**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.
....and Special Guests King No-One
(winners of 2013) and Rock School UK.
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
