SATURDAY MAY 31st
Wishful Thinking in association with Howden Live Present....

WILKO JOHNSON....JOHN OTWAY....THE MARTYN BARKER BAND.... £17.50
The Mad The Bad & The Goolies anyone?

The 10th anniversary concert! Raising funds for The Yorkshire Cancer Centre (Formally Cookridge).

A dream ticket, one of THE most entertaining lineups ever presented at the Shire Hall.It is more than reasonable to suggest that in Wilko and Otway we have two of the very best and most entertaining live performers in the country for your delectation.
A third visit for the Wilko Johnson Band which was formed after Wilko's stint in Ian Dury's band The Blockheads with Ian's bass player Norman Watt-Roy and former Jesus & Mary Chin drummer Monti. Also another former Blockhead.
Prior to that Wilko had formed The Solid Senders, but is, of course, most famous for founding legendary Canvey Island R 'n B band Dr Feelgood with Lee Brilleaux in the early '70's.
The Wilko Telecaster technique (“borrowed unashamedly” from Mick Green, guitarist with Johnny Kidd and the Pirates “when I first heard him it changed my life”, writes Wilko on one of his websites)spawned hordes of imitators (along with bulging eyes, crew-cuts, and buttoned-to-the-collar black shirts) and inspired a few, like the Gang of Four’s Andy Gill, to take it to even greater heights.
Copy Wilko’s incredible thumb and fingerpicking style if you can. And forget the effects pedals. Wilko blows you away with just his Telecaster and a clever use of pick-ups and amplifier tone and volume. Nothing else. He just keeps it simple.
With renditions of classic songs like Back In The Night and She Does It Right, this is a man whose place in the history of rock and roll is assured, and whose playing should put him high on everyone’s list for a rocking Saturday night out.
John otway is a self confessed unsuccessful singer-songwriter who built a large cult audience through unrelenting touring, a surreal sense of humour and a winning underdog personality. Arriving on the back of punk rock and a gymnastic performance on The Old Grey Whistle Test with Wild Willy Barratt his first single, the half spoken love song Really Free soared to number 27 in the UK singles chart.It would be his greatest success for some time.Despite that, his live audience remained loyal, due to Otway's manic energy and the probability of physical injury during renditions of songs such as "Headbutts".His finest moment came in 2002. Asked what he wanted for his 50th birthday, he requested "A second hit". A concerted drive, including a poll, scrutinised by the Electoral Reform Society, to select the track, saw "Bunsen Burner" — with music sampled from the Trammps classic "Disco Inferno" and lyrics devised to help his daughter with her chemistry homework — reach the UK number 9 on 6 October, and earned Otway an appearance on Top Of The Pops, BBC Television's flagship popular music programme.

To encourage fans to buy more than one copy each of the single, he released three different versions. The flip side of "Bunsen Burner — The Hit Mix" was a cover of "The House of the Rising Sun" recorded at Abbey Road Studios and featured 900 of his fans on backing vocals, each of whom was credited by name on the single's sleeve.
Thanks to this second hit he has now been able to release his Greatest Hits album (note the s, he's very proud of it, having "finally got it on the right side of Hit").

Plus a third outing in a support slot for Wilko Johnson for The Martyn Barker Band, they are from Goole you know.

The 10th anniversary referred to at the top is of course....you guessed it!....the 10th anniversary of the first fundraiser in 1998 for the Cookridge Cancer Centre. Cookridge is now closed and a custom built centre has now been opened at St James's hospital in Leeds and is known as The Yorkshire Cancer Centre.
That very first gig featured Jim Diamond and Brian Willougby with a host of support acts provided by Martin Pierson. Since that first event the Cookridge gig has seen The Groundhogs, Jim Diamond and Snake Davis, (twice) Waterson:Carthy, Acoustic Lindisfarne,Midge Ure and The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, all appear and in the process raising upwards of £25,000 for the appeal. Here's to a few more quid!

If there is anyone out there who would like to help out with this event by selling raffle tickets, providing raffle prizes, sposorship, helping out on the night, anything at all, please get in touch, do give Mark a ring on 01430 431512.

Reg charity no. 1075308

Click here for W J shenanagins

And here for Otway ones.

JUNE 7th

THE GEOFF EALES TRIO £10

GEOFF EALES is regarded as one of Europe's most inspirational jazz pianists and composers. Though he has been pro-active in a vast variety of musical situations throughout his long and distinguished career - accompanying pop stars, country singers, opera divas, blues artists and funk legends as well as working extensively on TV shows, commercials and film soundtracks - it is within the realm of jazz and improvised music and as a soloist in his own right that the full extent of Geoff's musical personality is revealed.

JUNE 21st

BREATHING SPACE £6
+ Marc Atkinson

Breathing Space, the band, started life as a solo album project by Iain Jennings, ex-keyboard wizard and co-songwriter with rock giants, Mostly Autumn. For the first album and early live gigs he enlisted some of his Mostly Autumn colleagues before putting together his own touring band, retaining Mostly Autumn's backing singer Olivia Sparnenn as lead vocalist for the new venture.

The first eponymously titled album was critically acclaimed and the second has just been released. Live appearances occur whenever and wherever the opportunity arises!

Breathing Space myspace