Hidden amongst the quirky little shops on North Lane in Headingly is a pearl of a find. By day this cafe is a welcoming place for meeting friends or having a solitary lunch. But on Friday evenings, twice a month, it is transformed into a musical gem. It holds only 25 to 30 people so is a very intimate venue run very efficiently by Richard and his staff.
There is a varied array of musical styles being presented over the next few months. The next event to be staged is on the 20th May and this will be Stuart McCallum Accoustic with his Guitar wizardry.
For future events check out www.cafelento.co.uk.. Early arrival is advised.
On the night that we attended an enchanting evening was spent listening to a group called Nel and the Elephants. This is a 4 piece band with Scott Duff on drums, Elliot Roffe on double base, Joe Simmons on guitar and Nel Begley who wrote all the songs and sang them beautifully. This group all met at Leeds College of Music and have been playing together for about 2.5 years. They have been infuluenced by Sarah Vaughn, Ella Fitzgerald, Gretchen Parlato and Rene Marie to name just a few. They have recorded 2 EPs to date.
We had a lovely evening and if they are playing near you do go and treat yourself.
Further information can be found on their Facebook and Twitter pages.
Denis
Yorkshire Gig Guide
Wednesday, 18 May 2016
Wednesday, 26 August 2015
Martin House Children’s Hospice exciting auction
Martin House Children’s Hospice presents
Martin House Children’s Hospice are
once
again raising funds through auctioning some exciting signed items from
Leeds/Reading 2015
To celebrate Leeds Festival’s annual return to the region,
The items are:
·
Framed Vinyl of 'AM' by Arctic Monkeys
*SIGNED BY ARCTIC MONKEYS*
·
Zildjian Custom 20" Crash Cymbal *OWNED & SIGNED BY BLINK 182's TRAVIS BARKER*
·
Leeds Festival 2014 Set List + Sticker** *SIGNED BY BRODY DALLE*
·
Set of 3 Drum Skins **SIGNED BY MATT
HELDERS & NICK O'MALLEY of ARCTIC MONKEYS**
·
*Signed CATFISH & THE BOTTLEMEN
Stickers***+ two rare 7" singles of
Homesick & Rango
** The ‘stickers’ are large, industrial strength and Leeds Festival
branded. Perfect for drumskins or equipment - designed by Harry and Cameron;
two young men from Martin House.
Bidding has now commenced
on one of the charity’s eBay pages, seller ‘centrestage2015’ www.ebay.co.uk/usr/centrestage2015,
and will be live until Thursday 3rd
September at 7pm. If you are a music fan, do be sure
to keep an eye on this eBay page following Leeds Festival for future signed
goodies!
Through the power of
social networking and media support, Martin House hope to attract significant
support and interest, which in turn will raise the profile and awareness for
the local, children’s charity. To date, a fantastic £7,000 has been raised for
them through auctioning Leeds Festival memorabilia.
This innovative way of
fundraising is a result of Martin House’s strong relationship with Festival
Republic, who have supported the hospice since 2004. Their connection later led
to the inception of the Centre Stage fundraising music competition, for local
under 21 year olds, where winning acts perform at both Leeds and Reading. Now
in its sixth year, Centre Stage has raised over £200,000 for Martin House and
2015’s winners ‘Mallrats’, from York, will be taking to Leeds and Reading
Festivals’ BBC Introducing stages this weekend.
Notes:
Centre Stage Background:
The premise of the Centre Stage Competition is to give young bands a fantastic
platform and exposure whilst raising vital funds for Martin House Children’s
Hospice. Since its initial launch, by The Pigeon Detectives in autumn 2009,
Centre Stage has so far provided a platform for over 170 young, Yorkshire acts
and raised over £200,000 for Martin House Children’s Hospice. The competition
has the support of Embrace, The Pigeon
Detectives, The Cribs, Pulled Apart by Horses and Festival Republic. Overall,
the competition is about YOUNG PEOPLE
HELPING YOUNG PEOPLE!
Martin House Children’s Hospice:
Martin House Children’s Hospice cares for children and young people, throughout
Yorkshire, who have a life limiting illness. They support their families too,
through the life of their child and through their bereavement. On opening in
1987, they were only the second children’s hospice in the UK and now are
pivitol in leading the movement. Martin House needs to raise over £5m this year
to run, receiving less than 18% from Government sources.
www.martinhouse.org.uk
Twitter:
@centrestage2015 // @MartinHouseCH
Facebook
– ‘Centre Stage – Yorkshire’
Thursday, 20 November 2014
CENTRE STAGE 2015 the search begins
MARTIN HOUSE CHILDREN’S HOSPICE
PRESENTS: CENTRE STAGE 2015
Hot
off the heels of ‘Centre Stage’ winning Hospice UK's 2014 National Award
for 'Innovation in Income Generation', 2015’s
competition is now open for registration.
Martin House Children’s Hospice, together with Leeds & Reading
Festivals, have begun their new search for the act who will ultimately
claim the prize of playing at next summer’s Leeds AND Reading Festivals, and a
music performance video with Shot by Sodium.
The
competition has gone from strength to strength since its inception in 2009 and continues to receive
involvement and support from Yorkshire bands Embrace,
Pigeon Detectives, The Cribs and Pulled Apart by Horses. Now in its sixth year, the competition, which raises vital funds for
the hospice, is inviting young bands and soloists of ANY genre to enter.
Participants must be between 11- 21 years old and from North or West
Yorkshire.
Over
the coming months, registered acts will undertake their own fundraising for
Martin House, who witness the therapeutic benefits of music first hand within
the hospice. Once registered, acts will be automatically entered into the
Heats, which will take place on 28/29/30 April at the Belgrave Music Hall,
Leeds. The lucky finalists will then take to the stage at O2
Academy, Leeds, on 22nd July, following a professional mentoring day.
The
competition hopes to hit the big £200,000 mark next year, in terms of funds raised.
Martin House are currently looking for sponsorship for the year ahead. “Securing this would give us a huge boost and
help us to make even more money for Martin House – we’d love to hear from
people who would like to share our exposure and journey right through to Leeds Festival” says Centre Stage Organiser, Sarah Smith.
The
competition is an invaluable link to the local music industry, especially those
supportive of unsigned, young artists. It has provided connections and
opportunities for many contenders, including those with BBC Introducing and M.A.S.
Records. Impressively, 2012 finalists ‘Carnabells’ played this summer’s
Glastonbury Festival and previous winners have taken to the road and supported
both The Pigeon Detectives and Embrace!
Overall,
the competition is about YOUNG PEOPLE HELPING YOUNG PEOPLE!
To
enter, please register online on the Martin House website, ensuring you read
the rules and regs! http://www.martinhouse.org.uk/Centre-Stage
Notes:
“I’d strongly urge local, young musicians to enter. It really is
an incredible opportunity.” Mike Heaton,
Embrace
“Every year I’ve been impressed by the calibre of the young
artists who participate, and blown away by the commitment and effort they put
into their fundraising. I’m delighted to be involved as Centre Stage has gone
from strength to strength.” Melvin Benn
– MD Festival Republic
- Please
credit photographs to ‘Sodium’ (http://www.shotbysodium.com/)
Centre Stage Background: The premise of the Centre Stage Competition is to give young
bands a fantastic platform and exposure whilst raising vital funds for Martin
House Children’s Hospice. Since its initial launch, by The Pigeon Detectives in
autumn 2009, Centre Stage has so far provided a platform for over 150 young,
Yorkshire acts and raised close to £200,000 for Martin House Children’s Hospice.
The competition has the support of Embrace, The Pigeon Detectives, The Cribs,
Pulled Apart by Horses and Festival Republic. In order to enter,
artists must be under 21 years old and in North or West Yorkshire and must be
committed to undertake their own fundraising for the hospice, ideally with the
support of their school/college.
Martin House Children’s Hospice: Martin House Children’s Hospice cares for children and young
people, throughout Yorkshire, who have a life limiting illness. They support
their families too, through the life of their child and through their
bereavement. On opening in 1987, they were only the second children’s hospice
in the UK. They now have an established teenage unit, Whitby Lodge, which was
the first in the world to open. Martin House needs to raise over £4.5m this
year to run, receiving less than 12% from Government sources.
Contact: Sarah Smith – Centre Stage Organiser:
ssmith@martinhouse.org.uk // 01937 844569
Twitter: @centrestage2015 // @MartinHouseCH
Saturday, 16 August 2014
Interview with Lansana Mansaray, “Now Ebola is the new Civil war.”
Barmmy Boy talks about
his new track ‘Pack Up and Go’ an inspirational empowering rap about Ebola that he is
producing in the Studio with Hull based music producer Steve Cobby, composer and co-founder Fila Brazillia.
Barmmy was born in Freetown, Sierra Le
one, growing up in the
crowded streets of Cockle Bay Lane, living most of his boyhood and youth
through civil war and strife. After the civil war encountering music helped
heal and empower Barmmy and has driven him to share its power with others.
“Now Ebola is the new Civil war.”
“Ebola now is killing
people really fast like happened in the Civil War and you know during the civil
war there was a lot of fear in the community, most people left the country
because of the fighting and it’s happening again. Flights have been stopped,
people can’t get into the country, everyone is panicking you know, and people
are dying- it’s like another civil war again.”
“The Civil war was devastating, people were dying for us and
you couldn’t tell when your time is up you know, you could be killed by a stray
bullet or you could be killed by a stray bomb or someone would come up and
shoot you or something.” Ebola is like this.
“It’s the truth and
nobody is talking about it and if no one is talking about it it still exists
and it is about time someone talks about it.”
‘Pack and Go’ is about Ebola, its kinda pack and go to a new
stranger. My song allows the people to address their own problems, allowing the
people to actually see Ebola as a threat and saying it should go; it should be
banished, it should be taken care of, it should be controlled. And people
should take the necessary precautions. If people say this for themselves
instead of allowing someone to tell them, control them, a key issue”
Does it frighten You? “Yes it does I’ve got my family there and
I want to get back at some point I should have flown back but because of the
situation I have postponed it.”
Are your family at risk? “Yes they are because all of them
live in Freetown, six sisters and my mum. My mum is a petty trader and my dad
is blind. Cos I live in a very congested community and hand shaking is common
and as soon as you have slight fever the simplest way to check is by putting
the hand in your neck and if your neck is really hot they say oh you have a
fever. And because Ebola does transfer through touching- then it is a problem.”
“As soon as I’ve finished
recording it Pack and Go- if it’s done in one day I’m going to send it down to
Freetown Sierra Leone. I m going to put it on Facebook a lot and You Tube but
mostly it’s meant for the radios to share in Freetown”
Barmmy talked about his experiences in the Civil War, “I was
a young man by then caught up in the fighting and you know for a few years
because I was young I moved with a group of young guys and friends who most of
them I lost you know. I was around fourteen. I had an M16 for a while for a
friend. I was part of a community division, at this time we had trained
soldiers.”
There was a time in Freetown when a lot of people had guns
so you definitely needed a gun because you don’t want someone to show up in
your home and ask you for your food or you know something, and if you don’t
give him, he’s going to shoot you. So most houses had a gun to defend their
families and make sure intruders don’t come in and take things away.
Did you use a gun? “Not really just during the celebrations
shooting and scaring you know”
“There was a point in time I was caught up in the crossfire
but I didn’t get to use [a gun] cos we fall back, we had to retreat. That is
where I lost most of my friends.”
“I have lived with trauma for a long time, though you know I
try to cover it up, but sometimes it brings memories. Five of my best friends
they have gone down in a single day and you know my sister and my younger brother;
my father lost his eyesight totally so sometimes it brings back bad memories”
But also because I am alive and I can live with life, I feel
motivated to move on and make a difference, cos you know I don’t even know if
it was luck, I don’t really know what kept me alive. I don’t know why I am
still here to keep going, moving and doing.
I left home when I was eleven, so pretty much living the
street life, fishing was part of this and I had to do a lot of petty trading,
selling things in the streets was a big part of my survival and also working
for food.
When the war ended in Sierra Leone like many other young
people music played a vital role in the trauma healing process. Like music was
the driving force for a lot of young people. We used music to talk about issues
affecting us in our communities. We decided to use music to talk about our
social problems. “That was the same as using the guitar instead of the gun.”
“I became a music director and worked for the International
Education Network- with the task to coordinate ex combat and ex fighters and of
course young people who wanted to use music to talk about their problems; to
talk about their experiences too in the world just to express themselves.”
They have covered many issues; HIV, Corruption, Child Abuse,
Poverty all sorts of issues.
Barmmy came to Hull to work with several schools and to continue
his learning about filmaking, extending his work with young people, teaching Rapping
as a means to empower and telling his own stories about conflict and corruption.
Barmmy Boy uses rap to make young people aware of the issues facing them
in Sierra Leone. “My songs are about issues, if I can say positive
things. I see them as a voice for the young people in my own country.”
“Young people are marginalised back in Sierra Leone and the
young people are the less fortunate ones, Young People make up 40% of the
population. They are the pillars of the nation. If they are empowered even with
the necessary information or schemes to move on, then we are talking about the
development of the grassroots. Education in general would change lots of
things.”
Wednesday, 23 July 2014
The Winners are - - --
 |
| Rock schooldrummers |
 |
| King-No-one |
 |
| Isaac Haywood |
 |
| Shupadum |
whilst the Judges made their deliberations the supports keep up a constant chant hoping to sway the judges,
 |
| Random Behaviour |
 |
| Premonition |
 |
| Girlsondrugs |
Centre Stage registration for 2015 is open in September 2014
We will let you know how much was collected for Martin House when all the money has been collected
 |
| Bryony Drake |
 |
| Oliver Pinder |
 |
| The Puppeteers |
 |
| Conflare |
 |
| Arcarode |
 |
| Demoralised |
 |
| The Concetines |
Yorkshire Gig Guide
Tuesday, 22 July 2014
The excitement builds at o2 Leeds
**MARTIN HOUSE CHILDREN’S HOSPICE PRESENTS: THE FINAL - CENTRE STAGE 2014**
Back in April, Martin House Children’s
Hospice held their fifth, annual Centre Stage Heats at The Belgrave Music
Hall, Leeds. The venue hosted three nights of young,
local bands and artists battling it out
to earn themselves a place at this month’s Final, where they will compete
for a place on the bill at both the Leeds and Reading Festivals this August and
also a performance video shot by local filmmakers, Sodium.
The Final is now looming and very
eagerly anticipated, and is set to take place on Wednesday 23rd July at O2
Academy, Leeds. The event will see the most diverse range of contenders to date
and will be judged by a high profile panel, including Jon McIldowie
(Booker for Leeds and Reading), Mike Heaton (Embrace) and James Brown (Pulled
Apart by Horses). The evening will be hosted by local Music Producer, Ed Heaton,
who also offers a recording prize to the competition.
The
Finalists:
CONFLARE: an exciting four-piece from Castleford
with catchy guitar riffs. Their third time in Centre Stage!
DEMORALISED: four-piece from Otley. In their words “Showing people how Metalcore should be
done”!
BRYONY DRAKE: singer/songwriter from Tadcaster,
playing acoustic folk and well-crafted hooks.
RANDOM BEHAVIOUR: a young, four-piece alternative rock
band from Prince Henry’s in Otley.
ARCARODE: a new, ambient alternative rock band,
from Leeds, with a slight hint of folk from the violin.
OLIVER PINDER: young, fresh, singer/songwriter
from Halifax playing upbeat pop/folk music.
GIRLS ON DRUGS: two-piece electro from Selby. Deep
bass synths and sultry vocals.
THE CONCETINES: four-piece playing catchy,
infectious indie rock. Been on the Leeds’ scene for a while.
CHICKADEES: young, budding band from Leeds. Uplifting
saxophone, synth and melodies!
SHUPADUM: from Tadcaster/ York. Their sound is
centred around ‘playing fun music’ and ‘rocking hard’!
PREMONITION: a teenage rock band from North
Yorkshire made up of four students from Selby College.
THE PUPPETEERS: four-piece bluesy, rock band from
Prince Henry’s in Otley. Also finalists in 2013.
Since securing their places, the
finalists have been busy upping their rehearsal time, writing new material and
getting lots of gigging practice, not to mention continuing their fundraising
and helping to raise the profile of the competition and charity. As preparation
for the final, Martin House have organised professional mentor sessions at Old
Chapel Studios, Leeds, to answer any last minute questions and deliver some
constructive advice for their big performance.
To date,
Centre Stage has been a great success and last year welcomed its first winning
band from North Yorkshire, King No-One, who received an amazing reception at
Leeds & Reading, and still remain close supporters of the charity. Previous
winners ‘The Mexanines’ reaped the benefits of the exposure that Centre Stage
has given them as they enjoyed life on the road as the main support for The
Pigeon Detectives at the end of 2013. Also, 2012 finalists ‘Carnabells’ have
just played this summer’s Glastonbury Festival on the BBC Introducing Stage.
The competition
has now raised almost £150,000 for the charity, which has
been channelled directly into the care of the children and their families at
Martin House Children’s Hospice.
Fantastic prizes also awarded
to ‘the best fundraisers’, ‘the runners up’, ‘best promotion and
publicity’ and ‘best door tally’. Blacks Solicitors are assisting with
sponsorship for the event.
The Final will be held on Wednesday 23rd
July at O2 Academy, Leeds. Doors 6.15pm. Show starts 7pm. Tickets are available
at www.o2academyleeds.co.uk at £6.50/£4.50 (concs).
The event will also be pay on the door.
END
Notes:
·
Please credit photographs
to ‘Sodium’ (http://www.shotbysodium.com/)
Centre Stage Background: The premise of the Centre Stage Competition is to give
young bands a fantastic platform and exposure whilst raising vital funds for
Martin House Children’s Hospice. Since its initial launch, by The Pigeon
Detectives in autumn 2009, Centre Stage has so far provided a platform
for over 150 young, Yorkshire acts and raised almost £150,000 for Martin House
Children’s Hospice. The competition has the support of Embrace, The
Pigeon Detectives, The Cribs, Pulled Apart by Horses and Festival Republic. In
order to enter, artists must be under 21 years old and in North or West
Yorkshire and must be committed to undertake their own fundraising for the
hospice.
Martin House Children’s Hospice: Martin House Children’s Hospice cares for children and
young people, throughout Yorkshire, who have a life limiting illness. They
support their families too, through the life of their child and through their
bereavement. On opening in 1987, they were only the second children’s hospice
in the UK. They now have an established teenage unit, Whitby Lodge, which was
the first in the world to open. Martin House needs to raise over £4.5m this
year to run, receiving less than 12% from Government sources.
www.martinhouse.org.uk
Twitter: @centrestage2014 // @MartinHouseCH
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