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The Return Of Manic Street Preachers
Manic Street Preachers return with a new album and tour. A departure from their last release (2018’s Resistance is Futile), The Ultra Vivid Lament is the first Manic Street Preachers album initially conceived on piano rather than guitar. It was recorded over winter 2020/21 in Wales at Rockfield in Monmouth, the…
Please check all dates with the venue before travelling as many theatres are currently closed.
Gothic Musings
Paul Spalding-Mulcock
Features Writer
The Gothic novel genre is a curious beasty by definition, adored by its fervent acolytes intent upon savouring its ‘dreadful pleasure’, and fulsomely disparaged by those of a weak constitution, or those seeking their literary sustenance sans the presence of ghouls, ghosts and goblins or inexplicable facinorous forces, either real…
8:41 AM 14th May 2021
Review: You Let Me In by Camilla Bruce
Caroline Spalding
Features Correspondent
You Let Me In is the extraordinary debut novel by the writer Camilla Bruce. Born and raised in Norway, next to an Iron Age mound, it seems only fitting that she should bring an element of folklore and perhaps even dubiety to her debut: a book that is a gothic…
7:28 AM 14th May 2021
Review: Not For All The Tea In China By Chris Burrows
Artis-Ann 
Features Writer
If you fancy a lighthearted, whimsical read, this is for you. Chris Burrows is a septuagenarian from Barnsley who has run his own business for sixteen years. In those years, he has travelled to all corners of the globe, buying and selling his wares, negotiating deals and experiencing a broad…
12:41 PM 14th May 2021
Poem Of The Week: 'Vanitas Vanitatum' By John Webster (C. 1580 - C. 1632)
Steve Whitaker
Literary Editor
Et in Arcadia Ego - Nicholas Poussin
Vanitas Vanitatum ALL the flowers of the spring Meet to perfume our burying; These have but their growing prime, And man does flourish but his time: Survey our progress from our birth— We are set, we grow, we turn to earth. Courts adieu, and all delights, All bewitching appetites! Sweetest breath and clearest eye Like perfumes go out and die; And…
8:52 AM 12th May 2021
Paco Versailles - Dancemenco
Paco Versailles is a collaboration between guitarist/composer Vahagni and songwriter/producer Ryan Merchant (Capital Cities). Their sound is a mix of flamenco guitar rhythms with disco-leaning electronic production and captivating vocals, a new genre they call Dancemenco. The duo say that they have been influenced by French dance music artists such as…
7:56 AM 12th May 2021
Yorkshire Gets To Share The Stage At The Brit Awards Ahead Of NHS Charity Single Release
Two NHS workers who come from Yorkshire are to appear on a charity single from Rag'n'Bone Man and US superstar P!nk, featuring the Lewisham & Greenwich NHS Choir. They'll be debuting the performance at the BRIT Awards with the single, Anywhere Away From Here. The single will be released straight…
10:59 AM 11th May 2021
Doggerel For The Discerning: 'The Thoughtful Little Cactus'
The Thoughtful Little Cactus The thoughtful little cactus in the terracotta pot was a philanthropic soul with modest views, and while musing on the state of things upon the mantle shelf, she would listen to the radio for news. As an empathetic auditor, she catalogued reports, till she felt that something needed…
5:29 AM 11th May 2021
Interview With Victoria Princewill
Engaging with a debut novel is one of my most highly treasured delights. Sans the osmotically invasive baggage of preconceived expectations, or the earnest entreaties of epistemophilia, I am able to allow these fresh voices to meet my sensibilities unmolested by the distorted prism of my preconceptions or canonical reverence.…
4:59 AM 11th May 2021
‘Those Things We Do Not Say’ : All The Beautiful Liars By Sylvia Petter
Steve Whitaker
Literary Editor
The gestation of Sylvia Petter’s astonishing novel – it was twenty five years in the making – might suggest a labour of love, if the phrase didn’t set platitudinous limits on a profoundly meaningful, perhaps autobiographical, investigation of the hinterland of one family’s complex and troubled history I infer the guiding…
3:13 PM 10th May 2021
Jack Savoretti. No Longer Singing To Strangers
Graham Clark
Features Writer
Jack Savoretti returns with a new album that arrives complete with its own genre, Europiana. The first single from the album is the disco fuelled Who’s Hurting Who, featuring Nile Rodgers. “Nile brings groove, glamour and chic that is everything that Europiana is,” Jack Savoretti says. “Europiana wouldn’t exist without Nile Rodgers!” Europiana…
1:14 PM 10th May 2021
Rag ‘N’ Bone Man - Life By Misadventure
Graham Clark
Features Writer
Rag ‘n’ Bone Man a.k.a. Rory Graham recorded his new album ‘Life by Misadventure’ In Nashville with Grammy winning producer Mike Elizondo. It has a lot to live up to - his debut album, ‘Human’ went quadruple platinum in the UK. A lot has happened since ‘Human’. Rory became a dad…
8:40 AM 9th May 2021
NOW That’s What I Call 12” 80s
Graham Clark
Features Writer
In this age of streaming and downloads it is hard to remember that 30 years ago you could go into your local record shop and buy an extended version of your favourite current chart hit, on what looked to be an album sized vinyl record. That was known rather descriptively as…
4:30 PM 8th May 2021
A Dog's Tale - A New Canine Comedy Caper
Mikron Theatre, in their 49th year of touring, are celebrating (wo)man’s best friend this season when they stage the premiere of Poppy Hollman’s new musical comedy caper A Dog’s Tale, which looks at canines past and present and the enduring bond between people and their dogs. You would be FURgiven for…
3:20 PM 7th May 2021
Review: Lonely Castle In The Mirror By Mizuki Tsujimara
Lonely Castle in the Mirror is a Japanese bestselling, prize-winning novel by Mizuki Tsujimara that follows the story of Kokoro, a seventh-grade pupil who can no longer attend her school. The reason isn’t laziness, but instead fear: she has been bullied, and without being able to openly talk about the…
11:27 AM 7th May 2021
Remarkable Collection Of World War II Documents Donated To Scarborough Museums Trust
An extraordinary collection of letters painting a vivid picture of life in the army during World War II from the viewpoint of a local man, and including his thoughts on the end of the war in Europe on 8 May 1945, has been donated to Scarborough Museums Trust. Around 1,500 letters,…
9:06 AM 7th May 2021
'A Book For Writers But Also, I Hope For Readers' : A Swim In The Pond In The Rain By George Saunders
Forming a prima facie conclusion about a book’s content based upon erroneous assumptions is by definition likely to be misleading and on occasion, tantamount to clumsily administering an ungrateful slap upon the well-meaning face of Serendipity herself! A cursory thumbing of George Saunders’s latest book led me to pigeon-hole it…
7:55 AM 7th May 2021
Michael Ball - We Are More Than One
Graham Clark
Features Writer
You do not expect a Michael Ball album to be a challenging listen. This new album is no exception. It might sound dismissive to describe the album as easy listening, but that is what it is, like old slippers, familiar and comfortable. At the end of a stressful day…
2:17 PM 6th May 2021
Longlist Revealed For Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel Of The Year 2021
Today, the longlist of the UK and Ireland’s most prestigious crime novel award is unveiled with literary legends and dynamic debuts in contention for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. Now in its 17th year, the most coveted prize in crime fiction, presented by Harrogate International Festivals celebrates…
7:53 AM 5th May 2021
Doggerel For The Discerning: 'My Camel's Name Is Brian'
Jonathan Humble
Features Writer
My Camel's Name Is Brian My camel's name is Brian; he lives beside my bed. He has concerns about the ache I have inside my head. Not everyone can see him, as camels go, he's small; in fact my wife and doctor don't believe he's there at all! But being empathetic, dear Brian talks with me; he tucks…
6:49 AM 5th May 2021
Atalanta Forever - The Fight For Women's Football
Mikron Theatre are aiming to score with their next theatrical offering for their 49th year of touring. They will be premiering Amanda Whittington’s new play Atalanta Forever which looks at the story of the pioneering women in football in 1920. Atalanta Forever will kick off at The Piece Hall in Halifax…
3:19 PM 4th May 2021
Poem Of The Week: 'Blood And Lead' By James Fenton
Blood and Lead Listen to what they did. Don't listen to what they said. What was written in blood Has been set up in lead. Lead tears the heart. Lead tears the brain. What was written in blood Has been set up again. The heart is a drum. The drum has a snare. The snare is in the blood. The blood is…
5:28 PM 3rd May 2021
Wings On Windermere
In the year since the pandemic hit the headlines and the world altered forever, we have all had to adapt. Face masks, social distancing, frequent basic hand sanitation routines, lockdowns, furloughs, Zoom meetings, government road maps, mass vaccinations etc. have become familiar on the landscape of daily life. One aspect…
12:34 PM 3rd May 2021
NOW That’s What I Call Eurovision Song Contest
For any Eurovision Song Contest fans this new compilation is a timely release as the Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Rotterdam this month. This is not, however, the songs that will be performed at this year’s competition, instead the tracks are a mix of previous winners and Britain’s entries…
2:04 PM 2nd May 2021
Review: Promising Young Woman
Writer/director Emerald Fennell's directorial debut, Promising Young Woman, is one of the year's very best films. Now I understand we don’t usually open reviews with a summary but in this case it felt right to make this statement from the very off. In a year already boasting some gems -…
7:56 PM 1st May 2021
Holding Back The Tour - Simply Red Reschedule Live Shows
Graham Clark
Features Writer
Simply Red have rescheduled their UK and Ireland tour to February 2022. The tour, originally planned for 2020, comes after the band’s 2019 album ‘Blue Eyed Soul’. Mica Paris has been announced as special guest. On tour expect them to deliver all their classics including Stars, Holding Back The Years, Fairground and…
9:00 AM 1st May 2021
It Is Time To Show Your Love With The House Classics Tour
Graham Clark
Features Writer
If Pete Tong’s Friday night Radio 1 show was essential listening for you, and dancing the night away at Bed in Sheffield, The Hacienda in Manchester or Back to Basics in Leeds was the highlight of your weekend, then the House Classics tour will be your opportunity to travel back…
9:00 AM 30th April 2021
The Charlatans - 30th Anniversary Vinyl Box Set And Best Of Tour Announced
Graham Clark
Features Writer
Manchester band, The Charlatans will are set to release a 30th anniversary vinyl box set along with an autumn tour. Head Full Of Ideas features five albums and a seven-inch single and is a career-spanning collection that sums up their progress from 1990 Manchester scene hopefuls to one of the UK’s…
8:00 AM 30th April 2021
Tristan - What Could Possibly Go Wrong
Graham Clark
Features Writer
You might already be lucky enough to have discovered the Dutch group Tristan or, like me, they could be a new band to you. What Could Possibly Go Wrong is the group’s sixth album and being a latecomer to the party means that I have another five albums to check out.…
8:00 AM 30th April 2021
Highest Point Festival In Lancaster Adds An Extra Night
An additional night of the live music event in Lancaster will be headlined by Manchester band James, supported by the Lightning Seeds and Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly, and will take place on Thursday 2nd September in the 54-acre grounds of Williamson Park. Festival favourites James will take to the stage…
8:00 AM 30th April 2021
The Greatest Doublecross In The History Of Espionage: Our Friends In Berlin By Anthony Quinn
It’s always good to be offered something different to read and this came from the shelf of my brother who answered my plea. Good choice! Our Friends in Berlin is a tale of wartime espionage which neatly combines both a love story and a thriller. Within the pages lie a marriage…
7:49 PM 29th April 2021
It’s Getting Better All The Time - Shed Seven Announce Autumn Tour
York five piece Shed Seven have announced a UK 2021 tour performing all their greatest hits and fan favourites live. Shed Seven have achieved success since they burst onto the scene in 1994. The Sheds have so far released five studio albums including 2017’s top 10 album Instant Pleasures and this…
8:00 AM 29th April 2021
Northern Ballet Returns To The Stage This June
Northern Ballet plans to return to touring for the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Leeds-based company, which has not been able to perform outside of its home city since November 2019, will hold a limited three venue tour to Salford, London and Leeds this June. The…
3:10 PM 28th April 2021
STR4TA - Aspects
Graham Clark
Features Writer
Gilles Peterson and Jean-Paul “Bluey” Maunick (better known as the main man in Incognito) have created new musical possibilities inspired by the early-80s Brit-funk scene with their new project, STR4TA. Bringing a new sound first developed by groups like Atmosfear, Hi-Tension, Light of the World and Freeez. The latter two…
10:00 AM 27th April 2021
Poem Of The Week: 'The Urine Specimen' By Ted Kooser
Steve Whitaker
Literary Editor
Ted Kooser
The Urine Specimen In the clinic, a sun-bleached shell of stone on the shore of the city, you enter the last small chamber, a little closet chastened with pearl, cool, white and glistening, and over the chilly well of the toilet you trickle your precious sum in a cup. It’s as simple as that. But the heat of…
11:28 AM 26th April 2021
Planet Earth II Live In Concert - Still On Course For 2022 Concerts
The original Planet Earth II 2020 tour was postponed and rescheduled to March 2022 following continuing government advice and the closure of venues across the UK, as part of the nationwide effort to combat the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). This spectacular live concert tour will be hosted by science and natural…
9:00 AM 26th April 2021
Doggerel For The Discerning: 'The Sad Tale Of The Reckless Rhubarb'
Jonathan Humble
Features Writer
The Sad Tale of the Reckless Rhubarb 'Twas on a clear and moonlit night in Castleford's green fields, the stick of rhubarb's mind to thoughts adventurous did yield. And turning to his nearby love, he made a solemn pledge to sail away, like Hemingway, and live life on the edge. His love, a slender leek,…
8:47 AM 26th April 2021
New Tom Jones Album -'Surrounded By Time'
When your career is as varied as Tom Jones', by the time you get to be 80 years old you can basically do what you want. From the sixties, hits such as Green, Green Grass of Home and Delilah through to You Can Leave Your Hat On remain. But more recently…
2:08 PM 25th April 2021
Hardwick Festival Announces Nile Rodgers And Rag ‘N’ Bone Man As Headliners
Some of the biggest names in funk, soul, blues and rock are heading to the North East to give music lovers a much needed boost this summer. Nile Rodgers and CHIC, Rag’n’Bone Man, Imelda May and Razorlight are topping the bill at a star-studded Hardwick Festival, which will take place…
8:00 AM 25th April 2021
Review: Collective
Late last year Alexander Nanau’s fearless Romanian documentary Collective (or Colectiv) was released in the UK, and since that point, the film has built up a real buzz and been one of those documentary features that feels like a force for change and desperate call to action and attention. More so…
8:35 PM 24th April 2021
The Manfreds Hit The Road With Georgie Fame
The Manfreds will be touring once again this autumn, featuring special guest Georgie Fame. The dates are rescheduled from 2020 - all original tickets remain valid. Manfred Mann formed in London in 1962, quickly finding success with their breakout single '5-4-3-2-1', recorded for ground-breaking TV pop show Ready Steady Go! Following…
9:00 AM 24th April 2021
The Offspring - Let The Bad Times Roll (Concord Records)
Graham Clark
Features Writer
Legends and innovators of the Southern California punk rock scene, The Offspring, have sold more than 40 million albums worldwide, won countless awards, and have toured consistently, playing more than 500 shows in the last decade alone. Their music has had a lasting impact across film, television, and video games,…
9:00 AM 24th April 2021
Bay City Rollers Singer Les McKeown Dies Aged 65
Graham Clark
Features Writer
For anyone who was around in the mid 1970s whether you liked them or not the Bay City Rollers were at the time the band of the moment. With their tartan clad clothes, familiar pop songs and their own TV show the group - led by singer Les McKeown…
9:00 AM 24th April 2021
Bitter Fruit Ripening: The Kilt Of Many Colours By David Bleiman
Steve Whitaker
Literary Editor
There is much of sad, surpassing beauty in David Bleiman’s expansive new collection of poems. If a negotiated sense of identity, or rather the dissolution of identity in a glorious oceanic harvest of heredities, is an overwhelming theme here, then so is the voice of the individual singer and of…
9:45 AM 23rd April 2021
Review: Thunder Force
Jack Bottomley
Media Correspondent
When it comes to director Ben Falcone (Tammy, The Boss, Superintelligence), it really is a case of you know what you are getting, and you are either cool with that fact or not. Yes, his collaborations - this marks his fifth - with the sometimes divisive (why? She’s a great…
7:35 PM 22nd April 2021
BRIT Awards To Go Ahead With Live Audience As Latest Event In Government Research Programme
The 2021 BRIT Awards ceremony will go ahead with a live audience as the latest addition to the government’s Events Research Programme, which looks at how venues can restart large events and welcome crowds back safely this summer. The BRIT Awards with Mastercard will return to London’s The O2 arena on…
1:51 PM 22nd April 2021
The Traumatic Legacy of Denial: The Sanatorium By Sarah Pearse
Sarah Pearse’s debut novel has been garlanded by many effulgent reviews, celebrity endorsement and judging from myriad positive responses on social media platforms, has delighted many of its readers. A bold fusion of the classic locked-room murder mystery, with the stalwart tropes of the crime thriller genre, Pearse also laces…
10:08 AM 21st April 2021
Status Quo - Rockin All Over The North On New Tour
Britain's best loved rockers, Status Quo, who were the last band to play at Stockton Globe before it closed in 1974, will be returning to the venue with their brand-new ‘Out Out Quoing’ tour next March. Status Quo will be reclaiming their position on the live circuit and raising Stockton Globe’s…
8:32 AM 21st April 2021
Top Dog Film Festival – New Virtual Event! 30 April -3 May
The Top Dog Film Festival is back in the UK and Ireland this April, with a brand-new collection of heart-warming films celebrating the incredible bond between dogs and their human companions. Showing virtually, the Top Dog Film Festival features uplifting short films about our four-legged friends from around the world. The…
6:22 PM 20th April 2021
The Return Of Newton Faulkner With New Album And Tour
Graham Clark
Features Writer
Newton Faulkner has announced that his new album Interference (of Light) will be released on 20 August via Battenberg Records on vinyl, CD and digital formats. Four years on from his last studio album, Newton has been working throughout lockdown from his recording studio in East London, exploring a number of…
12:13 PM 18th April 2021
Wolf Alice Look Forward To The Weekend With New Album
Graham Clark
Features Writer
Wolf Alice have announced a UK and Ireland tour for January 2022, their first headline shows since 2018. The tour will see the band performing songs from their eagerly-anticipated third album Blue Weekend, including the new single The Last Man on Earth. The album is the follow up to the…
9:53 AM 18th April 2021
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