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LeftLion Magazine Issue 6
August-September 2005
Editor
Jared Wilson
Deputy Editor
Al Needham
Distribution
Big G and Tim Evans
Sub Editors
Alan Gilby
Cristina Chapman
David Blenkey
David Bowen
Timmy Bates
Nathan Miller
Design
[email protected]
Photographers
Dom Henry
Kevin Lake
Contributors
Adrian Bhagat
Ashley Dilks
Guy Gooberman
Paul Klotschkow
Popx
Roger Mean
Sadie Rees Hales
Other side of the world
Yemi Akinpelumi
“You begin saving the world by
saving one person at a time. All
else is grandoise romanticism
or politics.”
Charles Bukowski
contents . . .
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05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
16
18
19
24
25
26
Local News For Local People
People get busy: G8 report
Roots Manuva Interview
Rob Newman Interview
Little Barrie Interview
Punish The Atom
Skateboarding is Nott a crime
Game on: Nottingham Sports
Daniel Taylor Interview
Dave McVay Interview
Carl Froch Interview
Out and About
Pete Jordan Interview
Nottingham Events Listings
Amusement Parks on Fire on tour
Nottsword
Rocky Horrorscopes & The Fun Cave
editorial
You hold in your hands the sixth bi-monthly issue of
LeftLion magazine, which (if my maths are correct)
means we’ve been putting this together for a year
now. We love doing what we do. At times it can be
hard work, with a seemingly endless list of emails
to trawl, serious sacrifices of spare time and a
constant pressure to balance the books. However,
we don’t get paid for producing this and we’re still
doing it, so that in itself must tell you something!
In this issue we celebrate (if that is the right word)
the current sporting scene in Nottingham. On the
eve of the new football season, we speak to Daniel
Taylor and Dave McVay, two authors who have
penned amusing, if slightly frustrated, books about
our local football teams.
I also got the chance to speak to Carl Froch, who
is probably the best performing sportsman in
Nottingham at the moment. Watching him fight
at the Ice Arena a few weeks after we spoke was
an at times gruesome, but seriously enjoyable
experience. He won by quite some distance.
To represent alternative sports, the first person to
be fined for Skateboarding after it was outlawed
in the city centre, has penned us an article
about his (sometimes expensive) hobby.
This issue also gave me the chance to speak to two
of my own personal heroes. Neither Roots Manuva
or Rob Newman hail from this city, but both of
them have paid visits here recently and share a
healthy respect for our local scene. On top of this
we feature a couple of damn fine Notts bands in
Punish The Atom and Little Barrie, as well as all
the usual features.
As always, if you’re interested in joining our crew
then send us an email. These days we might take
a couple of weeks to respond, but if you have the
right attitude and a decent grasp of written English
then LeftLion will never turn you down.
This issue is dedicated to
Ian Frazer Larcombe 1979-1998
We’ll be back with the next Issue of what is now
the longest-running free Entertainments magazine
in Nottingham, in October. Expect it to be choc full
of meaty goodness as usual…
LeftLion
349a Mansfield Road
Nottingham, NG5 2DA
[email protected]
[email protected]
Advertising enquiries contact:
[email protected]
mobile: 07867 801019
8,000 copies distributed in over 50
venues around Nottingham
3
4
www.leftlion.co.uk/issue6
Nottingham
Voices
things people have said
on the leftlion forum
IS NOTTINGHAM RACIST?
local news for
local people
with Guy Gooberman our correspondent in London
“I’ve been told there are areas which are quite racist but
I’ve never noticed it in Notts in general. I met a girl who
reckoned people are more racist the further north you go.”
Pisces J
“I don’t think we are a racist bunch! All cities have some
problems but if you look around, you see all colours, creeds
& religions mixing together.”
Barnze
“There’s areas in Notts which are predominantly white
and want to stay that way. At the same time we’ve got
multi-racial communities all over the shop, but you can find
racism anywhere in England.”
Jamie
Please note that Guy Gooberman is a fictional character and therefore only as real as the news he writes
for more painful laughs visit www.lunch-break.co.uk
St Anns Man Thinks
He’s A Jedi Master
Wells Road resident Arthur Biscuits
(pronounced “biscuits”) has the force
in him and he’s sharing it with anyone
who’ll listen. Arthur was so moved
by the final Star Wars movie that he
emerged from the cinema believing
he was a Jedi and has been caught
acting like one in the streets.
“There are incidents in some areas which are shocking,
but the City itself is better than most because there are
so many different communities living and working together
without any segregation.”
Kp
“My friend from Newcastle was amazed at the number
of black and Asian people in Nottingham. This may have
something to do with the idea that the girl had. There are
more non-white British people the further south you go.”
Fossy
“Apart from Bradford, Burnley, Blackburn, Oldham,
Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, all of which have large black
and minority ethnic populations, and are in the North of
England.”
Denz
“I blame the Daily Hate Mail. I know too many otherwise
lovely people who turn into the KKK when discussing race
and all fuelled by this toilet paper of a rag.”
Niffer
WHO’S IN THE HOOD?
“The BBC is going to commission a new series of Robin
Hood on prime-time TV, so who would you pick to play
him? Names being touted include Robert Carlyle, Ralph
Little, Sean Bean and Paul Nicholls...”
Jared
“I wouldn’t mind seeing Ralph Little or Robert Carlyle in a
pair of tights!”
ladie sadie
“As long as it’s not sodding David Tenant.”
BigFatBadger
The old loon waves a branch around
and tries to hit children he thinks
are androids. The man’s neighbour,
Daffers Countryside, said: “His wife
died four months ago but since he’s
seen Star Wars he’s a changed man.
Every night I hear him smashing his
house to pieces, and screaming.”
Biggest Hair Ever
Scrooby near Doncaster is now
the proud home of the man with
the world’s biggest hair ever - and
he’s taken the record off his own
stepfather! Aaron Lardy and his nonblood-relative papa Dandy Assnovic
both have huge hair, inspired by West
Bromwich Albion and Manchester
United midfield warrior Remi Moses.
Aaron beat his father when his hair
achieved the width of a cloud and
the height of two engorged moose.
His proud father said: “It’s a beautiful
thing, hair, and I couldn’t think of
a better lad to take the title off me...
except maybe the Pope”. Both men are
unemployed and list ‘smoking weed’
as their main hobby.
Beer Fiend!
Nottingham is a real hit with foreign
visitors, but one Japanese tourist
literally exploded in the early hours
this weekend on Loughborough Road.
Witnesses said the small Asian man
consumed almost fifty times his body
weight in real ale and lager, becoming
‘totally bloated’ with booze.
The man (who cannot be named
for eagle reasons) refused to stop
drinking, saying: “Me like beer,
bitch,” before growing to the size of
a baby elephant. Cruel bystanders
made him say rude things as he
slowly died from the effects of
excessive fermented crops. He
eventually exploded at around
2am Sunday morning, covering the
watching crowd in his own guts.
The Sad Face Of
Unemployment
A disgruntled Bulwell man called Frank
Back took the new “Maverick Business
Village” hostage in Hempshill Vale,
which had been built on the site of his
former employers: “Hempshill Vale
Cooked Meats” and threatened people
in suits with his fists.
Mr Back was protesting at his job
being taken away by someone called
“Regeneration” and described how
he wanted to “smash his own mouth
in”. The nutter was eventually taken
away with tears streaming down his
face and a broken heart. Economic
development carried on regardless.
“A talking fox. There’s your answer.”
Jamie
“My choices would be Rowan Atkinson (Mr Bean style),
Derek from Big Brother and Gordon Strachan.”
Pete Spectrum
“From ages 7 to 11 I actually was Robin Hood, I would be
prepared to be him again if it helps, but I was banned from
my bow and arrow after almost hitting Carolyn Wilcox from
across the road.”
Ro
“Paddy Considine or Toby Kebbell. Local boys through and
through. Maybe Sam Morton could be Marion and then
we’d have it sorted.”
Fossy
make your voice heard
www.leftlion.co.uk/forum
Government Grants Gone Mad
Some people in Chilwell have just put
a bid together for funding to go out
on the razz like its 1999… but better.
Mike Lemon, Manfred Bender, Carter
Whisk and Linda Fullon have applied
to the government for £78,000 to get
“so drunk that we sick up our livers
and our noses inflate to red baboon
hooters and we lose our minds,
therefore forgetting what empty,
shallow, human beings we are”.
The group believe their efforts will be
a massive boost to the local economy.
A government spokesman, Leslie
Heartfelt said: “These kinds of people
disgust me. Off the record, I’d like to
have them sold into slavery”.
www.leftlion.co.uk/issue6
5
The issues of trade justice, debt
cancellation and better aid for
the worlds less economically
developed countries that
surfaced with last months G8
meeting in Scotland almost
vanished from the mainstream
media a day after they had
begun.
The first day of the actual G8
meeting in Gleneagles on the
6 July was rivalled in media
spotlight by Britain’s victory in
the race to host the 2012 Olympic
games. The second day was
overshadowed by the tragic
bombings in London.
This is understandable, but the
fact that a child dies every three
seconds as a direct result of
poverty, was already becoming
almost ‘old news’. The day after
it was announced that the G8
had decided to take down trade
barriers, cancel the debts and
double aid by 2010, people didn’t
seem to be celebrating. This
may have been partly because of
past broken promises and lack of
hard commitment. It was mainly,
however, because of the shock
of the bombings, so very close
to home, making any celebration
hard to stomach.
Over 300 Nottingham folk arrived
in Edinburgh together for the
official Make Poverty History
gathering. We were joined by
over 200,000 others from many
walks of life. Together we stood
united to make a human white
band around the city centre and
send our statement to those eight
men. The day proved to be a
peaceful promotion of the genuine
concerns of those physically
present, as well as those who
were self descriptively ‘there in
spirit’.
Elsewhere that day the Live8
concerts mobilised many who
would usually not be attracted
by the ‘politics’ of it all and
billions got the message loud
and clear via the filter of popular
music. Over in Edinburgh we had
our own Edu-tainment from the
Scenes from the demostration by protesters who marched to the Gleneagles Hotel on July 6th.
likes of Baaba Maal and a host
of other MPH supporters who
graced the stages set up on the
Hyde Park like meadows where
people could relax before or after
joining the continuous circular
march that passed through the
park and lasted for about 6 hours.
My biggest natural buzz came
when seasoned political activist/
musician Billy Bragg announced
that “if in a years time nothing
had changed, it won’t be the
fault of Bob Geldof, Christian
Forum crew on G8 . . .
Music has always been a great
drum for awareness and change,
that doesn’t change because live
aid was 20 years ago.
Pisces J
Way back in the eighties, the
idea of a charity single and a
huge transatlantic showcase of
all the biggest bands of that time
was new, innovative and rather
marvellous. These days, the kids
aren’t political, nobody gives a
shit.
Skinny Tinni
They could have tried bringing
some African musicians out of
poverty by giving them the publicity only a massive global TV
event can provide.
NJM
Aid, Oxfam or 400 other NGO’s.
It will be the fault of eight men
and we need to send a message
to them. That message is: “We
know where you live.” And no, he
wasn’t joking…
the clarity of the injustice suffered
by the worlds oppressed in the
minds of the uninformed. But that
is exactly what many are doing
and will continue to do if their
legitimate concerns are not heard
through non-violent means.
a just world and are intent on
causing terror for hates sake.
It will also meet the needs of
the millions upon millions in
desperate need of the basic
resources necessary to live a
decent and dignified life.
We need to be sharing the
resources of this planet with
those who have every bit as much
a right to them as any of us. This
will take away any excuses for
the violence of anyone who may
have gone beyond the need for
The Bush administration might
not share this approach but they
are not the most powerful group
on the planet. We, the people, are.
One Love, People get busy.
I’m sure Geldof has good intentions, but I’d like to see all the big
mega-bands that play pay some
kind of ‘projected sales’ fee from
the extra albums they’ll sell after
their worldwide exposure slot.
Likewise with text messaging.
Don’t the phone companies make
money on every text?
The Milkman
like the plot for a Cliff Richard
film.
Lord of The Nish
ing. They will ride out the storm
and when everyone forgets, go
back to business as usual.
Hipster K
It’s been stated clearly that this
one isn’t about raising cash but to
make world leaders realise that
Poverty is Wrong, which sounds
Any political power worth it’s salt
knows this is a temporary boom,
it will soon be at the back of the
queue of political decision-mak-
The problem with issues as
serious as these is that desperate
situations lead to desperate
measures.
“A hungry mob is a angry
mob” as Bob Marley once sang.
Responding with violence to
injustice often serves to distort
Geldof has made huge amounts
of money for people who actually
need it and helped people from
starvation, so it doesn’t matter
that he’s a twat.
Mr Itch
I dig what bob geldof is doing, I’m
just confused as to why they let out
of touch middle aged, middle class
British white men (some of the
most priveliged people on the planet?) choose the bill. Annie Lennox,
Dido, Elton John, Mariah Carey?
These people aren’t relevant are
they? Are status playing as well?
Floydy
6
www.leftlion.co.uk/issue6
DEEP
Roots
Roots Manuva (aka rapper
Rodney Smith) is probably the
highest profile artist in UK
Hiphop history. Ever since he
released the Mercury Music
Prize nominated Run Come Save
Me (and standout single Witness
The Fitness), he’s managed to
appeal to traditional Hiphoppers
and mainstream audiences alike.
That’s not to say he has become
a coffee table act. On his latest
release Awfully Deep, there are
conscious signs of him trying
not to conform, as he continues
to lead us down the entropic,
yet enticing journeys that have
characterised his career.
As a warm-up to Glastonbury, he
brought his band to Nottingham
and sold out the Rescue Rooms
(with less than a week’s notice).
We caught up with him for a chat…
Where did Roots Manuva start
out?
I started rapping when I was
fifteen. I had a mate who was
really into LL Cool J and I was
really into Rakim. He wrote a
rhyme and I wrote one back. It
started out from there.
Did you ever think that Witness
The Fitness would break as big
as it did?
I didn’t have a clue. To me it’s a
very annoying tune, a moronic
boogie, but I think that it’s what
people have made it into that
makes it special, not the harmonic
and rhythmic structures. It’s now
just one of those piss-up tunes. I
think we got lucky with the video
as well…
It is a brilliant video. Was it your
idea?
It was my idea to film some sort
words: Jared Wilson photo: Kevin Lake
of sports day. Without having the
budget to make a super-glossy
video, we ended up just using
what was there to make what we
could. I’ve never since been able
to do a video that has impacted
on people as much as that.
In interviews everybody asks
you about UK Hiphop and what
you think of the scene. Are you
sick of being asked that?
I do get sick of it, but I suppose
that it is a good thing. It’s good
for copy, but it’s something that
can rumple me out of my laid
back messing and get the sweats
going. What is UK Hiphop? There
are so many people across the
country influenced by rap culture.
This is a sport that has existed
before it became TV friendly and
it will exist after.
On Awfully Deep you said “This
could be my last LP”. Do you
seriously think of quitting?
It’s not about quitting out and
out. It’s more the possibility of
stepping down from the chase
of trying to sell more and of my
effort to be a thorn in the side of
the machine. That’s what keeps
me going...
I heard that you tried to get Kate
Bush in for guest vocals…
We try and get her every album. I
think she must be quite bemused
when she gets my records
through the post. Sinead O’
Connor came to see me in Dublin
the other week and so we might
try and get her in sometime.
What’s your favorite of your
own tunes?
My favorite guest track was with
Mr Scruff. As for my own stuff,
there are too many to choose
from.
So you’re not one of those artists
that hates listening to their own
music?
Time allows you to stand back
from it and not listen so close
and so deeply. It’s just now that
I’m enjoying Brand New Second
Hand. My son really likes Awfully
Deep. He’s only two years old
and it’s a total different listening
experience when he’s walking
round mimicking it.
Do you think being a father
has changed your approach to
music?
It made me scared of losing my
edge. It made me want to make
my music even more difficult
to listen to. I’m not here to give
people an easy time. I’m still
trying to tap back into the spirit
of being a fifteen year old. As nice
as having your songs on radio and
having hit records is, it’s about
doing it because you can’t help it.
Do you have any views on
Nottingham’s recent gun
violence?
It’s just hype. Nottingham is
known for the most guns per
square mile or whatever, but
that’s just the nature of news and
it sells papers. There’s a whole
bunch of amazing communal
developments that are going
on in this city, but the tabloids
don’t want to print that. There’s
a community spirit here that
doesn’t exist in certain other
regenerated areas in London and
elsewhere.
Any favourite haunts around
here?
My brother supported Nottingham
Forest way back in the days of
Viv Anderson and Trevor Francis.
It’s been like a little Mecca in
my head, especially with all the
Robin Hood legends. Some of the
music that has come out of here
is quality. People like Joe Buddha
and Tempa. It’s always had a
quality to it. I’ve got Cappo’s Spaz
The World LP. He beats the beat
and is an amazing lyricist!
Anything else you want to say to
LeftLion readers?
In the words of my good friends
Oasis, don’t believe the truth.
Seek your own realness. Don’t
watch too much MTV. No
disrespect to them, but it’s like
you shouldn’t eat too much
McDonalds. You must try and
expand your mind. Read a book,
eat at least one meal a month that
you haven’t tried before. You know
I never used to like couscous. Now
I eat it all the time.
www.rootsmanuva.co.uk
www.leftlion.co.uk/issue6
In the early nineties, when
I was in my teenage years,
I used to watch a TV show
called The Mary Whitehouse
Experience.
Perhaps when you are younger
things just seem funnier, but I
fondly remember the raucous
laughter caused by TMWE being
enough to make me physically
fall off the settee because
lines like “You see that Peter
Beardsley… that’s your girlfriend
that is,” were being uttered for
the first time.
The general TV viewing public
eventually realised, however,
that of the four founders (Rob,
David Baddiel, Steve Punt
and Hugh Dennis) only two
of them were actually funny
(and only one wasn’t destined
to live out the rest of his life
as Frank Skinner’s irritating
football sidekick). After two
BBC TV series’ and a sell-out
gig at Wembley Stadium (still
a record for British comedy
ticket sales), the four decided
to go their separate ways.
So, as the wittiest, most
intelligent and verbose of
the early nineties so-called
‘Rock and Roll comedians’,
Rob Newman did the sensible
thing to preserve his status as
a legend and quit! He chose
instead a more reclusive life
as an author and has since put
out the novels The Fountain
At the Centre of The Universe,
Independence Day and
Apocaypse Ciao.
He also still keeps his finger
in the stand up circuit, but it’s
more politically-driven these
days. We caught up with Rob
for a chat before his recent gig
at Nottingham Castle.
What was your favourite
sketch from the Mary
Whitehouse days?
”There was a sketch I loved
called Let Him Have It, about
the incidents which led to the
hanging of Derek Bentley.
We did the sketch live, gave
parts to the roadies and it was
quiote madcap and music hall
with loads of running about,
shouting, falling over and the
stage littered with props and
debris at the end. It was like
being a kid again.”
You took your stand-up
show ‘From Caliban to the
Taliban’ to America. How
did that go down..?
”I did a US tour last year in
7
twenty-six cities as well as
three gigs in Canada. In some
places, like Austin, Texas I did
pure stand-up. That gig sold
out a 500-seat theatre and
it went very well. I got two
encores and a Professor from
a local University introduced
me with a ten minute talk
about my work. At most
places I did a mix of reading
from my novel ‘The Fountain
At The Centre Of The World’,
some spoken word and some
bits from Caliban Taliban.”
In a previous interview,
when asked about how you
would vote you said “The
self respecting thing to do
is not to vote at all.” Can
you explain what you mean
by that?
Power has been privatised.
The CBI and the corporate
lobby and the financial
markets always get to decide
what the policy is going to be
(big business friendly) and
all the parties are the same.
Change has historically always
come from people outside
parliament doing direct action
and mass organizing. It has
only very exceptionally come
purely from within.
How did you feel about
the ‘Scribbling’ TV
documentary about your
struggles as a writer. I
found it really interesting,
but sensed that it may
have left you feeling quite
exposed and vulnerable…
I’m glad you liked it. I never
saw it myself. I can’t stand
watching myself on telly.
I should have suspected
as much from a man with
no TV in his house. I take
it you have no plans for an
on-screen comeback then?
It’s funny you should say that
as I have a programme on the
history of oil, in development
with Channel 4 right now
(that’s a scoop for LeftLion).
What was the last thing
that made you laugh a lot?
Hmmm… good question. I think
it was either some stray thought
crossing my brain or listening
to Richard Pryor talking about
having a heart attack.
Can you recommend one
book that everybody
should read?
Lovers of fiction will love
Middlesex by Jeffery
Eugenides or To The Wedding
by John Berger. Lovers of fact
might want to take a look at
the Schnews annual (‘Schnews
at Ten’).
Are you a fan of Charles
Bukowski or Hunter S
Thompson?
No, take away the myth and
the legend of the holy drinker
and the writing seems a bit
thin to me. They seldom
recognize the existence of
other human beings apart
from themselves and never
know the first thing bout
any of the places they find
themselves in.
Who’s the best new comic
you’ve seen in the past
year?
Daniel Kitson (well, he was
new to me).
Do you believe in God?
No.
If they asked you, would
you host the next Comic
Relief and how would you
do it?
What book are you reading
at the moment?
The Berthold Brecht play
Caucasian Chalk Circle.
I’d do it by saying you
can only give money to
organizations dedicated to
the overthrow of capitalism (if
you want to end poverty then
you have to, as Robb Johnson
sings, to make the wealthy
history. I’d also make a rule
that no-one is allowed on the
show who has more than £500
in the bank.
Do you and other political
comedians, like Mark
Thomas and Jeremy Hardy,
ever meet up just to hang
out and shoot the breeze?
If so, are there more
arguments or cuddles?
In truth I don’t see much of
them, except for at benefit
gigs these days.
Do you wish you’d been
more politically aware
or active when you
were at the height of
your fame?
”And Catch 22 says if I sing
the truth they won’t make me
an overnight star”
The Specials, Gangsters.
Rob Newman played Just The
Tonic at Nottingham Castle on
27 July 2005.
www.justthetonic.com
8
www.leftlion.co.uk/issue6
words: Paul Klotschkow
Little Barrie are led by Beeston
lad Barrie Cadogan and have
recently released their debut
album, the imaginatively titled
‘We Are Little Barrie’. It was
produced by ex-Orange Juice
man Edwyn Collins, who has
described Barrie as, “the best
guitarist of his generation”.
Edwyn is not the only one
who has been giving the band
accolades. Barrie has recently
been touring with DJ Format
(who was raving about him in
the last issue of this magazine)
and according to the music press
Noel Gallagher is a fan (of Barrie’s
guitars at least). We caught-up
with him for a chat as he was on
his way to rehearsals…
How did the band start out?
I had been in bands before, but
they were mainly instrumentals,
and I wanted to do something
more song based. So I got some
rough demos together and started
to get some interest. Then I met
Wayne and we started jamming
together. We bought a drum kit,
and Wayne learnt how to play
drums, so that we had a drummer.
Then we moved to London to try
and get noticed and that’s where
we met our bass player Lewis.
You played guitar in Morrissey’s
band last year, how did that
come about?
I’m friends with his long-time
guitarist Boz Boorer and when
Alain Whyte got ill, I got a call
to ask if I could step in and play
guitar. This was the Tuesday
and on Friday they were playing
Ireland. I asked how many songs
were in the set, and they told me
twenty. So I had to learn twenty
songs in three days. But the tour
was good, I went to Italy and
spent a lot of time in America.
What’s Morrissey like?
I didn’t really get to know him,
he keeps himself to himself. I
would see him in rehearsals and
soundchecks, but that’s about
it. We did go for a night out in
Copenhagen and he bought
everyone drinks.
Did he get drunk?
No he didn’t. He didn’t stay out
long. He’s a very personal guy.
What was it like making the
video for the single, Long Hair?
It was made by Chris Cairns
who I liked working with. It was
shot in Chris’ house, he has this
big open planned room. He did
the editing as well. It was all
completely finished in a day. Tom
Vek was there too, so we met
him. Yeah, I like Chris. I like his
animations.
Noel Gallagher has been singing
your praises. What is it like to be
rated by someone like him?
Has he really? I didn’t know that.
Well, it’s cool. It’s always good
to know that people like you. I’ve
met Noel a few times actually. I
used to work in a guitar shop and
I sold a few guitars to him.
You’re also good friends with
DJ Format.
Yes that’s right. We have toured
together and we are label
mates. People thought that it
was a bit strange that we were
touring with someone who is
quite Hiphop, but to us it made
sense, as the influences are the
same. The tour was a bit mad
actually, we did 23 dates in 24
days and we were on the same
bus together. We used to jam
on stage together, and we went
down really well, it was good. We
are actually talking with Format
about collaborating together
in the near future. We are also
thinking of doing something with
his emcee Abdominal.
The festival season is upon us,
have you been doing any?
Well, we were due to play
Glastonbury and we were on
the M4 on our way to the festival
when we found out that the
tent we were due to play in had
collapsed. The beer tent next to
it had been struck by lighting.
It’s a shame, because it’s not
on next year. We’re playing a
lot of the small festivals that are
happening around the country.
We’ve just played in Coventry
with bands like The Others and
The Paddingtons. We are playing
a festival in Blackburn next week
and we’ve done a few festivals in
France as well. I’m off to Japan
soon to play the Summer Sonic
Festival and it’ll be good as things
are stating to happen there.
What have the crowds been
like?
They’ve been good generally. In
France we were on really late, but
still got a good turnout. It is really
positive.
What do you think of the
Nottingham music scene at the
moment?
To be honest, I don’t really know
that much about it. It does seem
much more vibrant then when
I was around. That is one of
the reasons we moved down to
London, because there wasn’t
much happening in Nottingham.
Are you still in touch with any
bands here?
I do quite like a band called the
Sound Carriers. I used to be in a
different group with them.
Well, it’s Friday, any plans for
this weekend?
I’m off to a gig tomorrow at the
Koko in Camden. Then the band is
off to Blackburn to play a festival.
Keeping busy…
www.littlebarrie.com
Punish The
Atom
www.leftlion.co.uk/issue6
9
They’ve supported Death From Above 1979, been bigged up by the NME, played the
South by Southwest festival, been on proper radio, and have left music journos with deep
gashes as they scratch their head and try to pin a label on ‘em. Punish The Atom (aka Joey
Bell, Pete Dale, John Cox, Jonny Legender and Cristy Fownston) are currently working on
their second LP, which was reason enough to, er, shoot some questions atom…
words: Sadie Rees Hales photos: Dom Henry
What inspired you to start
a band?
Joey: We saw the Wolves of
Greece do a gig at the Boat
Club a few years ago. We just
looked at each other and knew
we had to do it. But our first
gig (at the Social) was shit.
John: I was working there at
the time and didn’t know what
to think.
Joey: We’d just bash about
on untuned guitars. We
started off playing anywhere,
gradually gaining more
confidence.
You’ve got a sizeable fan
base here now, but what
reaction do you get outside
of Notts?
Joey: We get a good reaction
in Birmingham, as some of
our Nottingham fans have
travelled up there to see
the gigs. We do quite well in
Camden. It’s hard to tour the
country, though, because we
don’t have lots of money. We
could have toured with Radio 4
and Ikara Colt in Europe but it
fell through at the last minute.
What’s it like having Anton
Lockwood as a manager?
It’s obviously helped a lot
in terms of getting gigs
with high-profile bands…
John: Yeah, this is something
that we are a bit paranoid
about. We got a good billing
at the Dot To Dot festival, so
maybe other bands think “Oh
yeah, they would get that.”
Joey: We know we’re very
lucky to have him as a
manager as he’s so wellconnected, but he’s been our
mate for years. We asked him
to be our manager and he said
yes. We really like him as a
manager as well as a friend.
Your drummer left you to join
Amusement Parks On Fire.
Any beef between the bands?
Joey: There is rivalry between
us. However it’s with the
name, not the people. We still
really like Pete as a friend, but
we didn’t want him to leave.
Christy: I love Pete, but I
definitely feel rivalry.
John: We’re lucky to have
Anthony though, as he’s got a
lot of experience…
Anthony: I’ve worked with
Julian Cope, and done lots of
session work. They’re lucky to
have my talents. Yes, I’m very
modest…
Joey: We were so close to
calling it a day after Pete left.
We didn’t know if we could
continue after that, but then
we played at South By South
West in Texas and that, as well
as Anthony joining, gave us a
real kick up the arse.
Has appearing in the NME
increased your fanbase?
John: You’d be surprised,
it doesn’t really makes a
difference in terms of the
amount of people turning
up to gigs. After all of that
we haven’t gained loads of
new fans. Again, it’s down to
money and promotion.
As for Notts, who are you
rating at the moment?
Joey: For a while the music
scene dipped off in Nottingham,
it seemed to go quiet for
a while, but now we have
great bands like The Hellset
Orchestra, who put on an
incredible show, as well as The
Wolves of Greece and You Slut.
Anthony: I run the Mouse
House studios in Sneinton and
get to see lots of local bands
working away there.
Jonny: There are loads of
good acts in Nottingham
considering it isn’t the
biggest city.
What do you feel about
people downloading your
music off the internet?
Anthony: We’ve got no
problem with it. As we can’t
afford lots of promotion, wordof-mouth advertising is good
for our band. So if someone
downloads our music and
likes it, they’d probably pass
it on to someone else. We’re a
small band so we can’t be too
controlling over things
like that. We’re not Led
Zeppelin, yet.
Jonny But we were number
two in the charts on a
Ukraine radio station. We
were between Oasis and The
Bravery. That felt very surreal.
You’ve had some airplay on
British radio too. How does
it feel hearing yourselves?
Christy: We’ve actually
always missed our songs on
the radio! We’ve meant to
listen out for them but it’s just
not happened.
I read somewhere that
you used to play the viola.
True?
Christy: I did, until we
realised that you couldn’t hear
it over the rest of the music.
We were just mucking about,
trying to make music and
realised that it didn’t work. So
I took up the guitar instead.
Your name sounds like a
sadomasochistic physics
experiment. Where did
it come from?
Joey: It came from a line in
The Ninth Configuration by
William Peter Blatty.
Anthony: Playing music is like
S and M, though.
Jonny: We should be wearing
rubber!
www.punishtheatom.com
10
www.leftlion.co.uk/issue6
It was a Sunday evening in
the summer of 1996, or maybe
1997… in fact it might even have
been 1995 but it’s relatively
unimportant. I was skating with a
good friend of mine. As we rolled
past an old English pub (the one
next to The Tales of Robin Hood)
two men stumbled out, covered in
tattoos and sovereign rings both
with shaved heads and bellies
the size of their mums. One of
them looked directly at Ben,
pointed and said in an incoherent
manner: “Why don’t you get a
bleeding job?”
I still remember it vividly today
because it is a brilliant example
of how all the hype, sponsorship
and money haven’t really changed
the fact that skateboarders are
looked down on by most people.
At that time Ben was the editor
for Sidewalk Surfer, regarded as
Britain’s only respectable
skateboarding magazine, which
was available throughout Europe.
Personally I count that as not only
having a job, but also having a
bleeding good one too.
Although international
skateboarding competitions with
huge prize money are broadcast
to millions and skaters like
Tony Hawk’s have even gained
celebrity status, skateboarding
is still perceived as an immature
hobby practiced by kids seeking
an avenue for rebellion. So I
would like to clear a few things
up here; skateboarding is a
healthy sport and a valid art form.
It carries with it a philosophy,
a code of conduct and a strong
mutual respect between its
participants (and it definitely
kept me from getting involved in
less wholesome pursuits). I have
met countless people through
skateboarding, the majority
of whom have been artistic,
intelligent and very amicable and
through their perspectives on
life I have learnt many valuable
lessons. If you think I’m being
sentimental about an activity,
which involves throwing yourself
down steps then you just don’t
get it. One of the great things
about skateboarding is there are
no real winners or losers. There
are just people who get it and
people who don’t.
The greatest thing about the
scene back in those heady
nineties was the solidarity of the
entire skateboarding population.
The market square would be
teeming with skaters ranging
from sponsored pros to little
kids who could hardly make it
up a curb. The skateboarding
community in Nottingham was
an entity that moved through the
city, a dynamic and flowing unit
of energy that could fragment
and regroup as it pleased. This
doesn’t just apply to Nottingham,
you can rock up to any city in the
UK (or the world for that matter)
with your board and instantly
have a massive group of friends,
all keeping an eye out for each
other and united by the love of
the sport.
Skaters perceive the city in a
unique way. We see it as a blank
canvas begging to become a
work of art. We have mentally
composed a highly detailed local
knowledge about dispersed
places, micro-architectures and
accessible times. Walls, benches,
ledges, railings and banks
present an opportunity for not
only tricks but flow. Flow is
about style. It’s about riding
from spot to spot, at high speed,
during rush hour. On a good day,
when the traffic lights work in
your favour, you feel like you’ve
figured out where your place is
in our fucked-up world. This lasts
for a short time, then the feeling
disappears and you’re lost again.
You develop the “skater’s eye”,
constantly on the look out for new
angles or approaches to use what
most people see as an object or
form within the city.
So next time you see a skater
and he doesn’t land a trick, don’t
assume that he’s not very good,
assume instead that he’s trying
to perfect a new stroke with his
brush. If you hear a skater coming
down the street behind you at
high speed don’t change your
path because he has a plan of
how to get around you and if you
step in his way your more likely to
mess up the flow.
Skateboarding
got outlawed in the
city centre in 2001 (thanks
to Nottingham City Council).
More recently, I was amused
when a two day skateboarding
event in the Market Square,
including music, body art and
breakdancing, was cancelled
because they feared that boards
may be used as the primary
means of travel to the event and
upset the precious shoppers.
Well I wonder which genius
Council worker came up with that
groundbreaking revelation..!
The main impact of the law was
that it took away the central
meeting point (the Market
Square) but
was anyone
really surprised? We
used to tear that place apart all
weekend! It is irritating that they
banned it (especially when, as the
first person caught skateboarding
in town after the ban, I had to pay
an £80 fine), but I haven’t got any
time for people who whinge about
it. You can still get away with
skating popular spots especially
on a Sunday night and it should
encourage you to branch out a
little and explore your local area
and hook up with local skaters. Or
you could do what my mate Nick
did and move to Leeds (bit drastic
though).
www.leftlion.co.uk/issue6
www.leftlion.co.uk/issue
11
m
edha
e
N
l
wen
s: A
word David Bo
o:
phot
Just because Forest and Notts are rubbish at the moment, it doesn’t mean Nottingham is a
sporting backwater. There are supposed to be more sporting facilities per head in this city
than anywhere else in Europe. Sadly, there are even more chippies and pubs per head,
which is why there are so many fat bastards in town.
Anyway, let’s put aside the fact that local football stinks like a cat’s arsehole in August
for a moment and remind ourselves that there is more to Nottingham sport than
football. Even though we have the oldest professional club in the world, the world’s
first local derby, and when you think about it, Nottingham is the spiritual home of
professional football and the new national stadium should have been here. As well as
the Olympics.
Consider the facts; If you did some steroids and chucked a stone hard enough from the
middle of Trent Bridge (home of the first-ever five-day test match), you could bounce it off
the roof of the Trent End and land it in the middle of Meadow Lane, the oldest football
ground in the world (even though they ripped everything down and put some grey
corrugated sheeting up). You wouldn’t be able to hit up such a storied triumvirate
of stadia anywhere else in the world. Who cares if the teams who play in them
are crap…?
In this issue, LeftLion pulls on the BO-encrusted rugby shirt that Sir
always make you wear when you forget your Games kit and runs
about town in its pants, having a word with a selection of local
heroes and sports journos in an attempt to see what’s up with
Nottingham sport these days. And then we’ll be
going off for a fag round the back
of the sports hall.
THERE’S ONLY FOUR
TEAMS IN NOTTINGHAM
Nottingham Panthers
Formed: 1946
division,
the most
famous recent
player was Brian
Moore, who played
for the Lions.
Why? Because of the intense late40s mania for ice hockey, sparked by
loads of Canadians based in Notts
during the war and the sudden
availability of the Ice Stadium, after
it had been used as a munitions
dump during said war.
Are they any good? The oldest
and one of the best in the country.
By the 50s, Nottingham was going
absolutely mental for the Panthers
and the team were national
champions two years running. They
probably would have dominated
the 60s, were it not due to the fact
that ice hockey basically died on
its arse due to poor attendances
and teams were breaking up left,
right and centre. By the end of the
70s, the reformed club begged the
Ice Stadium to let them back and
before too long, the semi-pro team
were jamming ‘em in.
What have they ever done for us?
Helped get us a whopping big arena
that hosts the kind of gigs that you
used to have to go to Birmingham
for, as well as virtually every other
indoor winter sport. It is also a
place for gawky youths to try and
cop off with each other on Saturday
afternoons. And brings in crazy
What have they ever done for us? Kept
all the rugger buggers in Beeston.
Torvill and Dean
revenue
one weekend a
year when they host the
national championships and attract
thousands of chunk families in ice
hockey shirts. As soon as the next
Ice Age kicks in, Nottingham will be
hosting a Winter Olympics. Believe.
Nottinghamshire CCC
Formed: 1838
Why? Because, back in the days
when the Meadows was really a
meadow, they found somewhere to
play. William Clarke, the founder of
the club, got shacked up with the
landlady of the TBI just so he could
rope off the field at the back of the
pub and charge money to watch
games. The saucy bleeder.
Formed: 1975
Are they any good? Among the
also-rans, sadly. After their second
county championship in 1929, they
went 52 years without another one.
Had a decent run in the 80s, but have
only recently dragged themselves
out of the second division. Plenty
of individual highlights, though.
Gary Sobers whacking six sixes in
an over against Glamorgan in 1968
being the most famous.
What have they ever done for us? If
it wasn’t for them, Trent Bridge would
only be somewhere to have it off and
sleep under when you’re too pissed
to get home. Yearly test matches
have given our ethnic population a
great opportunity to congregate and
have a laugh as their countrymen
beat the shit out of England.
Nottingham RFC
Formed: 1877
Why? Because a 16 year-old lad
called Alick Birkin spent a bit
of time at Rugby School, where
William Webb Ellis caused a ruckus
when he picked up the ball during a
game of footy and ran with it. When
he came back to Notts, he formed a
club with his mates.
Are they any good? Hmm, well…
Nottingham’s not really a rugger
town, is it? For the first 75 years,
their Beeston ground was regularly
flooded by the Trent and when they
first started up they were barred out
of the local pub and had to change in
the stables. Currently in the second
Why? Because Chris, a 17 yearold copper, and Jayne, an 18
year-old who had already won
the British championship with
Michael Hutchenson (no, not the
one who shagged Kylie and ended
up hanging himself) were simply
meant to be together.
Are they any good? Stop being so
sucky, of course they are. The best,
mate.
What have they ever done for us?
Gave our city some restored civic
pride after Forest went on the wane
in the 80s. Also, whenever people
around the world hear Ravel’s
Bolero, they think of Nottingham.
Instead of Dudley Moore trying to
shag Bo Derek in 10.
12
www.leftlion.co.uk/issue6
Lost In The Forest
Words: James Walker
Danny Taylor has been
a sportswriter for the
Guardian since 1999,
predominantly covering
the (mis)fortunes of
Manchester United and
England. Although Danny
is a devout red he is of the
Nottingham variety and
consequently dreams of
the City Ground instead of
Gold Trafford.
He has recently had a
book published entitled
Deep into the Forest
in which he tracks
down fourteen of his
favourite Forest idols.
Unsurprisingly, no-one
from the current squad
features.
Where the anecdotes of some
of the larger than life players
interviewed could marginalise
a narration, a quick turn
of phrase and beautifully
weighted observations
ensured the author was not
overshadowed, making this
a must have Bible for any
true fan. I caught up with
Sibthorpes’ finest to discuss
life, the universe and the
tricky trees.
Was the book something
you always wanted to do?
I’d had the idea for a few
years and I thought it was a
good time to do it. Nostalgia is
the football fan’s best friend,
particularly when there is fuck
all to celebrate of the present
team.
Were the players
accommodating?
Larry Lloyd and Garry Birtles
were particularly hospitable,
inviting me into their houses.
None of them was awkward,
although John McGovern was
a bit hard to nail down as he
had just released his own book
and Des Walker was distant
and evasive. Trevor Francis
and Archie Gemmill were nice
surprises. For no particular
reason, I’d got it into my mind
that they would be awkward
interviews, but they were
great company.
If you could bring in two
extra players for the book
who would they be?
Martin O’Neill would be the
first, just to prove that I still
love him. A Scottish journalist
mate of mine has told me that
Martin was spitting mad when
he found out I missed him out.
I used to cover Leicester when
Martin was in charge and he
was absolutely top man. But
he’s also the hardest guy
in the world to pin down and it
was a question of him or Larry
Lloyd. Anyone who reads the
book will probably agree that
Lloyd was a great person to
interview. He calls David Platt
a dickhead, for starters.
The second extra chapter
would have to be Peter
Shilton. I missed him out
because I was unwilling
to pay for memories and
unfortunately that’s not the
way he works. Had it been a
book about the best-ever XI I
would have had no choice but
to speak to Shilton and empty
out my bank account but, as it
is, the book features 14 of our
best players. To call it ‘Forest’s
best-ever XI’ etc would have
been a bit egotistical because
who am I decide what their
best team is?
Roy Keane was the only
player not to grant an
interview. Was there ever a
moment when you thought
bollocks to you Keano, I’m
replacing you with Brian
Rice?
Quite a few. It’s certainly
divided people. Some say I
was wrong to include Keane
if he wasn’t going to spare
the time for an interview.
Others agree with me that it
nicely breaks up the book,
and besides I wanted to write
about how he once roadraged me. Keane’s always
interesting, isn’t he?
I hear your girlfriend
Zoe and her parents are
Derby fans, bet Sunday
dinners have been just as
interesting as anything Mr.
Keane could offer up?
Her entire family support
Derby, sisters, brother-in-law,
friends, everyone. I shame
myself. They take the mickey
but they know when to stop
as well. When Derby have
thrashed us over the last two
seasons and when Forest
were relegated they kept a
diplomatic silence. It was as if
it never
happened. Me? When Preston
beat them in the play-offs I
was hammering my mobile. I
was hysterical.
Do you see a similar
rivalry with the ‘pies?
Is there such a thing?
Notts County are a club for
pensioners and small children.
I never think of them. Forest’s
rivals are Derby, Spurs,
Liverpool and sometimes
Leicester. Oh, and Chesterfield
this season.
Nottingham is unrivalled
as the media’s favourite
scapegoat. How do you find
the city?
Top place. So many memories.
Can’t believe what I keep
reading about the crime etc.
I’ve got mates in Manchester
who think a night out in
Nottingham is too dangerous,
and I just think that’s
ridiculous.
Concerning the current
team, do you see anyone
evoking similar passionsin
you as Gary Birtles (who
you describe as ‘the type
of guy who would have
You’ve Lost That Loving
Feeling as his ringtone’?)
Kris Commons, allegedly. We’ll
see when another club tries to
sign him. Maybe Wes Morgan
if he stays a few years.
I keep having dreams
about winning the league
and the LDV. Am I an idiot?
No. It’s just part of the
mourning process.
What are Forest’s hopes for
the new season then?
To keep their incredible fans
and to win promotion.
Would you consider writing
a follow up entitled ‘Down
in the Forest’ a quest to
find the worst fourteen
players of all time. If so, do
you think this would take
more or less consideration?
With David Platt and Joe
Kinnear as joint managers,
perhaps? It’s a good idea,
but I doubt the players would
want to be interviewed... and
I don’t have a number for
Silenzi.
DEEP INTO THE FOREST by
Daniel Taylor is priced £9.95
at all good bookshops now
Contact:
www.parrswoodpress.com
www.jameskwalker.co.uk
www.leftlion.co.uk/issue6
13
Midfield General
words: Jared Wilson photo: Kevin Lake
Dave McVay was a midfielder for
Notts County in a different era
from today. In the seventies, he
trained all week, went for a pint
after work and did a milk round in
his spare time. After retirement,
he embarked on a career as
a reporter and has moved
from covering football for the
Nottingham Post to The Times.
Five years ago he was going
through some old diaries and
sent them to a publisher. The
result was Steak Diana Ross, the
story of a ‘football nobody’. As
a document of the era the book
stands out not only for its humour,
but also for it’s gritty and loveable
honesty. We caught up with him
to talk local managers and ‘sexy’
football…
How much rewriting was there
with Steak Diana Ross from your
original diaries?
There was quite a lot of touching
up, but there was no real need
to embellish. Some of the things
I wrote about sparked a lot of
memories. I was eighteen and
writing about self-indulgent
issues such as my personal
lovelife that I just had to leave out
and move on from.
I hear there might be a screen
version of it one day…
I talked to Billy Ivory recently
and he’s been asked about it
by an up-and-coming director
who bought it in a bookstore on
Canning Circus and asked his
agents to buy the film rights. I’m
not living in Barbados, so they
haven’t come through just yet, but
it’s an ongoing project.
It was extremely easy if you were
in the right clubs with the right
company. There was a 99 club at
Trent Bridge, which was the big
pulling palace. As it got towards
2am and the witching hour
approached there was a pincer
movement from the women. They
were a reliable bunch.
Who do you want playing you..?
Haha! It’s got to be Brad Pitt… for
my own part I just want to do an
Alfred Hitchcock and get a walkon part. Maybe I can be the bloke
at the back of the bus saying
“McVay, you’re bloody rubbish!”
What was the relationship
between the players and the
local media like? How did it
compare to the Forest team
getting hammered last season
for drinking in town a few
nights before a big game?
The only time I remember us
getting any bad press at all was
when Rachid Harkouk and a
couple of others were in a club
and splashed a soda siphon all
over. It became a story because
Notts were struggling at the
time. The following week Ronnie
Fenton got the sack and Jimmy
Sirrel returned from Sheffield.
Fortunately I was on loan to
Torquay at the time. That was the
only time that sort of publicity
ever came out. I suppose County
weren’t really a ‘sexy’ club.
Do you feel you were born at
the wrong time as a footballer in
terms of the financial rewards?
When I see people like Robbie
Savage running around and
earning thousands it does make
you wonder. Sitting on the
other side of the fence though,
the players don’t have the
involvement in the community
that we had. My diaries are laced
with characters from both sides
of the pitch because you had
experience of actually meeting
the people who paid your wages.
I’m rich in memories.
How easy was it to pull women
in the seventies as a County
player on a night out?
Do you think they ever have
been?
Unfortunately not. With Jimmy
and Jack Dunnett there it could
never have been sexy. Howard
Wilkinson wasn’t exactly Mr
Charisma, but he did a great
job. When Neil Warnock was
there he hyped it all up a bit and
tried to broaden the image, but
since I was a kid the club has
always been in the shadow of
Forest. Notts’ generation of fans
went with the demolition of the
Meadows and I don’t think they
have ever really recovered from it.
What do you think it is that
makes a Notts fan a Notts fan?
I think people are born and bred
as Notts supporters. There is
animosity towards Forest, but not
like in certain cities where it’s life
or death.
Any thoughts on new Notts
manager Gudjon Thordarson?
He’s got a good track record. He
had a good spell at Stoke and
was unlucky to get the boot from
Barnsley. I just hope he brings in
a few players who can get them
promotion.
In five years time who will
be the dominant club in
Nottinghamshire?
I’d have to say Forest have more
potential because of their crowd
base. In my days County were
the dominant club. We regularly
beat Forest and regularly finished
above them in the league. As a
player that was a great feeling!
Do you think we don’t make
enough of the fact that
Nottingham is the home of
professional football?
I remember when Albert Scardino
took over at Notts and got quite
a lot of mileage in the press. He
was misguided in many ways, but
he did plan to exploit the history.
The problem is that you can only
sell that line so often before it
loses meaning. Locally everybody
knows it and familiarity breeds
contempt.
There’s talk at the moment of a
statue for Brian Clough. What
about one of Jimmy Sirrell?
I think he is one of the great
unsung heroes of local football.
He didn’t have the wit or wisdom
of Cloughie, but he’s got a stand
named after him at Meadow
Lane. If they were to do a small
statuette of him somewhere in the
ground it would be quite fitting,
but it should be covered over
during the daytime and anyone of
a nervous disposition should be
warned beforehand.
www.parrswoodpress.com
14
www.leftlion.co.uk/issue6
www.leftlion.co.uk/issue6
HARD AS Froch!
I never was particularly one for fighting at
school, but since back in those days I can
remember enjoying watching a good boxing
match. Right from the days of Eubank and Benn’s
titanic battles on ITV, it made amazing viewing
to see two athletes pummel each other until one
eventually falls. Brutal, but appealing in the most
base sort of way.
Carl Froch is the best boxer that Nottingham has
produced in some time. Now undefeated in sixteen
fights, having won twelve of them by knockout,
he currently holds the British and Commonwealth
titles. At the age of 27 he appears unphased by the
temptations of drugs and crime that have hindered
the careers of other recent talented boxers from the
city.
I met up with Carl at his family pub in Carlton, just
before he had begun training for his recent fight
at the Ice Arena against Matthew Barney. He told
me there and then that he was going to destroy his
opponent and when I went to watch him a month
later he proceeded to do so, despite breaking his
hand in the fifth round.
When did you first realize that you wanted to be
a professional boxer?
Well, my dad was a boxer. He boxed at a borstal
and when I was young he had a bag hanging up
in the garage. I went down to my local amateur
boxing club when I was ten. (the Phoenix ABC in
Gedling) and that was when I first started training
properly. I had my first fight at the age of eleven,
which is the youngest that they allow. You can’t
really hurt each other that much at that age, you’re
landing shots, but they don’t really pack a punch.
I take it that you got the nickname ‘The Cobra’,
because of the way that you fight…
Yeah. I usually stun my opponents with a venomous
attack and then strike. It’s a pretty good phrase for
PR too, with the alliteration of ‘Carl’ and ‘Cobra’.
Which of your fights so far has given you the
most satisfaction?
Probably the points win with King Charles Adamu.
He was a real tough strong Ghanaian veteran,
who had been to the Olympics and is like a king
in his home country, with his head on stamps and
everything. It seemed at times during the fight that
I just couldn’t hurt him and I was taking a lot of
shots myself. It was my first twelve round fight and
I was fighting for the Commonwealth title. It was
an honourable fight throughout and for me to come
out victorious at the end was very satisfying. He’d
never been put down before and I took him down
in the eighth. For me that is much more satisfying
than a first round knockout. I’ve got a lot of respect
for him as a boxer.
So what do you do to recover after a fight. Do you
just lie in bed for a few weeks?
After that fight I couldn’t move for a fortnight,
literally. I couldn’t clench my fists or anything. My
back and my neck were sore and it felt like I had
been in a car crash. Usually you need a week or
two off just chilling out and relaxing. In that time I
just do things I want to, like going on holiday. Then
after a couple of weeks you start to get back onto it.
It’s nothing too harsh or intensive though, until you
get the date through for the next fight that is…
So what’s your training schedule like before a big
fight?
I do four to five runs per week which vary in
length up to about six miles. I don’t struggle with
my weight, unlike a lot of boxers, which is a big
advantage in the weeks building up to a fight. It
means that I don’t have to do long runs, but instead
I make them quite intense. Nottingham is built on
mountains and there are a lot of hills (like Donkey
Hill), so I do eight or ten runs up and down them
each day. It is really intensive. About ten minutes in
you always want to stop, but you just have to keep
going. It’s a test of mental strength, not just fitness.
I understand that you have a problem finding
suitable sparring partners?
There’s definitely a problem getting them in
England. There’s only two people in the country
that I can get in to spar these days and they’re not
always available. Usually I don’t keep them for very
long. Sometimes they don’t even come back for the
money.
I know you have a burning passion to box on
terrestrial TV...
My second to last fight was televised in America,
words: Jared Wilson photos: David Bowen
but not here. We showed it in our family pub and
had a lot of locals turn out, but I want people to see
me when I fight and there are so many that haven’t.
I’d love boxing to get back where it belongs. The
BBC really fucked it up a few years ago when they
gave Audley Harrison £1million for ten fights. Noone was interested in watching him knock a pub
doorman out. He was fighting people who didn’t
have a chance and that’s why no-one knows or
cares about him anymore.
If you look back at when Chris Eubank and Nigel
Benn were both massive it was because they were
on national TV. Ricky Hatton and Joe Calzaghe
have had a lot of press recently, but in terms of
boxing champions they’re still unknown to most
of the British public. Boxing fans know who they
are, but not your next door neighbour. But ITV are
getting back into the sport. They showed my fight
and they showed the Amir Khan fight and hopefully
the great days are about to return.
You’ve also been baiting Joe Calzaghe, the world
super-middleweight boxing Champion, on live
TV…
He’s been carefully sidestepping me. I called it
on with him in front of six million viewers, which
is maybe a little out of order, but if it gets him up
and into the ring then I’m happy. The problem with
British boxing at the moment is that not enough
British fighters want to fight each other. They
want to walk into each fight 100% guaranteed to
win because the guy they are fighting isn’t good
enough.
I’d like to take on Joe Calzaghe. He’s strong fit and
dedicated, a real warrior. I’ve actually got quite a
lot of respect for him after watching him box right
from when I was a kid, but I’d slag him off to get
him onto the ring. I know that a fight with him
won’t be easy, but I’d be prepared to train harder
than ever to beat him.
Why do you think he’s not up for it. Is it a money
thing?
Well, he’s been hanging around for nine years with
the word title and beaten Chris Eubank and Henry
Wharton in two great fights, but apart from that,
it’s been a while since he’s fought anyone decent.
His last match wasn’t exactly a big pay day, but
he’s been in America and looking for a couple of
million before he retires. If he fights me and gets
beat then there isn’t really anywhere else to go. I
can’t blame him for what he’s doing, but he can’t
say that he’s not afraid to get into the ring with me,
otherwise he’d just do it.
You’ve been accused by some of being
overconfident.
People can say that I’m overconfident, but I’m
undefeated. The thing is that I know these guys
are tough, but with the training that I do and the
preparation that I put in for every fight, it means
that I can confidently sit here and tell you that I’m
capable of taking them out. I’ve got a natural talent
for this game. As an amateur I won the national
title three years running when I was just messing
around in my spare time and not really keeping a
real boxing regime at all. The training itself would
take an average person so far, but with the talent
I’ve got as well I’m a sure thing!
Where do you go on a night out in Nottingham?
I don’t spend much time in bars or clubs, but I like
going out to eat a lot. If you can’t go out and get
tanked up with everyone else, which is what it’s
all about really, then it kind of defeats the point
of it all. Don’t get me wrong, going out drinking
is tempting, but I can live that life later on. At the
moment I’ve got an important job on and I just
want to be the best at it and to do what I do well
involves cutting out the vices in life like drinking
and smoking and being up at all hours.
Your training sessions in London sound pretty
hardcore…
It’s like a training camp. I’m up at six running
and in bed by ten o’clock. I’ll have a big bowl of
porridge and banana and honey. No caffeine at all,
I’m on mint tea. That’s Monday to Friday for six
weeks and I come back home for the weekends.
I read a previous interview where you gave a
slating to other British sportsmen like David
Beckham and Tim Henman…
The way I look at it is that pound for pound and
sport for sport I’m better at boxing than Beckham
is at football. He’s great at corners and free kicks
and passing, but he can’t tackle and is not an allround talent. I was really trying to get the papers to
take note of boxing and say ‘look we’ve got a talent
here, someone who is going to dominate on a world
level’. As soon as I unify the world titles everybody
will be onto me like a rash. I just want to get them
on board early…
15
Other Nottingham Boxers
Jason and Nicky Booth
Bantamweight and flyweight double hard boxing
brothers from the city. Jason is IBO Super Flyweight Champion and has a fine record as a boxer.
Former British Bantamweight Champion Nicky
was jailed for two years in March 2004 for house
burglary and theft after he lost his title.
Kirkland Laing
Born in Jamaica, but resident of Nottingham,
Kikland Laing won the British Welterweight title
in 1979 and again in 1987, before going on to win
the European belt in 1990. Most people know him
for his win over Roberto Duran in 1982, which was
the upset of the year. After he retired he hit upon a
downward spiral of drug addition.
Bendigo
Grew up in a nineteenth century Nottingham
Workhouse and became the era’s equivalent of
Muhammad Ali. In February 1839 he beat the fearsome Deaf James Burke in a fight for the all-England championship. After that he kept the title for
over a decade. His last fight was on the 5th June
1850, against Tom Paddock, which he won in the
49th(!?!) round. During his later years he became
a Preacher and would address his congregation
with: “See them belts, I used to fight for those. But
now I fight for Christ.”
16
www.leftlion.co.uk/issue5
Out&About
BARS/GYMS/RESTAURANTS/SHOPS
In what is by now a regular feature, LeftLion whips out the credit card and wallows
in the retail wonderland that is Nottingham. Our correspondent, looking nervously
at the unopened creditcard bill on the mantlepiece, is Cristina Chapman.
RESTAURANT: SALTWATER
GYM: DAVID LLOYD
Where do you go in Nottingham
on a hot day if you don’t have
your own pool? Well after they closed
the lidos down (admittedly quite a few
years ago now) you don’t have much
choice.
So what you need is a brother with
a corporate membership to one of
Nottingham’s most bourgeois gyms.
Sunny summer days lying by the pool
at David Lloyds is where it’s at. That
alone is reason enough to join. Not so
welcoming in the spring, it just makes
you run really, really fast back inside, it’s
a real treat as the temperatures rise. It’s
just like being in the Algarve. No really.
Aside from the pool, David Lloyd
offers the complete mix of sports.
Badminton, squash, tennis (outdoor and
indoor), classes, gym equipment, the
lot and there are personal trainers for
everything.
All this, combined with the family
oriented facilities (creche, area with
plastic balls, kids menus in the
restaurant), makes David Lloyd very
much like a posh leisure centre. It figures
then, that the two Nottingham ones are
in the suburbs…
David Lloyd Leisure
Aspley Lane
NG8 5AR
David Lloyd Leisure – West Bridgford
Rugby Road
NG2 7HX
Saltwater cocktails are
always a well-earned prize
for fighting through the layers of Chav
Cake (that’s the Cornerhouse if you are
wondering).
A meal then, at World Service’s little
sister, is the sign of a truly special
occasion. Or maybe it’s just a sign that
your overdraft has been reduced to
nought after pay day.
The service matches the views from
its fab rooftop terrace. It is so very
European to be in a restaurant where the
waiters and waitresses look like they are
enjoying their job. A place where they
know that a smile, swift responses and
unobtrusive attendance makes eating
out a much more enjoyable experience.
The food isn’t half bad either. We tried
the mussels in a scrumptious bath of Thai
chilli and coconut and the soup of the
day. We followed this range of goodies
with salmon on a bed of sweet potato
mash and steak with pomme frites (that’s
French fries to you and us). Everything
hit the right note, except for the chips.
Anaemic and emaciated, they were the
impoverished relations of the meal.
There was also a good selection of
wine by the glass. Normally we’d go for
the bottle, but when your menu choices
don’t match it’s nice to know that you
don’t have to resort to the optics.
Although there may be an altitude
tax on cocktails, this rooftop bar and
restaurant is one of our favourites
and it provides just the right mix of
lively atmosphere, intriguing tastes,
professional service and realistic prices.
Saltwater
The Cornerhouse
Forman Street
NG1 4AA
0115 9242664
BAR: BAR NONE
If you want to dance all
night to the sounds of the
happy days of the nineties,
the funky nights of the
seventies or the Motown phase of the
sixties, this is where to head.
The DJs at Bar None are skill, so there’s
never an empty dance floor (unless you
count 8pm, when it’s more of a chilled
place to chat than fully-charged for a big
night out.)
But that’s the beauty of Bar None.
Whatever time you go, the atmosphere
seems to suit your mood and it’s one of
the friendliest and most unpretentious
places left in Nottingham.
We put that down to its location. Out
the way of the usual Living Room, Brass
Monkey, Pitcher and Piano haul or the
Eleven, Lloyds, Coco Lounge row, you
have to venture downstairs to soak in the
Bar None atmosphere. This is the original
basement bar of Hockley. It seems to
have kept those relaxed, “we’re here to
let you have fun” roots.
Bar None is up there in the Nottingham
venue hall of fame with The Social and
Malt Cross. They made an impression
and they’re here to stay.
If you haven’t been down yet, test the
GALLERY: WEST END STUDIO
water on a Sunday afternoon, when
the place becomes a much more chilled
out affair and resembles a Parisian Left
Bank café for bohemians poets, artists
and writers, with its bistro tables, comfy
sofas, leisurely feel, cool tunes and lunch
menu.
Then pop by on a Friday night when
you’re fed up of the Ted Baker crowds
and just want to get sweaty.
Bar None,
19 Stoney Street
Lace Market
Nottingham
0115 9417072
Fancy commissioning a
bespoke work of art for your living
room? Lacking the proper funds to do
it? Fear not, help is at hand…
Hidden away in the West End Arcade
just off Angel Row is the West End
Studio. In run down old shopping centre
with several cool underground shops
around it, Liam Sheppard has set up a
unique little studio. This is a place where
for the price of a decent meal, you can
commission your own unique work of art
and feel like a lord of the manor as it is
unveiled in front of your very eyes.
Get a 10x10” piece for just £25 or a
16x20” for £60. If you’re feeling really
flush you could go for the three foot long
piece for £200 or even get a set of three.
Liam will sometimes paint a small one
there for you there and then. Or you can
give him a general theme and come back
a day or so later.
We thought we’d put Liam to the test
and asked him to do us a piece based
upon the lions in the old market square
for the LeftLion office. The result (above)
we’re sure you will agree is a unique
way to brighten up your home or office.
Well done chap!
West End Studio
12-14 West End Arcade
Chapel Bar
NG1 6JP
07939 232949
www.leftlion.co.uk/issue5
Notts Going ON
Mm Deli
Heading north out of the city? Then you
have to stop at Sherwood’s emerald, Mmm
Deli. This is a place where non-carnivorous
are made welcome, a place where you
can buy the best fresh produce and some
unusual non-meaty delicacies.
bread ruled out my goats cheese and
pepper ensemble. But the sheer array of
other goodies soon put paid to that. What
to choose, what to choose? In blind panic,
a Parma ham, mozzarella and vegetable
toasted panini was on order and so was
perhaps not the best of choices. The ham
was far too salty and spoiled the sandwich,
which should have been a much more
mellow taste experience. Our second choice,
was fantastic though and involved lashings
of rocket, goats cheese and peppers. I was
stricken with food envy, not helped by my
Innocent raspberry, banana and pineapple
smoothie being off. It’s not surprising given
the heat wave and there were no quibbles
and big apologies from the staff. So the
service gets a thumbs up from us.
On the lunch menu are dozens of different
bread and baguette combos, toasted
cheeses and invigorating coffees. They also
stock a great range of homemade jams and
lemon curds. There are even high stools
and side tables where you can sit and
watch Sherwood go by.
With the added guarantee of unusual but
tasty food items which you can pick up to
wow your spouse (insect lollipops, 22 carat
gold chocolate, ‘Pain is good’ chilli sauce
etc) then this place is a must stop.
Mmm Deli, 610 Mansfield Road, NG5 2FS.
01159 101601. www.mmdeli.co.uk
Atlas
Sunday brunch (I use the term loosely,
it was about 2pm) started with
disappointment after an absence of walnut
The cappuccino was the usual too weak,
too milky UK interpretation, but we won’t
hold this against Atlas because of the
quality of its cakes. They were delicious.
The almond and raspberry tart made up for
the previous disappointments, as did the
range of deli delights they have on sale.
Italian chocolates, cakes, pastas,
oils, French sweets, and a few other
nationalities’ gastronomic specialities to
boot. Well, it is called Atlas. Just make sure
you don’t walk out with the whole world on
your shoulders. It’s just too much to carry.
Notts Landing #3:
Mill Lakes Country Park
I found this place after I took up long
distance running. Behind the City Hospital
you can take a footpath that follows the
route of an old railway line parallel to
Hucknall Road. This runs for about 3 miles
and, despite being covered by dumped
rubbish, it’s a nice route which takes
you past the Bestwood Estate - although
the right-wing press know this as the
‘infamous no-go area of Bestwood’, I’ve
never had any more trouble than a group of
kids shouting ‘Run, Forrest, Run’ (about 100
times.)
As you reach the end of this path, you
are confronted with a sign pointing right
into Bestwood Park and left to Mill Lakes.
For my first year of running, I never knew
what lay to the left (Mill Lakes is off the
top of the Nottingham A-Z Map) but when
I decided to try it I went back every week.
Reaching the park is my reward for a long
run so it inspires me to keep going.
Adrian Bhagat
What you will find there is an old mill
lake (funnily enough) with reed beds
surrounded by grassy areas and lots of
water fowl - though no trace of the actual
mill building. There is a path around the
lake which is about a mile long and the
whole place is really tranquil - except
for disputing ducks and the occasional
passing Robin Hood Line train. This isn’t
Nature in the raw, it is Nature at its most
civilized... but it is an idyllic setting. I’ve
never seen more than about a dozen people
in the park at a time, although it lies on the
route of the National Cycle Network most
visitors seem to be local residents giving
their dogs, kids or grannies an airing. The
existence of Mill Lakes is a testament to
our successful Green Belt policy. It lies on
the well-defined border between city and
countryside. Why not discover the park for
yourselves? (just not on Sunday mornings
when I want to be there alone).
17
COMING TO A CITY CENTRE NEAR YOU...
Atlas Delicatessen, 9 Pelham Street, NG1
2EH. 0115 950 1295
Café Nero
Bravissimo
A festival of knickers and bras. That’s what
this is. And you’ll love it. Unless you’re a
boy, it seems from the conspicuous lone
males twiddling their thumbs on Pelham
Street all trying to look purposeful.
Nottingham has been a bit on the mean
side as far as bra shops are concerned. I
should know. After several unsuccessful
trips into town trying to find a suitable
hammock for my sleepy mammaries, I
seriously contemplated opening a decent
lingerie shop myself. Most of the grumpy,
fumbling shop assistants I encountered
couldn’t tell a floppy beach hat from a
double D Playtex, let alone give you a
realistic fitting. Cross my heart. So I’d
trudge home, flick through my Bravissimo
catalogue and wish that there were a shop
in Nottingham.
And just like that my fairy godmother
appeared. Now, big and small girls alike
can browse through the cornucopia of lace,
ribbons, gingham and pastels knowing
that whenever they stop and stare, they’ll
find the size that fits their fair bosom.
If you’re bulging out in all the wrong places
and your boobs are closer to your naval
than your shoulders, you’ve got the wrong
size and a bad bra. Get yourself a fitting
appointment from the very glam specialist
department upstairs. After all, while we
are getting older, they will be getting lower
or flatter. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Boycotted Starbucks and fed up of fighting
to get into the Bridlesmith Gate branch?
Well now you can get your Nero coffee,
biscuits and sarnies and get a seat.
On the corner of the Market Square, this
is a prime spot to catch drifting friends,
looking for a place to sit and chat. And
Neros produces some of the better coffee
in town.
The window displays of the Swim and
Dancewear shop will be sorely missed by
the Out and About team, but we have to
say that entering Neros is a lot less scary
than entering its predecessor.
We can see how rows and rows of spandex,
glitter and fluorescent bikini separates
might be useful to the up and coming
modern dance diva, but really, wouldn’t
you prefer a piece of carrot cake?
Cafe Nero, 19 Bridlesmith Gate, NG1 2GR.
0115 9500911. www.cafenero.com
Bravissimo, 11 Pelham Street,
Nottingham, NG1 2EH . 0845 4081910.
www.bravissimo.com
There’s a place in every city where you just want to be.
Whether you want to people-watch or think about the good
times, everyone’s place is different. Each issue, a member
of the LeftLion crew explains the spot they like best…
18
www.leftlion.co.uk/issue6
featured listing
clubs/theatre/live music/comedy/exhibitions
Nottingham
Voices
things people have said
on the leftlion forum
TIPS FOR COOLING DOWN
IN THE SUMMER HEAT
“Eat less salt and fried food; you’ll have less body mass to
cool down”
floydy
“Straight in a cold shower after a run after work.”
Ollie K
“Put one hand (up to the wrist) in a jug of icy cold water.
Cools down the blood, works a treat.”
NJM
“Strip naked and get your missus to fan your body and feed
you chilled peeled grapes! Works for me.”
Barnze
“Drive with the windows down (or the roof, depending on
how flash you are).”
Fossy
“Not masturbating.”
Polish Count
“During the heat wave, I lay naked in a bath of frozen
veg.”
Jude
THREE WAYS TO IMPROVE
NOTTINGHAM
“1) A new tramp. 2) A new Aldi. 3) Change ‘Hockley
Village’ back to just plain old ‘Hockley’.
Theninja
“1) A beach. 2) A cage in the Market Square where twats
can fight without bothering everyone else. 3) A better
police force.”
Lord of the Nish
“1) Thunderdome! 2) “Bust a deal and face the wheel” 3)
a network of under-city mines run by a Big Dude with a
Little Dude on his back. Big Dude has the muscles, Little
Dude has the brain. They run Nott-ing-ham.”
Themilkman
“1) Better media coverage. 2) Police force who could give
two shits about anything. 3) Fewer chain stores, more
small independent ones.”
morgan griffin
“1) Weekly French market. 2) A decent footwear shop! 3) A
Chairman with some balls at Forest - Booooo!”
Skinny
“1) A big bulldozer. 2) Halving bus fares. 3) Shoot-to-kill
policy against chavs.”
Adrian
“1) Stop digging up all the roads at once. 2) Destroy
Clumber Street and the crossing in front of Vic Centre. 3)
Reinstate the old landlord at The Fox in Sneinton.”
BigFatBadger
“1) Being by the sea. 2) A Jazz Club. 3) Cannabis coffee
shops.”
Baron of Carlton
make your voice heard
www.leftlion.co.uk/forum
Over the last four years Pete Jordan has built Spectrum,
from being a small Notts club night into the best breaks
event in the world. Along the way it has also taken him
on tour from Croatia to Glastonbury, not to mention
putting him in touch with some of the best DJ’s in the
business. We caught up with him to find out more…
How and when did Spectrum
start out?
Spectrum was first held in
February 2001 at Beatroot.
It was my intention to create
a night where I could play all
the music I liked (breakbeat,
hiphop and funk) and develop
a crowd that would appreciate
it. We had Aston Harvey from
the Freestylers play and to our
amazement over 500 people
came. We had a crazy year there
before moving to The Bomb and
then Stealth since May 2004.
What were you doing before you
started the night?
I had moved up to Nottingham
and was working for Big
Daddy Magazine, which is still
undeniably one of the best music
magazines ever to have been
published! I worked part time at
Big Daddy until the summer of
2003 before going full time with
Spectrum.
What are your personal
favourites of all the events
you’ve put on?
Too many to mention really.
There have been classic nights
at every venue we’ve been at,
and it always seems as though
there have been very few
dud nights. The two festivals
(Specfest and Respecfest) meant
a lot musically to me, but to be
fair it would be unfair to single
out one particular event.
I understand you had John Peel
lined-up for a DJ set, before his
sad death last year…
That is true, something that
I was looking forward to
immensely. It felt like losing a
member of my own family when
I heard of his passing, radio will
never be the same again!
What was it like DJing at
Glastonbury 2004?
Glastonbury was a lot of fun.
About five minutes into my set,
the crowd picked up and we
went from 4 or 5 hippies rolling
on the floor with cans of special
brew, to a few hundred people
dancing. It was amazing how
many people from Nottingham
went to Glastonbury that year, it
felt almost like a Spectrum night
in a big tent in the middle of
Somerset.
You keep winning awards for
being the best Breaks night in
the world…
Well it does come down to public
voting to win the International
Breakbeat Awards which we
have now won for the last three
years. Perhaps the best way
to justify the awards is by the
number of DJs and live acts who
have voted for us and the list
is pretty long and prestigious.
For artists who play at nights
all over the world to vote for us
gives me a real indication that
what we have in Nottingham is
significant.
You seem to have some good
fun with your flyers. Who comes
up with the ideas for them?
I’ve been collecting flyers since
1990 and have tens of thousands
in my collection. Sometimes I
think clubbing is taken far too
seriously and for that reason I
find flyers a great outlet for a
bit of satire and humour. The
man behind the design is my
old housemate Simon Dunn
(Seismik). By combining our
warped sense of humour and his
design skill, we have come up
with some good work.
If you could get any musical
artist in the world at one of your
nights who would it be?
Bob Marley (RIP), Gorillaz,
Gangstarr, De La Soul, Beastie
Boys, Gil Scott Heron, The
Pharcyde, The Bangles, The
Beach Boys or James Brown.
The one thing that would top
all of that off would be to have
Jeff Wayne perform War of the
Worlds live with the full London
Philharmonic Orchestra and the
original cast including Richard
Burton and David Essex. That
would be worth watching!
What’s the best thing about
clubbing in Nottingham?
Clichéd as it may sound, but
it really is the people. Lots of
friendly people who actually
want to enjoy themselves to
the range of diverse music
that thrives in the city. Trust
me when I say that what
Nottingham has is envied by
many other cities around the
UK, and we should not take that
for granted.
www.spectrum48k.com
listings...
clubs/live music/comedy/exhibitions/theatre
sat 20/08
Period of August / September
Club Nights
thu 04/08
Liquid Funkt
Style: Drum and Bass
Venue: Image Bar
Price: Free
Times: 7pm - 11pm
Random Guy, Rema D, Timmy Hands
Rah, Weazal Man, Groove Distortion
The Wake
Venue: Fudge
Price: Free
Times: 8pm - 1am
Old school Goth, deathrock and
Alternative Night with DJ’s Mavis Cruet,
DJ Foxt & Cavey Nik
thu 25/08
Funktion
Style: Drum and Bass
Venue: Synergy
Price: Free
Times: 8.30pm - 1am
Random Guy, Rema D, Timmy Hands
Rah, Weazal Man, Groove Distortion
Highness Soundsystem
Style: Reggae, Dub
Venue: BluePrint
Price: £5
Times: 10pm - late
fri 26/08
fri 05/08
Basement Boogaloo
Venue: Bar None
Price: Free
Times: 10pm - 2am
With Rob Bright (Bugged Out)
plus Nick Shaw & Ed Cotton
Spam
Style:
Venue:
Price:
Times:
Soul, Pop
Junktion 7
Free
9pm - 1am
sun 28/08
Spectrum
Style: Breaks
Venue: Stealth
Price: £7 adv
Times: 10pm - 3.30am
Tayo (Mob Recs), Pete Jordan,
Hexadecimal, Lounge Core: Dave
Boultbee
sat 06/08
Pure Filth
Style: Techno, DnB, Deep House
Venue: BluePrint
Price: £6
Times: 10pm - late
Mark Hawkins , Filth Residents
Agent Smith & Suspect-1, Planar & Fijjitt
Paul Murphy, Ed Cotton
thu 11/08
Funktion
Style: Drum and Bass
Venue: Synergy
Price: Free
Times: 8.30pm - 1am
Random Guy, Rema D, Timmy Hands
Rah, Weazal Man, Groove Distortion
sat 13/08
Psycle
Style: Trance, Breaks
Venue: BluePrint
Price: £5
Times: 10pm - late
Mind bending Psy-Trance.
Kombination Funk
Style: Drum and Bass, Techno
Venue: BluePrint
Price: £6
Times: 10pm - late
sat 20/08
Sixties, Soul, Pop
Junktion 7
£6 Adv £8 otd
10.15pm - 2am
Basement Boogaloo and Keep
on magazine present... Backyard
Boogaloo
Venue: Nagshead
Price: £3
Times: 2pm - 12am
With a BBQ and 10 hours of music
featuring Schmoov! (full live band), Nick
Shaw & Ed Cotton (Basement Boogaloo),
Keep On DJs, Alex Chase (Undercover
Magazine / 93 Feet East), Red Rack ‘Em,
DJ Beane (Noodles / Soul Buggin’),
Leon Moran (Ritmo Radio)
thu 01/09
Liquid Funkt
Style: Drum and Bass
Venue: Image Bar
Price: Free
Times: 7pm - 11pm
Random Guy, Rema D, Timmy Hands
Rah, Weazal Man, Groove Distortion
Highness Soundsystem
Style: Reggae, Dub
Venue: BluePrint
Price: £5
Times: 10pm - late
Crazy Penis
Venue: Bar None
Price: Free
fri 19/08
Spam
Style:
Venue:
Price:
Times:
Detonate
Style: Drum and Bass, HipHop
Venue: Stealth
Price: £8 motd
Times: 10pm - 3.30am
Zinc, Transit Mafia, Trouble,
Timmy Hands, MC Biggie, MC E-ll,
Santero, Detail
fri 02/09
Spectrum
Style: Breaks
Venue: Stealth
Price: £8 adv
Times: 10pm - 4am
Hybrid, Will Saul, Pete Jordan, Sound
Alliance, John Gilbert
sat 03/09
Pure Filth
Style: Techno, DnB, Deep House
Venue: BluePrint
Price: £5
Times: 10pm - late
D-Omen, Dom Slater vs Dom Filth
thu 08/09
Funktion
Style: Drum and Bass
Venue: Synergy
Price: Free
Times: 8.30pm - 1am
Random Guy, Rema D, Timmy Hands
Rah, Weazal Man, Groove Distortion
Wiggle
sat10/09
Style: Deep House, Funky House
Venue: Bar None
Price: Free
Strakes (Lost My Dog, Kahua), PhilL
(Shivoo, Kahua), Dan Hamilton
(Infectious), Neil Quinn (Infectious,
Wiggle)
fridays
Love Shack
Style: Eighties
Venue: Rock City
Price: £4 adv £5 otd
Times: 9.30pm - 2am
Fridays @ The Market Bar
Style: Breaks, House, Disco
Venue: The Market Bar
Price: £4 (NUS)
Times: 9pm - 3am
Resident Ian Tatham plays the very best
in what’s new and worth dancing to!”
saturdays
fri 16/09
Kombination Funk
Style: Drum and Bass, Techno
Venue: BluePrint
Price: £6
Times: 10pm - late
Spam
Style:
Venue:
Price:
Times:
sat 17/09
Sixties, Soul, Pop
The Rescue Rooms
£6 Adv £8 otd
10.15pm - 2am
thu 22/09
Funktion
Style: Drum and Bass
Venue: Synergy
Price: Free
Times: 8.30pm - 1am
Random Guy, Rema D, Timmy Hands
Rah, Weazal Man, Groove Distortion
fri 23/09
Detonate
Style: Drum and Bass, HipHop
Venue: Stealth
Price: £tbc
Times: 10pm - 3.30am
Swift, Chase and Status, Transit Mafia,
MC IC3, Canibal OX, Crayz Walz, Mr Jam
Weeklies
Tiger Style
Style: Breaks
Venue: Stone
Price: Free
Times: 9pm - 1am
Pete Jordan, Future Proof
fridays
Soul Buggin with DJ Beane
Style: Funk, Jazz, Disco
Venue: Bar Humbug
Price: Free
Times: 8pm - 1am
DJ Beane’s weekly throwdown, spazzin’
out to everything from old school funk
and diva soul to future jazz and broken
beats via lo-fi house across to brazilian
samba shuffles to NYC style glitterball
disco. Yum.
Salt
Style: Hiphop, House, Breaks
Venue: Dogma
Price: Free
Times: til 2am
Funky Breakbeat for the dancefloor laced
with Hiphop, House and Latin flavours.
Sabotage
Style: Eighties, Nineties
Venue: The Cookie Club
Price: £4 (NUS)
Times: 10.30 - 2am
Anything from Acid House to Brit-Pop.
Atomic
Style: Eighties, Nineties
Venue: Cookie Club (The)
Price: £4 (NUS)
Times: 10.30pm - 2am
Friday night at The Cookie Club is Retro
night featuring two decades of music.
Stylus
Style: Funky House, Funk
Venue: Snug
Price: £3 - £6
Times: 10pm - 3am
Expect an eclectic mix spanning soulful
house, hip hop, RnB, soul/funk, Drum &
Bass, peppered with old school and party
classics
Saturdays @ The Market Bar
Style: Funky House
Venue: The Market Bar
Price: £5
Times: 9pm - 2.30am
Consistantly bringin’ it week after week,
Market Bar residents each play you a
slightly differently slice from the house
spectrum.
Rise and Shine / Funk U
Style: Indy, Alternative
Venue: The Cookie Club
Price: £5 (NUS)
Times: 10.30pm - 2am
Lovezoo
Style: House, Funky House
Venue: The Lost Weekend
Price: £5
Times: 10pm - 3am
Distortion
Style: Rock, Indy, Alternative
Venue: Rock City
Price: £5 (NUS)
Times: 9pm - 2.30am
DJ’s Gazz & Spiky Mike will be mixing it
up, playing mainstream rock, hardcore,
punk, ska, Indie & hip hop all night!
Stealth
Style:
Venue:
Price:
Times:
vs Rescued
Anything Goes...
Stealth
Free b4 10.15pm £5 after
5pm - 4am
sundays
Out To Lunch
Style: Jazz
Venue: Dogma
Price: Free
Times: Afternoon
Less of a club night and more of an
experience. Sunday Jazz and beats to
ease away the night before.
mondays
Motherfunker
Venue: The Cookie Club
Price: £1 b4 11pm
Times: 10.30 - 2am
“Anything goes music wise on this night.
A real pick ‘n’ mix of Retro, Rock, Funk
and alternative sounds to kick start the
week. You want to hear it then we’ll play
it. For futher details or to place requests
for the evening text 07859 725 430. “
listings...
Crash
Style:
Venue:
Price:
Times:
Dusk
Style:
Venue:
Price:
Times:
clubs/live music/theatre/comedy/exhibitions
tuesdays
Indy, Alternative
The Rig
£2 / £3 (NUS)
9.30pm - 2am
Period of August / September
Live Music
No Use
Venue:
Price:
Times:
For A Name
Rock City
£10 adv
7.30pm
fri 12/08
mon 01/08
Hiphop, Soul
Snug
£4 (NUS)
10pm - 3am
Tuesdays @ The Market Bar
Style: Disco, RnB
Venue: The Market Bar
Price: £4 (NUS)
Times: 9pm - 2.30am
Holding its head up high over the
summer boasting the only full tuesday
venue in town, with residents:
Matt Tolfrey, DJ Ellis and Damien Wells
wednesdays
The Big Wednesday
Style: Alternative, Rock, Pop
Venue: The Cookie Club
Price: £2.50 (NUS)
Times: 10.30 - 2am
Upstairs plays current Indie and
downstairs is nothing but Rock, Metal,
Punk & Ska all evening.
Big Trak
Venue: The Social
Price: £1
Times: 8pm - 12am
Public Display Of Affection,
The Scarlet Tuesday, Monkey Swallows
the Universe
BJ Cole
Venue: The Social
Price: £7 adv
With Bent DJ Set
Hot Renault Traffic Night
Venue: Cabaret
Rebus (above), The Strand Arcade
Blusoma
Venue: Synergy
Price: Free
Times: 10pm - late
Blues covers with a twist of the trippy
and the ambient, 2 vocals each playing
guitar and bass, and a laptop supplying
the craziness.
The Mascara Story
Venue: Rock City
Price:
£3 adv
Basement Show
fri 05/08
sat 13/08
Mirrorball
Style: RnB, Disco, Funk
Venue: Snug
Price: £3 - £4 (NUS)
Times: 10pm - 3am
An eclectic mix of R&B, disco, funk and
dancefloor club classics...
sun 14/08
tue 16/08
Thursdays @ The Market Bar
Style: Funk, HipHop
Venue: The Market Bar
Price: £4
Times: 9pm - 2.30am
DJ Santero showing how he knows his
thursday crowd better than anyone.
expect heavy funky bass lines.
Audio
Style: Funk, Soul, Disco
Venue: Snug
Price: £5 (£3 b4 10.30pm) (NUS)
Times: 10pm - 3am
An evening of funky grooves, soul, and
retro disco beats.
Nu World
Style: HipHop, Funk
Venue: Malt Cross Cafe Bar
Price: Free
Times: 7pm - 11pm
Every dawn is a new day and every
thursday is a brand new world. Danny
Berman takes us on an eclectic voyage
of funk, hip-hop, broken beats, re-edits,
disco...
Generation
Style: Sixties
Venue: The Cookie Club
Price: £2.50 (NUS)
Times: 10.30pm - 2am
Offers you a whole evening of tunes
ranging from Beatlemania, Mod, beatpop,
Soul, Motown and psychedelia all thrown
into one big melting pot of Nostalgia.
Dogmatic
Style: HipHop, Drum and Bass
Venue: Dogma
Price: Various
Times: 10pm - 2am
Club NME
Style: Rock, Indy, Alternative
Venue: Stealth
Price: £2 - £4 (NUS)
Times: 10pm - late
Dustins Bar Mitzvah
Venue: Cabaret
Price: £3 / £4
Times: 7.30pm - 2am
Dustins Bar Mitzvah, The Pigeon Detectives, Captain Dangerous, Pioneers of
Industry,
Ilkeston Brass Band
Venue: The Arboretum
Price: Free
Times: 2pm - 5pm
fri 26/08
Sharon Lewis
Venue: Social
Price: £6
Sharon Lewis,
Rose Polenzani,
Rogue
sat 06/08
sun 07/08
Derwent Valley Wind Band
Venue: Victoria Embankment
Price: Free
Times: 2pm - 5pm
Data Panik
Venue: The Social
Price: £5 adv
Blusoma
Venue: Synergy
Price: Free
Times: 10pm - late
thu 18/08
tue 09/08
Long Eaton Silver Prize Band
Venue: The Arboretum
Price: Free
Times: 2pm - 5pm
Turbonegro
Venue: The Rescue Rooms
Price: £11 adv
Times: 7pm - 10.15pm
Two Gallants
Venue: The Social
Price: £5 adv
Dungen
Venue: The Rescue Rooms
Price: £6 adv
Elkie Brooks
Venue: Royal Centre
Price: £18 - £20
sun 28/08
thu 01/09
fri 02/09
Jet
Venue: Rock City
Price: £15
Times: 7pm
fri 19/08
Hot Renault Traffic Night
Venue: Cabaret
And what will be left of them, Misterlee,
The Henry Road, The Vultures,
Harbouring The Criminal
sun 21/08
Bmused
Venue: Golden Fleece
Times: 8pm
Bmused are a 5 piece female folk/acoustic band from Newcastle upon Tyne,
harmonies and instruments sometimes
romantic, sometimes rude!
LeftLion Presents..
Venue:
Malt Cross Cafe Bar
Price:
Free
Times:
7.30pm - 11pm
Bringing you the best live music that
Nottingham has to offer. (But then we
would say that...)
sat 27/08
Rolls Royce Band
Venue: Nottingham Castle
Price:
Free
thursdays
Indy, Alternative, Pop
Rock City
£4 / £3.50 (NUS)
8.30pm - 2am
Hot Renault Traffic Night
Venue: Cabaret
Price: £3 / £4
Times: 7.30pm - 2am
The Escapologists, Ripchord
Hot Club Night DJ’S
tue 02/08
Inner Mantra
Venue: Rock City
Ritmo With Leon Moran
Style: Funky House, Disco, Breaks
Venue: Bar Humbug
Price: Free
Times: 8pm - 1am
The bar night for the radio show: soulful
house, brazilian beats, up tempo latin,
chilled disco, funk, neo-soul, nu-jazz all
up in this piece. Tasty.
Tuned
Style:
Venue:
Price:
Times:
thu 11/08
Lincolnshire Hospitals Band
Venue: Victoria Embankment
Price: Free
Times: 2pm - 5pm
Wheatus
Venue: Rock City
Price: £10
Times: 7.30pm
Hot Renault Traffic Night
Venue: Cabaret
Price: £3 / £4
Times: 7.30pm - 2am
Fifty Nine Violets, Kalena,
sat 03/09
tue 23/08
wed 24/08
Hate Eternal
Venue: Rock City
Price: £11 adv
Times: 7 pm
Basement Show
Hate Eternal, Behomoth
Blood Red Throne
Muffin Men
Venue: The Rescue Rooms
Price: £10 adv
with support from Jimmy Carl Black
Skinny Puppy
Venue: Rock City
Price: £14
Times: 7pm
Best Fwends
Venue: The Social
Price: £3
thu 11/08
MXPX
Venue: Rock City
Price: £10 adv
Skid Row
Venue: Rock City
Price: £16 adv
Times: 7pm
With support from Jeff Scott Soto
listings...
Reel Big Fish
Venue: Rock City
Price: £14 adv
Times: 7.30pm
live music/clubs/theatre/comedy/exhibitions/theatre
wed 07/09
Clem Snide
Venue: The Social
Price: £7 adv
mon 19/09
tue 13/09
wed 14/09
ASVA
Venue: The Social
Price: £7
Times: 7.30pm
Stamping Ground
Venue: Rock City
Price: £8 adv
Times: 7.30pm
McFly
Venue: Nottingham Arena
Price: £20 adv
Times: 7pm
Absolute Nonsense
thu 08/09
Hal
Venue: The Rescue Rooms
Price: £7.50 adv
Stereophonics
Venue: Nottingham Arena
Price: £27.50
Stereophonics will be bringing their
handbags and gladrags to Nottingham
arena to tour their new album ‘Language.
Sex. Violence.’ And we thougth they were
such nice boys as well...
JJ72
Venue: The Rescue Rooms
Price: £10 adv
wed 21/09
Super Fury Animals
Venue: Rock City
thu 22/09
Good Shoes
Venue: The Social
Price: £3 adv
Times: 10.30pm - 2am
sat 10/09
sun 11/09
Jake & Elwood: Blues Brothers Show
Venue: Rock City
Price: £15 adv
Times: 7.30pm
Killer Queen
Style: Rock
Venue: Royal Centre
Price: £13 - £15
Times: 7.30pm
Queen Tribute Act
Fun Lovin’ Criminals
Venue: Rock City
Price: £17.50 adv
Times: 7.30pm
Super smooth Huey and the crew will
be in once again to rock Notts. Expect
plenty of Scooby snacks and Bombing of
the L.
Decapitated
Venue: Rock City
Price: £10
Times: 7.30pm
The Drifters
Venue: Royal Centre
Price: £16
thu 15/09
fri 16/09
Sea Change
Venue: Cabaret
Price: tbc
Times: 7pm
sat 17/09
The Men They Couldn’t Hang
Venue: The Rescue Rooms
Price: £12.50 adv
Times: Early Show - 10.15 finish as
clubnight follows
Me First And The Gimmie Gimmies
Venue: Rock City
Price: £12 adv
Times: 7pm
Million Dead
Venue: Rock City
Jamiroquai
Venue: Nottingham Arena
Price: £28.50 + BF
This is the return of the space cowboy.
Yes, Jay Kay has decided to go on tour
again, most likely as a means to fund his
expensive car habit. The new Jamiroquai
album ‘Dynamite’ is out now.
tue 20/09
Holly Golightly + Envelopes
Venue: The Social
Price: £6 adv
Times: 8.30pm - 10.30pm
Puressence
Venue: Rock City
Price: £10 adv
Stephen Fretwell
Venue: The Rescue Rooms
Price: £7 adv
Times: 7pm - 10.15pm
Much touted singer songwriter comes to
the Rescue Rooms.
Ray Davies & Band
Venue: Royal Centre
Price: £22.50 - £25
Legend in town! Ray Davies, formerly
of the Kinks, is the cool sixties survivor
dude who penned such hits as Waterloo
Sunset and You Really Got Me.
Alter Bridge
Venue: Rock City
Price: £13.50 adv
Times: 7pm
fri 09/09
The Kull
Venue: Cabaret
Price: £3 / £4
Times: 7.30pm - 2am
With support from Pioneers Of Industry
The Mission
Venue: Rock City
Price: £15 adv
Times: 7pm
wed 28/09
thu 29/09
Avenged Sevenfold
Venue: Rock City
Price: £12.50 adv.
Times: 7.30pm
Plus Very Special Guests TBA
Pere Ubu
Venue: The Rescue Rooms
Price: £15 adv
Immortal Lee County Killers
Venue: The Social
Price: £6 adv
Revlon 9
Venue: The Social
Price: £3 adv
tue 27/09
Dionne
Venue:
Price:
Times:
Warwick
Royal Centre
£27.50 - £30
7.30pm
Hayseed Dixie
Venue: Rock City
Price: £12.50
Times: 7.30pm
sun 18/09
fri 23/09
The Alvin Ailey Dance Company
Venue: Royal Centre
Price: £15 - £26
Runs Until: 24/9
The Hot Puppies
Venue: Cabaret
Price: £3 / £4
Times: 7.30pm - 2am
The Hot Puppies, Computerman
Beats Capri, Radiator Experts
Nevermore
Venue: Rock City
Price: £10 adv
Times: 7pm
sat 24/09
3 Colours Red
Venue: Rock City
Price: £10 adv
Times: 7pm
3 Colours Red plus The Yo Yo’s,
The Smash Up, Along Came Man
sun 25/09
Trivium
Venue: Rock City
Price: £10 adv
Times: 7.30pm
ITF UK 2005 Turntable Competition
Venue: The Rescue Rooms
Price: £7.50 adv
Nottingham Heat
With Tiger Styles, G Kut, Johnny Crump
and T-Cutt Hosted by Broke n English To
enter or for more info check
www.itf-uk.com
Rogers Sisters
Venue: The Social
Price: £3 adv
Corosion Of Conformity
Venue: The Rig
Price: £10 adv
Times: 7pm
fri 30/09
The Favours
Venue: Cabaret
Price: £3 / £4
Times: 7.30pm - 2am
The Favours, Public Display of
Affection, The Crimson Roadmap,
Seretone
tue 27/09
Editors
Venue:
The Rescue
Rooms
Price: £8
Hotly tipped
band with
Nottngham
Guitarist
Check out
the intervew on
LeftLion.co.uk
LeftLion Presents..
Venue:
Malt Cross Cafe Bar
Price:
Free
Times:
7.30pm - 11pm
Bringing you the best live music that
Nottingham has to offer. (But then we
would say that...)
listings...
clubs/live music/exhibitions/theatre/comedy
Period Of August / September
Theatre
Jongleurs
Venue: Jongleurs
Price: £8 - £15
Times: 7pm
Rudi Lickwood, Mark Walker, Dave
Williams, Michael Legge
Runs Until: 3/9
Voulez Vous
Venue: Royal Centre
Price: £14.50 - £16
mon 01/08
Classic Thrillers Season
Venue: Royal Centre
Price: £8 - £14
Dangerous Obsession
1 – 6 August 2005
Murder With Love
8 – 13 August 2005
Deadly Lovers
15 – 20 August 2005
thu 01/09
sat 17/09
mon 26/09
Colin Fry and Tony Stockwell
Venue: Royal Centre
Price: £17.50
Times: 7.30pm
fri 30/09
tue 30/08
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Venue: Nottingham Castle
Price: £12
Shakespeare season at the castle.
wed 31/08
Macbeth
Venue: Nottingham Castle
Price: £12
Shakespeare season at the castle cont.
thu 01/09
The Taming Of The Shrew
Venue: Nottingham Castle
Price: £12
fri 02/09
Macbeth
Venue: Nottingham Castle
Price: £12
Shakespeare season at the castle
continues with the play that bought us
such lines as: “Double, double toil and
trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble,”
and “Is this a dagger which I see before
me?” Performed outdoors in a marquee
at Nottingham castle.
1001 Nights Now
Venue: Playhouse
Price: £7 - £22
“Sometimes we tell stories to entertain.
Sometimes we tell stories to explain who
we are. And sometimes we tell stories to
survive.
Somewhere in contemporary Britain, in
a factory making Christmas decorations,
a group of migrant workers sustain one
another by telling their stories. In all of
them the flames of hope, passion and
identity burn bright.
Leading writers of Middle Eastern
origin revisit the story of Sheherazade,
exposing with insight, colour and wit
the lives of people who seek refuge.
Nottingham Playhouse and Northern
Stage - join forces as Alan Lyddiard
directs a stunning piece of devised
theatre, featuring award-winning
comedian Shazia Mirza.”
Exhibitions
Waking Dreams:
Art of the Pre-Raphaelites
Venue: Nottingham Castle
Price: £6
Runs Until: 4/9
thu 08/09
The Working World
Venue: Surface Gallery
Price: Free
Times: 11pm - 5pm
Dave Ball, Mandy Bray, Simon Bolton,
Jenna Collins and Minna Kantonen.
Runs Until: 11/8
Lens Based Open Exhibition
Venue: Surface Gallery
Price: Free
Times: 11pm - 5pm
Opens: 16/8
Runs Until: 26/8
Something Less Than A Terrible
Nightmare
Venue: Surface Gallery
Price: Free
Times: 11pm - 5pm
Opens: 30/8
Runs Until: 9/9
Outspeak
Venue: Surface Gallery
Price: Free
Times: 11pm - 5pm
Date: 19/9
Runs Until: 7/10
thu 15/09
Jongleurs
Venue: Jongleurs
Price: £8 - £15
Times: 7pm
Andre Vincent, Geoff Boyz, Ian
Coppinger, Dom Carroll
Runs Until: 17/9
dis(comfort)
Venue: Angel Row Gallery
Price: Free
Times: 11pm - 5pm
Opens: 21/9
Runs Until: 19/11
sun 18/09
Knitwork
Venue: Angel Row Gallery
Price: Free
Times: 11pm - 5pm
Opens: 21/9
Runs Until: 19/11
Just The Tonic
Venue: Cabaret
Times: 7pm
Phil Nichol - straight back from Edinburgh
Comedy
Cat On A Hot Tin Roof
Venue: Playhouse
Price: £7 - £22
It is fifty years since this sizzling drama
first scandalised Broadway. Richard
Baron directs the rarely performed
original version, preferred by Tennessee
Williams. This unflinching examination of
family, money and sexuality comes to the
playhouse.
Runs Until: 24/9
sat 03/09
The Taming Of The Shrew
Venue: Nottingham Castle
Price: £12
wed 07/09
Circus Oz
Venue: Royal Centre
Price: £10 - £30.50
Circus Oz icombines exhausting skill
and inspirational imagination. Bringing
together some of Australia’s finest
performers, the show features: highaltitude acrobatics, tightrope walking,
wheels on fire, wiry bodies, strong
women, beautiful men, flying freaks and
live music.
Runs Until: 10/9
Jongleurs
Venue: Jongleurs
Price: £8 - £15
Times: 7pm
Adam Crow, Junior Simpson (above),
Sandy Nelson, Paul Chowdry
thu 04/08
Jongleurs
Venue: Jongleurs
Price: £8 - £15
Sean Percival, Glenn Wool, Joe Rooney
Paul Tonkinson
Runs Until: 6/8
sun 25/09
thu 11/08
Day to Day Data
Venue: Angel Row Gallery
Price: Free
Runs Until: 7/9
Andrew Wright
Venue: Lakeside
Price: Free
Times: All Day
Runs Until: 14/8
Liliane Lijn Craft Showcase
Venue: Lakeside
Price: Free
Times: All Day
Runs Until: 7/8
Peru & Bolivia Exhibition
Venue: Wax Cafe
Price: Free
Runs Until: 17/8
Jongleurs
Venue: Jongleurs
Price: £8 - £15
Martin Beaumont, Rick Right, Ricky
Grover, Paul Thorne
Runs Until: 13/8
thu 18/08
Jongleurs
Venue: Jongleurs
Price: £8 - £15
Roger Monkhouse, Jason Wood,
David Hadingham
Runs Until: 20/8
thu 25/08
Jongleurs
Price: £8 - £15
Silky, Marty
Wilson, Simon
Bligh (left),
Gary Delaney
Runs Until: 27/8
Just The Tonic
Venue: Cabaret
Times: 7pm
Ed Byrne - straight back from Edinburgh
thu 29/09
Jongleurs
Venue: Jongleurs
Price: £13 - £15
Times: 7pm
Rex Boyd, Patrick Monahan, Neil
Delamere, Gavin Webster
Runs Until: 1/10
Sporting Fixtures
football/cricket/icehockey
Nottingham Forest FC Fixtures
2005
06/08
09/08
13/08
20/08
23/08
27/08
30/08
03/09
10/09
17/09
24/09
27/09
01/10
09/10
15/10
22/10
29/10
12/11
19/11
26/11
06/12
10/12
16/12
26/12
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
Huddersfield, 3pm (H)
Walsall, 7.45 (A)
Swindon, 3pm (A)
Scunthorpe, 3pm (H)
Macclesfield (CC), 7.45 (H)
Gillingham, 3pm (A)
Bristol City, 7.45 (H)
Brentford, 13:00 (H)
Barnsley, 3pm (A)
Rotherham, 3pm (H)
Swansea, 3pm (A)
Blackpool, 7.45 (H)
Tranmere, 3pm (H)
Southend, 16:00 (A)
Hartlepool, 3pm (H)
Yeovil, 3pm (A)
Bradford, 3pm (H)
Bournemouth, 3pm (A)
Southend, 3pm (H)
Huddersfield, 3pm (A)
Port Vale, 7.45 (H)
Walsall, 3pm (H)
Scunthorpe, 7.45 (A)
Doncaster, 3pm (H)
Notts County FC Fixtures
28/12
31/12
2006
02/01
07/01
14/01
21/01
28/01
04/02
11/02
15/02
18/02
25/02
04/03
11/03
18/03
25/03
01/04
08/04
15/04
17/04
22/04
29/04
06/05
v MKD, 7.45 (A)
v Chesterfield, 3pm (H)
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
Colchester, 3pm (A)
Brentford, 3pm (A)
Oldham, 3pm (H)
Rotherham, 3pm (A)
Barnsley, 3pm (H)
Blackpool, 3pm (A)
Swansea, 3pm (H)
Oldham, 7.45 (A)
Port Vale, 3pm (A)
Swindon, 3pm (H)
Bristol City, 3pm (A)
Gillingham, 3pm (H)
Doncaster, 3pm (A)
MKD, 3pm (H)
Chesterfield, 3pm (A)
Colchester, 3pm (H)
Tranmere, 3pm (A)
Yeovil, 3pm (H)
Hartlepool, 3pm (A)
Bournemouth, 3pm (H)
Bradford, 3pm (A)
2005
06/08
09/08
13/08
20/08
23/08
27/08
29/08
02/09
10/09
17/09
24/09
27/09
01/10
08/10
15/10
22/10
29/10
12/11
19/11
26/11
06/12
10/12
17/12
26/12
28/12
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
Torquay, 3pm (A)
Wrexham, 7.45pm (H)
Lincoln City, 3pm (H)
Stockport, 3pm (A)
Watford (CC), 7.45pm (A)
Bristol Rovers, 3pm (H)
Mansfield, 3pm (A)
Darlington, 7.30pm (A)
Chester, 3pm (H)
Shrewsbury, 3pm (A)
R’den & D’monds, 3pm (H)
Grimsby, 7.45pm (A)
Macclesfield, 3pm (A)
Boston Utd, 13:00 (H)
Rochdale, 3pm (A)
Carlisle, 3pm (H)
Bury, 3pm (A)
Cheltenham, 3pm (H)
Boston Utd, 3pm (A)
Torquay, 3pm (H)
Peterboro’, 7.45pm (A)
Wrexham, 3pm (A)
Stockport, 3pm (H)
Oxford Utd, 3pm (A)
Northampton, 7.45pm (H)
Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club Fixtures
Nottingham Panthers Fixtures
2005
09/08
National Cricket League Division One
Gloucestershire v Nottinghamshire
2005
10/09
11/09
17/09
18/09
24/09
25/09
29/09
01/10
08/10
09/10
13/10
15/10
22/10
26/10
29/10
30/10
05/11
06/11
12/11
19/11
20/11
23/11
26/11
27/11
04/12
07/12
10/12
11/12
18/12
20/12
23/12
26/12
27/12
31/12
2006
02/01
07/01
08/01
10/01
14/01
15/01
10/08
County Championship - Division One
Nottinghamshire v Middlesex
14/08
County Championship - Division One
Nottinghamshire v Warwickshire
22/08
National Cricket League Division One
Essex v Nottinghamshire
28/08
National Cricket League Division One
Northamptonshire v Nottinghamshire
30/08/2005
County Championship - Division One
Glamorgan v Nottinghamshire
05/09
County Championship - Division One
Nottinghamshire v Gloucestershire
09/09
National Cricket League Division One
Nottinghamshire v Gloucestershire
11/09
National Cricket League Division One
Nottinghamshire v Worcestershire
14/09
County Championship - Division One
Kent v Nottinghamshire
21/09
County Championship - Division One
Hampshire v Nottinghamshire
25/09
National Cricket League Division One
Hampshire v Nottinghamshire
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
Sheffield (H)
Sheffield (A)
Cardiff Devils (H)
Newcastle (A)
Edinburgh (A)
Coventry (A)
Belfast (A)
Basingstoke (A)
Edinburgh (CC) (A)
Edinburgh (A)
Newcastle (H)
Sheffield (A)
London (H)
Belfast (H)
Edinburgh (A)
Basingstoke (H)
London (A)
Cardiff (A)
Coventry (H)
Edinburgh (H)
Coventry (A)
Belfast (H)
Sheffield (H)
Cardiff (A)
London (A)
Basingstoke (H)
Basingstoke (A)
Newcastle (A)
Edinburgh (A)
Cardiff (H)
Edinburgh (H)
Sheffield (A)
London (H)
Newcastle (H)
v
v
v
v
v
v
Cardiff (H)
Sheffield (H)
Newcastle (A)
Edinburgh (H)
Coventry (H)
London (A)
31/12 v Leyton Orient, 3pm (A)
2006
02/01 v Barnet, 3pm (H)
07/01 v Darlington, 3pm (H)
14/01 v Wycombe, 3pm (A)
21/01 v Shrewsbury, 3pm (H)
28/01 v Chester, 3pm (A)
04/02 v Grimsby, 3pm (A)
11/02 v R’den & D’monds, 3pm (H)
14/02 v Wycombe, 7.45pm (H)
18/02 v Peterborough, 3pm (H)
25/02 v Lincoln City, 3pm (A)
04/03 v Mansfield, 3pm (H)
11/03 v Bristol Rovers, 3pm (A)
18/03 v Oxford Utd, 3pm (H)
25/03 v Northampton, 3pm (A)
01/04 v Leyton Orient, 3pm (H)
08/04 v Barnet, 3pm (A)
15/04 v Macclesfield, 3pm (H)
17/04 v Carlisle, 3pm (A)
22/04 v Rochdale, 3pm (H)
29/04 v Cheltenham, 3pm (A)
06/05 v Bury, 3pm (H)
20/01
28/01
29/01
04/02
05/02
09/02
11/02
14/02
18/02
25/02
26/02
28/02
04/03
08/03
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
Belfast (A)
London (H)
Coventry (A)
Newcastle (H)
Newcastle (A)
Belfast (A)
Basingstoke (A)
Basingstoke (H)
Coventry (H)
Sheffield (H)
Cardiff (A)
Newcastle (H)
Sheffield (A)
Belfast (H)
24
www.leftlion.co.uk/issue6
www.leftlion.co.uk/issue
First, We Take
Manhattan...
AMUSEMENT PARKS ON FIRE
Bar 13, East 13th Street, New York, May 2005
By Matt Glazebrook, our correspondent in
Gotham, NYC
When you tell New Yorkers that you are
from Nottingham there is often a flash of
recognition: “Right, like in the Hugh Grant
movie”. Forget Robin Hood. Over here,
our fair city is most famous for sounding
a bit like that place in London where Julia
Roberts fell in with a bumbling bookshop
owner and his funny Welsh housemate.
Once you manage to establish you are not
actually from Notting Hill (no easy task, as
for many Americans the terms “London”
and “England” are used pretty much
interchangeably) describing Nottingham’s
cultural significance is a fairly humbling
and frustrating task. Namedropping D.H.
Lawrence and Byron draws mostly blank
looks, no-one in the Big (Bad) Apple is
impressed with gun crime statistics and as
for music, the Tindersticks, Six By Seven
and OutDaVille have never quite managed
to ‘break’ America.
It creates quite a stir among Manhattan’s
small East Midlands immigrant community,
therefore, when it is announced that a real
live Nottingham band is coming to New
York. Amusements Parks On Fire! It’s quite
a name! Sort of one-upping The Arcade Fire
in terms of leisure facility-based tragedies.
The poster for the band’s first American
tour has a quote describing their music as
“sporadic, hedonistic teenage genius”. This
seems scrupulously honest, not to just
erase the first word from the review. Or
perhaps the band think that “sporadic” is a
compliment, the scamps.
Amusement Parks On Fire’s mini-tour of
New York takes in three shows at venues
across the Lower East Side, a sprawling,
vibrant district currently undergoing a
cruel sort of gentrification which has left it
populated by an uneasy mix of Manhattan’s
hipsters, yuppies and homeless. The
second of the gigs is at Bar 13, an upstairs
joint, on the fringes of the neighbourhood,
around the corner from the chain-stores
and multiplex cinemas of Union Square.
Bar 13 is about the size of a living room
(and a New York City living room at that).
There’s even a TV in the corner, showing a
cheap 1970s exploitation flick, a film which
appears to be based around the undeniably
arresting premise of a young woman
with a singing vagina. There is no stage
lighting here, in fact there is no stage and
the only illumination comes from homely
little lamps with deep red shades. The
band occupies one corner of the room and
peers out through the gloom at eye level
with the audience. It’s a little awkward,
having someone rock out this close to you.
The band is the proverbial elephant in the
room that the fashionable New York crowd
pretend to be only vaguely aware of.
No matter, as the Amusement Parks are
unassuming performers, a sensibly dressed
www.amusementparksonfire.com
troupe
of
fresh-faced
young men, who make a
swirling, squalling racket
within the confines of
each simple, insistent
song. Frontman Michael
Feerick has a little of
the Craig Nicholls about
him, all eye-rolling and
hair-flopping, even a
hint of Kurt Cobain, as
he hunches over his
guitar, but the band’s
energy is as much about
tension as release, and
the audience are soon
able to relax into the
vintage leather couches
or tap their feet on the
vinyl dance floor.
Now is as good a time
as any for Amusement
Parks on Fire to try to take
Manhattan. Just as for the
past couple of years the
British music press have
been fawning over anything
sharply-dressed and New
York, so all the American
rock magazines have carried
the compulsory “new British
invasion” article in the past few
weeks. Kasabian, the Kaiser Chiefs
and Bloc Party have all sold out recent
shows in New York. Any old rehashed
Britpop will do, it seems, so long as it is
accompanied by the necessary angular
’80s riffs and “new wave” style.
Endearingly, Amusement Parks appear
to have drastically missed the boat
on this front. If anything, their fuzzy,
swirling rock sounds to me like an
updated version of un-hip early ’90s
shoe-gazers Swervedriver.
In its more transcendent moments,
the show recalls an early Six By Seven
gig at the Skyy Club on Alfreton Road
(now BluePrint Club), with clanging,
tinny guitar swelling into waves of
brutal, fragile sound. Appropriately
enough drummer Peter Dale even
wears a t-shirt promoting the
former next-big-things. But, unlike
that rock beast which emerged
fully formed from the backwoods
of Nottingham’s music scene
in ’97, Amusement Parks On
Fire are at present merely a
tight young Notts band full of
potential. While that might
not be enough to quite ‘break’
America on this first attempt,
it is good enough for this
member of the Nottingham
contingent to go home from
Bar 13 with his head held a
little higher.
www.leftlion.co.uk/issue5
This time around all the answers are related
to local sport in some way or other. For
the answers to the previous Nottswords
log on to www.leftlion.co.uk/nottsword
Across
3. Pop Star David’s first name gets an organ (5,7)
6. This cartoon cat is not drunk! (8,6)
8. Former County player who deals in cloth (4, 6)
10. Mik went back to Finland to play Hockey (3,7)
11. Former Notts County and Celtic player with a magic sirname (5, 8)
14. More of a headcase than Anthony Perkins (6,6)
18. Tradesman goalkeeper with a road named after him (6,9)
20. Ketchup-licking manager with a stand named after him (5, 7)
21. Fast ex-forest winger who drives like a Citroen or Renault (5, 4)
22. Snooker player whose sirname sounds like a weight of sick meat (7,8)
23. Former Forest striking donkey who always brings flowers (6,7)
24. Architecturally structured ground with umpires not referees (5, 6)
Down
1. Former forest striking donkey with a quiet girls name (6, 7)
2. Flowery sounding local sports arena (6,4)
5: The legendary iceman with two first names (11,4)
9. Former forest striking donkey with a pineapple on his head (5, 3)
12. Ice Queen who always shows you round her house (4, 6)
13. Local cricket skipper with sirname of spittal (7, 6)
15. Ice Hockey player/ manager with the same name as Cappo (4, 4)
17. Legendary for his large cranuium (5, 6)
19. Panthers winger who is a letter away from enlisting (4, 7)
20. Local golfer with a hiphop sirname (3, 8)
The winner of last issue’s Nottsword is Suzanne Robinson.
She wins our least favourite CD’s and an I Love Nottingham T-shirt.
Submit your answers to [email protected]
25
26
www.leftlion.co.uk/issue6
Aries (March 20 - April 20)
Libra (September 23 - October 23)
A child’s perceptions may hold the key to the Universe. As we grow older we are
taught how we should see. They just do it by instinct. Probably the only way to reexplore this for yourself is to load up on hallucinogenics, put on a nappy and try to reenter the nearest womb. Lubrication is important.
The supermarket is no longer safe territory. They are watching you in there, placing
cameras very carefully through the aisles. The unnecessarily bright lights show up the
blemishes of your skin. Get out while you still can. Bring ice cream.
Taurus (April 20 - May 21)
Scorpio (October 23 - November 23)
Guys dig girls with big jugs. Girls dig guys with big wallets. Archaeologists dig bones
and relics. Hippies dig freedom and cheap booze. Rabbits dig warrens and shagging.
Gravediggers dig dead people. What do you dig hombre? Think about it before you go
under yourself...
“In this country, you gotta make the money first. Then when you get the money, you
get the power. Then when you get the power, then you get the woman.”
Gemini (May 21 - June 21)
You think you know what boredom is fool? Try sitting in a dirty prison cell for months
on end, with nothing but a thin sponge mattress, a toilet bucket and a copy of Fern
Brittan’s Family Favourites. It’s not even like you can try out the recipes in here. Help...
Sagittarius (22 - December 22)
To keep ants out of the house, find where the ants are entering the house and sprinkle
a barrier of cinnamon or ground pepper to block their way. If that fails then parallel
rows of miniature burning crosses smeared in jam will let the insects know they are
not wanted in this place.
Capricorn (December 22 - January 19)
Cancer (June 21 - July 23)
Try and start a fight with someone today. It’s good etiquette to pick on someone that is
around the same size as you, but if they’re smaller the fight is usually easier to control.
Don’t let them off easily, the angrier you get them, the more they will put into hurting
you. Aim to maim!
The launderette have been alerted to the suspicious black bags you are bringing in and
out of the place. It’s time to take your work back underground. Go for a derelict cellar,
low lighting and a soap and hydrogen peroxide mix, followed by a cold rinse to protect
the fabric. If some staining remains, repeat.
Aquarius (January 20 - February 19)
Leo (July 23 - August 23)
Check out your local newspaper. Those women advertising their ‘escort’ services and
‘massage parlours’ in the back... In the spirit of journalism I phoned them up, went
along and got a full body massage from one of them. Then she asked me if I wanted
any ‘extras’. “You’re not a fookin’ DVD, love,” I told her.
Virgo (August 23 - September 23)
They say that money won is twice as sweet as money earned (and six times as salty).
But gambling can get sticky after you’re a dozen tequilas into the red haze. Go home
and sleep a bit more. Gather your strength for judgment day.
Your restlessness will lead to a change of interest in your building society. Consider
doing something that will maximise your balance and enhance your outlook. A creative
project should be finished and put to the test. Try and excel early, then as you steer
near the finish line you can pull a few wheelies for the crowd.
Pisces (February 19 - March 20)
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but only if you throw them at me very hard!
Until then you better wise up and watch your mouth because I heard you been around
your local neighbourhood chatting some stuff about what and who you think you know.
Everything you know is wrong fool!
Local
Football
Teams
Grate Misstakes in Cultural Histroy
Hey buddy, i never
felt this much love
for my fellow colonialists before
get ‘em down
you, boys.
there’s a fresh
batch just here.
can’t talk...
...mashed...
so there i was, having
just double dropped,
when i was asked to
fire the cannon...
Nottingham Forest
Yeah, fire the cannon... let’s get a wild
groovy happening
going on. yee-hah!
Years In Existence
Average attendance last season
those lights
look real swell
right now
Estimated spend on transfer fees in last
3 years
Songs about Wheelbarrows
Ken Clarke Factor
#06: July 1746, The Boston E Party take place
Notts County
140
18,000
£5m
143
Years In Existence
Average attendance last
season
fees
Estimated spend on transfer
0
Songs about Wheelbarrows
1
Ken Clarke Factor
in last 3 years
6,000
£5k
1
0