LeftLion Magazine - August 2009 - Issue 30

ISSUE 30 AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2009

FIFTH BIRTHDAY ISSUE County and Forest previews Skeggy / Nottingham Castle Carl Fellstrom / John Knight Eagon Chambers / Mark Charan Newton Full Nottingham Events Listings

Free access to Nottingham Castle and the Big Wheel's Big Day Out festival.

Saturday 26th September 2009 at Nottingham Castle from 11am until 4pm.

DJs / live music / street performers / environment zone the Luminarium / creative workshops / fun for all ages ...and everything you could ever want to know about transport in Nottingham!

To download a discount travel voucher or to find out more visit: www.thebigwheel.org.uk/festival

Birthday cards to LeftLion as featured on the cover by Alison Hedley, Ging Inferior, Alex Godwin, George Mitchell, Mike Lomon, Kim Thompson and Rob White.

contents

editorial

LeftLion Magazine Issue 30 August - September 2009

Hello and welcome to another issue of Nottingham’s favourite culture and events magazine!

This is a special edition for us, as it marks five years of putting mags out onto the streets of Nottingham. It’s been quite a journey for us; we started out as a group of twentysomethings hacking away in a flat above a cob shop on Mansfield Road. Since then we’ve moved a few times, as well as getting a bit older and becoming a key focal point for creativity in this beautiful city.

We celebrate the birthday of this magazine by guiding you through the art you will have seen on our covers over the last half decade, created by some of the very best artists in the city. Hopefully you will see some of the progression we have made in that time on this issue’s centrespread.

07 Contain Notts 04 May The news diary that hated Notts County long before everyone else did.

05

LeftEyeOn Warning: explicit images of Shane MacGowan’s face.

Way of The Gun 07 The Hoods author Carl Fellstrom on the

shooting of Bernard Langton.

In New Basford 08 AOurCanadian Rob gets injected with an armful of Skeg. Will he get addicted, or will it make him vomit?

Brian and Left Pie On 10 Left

Our online local football columns break

down the 2009-10 season.

11 Year Itch and World Cup Bid 11 Fifteen What our local football rivalry and

14

Brookfield and Daniel Kemp.

26

to be the next big fantasy author, and he comes from Notts.

Eagon Chambers: Mall Cop The daily trials of a Viccy Centre security guard.

We’ve Got It Covered 15 The history of Nottingham’s only mag

Profiles 25 Artist Tracey McMaster, Rachel Eite, Andrew

the 2018 World Cup bid could mean to Nottingham.

Writer 12 Knight

Mark Charan Newton is expected

15

worth a widdle, retold in its thirty covers.

Write Lion Three local book reviews and the best from the last two months on our creative writing forum.

28 Reviews Natalie Duncan, We Show Up On Radar, Arboretum Records, Captain Dangerous, Rescued By Wolves and more.

Arthole 30 The Plus Rocky Horrorscopes, LeftLion

Abroad and Notts Trumps.

Olde Curiosity Photoshoppe 19 The John Knight and his Pre-Raphaelite

Technical Director Alan Gilby (alan@leftlion.co.uk) Art Director David Blenkey (reason@leftlion.co.uk) Deputy Editors Charlotte Kingsbury (charlotte@leftlion.co.uk) Nathan Miller (njm@leftlion.co.uk) Marketing and Sales Manager Ben Hacking (ben@leftlion.co.uk) Art Editor Frances Ashton (frances@leftlion.co.uk) Literature Editor James Walker (books@leftlion.co.uk) Music Editor Paul Klotschkow (paulk@leftlion.co.uk) Photography Editor Dominic Henry (dom@leftlion.co.uk) Theatre Editor Adrian Bhagat (adrian@leftlion.co.uk)

Contributors Al Needham Alex Fisher Alison Emm Andy Afford Beane Carl Fellstrom Eric Manchester Jamie Rhodes Kristi Genovese Nicola Couch Rob Cutforth Roger Mean Sahala Haynes Sarah Morrison Tom Parkinson Illustrators Adam Poole Chris Askham Niko Rob White Photographers John Knight Jane Hoskyn Phil Lowe Christopher Frost Ben Sigsworth Rose Walsh

As always, we’ve had quality input from various local people. Eagon Chambers has been a security guard in the Viccy Centre for two decades and has plenty of interesting stories in that time. Carl Fellstrom, the local authority on gun crime, was kind enough to chip in with his thoughts on the shooting in Paris nightclub. According to people in the know Mark Charan Newton could be the local answer to Terry Pratchett and JR Tolkein. He has a chat with us about all things fantastical.

But LeftLion is much more than just the paper you are currently clutching in your grubby mitts. If you visit our website then you can listen to one of our range of Nottstastic podcasts, ranging from alternative rock (Alt:Lion) to spoken word (Write Lion), to dance music (Cult Radio) to an overview of the local scene (Poddingham) and much more. Visit leftlion.co.uk/ podcasts and treat your tabs.

We have also recently kick-started our online video section, with the help of the lads at Donkey Stone Productions. Once a month we will be bringing you a new video about something cool going on close by. We’ve already covered the excellent Splendour Festival and hung out with the Fun Lovin’ Criminals, as well as loads of ace local bands. Go to leftlion.co.uk/video to check that.

photo collection.

credits Editor in Chief Jared Wilson (jared@leftlion.co.uk)

By the time you read this, the football season will be about to kick off. Fortunes have been steadily rising at Forest since they finally got promoted back into the Championship the season before last. However, things appear to have risen a lot more dramatically over the last month or so for Notts County, with new (and seemingly minted) investors stepping in and transforming the club, starting with the appointment of former England boss Sven Goran Eriksson. Naturally, we’ve got a few opinions on that particular development…

Podcast Crew Christopher Hough Dan Hardy The K Paul Abbott Rosa Brough Stuart Rogers Jon Hall Will Forrest LeftLion.co.uk received over eight million page views over the last year. This magazine has an estimated readership of 40,000 people and is distributed to over 300 venues across the city of Nottingham. If your venue isn’t one of them, please contact Ben on 07984 275453 or email ben@leftlion.co.uk.

This magazine is printed on paper sourced from sustainable forests. Our printers are ISO 14001 certified by the British Accreditation Bureau for their environmental management system.

Want to advertise in our pages?

Email sales@leftlion.co.uk or phone Ben on 07984 275453 or visit leftlion.co.uk/advertise

So yeah, here’s to another five years of going from strength to strength! If you’d like to get involved drop us an email.

We’ve only just started… jared@leftlion.co.uk

ALT:LION is a LeftLion podcast which plays the best indie and alternative rock music from Nottingham, hosted by Jon and Dan. Jon has a vast musical knowledge from his time spent earning a crust in record shops and playing tunes in indie clubs. Dan is a guitar-playing singer-songwriter (formerly with Nottingham band The Deltarays) and a sound engineer.

Gerrit in yer tabs at leftlion.co.uk/podcasts

Donkey Stone Films are a fairly new film crew in Notts having graduated from university in Manchester last year. With the honour of occupying Shane Meadows’ old Broadway office, they have four core members - who each specialise in a different aspect of the filmmaking process. They’ve agreed to hook up with us to make one new Notts video a month from now on.

See leftlion.co.uk/video for more details. www.leftlion.co.uk/issue30

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Police taser attack in town Anybody else been watching the coverage on Sky of the guy tasered by Notts police? Mobile phone footage taken by a bystander as cops got the guy down on the ground by the Royal Centre tram stop and then proceeded to tazer him three times.

Khongor It is pretty full on! With the taser and the clear punches to the face, this is gonna take a lot of explaining. The only thing making this acceptable would be if the guy was carrying a gun or a knife or a broken bottle or something. it’s alan Oh God, that made me feel sick. Up until the policeman hammers the guy I was being open minded, but there is absolutely no call for that, the guy was clearly incapacitated.

Mr BRJ I was brought up to have a bit of faith and respect in the cops but with the G20 stuff and this... it looks really bad.

Stillman I think the backdrop of RnB (R Kelly, i believe) coming out of Halo contrasts nicely with one officer shouting ‘Taser taser taser!’ as he zaps him. tq_zetia Depressing stuff indeed. Thirty years since Blair Peach was killed by the police and seems that this sort of brutality, as we continually hear about, just doesn’t stop.

Sara Hang on a bleedin’ minute!! The policeman isn’t hitting him in the head! Look closely; He’s hitting the guy’s hands or shoulder trying to get him to release whatever he is holding. In my opinion if you resist arrest you deserve a good shock.

Yassa What if you’re resisting arrest because you haven’t done anything wrong? Should you still be shocked then? Or should we always just bow our heads and follow obediently down to the cop shop? theonelikethe

What’s the worst film you have seen this year?

True Romance. The girlfriend had never seen this so I borrowed it off a mate. It really hasn’t aged well at all. She hated it and I got all apologetic.

Daley Thompson Watched Lord of War the other night (well some of it, as I fell asleep). Seriously dreadful movie.

Nicholas Cage - what a crap actor! Worried face = slack jaw, sincere face = slack jaw. This just makes him look slightly retarded.

Woland Revolver, that terrible Guy Ritchie movie. Two and a half hours of my life watching this ultra-turd and I want that time back now. It doesn’t even make sense! Even typing this post about it is making me angry! Aaarrrrggghhh!

Bassrooster Transformers 2... I went all the way to the Imax in Birmingham to watch it too.

Ed I watched Green Street 2 recently. It’s the worst film I have ever watched all the way through.

Really don’t know why I bothered, I think I just wanted to see how bad one film really could be. it’s alan I watched Syriana on DVD and everyone apart from myself fell asleep, what a load of utter tripe.

Jonny Bulldog Worst film this year was one called Mýrin. It is described as a police thriller, and being a bit of a foreign film whore, I was drawn to it, probably a little too readily because of that. It is horrible. It is slow and unrelenting and bleak, and just extremely tedious to watch.

Lian I don’t think I’ve seen any truly stinking, why-didthey-bother films yet this year. So I’ll go for The Deer Hunter. I’d never seen it and its reputation led me to believe that it would be well worth seeing. I was wrong. transmetropolitan

4

www.leftlion.co.uk/issue30

MAY CONTAIN NOTTS with Nottingham’s ‘Mr. Sex’, Al Needham

June 2009 - July 2009

May 27 Nottingham’s pubs are filled with the usual shower of plastic Man United ‘fans’ who despise Nottingham and themselves, crying like women on Jeremy Kyle at the sight of ‘their’ team getting humiliated by Barcelona and - disgustingly - trying to start on proper Nottinghamians who, quite reasonably, laugh at them and do that snappy thing with their forefingers. When I am Lord Mayor of Nottingham, I’m going to pass a law that everyone born in Notts who doesn’t support a local team will be forced to go to the city of their adopted club whenever they want heathcare, dole, and maybe supermarket provisions an’all.

May 29 A farmer from Sutton Bonington is forced to spray-paint her hens pink in an attempt to deter thieves, and it’s worked a treat.

I’ve certainly been put off from my Friday night treat of having sex with chickens in the Square and waving through the window of Wetherspoons. I can’t have people thinking I was gay, can I? June 1 A man from Clifton gets his bus pass taken off him after sending a consistent torrent of complaining letters to NCT about miserable drivers not saying ‘ta, duckeh’ and things like that.

He’s got a point; when I chucked a boulder at the 16 to Top Valley the other night whilst making masturbatory gestures with the other hand, you should have seen the look I got off the driver. He never waved back, or owt.

June 3 Notts County, the Broadmarsh Centre of Nottingham football, announces that Munto Finance - who sound like the sort of company who advertise during the commercial breaks on Television X - have agreed to take the club over. Peter Trembling - best known in his previous job at Everton for introducing a prepay credit card with an astronomical APR aimed at one of the most underprivileged areas in the country - becomes the new Chief Executive. Amazingly, the Supporters Trust automatically yank their black-and-white knickers to one side and assume the position known by animal experts as ‘presenting’, despite knowing next to arse-all about the company, what guarantees they’re offering, who is funding them, why they don’t even have an internet presence bar news stories about the takeover, or anything bar ‘We’ll be better than Forest in five years, honest’.

June 4 Saffia Cordon, a beauty consultant from Hucknall, leaves a seven months-old babby with her Mam and enters the Big Brother house, in order to, quote, ‘find some direction in her life’ - which is like me entering NG1 in order the find, quote, ‘the fanneh’. Don’t ask me how she gets on, as I’d sooner watch me Dad in a scat film than that rammell.

June 8 The BNP get absolutely nowt off Nottingham and the East Midlands in the European elections, but pick up seats in Yorkshire and the North West - meaning that for the first time since the Miners’ Strike, we can finally look down our right-on noses at our clog-wearing, perm-sporting, mouth-breathing compatriots in the North. Hey, Yorkshire - if we’re ‘scabs’, you must be weeping, pus-filled anal sores.

June 15 Four coppers pin down and taser some bloke off Upper Parliament Street like American soldiers during a lunch break at Guantanamo Bay, while a cabbie records it on his mobile and a group of lads holding a vigil for their mate who died outside Halo wander over and have a look. A very rum do indeed, but if anyone out there wants to complain about police brutality, let’s try this experiment; if you have been on Parliament Street on a Saturday night and have not wished to taser the buggery out of everyone, put this magazine down now.

June 16 Thought so.

June 18 Yates, the city’s oldest mong-barn, reopens after the spending of six hundred thousand pounds on industrial-strength turd-polish.

Sadly, the event is not marked by The Queen launching a bottle of Lambrini against some other woman’s face (‘because the slag wor lookin’ at meh’) and going off to have the names of her children tattooed on her breasts. In GangstaFont.

June 30 A less-than-satisfactory month for the police ends when two of their own dogs die in a cop car during a heatwave. Maybe they could have used some of their new gear as a makeshift defibrillator.

July 1 The BBC axes its latest series of Robin Hood due to falling ratings. About time too, say I - Jonas Armstrong couldn’t be arsed to have a shave, Little John had one of those rammell Joy Of Sex beards that students try to grow the minute they leave their Mam’s house, and Keith Allen is, was and always will be a bell-end.

July 2 Nottingham launches its bid to be a World Cup host city, which is backed to the hilt by the Evening Post. Imagine the look on their faces if we get it and our group contains Poland, Nigeria, Iraq and Singlemothervania.

July 6 The police raise objections to plans by Rock City to stage boxing, wrestling and cage fighting events, stating that they don’t want ‘highly-intoxicated and adrenalin-fuelled’ punters mashing each other’s faces in. Obviously, that sort of thing should be kept at rough dives like, er, the Nottingham Arena.

July 7 The disgustingly blatant West Midlands media bias extends all the way to the Michael Jackson memorial service, when Queen Latifah says; “In Birmingham, Alabama, and Birmingham, England, we are missing Michael” without once mentioning the time in 1983 when Detroit (the clothes shop done out like an American petrol station, with pumps and everything, next to WH Smith) showed a taped copy of the Thriller video taped off Channel 4 the night before, and 300 people blocked the gangway in Viccy Centre to goz at it. All I want to say, people, is that they don’t really care about us.

July 13 Punters at the Grosvenor take advantage of a blocked drain and a torrential downpour by swimming in the car park, before the fire brigade inform them that they’re having a wallow in their own excrement and they’d better get over to the city hospital.

July 19 Over 200 people get all kickery-offery outside Templars, after being driven to a punch-crazy frenzy at a night hosted by Ragga Puffin, who automatically usurps Arse Full Of Chips as best local music name ever and sounds like a cartoon series populated by Jamaican music-themed animals. Like, I dunno, Swan Gorgon.

And Jackal Demus.

July 21 Notts County - the club mainly supported by sulky middle-class youths who want to feel sorry for themselves but haven’t got the courage to be Emos - start acting like your mad uncle on his 50th birthday by getting a weave and a sports car. Not only do they unveil a new badge (which is best described as ‘Pound Shop Barcelona’), they also reveal that everyone’s favourite Scandinavian shag-rat, Sven Goran Eriksson, will be their new Director of Football. Great news for everyone in Notts: County fans get to dream about capturing the Johnson’s Paint Trophy, while Forest fans finally have a legitimate reason to hate their gloryhunting rivals for a couple of years or so before it all goes horribly wrong.

July 23 The Nottingham Riviera opens, to the general delight of everyone bar the most miserable mard-arse, exposing the absolute hypocrisy of the Nottingham public. The last time the Square was full of sand - for nearly three years, mark you - everyone moaned about it. You ought to be ashamed of yourselves.

July 25 Nottingham Pride - the yearly celebration of diversity and tolerance - takes place during the day in the Arboretum.

Nottingham Shame - the weekly ritual of vomiting regurgitated WKD from one’s nose whilst attempting to get your hand up a shopgirl in the manner of Rod Hull and Emu up against the wall of Flares (while she texts some other bloke behind your back) takes place during the evening. As usual.

LeftEyeOn

leftlion.co.uk/lefteyeon

Summer in Notts, as seen through the viewfinders of local photographers...

Captions - left to right from the top Madness - The two-tone troopers closed Nottingham’s own outdoor festival to a sell out crowd at Wollaton Hall. Other Splendour highlights included the LeftLion stage, check out our coverage online at leftlion.co.uk/splendour.

(Dom Henry / Flickr: domhenry) Shane MacGowan - The Pogues had the Splendour crowd leaping about in the rain to their lively tunes, a fine effort with frontman Shane evidently battered.

(Dom Henry / Flickr: domhenry) Carnival sparkle - The annual Nottingham Carribean Carnival parade brought a touch of sunshine to the mean streets of HoodTown on Sunday 5 July.

(Phil Lowe / Flickr: frenchyphil) Send in the Cavalry - A new departure for community policing? ‘Fraid not, these WWI British Lancers took to the field for the Armed Forces weekend celebration at Wollaton Hall on 27-28 June.

(Christopher Frost / Nottingham Daily Photo) Lake Mansfield - Flash floods a-plenty this summer. This one was at the foot of Mansfield Road on Monday 6 July. It’s probably the cleanest the pavements have ever been.

(Ben Sigsworth / Flickr: ben-s)

www.leftlion.co.uk/issue30

5

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Image: Chris Askham

The Way of The Gun Carl Fellstrom is a Nottingham writer and journalist who last year released Hoods, a book about the gun and gang crime that has afflicted Nottingham over the past few decades. In the wake of the first shooting in Nottingham in three years, he sent us this open letter to the Nottingham public...

In the early hours of Bank Holiday Monday back in May, after what had been a particularly busy Sunday night around the clubs in the centre of Nottingham, a tragic reminder of what this city has been trying to move on from reared its ugly, brutal, senseless head once again. A young man made the mistake of entering a club where members of a rival posse were enjoying themselves. Bernard Langton was 27 and had a good deal to look forward to in life, not least watching his two young children grow up. Instead at around 2am he was left to die in a dark alleyway with a bullet in his back.

What preceded this shocking crime remains unclear, but it appears Bernard had been bottled as he and two friends entered the newly-opened Paris nightclub in the Lace Market. Bernard responded by pulling a knife and slashing the person he thought was his assailant. Gunshots rang out in the club and Bernard and his two friends ran for their lives. The gunmen pursued their prey down the streets of the Lace Market, firing several shots one of which hit Bernard in the back as he ran away. On seeing his injuries, his two friends decided it was better to leave him in an alleyway to get medical attention while avoiding their pursuers and the questions of the police who were by now on their way to the scene.

Despite the best efforts of attending paramedics, Bernard was already dying on the street. His life ended officially in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. Shockingly, it appears that the gang members responsible for his murder attempted to prevent ambulances from getting from the scene and raced down to the Queens Medical Centre where Bernard had been taken, in an attempt to block the entrance to the A & E department.

Bernard was, according to those who knew him, full of the vitality of life and always had a smile for friends. He was also no

stranger to crime. Originally from Liverpool, he had come to reside in Nottingham some years ago and had become involved in the highly profitable distribution of drugs across the city. He and close friends involved in the trade in the Lenton area of the city had disputes with rival posses before. A few years ago one of Bernard’s friends was shot in the back near Isis nightclub and in the months leading up to the ill-fated visit to Paris, there had been escalating friction between the two groups.

What has emerged from this dark episode tells me that the authorities in charge of this city have learned little from the last few years, during which Nottingham’s name was dragged through the mud - eventually becoming a literal byword for escalating gun crime and violence. The legend of ‘Shottingham’ is still lurking in the shadows. Since the much-publicised jailing of members of the Bestwood Cartel, the authorities have been keen to stress how much progress they have made tackling the gangs and gun crime problem and that the shooting of Bernard is the first gun crime murder for three years. As the police and council have been keen to shout from the rooftops, this is nowhere near the levels experienced in 2003-04. But there is something ultimately depressing about this stance.

There are accusations of a serious under-reporting of gun crime incidents in Nottingham - to the extent that even when witnesses hear what are undeniably gunshots, the police are loathe to place them in their statistics because they have not been able to verify it with the remnants of a discharged round.

Paranoia lurks behind this misplaced exactitude. The authorities are rightly fearful of a return to ‘Gun Crime Capital’ headlines, the impact of which has only recently begun to subside. But are they therefore guilty, yet again, of sticking their heads in the sand by failing to be open with the public - about the shocking nature of Langton’s murder, witholding information such as the

“In some ways the Gunns embody the sense of community spirit in Britain that has perhaps been lost since the Thatcher days. However perverted that became there were good things about it.”

Read the full interview at: www.leftlion.co.uk/hoods

number of shots fired that evening, where they were shot and the inhuman attempt to thwart emergency services’ attempt to save a life?

It was only pure luck which prevented some unfortunate and innocent reveller being hit by a bullet that night. I was as shocked as anyone to discover there is no CCTV coverage in the Lace Market. Why? I understand a few club owners in the Lace Market had installed CCTV some years ago on their own initiative (only for the cameras to be stolen), but why haven’t the authorities installed cameras in this blind spot? Secondly, why have some club owners allowed criminal elements to thrive in their establishments, to the extent that some gangs seem to think they are in the offices of their own criminal organisation when they walk through the doors? I said sometime ago in an interview with LeftLion that people who love this city need to hold their heads high and reclaim the streets, clubs and pubs back from the gangsters in the city centre. But that battle is difficult when irresponsible club owners do the opposite and allow the villains of the piece into their domain - because they have wads of cash in their back pocket, as well as firearms and knives.

It is welcome to hear that scanners will now be used to check those going into clubs, but this is too little too late and raises the issue of whether the doormen will check everyone, or give a nod and wink to certain people who are then let in without being searched or queueing like law-abiding punters. At the heart of the problem is this depressing fact: there is not nearly enough money being contributed by the City Council towards charitable organisations and groups, such as the No Gun Organisation and the Unity football team, who are trying to change the attitudes of young people involved with guns, gangs and drugs. This needs to change if there is going to be any positive and lasting effect on this ‘no future’ culture.

On a final note, three people have been charged with Langton’s murder. It came as no surprise to me that one of those charged, possibly the man who fired the fatal shot, had already been featured in my book Hoods as a former associate of the Bestwood Cartel. I really hope that justice will be done in this case. I really don’t want to be writing a sequel to that book in a year’s time.

Hoods by Carl Fellstrom is published by Milo Books. milobooks.co.uk

www.leftlion.co.uk/issue30

7

By the time you read this there will be a big beach parked for two months in the middle of the Market Square. But we thought we’d send Rob Cutforth to Skegness to get a proper idea of the British seaside…

I’m not a beachy kind of guy, especially a British beach. I’ve never understood the point of lying in a giant kitty litter box all greasy and sweaty while the wind sandblasts three inches of skin off of your back. I also don’t like stuff on my hands. I never use moisturiser or creams of any kind; I hate greasy palms, literally or figuratively.

better replace them with booze… and lots of it.

The caller starts calling the numbers rapid-fire one after the other without pausing to take a breath. I start freaking out.

‘How are you supposed to keep up? He reads the numbers out too fast! I can’t keep up! Wait, wait!’ to which the caller replied ‘Don’t worry if you don’t hear all the numbers, I’ll tell you if you’ve won’. So, basically, it wasn’t bingo at all, it was ‘Put-your-money-in-the-machineand-shut-the-eff-up-game’. It was the most pointless exercise of my entire life. Believe me, that says a lot.

I feel like that Goldfinger chick all covered in paint whenever I have sun cream on my hands.

They say you can’t die if your skin is suffocated with goo, but I’m not convinced. Also, people are fat and their nipples are hairy. Fat, old, hairy-nippled guys in butt-crack revealing Speedos are reason enough to never go to a beach if you ask me.

If I thought the bingo was messed up, it had nothing on the arcades. The blinking lights, spinning wheels and enough neon to make a Bangkok brothel look classy, mixed with the sickly sweet smell of cotton candy, fish and chips and body odour hit me like a sledgehammer. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to fall into a coma, throw up, have an epileptic fit or go into anaphylactic shock.

The Nottingham Riviera (aka the big beach in the Market Square) seems like a good idea.

You can go down on your lunch break, take off your shoes and walk through the sand without the threat of armies of lycra-covered old-man johnsons coming at you from all sides. I bet the Nottingham Riviera was brilliant for the first week or so before it became a steaming hot stew of townie vomit and kiddie pee complete with giant swear words written in the middle of it.

After playing the camel game, the Bunk-go, the penny-pushing thing and winning nowt, I decided to sample some of the food, it smelled so good after all. Stumbling, dazed down the Grand Parade, we found the world’s tightest fish and chips shop. Along with the usual stuff you’d find on an overhead menu in a chip shop was the proudly displayed ‘Ketchup 10p’ and (if you can believe it) ‘Plastic fork 5p’. 5p for a plastic fork! How desperate do you have to be to charge for a plastic fork? Only in a world ruled by crazy apes with lasers does charging 5p for a plastic fork make sense. It’s the first step toward anarchy.

Unfortunately, I don’t know for sure how that turned out as this column was due before it opened. No matter. There is another way to write about Nottingham and beaches, and that is to visit the real Nottingham Riviera, Skegness. I am regularly surprised at how cack most things described as ‘traditionally British’ are. I mean, I know they’re going to suck, but they always seem to suck just that little bit more than I had anticipated. Skegness was no different.

I arrived in Skeggeh with a couple of friends on a very sunny Sunday afternoon to see three things that really set the tone for the day. The Christmas decorations were still up, there were enough algae in the man-made canal to allow even the most godless heathen the ability to walk on water and the ‘I’ was missing from the huge ‘Pier Bowl’ sign.

Skeggeh main street (the hilariously named Grand Parade) is a veritable cornucopia of eyesores. You don’t know where to look first (or look away from). There’s the dilapidated castle thing, the depressing tourist shops full of useless pieces of plastic and R-rated postcards and the worryingly rickety GIANT WHEEL. Kids are smart these days and most of them seemed to have taken the hint, with only a few brave souls on any of the rides. No Nottingham kid wants to lose an arm when the log becomes

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dislodged from the flume, you can’t light an old lady on fire with one hand - how would you strike the match? There is nothing sadder than an empty log flume, let me tell you.

Well, except for the Skegness bingo caller. He had the voice of Ferris Bueller’s teacher and the self-hate of an alcoholic used car salesman.

‘Clickety click, sixty six. Gordon’s den, ten.

There’s a bug on the screen, sixteen. My life means nothing… twelve’. I don’t know whether it was his desperate monotone or the promise of some serious schadenfreude, but before long we find ourselves sitting in front of Captain Happy dropping pound coins into the bingo machine.

There are a few things that immediately strike me as strange about Skeggeh bingo. One, you are sitting in front of a machine. There is no swirling Bingo ball cage, no wooden bingo balls, no cards and no dobbers. The best thing about bingo is the ability to give your mate a giant purple dobber bindi when he’s least expecting it. Two, the numbers are in coloured columns. Now, I am no bingo aficionado, but one thing I do know is that in the game of BINGO, the numbers line up underneath the letters B-I-N-G-O. That is the whole bloody point. Three, and most importantly, there is no booze. If you’re going to take away the rolling balls, the dauber fights and the big prizes, you

The most shocking thing about Skegness was the beach itself. The yellow sand goes down the coast for miles and looks out onto a massive wind farm. Standing on Skeggeh beach watching the water lap at the edge while those giant white blades spin slowly with the sun setting behind you is quite a wonderful experience. It’s almost religious. Really. As long as you keep your eyes away from the Disneyland on downers behind you and tell yourself that those donkeys on the beach are not wishing they were dead, you can have a very pleasant day out in Skegness. I look forward to seeing how they replicate that in Market Square.

Read more from Rob at www.canuckistani.com

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Left Brian Illustrations: Adam Poole

Left Pie-On

Our regular football columnists Alex Fisher and Jared Wilson preview the new season for Forest and County...

The full skinny: Though Sven County have been grabbing all the headlines in the last few weeks, flaunting their new-found ‘wealth’ like an office secretary with a ludicrously gaudy engagement ring, the suddenly mousier club on the other side of the Trent has pushed its glasses up the bridge of its nose, pretended to be happy for its colleague (whilst feeling confident that it’ll end up with Jeremy Kyle getting involved), and has been getting its head down to a serious backlog of work this summer.

The full skinny: What a crazy summer! Last season, there was so much in-fighting between the club board and the Supporters Trust that most Notts supporters were just begging for a buyer to step in and run the club properly again. Thankfully Munto Finance did – and the football world has been shocked by the appointment of Sven Goran Eriksson (along with his trusty sidekick Tord Grip), who turned down offers from major European clubs to take on the task of resurrecting the oldest football league club in the world - just in time for our 150th anniversary in 2012.

Yes indeed, Forest have been far the busiest club in the shire, as manager Billy Davies splashes the cash with the backing of an – ahem - English business tycoon. Amazingly, chairman and owner Nigel Doughty seems to have trusted the experienced boss (who is gradually losing his reputation as a ‘Derby reject’) with free reign over the chequebook. It might not last, but with nine signings already and several irons still in the fire (to use one of Joe Kinnear’s favourite phrases), Billy seems to be making the most of it.

One thing is for sure this season: other clubs in our division are going to hate us (which is only right, as if this had happened to another team in our league we’d have hated them too). We’re now solid favourites for promotion, despite not managing a top-half finish for five years. We just need more quality players to come in now to justify all of this (though the ones we have ought to be more motivated than ever). Expect to see a rapid increase in attendances (in the short-term, at least) from around 5,000 per game to nearer 10,000. Glory-hunting fans, eh? Seems weird even saying that about Notts!

This summer there’s also been talk about a new stadium being built in time for the 2018 World Cup. At the moment, Forest clearly have no need for a 50,000 capacity ground - but if we can steer ourselves towards the Premiership, then maybe the plans will start looking a bit more realistic. But would we want to leave the City Ground?

Reassuringly, it’s not all change at Forest; as we go to press, we’re are still waiting for a glimpse of the new home and away shirts. Obviously the administrative staff at the City Ground aren’t used to working at Billy Davies’ speed when it comes to preparation for the new campaign.

Pre-match drinking: LTLF members will be drinking in The Globe on London Road this season where there’s a healthy selection of ales (unlike our previous drinking hole, the Amici Wine Bar on Radcliffe Road). The Southbank Bar is always full on matchdays too. Fans looking for a quieter pint and quality snap to boot should also consider the Lady Bay (Trent Boulevard) and The Stratford Haven (off Central Avenue).

Best Forest chant: Has to be our version of You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling – inspired by Tom Cruise and now used to taunt opposition fans after every goal. All together now: ‘You never close your eyes any more when I kiss your lips...’

Players in: Where to start? Billy Davies has been a revelation this summer. He’s managed to bring back five of last season’s loan players on permanent deals - popular goalkeeper Lee Camp, defenders Joel Lynch and Chris Gunter, winger Paul Anderson and striker Dexter Blackstock, all of whom had a big impact last term. Add to that highly-rated local lad David McGoldrick (from Southampton), Preston’s long-serving captain Paul McKenna and veteran striker Dele Adebola (from Bristol City), plus exciting Polish international Radoslaw Majewski (on a season-long loan), and we’ve got a team that will fill even the most pessimistic Red with hope. For a change.

Transfers out: We said goodbye to former captain Ian Breckin at the end of last season (he’s joined Chesterfield) and shed a bit of dead weight, but so far we’ve kept hold of our first team players, despite rumours linking Wes Morgan, James Perch and Nathan Tyson with moves. Youngsters Joe Heath, Brendan Moloney, Shane Redmond, James Reid and Matt Thornhill will all get the chance to improve their games while out on loan.

Last season: 19th. Do we have to talk about last season? Not a great campaign, but at least we re-established ourselves in the Championship.

This season: 6th. If Billy can get his new squad to gel quickly then I’m confident we’ll have the talent and – more importantly – strength in depth to push for the play-offs.

Look out for: Some fantastic betting opportunities for Forest fans. Not only are new club sponsors Victor Chandler offering daft odds on promotion, but rivals Paddy Power are running their own set of special Forest-related markets via LTLF.co.uk.

Best fanzine website: LTLF.co.uk, naturally, with the busiest Forest forum on the web, daily updates from passionate fans and a plethora of Forest funnies. We also feature posts from some of the best Forest blogs, including nffcblog.com, eighteensixtyfive.co.uk and forestfans.blogspot.com.

Tickets: Adults £22-£30, Concessions: £6 – £22. Phone 0871 226 1980 or see nffcretail.co.uk. nottinghamforest.co.uk 10

www.leftlion.co.uk/issue30

On a more serious note, the one thing I hope that all County fans will realise is that a year ago we all agreed that money has ruined football by all of it going to the top teams and not feeding down to the smaller local clubs. We’ve subverted that model now, but for how long we don’t know. We should never forget those dark days when our club nearly folded in 2003, and if any other clubs find themselves in trouble then we should do what we can to help them. We might be back there one day ourselves.

Pre-match drinking: Some fans go to Hooters for the big screen TVs and the big jugs (of beer) on offer – but that’s often full of away fans too. The staple pubs for Pies who are not just out to ogle women in orange lycra are The Globe or The Navigation Inn on Meadow Lane (which is okay if you don’t mind drinking out of plastic). Wheelers Bar next to the club shop has been fairly derelict except for a few beer pumps for ages, but with our new-found riches you can expect to see some improvements to the place soon.

Best chant: The Wheelbarrow Song is our classic. Simply sing ‘I had a wheelbarrow/The wheel fell off’ repeatedly to the tune of On Top of Old Smokey. But there are others too - sing along with The Kop to the tune of Anarchy in the UK: ‘I am a County fan/And I come from Nottingham/Don’t know what I want but I know how to get it/I wanna destroy Forest and Stags’ Players in: Controversial striker and former drink-driving convict Lee Hughes has joined from Oldham and will no doubt inspire plenty of hatred from away fans. His new regular strike partner might prove to be former Port Vale and Yeovil forward Luke Rodgers. After lacking leadership on the pitch last season, we’ve managed to sign the former captains of several other clubs in our division including central defender Graeme Lee (from Bradford) and midfielders Ricky Ravenhill (Darlington), Ben Davies (Shrewsbury) and Neil Bishop (Barnet). Talented right-back Brendan Moloney has joined on a sixth-month loan from Forest and former Forest striker Craig Westcarr signed on a free from Kettering. More will follow.

Players out: Quite a few, but none that will be missed. Player of the year left winger Myles Weston defected to Brentford before the takeover and will no doubt be wondering whether he made the right decision now. Richard Butcher was released after scoring 20 goals over two seasons from midfield - but at times the non-goalscoring parts of his play were frankly appalling. Injury-prone midfielders Gavin Strachan and Adam Nowland (aka Mr Glass) have also been shown the door. So too have tiny forward Jamie Forrester and defender Adam Tann.

Last season: 19th – four places off relegation from the Football League.

This season: 2nd – I’m not going jinx us by saying we’ll be champions, but I have put a bet on it.

Nothing less than promotion will be acceptable with the resources we have now.

Look out for: Fans wearing tea towels and belts on their heads as a ‘salute’ to our new Middle Eastern owners. There should be plenty of Sven masks around the ground this season, too.

Best fanzine website: Our main fanzine, The Pie, doesn’t actually have a website. So you’ll have to get your online jollies from the excellent www.nottscounty-mad.co.uk instead.

Tickets: Adult £18-20, Concessions £12 and children £5. Phone 0115 9557204 for more details. nottscountyfc.co.uk

The Fifteen Year Itch

words: Jared Wilson

It’s been a decade and a half since Forest and County last played each other in a competitive football match…

Since then, aside from the odd pre-season friendly, the only local decent local football ‘derby’ has been Forest against… erm Derby.

The last time both Nottingham teams played each other in a league match was on 12 February 1994 in the English second tier. As Magpies’ fans are quick to point out, the points that day went to them, courtesy of a late winner from Notts right back Charlie Palmer. It was one of only seven goals he scored during a six-year stint at Meadow Lane, but as he freely admits it was ‘the sweetest of my whole career’.

The tenure of Brian Clough (1975-1993) led to the best years of footballing success ever seen at the City Ground and, in turn, years of decline for Notts. I was born in the year that they first became kings of Europe and I suppose by rights I should have supported them - certainly most of my friends at school did.

Indeed Clough’s success over those years was so great that, in the public eye at least, he managed to totally eclipse his counterpart and Notts County’s greatest ever manager Jimmy Sirrel. Here was a man who took Notts from the bottom division to the top one, a man who Sir Alex Ferguson has cited as a major managerial inspiration. Yet the truth is that most Nottingham kids nowadays will have never heard of him… they’ll know who Brian Clough was though.

However, if you look back even further through the two clubs history it’s not always been as one-sided - there has, on occasion, been a healthy rivalry between them. Indeed, before Old Big ‘Eads reign, County had regularly assumed the position as the larger club in the city. For example when, 62 years ago, England’s first-choice centre forward Tommy Lawton decided to leave top division Chelsea in his prime to go to then third

division Magpies, it set in motion a course of events that would see them grabbing the upper hand in the city for the best part of a decade. It wasn’t just the local TV coverage that was black and white back then!

Until this summer, Magpies fans assumed a moment like that would never be eclipsed in the modern game (the equivalent nowadays would be Wayne Rooney joining us). However, July’s appointment of former England Manager Sven Goran Eriksson as Director of Football at the club must at the very least run a close second.

So what do we need to really kick-start our local footballing rivalry and put the sheepshaggers back in the shadow where they belong? Well, both clubs need to be in the same division first and realistically that’s not likely to happen for at least another two or three seasons. However with Forest’s previously unassailable financial wealth now apparently overtaken, Notts have the resources to do it and with a bit of good management (and let’s face it Sven knows what he’s doing) they shouldn’t reside in the footballing wilderness for too much longer.

Screw the Premiership and sod the Champions League. All we want as Notts fans is not be patronised anymore by the team we still see as our biggest rivals. Nothing is more infuriating to a Notts fan than the thought of a died-in-the-wool Forest fan turning up to Meadow Lane to ‘cheer us on’. How patronising is that? Yes, ladies and gentlemen I look forward to a day when Forest fans once again stand united in singing hateful songs about us like we have done to them over the last decade. And if nothing else it ought to mean that less kids in the city grow up wearing Chelsea and Man U shirts. That in itself can only be a good thing all round!.

2018: A Space Oddity

words: Al Needham

Nottingham wants in on England’s World Cup bid, but there’s a 50,000-seat catch that could change everything…

So is Nottingham a worthy applicant for World Cup venue status? Of course it is. Cobblers to Preston; Nottingham is the genuine home of professional football. We have the oldest professional club and the oldest local derby. Compare our contribution to football history to other cities that have thrown their hat in the ring (Leicester? Derby? Hull? Milton Keynes?), and we stand head and shoulders over nearly all of ‘em.

So should we be bidding for World Cup venue status? Don’t be sucky - of course we should. Ever since I saw Johan Cruyff turning a Swedish defender’s knickers inside out on a black-andwhite telly in Hyson Green in 1974, I have been gagging to see the World Cup – the greatest event ever created by humanity - in my city before I snuff it. Imagine; Nottingham having the same exotic ring to kids in Peru and Bulgaria as Guadalajara, Gelsenkirchen and Rosario had for me in the 70s. The word ‘Nottingham’ occupying a blank space in a Panini sticker book.

The entire world watching a game of football in our back yard.

Add to that the estimated £40million windfall that will descend upon the city, the excuse for another regeneration bonanza, the opportunity to put Leicester and Derby firmly back in their box once and for all, and the usual No Surrender-chanters of the Shire being massively outweighed by supporters from other countries out for a seriously good time, and it’s a no-brainer that having the World Cup in Nottingham would be one of the most exciting, amazing and downright proper few weeks in the city’s history.

But stop waving your Robin Hood posters around for one second; there is going to be an exceptionally high price to pay for all of this. The last time England hosted a World Cup, the eight venues chosen didn’t have to do a thing to their stadia. In Euro 96, the only thing that was required of Nottingham was the building of a new stand at the City Ground. This time around, FIFA are going to want a stadium big enough to host a group stage match.

Pride Park in Derby and the Walkers Stadium are big and modern enough to fit the bill, with a tweak here and there; the City Ground and Meadow Lane, on the other hand, aren’t.

And therein lies the problem.

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Midfield General

Five years ago he was going through some old diaries and sent them to a publisher. The

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 walk-

What was the relationship between the players and the local media like? How did it compare to the Forest team

The way things stand at the moment, all that infrastructure, all that convenience – all that heritage, damn it - would be ripped up for a new stadium in Gamston that both clubs would struggle to fill on a regular basis. Go and ask the average Forest or Notts fan how they feel about that. Then ask them to stop swearing so much and shouting so loud. When you consider that this stadium could be hosting as little as two games at England ’18, there’s a distinct risk that the Gamston Enormobowl could prove to be a very costly pasty-faced pachyderm.

The solution is obvious; the new owners of Notts County put their money where their mouth is and agree to finally drag Meadow Lane into the 21st Century, with provisions to temporarily expand the stadium further for 2018. It’ll fit perfectly into the city’s admirable plan to make us a Green, sustainable World Cup venue, give the Maggies a real boost over Forest, save the city millions of pounds, and not shag everything over.

Otherwise Nottingham 2018 risks benefitting everyone for a month at the long-term expense of the very people who actually go to watch football in Notts.

“Should Jimmy Sirrel get a statue? If they were to do a small statuette of him somewhere in the ground it would be quite fitting, but I’d have to say it should be covered over during the daytime and anyone of a nervous disposition should be warned beforehand.”

Read more at leftlion.co.uk/davemcvay

“Should there be a Peter Taylor statue in Nottingham as well? It makes me angry to think that there isn’t. It was always Clough and Taylor. If Brian were here now he would insist that Forest would do something for him. Whether they do remains to be seen.”

Read more at leftlion.co.uk/duncanhamilton www.leftlion.co.uk/issue30

words: Jared Wilson photo: Kevin Lake 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.

Both grounds are perfectly adequate for their purposes. Forest couldn’t pack out the City Ground on a regular basis even when they were champions of Europe, and County would have to quadruple their average attendance before worrying about expansion. When you throw in Trent Bridge, Nottingham has one of the biggest concentrations of sports venues in the country all a stone’s throw away from a railway station, something that other cities would kill for.

www.england2018bid.com

www.leftlion.co.uk/issue6

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.

We’ve been here before, of course; ever since the early 90s, when Brian Clough himself mooted the idea - the spectre of a Forest/County groundshare has loomed large. Forest can’t expand the City Ground – the Council own a strip of land that backs onto the Trent, as well as the freehold. Notts could expand Meadow Lane, in theory - but bar the usual platitudes about building the stadium up to in order to accommodate County’s forthcoming Champions League run, they don’t feature in the plans for Nottingham 2018.

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?

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

11

words: James Walker

Mark Charan Newton’s impressive debut novel Nights of Villjamur is not your usual fantasy fiction. Written almost in a noir style, rather than epic battles and endless magical creatures, there is a strong emphasis on character development where everyone’s story is linked. In this sense he is being hailed as one of a new breed of innovative fantasy authors, following in the tradition of China Miéville, Alan Campbell and Hal Duncan.

With suicides, political corruption, sexually ambiguous heroes and an impending ice age forcing droves of refugees into the fantastical landscape of Villjamur, this dying earth fantasy has something for everyone...

Tell us a little about yourself…

In a nutshell I’m 28 years old, and have lived in Nottingham for nearly five years now, since I moved with work. I’ve been writing for about six or seven years. It was never an ambition of mine at first, but very slowly it became an obsession. Other than that, I’m just a regular person, I love my music and would regularly trawl Selectadisc before it closed. I love the Alley Café (as I’m vegetarian) and I have way too many books.

When did you get the idea for the book?

It’s something that came to me slowly, a combination of ideas which I don’t think there was any one spark. I tend to work in layers; I’ll have one idea, then link something else on top, then another. I have general inspiration from the world around, but I think anyone can come up with an idea for a novel. The tricky thing is putting it down on paper.

How did you go about getting published?

Well my first step was getting an agent, a guy called John Jarrold who specialises in fantasy and science fiction. I sent him a few chapters of a book about five years ago and he wrote back to tell me he’d like to represent me. I was over the moon, understandably, but it was a long time until I became published.

I worked on a couple of books, without success. Then with Nights of Villjamur, he sent it around to all the major publishing houses in London and luckily one accepted.

The book is part of a trilogy; have you written the others yet?

It’s actually shaping up to be a quartet at the moment. I’ve just submitted the second in the series to my editor (for her to hack into with her red pen). I’ve a rough idea of the third, although I quite like the process of tackling each book on its own. Things change throughout the writing process and I enjoy the creative freedom.

Why are trilogies so popular within the fantasy genre?

People love to immerse themselves in secondary worlds. You’d be surprised, some series go on for ten books or more. Readers often love to spend their time in such places to exercise their imagination, as the real world can be quite mundane at times. The other aspect is that the stories involved are actually quite epic, so we need more words to cope with the scale.

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Given the complexity of these alternative worlds, plot must be perfectly constructed. You need to signpost readers without patronising them...

If you’ve built the world well enough, then you can find your way around a plot pretty easily. You can also write plots that you’d expect to find in the real world on themes like love and murder, for example. You’d be surprised that people are generally very good at keeping up with extremely complex plotting. I tend to just expect readers to keep up with me; that way they’re not being patronised. But as long as a world and story is consistent, this never becomes an issue. People get lost when things don’t make sense.

Who are your influences?

I have quite a few, from all kinds of genres. Whether or not they show in my own fiction is another matter. But in no particular order, the main writers I love are China Miéville, Don DeLillo, M John Harrison, Henning Mankell and Jonathan Letham.

You can invite any four fantasy figures or authors to dinner.

Who would they be and why?

What a question! Hmmm... I’d probably invite China Miéville because he’s a cool and smart guy, Gene Wolfe because he’s one of the most intelligent writers on the planet, Silk Spectre II from Watchmen and Arwen from Lord of the Rings (but only the Liv Tyler version). Do I have to explain the reasons for those last two?

Any advice to up and coming authors?

Write and then write some more. Believe it or not, that’s the biggest obstacle to those who want to be a writer. Try to get all the way through a novel and once you have done that, try another one. It could take years to be published. You have to really want it, and don’t be put off by rejection.

What makes a good fantasy novel?

That’s the million-dollar question. There are no rules, and tastes differ completely. Fantasy is vast, it transcends simply wizards and elves or whatever people might think fantasy is. From Salman Rushdie to Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman to Gabriel García Márquez, they are all writing fantasy.

Do you have a favourite character in your book?

I like the miserable but slightly useless detective. I think he’s got a real world charm about him, and deals with real problems in his home life. But I’m surprised with the reactions so far. Readers tend to like characters who I certainly don’t think they’ll like.

When can we expect the second novel to come out? Is there pressure from the publisher to meet exact deadlines?

It should be a year from this one, so June 2010 in hardcover and around the same time the first book will come out in paperback.

They like to release books a year apart for commercial reasons.

I’m up to speed so far, but have no idea how I’ll be doing in a year from now!

Nights of Villjamur is out now priced £16.99 in hardback from Tor publishers. markcnewton.com

Words: James Walker Image: Niko

When I was a teenager I used to go to Viccy Centre with my mates and hang about the various department stores where we would play our favourite game: knocking suitcases onto unsuspecting biddies’ heads as they mounted the escalators. One day, I was collared by a security guard who took me to one side and explained, firmly but fairly, why I should find more productive ways to expend my energy. I took his advice and have since flowered into a book-loving vegetarian. I decided it was time to catch up with that man, Eagon Chambers, to find out what other rogues he has had to deal with in twenty two years of walking his beat in the Victoria Centre….

How old are you, if you don’t mind us asking?

You’re not going to print that, are you? Fifties. Let’s say I was born in the fifties. Yeah.

Have you always lived in Nottingham?

No, I’m from Jamaica. Came over when I was young with the parents and the family, as you do. We’re all still here. I went to Birmingham once but came back after six months. I hated it.

Probably didn’t give it a chance, but I missed Nottingham. I’ve been down London and people haven’t got the time of day for you. They’re so rude. We’re fine up here. I wouldn’t live anywhere else.

How long have you been a security guard?

Oh, a long time. 22 years in September. A long stretch.

Are things better or worse now?

It’s not too bad in here now but years ago, gangs of lads, we used to have a lot of problems. Winos we used to have trouble with too, but they’ve gone as well. It’s a pleasant place now.

How come they’ve all gone?

I don’t know. I suppose we keep on top of ‘em. Eventually they get fed up of being moved on and go and hang out somewhere else.

Plus, now, we’ve got the street wardens. They help make it a steady day.

How do kids react to you when you move them on - are they polite?

Most are. You get the odd cheeky, lairy ones. But generally they’re alright, yeah. I just try and coax them out really. Talk to them, pacify them, flannel ‘em mainly, to get rid of ‘em. And it normally works.

Does talking work better than, shall we say, more traditional methods?

(Laughs) I don’t know how to answer that. I think the older system was better to be

honest, but that’s probably just because I’m older. It’s what I grew up with and know. The kids that grow up now, the parents aren’t firm with them. They get everything they want, basically.

The girl I’m seeing now, she’s got a thirteen year-old and he’s got an X-Box and two hundred and sixty pound for the birthday! I wouldn’t do that because then they expect it, don’t they? When I were young, I got a couple o’ bars of chocolate and a bob or two.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of your job?

Helping the public - that’s rewarding. And we’re first aiders. We learnt to use the heart machine, you know, the defibrillator. One of the guards saved a chap’s life with that - he had a heart attack outside Millers Cookies. It were in the Evening Post, front page.

What is the strangest request you’ve had from the public?

I’ve had so many I can’t remember! For instance, someone comes up and asks you for directions to a certain shop. You know the shop is in the other shopping centre, so you tell ‘em - and they say ‘No, I was in here last week and it was here’ and I just think, well, I’ve been working here for 22 years and I know it’s not. But they still don’t believe you. I had one walk off and call me an idiot.

Do you have a particular route you walk?

We do the whole centre and the car park, up and down the malls, and the roof as well. Go outside the perimeter and have a look around. I was wondering the other day how many miles I’ve covered in here over the years.

Do you keep your eyes out for particular types of behaviour?

If there’s shouting, you look up or if you walk past a shop and staff are outside you ask them if they are alright. If there’s a problem in any of the shops they’ve got buzzers and the controller shouts me on the walkie-talkie. I’m an old head. I know what to look out for...

Have you ever been seriously threatened?

One morning I came in and a bloke was sat drinking. I went up to him and said, ‘Mate, can you stop?’ He told me a few bad words and he went in his bag and I saw the handle coming out so I grabbed him. The police took him and said when they searched his house he had about forty different weapons. One of them sorts, he was. I’ve had blades pulled on me, but not as serious as what that bloke had. I’ve been punched once but it was nowt. Just sore for a few days. On me cheek (smiles).

Do people get banned from the Centre?

Oh yeah. We’ve got a book of faces downstairs that we look out for. We call it Rogues Gallery. Got about 25 well-known shoplifters and troublemakers in it.

What’s a typical shoplifter?

We’ve got three types. Them that steal for drugs, them that are young and silly, and the prolific ones that steal to order. That’s how they make a living, you know.

Do you get people recognising you out of uniform?

When I’m out and about and in town you get people saying hello. That’s a regular occurrence that is. I used to work on the doors so I know a lot of people.

How does working the doors differ to security work?

You’re dealing with rational people here in the Centre. I did both at the same time for a while. Three hours in a pub ain’t that bad.

But it’s different now. The pubs are open all night.

If you could bump into any celebrity in the Victoria Centre, who would it be and why?

I used to work one door with Frank, Carl Froch’s father. I like Carl Froch. I’m glad he won. He’s a good lad. He’s done a weigh-in here when he beat that Canadian bloke. We have a few highlights here, you know; some celebrity woman came and opened the House of Fraser. I can’t remember her name, but I’ve met her. But if I could meet anyone it would be Obama. He’s my man. Before him, Mandela.

Forest or County?

Forest. I used to go every Saturday before I started working here.

I used to love Kenny Burns and Keane. Birtles was alright.

Burnsie was like one of the lads. No nonsense.

Do you think they would make good security guards?

Burnsie would, back in the day. I don’t think Keane has got the temperament. He loses his fuse.

Any message for the people of Nottingham?

No. Not really. Just the youngsters. I’d like to tell them to behave and settle down and get a career. Have some responsibility.

But they’re young and don’t know this yet.

“You’re always worried that you might get jumped.

And it’s happened a time or two. But not many of ‘em get away with it, because my basket likes to hit a bloke’s belly button.”

PRAWN STAR He goes into fifteen pubs every night, and comes home with his fingers smelling of... ah, but let’s not go down that route.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Fish Man is in the house … words: Al Needham photo: Dom Henry

When you live in a city that changes as rapidly as ours, you appreciate the things that stay the same. And nobody has stayed the same longer than the Fish Man. For over forty years, he has rolled up in his white coat and hat, dishing the fish to our nanas, mams, and maybe even our kids one day. Ever since LeftLion started, we’ve been determined to discover the man behind the basket. That day has finally come…

So tell us about yourself, Fish Man… My full name is David Colin Bartram, and I’ll be 62 this year. I was born in West Bridgford, but I was legally adopted because my parents had wanted a little girl. Which was a bit stupid of ‘em, but you have to tek life as it comes, don’t you? I left school at fifteen and worked on the farms - milking and herding and that.

What got you into the world of fishmongering?

When I used to come home at the weekend, I’d do a few Saturdays for a man called Harry Tenby, who used to run the cockle trade in Notts. He gave me the basket, and a list of pubs. When he emigrated to Spain, I took over with my wife - who I met when we worked on this job. The ‘D&S’ on me back stands for Dave and Shirley. I got laid off at my day job, so we used the redundancy money to build the business up - at one time we had seven staff and 250 pubs, but then my wife died about thirteen years ago and I do it on me own now.

I’ve been doing this for fourty-one years, in all.

Have you ever had competition in town?

Not really. I’ve had blokes try it, and think they can do it better than me, but they never had the bottle. I must admit it was quite scary going into a pub and selling, but back then all the pubs in town were run by husband-and-wife teams, and if you asked them first everyone was alright with it. It was easier then, before the chain pubs came in.

Chain pubs are changing everything, aren’t they?

They won’t let me in. They’ve all got ‘company policies’. You don’t have that personal contact with whoever’s running it nowadays, which is a shame. There was a time when I used to sell in one big pub in town, but then one of the doormen asked for a bribe, so I don’t bother there anymore.

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Take us through your day…

My average day is packing, preparing, fetching and carrying. I get me seafood delivered fresh from Kings Lynn, or Nottingham Seafood behind the Cattle Market. It takes me about three hours to prepare everything - I pack everything up as late as I can and then come out in the evening. I usually get home at 1am.

So why should everyone have a bit of seafood with their pint?

Well, it’s brain food, in’t it? Personally I like the prawns and the cockles, but I’d have owt out of me basket. Not too keen on the whelks meself, but they’re very good for keeping your wife quiet for a bit. I know a gentleman who’s got a bit of a noisy wife when she’s had a drink, and every time he sees me he’s after me whelks…

Do you ever get aggro in town?

Well, you’re always worried that you might get jumped. And it’s happened a time or two. But not many of ‘em get away with it, because my basket likes to hit a bloke’s bellybutton. Oh yes.

I’m not bragging, but I’ve knocked a few over in town. Only to protect meself, mind..

Your decision to sell Peperamis has caused a lot of controversy, hasn’t it?

Read the full interview at leftlion.co.uk/fishman

It has. I’m only selling them because I was asked by the youngsters. It’s not hurting anyone, and they’re not taking up much room in me basket. Some folk have said that Peperamis and fish don’t mix, and one could contaminate the other. How can it? They’re wrapped up!

What’s trade like these days?

There’s still a living to be made from it, but I’ve noticed there’s not as many punters since the smoking ban. I also do Americana in Newark, but I don’t do Goose Fair. I do my pubs 52 weeks a year why should I let them down? I’m cheaper than Goose Fair, anyway.

“My basket likes to hit a bloke’s bellybutton”

You’re one of the few people in town these days who everyone seems to recognise.

So I’ve been told. I feel quite nice about it, because of all the respect I get off landlords and landladies, and the people who’ve kept me going. I mean, I was gonna pack this up when I lost me wife, but the Trip and other pubs said “Come on, Dave, you can’t pack this up, we’ll back you”. And I’ll always be grateful for that.

What’s the worst part of your job?

When someone says “Come ‘ere, c**t, what’s in your basket?” No manners. I just blank ‘em nowadays. But if anyone starts on me, there’ll be people in the pub to start on them, so I don’t worry.

Are you thinking of retiring soon?

No. I’m only doing fourteen or fifteen pubs at the moment, but I’m always looking for any other pubs who’ll give me a chance.

I’m part of a tradition that goes back decades, and I don’t

want to see Nottingham go without it, but I can only carry it on if the pubs will let me in.

I just don’t want to give it up. I can’t retire. What’s going to happen if I pack up? I’m gonna be sitting on me arse seven nights a week, burning me own electricity, watching crap telly. I’ll only start easing off when I find a nice lady.

Ooh. Are you on a mission, Dave?

Well, I’d like to find a lady to wine and dine, as long as she can put up with me fishy fingers! If there’s any lady out there with time on her hands who’s willing to help me as a partner, I’d be very pleased to meet them. I haven’t gone courting on the internet, because I’ve heard some funny stories about what goes on - these blokes pretending to be women and wanting your money and that.

Is there anything else you’d like to say to LeftLion readers?

I’d like to thank all the landlords who’ve let me work, and all my customers over the years. Just keep supporting me, and I’ll keep bringing the fish out. And if any ladies are interested, let me know. I could do with a bit of lady company, instead of fishy company...

If you run a pub in town and would be kind enough to give Fish Man the opportunity to do his thing in your hostelry - or if you or your Mam would be interested in a date with Nottingham’s fishiest dish - rattle off an e-mail to fishman@leftlion.co.uk. All correspondence will be passed on to Dave...

Illustration: Alex Gowin

We’re rather proud of some of the art we produce here at LeftLion. So, on the fifth anniversary of the magazine, Editors Jared Wilson and Al Needham look back es g a m i at some of the art and artists who have featured on our covers... r ve o c or f O 15 PT www.leftlion.co.uk/issue30

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LeftLion Magazine Covers 2004-2009

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Photo by David Bowen October 2004

Our first issue coincided with the release of Dead Man’s Shoes, so Shane Meadows was the obvious choice for the feature interview.

This is the classic magazine cover portrait, but with a bit of added environmental grit reflecting Shane’s film-making style. There were some other great shots of him in the centrespread too. JW

Photo by David Bowen December 2004

It might not be obvious, but this is a photo of Donovan Whycliffe, the former pop singer who supported James Brown and dated Dannii Minogue. Now better known for roaming Nottingham streets and singing to strangers for a pound, he was a really nice bloke but hard to interview. In this shot, he’s walking away from us into the heart of the Forest Recreation ground. JW

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Illustrations by Dilk, Small Kid, the Coverage crew February 2005

This was our first colour cover and hence a landmark issue for us. We loved SmallKid’s work on the Detonate flyers and it was always a plan of ours to get him to do a cover. When he asked if he could do it with Dilk from Coverage and a load of the Notts graffiti community, we were made up! It’s such a bright, vivid cover, especially compared to the previous two. JW

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Sleeve design by David Blenkey, Photo by David Bowen April 2005

Al Needham came up with the idea of doing a Notts music special and thus the concept for a compilation LP was born featuring Su Pollard, Paper Lace, Corinne Drewery from Swing Out Sister and Mansfield boy Alvin Stardust. The obvious place to do the photoshoot was Rob’s Record Mart in Hurts Yard. JW

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Illustration by Rikki Marr June 2005

Our first illustrated cover, based on the old-school summer specials that comics like The Beano used to put out (and based on the Skeggy in the Square experiment, which is now happening again). Our own Al Needham gets intimate with Su Pollard – the result of an office in-joke about them making the perfect Notts couple. That got us banned from distributing the magazine in Experian and Capital One. JW

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Photo by David Bowen August 2005

This photo of Carl Froch was taken outside the pub he owns in Notts. It was a sunny day and we liked the final photo so much that we decided to run it as the cover without any text.

When we showed it to Carl he was shocked (in a nice way) and asked to buy some prints of the photos, which I believe he still has on his wall. JW

Images of TVs by various folk October 2005

As this was a TV and film themed issue we decided to use a photo-collage of TV screens on the cover. Loads of them came from one bloke who was obsessed with taking still photos of televised images and had an archive of thousands of them.

The rest came from people on the LeftLion chat forum. The Mr T image was mine. JW

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Design by Seismik December 2005

This was a Christmas design by Simon Dunn, who had done loads of similar designs of celebrity heads on illustrated bodies for Spectrum flyers. It’s probably the only time you’ll see the likes of The Prodigy, The Smears, George Akins and Dizzee Rascal sharing the same space. JW

Design by David Blenkey February 2006

A collage from our art director. This issue was pretty packed with the likes of Ed Byrne, Skin, Faithless, Sway, Pitchshifter, Jonzi D and Old Basford all interviewed.

The airwaves in the background represent the special feature on Nottingham radio. JW

Illustration by Rob White April 2006

This was Rob White’s first cover for us and he was given carte blanche by our guest editors David Bowen, Jennie Syson and David Blenkey (who took over an art-dedicated issue). His painting of a group of planes flying through the sky and leaving Red Arrows-style streaks in their wake is a lovely piece of work. JW

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Illustration by David Blenkey June 2006

Some covers are absolute no-brainers. It was World Cup month, and the city was already groaning under the usual deluge of England tat hanging off cars, pubs and back bedroom windows. But seeing as the rest of England was viewing us at the time as the absolute pits of the country, we thought we’d do something a little bit different with three leftfacing lions. AN

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Illustration by David Blenkey August 2006

This is another of those ‘everyone in the issue’ cover collages, which I think have sometimes worked spectacularly for us.

I still like this cover and can’t think of any other mag in the world that would get away with having The Inspiral Carpets, John Lydon and The Sheriff of Nottingham all together at a birthday party on the cover. JW

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Illustration by Rob White October 2006

It was Goose Fair time when this came out and although we didn’t cover it much in the content, we were, as always, keen to represent. This was also the first issue to feature a warning about the ‘bad’ language in the mag after some old lady complained vociferously at us. I love the way the text is dripping like blood from the goose’s mouth. JW

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Illustration by Rikki Marr December 2006

When Rikki agrees to do a cover for us it’s a guarantee of quality and I think he particularly liked the idea of getting stuck into our Christmas issue. This one was a half-opened advent calendar which, were it not for prohibitive costs, we would have had printed on card with real pop-out windows. The devil turkey in the centre is particularly freaky, whereas the illustrations of interviewees Mighty Boosh and Juliette Lewis are far more subtle. JW

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Design by Dom Henry February 2007

I take full responsibility for this, possibly the biggest LL cover ball-ache ever.

We had an interview with Paul Smith lined up, and I hit on the genius idea of plastering the cover with his iconic deckchair motif, so I could flog hundreds of copies of it on eBay to gullible Japanese sorts. Alas, it took ages to get sorted (actually, it never did), and we ended up with our photo editor scanning in a load of stripes and playing with them to create a similar style instead. AN

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Photo by Dom Henry April 2007

This is simply an absolutely great photo! The Market Square had just been redeveloped and as the home of the actual left lion we thought we’d go back to our roots and document it. It worked perfectly. JW

Illustration by Si Mitchell June 2007

This was Si Mitchell’s first cover for us and was long overdue as he’d done quite a few good illustrations for the magazine before.

He does some great graffiti-style cartoons and could cover for Jamie Hewlett doing the art for Gorillaz at a moment’s notice. JW

Illustration by Lewis Heriz August 2007

Lewis actually started out doing magazine deliveries for us and then showed us some of his art, which we rather liked. It’s another nice example of the interviewee collage covers, something we have moved away from recently in favour of more conceptual covers. JW

Illustration by Chris Summerlin October 2007

Chris Summerlin is one of the hardest working artists in Nottingham and does some truly great gig posters. We gave him carte blanche to do what he wanted and he came back with the Xylophone Man as a concept. I was made up! This issue coincided with the start of the academic year and I’m proud to think that there were loads of students new to Nottingham wandering round wondering who Frank Robinson was. JW

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Illustration by Si Mitchell December 2007

As this issue was out until the end of January, we wanted a cover which was wintery but not overtly Christmassy, so the temporary ice rink in the square seemed like a good idea to base an ice-white cover image on.

Another quality Si Mitchell joint! JW

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Illustration by Alex Godwin February 2008

This was the first time that one of our covers had a female touch and it was about time too! Accusations that the LeftLion team is intentionally cock-heavy are totally unsubstantiated. With our no-budget policy we’ll take work from anyone we can get with talent and Alex clearly has plenty of that. It definitely stands out from all the rest, partly from the colour scheme, but mainly due to her quirky line-style. JW

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Illustration by Rikki Marr April 2008

I’d had the idea for a Nottzilla comic strip rattling about my head for ages, and when I got the chance to edit LeftLion it was the first thing on the to do list, but I can’t draw. Luckily, Rikki can. The montage of people in the final panel came from a request on the forum asking for pics of members screaming like yitneys. AN

Illustration by David Blenkey June 2008

Sometimes, the editor knows exactly what they want on the cover with everything broken down to the nth degree. Other times, they say “Er, dunno.

You do summat” and our art director pulls it out of the bag. This is a prime example of the latter, which commemorated a filmheavy issue. We decided on the title the night before, and then I spent two months scared that someone would go on a killing spree in Notts while it was out. Thankfully they didn’t. AN

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Photo by David Blenkey August 2008

The August issue is always my favourite, because the students have left and we can be as obscurely Notts as we like. This issue was a massive special of the fiftieth anniversary of the film Saturday Night and Sunday Morning. At the centre of it is a personalised letter to Nottingham people from Alan Sillitoe. Shot in the Gladstone pub one Saturday afternoon and a personal favourite, for obvious reasons. AN

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Illustration by Ging Inferior October 2008

The Grand Theft Auto theme was another idea that had been kicking round for ages, waiting for the right moment to drop, but while I had ideas of an exact reproduction of the game case (chatty youths milling round Greggs, women spilling out of Flares, etc), the illustrator went mental and came back with a giant pigeon flogging the Evening Post. I think he did the right thing. AN

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Illustration by Chris Summerlin December 2008

This was another instance of getting in touch with Chris and asking him what he fancied doing for our Christmas issue.

It’s quite an obvious idea, but we’d never done a cover with the actual left lion as the centrepiece and when I saw his initial sketches for this I was more than\ happy. JW

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Design by David Blenkey February 2009

‘Credit crunch’ had been the buzz-word of the last twelve months and we decided to do an issue looking at some of the effects the economic recession had on Nottingham. The idea was fairly simple to execute, producing a stark, bold cover we like to think its a little Warholian in style (there was even a brief plan to screenprint the design and scan it back in). JW

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Illustration by Rikki Marr April 2009

People love a good record shop and Selectadisc was one of the best. So when we heard they’d succumbed to the recession and were closing down we knew we had to do something to celebrate them. Hopefully it’s opening back up again soon! JW

Photo by David Blenkey June 2009

The Twenty20 cricket World Cup was on during this magazine’s lifespan and we decided to devote the cover to it.

Our art director borrowed a rug and various furniture from his friends, then got permission from Notts CCC to set them up on the pitch. The result is a very bright and vivid image. JW

Illustrations by various artists.

Photo by David Blenkey August 2009

This is our fifth birthday issue and we wanted to showcase this on the cover as well as finding some way to get a few illustrators working together. So we decided to set them a challenge of making us a birthday card and then took this photo of them all together. Don’t they look great? JW

John Knight’s era-spanning work encapsulates the fragile beauty of Pre-Raphaelite art with cutting-edge photography, creating a fascinating twist on art history...

Venus – Inspired by the painting Venus Verticordia by Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Words: Dom Henry Photos: John Knight

Pandora – Inspired by Rosetti’s 1869 painting of the same name

What was the inspiration for your Pre-Raphaelite themed works?

The beauty and the familiarity of those paintings, which I’ve seen since I was a child. I loved the stories behind them too, like Pandora’s Box and Tennyson’s poem The Lady of Shallot. Having wondered if it was possible to produce something similar, I tried one in the studio. It was hard work to get it right but when I finished the first one I liked the look and it spurred me on.

Did you find them challenging to create?

Two challenges arose in doing these. Firstly, the realisation that the Pre-Raphaelites manipulated their images, which was a shock to me. It’s especially obvious in Leighton’s Flaming June, in that you can’t reproduce it physically. You literally can’t get a model to do that pose, believe me I’ve tried! Leighton had an idealised idea in his mind and created the painting to fit that idea, not what he saw in front of him. So they were Photoshopping in their own way. The second challenge was the detail in the pictures. Getting the props and the background correct took a lot of work, along with finding a model with the right look.

What got you into photography?

I got into it through jewellery. About ten years ago I had a growing collection of costume jewellery and I thought it would be a good idea to write a book about it. I didn’t want to have the jewellery photographed on a black cushion. Fabulous pieces deserve to be worn and shown on a woman as they were intended. Not knowing how to go about it I hired a studio and a model for couple of hours and had a go at it. It was much more difficult than I imagined. Through trial and error I got more experienced at shooting jewellery, put together a little studio at home and started collecting props like a period wardrobe and equipment. I then realised I was into the photography as much as the jewellery.

What drew you towards fashion?

I’m always drawn to classic detail and design and I’m a nostalgic person... I’m very sentimental. I have a strong attraction to the art deco period from the 1920s and 30s, which is where most of my costume jewellery and fashion collected used to come from. So that’s the style I started to get into, collecting vintage outfits and jewellery.

What was your big break?

I found some old vintage items with the Jaeger label, after using them for some photos I sent the pictures to Jaeger. They liked the pictures but disputed whether it was Jaeger. A trip to London followed and they agreed they were genuine, got very much on my side and got me doing images of vintage Jaeger items for their archive. Similar initiatives gradually got me more work and I started to get referrals. I haven’t looked back since.

See a gallery of more of John Knight’s work at leftlion.co.uk/johnknight

Madame X – Inspired by John Singer Sargent’s 1884 painting

www.artdecostudio.com www.leftlion.co.uk/issue30

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LEFTLION LISTINGS

featured listing

AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2009

TICKETS ON-LION Buying tickets for events in Notts? From the latest DJs at Stealth to the latest bands at venues like Seven and The Rescue Rooms, you can get them all through our website, at no extra cost. Even better, thanks to our partnership with gigantic. co.uk, every time you buy one through us some of the funds will go towards LeftLion and a bit more goes to those nice folks at Oxfam. leftlion.co.uk/tickets

PG 21-23 ∙ GIGS Nottingham has a host of great bands playing live - so near to your doorstep in fact that it’d be rude not to check them out: Rival Schools, Jet, Tinchy Stryder, The Wildhearts, Finntroll, InMe, Paolo Nutini, Satan’s Sweetshop, Hackenbush, The Rumble Strips, Kajagoogoo, Cleaverhook, Teenage Casket Company, Voodoo Glow Skulls and Hot Japanese Girls.

PG 24 ∙ THEATRE & COMEDY Life rarely has enough drama or laughs, but one way to remedy this is to check out the plethora of comedy and theatre going on in your city. Choose from Quadrophenia, Hound of the Baskervilles, Annie, Horrible Histories, BBC’s I’m Sorry I Haven’t Got a Clue, Michael McIntyre and Lisa Williams.

CINEMA The Broadway Cinema kicks off August with Lars Von Trier’s Antichrist for the adults and Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince for the kids. Blockbusters you can expect to see in other local cinemas during August and September include The Time Traveller’s Wife (starring Eric Bana), District 9 (from Lord of The Rings director Peter Jackson), Ponyo (by legendary anime director Hayao Miyazaki), Inglourious Basterds (the return of Quentin Tarantino), Halloween II (directed by Rob Zombie) and Coco Before Chanel (the story behind the fashion designer).

Read reviews at leftlion.co.uk/film

For even more listings, check our regularly updated online section at leftlion.co.uk/listings.

And if your event is still not in there, spread the word by aiming your browser at leftlion.co.uk/add.

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Nottingham Castle, the legendary home of the Sheriff of Nottingham, has been featured in hundreds of books, films and TV programmes over the years. In truth, the building itself looks more like a stately home than an actual ‘castle’, as we’ve pointed out at various times over the years here at LeftLion. However, an afternoon exploring the beautifully-kept castle grounds is one of the best things you can do in the city this summer - and if you live or work here it’s free to get in on weekdays! Frances Ashton put some questions to Dave Green, General Manager of Nottingham Castle Attractions Group...

Can you fill us on in a bit of the Castle’s history?

We’re proud to say that Nottingham Castle has been a museum since 1878, when it was opened as the first municipal art gallery and museum in the country. Before that Nottingham didn’t have a museum or an art gallery of such a grand nature and it was inspired by the local creative industries. That’s why our collections are predominantly of the nature of decorative art, fine art and textiles all linking in with lace textiles, which were the main industries here at the time. Thankfully the collections have grown both in quantity and quality since that day on an ongoing basis.

There are also all sorts of stories connected with Mortimer’s Hole. In the fourteenth century, Roger Mortimer, who was Queen Isabella’s lover was famously carted off from here to the Tower of London where he was hung, drawn and quartered.

As well as the art side, we very much look after the history and some of Nottingham’s real treasures in terms of the development of the city. The site itself goes back to 1068, the time of William the Conqueror. It’s called ‘the Castle’ even though it’s actually a ducal palace - it isn’t the building you think it’s going to be because there was a great fire in the 17th century which destroyed the inside of the building. This, however, paved the way for Thomas Charles Hine to do the work and create the museum you see today.

There are also the very common sightings of a young girl and boy playing upstairs which is thought to relate back to the time when there was the fire here which destroyed the inside. There were rumours that a little boy and girl had burnt to death in there.

The history galleries on the lower floor go right the way through from the Viking origins of the town to tell stories about the Civil War and all the way up to the present day as well. A lot of people don’t realise that it started just over the road on Standard Hill, where King Charles raised his standard and declared war on the nation.

What do you think attracts most visitors to the Castle?

The Castle gets around 330,000 visitors a year and the Brewhouse Yard Museum gets an additional 70,000. We’ve got the family audience in for some events and also we draw very much from the two universities. Then we’ve got the tourists, who principally come for blockbuster exhibitions - anything from the Pre-Raphaelites, to Andy Warhol, or the exhibition we did on the props and costumes made for the recent Robin Hood TV series.

The other thing the tourists come for is the history of Nottingham because when people are in a town they do like to find out a little bit about it.

Also last year we held the Nottingham Beer Festival for the first time, which brought another 17,000 people into the Castle grounds. So, I see us as being rather more than just a museum. It’s about making sure we attract people to the city, to the site and there is literally something for everyone.

You also put on plays during the summer…

We’ve been doing outdoor theatre for about twelve years. We changed it about six years ago to make it more affordable, accessible and contemporary. So now we’ve got a childrens’ play, a contemporary classic and some Shakespeare later on in the season. It gives us a chance to invite different audiences in again.

It’s important that all of Nottingham’s residents feel there is something for them here.

It’s a very large and historic site, with many mentions of ghost stories...

The stories have to be taken with a pinch of salt. Different people have had different experiences here. We’ve done ghost nights in the past, which have led to some rather strange stories being told. The only one I ever really experienced was down in David’s Dungeon, which is one of the underground caverns. We were in there with a professional ghost hunt group and one of the tables did appear to move. Myself and a colleague were down there and are both quite healthily cynical about it, but to this day I go down there and press on that table and think: ‘How did it move’?

“Not everything in a museum has to have a high value in terms of finance. A lot of it is about social value and how much people enjoy seeing and remembering things.”

You mentioned there being a lot of artefacts in the collections which relate to Nottingham and its history. Can you pick out some highlights?

Up in the Collection of Decorative and Fine Art we’ve got some real gems and pieces that are extremely rare. For example, up in the Long Gallery we’ve got Arthur Spooner’s painting of Goose Fair from 1926. Someone made the comment to me the other day that ‘My dad could have been in that crowd’. It’s things like that really bring a collection to life and make it worthwhile.

Also, a lot of the real highlights are down at Brewhouse Yard, which is very much part of the Castle these days. You can get in on the same ticket and they’ve got little street scenes set up of what Nottingham was like throughout different eras. I took a group of elderly people there recently who were completely taken back to the 1940s and 1950s because there are some real nostalgic gems down there. I think it’s really important to remember that not everything in a museum has to have a high value in terms of finance. A lot of it is about social value and how much people enjoy seeing and remembering things.

What’s the best thing about working at the Castle?

Whilst my job does involve a fair amount of risk assessment and balancing budgets, there can’t be many jobs with such a varied workload. I get involved in some serious stuff but some quite crazy stuff as well, like when 17,000 people came to the beer festival last year, we set the world record for the most amount of Robin Hoods in one place at one time.

Ever since I was a little lad I really liked L.S.Lowry paintings and to think that I now manage a place that has a couple in the collection is a real honour. Sometimes it can take quite an effort to get pieces even up onto the wall. Some of the pictures in the North Hall had to be lifted by eight of us. When I see school parties in the galleries enjoying themselves, it really inspires me and makes me think that my job is worthwhile.

Nottingham Castle is open free to Nottingham residents and people who work in Nottingham from 10am-4pm on Monday to Friday.

Take proof of your status (such as a Citycard, library card, council tax statement, employment ID badge or letter from your employer).

It costs £3.50 for adults and £2 for concessions on weekends, which also includes access to The Museum of Nottingham Life at Brewhouse Yard.

Visit leftlion.co.uk/art for interviews with Nottingham Castle’s Keeper of Art Sarah Skinner and Keeper of Decorative Art Pamela Wood.

nottingham event listings...

Saturday 01/08

Thursday 06/08

Wilko Johnson The Rescue Rooms £12, 7pm

Annotations of an Autopsy The Rescue Rooms £10, 6.30pm With Trigger The Bloodshed, Viatrophy, The Impending Doom

Buckcherry Rock City £15, 5.30pm Back to Basics The Maze £5, 9pm – 3am Blue Cat, Jah Bundy and I-Dread.

Log Jam and Curry Night The Loggerheads Free, 8pm - 1am With Hicks and more tbc.

The Soul Ska Shakedown The Golden Fleece Free, 9pm - midnight Wildside Clubnight Seven 8pm - 3am

Sunday 02/08 Open Mic The Loggerheads Free, 1pm - 11pm Bobstock The Approach £15, 4pm Live Crazy P, Bent, Schmoov! and Horse.

Tuesday 04/08 Zebrahead Rock City £10, 7.30pm Are You Local?

Seven £3, 8pm With The Breakdown, Northern Quarter and The Bayoos.

Goodnight Nancy The Maze £tbc, 8pm Plus Michael Lynch, Falling Upstairs and The Last Puppet Show.

Dirty Kanvus and The Limits The Approach Free, 8.30pm

An Evening with Melanie Nottingham Arts Theatre £22, 7.30pm Open Thursdays The Loggerheads Free, 5pm – 12am The Finest Hour The Golden Fleece Open Mic Sessions!

Seven Free, 8pm Notts In A Nutshell The Maze £3, 8pm The October Game, The Find and General Public Chemistry Set.

Friday 07/08 Deep Down and Dirty The Loggerheads Free, 8pm - 1am Eclectic Beats and funky breaks.

Jazzsteppa The Golden Fleece Plus Dawntreader and Jil Love.

Shivver and Bollocks to Poverty The Maze £3, 10pm Mr Obvious and Little Jez.

Saturday 08/08 Stealth vs Rescued Stealth £5, 10.15pm Trashstock Seven £10 / £12, 3.45pm Heavens Basement, New Generation Superstars, Drugdealer Cheerleader, Eureka Machines, Teenage Casket Company, Shush!

Obsessive:Compulsive, The High Society and Peep Show.

for more: leftlion.co.uk/listings

OUT TO LUNCH

One of the few Jazz Dance session left in the UK is right here in Notts but don’t expect to see Bonnie Langford...

Say the word ‘Jazz’ to most people, and all manner of cringeworthy stereotypes start flashing through their minds. Say the words ‘Jazz Dance’, and it gets worse, with images of Bruce Forsyth mincing about in tap shoes. Think again; there’s been a small underground collective here in Nottingham for almost a decade now, spearheaded by local DJ Killer Jim, that have been flipping this long outdated viewpoint on it’s head. Literally.

Having started nine years ago at Casa on Trent Bridge (and now residing in the basement of Snug), the monthly Out To Lunch sessions are carrying the torch for true jazz dance - a style that grew out of the UK club scene in the late 70s and early 80s, originally performed by dancers with no formal training, but shedloads of love for the music ability to feel rhythm patterns. Imagine an unrehearsed, loose form of breakdancing to high-speed be-bop, 100mph Afro-Cuban rhythms, Brazilian Latin and high-octane jazz fusion.

Its unforgiving speed and ferociousness can seem aggressive at times, but by heck it’s addictive - and newcomers to the dancefloor are often left agape in awe at the energy and complex movements of the seasoned dancers who travel from all over the country. That said, newbies who dare to take to the specially-prepared wooden floor are always welcomed with open arms.

What makes this extremely underground second-Sunday-of-the-month session even more magical is the fact that this is one of only three nights left in the UK that specialises in this type of dancing. Believe it - this will be one of those nights you’ll be telling your grandkids about, long after your knees have packed up. Beane Out To Lunch, Sunday August 9 (guest DJs Geoff Burgess and Dally), Sunday September 13 (guest DJ Tony Hylton), The Snug Lounge, Houndsgate, 5pm-9pm. £3 entry.

Saturday 08/08

Sunday 09/08

Saturday 15/08

Pitty Pat Club The Bodega £6, 8pm

Voodoo Glow Skulls The Maze £10 adv, 9pm

Outcry Collective and The Dead Formats Rock City £6, 7pm

I’m Not From London The Loggerheads Free, 8pm - 1am Stak It Up, Kris Ward The Approach Free, 8.30pm

Sunday 09/08 Young Guns Rock City £6, 7.30PM Plus None The Less and Stars of the Search Party.

Open Mic The Loggerheads Free, 1pm - 11pm

The Nottingham Riviera Summer is here (honest, guv’nor!) and nothing says British Summer like a trip to the seaside, 99 ice creams and Dads with hankies knotted on their heads whilst snoring in a deckchair.

For us Midlanders this can be more of a hassle than a pleasant jaunt – but not in 2009. Cries of ‘Are we nearly there yet?’ can now be met with ‘yes, three bus stops’.

The Market Square has taken on a new persona for the six week school holidays and is now Nottingham Riviera – a seaside playground for all of Nottingham to enjoy. The Riviera comprises of a beach, with no less than 300 tonnes of sand, a paddling pool, crazy golf, fairground rides, a promenade, deck chairs, Punch and Judy shows and a host of stalls. Throughout its stay there will be daily events and competitions to keep everyone amused and not a jelly fish or crab in sight.

The Square was similarly transformed into a beach in the early nineties but for the current incarnation, having taken advantage of the new space created with the Square’s recent overhaul, Nottingham City Council has made it bigger and better. Opened by Scooby Doo and the Lord Mayor on Wednesday 22 July, it’s time to get your buckets at the ready for sand castles galore.

Although the seaside is in place for the school holidays and is a family-orientated event, the Riviera is designed for all. Open from 10am to 10pm, you’re free to wander down in the day or evening to take in the beachy sounds of seagulls and waves, read a book, catch some rays, enjoy a drink after work or just generally kick back and enjoy your city. Go armed with an umbrella and even the rain won’t hurt a good day out. If you’re feeling particularly brave, dig out your bikini (speedos are out, they’re just wrong) and get yoursen daahn tahn. Alison Emm

Monday 10/08 Vagabond The Bodega £6, 7PM Revolution Sounds The Maze Free, 9pm

Tuesday 11/08 Are You Local?

Seven £3, 7.30pm With What Makes You Beautiful, These Waves and Room For Abuse.

Wednesday 12/08 The World Info The Maze £7 adv, 8.30pm Plus Baby Poom and Muzica DJs.

Thursday 13/08 Carcer City Rock City £3, 10pm Plus Their Eyes Were Bloodshot.

Open Thursdays The Loggerheads Free, 5pm – 12am Hackenbush The Golden Fleece Free, 8pm The Corner Store The Malt Cross Free, 7pm - 11pm

Friday 14/08 Rigbee Deep Alley Cafe Free, 8:30pm - 1am With Minister Hill, Nowhere Common and Jah Bunndy.

Basslaced Stealth £5, 10PM Emalkay, Seven, Goli and Ashburner.

Leftover Crack The Maze £10 adv, 9pm Plus Officer Down, Minus Society, Los Salvadores and Kerbface.

Roadblock The Loggerheads Free, 8pm - 1am Ghoul Garden The Maze £3.50, 9pm Joe Strange Band The Approach Free, 8.30pm

Sunday 16/08 A Summer All Dayer The Bodega £6, 5pm With The Strange Boys, Lovvers, Male Bonding, more artists and DJs. The Accidentals The Maze £tbc, 8pm Plus Danny And The Danny Deadbeats, Euler and Rescued By Wolves.

Tuesday 18/08 Blakfish / Mutiny On The Bounty Seven £4, 7pm Discover Tour - Three Trapped Tigers The Bodega £5, 8pm With Gold Panda.

Linchpin The Maze £3, 8pm Plus Carpe Diem and more tbc.

Wednesday 19/08 Michael Jackson Tribute The Maze £tbc, 7pm Richi Muir The Approach Free, 8.30pm

Thursday 20/08 Open Thursdays The Loggerheads Free, 5pm – 12am

See nottinghamcity.gov.uk/seaside for up to date information and events. www.leftlion.co.uk/issue30 leftlion.co.uk/issue30

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for more: leftlion.co.uk/listings

Thursday 20/08

Saturday 22/08

Delta Red The Golden Fleece Free, 8pm

MHYH Presents...MISO Records Summertime Session Saltwater Free, 2:30pm - 6:30pm With Charles Webster, Atjazz and Kaori.

Metal Mayhem The Maze £3, 8.30pm Hostile Rising, Two: Minutes: Hate, Force Fed The Sick and more tbc.

Wildwood The Approach Free, 8.30pm

Friday 21/08 Back to the 80s Clumber Park Adult £30 / £37.50, Gates open 5pm With The Human League, ABC, Belinda Carlisle, Go West and T’Pau. I’m Not from London Speak Easy Free Entry, 8pm - 12am Hot Japanese Girls, The Eviltones and Rescued by Wolves.

Intelligent Funktion The Maze 9pm Boomer and The Rangers Deux 8pm

Saturday 22/08 Damaged Stock - Charity Metal All-Dayer Rock City £5, 2.30pm Plus Evil Scarecrow, Sorcerer’s Spell, A470, Stone Circle, Dirty Beard and more tbc.

Clumberfest 09 Clumber Park Adult £26 / £30, 5pm Super Furry Animals, The Lightening Seeds and Supergrass.

Skate Punk

Seven team Birminghamian brutalists with Luxembourg’s Most Wanted No sooner had Nottingham’s musos and gig-goers wiped their tears, raised a pint and mourned the loss one of its mightiest music venues, Junktion 7 re-emerged from the ashes as Seven. As this line-up proves, it’s more than fulfilling its reputation as one of the most important independent venues in the East Midlands. Bombarding the stage with brutal Brummie hardcore, the critically-acclaimed Blakfish are coming to town.

Ronnie Londons Groove Lounge Grosvenor £3 before 11pm, 8pm - 1am OxJam Event The Golden Fleece The Fleece does its part to contribute to the OxJam mini festival.

Steadily building up a cult following on the back of 2008’s mini-LP See You In Another City and debut single Jeremy Kyle Is A Marked Man, (and gracing the airwaves of Radio One and being namechecked by NME, Kerrang and Rock Sound), Blakfish will be touring their forthcoming sophomore LP Champions.

Stumble inda Jungle The Maze 9pm The Joe Strange Band The Approach Free, 8.30pm

Sunday 23/08 Kokolo The Golden Fleece Free, 8pm

Supporting are Mutiny On The Bounty, four slobs from Luxembourg (their words) shot through with indie-rock angularity and captivating melodies who have dropped their first full-length album Danger Mouth - an eleven-song collection of raging rhythms and melodic despair mixed by Alan Douches of Mastodon, Converge and Fall Out Boy fame.

Throw in support from Derby trio (and LeftLion faves) Alright the Captain and Peterborough four-piece Double Handsome Dragons, and the makings of another blinding night at Canning Circus are firmly in place. Book early – this’ll be a ram-out… Nicola Couch Blakfish, Mutiny On The Bounty, Alright The Captain and Double Handsome Dragon, August 18, 7pm til late, Seven, 6 Ilkeston Road, Canning Circus, Nottingham, NG7 3GE. Tickets £4 in advance. myspace.com/blakfish sevenlive.co.uk

Monday 24/08 Notts In A Nutshell The Maze £3, 8pm With Sheriff Fatman, The Vontraps and Trioxon Cherry.

Wednesday 26/08

Friday 28/08

Sunday 30/08

Richi Muir The Approach Free, 8.30pm

Steve Pinnock Jamcafe Free, 8pm

Tuesday 25/08

Thursday 27/08

Cleaverhook Seven £3, 7.30pm Plus Sapphire Lane and The MyWays.

Rival Schools The Rescue Rooms £11, 7pm

Defeated Sanity Seven 8pm Plus Detrimentum, Hades Lab and Blasphemer.

Junkyard and Back To The Future Nagshead £4, 12pm- 3am With Phil Weeks, Luke Black, Mark Cohen, Paul Sekhri, Retrac, Dudley Strangeways, Sam Phillips, Lee Clarke and John Brooks.

Wednesday 26/08 ATC Presents The Maze 8.30pm With Hreda, Nitowski, Alright The Captain and Double Handsome Dragons.

Open Thursdays The Loggerheads Free, 5pm – 12am Frank Miller aka The Franchise The Golden Fleece Free, 8pm Gold Rush The Approach Free, 8.30pm

NTU Summer Schools Fancy yourself as a fashion designer, filmmaker, photographer or illustrator?

Maybe your portfolio needs an injection of inspiration? Nottingham Trent University is offering the unmissable opportunity to hone your craft through a range of three-day courses for 14-18 year-olds.

Corpse Grinder Clubnight Seven 9pm Wire and Wool The Loggerheads Detonate Stealth £12, 10pm - 5am Friction, Loxy, Bassline Smith, Transit Mafia, Distance, Cookie Monsta and Riskotechque.

The Eclectic Ballroom Bluu Free, 9pm - 2am

Urban Intro The Approach Free, 8.30pm

Acoustickle The Maze Free, 2pm With Sally Murray, Leni Ward, Yvonne Lake, Perkie, Lucy Ward, Garrison and lots more tbc.

Saturday 29/08 The Subhumans Seven £8, 8pm New Found Glory Vs International Superheroes of Hardcore The Rescue Rooms £15, 6.30pm

Industry professionals and university academics from one of the UK’s most prestigious Schools of Art and Design are offering invaluable expertise in fashion, textiles, media and photography, as well as essential guidance for pre-university students who want to build an eye-catching portfolio for university entry – a must for anyone wanting to stand out from the crowd in the competitive creative world.

Mankala Live The Golden Fleece Free, 8pm The Loggers Bank Holiday Party The Loggerheads Free, 8pm - 1am

Budding creative types can sharpen their existing skills and dabble in different subject areas: Fashion and Textiles explores fashion, print process, digital knit, digital print design, surface print and weave; Media and Photography covers art of sound, creating worlds, photography without a camera and digital photography; and Visual Arts looks at experimental drawing, writing for the screen, contemporary crafts and filmmaking.

Teachers and practitioners can also fine-tune their craft in a series of one-day workshops and master classes covering everything from felt making, textile design, fashion and glass moulding, to professional photography, pattern cutting, interactive media, ceramics and entrepreneurship.

Notts In A Nutshell The Maze £tbc, 8pm With Bonus Beyond, We Are The Man, ShotshotStacy and Citizen Erased.

Barnaby Bright Deux 8pm

Head of Narrative and Interactive Arts at NTU, Dr Christine White, said: “Students who took part in the event last year said they left feeling better-prepared for higher education and that they had gained a clearer sense of direction and a good solid grounding for a bright and successful future in the creative industries.” Nicola Couch

Richard Howell The Approach Free, 8.30pm

NTU Art and Design Summer Schools, July 27-August 7, Nottingham Trent University, Burton Street, Nottingham, NG1 4BU. For further information and to book your place visit ntu.ac.uk/art

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Acoustickle The Maze Free, 2pm With Liam O’Kane, Bruce Myers, Jon Coates, Soloman Smith, A Particular, Rascal Gaz, Dave Anderson and lots more tbc.

Monday 31/08

Tuesday 01/09 V-Twin Seven £3, 7.30pm Plus Ten Days Later, Sychatrissi and White Hazzard.

Wednesday 02/09 Jeffrey Lewis The Bodega £9, 7pm Feil Comodo Seven £tbc, 7.30pm Richi Muir The Approach Free, 8.30pm

Thursday 03/09 Nektar Rock City £12.50, 7pm Open Thursdays The Loggerheads Free, 5pm - 12am The Flatliners The Maze £7, 8.30pm Plus Mike TV, Minus Society, Resolution 242 and Girlfixer.

nottingham event listings...

Thursday 03/09

Friday 11/09

Roy Stone The Approach Free, 8.30pm

Deep Down and Dirty The Loggerheads Free, 8pm

Friday 04/09

Percussion The Maze £tbc, 9pm

We’ll Meet Again Royal Centre £24.50 - £29.50, 7.30pm Dino Baptiste The Approach Free, 8.30pm

Saturday 05/09 Love/Hate Rock City £15, 7pm Plus Ricky Warwick and New Generation Superstars.

Wildside Clubnight Seven 8pm - 3am The Log Jam and Curry Night The Loggerheads Free, 8pm Bopp - The Launch Night Bluu Free, 10pm - 3am Rock n roll, motown. indie, funk, northern soul and mod.

Roy De Wired The Approach Free, 8.30pm

Saturday 12/09 Livewire AC/DC and Limehouse Lizzy Rock City £15, 7pm Neko Case Nottingham Arts Theatre £14, 7.30pm Corefest 2009 Seven 4pm With Jesus Of Spazzareth, Stand Clear, Dorian Grey, Atlantic Hearts, FxRxO, Violence Against Person, One Man Down, Engine Face, Black And Blue, Break Up and Into The Dust.

Ghoul Garden The Maze £3.50, 9pm

Sunday 06/09

Joe Strange Band The Approach Free, 8.30pm

Monday 07/09 Ohbijou The Bodega £6, 8PM

Tuesday 08/09 The Black Fuzz Seven £3, 7.30pm Plus Jupiter Monkeys and Sideways Falling.

Wednesday 09/09 Gemma Ray The Bodega £7, 7pm Jet Rock City £16, 7.30pm Richie Muir The Approach Free, 8.30pm

Thursday 10/09 Okkervil River The Rescue Rooms £12.50, 7.30pm Open Thursdays The Loggerheads Free, 5pm – 12am Wildwood The Approach Free, 8.30pm

Friday 11/09 Rigbee Deep Alley Cafe Free, 8:30pm - 1am With Minister Hill, Nowhere Common and Jah Bunndy.

The Briggs Rock City £7, 7PM Plus Strawberry Blondes and Middle Finger Salute.

Installation Overdrive The artiness keeps on coming, and Alison Emm rounds up some of the best events…

There’s a host of exhibitions to feast your eyes on over the summer months, and you’d be mad not to catch some of what’s on offer - especially if it means you can escape the torrential downpours that seem to be punctuating the sunshine.

Whittled Rays runs at The Malt Cross Gallery 22 August to 11 September, and is an exhibition by Tom Van Herrewege specialising in the ancient (and rather minging) discipline of Jenny Hanivers - drying out and shaping skates and rays to create demonic-looking creatures far removed from their original form. Incorporating film, taxidermy, drawings and photographs, the exhibition promises to be an in-depth study of interesting curios from the past.

Down at Moot’s new space on Thoresby Street, Dan Ford has his first solo exhibition All Killer, No Filler from August 6 to August 30. As a 2008 Nottingham Trent University Fine Art Graduate, Dan now lives and works in Devon but has come back for a commissioned show. Subtly altering popular forms of visual culture with collage, Tom Van Herrewage painting and drawing, his work avoids flamboyance - yet crashes headlong into pure creativity.

Now in its third year, Hinterland continues to be a strong presence in Nottingham, bringing us Annexinema in conjunction with The Magnificent Revolution on August 21 between 8pm and 11pm, showcasing both local and international filmmakers on a cycle-powered cinema. The event is being held under Clifton Bridge off Clifton Lane – expect bicycle clips a-plenty.

Finally, excitement is building – literally - for Nottingham Contemporary. The new art space for Nottingham will be opening in November 2009, and - as a taster of what’s to come – there’ll be the American Apparel window exhibition running from July 25 to September 6 at Weekday Cross. Artists Josephine Meckseper and Lisa Anne Auerbach have designed installations that, at a glance, could be mistaken for shop displays, raising questions within us as to how we perceive our city and world.

I’m Not From London The Loggerheads Free, 8pm

Joe Strange Band The Approach Free, 8.30pm

Sam Baker The Maze £10, 7.30pm

for more: leftlion.co.uk/listings

Sunday 13/09 Mumford And Sons The Bodega £7, 7pm

Monday 14/09 Out of Sight Rock City £7, 7.30pm Plus Save Your Breath.

Future Islands The Bodega £6, 8pm Revolution Sounds The Maze Free, 9pm - 2am

Tuesday 15/09 Richmond Fontaine The Maze £14, 7.30 Charlotte Hatherley The Bodega £7.50, 8pm Taken By The Tide Seven £3, 7.30pm Plus Galleons and Alists Skye.

Wednesday 16/09 Richie Muir The Approach Free, 8.30pm

Thursday 17/09 LoveLikeFire The Bodega £6.50, 8pm Open Thursdays The Loggerheads Free, 5pm – 12am

tomvanherrewege.com / mootgallery.org / hinterlandprojects.com / nottinghamcontemporary.org

Thursday 17/09

Sunday 20/09

Friday 25/09

Dead Swans Rock City £7, 7pm

MuzikaHoward Marx and Kav from Happy Mondays The Maze 8.30pm

Detonate Stealth £12, 10pm - 5am Shy FX, Alix Perez, Transit Mafia, Scratch Perverts,Dawntreader and Root One.

The Fab 4 The Approach Free, 8.30pm

Friday 18/09 Tinchy Stryder The Rescue Rooms £11, 7pm with Chipmunk.

Muzika The Maze £5, 9pm Roy De Wired The Approach Free, 8.30pm

Saturday 19/09 Keep It Cash The Maze £10, 7.30pm The Wildhearts Rock City £14, 6.30pm The Duke and The King The Maze £10, 7.30pm

Monday 21/09 The Rumble Strips The Rescue Rooms £9, 7pm Wire and Wool Speak Easy Free, 8pm - 11.30pm With Cecille Greym Ali and Curtis Whitefinger.

Kajagoogoo The Rescue Rooms £17, 7pm The Mission District Rock City £6, 7pm

Michael Ball Royal Centre £30 - £32.50, 7pm

Ronnie London’s Groove Lounge Grosvenor £3 before 11pm, 8pm - 1am With Old Carl, Young Carl, Marcus,Kris and Gary.

Wednesday 23/09 InMe The Rescue Rooms £10, 7pm Richie Muir The Approach Free, 8.30pm

Thursday 24/09 Chuck Prophet and The Mission Express The Maze £13, 7.30pm

Roadblock The Loggerheads Free, 8pm

Open Thursdays The Loggerheads Free, 5pm – 12am

Joe Strange Band The Approach Free, 8.30pm

Zico Chain Rock City £3, 10pm

Sunday 20/09

Gold Rush The Approach Free, 8.30pm

A Chance To Live The Rescue Rooms £15, 1.30pm With New Generation Superstars, Lippstikk and friends.

Saturday 26/09

Fuck Buttons The Bodega £7, 9pm

Therapy! Clubnight with Illuminatus Seven £3 / £4, 7pm - 5am Plus Rise To Addiction.

Blackhole Rock City £7, 7.30pm

Urban Intro The Approach Free, 8.30pm

Friday 25/09 Finntroll Rock City £12.50, 7pm Hockey The Bodega £8.50, 7pm

Riot Promotions The Maze £5, 6pm - 10pm Here’s To Tragedy, Eureka Machines, Levity and Citizen Erased.

Joe Strange Band The Approach Free, 8.30pm

Monday 28/09 Paolo Nutini Rock City £20, 7.30pm

Tuesday 29/09 Misery Signals Rock City £9, 7.30pm With Your Demise and the Number Twelve Looks Like You. The Band Of Heathens The Maze £12, 7.30pm

Wednesday 30/09 Blue October The Rescue Rooms £10, 7.30pm Eric Taylor The Maze £10, 7.30pm leftlion.co.uk/issue30

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event listings...

WEEKLIES Mondays Open Mic Night Golden Fleece Free, 8pm Motherfunker The Cookie Club £1 before 11pm, 10.30pm - 3am Bosh!

Approach Free, 7pm Free comedy from Just The Tonic.

Monday Mayhem Maze £1 / £2, 8pm

Tuesdays MNSTR! Brownes Free, 9pm - 1.30am Detonate, Spectrum and ClubFoot residents.

Acoustic Tuesdays Malt Cross Free, 8pm A selection of local acts.

Wednesdays Open Mic Night Jam Cafe Free, 7pm LeftLion Pub Quiz Golden Fleece £2 per team, 8pm Like booze? Like quizzes? Sorted.

Pub Quiz Deux £various, 8pm

Thursdays Showcase Loggerheads Free, 8pm

THEATRE Monday 10/08 The Hound Of The Baskervilles Royal Centre £8 - £18, various Runs until: 15/08

Tuesday 11/08 Quadrophenia Royal Centre £18 - £28, 7.30pm Runs until: 15/08

Monday 17/08 Suddenly at Home Royal Centre £8 - £18, various Runs until: 22/08

Saturday 22/08 Dr Sketchy’s Anti Art School Nottingham Escucha £8, 1pm - 4pm

Monday 24/08 Strictly Murder Royal Centre £8 - £18, various Runs until: 29/08

Monday 31/08 The Late Edwin Black Royal Centre £8 - £18, various Runs until: 05/09 Sophia and the Magic Skirt Arts Organisation £4.60, 2pm-3pm

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Thursdays Jam Cafe Free, 8pm DJs on rotation playing funk, soul and broken beats.

Modern World The Cookie Club £1 / £3, 10.30pm - 2am Tuned Rock City £1 - £5, 10pm - 3am BedBug Eleven Free, 8pm - 3am Firefly and Product bring a selection of quality DJs every Thursday.

Open Decks and Open Caves Loggerheads Free, 5pm - 12am Bring some records or bring an instrument.

SPAM Ropewalk Free, 8pm Music Quiz Robin Hood Free, 9pm

Fridays Superstar Boudoir Gatecrasher £10 / £12, 10pm - 4am A slice of action from the world’s leading dance music brands.

for more: leftlion.co.uk/listings

Notts In A Nutshell / Doledrum …because what else can you get on the corner of Forest Road for less than a fiver?

You’d think that a venue as well-established as The Maze would be quite content to sit on its laurels as one of the true strongholds of the Notts gig scene. Not a bit of it; this year has seen not one but two outstanding club nights take root at the place otherwise known as the Forest Tavern, and both are extremely worthy of your time and money.

Notts In A Nutshell does exactly what it says on the tin. Aiming to scoop up the finest exponents of NottsRock and scatter them across a night, it’s a regular attempt to introduce as many diverse bands as possible to a new audience – and each other. It’s a thoroughly admirable policy that combines bands with a following, new groups looking to make a splash, and out-oftown combos, with the aim of getting them to hook up, gig swap, and give them the confidence to set up their own nights. The next NIAN night – on Thursday August 6 – features pastoral rockers The October Game, indie sorts The Find and General Public Chemistry Set, with more to follow.

Doledrum, the all-comers-welcome promotion that operates out of the Maze on the last Thursday of the month, has a simple agenda; to give a shine to the best bands in the city. They’ve been going for nearly a year now, and have featured a staggering array of local talent, including O Lovely Lie, We Show Up On Radar, The Kull and Luxury Stranger.

It’s a multi-genre philosophy at Doledrum; metal, dance, indie to glam rock – even DJ sets – and if you’ve not witnessed the Maze doing what it does so well – championing local bands in an intimately rammed-out manner – there’s no better time than Friday 25 September, the occasion of Doledrum’s first birthday do.

Notts In A Nutshell, Thursday August 6, £3. Doledrum 1st Anniversary, Friday September 25, £4. The Maze, 257 Mansfield Road, NG1 3FT www.themazerocks.com

Fridays

Saturdays

Sundays

Love Shack Rock City £4 - £5, 9.30pm - 2am

Distortion Rock City various, 10pm - 3am

Reggae Roast Golden Fleece Free entry, all day.

The Pop Confessional Bodega Social Club £1 / £3 / £5, 11pm - 3am Classic POP tunes from all eras, and lots of fun and games.

Saturdays

Trollied Halo £5 / £6 / more, 10pm - 4am

Open Mic Deux Free, 9pm

Friday 04/09

EXHIBITIONS Saturday 01/08

Friday 21/08

Wednesday 16/09

East Midlands Finest Surface Gallery Free, Usual opening hours Runs until: 29/08

John Newling: The Clearing Bio City Labratory Runs until: 18/10

Atomic / Sabotage The Cookie Club £2 b4 11pm, £4 after (NUS discount), 10.30pm - 3am

Blithe Spirit Nottingham Playhouse £8 - £24.50, Various times Runs until: 26/09

Monday 07/09 The Grass Is Greener Royal Centre £10 - £24.50, 7.30pm / 2.30pm Runs until: 12/09

Tuesday 08/09 Lisa Williams Royal Centre £22.50 - £27.50, 7.30pm Medium and Clairvoyant.

Deep Groove Snug Lounge Club £5 (NUS), 10pm - 6 am

Laxton: Farming in an open field village Lakeside Arts Centre Runs until: 16/08 Sue Disley Lakeside Runs until: 06/09 Open Show 09 Surface Gallery Runs until: 07/08 Philippa Lawrence; Bound Nottingham Castle Runs until: 11/10

Monday 14/09

Picturing Britain: Paul Sandby Nottingham Castle Runs until: 18/10

Annie Royal Centre £11 - £26, 7.30pm / 2.30pm Runs until: 19/09

Inspired Nottingham Society of Artists Free, 10am - 6pm Runs until: 09/08

Wednesday 16/09

Disposable People: Contemporary Global Slavery New Art Exchange Runs until: 13/09

Life x 3 Lace Market Theatre £6 / £7, 7.30pm Runs until: 19/09

Tuesday 22/09 Horrible Histories Royal Centre £8.50 - £15.50, Various Runs until: 26/09

Wednesday 23/09 I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue Royal Centre £22.50 - £25, 7.30pm

Thursday 06/08 Dan Ford: All killer no filler Moot Free, Thurs - Sat 12-6pm / Sun 12-4pm Runs until: 30/08

Monday 17/08 Images From The Outside Art Organisation Free, 11-7 Daily Runs until: 29/08

Annexinema - Hinterland Underneath Clifton bridge Rebecca Beinart: Field Kitchen Various sites around the River Trent and Nottingham Canal Runs until: 23/08

Saturday 22/08 Whittled Rays Malt Cross Runs until: 11/09 New works by Tom Van Herrewege.

Monday 24/08 Mark Gubb: Pura Vida Hinterland Manver Street Billboard Runs until: 01/11

Saturday 05/09 Life Less Ordinary Lakeside Arts Centre 11am - 5pm Runs until: 15/11 Performance and Display in South African art.

Wednesday 16/09 Joan Ainley Lakeside Ars Centre Free, 10am - 5pm Runs until: 01/11

Wednesday 23/09 Rebecca Beinart: Field Kitchen Various sites around the River Trent and Nottingham Canal.

Runs until: 24/09

Friday 25/09 Hetain Patel New Art Exchange Runs until: 01/11

Saturday 26/09 Pork Knocker Dreams Recent work by Donald Locke New Art Exchange Runs until: 20/12

COMEDY Sunday 27/09 Marcus Brigstock Nottingham Playhouse £13 / £15, 7.30pm

Tuesday 29/09 Fascinating Aida Royal Centre £15 - £19, Various

Wednesday 30/09 Julian Clarey - Lord of The Mince Nottingham Playhouse £17.50 / £20, 8pm

Artist Profiles

If you are a Nottingham-based artist and would like to be profiled in this section, please email frances@leftlion.co.uk

The artists featured in this issue’s Artist Profiles are part of the Backlit Studio Group, formed by a group of Nottingham Trent University graduates in 2008. The studios and gallery space act as a hub for creativity, with a dedication to experimental work and cross-pollination of artistic practices. The focus on working with film and video reflects their popular gallery and film programmess. Find out more at backlit.org.uk...

Rachel Eite

Tracey McMaster

What’s your artistic practice?

I work on projects based around the ideas I am exploring using video, audio, drawing, text and whatever works best. I am interested in the way we view the world, what we choose to perceive and what we miss. Film is a good way for me to explore this, it can be an abstract canvas on which we create our own narrative, like life I guess.

Film Scrabble, video piece in collaboration with Simon Raven What kind of art do you make?

I make work that focuses on language. I play with its inherent problems, its restrictions, its repetition and its lack of reliability through the medium of video. I try to take a proactive approach with my practice, when an idea does come I usually just pick up the camera and record. It’s easier that way to produce more and then filter down the material to something that might be successful.

What’s the best thing about being an artist?

It allows you to concentrate on and pursue the thoughts that intrigue you.

Can you tell me about a recent project or goal?

I have been collaborating with Simon Raven, continuing with video-based work and experimenting with the theme of language and cult influences from Scrabble to Blondie.

We recently exhibited in the Black and White show at Backlit alongside the Mark Titchner Disclosure exhibition.

What is it like to be an artist in Nottingham?

After graduating last year many of my peers and I have continued our practice here. I think it’s because of the amount of creative, friendly people who seem willing to share their experiences and time. Nottingham is really exciting at the moment for the arts, with many organisations supporting each other and the artists that they involve.

What’s your favourite film?

Mary Poppins - I like the dodgy accents, the magic, the songs and her umbrella.

Andrew Brookfield

Fear, Love and Much More Besides, DVD projection and audiovisual installation

What’s your favourite colour?

That amazing shade of deep purple you get on a clear night before the sky goes black. It’s magical.

What’s it like to be an artist in Nottingham?

It’s a great city to live in as an artist because its full of undercurrents and hidden or quirky things.

There are fascinating characters and interesting places, with so much going on arts and culture wise, both above and below the surface. You can never be uninspired here.

What does the future have in store for you?

That’s one of those things I’d rather not know! But art-wise, I’m working towards a residency in Liverpool in October that should be really exciting. In the meantime I’m looking at some smaller projects to work on over summer, and I really just want to keep making work and trying to figure it all out.

Daniel Kemp What kind of art do you make?

I make video-based artwork with a conceptual edge. I go out and record things that have a natural rhythm such as flashing lights and sirens. I am interested in the aesthetic of these when played out of context but also the relationship that occurs between multiple different patters as they move in and out of time.

What is your favourite kind of art?

I love interactive art, art that makes you forget you’re looking at art. Actually being physically involved with the art is much more engaging than just looking. I think the work of Jeppe Hein is a great example of this kind of work. Having been to see some of his shows, the one thing I noticed in all of them is that people were talking to each other about it, this social engagement is its success.

What kind of art do you make?

Sculpture, but if I’m honest my work revolves around the titles more than the end product or piece of work. It’s quite selfish really. My favourite kind of art is what James Turrell describes as perceptual art.

What inspires and drives you?

Iris Murdoch and the pursuit for pure cognition.

Haha!

What inspires and drives you?

I am driven by the desire to come up with new and interesting work. Since graduating, it can be difficult finding the time to do this.

However, this is where working in a studio group like Backlit really helps. There have been some pretty amazing shows on here over the past year, lots of experimental and inspirational work has been exhibited.

What’s the best thing about being an artist?

Being completely selfish.

What are you working on at the moment?

I’m working on a piece currently that takes inspiration from the Acropolis in Athens, which is quite object-based, so it’s a slight turn in direction from my previous work. I might show it at Backlit next season after our summer break.

As a group we are currently applying for a grant from the Arts Council to fund our next season of events, so that will keep me busy.

What is your favorite colour?

Can I say white? I’ve noticed particularly in ‘light art’ recently people tend to use really horrible colours so its something I tend to stay clear of. I’m quite dull.

What inspires and drives you?

Asking questions and learning. I like to be challenged and I find art very challenging. I never seem to reach a point of total satisfaction with what I do and this keeps me constantly trying harder, I always seem to be searching for the answers, but the questions keep coming.

Flickering Light 1, light installation sequence.

Synchronicity No.9, video wall installation

What’s your favourite thing about Nottingham?

I love the variety that Nottingham offers. For a relatively small city, there is great diversity especially in the art scene. I was at a show the other week that had some local graffiti artists doing some laser graffiti outside at night on a huge wall space. I’ve never seen that anywhere else.

You, by Andrew Brookfield

What’s your favourite film?

It could be Jurassic Park. Dinosaurs + epic music = great film.

MORE ART REVIEWS AND INTERVIEWS AT LEFTLION.CO.UK/ART www.leftlion.co.uk/issue30

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Write Lion Here at Write Lion, we love your work so much that we’ve asked Alastair from the forum to select the poems for this issue, so if yours isn’t in, he’s the one you send the threatening emails to.

We are also pleased to announce the launch of our first wordy podcast, wittily called ‘Write Lion Podetry’. Listen to it at www.leftlion.co.uk/writelion. If you want to get involved then contact our literary carnivore ‘bookasaurus’ via the Write Lion forum. We promise, he won’t bite...

It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there

by Owl

lingering hooked fingers found him, bundled and bound him to the broken black road death’s face is found in his breath, each inhale

turns pale paler as he begs the pirate sailor to loot him and his land whipping wind has howled down the narrows, chilling those that never chose to be a part of the art of a drug addict’s demise tight ties have wrapped

Things go on

by Cal sunshine whistles through him so that the fly on his foot plays a one-armed lover holy weeping flay their backs with punches thrown from language and underwater surprises the boy runs into the table turns back to ensure the table really is (it really is)

by Jaaack

I was sitting in the local park with a bag of salted peanuts.

by MB

I have crept and crawled across your cruellest contours I have lingered by your solemn reference points I have walked off trail, such long and lonely detours I have weathered white skin blistering cold fronts Arm in arm in inauspicious herds we’ve gathered Warmed to words of their love’s misdirected ways Too blind to dwell on sullen blossoms withered Too fond of fragrant sweet and wildflower days But the times we spent in arms, breathless minutes Were not preludes to a promised lovers due The stones that scored the miles set down the limits Lays and latitudes of yourself pored pursuits So farewell love now my beam comes to the ocean Unto the west wind heaves my sail and salt solution

Sarah Davis Breedon Books, £14.99 In this collection of over 350 photographs Sarah Davis, a regular contributor to regional newspapers, puts forward a convincing argument that Nottingham is indeed a beautiful city. Beauty is of course a subjective matter and the images selected are the kind you would expect to find in marketing brochures. For example the Wheel of Nottingham is not a unique local feature, but rather something that can be found in numerous cities up and down the country. The fact that the book was printed in Slovenia, rather than locally, further disrupts an authentic sense of place. Having said that, Davis has made the city look vibrant, historical and alluring and I felt proud.

James Walker See a gallery at leftlion.co.uk/sarahdavis www.leftlion.co.uk/issue30

Peanuts

Rachel’s progress

Nottingham City Beautiful

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and disguised him from family from friends that can no longer bear to try to reach him in the lost land of his glassy eyes

I threw a couple onto the concrete; the sea of pigeons did not eat them.

A boy, thirteen maybe acne-ridden and hood up, stood in the remaining sun, ‘Can i have a peanut’ he said, I offered the red bag.

He snatched it from my hand and began to walk away.

When we weren’t where Wordsworth was

by Lucinda

dintee write a book about a fish and six thin cows near the door by the walls of the church where armadillos were caught with little blonde legs and two black kids on the deck of a citizen ship

I’ve missed this forum

I shook my head, picked up the two peanuts from the concrete and bit-off half of each.

They tasted good.

Better.

The boy was distant now. though still laughing, maybe. It was good for everyone.

by Luke William

Controlled by consistency I tip the giver and the taker I once conned a visionary Knowing I’d live in failure Stealing his verve Repeating his words My Topsy-turvy tailor Made me great lapels To accentuate My words and smells The voice of labour

Cherry blossom heals

by Sara

Cherry blossom petals, Shine softly through, The wind blows soft and gentle, The leaves stay green and true.

Take her to a restful place, a soulful peaceful hue.

Close down the darkness of April, A fresh dawn spring - sweet and new..

Cherry blossom softness, Raining through the heart, Lift the soul and conquer, What others tore apart..

Bring peace and love To rest forever more..

Heal the soul of sadness Cure the heart so sore...

Holding Stones

The Assassin’s Wedding

Congratulations Pewter Rose for being the latest publisher to spring up in town and for taking the audacious risk of publishing a short story collection - thank goodness they did.

This collection has a better moral sense than the entire self-help section in the library. The stones the author is holding onto in the title story and the others accompanying them are those of memory, ‘smooth rounded granite, grey and dense with the weight of the seabed in them’. Whether positive or negative, memories must be embraced as it is the rich tapestry of experience which shapes us in the present and enables us to change. Or as my mate says ‘it happens, get over yoursen’.

James Walker pewter-rose-press.com

Self-published Nottingham author Wilf Morgan presents a fast-paced, original, and very well developed insight into the industry of hired killers. The story follows Mike Shepard in the week leading up to his wedding. It should be a rather dull week of marriage-related shopping and exchanging pleasantries with his in-laws-to-be. The trouble is, the only thing that will make him truly happy is a well-calculated assassination. Morgan’s delightfully cynical humour and skilfully woven plot twists make for a thoroughly entertaining read. This is his third book, and I will certainly be looking forward to reading more from this emerging talent. Wish I could say the same about marriage...

Jamie Rhodes 88tales.com

Roberta Dewa Pewter Rose Press, £6.50

W.W.Morgan Eighty8Tales Press, £9.99

Time, once again, to review all the latest and greatest Notts music we’ve been sent, If you have anything you want us to give the once-over, please visit: www.leftlion.co.uk/sendusmusic The Breakdowns The Breakdowns LP (Rock Indiana Records)

Captain Dangerous The Terrorist Single (Danaoua Records)

Ellen Mary McGee The Crescent Sun LP (Midwich Records)

Sixties surf pop meets the Luddite stomp of The Ramones in a fiftiesstyle diner somewhere between Nottingham and Leicester. Guitars are set to go, with equal parts shimmer, twang and chunk. Opening track Heartbreak Radio references The Rolling Stones’ classic The Last Time in its signature riff, leaving the remainder of the album to tuck in behind.

For Captain Dangerous it is as if the summer of 1996 never went away. Their latest single is all jaunty guitars, ‘woo-hoo’ backing vocals, a never ending sense of euphoria and an overall feel of retro guitar pop that looks back at the hazy sixties with rose-tinted spectacles.

Some readers may remember Ellen Mary McGee from when she fronted the now defunct band St Joan, who used to conjure up melancholic Americana ballads and were part of the rather fruitful Sneinton scene, which gave birth to many great local bands. This is her first solo album, which sees her go down the classic English folk route, with traces of Vashti Bunyan, Pentangle and Sandy Denny in her alluring singing style.

In its familiarity this record is far from unpleasant. However, at times the vocals are somewhat self-conscious, like an instrument artfully and artificially aged, rather than worn down naturally by years on the road.

Ultimately, no one really knows a girl named Peggy Sue, has a double-talkin’ baby or listens to ‘a whole mess’ of rhythm n’ blues. But with the band’s influences being so specific and transparent it is easy to dismiss it, trapped as it is in its own lack of confidence or aspiration. However, by-and-large The Breakdowns is likeable fare. Apparantly, they’re big in Spain, but it’s probably more a case of Johnny C+ than Johnny B Goode. Andy Afford Available to buy from rockindiana.biz. thebreakdowns.co.uk Hhymn Hhymn EP (Unsigned) Hhymn’s self-titled debut EP is a finely constructed collection of songs, from the sublime These Hands to the solemn yet strangely uplifting What Will Be. It is a heartfelt record that deserves to be heard. Similar in some ways to Bon Iver’s For Emma…, it is an EP to be listened to concisely as the songs meld and complement each other.

It is by no means an original formula, but the care and talent displayed so consistently by the band makes for an ultimately refreshing record.

There are no weak tracks not one song on the EP made me want to reach for the skip button. Land of Souls is the beautiful second song on the EP, and arguably the standout track, combining elegant instrumentals with the gorgeous vocals of singer Ed Bannard.

In short, Hhymn’s first offering is one of the most promising debuts I’ve heard in a while. Fans of indie, folk, pop - I implore you to listen and buy. Hhymn could well be your new favourite band. Tom Parkinson

The singing can only be described as manic, with words flying out of singer Adam Clarkson’s mouth like an out-of-control rollercoaster that is about to derail and fly off the tracks at any moment. At the same time, the guitars are stuck firmly on the centre of the dancefloor necking Purple Hearts and going at it with joyful abandon.

Captain Dangerous have gained a large and loyal following here in Nottingham and the rest of the East Midlands, and this single, which is prime 6Music material, will no doubt help build upon that. They are definitely solid songwriters too, and it will be interesting to see how they grow as a band from here.

Eric Manchester Available to buy from iTunes as well as a few good independent records shops. captaindangerous.com

Levity Vultures EP (Unsigned) Describing themselves as ‘A new wave Nottingham band’, the first track on this EP has a modern classic alternative rock feel similar to bands like Queens of the Stone Age. Vultures has a great hook line, with good lyrics and a beat to make you tap your feet. The last chorus rises to a crescendo with the drums getting faster, giving off a dramatic feel.

Second track The Lower Ninth brings to mind Incubus with its guitar effects and rather funky drums. But it’s the bass and backing vocals that really carry the song and give it that special something.

Altogether, it reveals itself to be a complex track with many layers that reveal themselves upon repeated listening. Pause is a slower and more minimalist track that shows off the singer’s obviously great vocal ability and guitar skills well, a variety of textures used to create a chilled out mood. Overall this EP is a good example of how classic rock can be modernised to create something that makes you want to listen to over and over again. Sahala Haynes

Available for download from iTunes, Amazon, and Napster along with a limited run of physical copies available at gigs. myspace.com/hhymn

Available to buy direct from the band at gigs. Check their MySpace for details. myspace.com/thelevity

Rescued By Wolves Observe, Dilute, Replicate EP (Unsigned)

Various Artists Welcome to the Arboretum Double CD (Arboretum Records)

Rescued By Wolves are a gutsier and heavier creation born out of another Nottingham band Apparatus of Sleep.

This 30-track behemoth is the debut compilation from Nottingham-based record label Arboretum Records and serves up a heady mix of some of the best musical talent that this great city has to offer.

After putting their name around the city through the live rock circuit, they have bought out four track EP Observe, Dilute, Replicate to showcase what they describe as ‘melodic, raw and chaotic music’. Influenced by the likes of Sonic Youth and Jesus and Mary Chain, but with the rawness of And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, they encapsulate the post-punk sound in energetic form.

The vocals are honest and calming which is the perfect match to the frenzy of noise rock melodies. The four tracks are We’ve Been Sold, Pretending to be Ghosts, Mirror Mirror and Heal or Hurt. Together they show the different moods and tones in the band. If you can’t sense for yourself their hardcore passion in the songs, then just look at the title on the EP cover is written in vocalist Loz Stone’s own blood. Kristi Genovese Available to download for free at myspace.com/rescuedbywolves

There’s a fair few recognisable Notts favourites mixed in with some less well known artists and some real wild cards. From the new wave revival to the city’s thriving folk movement, through indie rock, soulful singer-songwriters, ska and blissful downbeat grooves, WTTA gives an excellent overview of our flourishing music scene.

The only thing missing is some face-melting rock but hey, no one label can cover everything. An excellently constructed compilation, it keeps you hooked right through the double-CD record with every song followed by something unexpected and contrasting. Welcome to the Arboretum really highlights how varied the scene is here. After a successful unplugged showcase event at Vienna in May and now with this compilation, Arboretum Records have shown us what they’re made of and it turns out they’re made of good taste, a good attitude and love for this city. Sarah Morrison Available from local record stores, or buy direct from arboretumrecords.com

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The album is full of gently picked acoustic guitars, banjos and violins – which all come together to form a hypnotic and transcendent listening experience. This is music that forces you to stop whatever you are doing and actually concentrate on what is being sung. Definitely not background music.

Stories of sailors, fantastical creatures, and misty-eyed memories dominate the album, with the standout tracks being He Is No Earthly Man with its dissonant violin and crashing symbols, and the cyclial creepy banjo of Teeth of the Hydra.

The Crescent Sun is a wonderful and thoughtful debut album, and hopefully Ellen Mary McGee will be releasing music of this quality for years to come. Paul Klotschkow Available to buy from midwich-cuckoos.co.uk myspace.com/hecrescentsun

Natalie Duncan Natalie Duncan EP (Farmyard Records) The charts seem to have been swamped by an array of women in the last couple of years; some good, some bad and some, well...average.

But average is definitely not a word that can be used to describe Natalie Duncan. A Nottingham singer/pianist, Ms Duncan is one of those annoyingly talented people that you just can’t help admiring more than envying.

Her debut EP is filled with soulful, sweet vocals and rich melodies - think of a cross between Alicia Keys, Fiona Apple and Nina Simone. Retribution has a delicate jaunty sound, a summery tune with the flute on the track sounding like a bird singing alongside Natalie. Falling Down is all blues and soul and you can imagine it being sang in a moody bar from an old gangster film, whilst Became So Sweet is a mix of jazz and blues.

Natalie is accompanied on all but one of the tracks by a cellist, flautist, saxophonist, drummer and bassist - giving the songs a fresh and full sound. Natalie Duncan should go far; she has a rare talent that Nottingham can’t keep to itself for much longer.

This is an EP for anyone who appreciates music. Be prepared to be utterly seduced. Ali Emm Get hold of the EP direct from farmyardrecords.com. myspace.com/betweenthekeys

We Show Up On Radar Mountain Top 7” single (Hello Thor) It’s as if a post-Glastonbury performance Rolf Harris went up to the Green Fields, took a load of magic mushrooms and found himself marrying a Rastafarian in some blessed-out hippy wedding ceremony. Then the happy couple move to the Caribbean to settle down and they have a baby. That baby turns out to be Gruff Rhys from the Super Furry Animals and when he grows up he has a night of rum-filled ecstasy with a toy box getting the toys up the duff in the process with his electro-sperm. Nine months later the end result would be this song, with Stephen Hawking acting as midwife delivering the glorious result to the world.

Mountain Top sees stylophones teasingly rubbing themselves against calypso beats, as toy-like keyboards swim gently around in a deep blue sea of Stereolab-sounding vocals. Slip this on when you are sitting in the fake Skeggy in the Market Square and imagine that you are relaxing on some distant exotic island and not surrounded by pigeons and youths from Top Valley. Paul Klotschkow Available on limited edition pink vinyl from shops or from hellothor.com myspace.com/wsuor

www.leftlion.co.uk/issue30

PAUL SANDBY, TEA AT ENGLEFIELD GREEN (DETAIL) c 1800 © NOTTINGHAM CITY MUSEUMS AND GALLERIES

Picturing Britain

PAUL SANDBY (1731 – 1809)

A BICENTENARY EXHIBITION 25 JULY – 18 OCTOBER 2009 NOTTINGHAM CASTLE

OPEN DAILY 10AM – 5PM

CLOSED MONDAYS FROM 28 SEPTEMBER

0115 915 3700

www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/whatson

NEW YORK · LONDON · PARIS · MANSFIELD INTRODUCING LEFTLION SUBSCRIPTIONS it’s like having a little piece of Nottingham in your toilet BACK ISSUES

CALLING ALL EXPATRIATES marooned far, far away from the Motherland, Nottophiles in all locations who can’t go two months without seeing the word ‘chelp’ in print, and locals who just can’t be arsed to go into town: LeftLion subscriptions are now available.

KICKING YOURSELF because you missed out on an issue of LeftLion? Regret cutting up a certain issue to make blackmail threats to your ex? Want five copies of the issue with Su Pollard having it off in the Square on the cover to sell on eBay in years to come?

Don’t mither yoursen, kids - simply giz some more money, and we’ll sort you out. We have limited copies of every issue of the ‘Lion (excluding issue 3), and when they’re gone, they’re gone.

That’s right, youths and ducks - from now on, you don’t have to ratchet up your carbon footprint by jetting into Nottingham in order to pick up the latest issue of the only magazine in Nottingham worth the steam off your wazz - simply giz some money, and we’ll send every issue to you the minute it comes off the presses. With a stamp and everything.

Until your subscription runs out, obviously.

Again, check www.leftlion.co.uk/subs.

Now you don’t have to spend your lonely nights in a lesser town worrying about who is playing at The Maze next month as you slowly lose your accent - we’ll get your postie to shove Nottingham through your letterbox on a bi-monthly basis. Hit up www.leftlion.co.uk/subs to order online.

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Capricorn (December 23 - January 19) Remember: No matter how bad things get, or how hopeless life may seem, you can always go home again and take it out on your family. The bible tells you that there is a time when every man has to put away childish things. Yep that does include the three small kids!

Aquarius (January 20 - February 19) Some kind of internal struggle is going on as you battle with the need to do what you want to do as opposed to pleasing others. Experience will have taught you putting other people’s needs in front of your own isn’t always beneficial. Especially when it comes to eating… some people just prefer to feed themselves!

Pisces (February 20 - March 20) This weekend try and spice up your sex life by trying out a bit of rodeo style. This involves taking your missus from behind and holding on tightly to her breasts until you gain entry. Then deliberately call her by the wrong name and see how long you can stay mounted for.

Aries (March 21 - April 20) Coughing up blood is usually a sign of major illness, but in your case it just means you’re drinking too much of it too fast. The trainee vampire look you have adopted does have its downfalls. Noone likes a faker and to be taken seriously you might have to splash out on that oak coffin. There’s a lot at stake here!

Taurus (April 21 - May 21) Life will become needlessly complicated this Wednesday lunchtime when you walk for fifteen and a half minutes to the greengrocers and purchase half as many apples as Dave in accounts, but twice as many bananas as Michael and Linda from marketing combined.

LEFTLION ABROAD Café del Mar, Sant Antoni de Portmany, Ibiza.

Café del Mar (which translates as ‘café by the ocean’) is a world famous bar for revellers in Ibiza.

Known for its spectacular sunsets and laid back vibes, it’s a popular tourist destination for Brits during the summer season. Hundreds, sometimes thousands of tourists and locals gather in front of the café to enjoy the beer and music, while the sun slowly disappears under the horizon. The venue has played a major role in the foundation of chill-out music culture worldwide and has spawned a string of spin-off compilation albums.

Sent in by Nick Cragg from Wollaton. If you can get a LeftLion sticker or magazine somewhere exotic email us on info@leftlion.co.uk.

Gemini (May 22 - June 22) The good news is that the private doctors have found a donor and are willing to perform the operation, assuming you have the money to pay for it. But really you should think carefully before you go any further and ask yourself how many more livers you actually need!

Cancer (June 23 - July 23) Keep your socks together throughout the wash and dry process. Get some safety pins and keep them near to the washing machine. Then, when it’s time to do a wash, pin the toes of the socks together so you save time matching them up after the laundry process.

Leo (July 24 - August 23) The serpent came to me on the seventh day. He spoke softly and slowly, aware that she was away. We talked for a while about truth and life. The conversation was easy in the absence of the wife. He offered me a future, with expensive charms. I looked back at him and said “Haha you’ve got no arms.”

Virgo (August 24 - September 23) Let’s arrange a time and place now. See you on your birthday in the place we first met all that time ago. I’ll be wearing smudged clown make-up and carrying an empty saxophone case. You make sure you bring the faceless doll and the complete set of kitchen knives. It could be a long afternoon…

Libra (September 24 - October 23) There are times when you can achieve a great deal. You merely have to look at people and they start offering to do your bidding. Sometimes, they even read your mind and realise what you need without you even having to ask. That’s why your dad has been buying you more and more pornography recently.

Scorpio (October 24 - November 22) Save all left-over pieces of soap, either hand or laundry soap, and place in a can. When it’s full, pour a small amount of water over them and place on back of stove, the soap will melt and form a jelly. This is ideal for washing the blood out of carpets or clothes.

Sagittarius (November 23 - December 22) Our father, who plays darts in Devon. Jim Bowen be thy name. Thy treble twenty come. Thy bus fair home be done. On Westcountry TV, as ITV is in Devon. Give us this day, our bendy bully. And forgive us our strike-outs, as we may forgive those who win the speedboat against us.

Skegness beach

Market Square beach

The next LeftLion Magazine will be out in Nottingham venues at the beginning of October, ready for the students’ return...

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www.leftlion.co.uk/issue30

Av. daily visitors: 478 50

Price of ice cream: £1.

bs within ¼ mile: 5

Pu

Av. daily visitors: 983 Price of ice cream: £1.

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Pubs within ¼ mile:

55

Taxi home (£): £67

Taxi home (£): £6.70

Jolly Fisherman: 1

Emos: 100

Site-specific projects along the River Trent in Nottingham Summer – Autumn 2009 Curated by Jennie Syson

A series of new artists’ commissions, reading rooms, a symposium & a three-part publication o July – December

The Reading Room

Monthly event at One Thoresby Street

21st August

Annexinema

Feat: The Magnificent Revolution Artists film screening & performance underneath Clifton Bridge

21st, 22nd, 23rd August & 23rd, 24th September

Rebecca Beinart: Field Kitchen

Various sites around the River Trent & Nottingham Canal

24th August – 1st November

S Mark Gubb: Pura Vida

Manvers Street Billboard & Limited Edition Prints

August – December

Mark Harasimowicz

Hinterland Bag, Publication & Limited Edition Prints

16th September – 18th October

John Newling: The Clearing (Part I) Bio City Laboratory

8th October

Peter Greenaway: Whither Shall I Wander Film Screenings at Attenborough Nature Centre

26th November

Hinterland Symposium Broadway Media Centre

Mark Harasimowicz & Tristan Hessing Video screening at One Thoresby Street

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www.hinterlandprojects.com To book for events please contact bookings@hinterlandprojects.com or call the hinterland information and bookings line on 07914 504660