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Review: Los Campesinos! Queens Social Club Sheffield, 07/12/2013

Jade Knox

Jade Knox

Gig review by Jade Knox

My first shot at reviewing bands for wonderful community station SheffieldLive!  93.2fm; I intend from this point forward to mooch around Sheffield whenever possible attending local gigs and searching for talent, keeping an eye on who’s hot and where they’re playing!

This was my first ever visit to the Queens Social Club in Sheffield despite being born and raised in the city. From the outside my immediate reaction was how similar it was aesthetically to the Brudenell Social Club which I have visited in Leeds.

As a Los Campesinos! fan already, I entered with a strong bias toward the band but as I decided to attend alone I thought this would give me a good means of deciding whether I really was having a good time or not. The venue is relatively small – but crammed with an excited and even adoring gathering of fans!

The best thing about the experience for me was the simple fact that the band looked as if they were having a good time. Rather than appearing as if they had guns to their heads whilst performing, the atmosphere became undoubtedly magical.

I would challenge anybody who were to tell me they left the gig unhappy. Even if the style of music wasn’t your taste, the passion of the people around you and more importantly of the band members themselves made the event a wonderful place to be. There was none of the awful pushing and shoving that seems to become habit of the more moronic gig-goers and everyone had a jolly good jump around whilst being courteous in the process.

But for any band a power cut is something that you could do without – and I wouldn’t have blamed any of them for getting a little narked.  Yet regardless of the power loss that ensued during Romance is Boring (at which point the entire room filled with the voices of dedicated fans) the band stayed cheery. Frontman Gareth cheerily explained the circumstances which, personally, left me rather tickled rather than irked that I would now have to hang around for an unknown amount of time until things got sorted. Gareth’s good humour was evident throughout the gig – especially as he remarked on how he had finally ditched the glockenspiel after years of embarrassment.

If you haven’t already heard Los Campesinos!’ new album ‘No Blues’ it is available to purchase and download from iTunes and also on Spotify.

My next gig review shall be of the wonderful Leeds based band Kamara, who are playing The Old Grindstone in Crookes this Friday! If a Cribs-esque indie vibe is what you’re into a strongly suggest you attend, the best part of course, it’s absolutely free!

About Jade: “I am a tiny, twenty-two year old with a big love for music and radio. Fuelled on caffeine and forever changing the colour of my hair I’m going to be on the hunt for local gigs and talent in and around the steel city!”

What next?

Incredible Edible on Sheffield Live

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Incredible Edible is a “local food movement that’s inspiring communities all over the world.”

The movement began 6 years ago in Todmorden, where any day in the growing season can now see fruit and vegetables in some most unusual places: tomatoes along the canal path, strawberries outside the college and runner beans in the cemetery; food you are welcome to take as much of as you like.

This simple but radical act of growing food in public places for everyone to share has had a transformative effect in Todmorden – benefiting residents of all ages and even boosting businesses – and has been a starting point for a movement that is now spreading across the world.

Already more than 50 towns and villages across the UK have joined the Incredible Edible movement. It’s spreading across the world too, with over 300 Incredible Edibles in France alone, and others in places as far apart as Mali, Canada and New Zealand.

Now a new book about the Incredible Edible story, and the power of growing vegetables to transform communities, has been written by local author Joanna Dobson, who has spent the past two years researching and writing the story of Incredible Edible.

Joanna came onto Communities Live on Thursday 5th December to talk with presenters Andy Cooper, Charlotte Carrick and Julie Anne Tulley about the Incredible Edible book – and the Kickstarter campaign to pay for the book’s publication.

What next?

Listen to the podcast of the Communities Live show (5-12-2013 episode) featuring interview with Joanna Dobson (The interview starts at 14 minutes, and this podcast will remain available until end of Jan 2014).

Find out more about the Kickstarter campaign to support the Incredible Edible book, which closes on Weds 11th December.

Watch a video about Incredible Edible:

WIN tickets to Happy Mondays gig

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Happy Mondays “BUMMED” 25th Anniversary Tour

25 years on from its release in November 1988, Happy Mondays’ sophomore album Bummed, which won ‘classic album’ at the Q awards still sounds as dangerously hedonistic as it did in the 80s. The importance of this record can’t be overstated; don’t miss the chance to hear this seminal album played live and in full!

Sheffield Live has five pairs of tickets available to win to this fantastic gig.

To enter our competition, just email the answer to this question to comp@sheffieldlive.org

Aside from dancing, which instrument does The Happy Mondays’ Bez play?

Send your answer – as well as your name and address and a telephone number – by email to comp@sheffieldlive.org to enter. You have to be over 18 to enter this competition and by entering you accept our standard competition terms and conditions.

The closing date of the competition is NOON on Weds 11th December and we’ll contact the winners by email and phone on the afternoon of Weds 11th December.

Remember, you can also book tickets via http://www.o2academysheffield.co.uk/event/55078/happy-mondays-bummed-25th-anniversary-tour-tickets or by calling ticketweb on 0844 477 2000.

Job opportunity – Local TV Launch Manager

Sheffield Community Media, a new social enterprise, is seeking to recruit a Launch Manager to drive the creation of Sheffield Live TV, the new local digital TV channel for Sheffield.

Sheffield Community Media is working in partnership with Sheffield Live community radio to develop the Sheffield Live brand as a cross platform community media service – radio, TV, web and mobile – providing new opportunities for local media producers and offering local news, information and creative content.

The SLTV Launch Manager will be responsible for taking to launch the local digital TV channel including project management, fundraising, programme schedule, staff recruitment and launch promotion.

The deadline for applications is 20 December 2013.

Further information including how to apply is available here:

SLTV Launch Manager [PDF]
SLTV Launch Manager [Word]

This post is part financed by the European Regional Development Fund as part of Europe’s support for the region’s economic development through the 2007-2013 Yorkshire and Humber ERDF Programme.

European Regional Development FundKey Fund and South Yorkshire Community Foundation

Friends of Zest make case against library closure

As library with longest opening hours in the city is set to close, the Friends of Zest group are holding an open meeting this Saturday, 7 December

Upperthorpe Library by Philippa Willitts, used under Creative Commons License

Upperthorpe Library by Philippa Willitts, used under Creative Commons License

The Friends of Zest Group is holding a public meeting with Cllr Mazher Iqbal on Saturday 7th December at 11am in Upperthorpe Library to make the case for keeping it open.

The Group is campaigning to keep Upperthorpe Library open and for it to be retained as a fully funded Council library.

The library’s weekly opening hours of 86.5 over 7 days of the week are the longest in the city.

Upperthorpe Library is based in the Zest Centre, a community facility which houses a range of health and wellbeing services under one roof.  This co-location makes it very cheap for the City Council to run, according to the Friends of Zest Group, who told Sheffield Live that:

  • The Zest Centre has excellent disabled access making Upperthorpe Library one of the most accessible libraries for people with disabilities in the city.
  • The library’s IT suite has the fifth highest usage of all libraries in the city, because Zest staff keep the IT suite open when library staff are not on site.
  • The Zest Centre and the library is used not only by local residents from the surrounding deprived neighbourhoods, but also by people from across the city.

These factors have not been taken into consideration in the Council’s Library Review, according to members of the Friends of Zest Group, who believe that Upperthorpe Library with its co-location in the Zest Centre should be held up by the Council as a model for other community libraries rather than be closed.

Local parent David Smith told Sheffield Live “I bring my children down to swimming lessons every week – whilst one swims, the other sits and reads with me in the library. Having such a well-integrated facility makes it possible to have this great one-to-one time together, rather than sitting around the side of the pool.”

What next?

  • The public meeting takes place on Saturday, 11am, at Upperthorpe Library and all are welcome.
  • Friends of Zest is a group of local residents and users of the Zest Centre in Upperthorpe. Their main focus at the moment is protecting Upperthorpe Library within the Zest Centre against proposed closure in April 2014.
  • Sheffield Live interviewed Councillor Mazher Iqbal in October. Details and link to podcast
  • The chief executive of Zest was interviewed on last week’s Business Live programme. Details and link to podcast

Today’s Business Live: seasonal businesses, Business Awards, community investment

Today’s episode of our Business Live discussion programme covered the challenges of running seasonal businesses and the Sheffield Business Awards – as well as references to Sheffield’s high street parking schemes and the launch of the new Moor Market (you can listen to an interview with traders and shoppers here).

Presenter Jamie Veitch was joined live in the studio by Neil Grant, the managing director of Ferndale Garden Centre at Coal Aston; Tom Lindop, an account manager at the Sheffield Chamber; and Janet Skirrow, chief executive of local social enterprise Zest.

Neil talked about how Ferndale has successfully adapted to the changing needs of its customers; the trials and tribulations of running a seasonal – and family-owned – business; generating footfall; and even guerilla gardening, and how growing vegetables is accessible to all.

Tom gave us the lowdown on all of the benefits to businesses of entering and being recognised by being shortlisted in the Sheffield Business Awards – winners will be announced this Thursday evening.

And Janet, of local social enterprise and development trust Zest (which has been shortlisted in the Community Investment category of the Awards) talkaked about how being shortlisted has already proved really beneficial to Zest, a 15-year-old Sheffield business and development trust which has successfully moved from grant dependency to earning and generating income and winning contracts to deliver its health and wellbeing services.

You can listen to the podcast (and even download it) here.

More about the Business Live series of programmes here.

New Moor Market: interviews with traders and shoppers

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Sheffield’s brand new and eagerly-anticipated Moor Market opened for business on Monday – with a “record-breaking” 25,000 people visiting.

The new £18m building replaces Castle Market, which closed its doors on Saturday having been a Sheffield fixture for 54 years. Sheffield has held a “Royal Charter” to hold markets since 1296.

Sheffield Live visited the market on opening day. Calvin Payne and Laurence Peacock – presenters of each Wednesday’s edition of our “Communities Live” programme – popped into the market and interviewed traders and shoppers.

This piece was broadcast on our Communities Live programme this Wednesday. Podcast of the show in full.

Does new Sheffield market offer Moor?

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The Earl Street entrance to the new Moor Market (Image: Sheffield City Council)

The Earl Street entrance to the new Moor Market (Image: Sheffield City Council)

Sheffield’s brand new and eagerly-anticipated market opened for business today – with a “record-breaking” 25,000 people visiting.

The new £18m building replaces Castle Market, which closed its doors on Saturday having been a Sheffield fixture for 54 years. Sheffield has held a “Royal Charter” to hold markets since 1296.

Sheffield Live visited the market on opening day today. Calvin Payne and Laurence Peacock – presenters of each Wednesday’s edition of our “Communities Live” programme – popped into the market this morning and interviewed traders and shoppers. You can hear their piece about the market this Wednesday (27 November) on Communities Live at noon (and we’ll post the podcast afterwards).

Make sure you tune into Communities Live on Wednesday to hear Calvin and Laurence and their interviews.

High growth business, social enterprise and investment

Nigel Brewster

Today’s Business Live show (which airs every Friday at 9am) came within Global Entrepreneurship Week and the day after Social Enterprise Day.

Presenter Jamie Veitch was joined in the studio by Nigel Brewster, Partner at the Brewster Pratap recruitment group, a high growth business founded in 2011.

Nigel is also a private sector Board Member for the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (whose Chair was a guest on this show last week) where he has responsibility for the ‘Skills’ work stream.

Nigel discussed entrepreneurship, taking the steps to start a business, strategies for growth without diluting a business’ values, effective business planning, and how we might enable school leavers with business skills.

Following Nigel we turned to a conversation about social enterprise.

There are more than 70,000 social enterprises in the UK that sell products and services including clothing, chocolate, water, coffee, energy, childcare, printing and design. They are businesses driven by a social mission and use profits to tackle problems like homelessness, unemployment, carbon emissions and food waste. They contribute billions to the economy and are changing the face of business.

Sam Tarff, the new chief executive of The Key Fund, which invests in social enterprises and has supported over 2000 organisations since launching in 1999, talked about the financial and strategic support that Key Fund offers. Sam has a track record himself in running and working with successful social enterprises and third sector organisations and flagged up examples of successful social enterprises.

We were also joined by Sam Walby, editor of Now Then magazine published by Sheffield-based social enterprise Opus Independents. Now Then has put its social impact and values at the heart of its operation and Sam showed how this identity, vision and mission informs all its operations – and how the social enterprise generates income to support its work. The business has now expanded to publish Now Then in Manchester and will be widening distribution of Now Then in Sheffield.

You can listen to / download the full podcast of the show here.

More about the Business Live series of programmes.

Show sponsor, the Sheffield Enterprise Programme, is running an exciting event on 3rd December, Break Barriers, Open Doors, featuring successful Sheffield entrepreneurs who have overcome barriers to achieve their business dream. Details here.

Ho ho! Get a festive greeting ad on Sheffield Live for just £70!

Have you got a seasonal offer to promote for December or early January?

Would you like to thank your customers for their support and wish them a great festive season?

Sheffield Live can help!  We have a special “Festive Greeting” package available to new and existing advertisers.

For just £70 we’ll create a Merry Christmas / Seasons Greetings / Thank you / Happy New Year message for you – and play it over 50 times per week within a seasonal ad slot from December 5th to the 5th of January.

It’s a superb route for independent businesses to showcase your seasonal offers and engage with our 35,000+ loyal listeners – who’ll hear your message again and again!

What next?