derby

Derbyshire Pride 2018

September 10, 2018 — Leave a comment

derbypride4Crowds gathered in their masses on Saturday the 8th September for the annual Derbyshire Pride event and it was an occasion that just wasn’t to be missed. Hundreds of people gathered on Curzon Street for an all-day party which wasn’t just about celebrating the Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community, it was about the people of Derby and Derbyshire celebrating differences. As was also traditional was the Great British weather, cos let’s face it the weather doesn’t know what it’s doing from one moment to the next.

Many organisations came together to help celebrate the day, the LGBT+ community and its allies and reminded everyone that the special day was about inclusivity to everyone, from all walks of life. The message couldn’t be any clearer; it doesn’t matter who you are be it your sexuality, gender, disability, race or ethnicity we are one big community and that’s what should be celebrated.

Hosting duties were taken by Galaxy Radio’s Soraya Vivian and Derby’s own Trudy Knight and Miss Davinia

Several performers helped put on an amazing show, drag Queens, DJ’s, singers and even tribute acts including Mizz Pink, Livin Joy, Danny Beard and Kirby Frost. Also making an appearance were Ross Alexander, members of Studio Storm Fitness, Sweet Female Attitude. Also making an appearance were stars of Channel 4’s Gogglebox and The Property Boyz derbypride14derbypride6  Derbyshire Police, ambulance crew and the local fire services came down to offer their support along with other organisations such as The Samaritans and members of the Derbyshire LGBT+ Network and many more. Even special hair and make-up treatments were available.

The event stared with the annual parade which began on St Peter’s Churchyard which began at 11:15 am and went on till 12pm and ended at Curzon Street which is where the celebrations continued. The party went on till 3am at The Crown Inn, which isn’t just an LGBT+ venue, but also one of Derbyshire Pride’s sponsors as well.    derbypride11  Looking forward to Derbyshire Pride 2019.

Derbypride

Max Raptor and Hildamay @The Venue, Derby 15/3/2012

February 27, 2016 — Leave a comment

My first time into the derby-based music venue, ironically called The Venue and there’s two bands on tonight and from what I can gather there’s a lot of hype about them. Hildamay, who have been on the music scene since 2008, and all that can be said was that the crowd reaction was absolutely huge and not surprisingly these guys just sounded awesome. Everything about them was just fresh from the vocals to the bass and their sheer energy on-stage. From what I’ve heard Hildamay have definitely got what it takes to seriously hit the big time.

Burton-on-Trent’s own Max Raptor co-stole the entire show and all I can say is that these guys are just incredible and have lots of raw energy and oozed masses of adrenaline. They sounded like complete pro’s and not surprisingly everyone still wanted a piece of them even after the show. Seriously, the locals of Burton should be proud of this lot, you’ve got one incredible band on your hands. The guys show some serious power when they’re in front of an entire crowd. 

Other pictures from the night

Oxjam Festival, various venues, Beeston, Nottingham 18/10/2014

February 3, 2015 — Leave a comment
The Face That Boils Itself

The Face That Boils Itself

Simon Oldboy

Simon Oldboy

Shapes & Things

Shapes & Things

Rosh

Rosh

Rick Donoghue

Rick Donoghue

Oldish Spice

Oldish Spice

Fusor

Fusor

Fun With Numbers

Fun With Numbers

Bohop & Jeanie Barton

Bohop & Jeanie Barton

Jim Dunn

Jim Dunn

Colin Tucker& Steve Ploughwright

Colin Tucker& Steve Ploughwright

Al Appleby

Al Appleby

The Irish Chemists

The Irish Chemists

Beeston, Nottingham played host to this years’ Oxjam festival in support of Oxfam so I went over to check it out and explore the numerous venues to see and hear what bands and artists sound like. And I have to admit it I was somewhat impressed. My trek led to around venues such The Bar, Star Inn, Malt Shovel and Hop Pole.

The Face That Boils Itself, The Irish Chemists, Shapes & Things and Fusor. I came across a shanty band called Oldish Spice at the Crown Inn who consists of up to nine members and the Beeston Folk stage that took place over at the White Lion. Now I admit that though I’m not big on Shanty bands and some folk music but I was intrigued by what I saw and heard,. During my trek from one side of Beeston when I got to see the talented Rosh  a great vocal talent with acoustic skills to match. I bumped into Rick Donoghue, a DJ, whilst I made a short stop at the Bartons and I got to see a couple of performances from The Irish Chemists and Shapes & Things, two rock groups who both sounded great and I could even feel the bass not just hear it. My night ended at The Bar venue where I saw Simon Oldboy perform his set, though he did tell me that he wasn’t actually on the bill but was allowed to perform anyway. A talented guy and he sounded good. Upstairs rock band Fusor  got the rooms full attention with their own brand of great music. Definitely a great night.

Other Pictures from the day:

Al Appleby2 Rosh Rick Donoghue The Irish Chemists2

Acoustic Night @The Vic Inn, Derby 15/9/2014

November 5, 2014 — Leave a comment
TheVic

Jake Manning

Phil Matthews

Phil Matthews

It was a game of two halves at The Vic last night as there was music from two acoustic artists, courtesy of Dodgy Strawberry Promotions. Before the sessions began I was informed that there was supposed to be a third person on the bill who never showed up. Armed with a guitar and some jokes Phil Matthews got the crowd going.During his set he told numerous stories about growing up in Liverpool in the 60’s and covered a couple of their hits including ‘Hard Days’ Night’ as well as some material of his own. This guy was really good and had a soothing voice. Now don’t let the name, Jake Manning, deceive you into thinking it’s a solo artist, this Lecister-based four-piece band played some soothing melodic music, though only three made it on the night. What really struck me during their set was the amount of raw emotion in the lyrics and singing, these guys were good. Jokes about sausages being their inspiration, also there was food being served on the night. Thank you staff of The Vic Inn, that filled a hole. . The Manning band ended their set with a song called ‘Don’t Let The Devil Take Your Blues’ before ending the night on some sausage and potatoes, yummy.

Acoustic Night @The Vic Inn, Derby 16/6/2014

June 27, 2014 — Leave a comment

Raj Baba

Will Jefferies

David Young

Brains For Breakfast

Andy & Loz

Dan Salt

Linda Love

Arriving at The Vic Inn, just opposite the train station, the local well known music venue played host to an acoustic evening session most of whom were local and one lovely lass hailing all the way up from Scotland. It was Linda Love’s first performance since going solo from her band and our wee Scottish lass  gave a heartfelt performance and her lyrics and voice demonstrated much passion and emotion. The first and only duo of the evening Andy & Loz managed to keep everyone entertained with their slot with their smooth performance with a mix of both original material and covered songs like James’s ‘Sit Down’ and Elvis’s ‘Suspicious Minds. Some good stuff there.

Now what was intriguing was that next three artists who were doing their own solo performances were also a band Dan Salt, David Young and Andy Webster a.k.a Brains For Breakfast, and they were good. Will Jefferies is completely addictive listening with a mix of retro, jazz and soul music with some acoustics thrown in.Raj Baba took to the stage and played the rest of the night away with a really good acoustic set and own original material. Everyone in the crowd really took to Raj and even I found him impressive and this was the first time I have ever seen him perform and wouldn’t mind seeing his live again.

Further pictures from the night

 All words and photos by Adam J Humphreys

New Music Night @The Venue, Derby 10/4/2014

June 9, 2014 — Leave a comment
Rap-Torial group shot

Rap-Torial

The Deadtime Philharmonic group/duo shot

The Deadtime Philharmonic

Field Studies group shot

Field Studies

Three bands played to the crowd on the night; Field Studies, Rap-Torial and Thee Dead Philharmonic though I later learnt on arrival that there was supposed to be a fourth band on the bill Hey Sholay but they had dropped out and also that the third member of Rap-Torial was absent making them a duo for the night. Ambient Alt-rock band Field Studies made an impression  and even I admit I saw a lot of potential in these four.

M.C & DJ duo Rap-Torial could easily be described as a match for Eminem and Professor Green. In terms of their music they take both the Hip-Hop/Rap genres to their true roots and not go down the typical manufactured route. With the penultimate song I was impressed with their sampled a track by 60’s soul singer Ray Charles before completely re-inventing it into something new with Jacob ‘Jaws’ Willshaw’s fast-paced lyrics. Straight up I admit that any M.C/Rapper that can either sing or rap from the heart whilst displaying a mixture of emotion and angst gets my full respect. Eventually Thee Deadtime Philharmonic made their entrance and pulled in quite a crowd. Now Philharmonic have grabbed much attention and after the first two tracks I could see why. This band has got something and they even got the attention of the BBC Introducing flat form on the night, so they must be doing something right. Singing about anything ranging from the class system, political justice/injustice and innocent murder victims and alike, these guys have definitely got something to say.

All words and photos by Adam J Humphreys

New Music Night @The Sitwell Tavern, Derby 14/5/2014

June 9, 2014 — Leave a comment

The Steady Sound

Dred Roberts

guitarguitars

Natalie Louise Smallwood

My first night at The Sitwell Tavern and I saw five new artists  Derby- based Natalie Small and northern lass Georgette Porter and all-male trio Star-Screen. Natalie Louise Smallwood, who was making her debut performance that evening. The local solo singer/songwriter who on the night, as far as first timers go she was really good. Within the first three tracks of Star Screen I immediately liked the trio and found their performance thoroughly entertaining as the band operated as a type of three-way interaction..

Georgette Hilton, an amazing singer/songwriter who definitely proved on the night that like many northerners has a great sense of humour as well as powerful soul singing voice and did a mixture of original materials as well as cover of ‘Feelin Good’ and the infamous ‘I Just Wanna Make Love to You’, during which I pulled my shirt right down to my waist. The Steady Sound went down a treat and left a good impression, I enjoyed them. Headliner, Dred Roberts, who’s name ironically his name comes from his dreadlock during his early days ended the night and entertained and impressed for the rest of the evening using only a guitar and vocals.

Further pictures from the night:

Sitwell gig Sitwell gig 3 star screen star screen1

All words and photos by Adam J Humphreys