ifs & Maybes and Everywhere I Went Led Me To Where I Didn’t Want To Be and top-five debut Lighting Matches. Tickets: yorkracecourse.co.uk; no booking fees; free parking on race day.
Tom Jones: Returning to Scarborough Open Air Theatre tomorrow
Coastal concerts of the week: Scarborough Open Air Theatre, An Evening with James Taylor and His All-Star Band, today; Tom Jones, with Stone Foundation, tomorrow; gates open at 6pm
MASSACHUSETTS singer, songwriter and guitarist, Laurel Canyon folk luminary, six-time Grammy winner and Rock and Roll and Songwriters Halls of Fame inductee James Taylor, 78, draws on six decades of songs, from his self-titled 1968 debut to 2021’s 19th studio album, American Standard, tonight.
Tom Jones, or Sir Tom Jones since 2006, to be more formal, returns to Scarborough this weekend aged 85 to perform such favourites as It’s Not Unusual, What’s New Pussycat?, Delilah, Green, Green Grass Of Home, A Boy From Nowhere, Kiss, Mama Told Me Not To Come and Sex Bomb. Joining Sir Tom will be the eight-piece soul collective Stone Foundation. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
Hannah Maxwell: Fiercely hopeful exploration of human connection in the Information Age at Theatre@41, Monkgate. Picture: Christa Holka
Fringe shows of the week: Halfway To Edinburgh at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, presents Hannah Maxwell: Turn Your ****ing Phones Off (Work in Progress), today,6.30pm; Kate McCabe and Adam Perrott,The Name Of The Dame, tomorrow, 7.30pm
PERFORMED in traverse with an immersive technical design by Benji Huntrods, theatre-maker Hannah Maxwell’s Edinburgh Fringe-bound new performance artwork is a dark, absurd and fiercely hopeful exploration of human connection in the Information Age, expounding playfully on the rise of Big Tech, attention-hacking innovations and surveillance capitalism, while recounting Maxwell’s personal struggles with phone addiction and her bid for a life in analogue.
Dames, detectives, stylish hats and ‘car chases’ combine in comedians Kate McCabe and Adam Perrott’s hour-long film-noir parody. “If you like Airplane and Police Squad, the oeuvre of Mel Brooks, dicey puns and sight gags, this show is probably for you,” they say. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Totally Visible Theatre Company in a scene from Invisible, to be spotted at Friargate Theatre tonight
Bonds of friendship of the week: The Totally Visible Theatre Company in Invisible, Friargate Theatre, York, tonight, 7.30pm
FIVE women meet up on a Saturday morning, as they have done every week for years, but this time they have a plan. Fast forward one year and their lives have changed irrevocably.
Celebrating the bonds of friendship and the fascinations and pitfalls of contemporary life, Invisible is a frank, fast-paced, all-female comedy-drama that ruminates on how older women are perceived in society, the relationships they forge and, most importantly, their “invisibility” in writer-director Jane Barrie’s exploration of sisterhood, motherhood and the effects of upbringing. Box office: 01904 655317 or ridinglights.org/friargatetheatre.
Ashley Stillburn: York-born tenor making his York Proms debut tomorrow
Picnic concert of the week: York Proms, York Museum Gardens, tomorrow, 5.30pm
RUN by classical chart-topping York soprano Rebecca Newman and now in its ninth year, York Proms features music from the world of classical and opera, film soundtracks and show songs. Increasing the orchestra size this summer enables the inclusion of John Williams cinema compositions.
The soloists are York-born tenor and West End musical actor Ashley Stillburn in his York Proms debut and British/Irish soprano Jennifer Coleman, making her third appearance. Tickets update: Available today but NOT tomorrow at yorkproms.com/collections/tickets-2026.
Christopher Ryan Grant’s Johnny Cash and Christina Bianco’s June Carter Cash in The Ballad Of Johnny & June, on tour at Grand Opera House, York, next week. Picture: Pamela Raith Photography
Musical of the week:The Ballad Of Johnny & June, The Johnny Cash Musical, Grand Opera House, York, July 28 to August 1, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday, Thursday & Saturday matinees
THIS thrilling musical from Jersey Boys director Des McAnuff celebrates the love, music and mayhem of country music couple Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash. Electrifying chemistry marks the performances of Christopher Ryan Grant’s Johnny and Christina Bianco’s June in a story observed through the eyes of Ryan O’Donnell’s John Carter Cash, their son. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
In addition, the trio gives a special pop-up performance of songs from the show at Forty Five Vinyl Cafe, the Nashville-inspired concert venue, record store and coffee house in Micklegate, on July 29 at 1pm.
“Tribute” show of the week: Songs Of presents The Songs of Joni Mitchell, with Jesca Hoop & Lail Arad, The Citadel, York, July 31, doors 7pm, show 7.45pm
JESCA Hoop & Lail Arad, acclaimed singer-songwriters in their own right, perform intimate interpretations of their favourite Joni Mitchell songs, accompanied by Richard Sears on piano and special guest Naima Bock. Hoop presented Legend: The Joni Mitchell Story, the award-winning six-part BBC radio documentary and podcast on the Canadian singer-songwriter. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.
Jesca Hoop: Intimate interpretations of Joni Mitchell songs at The Citadel
Political drama of the week: Handbagged, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, July 31 to August 29
MOIRA Buffini’s 2014 Olivier Award-winning play imagines what happened behind closed palace doors when two of the 20th century’s most powerful women, Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, locked handbags. Meeting once a week for 11 years, one believed there was no such thing as society; the other committed her life to serving it.
Spanning 1979 to 1990, Handbagged asks if The Queen and the Iron Lady ever found common ground or did their stiff upper lips reign supreme? Hannah Tyrrell-Pinder directs the SJT cast of Pandora Clifford, Liz Garland, Alexandra Mathie, Deven Modha, Simon Darwen and Meriel Scholfield. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.
Alexandra Mathie, left, and Pandora Clifford in rehearsal for Handbagged at Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
Shakespeare show of the week: Four Forty Theatre in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, July 31, 7.30pm
FOUR Forty Theatre (or 440 Theatre, as their website uses both names) tackle Shakespeare’s romantic romp of a chaotic comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, with their trademark irreverence, wit and theatrical ingenuity, directed by Dominic Gee-Burch, formerly of fellow high-speed Shakespeare humorists Oddsocks Productions.
Lovers are enchanted, fairies feud and a troupe of hapless players rehearse their way into disaster, all in a single moonlit night. Inventive staging, breakneck character changes and playful dismantling of tradition mark out Four Forty’s mischief-making take on Shakespeare’s best-loved comedy: part affectionate homage, part riotous reinvention. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Four Forty Theatre: Mischief-making in the woods in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Joseph Rowntree Theatre
Art event of the week: Carolyn Coles & Mike Marshall, Beyond The Nab, St Mary’s Church, Sandsend, near Whitby, today, tomorrow & Monday, 10am to 5pm
ARTISTS and fossil collectors Carolyn Coles and Mike Marshall are sharing their love of the north east coastline in Beyond The Nab at St Mary’s Church, Sandsend, near Whitby.
Held at this beautiful church located at the end of the Sandsend Valley at the bottom of Lythe Bank, the special four-day event takes place in one of Yorkshire’s prettiest valleys, noted for its picturesque, high-end stone cottages, rich local history, tied to the Mulgrave Estate, and ancient woodlands leading to the ruins of Mulgrave Castle.
On show and sale are contemporary paintings with a traditional twist, sculptured fossils, evocative photography, jet jewellery, cards and prints, with both York seascape artist Carolyn Coles and East Coast fossil legend Mike Marshall on hand to guide you through the works.
South Bank Studios artist Carolyn will be demonstrating painting techniques while Mike, who runs Yorkshire Coast Fossils, will be glad to identify any fossil you bring along. A pop-up cafe will serve light refreshment in aid of the church, championed by volunteer Helen Lloyd.
Mike Marshall looking out to sea
Carolyn explains the idea behind the event as a “brilliant medley of art and heritage, combining contemporary art and sculpture with traditional techniques”. “We talked about coming together professionally as our work is a perfect compliment and we have such a shared love of the area,” she says.
Carolyn has had a busy 2026, joining wildlife sculptor Karen Fawcett and PICA Studios ceramicist Emily Stubbs in The Sky’s The Limit exhibition at Pyramid Gallery, York, from late-January to mid-March and taking part in York Open Studios in April.
“My dream is to open a studio and gallery and live by the coast, so this event is a huge pleasure to hold,” she says.
York artist Carolyn Coles enjoying painting in plein air at Sandsend
Stephen Webb’s Dr Frank N Furter in The Rocky Horror Show, doing the Time Warp again at the Grand Opera House, York
TOM Jones on the coast, Knavesmire’s music showcase weekend, a not-so-sweet Transylvanian transvestite and a French farce promise variety aplenty in Charles Hutchinson’s week ahead.
Musical of the week: The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Grand Opera House, York, until Saturday, tonight and tomorrow, 8pm; Friday & Saturday, 5pm and 8.30pm
STEPHEN Webb leads the cast as Dr Frank N Furter in The Rocky Horror Show’s latest return to the Grand Opera House, joined by comedian Jackie Clune as the Narrator. Directed by Christopher Luscombe, Richard O’Brien’s outré musical tells the story of squeaky-clean American college sweethearts Brad and his fiancée Janet’s very frank encounters at the freaky doctor’s Transylvanian castle after their car breaks down.
Cue an adventure full of fun, frolics, frocks and frivolity, bursting with timeless songs and outrageous outfits as O’Brien combines science-fiction, horror, comedy and music while encouraging audience participation. Those audiences are sure to dress up in the most outrageous fancy dress. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Lou Bass’s artworks for Bring Me Sunshine at Helmsley Arts Centre
Exhibition of the week: Bring Me Sunshine, Paintings by Lou Bass and Adam King, Helmsley Arts Centre, until September 4
SCARBOROUGH artists Lou Bass and Adam King have teamed up for a joint exhibition, Bring Me Sunshine. A regular North Yorkshire Open Studios participant at Beeforth’s Hive, Lou’s vibrant paintings are brought to life with help from playful and poignant characters, such as Donkey, Crow, Angry Man, Bandit Cat, Dog and Fox, as she explores emotions and situations through simple narratives.
Painter and printmaker Adam has been painting for more than 35 years, holding exhibitions and doing residencies throughout Yorkshire. Educated at Leeds Met, York St John and Huddersfield, he led the Foundation Art and Fine Art degree courses when lecturing at Harrogate College before painting full time. His work is marked by a fresh approach to image making, combining simplicity with sophistication and a sureness of composition.
Andrew O’Neill: Looking to Escape at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, on Friday. Picture: Andrew O’Neill
Fringe shows of the week: Halfway To Edinburgh at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, presents Dylan Howells in Forget About Me (Work In Progress), tonight, 7.30pm; Joe Sellman-Leava in Copycat (Work In Progress), tomorrow, 7.30pm; Andrew O’Neill: Escape, Friday, 8pm
IN a remote, northeast village, something lurks in the bathroom: something Dylan struggles to remember, which even his dad’s deadly DIY skills can’t fix, as designer-performer Dylan Howells weaves psychological illusions and fragmented memories into a magical, chilling tale of a home that won’t stay still.
Part magic show, part ghost story, tonight’s show Forget About Me isn’t your typical conjuring act: mind-bending mentalism and spine-tingling effects blur the line between reality and fiction in a twisted tale designed to get under your skin.
DOES AI spell the end of humanity, or the dawn of a new utopia, ponders Fringe First winner Joe Sellman-Leava tomorrow. He might be a technophobe, but he is determined to find out by using innovative design and a whirlwind of uncanny impressions to tell the story of a teacher, a student and a copycat dictator to examine the links between art, fascism and rapid technological change.
HOW do we get out of this mess, asks cult comedian Andrew O’Neill on Friday in his surreal, political show, Escape, about the ways in which we disagree with each other, while suggesting some ways we can find our way out. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Jorja Cartwright’s German flight attendant Gretchen in rehearsal for Rowntree Players’ Boeing Boeing
Farce of the week: Rowntree Players in Boeing Boeing, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tomorrow to Saturday, 7.30pm
MARC Camoletti’s high-flying 1960s’ French farce Boeing Boeing is cleared for take-off in Hannah Shaw’s English-language production for Rowntree Players. Meet self-styled Parisian lothario Bernard, who has Italian, German and American fiancées, each one a beautiful airline hostess with frequent “layovers.”
He keeps “one up, one down, and one pending” until unexpected schedule changes bring all three to Paris, and to Bernard’s apartment, at the same time. Shaw’s cast features Max Palmer as Bernard, Lizzie Lawton as Robert, Rebecca Thomson as Berthe, Jorja Cartwright as Gretchen, Bethan Olliver as Gloria and Val Debenedetti as Gabriella. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Welsh pop legend Tom Jones: Returning to Scarborough Open Air Theatre on Sunday
Coastal concerts of the week: Scarborough Open Air Theatre, An Evening with James Taylor and His All-Star Band, Saturday; Tom Jones, with Stone Foundation, Sunday; gates open at 6pm
MASSACHUSETTS singer, songwriter and guitarist, Laurel Canyon folk luminary, six-time Grammy winner and Rock and Roll and Songwriters Halls of Fame inductee James Taylor, 78, draws on six decades of songs, from his self-titled 1968 debut to 2021’s 19th studio album, American Standard, on Saturday night.
Tom Jones, or Sir Tom Jones since 2006, to be more formal, returns to Scarborough this weekend at 85 to perform such favourites as It’s Not Unusual, What’s New Pussycat?, Delilah, Green, Green Grass Of Home, A Boy From Nowhere, Kiss, Mama Told Me Not To Come and Sex Bomb. Joining Sir Tom will be the eight-piece soul collective Stone Foundation. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
Holly Taymar: Performing Eva Cassidy’s songbook at Helmsley Arts Centre
Tribute show of the week: Holly Taymar Sings Eva Cassidy, Helmsley Arts Centre, Friday, 7.30pm
YORK singer-songwriter Holly Taymar delivers a warm, authentic performance that blends Eva Cassidy’s folk, jazz and blues material in renditions of Fields Of Gold, Songbird, Over The Rainbow and Autumn Leaves.
In a show of appreciation for Eva’s life and career, rather than imitation, Taymar combines intimate guitar accompaniment, mesmerising stage presence, melody and emotional truth. Singer-songwriter David Swann supports. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Craig David: TS5 DJ set after Friday evening’s race card at York Racecourse
Race day concerts of the week: York Racecourse Music Showcase Weekend, Knavesmire, York, Craig David presents TS5, Friday, and Tom Grennan, Saturday
SOUTHAMPTON singer-songwriter and DJ Craig David presents his TS5 DJ set on Music Showcase Friday’s double bill of racing and old-skool anthems, from R&B to Swing Beat, Garage to Bashment, plus current House hits, when he combines his song and MC skills.
Tom Grennan: Saturday live set at York Racecourse
BEDFORD singer-songwriter Tom Grennan is Saturday’s post-racing performer, drawing on such hits as Little Bit Of Love, Let’s Go Home Together, Remind Me, Here and How Does It Feel, plus songs from his number one albums Evering Road, What Ifs & Maybes and Everywhere I Went Led Me To Where I Didn’t Want To Be and top-five debut Lighting Matches. Tickets: yorkracecourse.co.uk; no booking fees; free parking on race day.
York tenor Ashley Stillburn: Making his York Proms debut on Sunday
Picnic concert of the week: York Proms, York Museum Gardens, Sunday 5.30pm
RUN by classical chart-topping York soprano Rebecca Newman and now in its ninth year, York Proms features music from the world of classical and opera, film soundtracks and show songs. Increasing the orchestra size this summer will enable the inclusion of iconic John Williams cinema compositions.
The soloists are York-born tenor and West End musical actor Ashley Stillburn in his York Proms debut and British/Irish soprano Jennifer Coleman, making her third appearance. Tickets update: Still available at yorkproms.com/collections/tickets-2026.
Ashley Stillburn: York-born tenor, making York Proms debut on Sunday
THE York Proms picnic concert returns to York Museum Gardens on Sunday for its ninth celebration of pomp and circumstance.
Gracing the open-air stage will be York-born tenor and West End star Ashley Stillburn in his York Proms debut, and British-Irish soprano Jennifer Coleman, completing her hat trick of appearances.
Event co-founder Rebecca Newman says: “We have tried to book Ashley for a couple of years now, and even came very close in the past but diary clashes prevented it. I worked with Ashley in 2010 on a Bev Jones show at the Grand Opera House, when he was only about 17!
“I was so pleased to see how he went on to pursue a career in the arts and I know he will absolutely knock the socks off the audience on the night. Having the connection to York just makes it even more special.”
Ashley says: “It’ll be such a special event for me to return to York to perform and especially as it’s such a well- loved event in one of the most iconic spots in York.”
After leaving his beloved home city of York in 2011, Ashley graduated from Guildford School of Acting (GSA) in 2014 with a 1st Class BA (Hons) degree in Musical Theatre and the award for Best Performance in a Musical.
Ashley left vocational training early at GSA to join the West End cast of Les Miserables, in which he played the role of Feuilly and understudied and played Enjolras. He went on to appear as Raoul in The Phantom Of The Opera (Her Majesty’s Theatre, London); Anthony Hope in Sweeney Todd (Opera de Toulon); Corrado Montelli in Death Takes A Holiday, Armand Dufau in The Braille Legacy and Walter Hartright in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s first revival of The Woman In White, all at the Charing Cross Theatre in the West End.
He appeared as Charles Clarke in the UK and international tour of Titanic – The Musical and returned to the West End production of The Phantom Of The Opera post-COVID, where he covered and played both The Phantom and Raoul at certain performances. He later returned to play The Phantom in April 2023 for a brief period to cover for an unforeseen absence within the cast.
Ashley Stillburn in Les Miserables. Picture provided by York Proms
Ashley has worked extensively in the development of new and developing work and has participated in workshops that include She Loves You, All About My Mother, Coastliners, Dance With A Stranger, Murder At The Gates, Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day, Strangers, Annie Get Your Gunand Production 54.
Ashley’s concert work includes West End Men: Unplugged Live from Park Theatre; West End Men in Concert (Royal Bangkok Symphony Orchestra, Thailand); Enjolras in Les Miserables in Concert (Beau Sejour, Guernsey); Raoul in The Phantom Of The Opera in Concert (MFCC Arena, Malta) and Carols by Candlelight at St Martin in the Fields, London. He also appeared as one of the ‘3 Phantoms’ singing Music Of The Night at West End Live in Trafalgar Square in 2022.
Throughout the course of his career, he has appeared multiple times on Elaine Paige On Sunday on BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio Kent and BBC Radio York.
Ashley has had the good fortune to work with leading creatives and practitioners in the theatre, including Andrew Lloyd Webber, Claude Michel- Schoenberg, Hal Prince, Dame Gillian Lynne, Sir Cameron Mackintosh, Dame Maureen Lipman, Maria Friedman, Brian Conley, Carrie Hope Fletcher, Maury Yeston and David Zippel.
He has worked as a guest entertainer on some of the world’s most luxury ocean liners and is a member of a cappella group Shantify, enjoying two runs at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and a brief stint at the Ambassador’s Theatre in the West End.
Ashley was delighted to appear in To Maury, With Love at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in celebration of Maury Yeston’s 80th birthday in February this year.
Since 2023, Ashley has lived in Buxton in the Peak District with his wife and two young children, building a career in education. He has taught at prestigious northern institutions, including serving as director of music at St Bede’s College, Manchester, and head of performing arts at Beech Hall School, Macclesfield, and he is a guest lecturer at The Hammond School in Chester and KTCo in Castle Donington.
He is also an accredited partner for Derbyshire Music Partnership and has become part of its body of staff, aiming to build opportunities and access to singing and music across Derbyshire.
Soprano Jennifer Coleman: Making her third York Proms appearance on Sunday
GUEST soprano Jennifer Coleman will be returning to Museum Gardens after earlier York Proms appearances in 2019 and 2023, when she took on the more classic soprano songs and the finale in the Night At The Musicals-themed show.
Royal College of Music graduate Jennifer’s performance career has spanned opera, concerts, television and recitals.
As of August 2025, she is a full-time chorus member of the Royal Ballet and Opera (formerly the Royal Opera House) in Covent Garden, London. In 2026, she is delighted to be covering the role of First Bridesmaid in the Royal Opera’s production of Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro and she also covered the soprano solo in Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms for the Royal Ballet.
In the 2025/26 season with RBO, Jennifer will perform in Tosca, Les Vêpres Siciliennes, Die Zauberflöte, Ariodante, Turandot, Traviata, Boris Godunov, Peter Grimes, Samson & Delilah, Le Nozze di Figaro, I Puritani and La Boheme.
From 2018 to 2025, Jennifer was a full-time soprano chorister with Opera Ballet Vlaanderen (OBV) (International Opera Awards: Best Opera Company 2019) in Antwerp and Ghent, Belgium. Productions ranged from Mozart to Philip Glass to Wagner.
For OBV, she performed as a soloist in Verdi’s Libera Me from Requiem in Choeurs in 2022, Brahms’s Deutsches Requiem, Schreker’s Der Schmied von Gent, La Cugina in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, cover Giovanna in Verdi’s Ernani and a spoken solo in Halevy’s La Juive.
Jennifer completed her undergraduate training at the Royal Northern College, Manchester, then graduated with distinction from the Masters of Music and Diploma course at the Royal College of Music, London, where she was a Theo Max van der Beugel scholar.
In 2016, she won a Musical Odessey Prize; in 2017, she won the Hatfield Festival Voice Competition and was a Britten-Pears Young Artist.
Her operatic roles have included First Bridesmaid in Le Nozze di Figaro (cover, Royal Opera); Theodora in Handel’s Theodora (RCM Oratorio Society); Pamina, Mozart’s The Magic Flute (St John’s Opera); Taumann/Dew Fairy, Hänsel und Gretel (RCMIOS); Mabel , The Pirates Of Penzance; Frasquita, Carmen; 2nd Niece, Peter Grimes (Dartington International); Priestess, Gluck’s Iphigenie en Tauride (Euphonia Opera); Noga, Tom Smail’s Electric Blue (Tête-à-Tête) and Vixen, Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen (RCM Scenes).
Concert performances include soprano solos in Bach’s St John Passion, Brahms’ Deutsches Requiem, Handel’s The Messiah and Dixit Dominus, Purcell’s Come Ye Sons Of Art, Fili in Handel’s bilingual Acis And Galatea (Snape Maltings) and Elsie Suddaby in Vaughan-Williams’ Serenade To Music.
Among further highlights, she reached the semi-finals of Belgium’s Got Talent with her opera duo, toured the world for six months as the resident opera singer aboard The Silver Muse and undertook an 11-concert tour of the South of France with the Young Virtuosi Orchestra in 2016.
She performed recitals in Spain as part of the Encuentro de Música y Academia de Santander in 2017, sang on ITV’s The Only Way Is Essex and gave recitals with clarinettist Peter Dec at the Royal Albert Hall, Kings Place, Victoria & Albert Museum and Royal Academy of Art, London.
Naming her dream roles, Jennifer picks: Musetta (La Boheme); Leila (Bizet’s Pearl Fishers); Cleopatra (Handel’s Giulio Cesare); Cunegonda (Bernstein’s Candide); Eliza Doolittle (Lerner and Loewe’s My Fair Lady) and, most especially, Mary Poppins (the Sherman Brothers’ Mary Poppins).
When she is not singing, Jennifer generally can be found at Parkrun, drinking tea out of china teacups or tucking into delicious Belgian chocolates.
Rebecca Newman: York Proms co-founder and organiser
Sunday’s York Proms programme
RUN as ever by classical chart-topping York soprano Rebecca Newman, Sunday’s York Proms will feature music from the world of classical and opera, film soundtracks and show songs.
“This year we have invested a bit more into the stage show, with a larger instrumental line-up in the orchestra to support these great singers, and also to allow us to take on some of the bigger film pieces, like works by Star Wars composer John Williams,” says Rebecca.
“We’ve always been restricted by the size of the venue and stage, but this year we’ve pushed the boat out a bit more and we hope our audience enjoys it.”
Tickets are on sale in advance at www.yorkproms.com or at the Visit York Information Centre. Attendees are allowed to bring food and drink, including alcohol, plus picnic chairs (which helps to keep down costs). Food and drink be will be available on site on the day, with a bar, hot and cold food and drinks, treats, and more. No tables or trolleys are permitted on the main lawn.
Please note, NO tickets will be sold on the gate. Previous years’shows have sold out, so prompt booking is advised.
Fast Track tickets have sold out; gates for these ticket holders will open at the Marygate entry at 5pm. Gates for all other ticket holders will open on Museum Street at 5.30pm, after the Fast Track queue has entered.
Wheelchair spaces can be booked after booking a disabled plus carer ticket via the website.
Entertainment will start from around 6pm and the evening show will begin at 7.30pm, climaxing with a low-noise fireworks finale from 10pm to 10.20pm.
Self Esteem, right, performing with her choir at Live At York Museum Gardens on Friday. Picture: Paul Rhodes
SELF ESTEEM is a pop queen to many and her York Museum Gardens garden party was a special evening.
Rebecca Lucy Taylor really believes in her material, which appears ripped from within her. Her candid accounts of what it feels like to be a modern woman, powerful but exhausted, desiring and often despairing, have a rare ability to turn individual experience into something universal. We saw that power in full force on Friday, which was thankfully a little cooler than the evening before.
Yet something seemed to be the matter when Taylor first walked on. Dressed in the same devotional costume she wears on her latest album, 2025’s A Complicated Woman, she had been crying and was still holding back sobs as the eight-strong choir began I Do And I Don’t Care.
We will never know, but Taylor talked a few times of this being a crazy day. She is clearly someone who feels deeply, and her audience responds to that. In a short time, there was a reassuring hand from one of her troupe, who then returned to singing beautifully and dancing with sometimes alarming intensity.
British-Nigerian poet and electronic artist Joshua Idehen opening Friday’s bill at Live At York Museum Gardens. Picture: Paul Rhodes
Taylor’s latest songs were driven more by message than melody. The voices, choreography and stark group formations made it theatrical, but they also operated like a musical family, and we were drawn in. It really worked, despite the sometimes dim lighting. But at least we had screens this year, positioned sensitively to the sides.
Redemption had already arrived – at least for the few – thanks to opener Joshua Idehen, a British-Nigerian poet and electronic artist whose work combines poetry, house music and messages of hope, resilience and renewal. He turned out to have a masterful command of the crowd. Believing in second chances, he gave us a better chance to engage our shoulders and get off on the right foot.
Like Self Esteem, his words mattered deeply too, and he brought many of the newcomers to tears. The groove was also important as the extra element to lift half-spoken, half-rapped words. There was something of Gil Scott-Heron in the combination of social observation, humour, poetry and rhythm, but Idehen is very much a man of his own time. His signature song, Mum Does The Washing, has grabbed a wider audience online, and while that number was surprisingly absent, we were also caught up in his world.
South African singer and “future ghetto punk” Moonchild Sanelly. Picture: Paul Rhodes
Above all, this was a night about connection. Female friends, mums and daughters, young families gathering around music while spending time close to those we loved. It made for a lovely, all-age atmosphere under a cloudless sky.
It was harder to get close to Moonchild Sanelly, the South African singer and self-styled “future ghetto punk” artist known for mixing electronic pop, dance music and South African rhythms with sexually candid, fiercely independent lyrics. She brought a more confrontational energy. With vivid green hair and a bold stage presence, she was defiant, spiky, frequently taking aim at former partners foolish enough to reject her, as on Demon.
There was plenty of indie-energy in third support act The Big Moon, a Mercury-nominated London indie-rock four-piece whose melodic guitar pop has expanded to take on motherhood, relationships, body change and, on their newest material, hearing loss. This was the only traditional band performance of the night and a clever shift in tone.
Juliette Jackson leading The Big Moon at Live At York Museum Gardens. Picture: Paul Rhodes
Their Museum Gardens set was a fascinating mixture. The songs had strong melodic foundations and choruses, underpinned by particularly impressive bass playing. There was even a singalong to Fatboy Slim’s Praise You.
Headliner Self Esteem was not polished. She said later that costume changes had been missed and her hair had not been done. The audience loved her more for this, not less.
She didn’t forget to make the evening fun and tuneful. Her numbers from Prioritise Pleasure were more danceable and got the crowd moving. Once the opening emotional storm had passed, the performance became looser and more playful. Some of the crowd looked like they were unsure how much they were allowed to enjoy the image-rich 69. She did give a parental warning, but there was no time to look away.
Self Esteem in devotional costume, as worn in the artwork for 2025 album A Complicated Woman, at Live At York Museum Gardens. Picture: Paul Rhodes
Towards the end of her 90 minutes, Taylor spoke emotionally, not to seek praise, but to say thank you. She was met by a huge wave of applause and support. Like Adele, her troubles were our troubles.
After the nostalgic full house for Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark the night before, Self Esteem was a bolder programming choice by event promoters Futuresound: a younger, messier and more varied bill. The artists selected worked well together – for my money, more fun than, say, three and a half hours of Guns N’Roses.
This was music for people still working things out, performed by artists willing to open themselves up for us, on a striking, memorable Friday night spent with people we care about. It turns out it’s OK to just be together, the deep blue OK or not.
Review by Paul Rhodes
Fans watching Self Esteem on a “striking, memorable Friday night spent with people we care about”. Picture: Paul Rhodes
Andy McCluskey leading Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark on the first night of Live At York Museum Gardens. All pictures: Devon Chambers
ORCHESTRAL Manoeuvres In The Dark’s Summer Of Hits opened this Summer of Hot’s trio of concerts in Futuresound’s third Live At York Museum Gardens season.
Oh yes, it was hot, absurdly hot, hot enough to bake a pizza on the Yorkshire Museum walls, if you could cook a pizza sideways, as if in a Salvador Dali painting.
There will be no respite for Self Esteem’s Friday bill or today for Super Furry Animals (not a state of fur coverage any would want right now), so come prepared. Spray on Factor 50 sun cream, advises Futuresound project manager Rachel Hill. Look out for the water stations too to top up bottles.
The site lay-out changed from the first festival to the second, when the stage switched architectural backdrop from the Yorkshire Museum to the St Mary’s Abbey ruins, and further changes have come into play for 2026: a sure sign that Futuresound and York Museums Trust respond positively to suggestions.
Andrew Cushin, in retro football shirt, kicking off day one of Live At York Museum Gardens
Large screens have been placed to either side to enhance the viewing experience (last year, standing at the back, your reviewer struggled to see a head let alone Elbow, before being accommodated most kindly in the Ambulant seated area for Richard Hawley).
The Premium ticket experience has improved vastly too: separate entry via Exhibition Square; commodious bar (well stocked but no gin, presumably deemed too depressive for a festival) ; Indian and bao bun food vendors; seats and bean bags dotted around the gardens, away from the stage but within hearing range.
The Premium viewing area has expanded too, still by the Yorkshire Museum, still with reserved Ambulant seating, but now with a steeped bank of terracing, like the most spacious football Kop ever. Out-standing improvement, indeed.
Futuresound make good decisions: first in setting up Live At York Museum Gardens, then adding a Sunday comedy festival, then bettering the festivalgoer’s experience. The Leeds event promoters also pick the headline acts really well, whether home-crowd favourites Shed Seven’s 30th anniversary celebrations and Jack Savoretti in 2024 or Elbow, Hawley and Nile Rodgers & Chic last summer.
China Crisis frontman Gary Daly, dressed for the beach, at Live At York Museum Gardens
In 2026, headliners OMD, Self Esteem and Super Furry Animals each will appeal to a different pop/ rock demographic – Eighties, Gen Z and Nineties respectively – and the supporting bills offer enticement aplenty to arrive well before the 8.30pm last entry.
Andrew Cushin, Newcastle’s latest singer-songwriter protégé, came and went before your reviewer settled in by the museum wall to see China Crisis lead singer Gary Daly dressed appropriately for the weather: white T-shirt and green shorts (the de rigueur dress code for the men in the crowd too).
The Kirkby synth-poppers would be playing for only 30 minutes, so he would cut “the chat”, said the normally notoriously loquacious Daly after only two songs in the opening ten. Christian, “Jeremy Vine favourite” Arizona Sky, Black Man Ray, Wishful Thinking and King In A Catholic Sky were all reminders of how the Liverpool School of Melody DNA passed through them so delightfully.
We Don’t Need This Fascist Groove Thang T-shirts (without the brackets of the song title) heralded the presence of Heaven 17 devotees in the sold-out crowd. One, called Sumo, had been to 217 gigs (one more than lead singer Glenn Gregory, Glenn revealed, after Sumo turned up for a show in Canada but illness had put paid to the Sheffield electronic pioneers’ appearance).
Heaven 17 fans wearing We Don’t Need This Fascist Groove Thang T-shirts at the front of Friday’s sold-out crowd
Like Daly, Gregory likes to talk, to tell stories, as sharp of tongue as his tailoring in white suit, blue shirt and shades. Keyboardist Martyn Ware favoured sparkling hat and jacket, joined on stage by a drummer and Carrie, Rachel and Florence (keyboards and backing vocals).
We Don’t Need This Fascist Groove Thang, the first song Heaven 17 wrote after Ware and Ian Craig Marsh split from Heaven 17 in 1981, was given a 2026 re-boot, with ‘Trump’ replacing ‘Reagan’ in the lyrics. “We don’t need this Farage groove thang,” Gregory said afterwards, urging support for Count Binface in the Clacton by-election.
Introduced as “Kim Wilde walked down the aisle to this one”, Come Love With Me Come was a particular joy, while the “Giorgio Moroder tribute”, I’m Your Money, was segued with Donna Summer’s I Feel Love. Gregory and co then went the full cover-version hog on David Bowie’s Let Dance, rivalled only by the climactic Temptation for impact.
“Enjoy Orchestral Manoeuvres, I know I will,” enthused Gregory, later to be spotted in the crowd doing exactly that. It still wasn’t dark when OMD emerged on stage after a futuristic film projection, and nor would there be any “orchestral manoeuvres”, but all dressed in black (ah, there’s the dark), frontman Andy McCluskey and keyboardist Paul Humphreys (in specs) were joined by Martin Cooper on keys and saxophone and Stuart Kershaw on drums.
Martyn Ware and Glenn Gregory of Heaven 17: Still playing to win after 45 years together at Live At York Museum Gardens
In this digital age, OMD can replicate their recorded electronic sound to perfection, says McCluskey, although there was still room for him to forget the same words twice in one song, met with an invitation to the audience to jump.
Imagery ran throughout their set on a screen that spanned the whole of the stage, changing for each song, switching between colour and black and white, much in the manner of Public Service Broadcasting’s concerts.
True to their billing, the Summer Of Hits meant playing all, not some of their hits, with the oh-so-familiar standouts of the brace of Joan Of Arcs, Souvenir, Forever Live And Die and Sailing On The Seven Seas, plenty of peaks, the occasional trough, and a magnificent version of Enola Gay, to the haunting accompaniment of atomic bomb footage.
Walking On The Milky Way was ruefully reflective, if defiant, of the passage of time and what else but Electricity could crackle through the night sky to meet the 10.30pm curfew bang on.
The crowd watching the climax to Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark’s set as darkness descends on Live At York Museum Gardens
Super Furry Animals: Flower power amid the botanical gardens of Live At York Museum Gardenson Saturday
WELSH art-rock band Super Furry Animals headline day three of Futuresound’s third season of Live at York Museum Gardens concerts on Saturday.
The botanical gardens are a suitable setting for such a psychedelic act, who have returned to the concert platform after a ten-year hiatus, and will draw on the nine albums recorded since forming in Cardiff in 1993 (originally with Notting Hill and Star City actor Rhys Ifans as their frontman, by the way).
Expect a choice selection of “ageless multicolour hits and off-piste deep cuts, all lovingly handpicked from an incredible catalogue”.
Joining Super Furry Aniamls in Museum Gardens will be four special guests: unconventional kindred spirit Baxter Dury, compatriot indie-pop septet Los Campesinos!, fast-rising Nottingham alt-country group Divorce and the Welsh Music Prize-nominated woozy, Sixties-inspired psychedelia band Pys Melyn (whose name translates as Yellow Peas, should you be wondering).
“I’m pretty sure we haven’t ever played York before,” says lead guitarist, pedal steel guitarist and cellist Huw Bunford, who will be joined as ever by Cian Ciarán, Daf Ieuan, Guto Pryce and Gruff Rhys.
The Futuresound press release stated that “until now SFA had no plans to reunite live”. Huw puts the flesh on those bones: “We got asked every so often over the past ten years if we’d be playing again. People approached us to do shows, and I think it was more to do with marking 30 years that brought us together again. It seemed like the usual stars aligned and that happened to be at a time when the rest of the band was available to get together.
Super Furry Animals’ poster for Live At York Museum Gardens
“Initially, we had pencilled in about six gigs, going around the UK and Ireland on the Supacabra Tour, but then I think we added a couple more, York and Bristol, so in May we did indoor gigs and the rest of the summer will be outdoor shows.”
Open-air concerts are a “completely different beast”, says Huw. “There’s something about it that’s nice to do outdoor gigs, where you get a cross section of fans and even people who have never seen us before. Whenever we do things like festivals, you know you have a certain amount of time to play, so at certain songs we’ll check the time!”
After signing to era-defining label Creation Records – the home of Oasis – in 1995, Super Furry Animals turned heads with their unorthodox approach to promotion from the famous Super Furry Animals Tank to a suite of bespoke Yeti costumes. In 1996, debut album Fuzzy Logic broke the familiar guitar music mould with a heady mix of literary, musical and narcotic influences before 1997 follow-up Radiator gave them their first UK Top Ten album.
“Welsh band with a weird edge” was one phrase coined to describe their distinctive indie psych-pop sound, not least because they recorded in the Welsh language too. “Maybe a bit of alliteration there, getting excited with that,” says Huw, on hearing that description down the phone line. “I wouldn’t say we were particularly weird. It’s just weird that a reviewer would say that. I’d throw it back at them!”
The rock history books say that label boss Alan McGee signed Super Furry Animals to Creation on the spot after watching their Camden Monarch club gig in London, maybe with expectations of matching the rise of Oasis. “The whole thing of Alan McGee seeing potential, but in the wrong way…but he still saw potential…and he then realised, and maybe over the years, it’s helped, that we’ve never been able to be pigeonholed,” says Huw.
Super Furry Animals will include Welsh-language songs in next Saturday’s set. “We’ve got three or four Welsh songs in the squad,” says Huw, recalling the days 30 years ago when they played a venue with a Welsh-language-only policy. “At that time, we whistled our English songs and gave lyric sheets to the audience!”
“I wouldn’t say we were particularly weird,” says Super Furry Animals’ guitarist, Huw Bunford
Looking ahead to next weekend’s York debut, he says: “We like to change one or two songs each show. In the festival shows, it depends on how much time we’re playing for, but we always try to play one or two Welsh songs wherever we play.”
Returning to the rehearsal studio for this spring and summer’s shows, “after the first week, there was a bit of muscle memory kicking in and actually it was the same with the energy levels as well,” says Huw. “But it’s one of those weird things in rehearsals that you don’t feel like you’ve ‘got it’, but then you get under the lights.
“The audiences have been amazing so far, like super fans, and very forgiving as well! It’s an amazing thing to see the band back.”
Reflecting on Super Furry Animals’ career path, Huw says: “We don’t do things in a formulaic way, so it’s almost like each album is a reaction to the one before. We take it as being like a craft and we’re blessed that we’re good songwriters. I think the production on the albums stands the test of time as well, which we take to be an important thing, always making sure that the content is good.”
Riding on the wave of Super Furry Animals reuniting for the 2026 series of concerts, could they return to the recording studio too? “If it happens, it happens,” says Huw. “We never say never, but at the moment it’s just a joy to be playing together again.”
Futuresound presents Super Furry Animals, Baxter Dury, Los Campesinos!, Divorce and Pys Melyn at Live At York Museum Gardens, July 11. Gates open at 4pm; last entry, 8.30pm. Tickets: futuresoundgroup.com/york-museum-gardens-info.
