Leeds Pan Central play NUT Strike, Leeds

As a member of the NUT I voted to strike against the government's mistreatment of school students and teachers, and thus of society in general. This not being a political blog is all you get here. Back to the steelbands.

Leeds Pan Central is whoever we can get from Foxwood, Sparrows and East Steel. We were me [Victoria] [NUT], Georgia [maternity leave], Charlotte [NUT], Wanda [NUT], Katie[took a day off], Chloe [student], Georgia G2 [students], Lynn [PT], YiBai [shift worker], Holly [shift worker], Emma [shift worker], Pippa [NUT], Fehmina [on her way to work!] - not too bad a turn out really.

We also had three of Wanda's colleagues/friends as percussionists plus various people we pulled out the crowd, including Fred, last worked with at Quarry Mount, Diane, and Patrick [who, being 6 months old was more visual than aural. But you gotta start somewhere].

We made it onto the tele on three different News programmes, three different clips. Now that's an improvement on our usual 9 seconds, blink and we are gone. We played You'll Never Walk Alone as our last song, and the crowd sang along. Then Rick came down for the van and the loading while I failed miserably to make the march; got to City Varieties though for the speeches.

Foxwood Steel at Tennants Hall Middleton Leeds

"It's short notice, I know", said Tom, "but could you play our AGM next Friday".  Well, out of a possible fifty-odd players [well not really fifty-odd as this is a weekday workday] we got me, Natalie, Georgia, Tim, Gary and a possible Sheeks.


After Gary's boiler burst and Sheeks' night-shift came to an end this left the first four. I think we surprised ourselves with our awesomeness. Nice acoustics in Tennants Hall.



Noone seemed keen on writing a setlist; Natalie suggested I text Bex, but she declined to provide one [can't think why!].

Thus we skipped from one classic tune another, and the man clicking the tables away tried to click in time, none of which woke Patrick up.













Here some very similar pictures of the four of us. The deal of Tim and Natalie sharing kit and pans seemed to have been resolved by Natalie staying on the guitar pans. Well I said "You can decide between you who plays kit on what" and nothing changed. Yo!

Foxwod Steel, 2 Sparrows and 1 East Steel rock the Teachers' Strike

So, Debs,
Michael, the Bear of Immensely Small Brain has achieved this one thing: getting the NUT and the NAS/UWT out on strike together.

Getting a band together on a Tuesday proved more difficult. The drummers were either at work, or one-handed, but, at last, one thousand drummers later, Bart is our knight in shining armour.

Not only that, he had his own drum-kit and a car. Well, Debs, surely that's beyond the call of duty! [Perhaps he has heard that we forget drum stools, bass pedals, or, as in Harrogate on Saturday, cymbals!]

















Anyway, not that you really see us behind the massive crowd of teachers and fellow-workers, but in the end we were me, Bex, Natalie, Katie, Austin [who had only nipped out from work when he saw us, and who needs to playing again with us], Vicky, Georgia 1, Georgia 2, Chloe , Bart and a very surprised Wanda, who had come down with her tambourine and found herself on bass. Also Harvey was there in his Foxwood t shirt  and tambourine at the ready. [And also thanks to Rosie, the surprise[d] photographer]

As we are packing up after the march set off, Bart is doing wheelies on wheelchair, and while carrying half a ton of drum-kit. Rock n Roll, eh?



And at the 1, 6 and 56 bus stop going home I see the sign up - "Delays possible owing to demonstration" Excellent. The screen kept moving so this is all I managed to get of the sign.