Last Friday, Central Hall hosted the York SU run event Live at York. Kicking the evening off with a bang was Velma Chelli, a York-based drag queen who has previously performed on the West End. Her entrance in a stunning floor length ball gown transformed the ground floor of Central Hall into the red carpet at The Met Gala. As she made her way around the room, laughing and taking pictures with students, anticipation for the show only grew.
Her performance was a well-balanced mix of singing, comedy, and audience interaction. Starting off with upbeat classics like Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend and Single Ladies, she got the audience moving and chiming in. Refusing to give the crowd a rest to catch their breath, she snatched up three boys from the audience. Her newly recruited backup dancers each improvised a dance through the instrumental break of Tina Turner’s Proud Mary. One of the three was then crowned the best dancer by the crowd.
Chelli’s covers of Queen were, in the most literal sense, with the beat of We Will Rock You rattling the grounds of Central Hall as the crowd stomped along. Ending the set with an impassioned Somebody to Love, Chelli disappeared briefly before returning to the stage for an encore in which she performed a medley of songs from Britney Spears, Amy Winehouse and other artists frequently performed by drag queens.
Following Velma Chelli was sixteen-year-old Ned Swarbrick from Fulford. He played an entirely acoustic set with a guitar and harmonica, performing songs from his own EP, which was recorded in the University. Every song was prefaced with a story about it, making each performance feel instantly more personal. The crowd joined in with claps and snaps as he sang, creating a warm communal atmosphere, after the upbeat and chaotic energy left by Chelli.
With Ned’s act complete, he introduced the following act as “York indie royalty”. On came Bull, who performed an eight song set filled with indie rock originals like Tired of Being Treated Like a Twit and Imaginary Conversations. The lead singer, Tom Beer, regularly switched between guitar, keyboard and even the recorder mid performance. The rest of the band consisted of Dan Lucas on guitar, Tom Gabbatiss on drums, Kai West on bass. They are currently touring the UK and performing their new album, Engines of Honey.