FREE NOTTINGHAM CULTURE
issue #7. our style is legendary
www.leftlion.co.uk/issue7
credits LeftLion Magazine Issue 7 October-November 2005 Editor Jared Wilson Deputy Editor Al Needham Sub Editors Alan Gilby Timmy Bates Nathan Miller Cristina Chapman David Bowen Distribution Big G Tim Evans Design David Blenkey design@skip-intro.co.uk Photographers Dom Henry Kevin Lake Josh Shinner Contributors Adrian Bhagat Alex Kocan Amanda Young Dan Gardner Jenny Hill Mike White Ollie Smith Jesse Keene Roger Mean Sadie Rees Hales Tina Carter Still on tour... Yemi Akinpelumi “I want to stand as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all the kinds of things you can’t see from the center.” Kurt Vonnegut LeftLion 349a Mansfield Road Nottingham, NG5 2DA info@leftlion.co.uk For advertising enquiries please contact:
contents . . .
editorial
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Welcome to the latest issue of LeftLion Magazine. A particularly warm welcome to all the students who return to Notts this time of year.
Goobernapped and stuff from the forum Is Nottingham the new Amsterdam? Nottingham is Connected From Baghdad to Gladrags Lost Project and The Elementz Computerman on the hard-drive to success Strange Brew - Joe Strange interview The Original Gangster - Hood on screen Central Connection - Ian Smith interview The Shims - Andrew and Shauna interviews Notts On The Box Notts On Tour Out and About A Moot Point - Nic Deshaynes Nottsword Rocky Horrorscopes and The Fun Cave
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It’s definitely noticeable for us locals that the city gets quieter during non-term time and then livens up again after, as the packed start-ofterm events listings in this magazine will testify. Artists performing in Notts over the next two months include Bloc Party, Roni Size, Mobb Deep, Grandmaster Flash, Gilles Peterson, Jo Brand, Ed Byrne, Scratch Perverts, Motorhead and Franz Ferdinand. This is not to mention the home-made talent on display such as Computerman, Joe Strange, Lost Project and The Elementz, who feature in this issue. Nottingham is a great city for students. Despite the occasional banter from the locals, it is on the whole very student-friendly and the streets are geared towards easy access to more shops, restaurants, bars and nightclubs than you’ll ever have time to get bored with. You may soon be able to drink around the clock to forget your lectures, without them ever calling time at the bar. Read inside what Jennie Hill makes of twenty four hour drinking. This issue also comes jam-packed with local TV coverage. We speak to Ian Smith, the Director of local hive of acting talent the Central Drama Youth Workshop and two of its products Shauna and Andrew Shim, who are moving on to bigger things. We also take a sideways look at a history of TV programmes from the surrounding area. This period also showcases the movers and the shakers in the local arts scene with the Now Festival and the launch of the Moot Gallery both of particular interest. With a massive new gallery set to be built over the next few years, this is an exciting time for all concerned. If you fancy contributing to LeftLion in some way or another then drop us an email. We’re busy people, but we respond to everyone in time. Alternatively come along and meet us over a beer at one of our monthly live nights at The Orange Tree (third Thursday of the month) and The Malt Cross (last Friday of the month). See you there. Mine’s a San Miguel…
jared@leftlion.co.uk
advertising@leftlion.co.uk office/fax: 0115 9623676 mobile: 07866 312044 8,000 copies distributed in over 50 venues around Nottingham
Cover snappers: Barnes, Pisces, Alan , Caroline Jared, Mr. Mean, Bigfatbadger Dilks, Dom, Denz, Sundaygirl, Will David, mr.reason, news24, marbelorder and a large big up to Joel Rusiecki
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local news for local people
Nottingham Voices things people have said on the leftlion forum Students…
without Guy Gooberman, our correspondent gone missing.
They’re a very good thing indeed if you want to live in a young vibrant city with decent doctors, dentists, nurses, teachers and a fully functional society in the future. Fossy Most students automatically put themselves in debt the minute they start, and decide they might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb, and insist on having it plush. Fuck chatty houses in Radford, they want those new poncey apartments in town. On one hand, town runs the risk of being turned into a huge student village. On the other, cheaper rents for scab-dog locals like us. Hurrah! Lord of the Nish
Please note that Guy Gooberman is a fictional character and therefore his kidnapping is only as real as the news he writes for more painful laughs visit www.lunch-break.co.uk
GOOBERNAPPED!
I like that we get better and bigger nights when they’re here, but generally they’ve got little to no respect for the city or the locals. There are some very safe students but it’s wild generalisation considering the high student population. Jamie Students inject life into the local culture. We pump money into the system from clothes to the nights that are being held at the start of term, firefly for instance seems to only be on when students are back. It’s due to students that change in Notts is taking place. What have we done to hurt you really? Silo Some students don’t seem to understand or care that their neighbours have to get up for work in the morning. I didn’t understand this when I was a student, and thought that the daft neighbours should stop moaning when I was pissed up in the street nicking garden furniture. Denz Don’t bitch about the students. They may be losers now, but one day they will all turn out to be like you and me Hipster K
Nasty ways to die I’m afraid of being eaten alive by a giant octopus Pisces J Long,slow poisoning/bleeding to death or being attacked by a shark Sara In front of a TV audience. Adrian Being drowned in ectoplasm BigFatBadger Choking to death on Carol Vordman’s pubes....... Barnze In a glass vacuum chamber with the air slowly sucked from the room whilst shadowy figures laugh and point from the other side of the glass MegamanX Skinned alive with a stanley knife.... by Carol Vorderman Random Guy Ripped in half by two talking horses. possibly the ones from that old Tetleys advert Hoodmonkey Botulism poisoning. Being completely paralysed as your nervous system shuts down, but with your brain still working. Unable to breath, and dying slowly of oxygen starvation. Denz
make your voice heard
www.leftlion.co.uk/forum
LeftLion’s intrepid purveyor of local news Guy Gooberman has gone missing in very mysterious circumstances. He was last seen heading home from a hard day of treading the boards in Camberwell and was caught on CCTV buying a bunch of carrots and a bottle of Dandelion and Burdock from a local 24hr greengrocer. The only London-based writer in the magazine, Guy moved to ‘the smoke’ a month or two before the first issue came out and has been an ever present in these pages since, despite generally being located at least 150 miles away from the ‘real’ action of Hood town.
Until recently he was also almost omnipresent on the LeftLion forum, but many have noticed his eerie silence. Then on the evening of 18 Septmber there was a mysterious message posted on the LeftLion forum.
this bloke then I’m sure we can do something. Why don’t we get some of those actors from that Tales of Robin Hood place to sacrifice themselves for him? I went there once when I visited the city. I got to shoot the golden arrow and everything.”
”We have your Gooberman! If you want to see him again alive then we want your Robin Hood in exchange. We know he is out there. We also want that Friar Tuck and Little John. For the exchange of these terrorists we will leave your country of Nothingham (sic) alone for ever.”
LeftLion’s mystic detective and Clairvoyant Roger Mean said of the kidnapping: “I saw this coming in the stars. Gooberman is an Aries and when I kicked a tray of teacups on the floor earlier this month, they all fell nicely into the shape of a little lamb. From that point on I pitied the fool!”
The chief of Camberwell Poh-lice Mr Ismokeweede said: “If people do really give much of an arse about
What will happen to Gooberman? Check www.leftlion.co.uk for more details.
From the LeftLion Creative Writing Forum… Morning
Sometimes when I wake up in the moring I go Downstairs and I smash the life out of an English breakfast and I think about all the friends I have made, which comes to none. It takes time to count so I put aside the whole day and I think who cares not me so I make sickening prank phone calls to some people in this book that I got through the post. I read it for ages It’s called the Yellow Pages. Roger Quimm
Christmas
Dad’s gone down the boozer Mam’s stuck in the kitchen Sister’s on the sofa Picking her nose and bitching I’m in me bedroom Really bored shitless Thinking very hard about Becoming a Jehovah’s Witness All this over-eating’s Given me the shits Everybody’s getting On each other’s tits Socks from Aunty Vera Pants from Uncle Frank When you’re not a kid no more Christmas is wank. Lord of the Nish
Yours (edit)
Private jokes we shared How could anyone understand A meeting of minds, of eyes And other bits too It was always unplanned Because you can’t write this Only about this... …What we really want is to say Please let tomorrow Be just like today But that can be no bad thing When today was with you And what I want to say Before I’m drowned In poor-taste metaphors Is that you’re mine And I’m yours. articulatedlorry
Lonely wanderings
I wandered lonely as a cat A cat who’s had his whiskers cut Scissored off by a group of cruel children Who are born into a world of hate and pain I wandered lonely as a bat A bat who hasn’t played with a ball for time He has no balls, he has no friends He is no longer a bat, just a lump of wood I wandered lonely as a flat That is a fixed residence with a permanent address
No legs to wander, no different views to see It’s task to stay still, until it decays Spam Ayres
Skeg
I must go down to Skeg again To the lonely sea and sky I left a pair of socks last year I wonder if they’re dry. Barnze
Scarey animal brigade
spooky bats big fat rats horrible flys with big legs that buzz stripey flys that sting you small flys that bite you and make your skin bumpy big hairey spiders that ate the flys birds with big claws and lions with big paws cows that go moo and scarey deers too this is my scarey animal brigade Jamie aged 6
Log on at www.leftlion.co.uk/forum
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Is Nottingham the new Amsterdam? Nottingham, along with the rest of the UK, will collapse in a drink-induced pool of vomit, crime and decay this November as hoards of people intoxicate themselves in bars and clubs that never close. Or that is what senior police officers and local press seem to think anyway. So how are the new licensing laws really going to affect the nightlife of Nottingham? words: Jenny Hill photo: David Bowen Between February and August this year every late night venue in the city had to renew their license. This was not solely restricted to the 350-plus bars and clubs that squeeze into the square mile that is Nottingham city centre. Everyone who sells anything after 11pm has been affected by Licensing Minister James Purnell’s new incentive to control Britain’s drink culture. Even fast food vans have had to reapply to unleash their ratwith-a-hint-of-pigeon burgers on customers who have had one too many pints to use their sense of taste or smell. Although daylong binges in one place may appeal to the studentminded amongst us, will the rest of society follow suit? Real 24-hour drinking needs constant buses, trains and policing, not to mention bar staff willing to watch their peers get merry as they slave away at work while dawn breaks. The idea of this legislation is to stagger closing time, so that there are fewer problems when the city staggers home. It is true that when everyone pours out of the clubs at 2am the race to the taxi can get nasty but at least there is always someone there to see what is happening. For
girls especially it can be daunting trying to find your way home on quieter streets. With all the blue notices proclaiming pubs requested opening hours dotting the city windows, you would think most places wanted to stay open. However many will keep their new privilege to special occasions. It is possible that during the first winter bank holiday all havoc will break loose but as John Clarke, Chairman of the Nottingham Police Authority, proclaims: “After the initial fuss has died down, it will lead to a more civilised drinking culture in this country and will bring us more in line with our European neighbours”. In most of Europe it is actually seen as an unusual disgrace to get drunk in public and this could be to do with their more lenient laws. In Germany for example people can drink beer and wine from the age of sixteen, although spirits are restricted to over eighteens. This seems to have the affect that getting drunk is seen as less of a big thing and therefore far less exciting. In England people are so enthusiastic when they can
at last legally drink (or in this case drink for longer) that they take advantage and relish in the novelty. If bars were open all the time, then it is more than plausible that the streets would be calmer as people learn to pace themselves better. So have all venues applied for 24-hour licenses as we were warned? Well, actually no, the reality is much more sober. Although of course some bars tried to cater for the true party animals of the city, most major changes to licenses were refused. Stag party-goers and seedy men in business suits out there will be disappointed to know that Bar Humbug did not get the strip license it requested. Instead a gradual change will be introduced, allowing us to not have to rush off quite so quickly at 11. The Malt Cross on St James’ Street (home of LeftLion Presents) is one such place that will change in response to what the customers want. Though it has applied to serve drinks until 2am, it will start by opening until midnight on Friday and Saturdays and take it from there. By contrast, local tap-merchants The Works look likely to have their licence revoked.
It seems after all the hype; the new drinking laws will have little actual effect on going-out culture in the city. As John Clarke explains, “people only have so much money to spend, and if they are intent on getting drunk, they will do so regardless of opening hours!” All night events, such as those held at Rock City on the occasional Saturday, have never caused many problems for
local police before. Even though the 6am closing time may mean that drinkers who live far from the town centre have to wait around for the first bus, this is a personal choice that rarely affects anyone else. Nottingham may be crawling with stag and hen parties on the weekend but we are a long way from being Amsterdam for now.
LeftLion Forum Crew on 24-hour Drinking I’m not sure how much difference it’ll make in the city centre. If you want to carry on drinking past 11pm there’s always late bars and clubs you can go on to. Linsey Most pubs who have applied for this later license have only applied for an extra hour or two. Hopefully the Malt Cross will open til midnight, making LeftLion Presents an even better night. Denz I can just see some idiots getting even more pissed and violent than they already do, which is a scary thought for those on the receiving end. I think it’s great having the option to stay out until you feel you’ve had enough and to go out later on in the evening knowing that you’re not gonna miss last orders though.
Sara Bar owners don’t want a load of pissed up idiots in the city any more than anyone else and so most will just start to close up at the same time and will just not have to chuck people out. If you treat people like kids then they will behave like them. Until the novelty wears off, some people might get drunker but then things will settle out in an adult fashion. Fossy I’d hold back on licensing hours and keep them as they are. There are already enough clubs and late bars for violent pissheads and more time for them to drink would bump up the crime stats enhancing Nottinghams already shoddy reputation and giving the right wing press more bones to pick at. Re-open the Bomb. Snowmonkey
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Nottingham is Connected October is the month where term starts at both Universities in Nottingham and all the students return to the city. The good news for students at the start of the new term is that thanks to Connected Nottingham all current University students can get free internet access on campus and at venues across the city centre... Working alongside Tele Generation, they have implemented wireless Hotspot in some of the cities best spots for eating and drinking including Cast, The Malt Cross, The Pitcher and Piano, The Lion Inn and Saltwater. Non-students can get access for 30 Days for £10 or a year for £60. Nottingham is fast becoming a UK leader in wireless technology and not only will students be able to access emails, use MSN Messenger and surf the internet, but they will also be able to make free phone calls. All you need to do is take your wireless laptop along to a growing number of wireless hotspots on campus and at many of the city centre bars and restaurants including: Breeze Bar 31-35 Goose Gate Bunkers Hill Inn
Hockley Bag o’ Nails 60 Lenton Blvd The Bar Café The Cornerhouse Canalhouse Bar and Restaurant 48-52 Canal St Cast Wellington Circus C K’s 15 Byard Lane Frog and Onion Noel Street Fresh 15 Goose Gate The Grove 273 Castle Blvd The Johnson Arms 59 Abbey St, Dunkirk Kean’s Head 46 St Mary’s Gate The Lion Inn 44 Mosley Street, Basford Malt Cross 16 St James’s Street Mayfields Wine Bar 2-3 Eldon Chambers The Newcastle Arms
68 Sherwood Street Red Hot Buffet Shack 38-46 Goose Gate The Stage 7a Wollaton Street Saltwater The Cornerhouse Sausage The Cornerhouse Pitcher & Piano High Pavement The Plough 17 St Peter’s St, Radford The Gate House Tollhouse Hill Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem Brewhouse Yard All students (including returning students) who sign up and register for their free access between the start of the new term and the end of October will be entered into a prize draw. The first prize is a Toshiba Satellite Pro laptop computer. 2nd prize will be a cool laptop carry case courtesy of Crumpler UK (the people who have the shop next to Malt
Cross). The shop is also offering students from both Universities 15% off selected goods until the end of October. You will need a valid NUS card and should quote
“TeleGeneration” to get the discount. www.connectednottingham.org.uk www.telegeneration.com
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From Baghdad to Gladrags Many people haven’t even heard of the Miss England competition, however over five thousand of you voted for Sarah Mendly to be this year’s Miss Nottingham. words: Sadie Rees Hales British beauty pageants may have lost popularity in the Sixties as the role of women began to change; but this year’s Miss Nottingham is more than just tits and arse with a tiara. She’s a Notts Uni graduate who knows her stuff about social and political issues. Sarah Mendly is also the first female Muslim Iraqi to win a British beauty pageant! So is there still really a place in our society where women have to shut up and look beautiful..? What made you decide to go for Miss Nottingham? I thought it would be something fun to do. I’d seen an advert for a beauty pageant looking for ethnic minorities and decided to go for it. Then I saw the Miss Nottingham competition and went for that instead. Beauty pageants are not my life. I’d only do modelling as a sideline. You’re buggered when you start to sag… The stereotypical beauty pageant winners are blonde, love children and animals, and want to bring world peace. What do you think sets you out from the rest?
The fact that I’m a curvy size 12 made me stand out because all the other girls were thin and had modest chests… my boobs stood out! Also, being Iraqi means I had a different look about me. How’s your life changed since becoming Miss Nottingham? In America beauty pageants are massive and women like Halle Berry have won them. It hasn’t changed here really as British people are generally so reserved and don’t make a fuss about this sort of thing. My family are blatantly honest with me and tell me if I don’t look good in photos. My mother says an old Arabic phrase which is “A monkey in a mother’s eye is a dear.” What made you choose to support the Children of War charity? I support charities that deal with children whose lives have been torn apart by war, because it’s such an awful thing. I also support Breast Cancer charities. The Iraq situation is obviously something close to your heart as your family are from there. Were you involved in any of the Notts anti-war protests?
No I wasn’t. It’s not as simple, there’s no black or white. I was in Baghdad in the Gulf War when I was twelve years old. I remember the sirens going off and feeling the ground shaking even when the fighting was miles away. What makes you want to write? Tell us about your poetry. I started writing in school when I was nine. They used to make us write poems and I enjoyed wracking my brains while writing. Poetry came quite easily to me as I found it a good release of emotion and I write best when I’m either upset or angry. Not enough emotions go with happiness, but when you’re pissed off there’s so much more to say. It’s an endless release of emotion and frustration. I wasn’t open as a child and very much kept to myself, so I wrote my feelings down in my poems instead. In terms of a progressive view towards women, and as an intellectual woman yourself, how do you feel being judged on your looks and treated as a sexual object? Your personality is very important and for Miss England there’s a bit
where we have to show a talent so hopefully I’ll read some of my poetry out. The competition is a choice that you make to do it or not. For many girls, it can be a stepping for to a future career. Do you worry that events like Miss England give out the wrong impressions to women about what they should look like? That can be said though about the media as a whole. Pick up a copy of Vogue and that will make women feel like they should look a certain way. There was no criteria for Miss England, so you didn’t have to be a certain height or weight. Our whole society is to blame for making women feel they should conform to a certain beauty, not a single even like this. You’ve had poetry published, a Biomedical Science degree and are this year’s Miss Nottingham. What are you crap at? I hate the gym! I prefer doing a few sit ups at home when I’m feeling a bit fat. When I was younger I was never the attractive one. In fact I was spotty, wore glasses, had a moustache and weighed 16 stone. Men never looked once at me, let alone twice. You have to be
careful with diets though, the organisers have told me not to lose lots of weight when I said I was trying to drop a dress size. I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I will never be crowned Miss Nottingham. What tips would you give to next years’ hopefuls? Just be yourself otherwise you’ll come across looking awkward. Hold your head high. I don’t look like a doll and have managed to come this far, so anyone can do it! This year the voting was done by text message. Did you send a few sneaky ones for yourself? Yeah, I sent one. My family sent a couple as well! Anything else you want to say to LeftLion readers? I really want to open up Goose Fair. I’ve always loved it since I was a child and think it would be funny to be there for the opening. I’ll have to ask the Mayor. Also get drunk and have a kebab. Oh yea, and of course world peace!
Read Sarah’s poetry at www.leftlion.co.uk
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words: Jesse Keene
photos: Harry Bastard
It’s hard to pigeonhole Lost Project within any particular Hiphop genre. Known for their infectious beats, vocal prowess and extremely ‘live’ performances they are one of Notts rising forces in the ever-growing pool of UK musical talent.
As time went on we built the crew up and it just picked up pace, sort of like a snowball effect. The process has been roughly a year between each member joining and stems back to about 1999. But the idea has always stayed the same because it is a project that gets bigger every time and the message is to urge people to come together and work as a solid unit.
Hailing from the Dealmaker Records stable they have just dropped their debut EP Next Level Concepts which has received acclaim from national radio and music magazines. I caught up with their spitfire MC Killa for a brief chat on what makes the project so personal.. What is the Lost Project story? How did you get together? The idea behind Lost Project is that it is a project itself. Originally there were just me and Frenic. We‘d known each other a while and we vibe off each other in general.
Next Level Concepts is your first distributed EP but you have an extensive back catalogue. What made it so hard to break through? We have a huge list of tunes, but the area (Finsbury Park) we were living in at the time didn’t give us the opportunity to push our stuff further. It was hard to find likeminded people that were into the same way of thinking, so when you did find some one who was on the same wavelength you stuck together and pushed your
opinions and talent out there. The gigs that we could grab were in the most random of venues, so it was hard at the beginning to make a name for ourselves. This EP shows the most formed as a collective we have ever been, because now we have a base station for the group and can actually build on that and take it to wherever it leads. I feel we’ve been able to put a lot of energy into the EP and it has made us push harder as musicians and also given us a focus. What, if anything, would you like the listener to take from the
Next Level Concepts EP? Firstly I would like them to realise that this form of expression is something that can be done by anyone. Whatever your thoughts are, if you project them in the right way people will understand what you are putting across and show an interest in what you are trying to achieve. When you listen to our music you will be hearing things about where we are living and our personal thoughts that we are not afraid to tell people because we are not tied down to any type of image, we just speak our truth.
Tell us about your forthcoming album Our album is very instrumental and will reflect where our mind state is as a crew and also as individuals. Frenic is totally dedicated to what he does on the beat side of things and you are going to be hearing a lot of deep baselines. There is a lot of melody involved as well, he has made it so that every tune is different from the last. Though most importantly we want people to enjoy it… www.dealmakerrecords.com
Skinnyman, Lowkey, Rukus and Big Cakes here in the UK… Liati: ..and in the U.S we working with Blitz, Dead Prez, and a management company in Atlanta called Street Work Entertainment who are holding us down in the south, with mans like Lethal, DJ Chuck T, Camouflage, Rodney King and Duke Cannons.
words: Jesse Keene
photo: Kevin Lake
Having worked with the likes of ScorZayZee, Karizma, and Skinnyman, it would be easy to try and label The Elementz as another Notts Hiphop crew, but their production skills run deeper than just mere beat fiends.
How did you two hook up? Liati: We linked up on the Jungle circuit in the late ’90s when it was all still going nuts. Zoutr was promoting some shows and we were both DJing around town. I was doing some reviews for a magazine and ended up doing a feature on one of Zoutr’s nights. Zoutr: We just grew from there and started building a technique together and just developed musically as we went along. Liati: Yeah, we had a solid connection from both loving funk music. We hooked up through that melancholy sound you get within some music, the stuff that makes you screw up your face cause you know something real deep came through whoever wrote it.
The men known as Zoutr and Liati have been shaking up the local scene for years now with their DJ appearances and Heavy nights. They’ve also recently released their debut EP Elementz Universe Volume 1 and are making waves in the national scene. We caught up with them to see what they had to say on all things musical and beyond….
Why did you choose the name The Elementz? Liati: The name is something that’s all encompassing. You know that nothing is new under God’s sun. Everything has an element of this that, and that’s how we stay. Zoutr: We take different elements and feelings when we build music. We aren’t straight up Hiphop producers, we appreciate all types of music with soul and we try to stay fresh with it. Tell us about the Notts Hiphop heads you’ve worked with? Zoutr: First, I got to say, we’ve worked with some seriously talented Nottingham players. Liati: People like Big Trev and Outdaville, 45, Daddy Freddy, Tempa, C-mone and so on, cemented Nottingham as a
serious, no ramping, Hiphop Community. To work with people like Scorzayzee, Karizma and Nick Stez is very necessary for us to be a part of this Community and to try and take it to the next stage. Zoutr: There’s so many more we haven’t worked with yet in Notts though. What about artists outside the city borders? Liati: We bring something different to the table for each artist we work with. We see what identity they want to give a track, or if they just want us to go bananas, we just get down in the way we feel would suit that particular artist, no matter if they from NY, Nottz, Jamaica, Sweden or wherever. Zoutr: Right now we’ve done or are doing stuff with dudes like
How do you feel Elementz Universe Volume 1 has been received and how are you going to follow it up? Zoutr: When it dropped we expected some movement and we got some. The last few units got snapped up when daddy Skitz selected High Grade for the Homegrown volume 2 compilation. We’ve already followed up the debut with some guest work. Stuff Records just released Big Cakes debut EP with a banger from us called Never Had Time and we done about half of Karizma’s forthcoming EP on Dealmaker which is almost mastered at the time of going to press. Liati: We’re still always growing the Elementz sound, It’s young right now. Zoutr: There’s a lot to look forward to…
You can buy one of the very last copies of Elementz Universe Volume 1 now through www.suspectpackages.com or www.theelementz.co.uk
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On a hard drive for success... words: Ollie Smith
photo: Davina Rose
I wasn’t really in the best of moods to meet Computerman. A quick peek at their apocalyptic themed website and there I was in Junktion 7 on a Sunday morning, clipboard in hand, nursing a hangover of Miltonic proportions.
release, and are practically drowning in the stuff when their slot at Leftlion Presents (30th September) is mentioned…
However, the previous night the synth rock band had collected hangovers from various parts of the UK; a testament to disparate roots that include Hull, Leicester and Wales, but have recently turned to focus on Nottingham. As luck would have it their heads span at a similar rate to mine, facilitating communication that morning. Now signed to super trendy Must Destroy Records (home to The Darkness) for a two single deal, Computerman are Adam, Rhys (drums), Paul, Rob (guitars/synths) and Mark (guitars/synths and vocals). Suitably trendy themselves (indeed Adam’s hair explores uncharted territory between fashion and a hedge strimming accident), the band ooze anticipation ahead of their debut tour and debut single
So why Nottingham? Adam: ‘Well it was the nearest big city really. We’d formed as a three piece (and then to a four piece within a day or so) in Leicester as mates from De Montfort Uni and played there for four years. We’ve only recently moved here. Paul: It’s nice to be known as a Nottingham band though, It’s good to have a local following wherever... So how would you describe your sound to a stranger to your music? Adam: Pop Paul: Hiphop. Country and Western. Rhys: Disco Pop! How about that? Adam: Can we have Apocalyptic Space Disco? No. Adam: Well Pop it is then. Please don’t write down Country and Western. Or anything Paul says. So, do you think you have any genre peers in Nottingham or Leicester? Paul and Rhys: No. Adam: I used to live in the next village to Kasabian
in Leicestershire. They were really nice people, but we have a passionate dislike for their music. It’s Burberry music really. Adam: It’s surprising there are no big bands from Nottingham though. Mark: There’s a big unsigned scene here. Adam: Did you know I once saw Mark Morrison buying his own CD in Leicester? Would you ever consider doing that? Rhys: I think I would, just for the novelty. I don’t know I would if it were Return of the Mac though. Adam: I think it was the other one actually. How did you get signed? Mark: It was quite funny really. We went for a big meeting with EMI and it was just like you’d expect. Then just before a gig we went for a Chinese with a guy from Must Destroy. We didn’t talk about music or anything, but he signed us after the show. So when is the new single out? Rhys: ‘No More Broken Hearts’ is out on the 24th of October. The Bside is ‘Watch More Television’. What’s that about? Adam: It’s a modern day Romeo and Juliet.
In what way? Adam: err... Mark: I think the local news could do a lot more for local bands here. You know the other night there was this piece about a kid who wanted to be a bin man all his life and somehow someone granted him his wish. His mum was crying with joy by the end of it. Can you believe it? Adam: My mum wanted me to play the cello. Paul: Have you noticed how the cellists on Top of the Pops are always really fit? Mark: I think the cello is the nicest instrument of all... Are you looking forward to touring then? Mark: Yeah, should be good. Rhys: We have an orange van! Me and Mark do the driving, but Rob’s become insured recently. The thing is the driving seat is the most comfortable seat on the bus, so it worked out quite well for me. Paul: It does 12 miles to the gallon on a good day. Adam: It sounds like a lawnmower. If Xhibit were to pimp your van, what particular modifications would you request? Mark: I want the front seat putting in the back. Rob: Shoe Polisher. Paul: Water Cooler.
Rhys: A driver from Mars, like in Total Recall. Adam: Arnold Schwarzenegger. Driving. If you could have one celebrity friend, who would it be? Rhys: Fearne Cotton. I used to watch her on Eureka about two years ago, when she had lovely hair. I was also at School with Bunf from the Super Furry Animals. Is he the one that never speaks? Rhys: Yeah, cos he’s too stoned. Paul: I want Anna Friel. Adam: We were within yards of Anna Friel the other day in London and Paul didn’t even notice. Rob: Audrey Tatou. Paul: Actually can I have Sky Bishop from Neighbours? Adam: Is she legal? So finally how did you get your name Computerman? Adam: Well, we were called ‘The band carolgees’, but we stopped that because it was rubbish. Paul: So we tried to think of something slightly less rubbish. Adam: Rob was wearing a badge that his dad had made him when he was little. It said Computerman on it so we took it from there... www.computermanmusic.com
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A Strange Brew words: Alex Kocan
The Joe Strange Band have a colourful history. They once worked the cruise ships as a resident band, but now have their feet firmly on the old terra firma. Joe played our Malt Cross night late last year and is back this time around for a gig with his band for LeftLion Live at the Orange Tree on Thursday 17 November. The band have recently released Angel Row, a country album that sounds like it’s straight out of the deep south, yet is inspired by the sights and sounds of Nottingham. The Joe Strange Band are: Joe (vocals/ guitar) Douglas Swayby (bass), Dane Trewitt (keyboards) and Jeremy Hamilton Marks (drums). We caught up with Joe to shoot the breeze... Where did you acquire such an interesting name as Joe Strange? My parents gave it to me. It’s my real name. Describe your sound? It’s sort of American-based country. But I wouldn’t say it was all cows and hats.
photo: Nathan Bell
What are your influences? Dylan, Van Morrison, Leonard Cohen, Beatles, Stones. I usually find American stuff more inspiring. British stuff has got more of a sense of humour to it, which is good, but it has lost some of its soul at the same time. What’s your favourite record of all time? ‘Astral Weeks’ by Van Morrison. You can tell he’d gone into the studio with all these wicked musicians and said “these are my songs, you’re gonna follow me”. Each song’s about eight minutes long. The words and the music are likeJazz, but it’s not, it’s really atmospheric. It’s so badly recorded but it’s superb. I read an interview with him saying that it was all planned, but when you listen to it there’s no way. You’d have to be completely insane. Tell us a little about your Angel Row album. Why this particular road for an album title? My mate used to work on Angel Row years ago. He called it ‘Death Row’ because it used to be a shit hole. I like the way the name sounds awesome and the images it creates.
How does the band work together on the album? Dane’s first love is the piano so he played piano on the album. He has a sort of Jools Holland rock and roll style to his playing. Doug played bass, Jeremy on drums and me on guitar. We rehearsed so much so we knew exactly what we were doing when it came to harmonies, electric guitars and stuff. We basically nailed the ten tracks, minus overdubs, in a day. How long did it take to write? It took a year to write as I wanted it to be just right. But the problem I felt was there was no lyrical direction. I eventually found inspiration from Nottingham as I felt real resentment for the way the place was being portrayed in the national press at the time. What’s your personal favourite track off there? The Healer because the lyrics took me so long. I wrote it about Whycliffe who LeftLion interviewed once. He was signed to Sony in America when he was kid and had two albums out. He went off the rails and got messed up. It’s sad as he’s a very talented guy. The greatest shame, for me, is that no one knows who he is.
Ever had a difficult un-country loving crowd? A few weeks ago we had a bit of trouble. We started doing a Tenacious D tribute and then went into Passenger, by Iggy Pop. It didn’t go down well. You could see the anger in these guys eyes. I was swaying my head to the music and the next thing I know I feel this thud on my shoulder. I looked down and I was covered in cocktail. Someone had thrown a glass at me.” Do you get heckled a lot? All the time! I quite like it though. A lot of people shout for requests. But I’m not going to sit there with the big book of 100 greatest busking classics as it’s not what I want to do with my life. Who are your favourite other Notts bands? I’ve sort of removed myself from it a bit, but I was very involved in it all once. I like Headway and The Hellset Orchestra. When I saw them the sound man didn’t know what they were. You could tell they were good, but he was mixing them like they were a rock band. I also like Nick Armstrong.”
What is your best gig so far? Perhaps the recent album launch for ‘Angel Row’. We hired out Snug and got a 5,000 watt PA system. We got the four of us and two extra players, Alex Chapman on lead guitar and Roger Jepson on Cello. We did the album in order, live. If people bought the album they got free tickets to come to the launch. Everyone was there knowing what they’d hear and they liked it. They all came, we did the album, and it was great. Plans for the future? I’m speaking to a few labels at the moment about the album, trying to get someone interested. I’m already half way through the next album. I write in the summer and record in the winter. I’m very efficient about these things. I’d like to carry on doing an album a year. The new album will be the country sound but there will be more to it If time travel was an option where would you go? Back to the 60’s. It’s the golden age of music. I think it was a lot worse than I’d expect but I’d love to be around to hear the Stones for the first time. It would be an amazing experience.
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The Original Gangster words: Nathan Miller Robin Hood is the ultimate highconcept folk hero. It’s all there in one perfect tagline: “Rob from the rich. Give to the poor.” There’s obviously something about that mix of lawlessness and radical economics that strikes a chord with Tinseltown moguls and makes for good wholesome family entertainment, as the story has been told on screen since movies first began. The ‘Golden Age’ Robin of early cinema was either a moustachetwirling, swashbuckling pirateout-of-water, the Douglas Fairbanks, Errol Flynn type, landlocked in the forests of the East Midlands, or else plying his trade under an assumed name in westerns like The Robin Hood of Texas or The Robin Hood of El Dorado. Without doubt the standout Robin Hood picture of this era is 1938’s The Adventures of Robin Hood. In many ways Errol Flynn’s performance in this film (all twinkling teeth, ardent romance and deft skill with a foil), has become the definitive screen image of the character. The best scene involves him gatecrashing a banquet with an entire deer draped over his shoulders in an act of glorious macho-camp (the prequel to yet another enormous swordfight). Claude Raines and Basil Rathbone provide strong support as the villains and the film was one of Warner Brothers biggest ever hits at the time of release. Hollywood’s jolly swashbuckler vision of Robin prevailed through to Richard Greene’s homely performance in the much-loved 50s TV series, also called The Adventures of Robin Hood (this was the show which first gave us the notorious “riding through the glen” theme tune, that for years played before Forest games at the City Ground). But in the 60s and 70s the most significant versions of the tales were the ones which shifted the familiar characters out of their usual context. Frank Sinatra starred as ‘Robbo’ in the Rat Pack musical Robin and the 7 Hoods with a cast including Bing Crosby and Peter Falk and the setting transposed to prohibitionera Chicago. Unfortunately it’s clearly the work of people who’d rather be doing something else than making a film, which is a shame since it’s an interesting curio and much better than Ocean’s Eleven. Sean Connery was more successful playing a downbeat, grown-up outlaw with Audrey Hepburn as a mature nun and a script by William Goldman in Robin and Marian, but despite the star billing, the film was hardly a blockbuster. Disney’s 1973 cartoon animal version had much more box office clout, and is actually one of the best Robin Hoods from around this time. The story is the conventional taxation,
disguises, archery contest stuff, but the accents are a strange mix, ranging from southern US drawl to inauthentic cockney. Despite that there are some fine vocal performances, must notably Peter Ustinov’s oedipal cowardly lion for Prince John, and Phil Harris (the voice of Baloo from The Jungle Book) as Little John. Robin himself has the rich tones of an aging matinee idol provided by Brian Bedford and he is portrayed here as a fox. Catchy songs too, and as a whole well worth a watch (especially if you’re five). After all this frivolity (and not to mention 1969’s The Ribald Tales of Robin Hood), in the 80s it was time for Hood to get tough. Michael Praed re-established the character as a staple of Saturday teatime telly in Robin of Sherwood, and was later replaced by Jason (son of Sean) Connery. Whilst on the surface it may have seemed the series was most interested in showing us just how perfectly sculpted the leading man’s hair was, underneath it was all muddy leather trousers, shamanic wood spirits and twofisted hard men like Ray Winstone and Clive Mantle. The series was also notable for inventing the character of Nasir the Saracen, marking the first appearance of an Arab or Moorish character as one of the Merry Men, though a version of this character has often been included since, most notably Morgan Freeman’s older Azeem in the Kevin Costner smash Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. 1991 actually saw Hollywood produce two rival Robin Hoods, but despite losing the race to be first into cinemas, Prince of Thieves had enough blockbuster savvy and marketing muscle to stomp Patrick Bergen’s grittier effort at the box office. One redeeming feature of an otherwise mediocre film is Alan Rickman’s scenery-chewing turn as the Sheriff of Nottingham, stealing every scene he’s in. The rest of it isn’t really much to write home about, not even the trip from Dover to Sherwood via Hadrian’s Wall or Christian Slater in a catapult. Two parodies worth noting also appeared around this time. In 1993 Mel Brooks’ response to Costner, Robin Hood: Men in Tights was released to universal disappointment. Some people have claimed it marks a low point not just in Brooks’ career, but also in the history of cinema. More happily, in 1989 Tony Robinson’s response to Robin of Sherwood was shown on CBBC and it turned out to be probably the most straightforwardly enjoyable version of the tales since Errol Flynn. In Maid Marian and her Merry Men, Robin is a soppy posh boy and practical tomboy Marian (Kate Lonergan) is the real brains behind the outlaw gang.
More interesting than the gender reversal, though, are the laugh out loud gags and huge quantities of mud. There’s no escaping the fact that it’s a show for kids, and people who find Blackadder too silly may not quite be able to stomach it, but there’s not much else on this list that’s as much pure joycore fun to watch. So what next? It seems as though Robin may be about to make another return to Saturday Nights, with the BBC announcing plans for a new series after the successful revival of Doctor Who. Inevitably, the announcement brought up speculation over who might end up filling the famous green tights, speculation which has, worryingly, included the name ‘Robbie Williams.’ Make of that what you will. What’s certain is that having been part of the national consciousness since the Middle Ages and not having exhausted that killer high-concept yet, we’ll still be telling tales of Robin Hood for a long time yet to come.
Robin Hood on Screen
The various faces of Nottingham’s best known outlaw
Main pic: Errol Flynn. Clockwise from top left: Maid Marian and her Merry Men; Michael Praed as The Hooded Man, Sean Connery and Audrey Hepburn; Richard Greene
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Central Connection For more than twenty years, a Nottingham drama school has been producing successful actors and film makers. From Children’s TV, to prime-time British drama to serious Hollywood films, they wouldn’t be quite the same were it not for a small workshop that runs a few nights a week in the underground of the Lace Market. The Central Youth Drama Workshop lead Samantha Morton from a tough upbringing in a Nottingham children’s home to Hollywood stardom (Minority Report, Enduring Love, Code 46, In America). It has also been responsible for producing dozens of other talented and successful young actors for both stage and screen including Toby Kebbell (Dead Mans Shoes, Alexander), Chris Gascoyne (Peter Barlow in Coronation Street) and Shauna and Andrew Shim. We spoke to the Workshop director, Ian Smith, the man who has seen them all come through. How did the workshop get started? In 1983, Central Studios was created and they wanted to have a children’s casting resource. At the time children’s programmes used London casting schools – the teeth and tits brigade – and they wanted more realistic kids. I was doing volunteering with the Lace Market Theatre group and they brought me in to run the under-11’s group.
Did you know at the time that it was going to be so successful? No, although that pioneer group of 1983 have gone on to be really successful. People like Julian Kemp, (An Emmy and BAFTA Award winning director), Pui Fan Lee (Po in the Teletubbies), Chris Gascoyne. Now we have a reputation internationally, Spielberg, Woody Allen, Scott Rudin, they all know about us. Is the workshop’s future secure? I think so. Last year the studios were being closed down so the raison d’être of the wrokshop had gone. ITV reduced our funding by 50% but we hired a consultant who said we were fantastic and should be expanding. So we’ve started a satellite group in Birmingham and are looking at Leeds and Manchester. Now we’re looking at getting co-funding from the BBC. There’s seems to be a public service feel to the workshop. The kids that come to us are not the kind who would go to a theatre group. Television acts as a magnet to get the scallies in, thinking they’re going to make it, and we just look for talent. We get a wonderful mix. Some go to private schools and some are school refuseniks. Could you see Samantha Morton’s potential when she first joined?
At fourteen she said to me ‘I want to go to Hollywood’ and I told her to bring her sights down but she was quite right and she had the determination to get there. However, she was too much to handle. At times the workshop wasn’t big enough for her and she wasn’t a good team player because she was so desperate to act. You’d ask for a volunteer and it would be Sam every bloody time elbowing the other kids out of the way. I had to chuck her out at one point because she was having a bad time in the children’s home. I encouraged her to get back on the straight and narrow so she could fulfil her potential. We were casting for The Token King which was filmed in Frank Wheldon school. I said to the director, Ray Kilby, “This girl’s either going to be your worst nightmare or the best thing that’s ever happened to you.” I told Sam that if she gave this movie 100% then she would be back in the workshop and the rest is history. You’ve been casting a new film for Shane Meadows. It’s called This Is England, set in the 1980’s. Like most of Shane’s films it has an element of autobiography in it. When he was young he naively got involved with a bunch of skinheads. I don’t think he realised there was a racist element to it and soon he was being pulled into the politics of the National Front. There’s a
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words: Adrian Bhagat photo: Dom Henry lot of humour in it, but there’s a darker side with some really harrowing scenes of racism. At the centre is a very strong young actor, not one of ours, but we are supplying about 60% of the cast. What are the names from the workshop to watch? We have a guy called Jack O’Connell from Derby. He’s already achieving more than Sam (Morton) did at her age. If I can dissuade him from joining the army, he’s going to be phenomenal. He’s got a lovely family, he’s hardworking but a real bad-lad. When most kids who come to do drama, bless them, are nice, white and middle-class, everyone looks for that charisma and I often find it in kids that I would hate to teach at school. But get them interested in a piece of drama and something happens. Jack recently had a screen test for a new movie with Cate Blanchett and Judi Dench about an affair between a teacher and a pupil. If he’d got the part, his career would have been stratospheric, but he’s a year too young. Your advice for young people who want to get into acting? Pushy parents get them into drama school too young and they’re indoctrinated by wellmeaning old dears. It takes us a long time to unteach them those things. If you can find a good youth theatre group, that’s a lot better than the outfits that are
trying to make money out of you. And for adults wanting to act? Don’t sign up as an extra. That’s soul-destroying. Amateur theatre, like the Lace Market and Nottingham Arts, is a good place to start. It’s good if you can start a pub theatre company and learn all aspects of putting on a show. There are other routes – such as the small film producers like those in Intermedia at the Broadway Cinema, who tend to sidestep traditional casting agencies. What do you think of reality TV? TV today seems to be driven by looking at a target group and creating a programme for them. Makeover TV, reality TV, it’s lazy and cheap. If writers and directors can’t compete with that, we have to look at hybrids that mix reality with performance. We’re all interested in seeing how real people react, but Big Brother today is more of a freak show. Anything else you want to tell our readers? There’s a refreshing anti-bullshit quality to people in Nottingham. I can see the potential for an explosion of the arts here, so it’s up to you guys to go out and support it.
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Shauna and Andrew Shim both arrived in Nottingham from the rather sunnier climate of Miami USA, when they were kids (she was ten and he was six). Shortly after settling Shauna discovered the delights of the Central Drama Youth Workshop and Andrew followed her a few years after, which provided a suitable grounding for both of them to launch budding acting careers.
��� words: Jared Wilson photos: David Bowen Andrew When you were filming did you realise that A Room For Romeo Brass would be such a big success? Everybody in Notts loves that film… I didn’t even think about it to be honest. It was only two months after I’d got the part that I got told it was going to be released at the cinema. I thought it was going to be a channel three film or something. You’ve struck up a good working relationship with Shane Meadows since then… Yeah. After we did Romeo Brass we became good mates and I’d visit him on weekends and stuff. I had a part in Dead Mans Shoes, which was quite big when we were filming, but it eventually got cut out of the final picture except for being in the crowd at the funeral scene. We also did Once Upon a Time in the Midlands. That must have been interesting, working with Robert Carlyle, Kathy Burke and Rhys Ifans… It was a brilliant experience working with them. All three are cracking people and I definitely learned a lot from them. I’d seen Kathy Burke before and I’d seen Robert Carlyle in The Full Monty, but it was only when I met them that I realised they are actually quite big stars and they know how to handle it. What was it like working with Paddy Considine in his first screen role? Paddy is brilliant! He’s a proper good laugh and a tremendous actor. I’ve met up with him quite a few times and seen him progress into Hollywood and stuff, but he’s just the same guy really and no different to how he was back then. Tell us about this new film you’re shooting with Mr Meadows? It’s called This is England. I can’t say all that much, but it’s set in the early eighties around a skinhead gang. I play one of the members of the gang along with Stephen Graham, who played Tommy in Snatch. Vicky McClure who was my co-star in Romeo Brass (and is now my girlfriend) is also part of the gang as well.
Who are your favourite actors? Is there anyone that has really inspired you? If I had to choose a Hollywood star, I’d say that I do like Denzel Washington. Everything that he’s done has been outstanding, he makes even crap films good, just by being strong. It’s actors in British films that I really look up to though. I know about the budgets and I know what sort of person it takes to be able to pull a good script off. What have you got coming up over the next year? I’m going to try and get an agent. Even now I haven’t got one. I was young when I did Romeo Brass and I probably haven’t pushed my acting as much as I could do. It’s only now that I’m older that I want to take it a lot more seriously.
Any other parts to tell of…? I did a cartoon in Canada for a month in Montréal called Fungus The Bogeyman. I got that part through the workshop and did the motion capture and the voice. I did the voice of a character called Grot. I think Martin Clunes is also doing one of the voices. So what do you do when you’re not acting? I buy and sell sports cars. I’m a bit of an Arthur Daley… you can make a good living out of it. I’ve had about fourteen Subarus in my time and I’ve just sold an Evo six, so anything that goes fast. What advice would you give to young actors in Nottingham? Don’t take it too seriously, if it’s meant to happen it will. Acting is a horrible career. You can be the biggest thing one year and then for the next few you don’t work at all. Just take it in your stride. Most
of all enjoy it and have a laugh. You only live once… Have you ever starred in anything with your sister Shauna? We were in a play called Can You Keep a Secret for the Central Workshop at the Playhouse, but that’s about it. No-ones ever cast us both together. Anything else you want to say to LeftLion readers? If people ever recognise me out of Romeo Brass and want to come up and chat then I want them to know that I don’t ever get sick of it. It’s not about being bigheaded, but it’s hard to believe that you can make something that people really do love that much and I’ll always have time for people who want to come up and say hello.
Shauna What did you think to Nottingham when you first moved here? I didn’t really like it very much at first. I thought people spoke funny and it was too cold! I understand that you got you first break in TV at the age of eleven? Yeah I did a show called Go Wild! with Chris Packham and some other kids from the workshop. Good times man! We got a couple of days off of school a week and we got to be on TV! You’ve still got a US accent still. Have you made an effort to keep onto that or did it just happen naturally? To be honest I don’t think my accent is that strong anymore. It’s very diluted, kind of a strange
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Andrew, 22, got his first big break at the age of fourteen, landing the title role in Shane Meadows second film A Room For Romeo Brass. Since then he’s acted alongside the likes of Robert Carlyle, Kathy Burke and Rhys Ifans in Once Upon A Time In The Midlands and is currently filming the new Shane Meadows skinhead drama This Is England.
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Shauna, 25, has been acting professionally since she was eleven. She appeared on our screens last year in the Billy Ivory directed BBC series A Thing Called Love and also had a regular part in the revival of ITV soap Crossroads. On a more global tip, she appeared alongside Nicole Kidman in the 2003 film Dogville. hybrid of both Miami and Nottingham. My older sisters have much stronger accents, but compared to Andrew I sound like a full on Yank! Tell us about the Central Drama workshop and how it helped you to train to become an actress? There is absolutely no way I’d have had anywhere near the success I’ve had so far without the workshop. I love to perform and down at workshop there were all of these wicked people who shared my passion. There was no competitiveness or back stabbing or judgement and that is something that was so liberating for me. You were a regular in Crossroads as Philomena Wise… Crossroads was such a great job! Being able to live at home was such a novelty because most of the time I have to travel. Although
saying that, I do love to travel! When I did Crossroads there was only Lucy Pargetter and myself from workshop. The series before had plenty of workshop talent in it though! I’m still really close with a lot of the cast from my series.
I adored A Thing Called Love and we had an amazing time shooting it. Billy’s writing is so honest you can’t help but be drawn in and relate to his characters. He’s a poet. It’s an absolute dream working with him.
You had a small part in Dogville. Where was that filmed? What was it like working with Nicole Kidman and Lars Von Trier? We shot Dogville for two months in Sweden and it was phenomenal. Lars is a genius and working with him is such a privilege. He works you real hard and it’s something I really appreciate. Nicole is such a lovely woman. She’s very kind and giving and generous with her time and she taught me a lot. She’s got a great sense of humour too.
Who are your favourite actors? I never know what to say when people ask me this! Honestly, I always knew I’d be an actor. There wasn’t any one moment when I was watching a movie or whatever and suddenly thought “that’s what I wanna do!” Umm, I really like Sean Penn. When he’s on the screen you can’t take your eyes off him. Nicole and Gary Oldman are chameleons which I admire and Halle Berry for her range and grace. I think Rosario Dawson is amazing also Rachel McAdams.
From an internationally famous director like Von Trier, you then went on to work with Nottingham’s own Billy Ivory…
What have you got coming up over the next year?
I’ve got a couple of movies I did whose release dates are pencilled for 2006. There are a few projects I’m considering though I don’t think I’ll be able to do them all. I don’t like to talk about future stuff until the ink’s dry on the contract. I’m a little superstitious like that. Have you ever starred in anything with your brother Andrew? We were in the same play once at workshop and we had one scene together but our characters didn’t even talk. I’d love to work with Andrew. Every time I see him perform I’m blown away. I’m well proud of him. What are your favourite places in Nottingham? I love Wollaton Park. Every time someone comes to visit me here I’m like “I have to take you to Wollaton Park!” I like all the space. The town centre is pretty cool.
I like to walk around with my headphones on and just feel the buzz and energy of town. The architectures beautiful too. What advice would you give to young actors in Nottingham? Don’t become disheartened by rejection. They’re not saying you don’t have a spark, it’s just not the spark they’re looking for. Also believe in yourself. Because if you don’t, you can’t expect anybody else to. You’ve been known to work the bar at the Malt Cross on LeftLion Presents nights. Can we buy you a drink? Sure thing! I’ll have a gin and cranberry with plenty of fresh lime! Anything else you want to say to our readers? You all Rock!
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Notts on the Box A history of Nottingham on the small screen... words: Al Needham
ATV Rabidly Birmingham-centric ITV region which served the whole of the Midlands from 1956 to 1981, producing some of most popular and well-remembered programmes in TV history. But none of them were ever filmed in Notts, so forget ‘em. Local news programme ATV Today seemed to believe that Wolverhampton and Stourbridge were more newsworthy than anything Nottingham had to offer. AUF WIEDERSEHEN PET Massively successful early 80s Central drama series, miles better than the recent BBC1 revival. Much of the second series was filmed in Notts with Barry running through the old Savoy Hotel opposite Clarendon College looking for his fiancée and various other Notts villages featuring. A THING CALLED LOVE Hit-and-miss 2004 Nottingham-based drama series. Hardly anyone in the city can remember what happened in it, because they were too busy pointing at the screen shouting “Fookin’ hell, that’s Aspecto” and “Hasn’t Paul Nicholls got a shit Nottingham accent?” BLIND DATE Mindless durge that wasn’t filmed in Nottingham at all. So why are we mentioning it? Because after the fall of Communism, the pilot of the Russian version was filmed at Lenton. The winner got to go out with a potato. BLOCKBUSTERS Bewilderingly successful Central ‘Young Adult’ quiz that went on for ever and ever. Mainly populated by the kind of knobends in U2 t-shirts you’d avoid at college, with lucky mascots who would all do the Blockbuster Dance every fifth episode. Bob Holness (who didn’t play saxophone on Baker Street, but was the first ever actor to play James Bond on radio), was your genial host. He once to got complaining letters saying that when he waved goodbye, it looked like a Nazi Salute. BOON “Hi Ho Silvah! Here come me Lone Rangah!” Mid 1980s Central series that seemed to go on for ever. Ken Boon is an unemployed exfireman with arse all to do, until his mate got him a job as a Western-themed courier rider. First set in Birmingham, the ‘action’ moved to Notts in latter series and is chiefly
remembered as Neil Morrissey’s big break as Rocky, the thick but shaggable one (a part he has reprised in everything he’s done since). BULLSEYE Forever associated with Sunday teatime at your Nana’s, it’s impossible to watch repeats of this on Granada Plus without having the taste of tinned salmon sandwiches in your mouth. Recorded in Nottingham for a colossal thirteen years, by which time there was a five-year waiting list to just to sit in the audience, and Bully had been barred out of Easy Street, Zhivagos, and Ritzy’s. Hundreds of expensive speedboats have been left to rot in council estates as a result… CENTRAL Where Nottingham TV begins and ends. ATV were forced to treat the East Midlands better in the early 80s, so it changed its name and split into two. This lead to our own news service and a whacking great new studio in Lenton. Sadly this was all gobbled up by the detestable Carlton in 1994 and now even Central News East comes out of a studio in Birmingham. Bastards! CENTRAL WEEKEND Long-time mainstay of Friday-night telly and a great opportunity to see people having massive hair-pulling rows without leaving your armchair. I went on this once, they sent a chauffeur to pick me up from Nottingham, put me in a green room with assorted Satanists, tantric sex experts and mad old women who made their dogs wear wigs, poured loads of free beer down me neck, allowed me to say ‘bollocks’ and ‘piss’ on live TV and then dropped me off at me Mam’s. Skill. CONNIE Mid-80s one-series potboiler about the Nottingham clothing business. Stephanie Beecham was so impressive as a hard-faced but saucy rag-trade tycoon that she ended up having a bitch-fight with Joan Collins on Dynasty a year or so later (and she fookin’ well Panned ‘er, youth). COPING WITH… Late-90s BAFTA-winning docu-series featuring local youths from the Central Junior Workshop, talking about and acting out, y’know…issues.
CROSSROADS Much-maligned, long-running Nana-magnet of a soap which ran on and off for nearly 40 years. The first version was filmed in Birmingham and starred Noele Gordon, who in her previous job as a chat show hostess had recorded a live show at the City Ground with an audience of 27,000! In 2001 it was relaunched and filmed in Nottingham, with lots of local actors appearing including Pete Dalton, Lucy Pargetter and Shauna Shim. Unfortunately it died on its arse and was the final death knell for the Lenton Lane studios… magic at the BBC in the early 90s, but got battered by Richard and Judy. Nick went on to wear loads of jumpers and become the template for Alan Partridge, Anne became a Big Brother contestant and campaigner against cot death.
CATCHPHRASE Rubbishy tea-time quiz hosted by Roy Walker, remembered only for his own anal sex-related catchphrase “It’s good, but it’s not right”. Oh, and that episode where Mr Chips looked like he was wanking himself off over a snake’s face.
NEW FACES The Pop Idol of its day, New Faces gave the world Showaddywaddy, Les Dennis, and Jim Davidson. For some bizarre reason, they brought it back in the mid-80s and filmed it in Notts. No-one who won it went on to do much.
DOCUMENTARIES Loads of them about Notts in recent years, because, y’know, if we’re not glassing each other in pubs in town, we’re shooting at folk in our rathole estates, right? Every single one is required to contain the following footage; 1) Fat girl lying in the road showing her knickers 2) Big Issue seller’s dog biting a Gary on the arse 3) Bell-ends in the square sticking their arms out in a ‘fronting up’ gesture 4) Steve Green talking to half a dozen drunken Shazzas outside Flares 5) Someone you know embarrassingly lying in a pool of their own vomit in a taxi rank.
NOTTINGHAM IS MY NEW YORK Advertising campaign for Clarks shoes, which was run nationally alongside other spurious city slogans such as: ‘Preston is my Paris’. Filmed on Maid Marian Way and broadcast on TV in 2004. The subsequent ‘Beeston is my Bronx’ campaign was abandoned. PALACE HILL Central Junior Television Workshop youths pretend to be younger members of the Royal Family when they were still likable kids and not the inbred wasters they are today (the Royals, that is, not the Central kids).
EASTENDERS Nottingham becomes briefly descended upon by of a load of screaming cockneys when, in a failed attempt to escape the ugliness of the Saskia murder investigation, Teresa Di Marco and Matt Rose go on the run to hoodtown. Steve Owen (Martin Kemp with lard in his hair) follows. Luckily they only stayed two days. FAMILY FORTUNES Long-running gameshow filmed in Nottingham during its latter years, when Max Bygraves and Les Dennis were doing it instead of the mighty Bob Monkhouse. Prerelease publicity claimed that a ridiculous sum of money was spent on a supercomputer (Mr Babbage), but all it seemed to do was make farting noises.
HARDWICKE HOUSE Possibly ITV’s worst ever sitcom (and that’s saying a lot), this attempt at ripping off Grange Hill and being all ‘controversial’ lasted a mere two episodes before it was canned. HARRY’S MAD Long-running children’s sitcom based on
Dick King-Smith’s best-selling book. The Harry of the title is a young boy, Harry Holdsworth, who inherits ‘Madison’ from his eccentric uncle, a wisecracking, backchatting African Grey parrot (the ‘Mad’ in the title). The parrot is a world expert on everything and a general all-round entertainer. Guest stars visiting Harry’s Mad during the first two series included Dave Lee
Travis, Michaela Strachan and snooker great Steve Davis, but the third series brought about major changes. Much of the cast came from the Central Drama workshop. NICK OWEN AND ANNE DIAMOND The first newsreaders on Central News East, they shot to stardom when poached by TVAM in the mid-80s. Tried to work the same
RICHARD BECKENSALE Without question, the most successful actor Nottingham has ever produced. Went from Clarendon College to starring in not one but two of the most popular sitcoms of all-time: Porridge and Rising Damp. Died of a heart attack at the tragically young age of 32. ROBIN HOOD Always seems to pop up every decade on telly. The 50s series starring Richard Greene produced the theme tune that Forest ran out too, the more mystical 80s version starring Michael Praed’s mullet and Clannad. Not
forgetting the one by Tony Robinson where Maid Marion ran ‘tings. SUPERMARKET SWEEP Student fave from the early 90s which catapulted former Radio Trent DJ Dale Winton into the world of B-list celebrities. The actual studio was built in Lenton studios by the Co-Op. Fact: after the riots in Hyson Green in 1981, Dale Winton said “Oh, isn’t it terrible about the riots? For those of you who took part, I hope you all die.” THE PRICE IS RIGHT The first game show that actually gave out proper prizes like America does, this was a non-stop 80’s assault on the senses filmed in Lenton and hosted by our very own Leslie Crowther. The audience were whipped into an orgasmic frenzy whenever someone had to guess the price of a toaster and it went rubbish when Bruce Forsyth started hosting it. WOOF Drama about a boy called Eric who turned into a dog, based on the books by Allan Ahlberg. Change always happened at inappropriate moments, which was the cause of much amusement. In the end the actor playing Eric himself changed three times. YOUR MOTHER WOULDN’T LIKE IT Central Junior Television Workshop sketch show that was like the kids on Why Don’t You, after inhaling cans of Bostik that had been shoplifted from Wilko’s. Half of the cast went on to various levels of success in TV, while the rest got pub jobs.
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Rocking Das Fest The Hellset Orchestra and The Petebox at Das Fest, Karlsruhe, Germany 22-24 July 2005 words: Mike White and Tina Carter
Since 1969, the fair city of Nottingham has been twinned with an unsuspecting German populous that calls itself Karlsruhe. These folk from across the waves don’t just have pickled cabbage and wiener schnitzels to offer, they have something far more exciting up their lederhosen. But the beginning of this story starts off closer to home... It was the 22nd of March 2005. The English sun struggled to set its self behind expanding clouds and underneath all this beauty a contest was on at the Rescue Rooms. The clotted cream of Nottingham’s local bands took the spotlight and strutted their stuff, all in the hope of impressing a German guy in the audience and nabbing a place in festival history. Rolf (the German guy) had come over from Karlsruhe to source some fine Nottinghaemian talent to take back home with him. After a nerve-pulling sabbatical the results were in and The Hellset Orchestra and Petebox were both invited to go and entertain their doppelgangers at a music festival in Nottingham’s twin city. This brings us neatly to the main event. Das Fest, or as we might translate it ‘The Festival’, cascades yearly upon the sleepy cafes and gut-busting restaurants of Karlsruhe. Organised by the Karlsruhe Youth project, it has been a music-driven, alcoholfuelled, well-mannered avalanche since 1985, showcasing such well-known delights as Chaka Khan, Fun Lovin’ Criminals, Van Morrison, Jimmy Cliff, Jethro Tull and Nottingham’s very own Skinny Sumo. This year was also the festival’s 20th anniversary, so my expectations were so high you could have nailed a flag to my head and called me a mountain.
Imagine a fair-sized hill topped with boozing smiley Euro teens. At ground level there are stages, beer tents, food stalls and other oddities including volleyball, a kids stage, air hockey, ice cream, beer, rowing boats, kids bungee apparatus, ice cream, beer, hammocks, charity stalls, an igloo made of branded cola bottles, BMX ramps, beer, a play bus, random sculptures and more beer. The Petebox gave an amazing performance on Friday night on the Tent stage, cunningly crafting noises from his mouth, which could make drum machines blow a fuse with jealousy. The mixing of the beats and the vocals and the subsequent repeats of the oral glory sent the crowd absolutely mad. Not only does this man successfully spread his sound wherever he goes in the world, but he also does a great version of Australian kids TV classic Round the Twist. A hard night of German booze later and it was a burning Saturday afternoon. Crowds of relaxed German dwellers were lying around bathing in festival spirit and struggling to glug on their bottles. The first scrambled notes of the organ are struck and there’s no going back as The Hellset Orchestra begin their international debut. Breaking into old favourite Come into My Lab, He Said the Hellset, as usual, warmed up the onlookers and as time went on their nerves seemed to settle into the foreign and overwhelming surroundings of the main stage. What the Germans made of Hellset’s Victoriana style, it is hard to judge, although the lyrical complexities of songs such as
Zippelfagottist Through Periscope may have strained their linguistic comprehension (as it does with most English audiences). You can’t beat this band’s sound for something original, each song is more cross-bred than the last containing 40s swing, 80s jazz and 90s metal. The most satisfying part of the set was to see the whole band explode within Orpheus’ Incredulous Eyepop with a crescendo that repeatedly slapped the faces of the audience, especially those attempting to keep up with their flailing limbs. The organ grinder (lead singer Michael Winterbottom) wowed the crowd with his German language skills, proving that GCSE’s can sometimes pay off, projecting much welcome audience banter such as “very, very, very, very, very thank you good” in the native tongue, and what must have been the German equivalent of “Biirrrddd!”. As for the folk who have seen the Hellset strut and sing their twisted world on Nottingham stages before, for a change the seven-piece band had enough room to swing a cat each. That’s seven whole cats, you know… The third day of the festival was a bit of a blur, apart from the formidable force of The Symphony Orchestra of the School of Music Ettlingen and their version of John Williams’ Star Wars sound track, complete with a tear jerking Princess Leia’s Theme and the incomparable “The Imperial March” (Darth Vader theme). If you have never seen a live orchestra play in the open air before, see it, you must. Nice family fun, but powerful stuff all the same. So the days of Das Fest flew by like a drunken binge and
before we fully sobered up we were on the tram back into town wondering how a clean and efficient public transport system works when no one ever pays? As for Karlsruhe, the city is certainly not an evil twin, with it’s curiously placed zoo, miniature pyramid and palace surrounded by vast statues of big men killing dragons. All in all it was a prima three days. Thanks brüder, good to meet you! The new Hellset Orchestra EP Greetings From The Great Humungous is available now. www.thehellsetorchestra.co.uk
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Out&About
BARS/GYMS/RESTAURANTS/SHOPS GYM: FLEXIBLE FITNESS PACKAGE What do you do if you have eleven leisure centres and are competing against flash private gyms? You beat them at their own game of course. You may have a bone to pick with the Council, but you have to give them credit for the Flexible Fitness package. For just £24 per month, you can do as much swimming, gymming, steaming or jumping around to silly music as you can possibly squeeze into your schedule. That’s throughout their eleven leisure centres, which include Beechdale, Clifton, Elliott Durham, Harvey Hadden, John Carroll, Ken Martin, Noel Street, Nottingham Tennis Centre, Portland, Southglade and Victoria. That pretty much covers the whole of the city, if you’re wondering. The Flexible Fitness package provides free entry to five core activities. So you get unlimited access to each gym, each swimming pool, 150 fitness and aerobic classes, to the steam, sauna and spa at Clifton and the Tennis Centre and to the creche in each centre.
In what is now definitely a regular feature, LeftLion whips out the credit card and wallows in the retail wonderland that is Nottingham. Our correspondent, looking nervously at the unopened creditcard bill on the mantlepiece, is Cristina Chapman. RESTAURANT: STONES CAFE As a rule of thumb I never eat pasta in a restaurant. Having grown up with Italian parentage, it has given rise to the best of Italy’s cuisine and with a number of demon cooks in the family, I have super-sensitive pasta taste buds. But sitting down for lunch in Stones Café we had a feeling that the chefs knew what they were doing.
When you compare that to some of the other gyms, it’s pretty convincing.So get down to your nearest leisure centre and check out the facilities before shelling out on expensive direct debits. You may be pleasantly surprised by the facilities. Call 0115 915 2726 or visit www.flexiblefitness.org.uk
It may have been the serene atmosphere and professional approach, the select range of dishes on the menu or it may have been the sense of togetherness. Whatever it was, our intuition was right. For a very reasonable £6, we were served a respectable dish of perfectly-cooked pasta, coated in just enough, not too much, tasty sauce. The Parmesan came separately, freshly grated, just as it ought to.
olives, optimum French beans and really nutty Jersey new potatoes. This was crowned with a tuna steak cooked with expertise.
Our other choice was a Nicoise salad, which again surprised and surpassed expectations. Along came a generous portion of succulent green leaves, ripe plum tomatoes, chunky cut cucumber,
Stones Café, 1 Weekday Cross, Lace Market. 0115 941 7474
Stones Café was nominated Best New Café 2005 in he Nottingham Restaurant Awards. It deserves it. This was one of the best meals we’ve had in Nottingham. Their secret? Simplicity.
www.stonesdeli.co.uk
GALLERY: THE MALT CROSS The Malt Cross is like the Saatchi Gallery with alcohol. Granted, there are no oil-filled rooms or Damien Hirst sharks but it does play host to some of the most exciting art, media and music to come to the city. On the first Saturday afternoon of each month, the St James’ street pub puts on Enjoy The Ride. This is an audio-visual feat of short films, live music and other art. There you can meet people like Malawi-born Samson Kambalu, who has created Holyballism. He hopes to take his art/philosophical phenomenon out to the world with the end game of all the Holy Books of the world being made into Holy Balls “exercising and exorcising people into everlasting happiness”. He says he is exploring the death of God and the meaning of life by covering footballs with pages of the Bible, the Koran, the Tanakh, etc. Conversation with him is one of life’s gifts, as you can imagine. And where else in Nottingham could you have that kind of encounter? The place also regularly hosts armchair DJs and on the last Friday of every month LeftLion Presents, a showcase of Nottingham’s music talent. But you should know that already, because you’ve been down there, right? In November, look out for Hydrophonics, an event based around a water tank and live Australian bands (what more could you want?). Aside from all this exciting, adventurous use of a pub, they also do great tea and cake.
Brian Sewell would love the place, but hate the art and Wayne Hemingway would feel right at home. Malt Cross, 14 St James Street 0115 941 1048 www.maltcross.com
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Notts Going ON
COMING TO A CITY CENTRE NEAR YOU... Why, why, why?
Delilah Fine Foods, Middle Pavement. 0115 948 4461
explains the publisher Snow Books. Set in America’s Deep South, the novel tells the story of two women who have to confront a violent and secret past. One, Georgetown Easy, is in search of her father. The other, Helena Jones, is forced into discovering her past by a great aunt. Apparently it’s really rather good. So the least we can do is go out and read it before we notch up another year.
The land of ever-changing shop fronts
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Designer clothes shop Mili has also gone. Clothes shopping is a veritable Nottingham passion, but even we can’t stomach paying £98 for a Stella McCartney t-shirt or £450 for a Chloe jacket. Still, we’ll miss the stylish window displays, heavenly interior and classy sales assistants. Manhattan Gallery at the end of the Flying Horse Arcade has also galloped off into the sunset, replaced by a rather tacky-looking flower and gift shop. In hindsight we’d rather have the paintings and friendly New Yorker back.
Going on thirty
Now I can see why you would reach a certain age, have a few bob behind you, have an interest in food and decide to open up a deli. It’s crossed my mind when my smiley corner shop man Mahmut tells me he doesn’t stock hummous, couscous, cream, peppers, spaghetti, onions… But I don’t understand who really has a burning need for Marmite biscuits, a sixpack of sampler fair-trade coffee beans or a £15 bottle of Prosecco. Can such a business be that profitable? Delilah on Middle Pavement is the latest food speciality store in the city and I really like the idea and look of the shop. Lots of yummy-looking food. A nice place to sit for coffee. A wide range of interesting pots, packets, jars and bottles from around the world. But I can’t help thinking that Delilah is very much like the high value, Lace Market flats that overlook it. It looks fantastic, it makes you want to go in and touch all the pretty things, but on closer inspection you realise that you wouldn’t want to pay that much for something with little practical value in your life. I just think we miss the point of delis in this country. We stock them full of rare items that you would only buy someone as a Christmas present, only for it to be knocking around in their cupboard for six months. “Yeah, I really loved the black linguine you bought me, but I’m just plain out of the oak-dried shitake mushrooms and pink tahini for the sauce.”
Did writers and composers used to achieve great things at a young age because of genius, focus or because they didn’t have much of a chance at longevity? Emily Bronte wrote Wuthering Heights at the age of 28 but died just two years later. Mozart had written hundreds of works by the time he died aged just 35. Nottingham’s own Byron started writing at 21 but carped it at 36. But we have so much more time to achieve things now, about 90 years if we’re lucky, and we seem to be so much more impressed when people stop procrastinating and reach great heights in their twenties. Think of the fuss we made of Zadie Smith when she published her critically acclaimed novel White Teeth, aged just 25. Now Nottingham writer Kat Pomfret happily joins the hall of bright young things. She wrote her debut novel in 2003, aged 26. Published this year, it can now be found in the ‘three-for-two’ bestseller offer in Waterstones, Bridlesmith Gate. Paradise Jazz “explores what happens in a small town when big secrets collide”
Notts Landing #4:
Wollaton Park words: Clare Foyle
Bridlesmith Gate seems to be awash with new shoe shops right now, probably filling in gaps left by the musical chairs started by Ted Baker. We’re a little concerned that, not content with reshuffling his cabinet so many times to make sure we lose track of who’s in charge of what, Tony Blair is now meddling with Nottingham’s shopping scene. Although, we haven’t yet figured out his underlying motives, we’d like him to stop now as its destroying shopping experiences. Nottingham women have been left wandering the city for hours because the shop they arranged to meet up outside has moved. Maybe this is all the work of the director of the cult film Dark City? Or maybe Bridlesmith Gate is actually Enid Blyton’s Faraway Tree. We digress… As we were saying, there are some nice new shoe shops to visit. Ecco, Kate Kuba, and Kurt Geiger are three of them. Visit them before the pack is shuffled again.
Outpost trail Over the past few weeks we have seen the sad demise of Nottingham’s oldest tobacconist Josiah Brown. After years of supplying cancer sticks to Nottingham punters, the last pipe has been smoked on the place and now we will have to somewhere else for our king size rizla’s and Kendall light tobbaco.
Oops-a-daisy In our whistlestop tour around the delights of Nottingham city centre last issue, we rushed you past the old swimwear and dance shop explaining that it had been turned into the city’s second branch of Caffe Nero. You will have noted that the new coffee shop is actually part of the Costa chain and that the new Caffe Nero is a few doors down on Wheeler Gate. We apologise for the short-term memory failure, for any confusion caused and for any hopes we built up. The suggestion that it was a good alternative to Starbucks also provoked an interesting debate about national chains versus independent traders on the LeftLion forum. As readers know, Out and About values Nottingham’s small traders, just as it does the chains and big businesses. Each has a place in the city and we will review each honestly, but fairly. Visit the forum at www.leftlion.co.uk/forum
There’s a place in every city where you just want to be. Whether you want to people-watch or think about the good times, everyone’s place is different. Each issue, a member of the LeftLion crew explains the spot they like best… Wollaton Park was a constant presence throughout my childhood. Visits often coincided with school holidays, sledging down the slopes of the hill if we were lucky enough to get snow in the Christmas break or picnics and sunbathing in the summer. But the reason that Wollaton Park holds a special place in my heart has little to do with fun: I learnt many an important life lesson in the impressive house and grounds. It was in the hall that I saw a penis in the flesh for the first time (albeit attached to George, the stuffed Gorilla). Despite his aggressive pose, George and his laughably small appendage provoked mirth rather than fear into my little mind. Unfortunately, I tend to have a similar reaction when I see men naked too. Greater wisdom can be obtained from the live exhibits at Wollaton. The worker ants are spectacle to behold, providing a lesson in motion about the importance of
community spirit and working towards a greater good. The deer are also a highlight; they taught me more about survival of the fittest than any biology text book ever could. For me though, the creature at the park that taught me the most was a humble donkey. On one of my first visits to Wollaton, aged three, I cockily approached the donkey in the petting area of the park. Reports vary as to what happened next but my mother tells me that it was an unprovoked attack. I still have the mental scars to prove it. I learnt you should never mess with donkeys and that a carrot is not an adequate weapon of choice against these beasts. Regardless of age, Wollaton Hall can still educate and delight, just open your eyes, embrace the diversity it has to offer and become at one with nature. Just watch out for rogue donkeys.
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featured listing
clubs/theatre/live music/comedy/exhibitions
Nottingham Voices things people have said A Moot Point on the leftlion forum First Date In Nottingham I’m taking a young lady out soon on a first date - she seems quite nice. So I’m looking for something to do that hasn’t got the formality of a dinner but isn’t as easy as just a drink. Any ideas? And
words: Amanda Young
Nottingham’s art scene is being stirred up by its underground artists. Feel apprehensive and excited, but allow yourself this drug. It’s a strange place but you’ll realise new things. Fresh new Notts art gallery Moot is being launched with an exhibition by International Contemporary Artist (and Grandson of a French hunter), Nicolas Deshayes.
Wagamamas or that tapas place near Broadway are much more relaxing than a stuck up restaurant. Or you could so something a bit different - rock climbing or a row on’t lake. Or just take her out and get lashed. Jamie Always, always La Tasca. Sit outside, drink sangria, have some nibbles. Best first date ever. Trust me! Linsey Saltwater is easily the best date bar. Looks great, it will well impress, great if its sunny but even at night they have the heaters on outside. Trust me on this one. Seismik Si Book a bed at tantra for post-tapas relaxation, glass of wine and then a dance. Especially Tuesday and Thursday night ...live acoustic music. Crack on! TGalley
What makes a good pub?
A selection of Nicolas’ work: (clockwise from left) Vernaculex, Monument, Rainbow, Taxadermous, Vernaculex detail
People, Music and Good selection of beer.... Windows 78 If i go to drink in a bar then the music has got to be just loud enough so i can hear what’s going on but at a level where I can chat to my mates, club is a whole different matter play it loud and banging. Silo When I’m just out drinking music I have to give up on good music as we head to the waterfront for the cheap corona/sambuca and outdoor seating - thats a good thing at any bar (easier to smoke). Jamie As long as I can get a pint of mild and a bag of nuts I’m happy. Steptoe loud music is a pain if you’re with a group of people (although a blessing in some situations) theonelikethe I regularly find i want to go somewhere for food but can’t think of anywhere good, so settle for something not that great. Inparticular, i find there is nowhere to get a decent full English Transit Mafia A place needs a good few beers on tap, properly cold, I don’t often have bottles so bothered wid’ that. You have absolutely got to be able to sit down after a hard day at work, why go out and pay to stand up? Rez Four pints of snakebite and a bag of pork scratchings Lady Sadie
make your voice heard
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Alongside the annual Now Festival, October sees the launch of fresh new Notts art gallery Moot, which is being launched with an exhibition by contemporary artist (and Grandson of a French hunter), Nicolas Deshayes. The gallery have invited “energy” and raw talent into this independent space run by ex-Nottingham Trent University Artists of the Stand Assembly Studios. Deshayes’ hyper-real sculptures demonstrate that he is a brandspanking-new face on the UK Art scene to watch out for. He takes the surrounding space and subverts the familiar, oscillating between Stanley Krubic’s Sci-fi and the council estate allotment. I caught up with Nik and the Moot crew at the gallery space in Sneinton. Nik, tell me about the artwork you are going to be showing at Moot. I will be forming a landscape within the gallery space. It will combine four sculptural elements from my recent degree show at Chelsea College of Art, plus one new piece I am creating now. I am casting a plastic object used by road workers for temporary signs, reproducing it and using its multiples as building blocks to create a mecano-like raft. Sounds funny and strange! Your work makes me think of Matthew Barney’s Cremaster Cycle and its weird reality. I create hybrid sculptures that gather multiple cultural and stylistic references in a way that, in the end, so much familiarity leads to a strange sense of hyperreality. “Taxidermaus,” a red polystyrene
composition of three pre-fabricated pieces appearing like a simple mouse head is a spin on the taxidermy animal head trophies found in stately homes. This piece incorporates modernist geometry with humorous spontaneity and simplicity. Its impulsiveness subverts the formality of modernist aesthetic and works interestingly alongside other contrastingly highly crafted pieces. It creates an interesting link with the formality of the cast-aluminium boar hooves in this piece, (he Shows me an image of Vernaculex pictured above.) How would you describe that? Part climbing frame, part nautical mast, daemons of the underworld meets Rococo furniture! It is different elements taken out of context and assembled together. I was walking through my local park and saw this climbing frame uprooted out of the ground. It had a big stump of cement at its base and I found its structure interesting in terms of the redundancy of it’s function. I no longer looked at it as a playingdevice but became more sensitive to the design of its structure and its absurdity out of context. So, I made a piece based on this idea, using vernacular industrial materials such as rope, metal, cement, rubber and aluminium. I asked my Grandfather (the hunter in France) to look out for some animal hooves I could cast and incorporate into this sculpture. I sought a wild boar hoof from him and cast it in the aluminium. The silverfinish of the alumium references the bluepeter-esque use of tin-foil to convey what is ‘space-agey’. This highlights the absurdity and alienation of certain elements when
removed from their original context. To appreciate your work then, I need to crack the references? I take reference from Sci-fi, art history, notions of the monument, and everyday stuff. By removing a specific detail from a given object, it can easily loose its sense of identity. When using specific references, I like to make their origin less explicit in order to challenge the viewers’ reading of the work. I’m not interested in handing it out on a plate. I like the audience to go away, research and think about it. There’s no code to understanding my work, by noticing what’s around you on a day-to-day basis, you will automatically comprehend the language. You use the word ‘otherworldly’ to describe your work, can you tell me more? Sure, I am interested in the notion of retro-futurism, as in looking at them in the past looking at us in 2005. It’s about progress and science-fiction. I play directly with this but I don’t expect people to teleport to 3001 when looking at my work. What was the decision to exhibit in Nottingham? I was invited here to show after being hawked at my degree show by Tom of Moot. I don’t know much about the place, only the Robin Hood cliché! Looking forward to discovering it though… The Moot Gallery launches on 15 October 2005. www.mootgallery.org
listings...
exhibitions/theatre/comedy/live music/clubs
LeftLion tries to ensure all listings are correct, but we cannot be held responsible for any mistakes or changes. Exhibitions
16/9 - 15/12 War, women and survival Venue: Lakeside Arts centre
19/9 - 21/10
Outspeak Venue: Surface Gallery Price: Free
21/9 - 19/11
dis(comfort) Venue: Angel Row Gallery Price: Free
21/9 - 19/11
Knitwork Venue: Angel Row Gallery Price: Free
21/9 - 19/11
Adele Prince Venue: Angel Row Gallery Price: Free Water and the Sacred Venue: Surface Gallery Price: Free
3-10 - 6/10
8/10 - 11/12
Landscapes, War scenes, Portraits 1924-1950 Venue: Lakeside Arts centre
Nicholas Deshayes Noble Island Venue: Moots Gallery Price: Free Gallery Launch Mid Life Crisis Venue: Surface Gallery Price: Free
Tristan & Yseult Venue: Royal Centre Price: £7 - £24 Times: 7.45pm Runs Until: 22/10
Northern Ballet Theatre: Dracula Venue: Royal Centre Price: £10 - £29 Runs Until: 22/10 The Real Thing Venue: Royal Centre Price: £8 - £23.50 Runs Until: 29/10
25/10 - 10/11
25/10 - 10/11
2D Open Show Venue: Surface Gallery Price: Free Taking your brain to another dimension.
Theatre 1001 Nights Now Venue: Playhouse Price: £7 - £22 Runs Until: 15/10
fri 30/09
Mad About The Musicals Venue: Royal Centre Price: £12.50 - £13.50
sat 01/10
mon 24/10
tue 25/10 Ramayana Venue: Nottingham Arts Theatre Price: £6 - £8 (NUS) Times: 7.30pm Runs Until: 27/10 Lyrically Deep Venue: Playhouse Price: £5 Times: 6.30pm Living Pretty Venue: Lace Market Theatre Price: £10/£7/£5 (NUS) Times: 8 PM
Disney On Ice Venue: Nottingham Arena Runs Until: 9/10
wed 05/10
Rebecca Venue: Royal Centre Price: £8 - £23.50 Runs Until: 15/10
mon 10/10
An Evening With Mia Dolan Venue: Nottingham Arts Theatre Price: £20 Times: 7.30pm
fri 28/10
Parallax Beat Brothers Venue: Nottingham Arts Theatre Price: £4 - £6 Times: 7.30pm
It’s A Grand Night For Singing Venue: Broadway Price: £6.50 - £8 Runs Until: 15/10
tue 11/10
Retina Dance Company Venue: Lakeside Arts Centre Price: £10/£7/£5 Times: 8 PM
wed 12/10
Metamorphosis Venue: Lace Market Theatre Price: £7 Times: 7:30pm Runs Until: 15/10
The opening night (Friday 14 October) features Creation Records founder Alan McGee’s and his Rock N Roll Promz, at The Social. As a close friend of the NOW Festival, McGee was only too happy to preview his new project in Nottingham for the opening night of the festival. Alongside Alan, ex Beta Band frontman Steve Mason will be showcasing his new project, King Biscuit Time and local DJs Badger and Otter will be whipping up the dancefloor. The cherry tomato on the top of this year’s salmagundi of visual splendour is the club night and talk from Addictive TV, accredited as one of the world’s finest DJ, VJ and TV production ensembles, at Stealth and The Rescue Rooms (Saturday 15 October). Other stuff it would be foolish to miss includes Curious’s Dry Clean Only, an intimate live art performance from co-author of The Guerrilla Guide to Performance Art, Helen Paris. Paris delves in to the psyche of Nottinghamians for her performance to discover how plebs like us inform and shape the branding and presentation of our city. Curious’s work has previously been described by Lyn Gardener: “...the ordinariness of the domestic setting is transcended and transformed into something quite extraordinary. Well worth a sniff.” The venue and location will be revealed on booking.
Leicester based performance and theatre group Metro Boulot Dodo provide a wonderful opportunity to go and lark about in Wollaton Park amongst the back drop of autumnal orange (as well as see some art of course…) from Friday 21 to Monday 24 October from 10am-4.30pm daily. Their bespoke interactive garden environment recreates a childlike embodiment of the season of spring. MBD themselves describe Spring as a “kitsch, gaudy and psychedelic” experience, and hot from it’s recent premier at the National Theatre its riotous colour, sounds and smells are defiantly something to watch out for.
14-30 October 2005
Park Venue: Playhouse Price: £12.50 - £16 Times: 7.45pm Runs Until: 29/10
www.beherenow.org.uk
wed 16/11
Black Milk Venue: Lace Market Theatre Price: £8/£7 (NUS) Times: 7:30pm Runs Until: 5/11 Thoroughly Modern Millie Venue: Royal Centre Price: £10 - £30.50 Times: various Runs Until: 12/11
Notes on Falling Leaves Johan Johan Venue: Lace Market Theatre Price: £7 Times: 7.30pm Runs Until: 19/11
fri 18/11
tue 01/11
Dance The Show World Showcase Venue: Nottingham Arts Theatre Price: £7.50 - £8 Times: 7pm (4pm on the 20th) Runs Until: 20/11 Annie Get Your Gun Venue: Royal Centre Price: £10 - £28.50 Runs Until: 26/11
Horror For Wimps Venue: Lakeside Arts Centre Price: £10/£7/£5 (NUS) Times: 8 PM Runs Until: 5/11 Greg Lake Venue: Royal Centre Price: £21 - £23
Championing home grown Midlands talent as well as that of artists from further afield. Events in this year examine the conurbation and suburbs through performance and public participation as well as more traditional modes of documentation such as drawing, painting and photography.
Simon Poulter’s Index of Deprivation is presented at the Six Ways Community Centre in Broxtowe from 16 - 30 October. This free exhibition of photographs and drawings and interactive media focuses on the Nottingham district of Broxtowe, an area ripe for cultural and social regeneration. Poulter is known for developing interdisciplinary media labs working with artists and organisations in the UK.
mon 31/10
thu 04/10 The Fox Venue: Lakeside Arts Centre Price: £10/£7/£5 (NUS) Times: 8 PM A play by Stephen Lowe inspired by a short story by DH Lawrence.
Right Here, Right Now...
This year’s NOW Festival looks set to hail the greatness of art in tue 18/10 our fair city.
wed 26/10
15/11 - 24/11
Matt Munro Jr Venue: Royal Centre Price: £13 - £15
sun 16/10
Goldilocks and The Three Bears Venue: Nottingham Arts Theatre Price: £5.50 (NUS) Times: 2pm and 7pm
mon 21/11
wed 23/11
Loser Venue: Lakeside Arts Centre Price: £10/£7/£5 (NUS) Times: 8 PM
tue 8/11
tue Titanic - The Musical Venue: Royal Centre Price: £7.75 - £16.50 Runs Until: 19/11 Ever get that sinking feeling?
The Rise Of Robert Venue: Nottingham Arts Theatre Price: £6 - £8 Times: 7.30pm
thu Lest We Forget Venue: Nottingham Arts Theatre Price: £5 - £7 Times: 7.30pm
24/11
Circus Of Horrors Venue: Royal Centre Price: £14 - £22
15/11
A Man for All Seasons Venue: Royal Centre Price: £8 - £23.50 Runs Until: 3/12 Weather defying dude...
01/10
sun 02/10
Just The Tonic Venue: Cabaret Price: £7 (NUS) Times: 8pm Phil Nichol, Janice Fayre, Rob Rouse Patrick Venue: Price: Times:
thu 03/11
mon 07/11
sat Chris Addison: Atomicity Venue: Lakeside Arts Centre Price: £14/£12/£5 (NUS) Times: 8 PM Runs Until: 1/10 Ardal O’Hanlon Venue: Playhouse Price: £17.50 Times: 7.30pm Oh to be sure Ted...
WWE Smackdown Venue: Nottingham Arena Price: £20 - £45
The Diary Of Anne Frank Venue: Nottingham Arts Theatre Price: £6.50 - £8 Times: 7.30pm Runs Until: 12/11
Comedy
Kielty Playhouse £14.50 7.30pm
sun 09/10
Just The Tonic Venue: Cabaret Price: £9 (NUS) Times: 8pm Stewart Lee, Stephen Carlin
sun 09/10
Edinburgh & Beyond Venue: Lakeside Arts Centre Price: £14/£12 (NUS)
sun 16/10
mon 28/11
Just The Tonic Venue: Cabaret Price: £7 (NUS) Times: 8pm Adam Hills, Howard Read, Dan Nightingale
Joe Pasquale tue 18/10 Venue: Royal Centre Price: £13 - £15.50 New Faces winner with peg on toe.
listings... Jo Brand Venue: Playhouse Price: £15 Times: 7.30pm
exhibitions/theatre/comedy/live music/clubs sun 23/10
Just The Tonic Venue: Cabaret Price: £7 (NUS) Times: 8pm Simon Munnery as Alan Parker the Urban, Mark Watson, Toby Foster Mark Thomas and Robert Newman Venue: Playhouse Price: £14.50 Times: 8pm
wed 26/10
27/10
Just The Tonic sun 30/10 Venue: Cabaret Price: £7 (NUS) Times: 8pm Pierre Hollins, Die Clatterschenkenfieterm aus, Spencer Brown, Darrell Martin Just The Tonic Venue: Cabaret Price: £8 (NUS) Times: 8pm Julia Morris, Lucy Porter Lee Evans Venue: Nottingham Arena Price: £25 Times: 8pm Runs Until: 5/11
thu 03/11
fri 04/11
thu 10/11
sun 13/11 Just The Tonic Venue: Cabaret Price: £7 (NUS) Times: 8pm Alan Carr, Pat Monahan, Rob Rouse Little Britain Venue: Royal Centre Price: £22.50 - £24.50 Runs Until: 15/11
mon 14/11
Rory Bremner Venue: Royal Centre Price: £18.50 - £19.50
fri 18/11
Just The Tonic Venue: Cabaret Price: £7 (NUS) Times: 8pm Jason Byrne
sun 20/11
sun 27/11
Just The Tonic Venue: Cabaret Price: £9 (NUS) Times: 8pm Jeff Green, Tony Law, Dan Nightingale Live Music Queen Adreena Venue: Rock City Price: £8.50 Times: 7.30pm
The Telescopes sun 02/10 Venue: The Social Price: £6 adv Fuxa Feat Sonic Boom (Spacemen 3) Rolling Clones Venue: Southbank Bar
mon 03/10 tue 04/10
Nottingham Youth Orchestra Venue: Royal Centre Price: £10
sat 01/10
The Hellset Orchestra Venue: Rock City Price: £3 adv Times: 7pm - 10.15pm Love Ends Disaster, We Show Up On Radar Martin Stephenson Venue: Hotel Deux With support from The Daintees, Sweetbriar, Magic Car
wed 05/10
High Society presents Venue: Cabaret Price: £3 members / £5 Times: 9pm - 2am Black Wire, Bullet Union, Highsoc dj’s
Herb Birds Venue: Southbank Bar
fri 07/10
The Groovie Goulies Venue: Junktion 7 Price: £5 adv Times: 9 pm- 1 am The Spazzmatics, Dragster, Little Whores on The Prairie Bleeding Hearts Venue: Junktion 7 Price: £5 Times: 9 pm - 1 am New Generation Superstars, Firebrand
Donnie Johnson Venue: Running Horse Tim Disney and The Delta Blues, Part of the Goose Fringe Festival
wed 12/10
The Kull Venue: Junktion 7 Price: 8.30pm - 12am (NUS) Times: £4 / £3.50 NUS The Kull (tbc), The Vapours (tbc), Computerman (tbc), TV-OD
mon 10/10
Open Mike Night Venue: Running Horse Part of the Goose Fringe Festival Dio Venue: Rock City Price: £15 Times: 7.30pm
tue 11/10
The Rogers Sisters Venue: The Social Price: £5 adv Times: 8pm
Kylesa Venue: Junktion 7 Price: £5 Times: 8.30 pm - 12 am 3 Stages of Pain, Army of Flying Robots, Emergency Funeral
Scott Mathews tue 11/10 Venue: Malt Cross Cafe Bar Times: 8pm Plus support, part of the Goose Fringe Festival
Tom Vek Venue: The Rescue Rooms Price: £7.50 adv
Slaid Cleaves and Gurf Morlix Venue: Cabaret Price: £12 / £14 Times: 7.30pm Part of the Goose Fair Fringe Festival, which is an annual celebration of music that takes place in support of goosey!
Brendan Benson Venue: Rock City Price: £11 adv Times: 7.30pm
Tom Baxter Venue: The Rescue Rooms Price: £9
Crowell The Rescue Rooms £14adv / £16 Doors 7.30pm
sun 09/10
Goldfrapp Venue: Rock City Price: £15
thu 06/10
Arcturus Venue: Rock City Suppoert from Red Harvest
Rodney Venue: Price: Times:
Fingathing Venue: Rescue Rooms Price: £8 adv (NUS) Times: 7.30 pm Fingathing, Cappo, Johnny Crump, Dubfella/Windows78
It’s a Grand Night For Singing Venue: Nottingham Arts Theatre Price: £6.50 - £8 Times: 7.30 pm Celebration of Richard Rodgers Music. Runs Until: 15/10
No Hope & Escaping Skies Venue: Junktion 7 Times: 8.30pm - 12am
Hush The Many Venue: Bunkers Hill Price: £4 adv £5 otd Times: 7.45pm Sweetbriar, Stick & Stone
RoadHouse Venue: Running Horse Price: £5 Part of the Goose Fringe Festival
Aiden & The Hurt Process Venue: Rock City Price: £10 adv
Thomas Leeb + Support Venue: Malt Cross Cafe Bar Price: £5
Arcurs Venue: Rock City Price: £12 adv Times: 7.30pm
07/10
Fab4 Venue: Southbank Bar
Thomas Leeb Venue: The Malt Cross Support: Jim Croft and Cyril
The Paddingtons Venue: Rescue Rooms Price: £7.50 adv
Bumble Bits fri Venue: Surface Gallery Times: 8pm Nonsense Opera - Steve Crow
Caribou & Russian Futurists Venue: The Social Price: £8 adv
Damn You! Venue: Bunkers Hill Inn Price: £3 adv £4 otd Elephant Micah
Multi Purpose Chemical Venue: Junktion 7 Price: £3.50 Times: 8.30 pm - 12 am
Just The Tonic sun 06/11 Venue: Cabaret Price: £7 (NUS) Times: 8pm Jason Manford, Andy Zaltzman, Josie Long Ross Noble: Randomist Venue: Royal Centre Price: £18
Truth Venue: Southbank Bar
Heroes of Switzerland Venue: The Social
thu John Hegley Venue: Lakeside Arts Centre Price: £14/£12/£5 (NUS) Runs Until: 28/10
sat 01/10
Sweet Seduction Venue: Junktion 7 Price: £4 Times: 9pm - 1am
Student Gig Venue: Junktion 7 Times: 8.30pm - 12am The Autodisko (tbc), plus support Richmond Fontaine Venue: Cabaret Price: £10 / £12 Times: 7.30pm With the Amazing Pilots (USA)
Open Mike Night Venue: The Lion Inn Times: 8pm The Boothill Toe Tappers, Part of The Goose Fringe Festival Colin Staples Blues Jam Venue: Running Horse DIY Poets Venue: Wax Cafe Times: 7.30pm Changing Rhymes, Part of the Goose Fringe Festival Wild Child Venue: The Rescue Rooms Price: £10 adv
thu 13/10
Dandi Wind Venue: The Social Price: £3 adv As part of Liars Club On Wheels - UK Tour John Peel Day Venue: Orange Tree Times: 8pm - 12am *Special John Peel Day Celebration*, Open Mic Slots and The Magic Heroes John Peel Day Venue: Junktion 7 Price: £4 Times: 8.30 pm - 12 am Chemistry Experiment, Champion Kickboxer, ST Joan, Nutron Stars Gina Villalobos Venue: Cabaret Price: £9 / £11 Times: 7.30pm Support from The Believers (USA) Nu Blues Night Venue: Running Horse Price: £5 Part of the Goose Fringe Festival Richie Muir Venue: Southbank Bar The National Venue: The Social Price: £8 adv
fri 14/10
listings...
exhibitions/theatre/comedy/live music/clubs
65 Days of Static fri Venue: The Social Price: £6 adv With support from Youth Movie Soundtrack Strategies
14/10
Laura Viers Venue: The Rescue Rooms Price: £8 adv Frankie Goes To Hollywood Venue: Rock City Price: £15 adv Now Festival Opening Event Venue: The Social Price: £6 adv Times: 10.15pm - 3am Alan McGee’s Rock N Roll Promz, plus King Biscuit Time & DJ’s Badger & Otter Mark Mulcahy (USA) Venue: Cabaret Price: £8 / £10 Times: 7.30pm
Lacerated and Side Project Venue: The Old Angel Price: £5 / £3 Times: 8pm Harry and The Last Pedestrians Venue: The Lion Inn Times: 8pm Slimline Venue: Running Horse Price: £5 and Papas Blues
Walter Trout Venue: The Rescue Rooms Price: £15 adv
Little Freddie King (USA) Venue: Running Horse Price: £10
Dogs D’Amour Venue: Rock City Price: £12.50 Times: 7.30pm
Performance Venue: Southbank Bar Towers Of London Venue: Rock City Price: £6
Saxon Venue: Rock City Price: £15 adv Times: 7.30pm
sat 15/10
mon 17/10
tue 18/10
Beck Goldsmith Venue: Cabaret Price: £tbc Jonathan Rice Venue: The Social Price: £5 Times: 8pm
wed 19/10
The Kills Venue: The Rescue Rooms Price: £9 adv Chelsea Venue: Junktion 7 Price: £7 Advance / £8.50 Door Times: 8.30pm - 12am
Engineers Venue: The Rescue Rooms Price: £7.50 adv
The Robocop Kraus Venue: The Social Price: £4 adv
The Fight Venue: Rock City Price: £5 adv Times: 7.30pm
thu 20/10
Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel Venue: Royal Centre Price: £17.50
The Magic Numbers Venue: Rock City Price: £10 adv Times: 7pm Phinius Gage Venue: Junktion 7 Price: £2.50 adv Times: 9 pm Tolerance, Red As Monkey, Lift Off! DJ Leepea, Phinius Gage John Renbourn and Johnny Dickenson Venue: Hotel Deux Pleated Lemon, Bogus Bob, The Last Pedestrians Systemyk Venue: The Old Angel Price: £5 / £3 Times: 8pm and Evil Scarecrow
The Mad, The Bad and the Dangerous Tour Venue: The Rescue Rooms Price: £16.50 adv The Hamsters, Wilco Johnson, John Otway LeftLion Live Venue: Orange Tree Times: 8.30pm Lee Rickers The Recovery 3 Way Dance Venue: The Rig Price: £6 adv The Freaks Union & The Mingers Splint Venue: Junktion 7 Price: £4 Times: 8.30pm - Midnight Splint, Flyswatter (Germany) – Emo / punk
TreeBeard Venue: The Lion Inn Times: 8pm
Herb Birds Venue: Southbank Bar
The John O’Leary Band Venue: Running Horse Price: £6
Off The Wall Venue: Royal Centre Price: £13.50- £15 Pink Floyd Tribute Band
Funky Way Venue: Southbank Bar
sun 16/10
Junktion 7 Presents fri 21/10 Venue: Junktion 7 Price: £5 Adv / £6 Door Times: 9pm - 1am Assert, John Holmes (tbc), A new Way To Trust, Burning Skies (Alvaran) Joe Strange Venue: Southbank Bar The Nottingham singer-songwriter will be plying his brand of country and folk in support of his Angel Row album. See interview on page 11.
Hugh Cornwall Venue: Cabaret Price: £10 / £12 Times: 7.30pm
Derek Acorah Venue: Royal Centre Price: £14.50 - £15.50
Roy De Wired Venue: Southbank Bar
Bloc Party Venue: Rock City Price: £13.50 Times: 7.30pm Current flavour of the month arrive in Notts to play at ‘the citeh!’
sun 16/10
Joe Brown and Marty Wilde Venue: Royal Centre Price: £15.50 - £19.50
Neon Heights Venue: Malt Cross Cafe Bar Price: £3 Times: 8pm
Entombed Venue: Rock City Price: £9 Times: 7.30pm
Joan Armatrading Venue: Royal Centre Price: £22.50
fri 21/10
Hard-Fi Venue: The Rescue Rooms Price: £8.50 adv El Presidente Venue: Nottingham Trent University Union Price: £4 adv (NUS) Times: 9pm - 2am With Support from The Upper Room
sat 22/10
Spunge thu 27/10 Venue: Rock City Price: £10 adv Times: 6.30pm Spunge , Fastlane, Route 215, Sadie’s Doll Chuck Prophet & The Mission Express Venue: Rock City Price: £12 adv The Organ Venue: The Social Price: £4 adv Times: 9pm - 2am Richie Muir Venue: Southbank Bar Vampires Rock Venue: Nottingham Arena Price: £10 - £20 Times: 7.30pm
Echo And The Bunnymen Venue: The Rescue Rooms Price: £17.50 adv Sticky Morales Venue: Southbank Bar
fri 28/10
Krebstar Records Presents Venue: Junktion 7 Price: Tickets £8.50 Times: 5.30pm - Midnight
sun 23/10
LeftLion Presents... Venue: Malt Cross Cafe Bar Times: 8pm - 11pm Left of The Dealer and Team Hughes
Turin Brakes Venue: Rock City Price: £15 adv
mon 24/10
Test Icicles Venue: The Social Price: £6 adv Times: 7pm - 10pm
Bullet For My Valantine Venue: Rock City Price: £10 adv Times: 7pm
tue 25/10
Michael Bolton Venue: Royal Centre Price: £37.50
wed 26/10
Static Party Presents Venue: Junktion 7 Price: £3 Members Times: 9pm - 1am The DT’S (Bellingham, WA) , Gods Chosen Dealers (Nottingham) Richie Muir Venue: Southbank Bar
KMFDM Venue: The Rescue Rooms Price: £12.50 adv
KT Tunstall Venue: Rock City Price: £13.50 adv
Great Lake Swimmers Venue: The Social Price: £5 adv Times: 7pm - 10pm
Jamie Cullum Venue: Royal Centre Price: £27.50
mon 31/10
listings...
exhibitions/theatre/comedy/live music/clubs
Halloween Gig mon Venue: Junktion 7 Times: 8.30pm - midnight Supernight Venue: The Social Price: £3 Times: 8pm
31/10
tue 01/11
3 Way Dance Venue: Rock City Price: £6 adv No Comply , Anyway , The Mercury League Four Seasons By Candlelight Venue: Royal Centre Price: £15 - £21 Times: 7.30pm
Kinski thu Venue: The Rescue Rooms Price: £5 adv Music For One, Bela Emerson
03/11
Blackbud Venue: The Social Price: £5 adv Times: 7pm - 10pm
fri 04/11
Bjorn Again Venue: Royal Centre Price: £15 - £17
sat 05/11
Rock Steady Venue: Southbank Bar
sun 06/11
Rolling Clones Venue: Southbank Bar
mon Buck 65 Venue: The Rescue Rooms Price: £8 adv
07/11
tue 08/11
Four Tet Venue: Rock City Price: £9.50 adv With support from Explosions in the Sky
Richie Muir Venue: Southbank Bar
wed 09/11 thu 10/11
The Red Chord + Bury Your Dead Venue: Rock City Price: £8 adv Times: 7pm The Illegal Eagles Venue: Royal Centre Price: £15.50
fri 11/11
The Decemberists Venue: The Rescue Rooms Price: £8 adv
tue 15/11
Starsailor Venue: Rock City Price: £16.50 adv Herb Birds Venue: Southbank Bar
thu 17/11
Ezio Venue: The Rescue Rooms Price: £10 adv
fri 18/11 sat 19/11
Open Mic Venue: The Orange Tree Times: 8pm - 12am Open mic night at what is now the home of our second monthly live event LeftLion Live (third Thursday of the month). Truth Venue: Southbank Bar The Bravery Venue: Rock City Price: £15 adv Times: 7pm
sun 20/11
sat 12/11
The New School Of Rock Tour Venue: Rock City Price: £3 adv Times: 7.30pm The Answer, The Sound Explosion, Tokyo Dragons Nottingham Harmonic Society Chorus Venue: Royal Centre Price: £5 - £16.50 Belshazzar’s Feast
Firefest II Venue: Rock City Price: £40 Times: 12pm House Of Lords and more Franz Ferdinand mon 28/11 Venue: Nottingham Arena Price: £21.50 With support from The Rakes and The Editors
Tony Christie Venue: Royal Centre Price: £20 - £22.50 Times: 7.30pm
tue 29/11
Jools Holland Venue: Royal Centre Price: £27
wed 30/11
sat 01/10
Pure Filth Style: Techno, DnB, Funky House Venue: BluePrint Price: £5 Times: 10pm - late
mon 03/10 2 Many DJ’s Venue: Stealth Price: £15 adv Times: 7pm - 2am Radio Soulwax Tour, Soulwax (Nightversions), 2 Many DJs, Riotous Rockers Seiji and Guest MC (Bugz In the Attic) Venue: Evasion Price: £3 / motd
Roy De Wired Venue: Southbank Bar
mon 21/11
Alkaline Trio Venue: Rock City Price: £14 Times: 7.30pm
22/11
Forward Russia Venue: The Social Price: £5 adv Times: 8pm The Sound Carriers Venue: The Social Price: £5 Times: 8pm LeftLion Presents... fri Venue: Malt Cross Cafe Bar Times: 8pm - 11pm Punish The Atom and Bambino
25/11
wed 05/10
thu 06/10 Liquid Funkt Style: Drum and Bass Venue: Image Bar Times: 7pm - 11pm Random Guy, Rema D, Timmy Hands, Weazal Man, Groove Distortion Dogma Presents Venue: Dogma Price: Free Times: 9pm – 2am Red Rack’em
Diwali Gala Venue: Royal Centre Price: £5
The Everly Brothers Venue: Royal Centre Price: £40 - £50
sat 26/11
Rappers Delight Style: HipHop Venue: The Social Price: £2 Times: 10pm - 2am
thu 06/10
fri 07/10
Spectrum Style: Breaks Venue: Stealth Times: 10pm - 3.30am Giles Peterson, Electric Souls Soundsystem, Earl Zinger, Krafty Kuts, Pete Jordan Basement Boogaloo Presents: Greg Wilson, Unabombers, Ed Cotton & Nick Shaw
Hupendi Muziki Wangu vs Solid State Venue: Bar None Price: Free Times: 10pm - 2am Focus Style: Drum and Bass, Deep House Venue: BluePrint Price: £6 Nus / £6 B4 11pm / £8 after Times: 10pm - late Nicky Blackmarket & Mc $pyda, Jaydan & Disfunktion, Kronic & Apocalypse
wed 12/10
Detonate - Freshers Party Style: Drum and Bass, HipHop Venue: Nottingham Trent University Union Price: £8 adv Times: 9-2am
Clubs
LeftLion Live Venue: The Orange Tree Times: 8.30pm - 12am The Joe Strange Band and Rapunzel Map Richie Muir Venue: Southbank Bar
Gorgoroth Venue: Rock City Price: £12 adv Times: 7.30pm With support from1349
Glenn Tilbrook and The Fluffers Venue: The Rescue Rooms Price: £12.50 adv
mon 14/11
tue Carmen Venue: Royal Centre Price: £21 - £31.50 Ellen Kent and Opera International Present Bizet’s Carmen
John Cooper Clarke Venue: The Rescue Rooms Price: £12 adv Sticky Morales Venue: Southbank Bar
The Damned Venue: Rock City Price: £14 adv Times: 7.30pm
Kiss Expo III Venue: Rescue Rms Price: £15 adv Times: 2pm-9pm
The Tubes Venue: The Rescue Rooms Price: £14 adv
Keith James Venue: The Rescue Rooms Price: £10 adv
A Feast Of Gilbert and Sullivan Venue: Royal Centre Price: £12.50 - £17.50
Bob Dylan Venue: Nottingham Arena Price: £30-£35 The man who fused folk and rock music comes to Nottingham.
Architecture In Helsinki Venue: The Rescue Rooms
Kubb Venue: Rock City Price: £7 adv Times: 7.30pm
sun 13/11
Buster Venue: Southbank Bar
Motorhead Venue: Rock City Price: £21.50 Times: 7.30pm support from In Flames
Arab Strap Venue: The Social Price: £8 adv
The Bluetones Venue: The Rescue Rooms Price: £12.50 adv
Highness Soundsystem Style: Reggae, Dub Venue: BluePrint Price: £5 Times: 10pm - late
Dogma Presents Venue: Dogma Price: Free Times: 9pm – 2am Bonobo (Ninja Tune) Psycle Style: Venue: Price: Times:
Trance, Breaks BluePrint £5 10pm - late
thu 13/10
sat 15/10
sun 16/10 Alice Russell FT. TM Juke Style: HipHop Venue: Stealth Price: £8 adv Times: 7.30 pm Alice Russell FT. TM Juke, Kids In Tracksuits, Dubfella, Windows78
wed 19/10
Detonate - Next Level 05 Style: Drum and Bass, HipHop, Breaks Venue: Rock City Price: £17.50 adv Times: 8-3am Scratch Perverts feat Dynamite MC, Fabio and Grooverider b2b with MC GQ DJ Zinc, Jenna G feat Dynamite MC, DJ Friction with SP MC & Eksman, Pendulum, MC $pyda, Calibre, MC Fats, Transit Mafia, Grandmaster Flash, Jeru The Damaja, DJ Vadim Presents: One Self feat DJ Woody, Yara Bravo, Blu Rum, Petebox, MistaJam, Santero, Detail, The Freestylers, DJ Deekline, MC Darrison, Pete Jordan, Problem Child
listings...
exhibitions/theatre/comedy/live music/clubs
Cult wed 19/10 Venue: Wax Cafe Price: Free Times: 9pm - 2am Buddha Palm, Miss OneDrop, Mr Shifter, JPJ Andi Smith Venue: Evasion Price: £3 / motd Dogma Presents Venue: Dogma Price: Free Times: 9pm – 2am Crazy Penis
thu 20/10
fri 21/10
Kombination Funk Style: Drum and Bass, Techno Venue: BluePrint Price: £6 Times: 10pm - late
Cult sat Venue: Wax Cafe Price: Free Times: 9pm - 2am CULT’s 1st Birthday!! 10/10 LIVE!, Johnny Crump, Ryo, Windows 78, Ligre
22/10
Mr Scruff wed 26/10 Venue: Rock City Price: £10 adv Times: 9pm - 2am Hello Dottingham… Keep it Ian Beale. Ade Fenton (Atomic Jam) Venue: Evasion Price: £3 Times: 10pm – late Dogma Presents Venue: Dogma Price: Free Times: 9pm – 2am Quantic (Tru Thoughts)
thu 27/10
Skool of Beatz Style: Hip Hop, Funk, Breakz Venue: Moog Demo Venue: BluePrint Price: £5 Times: 10pm - late
sat 29/10
Aaron Ross Venue: Evasion Price: £3 Times: 10pm - late
wed 02/11
thu 03/11
Simon DK Venue: Evasion Price: £3 / motd
wed 09/11
Dogma Presents thu 10/11 Venue: Dogma Price: Free Times: 9pm – 2am Dan Greenpeace (Antidote Records)
wed 16/11
Mark Rae Style: Breaks, HipHop, Funk Venue: Evasion Price: £3 adv motd Dogma Presents Venue: Dogma Price: Free Times: 9pm – 2am A Skillz (Finger Lickin)
thu 17/11
fri 18/11
Kombination Funk Style: Drum and Bass, Techno Venue: BluePrint Price: £6 Times: 10pm – late Nicky Blackmarket Style: Drum and Bass Venue: Evasion Price: £3 / motd
wed 23/11
Dogma Presents thu Venue: Dogma Price: Free Times: 9pm – 2am Russ Porter (Limp Twins/QSO) Skool of Beatz Style: Hiphop, Funk, Breakz Venue: Moog Stone Soup Project Showcase Demo Venue: BluePrint Price: £5 Times: 10pm - late Nicky G & Davey Boy Venue: Evasion Price: £3 / motd
sat 26/11
wed 30/11
Camouflage Venue: The Rescue Rooms Price: £7 Times: 7.30pm - 12am Sway, Lazy Habits, Karizma, T-Cutt/Swiz, Hosted By Blugrass
Mondays
Weekly Nights
Liquid Funkt Style: Drum and Bass Venue: Image Bar Price: Free Times: 7pm - 11pm Random Guy, Rema D, Timmy Hands, Weazal Man, Groove Distortion
Motherfunker Style: Funk, Pop, Indy Venue: The Cookie Club Price: £1 b4 11pm Times: 10.30 - 2am
Highness Soundsystem Style: Reggae, Dub Venue: BluePrint Price: £5 Times: 10pm - late
Tuesdays @ The Market Bar Style: Disco, RnB Venue: The Market Bar Price: £4 (NUS) Times: 9pm - 2.30am
Rappers Delight Style: HipHop Venue: The Social Price: £2 Times: 10pm - 2am
Wednesdays
Spectrum Style: Breaks Venue: Stealth Price: £tbc Times: 10pm - 3.30am
fri 04/11
24/11
Tuesdays
Funk Stole Your Mama Style: Funk Venue: Synergy Price: £4.50 (NUS) Times: 10.30pm - 2am The Mood Indigo Trio Venue: Bluu Price: Free The Big Wednesday Style: Alternative, Rock, Pop Venue: Cookie Club (The) Price: £2.50 (NUS) Times: 10.30 - 2am
Funktion Style: Drum and Bass Venue: BluePrint Price: £5 Times: 10pm - late Sappo (1xtra) 2 Hour set.
sat 05/11
Pure Filth Style: Techno, Drum and Bass, Funky House Venue: BluePrint Price: £5 Times: 10pm - late
Ritmo With Leon Moran Style: Funky House, Disco, Breaks Venue: Bar Humbug Price: Free Times: 8pm - 1am
Thursdays Mirrorball Style: RnB, Disco, Funk Venue: Snug Price: £3 - £4 (NUS) Times: 10pm - 3am Tuned Style: Indy, Alternative, Pop Venue: Rock City Price: £3.50 / £4 (NUS) Dusk Style: Venue: Price: Times:
HipHop, Soul Snug £4 (NUS) 10pm - 3am
Club NME Style: Rock, Indy, Alternative Venue: Stealth Price: £2 - £4 (NUS) Times: 10pm – late Generation Style: Sixties Venue: Cookie Club (The) Price: £2.50 (NUS) Times: 10.30pm - 2am
Fridays Style: Price: Times:
@ Market Bar Breaks, House, Disco £4 (NUS) 9pm - 3am
Audio Style: Venue: Price: Times:
Funk, Soul, Disco Snug £5 (£3 b4 10.30pm) (NUS) 10pm - 3am
Atomic Style: Venue: Price: Times:
Eighties, Nineties Cookie Club (The) £4 (NUS) 10.30pm - 2am
Saturdays Stealth Venue: Price: Times:
vs Rescued Stealth Free b4 10.15pm £5 after 5pm - 4am
Saturdays @ The Market Bar Style: Funky House Price: £5 Times: 9pm - 2.30am
Funktion Style: Drum and Bass Venue: Synergy Price: Free
Stylus Style: Funky House, Funk Venue: Snug Price: £3 - £6
Fridays
Rise and Shine / Funk U Style: Indy, Alternative, Disco, Soul Venue: The Cookie Club Price: £5 (NUS) Times: 10.30pm - 2am
Soul Buggin with DJ Beane Style: Folk, Soul, Disco Venue: Bar Humbug Times: 8pm - 1am Sabotage Style: Eighties, Nineties Venue: The Cookie Club Price: £4 (NUS) Times: 10.30 - 2am Love Shack Style: Eighties Venue: Rock City Price: £4 adv £5 otd
Lovezoo Style: House, Funky House Venue: The Lost Weekend Price: £5 Times: 10pm - 3am Distortion Style: Rock, Indy, Alternative Venue: Rock City Price: £5 (NUS) Times: 9pm - 2.30am
.co.uk /shop Attention: Artists of Nottingham. we want to sell your soul stuff! the leftlion online shop will soon be relaunched. we currently sell cd’s, books, photos and t-shirts, but we may be interested in other things too. We’re looking to gather a variety of local artwork, music, craft, clothing and other local creative produce. we offer sale or return and a decent commison rate (as good as we’ve found in the city so far). If you’re interested email us on shop@leftlion.co.uk with a few sample images or tracks and the kind of price you are looking to sell at and we’ll let you know whether we’re interested.
www.leftlion.co.uk/issue7
This issue all the answers are places where you can buy a drink in Nottingham. If you’re struggling then you can find all the answers (and how to get to them) at leftlion.co.uk/bars. If you get them all then email your answers to nottsword@leftlion.co.uk to claim a special misery prize.
Across
Down
1. This bar may bring a tear (9) 5. Sounds like the place to go and cook a Polish girl (8) 6. Where a number of the team drink (6) 9. The bar Alan chose and you are involved too (anag) (10) 11. Bar that’s heavy in the south-east (5) 12. Where you find a homeless snail and salad (4,3,7) 16. This pub won’t let go of it’s insects (3, 9) 18. Synth bar (4) 19. “Ken,” Mary sob (anag) (5, 6) 22. Bar with space to exist (6, 4) 23. You need to be chic to drink here (7) 24. Place where you can find a communist cat (3, 4) 25. This pub could be said to unger (6)
2. Ye all face this veggie café bar (anag) (5, 4) 3. Karaoke bar that stays underground (8) 4. Looks around a horse at this pub (8) 7. Sounds like you may have to wait to get in here (1, 6) 8. Could be ‘Le Fence Lodge’ (anag) (6, 6) 10. Place to get a big jug of beer and an instrument (7, 3, 5) 13. Where she got her bun skill (anag) (7, 4) 14. This bar is revolting (10) 15. This pub rules or governs (anag) (9) 17. Where the mad go to drink (anag) (5) 20. Is this old pub a clanger? (4, 3) 21. Ban a mangled sari (3, 4)
answers for previous Nottswords can be found at www.leftlion.co.uk/nottsword
29
30
www.leftlion.co.uk/issue7
Aries (March 20 - April 20)
Libra (September 23 - October 23)
Time does not really exist. Humans made it up to make sense of their place in the world. The watch on your wrist remains inconsistent with the happenings inside your head. When will you realise that periodical pigeonholes are nothing to hold you. None of it is real…
How drunk do you think you can get in twenty-five minutes? Go on, give it a go. If you’re not already stocked up, you can hold the stopwatch until you get back from Thresher. I managed five pints, a bottle of red and a quart of Whisky before I started to black out. My wife says she is ‘disappointed’ in me.
Taurus (April 20 - May 21)
Scorpio (October 23 - November 23)
If I was a gambling man (which I most certainly am) then I’d put money on this being your lucky day. Everything is set right for you and the sun will shine where you walk. Avoid the maniacal evil clown desperately trying to hurt you wherever you go and it will all pass by like clockwork.
I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.
Gemini (May 21 - June 21) Congratulations. You are the 1,000,000,000th reader of this Horrorscope. You have won our special prize. To claim it, stop reading this paper immediately, head down to your local newsagent and tell him you want to talk to Peter Pointer. If he doesn’t comply then you can whistle.
Cancer (June 21 - July 23) I never was big on pets, but a bit of company around the house would do you good. No small yappy dogs or I won’t come and visit. Also you want something clean. Cats are okay, apart from being smug insolent little long armed hairy pigs. Maybe a Chinchilla?
Leo (July 23 - August 23) To remove excessive crayon stains from your walls spray them with WD-40, then gently wipe. If the mark is particularly stubborn, sprinkle a little baking soda on a damp sponge and gently rub in a circular motion. If the colour remains, wet a cloth with bleach and wipe until your fingers bleed.
Virgo (August 23 - September 23) Phone in sick tomorow. You deserve a day off. You can catch up with that paperwork on your desk tomorrow or next week or never. Try on some new clothes, put on that DVD you bought and practice some fancy dancing. You saw what it did for that rasclaat Patrick Swayze.
Sagittarius (22 - December 22) The world is a fucking crazy place. Hopping up from one branch to another trying to climb higher and higher until you can climb no more. If you can’t keep with the pace then take a break hombre. Hyperventilated thoughts inspire constipated bowels.
Capricorn (December 22 - January 19) Let everyone forget troubles. Life is ongoing now. Offset unusually repugnant stains. Talk yourself less, egotist. I see less energy generally everywhere. Night dawns across recent years.
Aquarius (January 20 - February 19) Darkness surrounds you and you know it. Your mask of uncertainty is complete. Take advantage of it, and soak it all in. Write out what you’re feeling in fire across your neighbours garden, or just enjoy relaxing in the soft, dark and endless corridors of your rabid mind. Kiwi fruits are good for vitamin C.
Pisces (February 19 - March 20) Truthfully, some things are worth fighting for and some are not. Part of the trick in life is wising up to which is which. Make up your mind what to let go and do it. Make sure, however, your decisions are based on real preferences rather than lethargy. Your dinner is in the dog!
Local Transpo Special!rt Grate Misstakes in Cultural Histroy
Nottingham City Transport
Number of buses in Nottingham city
312
Do they give change?
No
Average lateness of bus (if it turns up Time lost waiting behind old people in queue (per journey) Youths causing trouble at back of bus
#07: June 1215 - King John signs the Magnum PI Carta
at all)
Trent Barton Buses
Yes
Do they give change? up at all)
1.4 mins
it turns Average lateness of bus (if
1.5 mins
old people Time lost waiting behind in queue (per journey)
(per journey)
3.7
144
m city Number of buses in Nottingha
back Youths causing trouble at
2.2 mins 1.35 mins
of bus (per journey)
7.7
Ask your university for details or visit www.connectednottingham.org.uk
City Centre Venues Breeze Bar Canalhouse Bar & restaurant Fresh The Lion Inn Red Hot Buffet Shack The Plough
Bunkers Hill Inn Cast The Grove Malt Cross The Stage The Gatehouse
Bag o’ Nails C.K.’s The Johnson Arms Mayfields Wine Bar Saltwater Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
The Bar Cafe Frog & Onion Kean’s Head The Newcastle Pitcher & Piano Sausage
Queen’s Medical Centre Johnson Arms Atrium Cafe Exchange Cafe The Plough The Lion Inn Frog and Onion Bag O’Nails The Grove Cast Gatehouse NTU City Campus The Stage Saltwater Malt Cross Mayfields Wine Bar Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem Canalhouse Bar Pitcher & Piano Kean’s Head Red Hot Buffet Shack Breeze Bar Fresh Bunkers Hill Inn The Newcastle CK’s Sausage
Connected Nottingham - working towards making Nottingham a truly connected city.