Leeds Silver Steel Sparrows play LSMA Town Hall concert

Always love the big mirror in the understage dressing room

Good news is that Bella has come back to Sparrows; bad news is that Millie S and Chloe are in Derby and Manchester respectively. Good news is that Millie C is not working on Tuesday, and Ashley's bike is back on the road; bad news is that Bella, Claudia and Millie C can't do the rehearsal, and then bad news on the day is that Ashley's mum has to go into hospital.

Good news is that the New Sparrows are shaping up nicely; bad news is that we have two weeks' notice of this gig; also we have to squash up on two little risers back right of the main stage. Lol. Good news is that Oulton Primary [Head of Music - our very own Wanda Thorpe!] is directly behind us! Even more lol.

restringing the bass

We play Walking in the Air and Rolling in the Deep as our featured tunes, and have a stab at the joint Saviour's Day, Nice tune, but a bit tricky what with the structure and the occasional shorter bar.

We were me, Bex, Natalie, Alice, Millie C, Owen, Isha, Lucy, Annie, Ella, Kirsten and Claudia. [Plus Wanda played at the rehearsal]

Because we recently lost our rehearsal room, and have spent autumn term 2016 living out of my Little Blue Transit, we have gone for single pans rather than double seconds and triple cellos etc. So we fit [just] on the Town Hall riser shelves. However, I spot a destringed double bass pan. This requires urgent surgery at the rehearsal!

The worst casualty of the multiple-drum single instrument is poor old Lucy on the bass. When she moved from Steel Rising to Sparrows she agreed to take up bass, and. of course got the big six bass set. Not always having the Big White ArtForms van, she already has had to adjust to tenor bass, but what with having no permanent home, now we are on the double/triples! [Thankfully Mrs T agreed to stand by and help find any missing notes!]

Good news is that they are recording the concert; bad news is they are recording the concert. One melody player [Millie C has already confessed!] forgot that the first section of Walking in the Air has a nine-bar phrase, and they/she played ADDCCA one bar too early every time, so that it sounded like a deliberate little echo. Sweet.

Fyi, here's a couple of pics of our two new single seconds: The chromed one cost £90 more [and looks beautiful!], but the notes show up better on the painted one. If you own your own [and only play your own] you don't need to label the notes, but it's not a crime if you do. Just makes it harder for someone else to try and play it! Note that the single second is a near circle of fifths. [That is A flat where the light has caught the painted pan].

Leeds Silver Steel Sparrows is run by Leeds ArtForms, taught by myself and Bex; the LSMA Town Hall concert is also run by Leeds ArtForms, with teachers from around Leeds schools.

East Steel at Cross Flatts park

Never recovered from the four gig weekend, so once Huddersfield Carnival was cancelled we didn't pick up any of the other requests.

Playing in park with fabulous awnings and concrete floors with brick walls to amplify properly is just the best! Plus we were as close to the café and the glorious cakes as we could be. Even bester!

Rain and sun were both forecast. We chose sun and got it for all but last twenty minutes. This was Steel Rising's second time playing with East Steel.

Foxwood Steel play Weston Wedding

I met Jon, Rosie and Priscilla back in April. I was still limping from that sojourn at St Thomas's. Discovered that Rosie was a doctor in London; discussed campaigning for the NHS; I discussed PFI sucking the money from hospitals and schools.

I was already pleased to be playing Jon and Rosie's wedding near Otley. People like Rosie routinely save the lives of people like me. I was doubly pleased.

In the field, on the day there was now the most beautiful of marquees, and opposite a space for us to set up the double gazebo phenomenon that I like to think is our rainy day trade mark. In the pouring rain we rocked with all the usual tunes and threw in If It's raining, it's Raining because, well, it was.

Gary was bemoaning playing his first gig in specs. Come on Gazza, it's a fashion statement for me! We were me, Charlotte, Sheeks, Amy, Bex, Natalie, Gary, Georgia, Katie, Vicky, Sophie.

At the beginning we were given an ace tray of sandwich buns. At some point we started a tune before Sheeks had no chance to finish hers. Stop the song, or take a photograph. No contest.

Back at home, the next day, there was a bit of drying out to do.

On an entirely serious note, Jon the Groom wrote thus afterwards:

Hello Victoria. Sorry to have not said goodbye yesterday. I cannot thank you enough for what was the most wonderful of performances. The steel band was a real highlight, and people have been talking about it nonstop. Thank you so much."

And, do you know, if we weren't that good, that would be no point.

Hyde Park Percussion at headingley Festival

It felt like it was cutting it fine, but actually it was a piece of cake. And that, with a cup of tea was my first thought when I arrived at Shire Oak Primary the day after the week before, that was Lille. The imminent triathlon was shutting roads so I took a trolley with the glocks, got a lift there and a bus back.


The first act was Avtar's Shire Oak drummers. Who thankfully agreed to be our rhythm section.

As.




The band was Ryan and me.

We persuaded Sting, Alun and Avtar's djembe group to play with us. Ryan played like he didn't understand the meaning of the word, pressure.





We did Drunken Sailor, Old MacDonald had a Farm [for which the audience gloriously agreed to moo, quack and baa], Lightly Row and Careless Love. Unbelievable! So proud.

I jumped on the bus home and changed the turquoise for red to be Foxwood at a wedding near Otley.

Foxwood Steel, Sparrows, Steel Rising do Sunday at Rhythms Carnival Village

 

Most of Foxwood was on holiday and Sparrows at work. So these two bands together nearly numbered less than East Steel on its own. Yo. Thankfully by the time we are on, the stage has been floored, and the sound installed, and the eight/nine/ten of us are miked up.

 

 

 After us a few acts including amazing Gospel choir, just back from not performing in the Park. 

 

  

 

For the afternoon set we were me [Victoria], Bex, Vicky, Yi Bai, Claudia, Gig, Charlotte [guest from Nostalgia], Wanda [Steel Rising], and just as we were starting to play up comes Ash. And then, the entire Keir family hoves into view.

 

 

 

Tamanna makes it onto stage for the rest of the set. After six years. That is brave. [But she did say, "Is Heat, I don't know that". I said, "You played it at the Albert Hall!" LOL]

 

  

 

 

The last set as the day darkens, is me, Bex, Vicky, Yi Bai, Ash, Milly, Charlotte, Wanda and now Sophie. Also featuring Andrew the Photographer on tambourine. Does that make a percussion section? Well, I like to think so.

 

Marcus and Connor are still on the sound; Ifty is making some cool vegan burgers. Grafton has now appeared. He has been tuning pans in London for Panorama bands and just driven up to Leeds. Partner, Charlotte is playing the single guitar pan that Grafton made for one our players a few years back.

 

 

Because Charlotte is used to playing with marching band, Nostalgia, she is happy with a single guitar pan.  In Leeds, because we don't march very often the single pan is often seen as either inferior because players think, as it has only nine notes, it must be in some way easy! Or they can't handle the fact that for some chords the root note is not an option, and sometimes neither is the third. Easy! Not at all!

 

I would like to thank Hilary, George and Mexican for this opportunity to play Carnival. It means an awful lot to us. I have been playing pans for over thirty years; Bex, Georgia, Wanda for over twenty years;  the others today for over a decade.  Between us, we have played some prestigious venues from Leeds Arena, Leeds Town Hall, Leeds Civic Hall, London Southbank Festival Hall, London Royal Albert Hall, Birmingham Conservatoire, Leeds Carnival mainstage and float, Manchester, Huddersfield this, that and the other. But, of all of them, playing your hometown Carnival is just the best. And, it has to be said, we were ace.

 

 I know.

Leeds Pan Central play Copperbeech Nursery

On Friday morning our joint bands assembled in Bramley to play some tunes for Copper Beech Nursery.

 

 

 

 

We were me, Bex, Sophie, Pippa, Trisha, Tim and Vicky. We played Old MacDonald had a Farm, Twinkle Twinkle, Buffalo Gals and some children's tunes, then ventured into Buffalo Soldier, Give me Hope Jo'anna and Under the Boardwalk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The load in and set up was really convenient. The kids danced; the staff danced. We loaded back up and then of us from Foxwood braced ourselves for the second gig of the day.

 

[Tim played races with James and Michael]