Leeds Silver Steel Sparrows play Leeds ArtForms Town Hall Prom

It is one of our favourites: Leeds ArtForms Schools Prom at Leeds Town Hall. We played our Music For Youth Three [Some Enchanted Evening, California Girls, Living on a Prayer] plus Mozart's Symphony Number 40. 

The Orchestra was playing Stars Wars as the joint number. I thought Rocket Man or Starman might fit nicely. Bex located the sheet music, I wrote Rocket Man out, did a preliminary arrangement, gave it to Kips and Ed, and they did an arrangement for our agreed joint moments.



On the day, I pretended to myself that I was conducting the Leeds Youth Orchestra, although really David Greed was doing that. Actually I was flapping my arms a bit, while concentrating like mad on the score, and hoping somehow that the players, eyes down in their pans, knew where they were, because they sure weren't looking at me. I only wrote this tune out into a Foxwood Songsheet ten days previously and the band has only played it once through at a practice back at Shire Oak.







Players were Owen, Kirsten, Annie, Ella, Isha, Kurum , Esme, Millie, Alice, Claudia. Natalie drummed. Jermaine and Chris guested. I found that, at the public performance I played all the songs on different pans from the ones I had played at the rehearsal. Great. Not.



I'll spare you how long it took to collect pans from practice school, load into van, out of van, into Town Hall, along to stage, and back and back and Control Z, and back. [did I say I would spare you?].

Leeds Silver Steel Sparrows at Music 4 Youth Harrogate

February 24 2018. The Sparrows are back at St Aidan's, Harrogate for yet another National Festival For Youth Regional Event.

pans in waiting

Our songs this year are 50s, 60s, 80s, Some Enchanted Evening, California Girls and Living on a Prayer. We had planned also to include Tragedy but our playing of it was just that: a tragedy!

It took us a lifetime to arrange Living on a Prayer. I asked Pippa to do the initial groundwork, then she and I ran it through on the Manchester Carnival Saturday night inbetween. This required a coupla cans. After that the Sparrows and I rearranged and rearranged till we were happy with the structure, the intros, the intros, a unison section. There was nothing we didn't mess about with. 

As ever the evening before I took the pans across, unloaded them and left them ready for an easy set up the next day. The upside of having no storage space at present for the six basses is that we don't have to take them to gigs , and this in turn means I can use my own little Transit van for the whole band.

Players were Alice on cello pans, Annie on bass and single second, Claudia on double tenors, Ella on single guitar, Isha on oversize single second,  Kurum on double guitars, Kirsten on soprano and bass, Owen on soprano and bass, Natalie guesting on kit.

East Steel at YAMSEN:SpeciallyMUSIC Town Hall Concert

If it is the first Wednesday in December, it must be The YAMSEN:SpeciallyMUSIC Leeds Town Hall Lord Mayor's Christmas Concert. East Steel has now become an established regular fixture at this event.

From humble and awkward beginnings perched on the risers, East Steel now stands proudly stage right [or is that stage left?] at the front. Once it was two tunes; now it is a half hour of Christmas tunes as the audience assembles, two slots, and incidental music during the prize-givings. And even communal songs, though that has yet to work properly.

This year Bex arranged Pure Imagination by Leslie Bricusse and The Power of Love by Holly Johnson. Simon Linley, former Leeds City Organist and our compere commented on how much hard work has to go into such arrangements. A compliment indeed!



Players were Bex, Trish, Joyce, Lynn, Wendy, Anne, Vicky, Wanda and Sophie with Natalie on drum-kit.