Saturday 11th May: Young Band Showcase
Join us this Saturday 11th May from 2pm for four excellent up-and-coming indie and rock bands at Clarence Park Bandstand.
On the bill are:
- Chemical Child (2pm) – We have a true affiliation with music, and a taste for a range of genres, which allows us to draw influences from true masters of instruments and sculpt something truly magical.
- 12:27 (3pm) – Indie Rockers 12:27 hail from West Yorkshire, England. Formed in 2010 the band have been making their mark on the scene performing at venues across England including the 360 Club, Leeds, The Bull & Gate, London, Escobar, Leeds and more notably at Manchester Academy and o2 Liverpool.
- Fire In The Fishbowl (4pm) – Rock from Horbury, around since 2009, always a good one to watch. We had these guys last time and they totally blew the roof off.
- Dead Vixens (5pm) – Formed in spring 2012, The Dead Vixens are now a respected three-piece rock ‘n’ roll outfit from Wakefield. Jumbo Records hailed their 6-track EP as “Young, flashy indie rock with tinges of power pop and even some lush compositions! Great six track debut for sure!”
Additionally there’s Faceless Company’s Space-To-Create, full (loud) PA, and hopefully it’ll stay dry.
This event has been in-part supported by Wakefield District Council Creative Partners scheme.
There’s a Facebook event here if Facebook is your ‘thing’.
Brass Band Sundays Are Back
Finally we seem to have some warm weather, just in time to herald the return of our popular Brass Band Sundays at Clarence Park Bandstand.
Gratefully funded by Wakefield Council’s Creative Partners Scheme, we’ve got a programme of six brass bands over the rest of the year. From 2pm-4pm on the dates below these are free concerts and you’re welcome to bring a picnic and enjoy the music.
The exception is that on Sunday 2nd June it’s 3pm-5pm, as we’re pleased to announce the return of the Teddy Bear’s Picnic. This was a splendid event last year – bring your bear and enjoy a programme of childrens music from Thurcroft Welfare Band.
The bands are:
- Sunday 28th April: The Phoenix Band
- Sunday 26th May: Garforth Brass Band
- Sunday 2nd June: Teddy Bear’s Picnic with Thurcroft Welfare Band
- Sunday 9th June: Grimethorpe & District Band
- Sunday 8th September: James Farrell Concert Band
- Sunday 8th December: Crofton B Band
Hope to see you there!
Wakefield Festival Of Food, Drink & Rhubarb
This weekend 22nd-24th is Wakefield Festival of Food, Drink & Rhubarb, and alongside the culinary celebrations we’re staging two free gigs!
On Friday 22nd from 4pm it’s Rhubarb Jam – three brilliant acoustic acts at Esquires Coffee House in Trinity Walk. It’s a child-friendly venue, serves fab coffee, and you can chill out to the sounds of McDylbot, Lucy Perry and William Booth.
Then on Saturday 23rd at The Bull & Fairhouse from 8pm we’ve Rhubarb Rocks! featuring Blaze playing classic rock covers from the past 4 decades. It’s a City-centre pub on a Saturday night so of course it’s an 18+ venue (sorry kids), however the Bull & Fairhouse is a Great Heck Brewery pub and serves some lovely ale hand-crafted by brewery overlord Denzil himself.
Both gigs are free in, and promise to be splendid. Do come!
About The Bandstand
What’s probably not commonly known is that Wakefield Music Collective are currently working with The Friends of CHaT Parks and Wakefield Council on a project to refurbish the old Bandstand in Clarence Park, Wakefield. This building has stood in it’s current position for many years prior to it being situated at the top of Lowe Hill within the park, but it is now showing signs of natural wear and tear and in need of a thorough overhaul if it is to carry on being a centrepiece for outdoor events.
We’ve worked tirelessly over the years to bring an array of different bands and solo artists to Wakefield; if successful with funding, the aim is to expand the use of the building to other groups such as Amateur Dramatics, Church Choirs and Schools within the Wakefield area or even further afield spreading the uses of the Bandstand to the wider audience and community.
For this project to be a success we have been jointly applying for external funding but this depends on community support. If you feel this is a viable project not only for Wakefield Central but for Wakefield District as a whole we would appreciate words of support. We would also love to hear from yourselves if you would like to use the bandstand for concerts or similar events.
You can find out more about the consultation and respond (including a downloadable questionnaire) by clicking here.
Happy 2013 Everyone!
Happy new year everyone! Did Santa bring you what you were after? Have the hangovers subsided?
First-off, some dates for your diary! It’s the annual Wakefield Festival of Food Drink and Rhubarb in late February and we’re running a couple of gigs as part of the celebrations. On Friday 22nd February you can join us at Esquires Coffee House in Trinity Walk for a teatime acoustic session with Will Booth, Dyl McPrice and Lucy Perry from 4pm until 7pm. Then on Saturday 23rd February we’ve got the Rhubarb Rocks bash at The Bull & Fairhouse on George Street where we’re joined by Lorenza Woods for some noisy beery fun.
We got back off holiday to find a tsunami of bands and acts wanting to play Clarence 2013! We’ll be telling you all you need to know to apply in the next few days (local and national bands are all welcome to apply of course). By popular demand 2013 will be the first year to feature online applications (although you can still use the old postal system), and we’ve got a lot of exciting developments for the festival this year which is set for 27th-28th July 2013 at Clarence Park, Wakefield. You’ll also be able to use the online system to apply to play some of our other events too.
There’ll be a return of the podcasts in the next couple of weeks: last year we were up to a few thousand subscribers so it’s well worth joining in. If you want a song by your band or act on the podcast, get in touch with us and we’ll be happy to feature you – especially if you’re from the Wakefield area. You can listen to last year’s editions by subscribing via iTunes or looking in our Podcast section.
Finally, the Bandstand Consultation is still open. Please do tell the Council how you’d like them to use the Bandstand and help shape the future of that side of the park.
Blue Thursday, and Friday and Saturday and Sunday :)
Starting this very eve, from 9pm at The Hop with Tim Graham & The Black Cats and Mike Shaw & Graham Hall. Its free entry, so you’ve got no excuse not to be there 
Tonight is the first, of four consecutive nights of Bluesyness we will be bringing to Wakefield, with gigs at various venues around town, more details of which can found on our dedicated Blues Festival page.
Tickets are available for our only ticketed gig of the festival featuring The Hexmen, Tom Attah and The Tom Kilner band at Balne Lane Club, but you can also pay on the door if you like.
So there you go, get yourself along to one of our gigs this weekend for a big old dose of The Blues, all are welcome. Whether you’ve been into Blues for ages, or have never thought to listen to it before, we’ve got all kinds of bands on this weekend, all great, with something for everyone. See you There
KT’s Blues Festival 8th – 11th Nov – acts confirmed!
No more sitting in the beer garden, the “summer” has well and truly ended and its time to turn the heating back on. But don’t despair, we’ve got just the thing to warm your musical cockles this autumn.
We’ve just finalised a roster of acts for our annual city blues bash, who’ll be keeping you toasty with a whole lot of rhytym and far amount of blues aswell.
For full details of all the acts, venues and dates, scoot over to our dedicated Blues Festival page for a ganders
Want to Hire the Bandstand?
Did you know you the Bandstand is available for hire? No? Well you do now
We (The Collective) are custodians of The Clarence Park Bandstand and as you may be aware stage many events there, such as; The Young Band Showcase, Brass Band Sundays, The Teddy Bears Picnic and of course The Clarence Festival itself.
Although we use The Bandstand for all the aformentioned events, you can use it too. We have a licence to stage a limited number of events over the year (for a negiotable fee) and will consider all applications.
To apply to use this unique venue, please drop us a message on this post.
A New and Improved Bandstand for Everyone
If you live near Clarence Park or if you visit the park for events held at the Bandstand, would you like to see it restored and repaired in order for it to be used in future by all the community?
The Wakefield Music Collective is doing a joint bid with WMDC in order to repair and refurbish the bandstand. In addition to this (we) The Collective, are also submitting a separate bid in order to continue staging events at the Bandstand.
Both bids require ‘evidence of need’ so we are asking local people and anyone who is interested in seeing the bandstand restored and used regularly to add their approval……..To help us, help make Clarence Park Bandstand a venue for the whole community, please show your support for our initiative by adding your comments to this post. Thanks x
Clarence 2012 – A Big Thankyou!
The stages are once again quiet, the beer tent has been packed away, the litter has been cleared and all the barriers are gone – yes folks, we’re done and dusted with Clarence 2012! It rained a bit, it was sunny, someone tried to roll down the hill and Rat was selling sticks – that makes it a proper Clarence in our books.
Thanks to all the bands who played with great gusto – Red Riding Quartet, Blind Dead McJones Band, The Jar Family, Scott Anthony Wainwright, Hamerex, By Polaroid, The Brompton Mix, More Than You’ll Ever Know, Freedom Of The City, The Incredible Magpie Band, Jery At Controls, MBT, Pegging Leaves, Mummy Short Arms, Boomin, Benjamin Bloom, The Soul Circle Gang, and Benson.
Thanks to you the audience who braved rain, wind, sun, and everything else to sit on the hill and listen to some cracking tunes. Thanks for behaving 
Thanks to the volunteers who tidied, cleared, produced, engineered, photographed, promoted, patrolled, sold stuff, walked, dispensed info, swept, carried, printed, lifted, wrote, typeset, rescued, poked, prodded, drove, ran, cleaned, lit, videoed, and tons more. People such as Kate, Rachel, Becky, Ben, Ellie, Tom, Nicky, Matty, JJ, James, Mick, Anthony, Joel, Andy, Lisa, Ed, Sophie, Jack, Jo-Ann, and tons more (many of whom are in the photo on the right, kindly taken by Sally Tucker). Thanks to Morsey for finding us drum kits at short notice, MBT for lending Mummy Short Arms their backline, Jodie for writing the intro to the programme. Ta to Martin at YOT and Yubi at Next Generation for their continued support.
Thanks to our sponsors this year who made sure we had enough dosh to do it, whether they gave us cash or donated services in-kind, companies you should support because they’re lovely – Wakefield College, Wakefield District Council, Ackworth Autoserv, Ossett Brewery, Rustico, BeClear/PCT, Wakefield Community Foundation, Rocket Express, Key Security, Sayers Solutions, StagePro, Wrenthorpe Consulting, Thornes Bon Bon, Leeds List, The All-New Duke Of York Pub Agbrigg, Trad Music, 106.8 Ridings FM, BBC 6Music, BBC Introducing, Cheese Factory, and Biziprint up Westgate who sorted us flyers and printing at very short notice. Splendid work from all the vendors who fed, watered and clothed people, and got the kids hopped up on sweets.
Finally, thanks (as usual) to everyone we’ve forgotten because there were a lot of people who helped this year, everyone from the random guy who helped fill bin bags at the end, to the bars and pubs who took our flyers when the street team were out on Thursday and Friday, and the kindhearted souls who handed in lost property. Kudos to the folks who brought their sofa and beanbags and put them on the hill – we love you all; the guy who decided to change his pants on the tarmac – less so
There’ll be a full write-up soon and podcast #6 will feature soundbites from performers and crew around the festival, presumably when we’ve calmed down a bit, but in the meantime our Flickr group has photos appearing from the festival taken by Collective members, but you can of course add your own – go see!
And now, a cup of tea. Phew! Thanks and thanks again
