For those Freshers with a taste for live music, coming up to York may seem like dangerous and unchartered territory. It is not a city known for its wealth of music venues like cities such as London and Manchester, and it does not appear to boast much of a ‘scene’, the likes of which have appeared out of smaller cities such as Oxford. However, once one sifts through the many tribute acts and delves into the lesser-known, but still brilliant blossoming bands that grace its venues, the prospect of choosing from within York’s gig diary can seem a lot less gloomy.
York is a great place for attracting indie folk, with various bands of this ilk playing from the beginning of October. Manchester band Twisted Wheel headline The Duchess on the 13th October as part of their ‘Do It Again’ tour, promising uplifting indie romps and plenty of tracks from their new album.
Another artist touring a new album is Tim Burgess of The Charlatans, who headlines the Duchess on the 17th October. Burgess’ new album and tour promises to be an interesting one, as the record includes contributors such as Kurt Wagner and R. Stevie Moore, whilst The Charlatans’ guitarist Mark Collins has been recruited for live shows. To have these musical veterans come to York is surely a privilege, and not one to miss out on if the partying of Freshers Week hasn’t wiped out your energy levels (or your bank balance!)
Despite the seemingly high levels of indie and rock influences York attracts, there is still plenty out there for the gig goer who does not like to play it safe. On 24th October, Japanese quartet, Bo Ningen, play Stereo promising their own mix of psychedelic sounds and thrashing punk. In many ways this is a band who seem very lucky to have gained the following that they have (Faris Badwan of The Horrors has professed his love for them in the past), as their screeching vocals and the incessant electronic bleeping of their songs can be annoying. One thing is for sure, though – they will put on an exciting show as these four are performance artists as much as they are a band. Perhaps taking your new-found friends along to see them would be an accurate test of how much they actually like you, as a high proportion of people may end up wanting to punch you in the face for putting them through the experience.
Despite the array of musical styles York has to offer, folk artists and singer-songwriters are often attracted to the York crowd and music scene, so there is always plenty for the folk lover to enjoy. Up-and-coming acoustic man Benjamin Francis Leftwich returns to York on the 27th October, bringing his soft and swirling songs to The Duchess.
On top of this, plenty of other brilliant singer-songwriters will be around to enjoy this term including Newton Faulkner, Rachel Sermanni and Jack Savoretti. In this way, there will always be something for the old romantic to drag his or her date along to, something which folk gigs are often so suited to.
Hopefully, after careful scrutinizing of the websites of The Duchess and Fibbers and anywhere else in York that may have live acts on, there will always be something to fulfil your gigging appetites. As well as the above mentioned bands, the first term also sees Spector, Jake Bugg, Citizens, Electric Six(!) and Dry The River among others come to show what they’re made of, so don’t hesitate in immersing yourself in the York music scene as soon as possible, as there really are some hidden gems out there!