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Diary Dates
The Soundhouse Summer Sessions – Every Saturday
The Soundhouse
The Soundhouse Summer Sessions are back every Saturday afternoon throughout the summer. Join them for an afternoon of outdoor music from some of the best local live acoustic acts, with free entry, outdoor stage, dog friendly and family friendly.
Sunday afternoon gigs at The Donkey
Another one for a sunny weekend, don’t miss the free Sunday afternoon gigs at The Donkey on Welford Road. Starting from 3pm, when it’s sunny the music will move to their outdoor stage so you can soak up the tunes and the sun with a few beers and a bite from their food menu.
Drinks & James – Monday 10 July
The Shed
Don’t miss the regular open mic night at The Shed. Sign up to take part or go along to listen and enjoy special drinks offers on the night.
Gazelle – Saturday 15 July
Ole Moses Cabin
Gazelle are a foursome rock ‘n’ roll band from here in Leicester. Enjoy a Saturday night packed with big indie tunes and on stage energy.
Fun Lovin’ Criminals – Thursday 20 July
The Soundhouse
FLC are Europe’s best-loved “cousins from New York”, whip-smart story-tellers in smarter Saville Row suits who, through comically tall tales of living large in the neon metropolis via music, drugs, crime and existential ennui, launched a career in music. The band’s current lineup: Brian Fast Leiser on lead vocals, bass, keys, horns, harp and programming. Frank Benbini on drums, percussion and vocals. Naim Cortazzi on guitar and vocals.
Bombay Bicycle Club – Tuesday 17 October
O2 Academy 2
You won’t want to miss this very special album launch event with Bombay Bicycle Club. They’re playing an intimate show in celebration of their sixth studio album, ‘My Big Day’, which features collaborations with Damon Albarn, Nilüfer Yanya, Holly Humberstone and more. It’s the follow up to 2020’s ‘Everything Else Has Gone Wrong’.
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FOCUS ON: SoundHive Social
Do yourselves a favour on Thursday 13 July and get down to Duffy’s for the 5th SoundHive Social event. It’s a free event that showcases some astonishing talent, but does things a little bit differently to other gigs.
At SoundHive Social they turn the music down a bit. Their main focus is on building community around music, so they put the audience first. According to the organiser this has worked a treat for their first few events, with people able to still talk around the music but without disturbance.
Organiser, Chris Ilett, has also been keen to ensure the event is a safe space for people to attend on their own, and perhaps even meet some new likeminded friends. “Loads of people turn up on their own and have some new friends by the time they leave. This is why we started the event.”
In terms of the music, the acts are all selected based on their individual talent and merit. “We’re hugely proud of the artists we put on. We try to keep the music to a really high level so the audience have an incredible experience.”
This month they’re kicking off the night with Leicester’s Godfather of folk – Steve Parker. Steve actually started his folk music journey at Duffy’s – when it was The Town Arms – all the way back in 1973. 50 years later, this incredible artist has kindly agreed to come back and play again.
Second on – they’ll be mixing things up here with a slimmed-down version of Ka Safar – a 16 piece World Jazz band of extraordinary talent.
Ka Safar will be exploring the realm of large ensemble improvisation and acoustic performance, using proxemics and the band’s trademark lush textures.
As if that wasn’t enough, organisers have managed to persuade a real legend of Leicester (and beyond) to come and play a solo set.
“Danny Willson is one of the finest and most respected guitarists in the UK. He’s had a lifelong career playing with bands like Showaddywaddy and Martin Turner’s Wishbone Ash!
Danny is also a fantastic artist and songwriter, and if we’re lucky he’ll play us some of his own tunes as well as blessing us with some well-known classics. That voice is incredible.”
Mr Willson fronts two really popular cover bands who play classic rock – they’re truly brilliant. (Discover more at https://www.facebook.com/CheezeBand and https://www.facebook.com/Dannywillsontrio)
So it’s a night of world-class music, a magic atmosphere that you don’t get anywhere else – and a tonne of fun with brilliant people. All for free.
Chris added, “Ultimately we’re trying to build a closer community based around artists and music fans. Society seems so disconnected, moreso since Covid. There’s so much noise but people are rarely heard. We fix that for one night every month. If people come and get involved perhaps we can do it more often.
“It might sound ridiculous, but it’s working. People are finding new inspiration from this. They leave happier than they were before. And thanks to Cool As Leicester’s Social group – we ended up introducing two people who got together.
“We can’t promise to sort our your dating life, but we can definitely help your social life and music discovery.”
SoundHive Social takes place at Duffy’s on Thursday 13 July from 8pm. Free entry. Keep up to date with SoundHive Social on Facebook.
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WEEKLY PLAYLIST
Check out this week’s playlist to discover some of the best acts across Leicester at the moment.
Have a listen and get in touch to tell us which tracks you’re loving.