Latest news with #OneDayLikeThis
BBC News
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Sheffield homeless choir perform first concert in city cathedral
A new choir made up of people impacted by homelessness have performed their first concert in South is the latest UK city to host a branch of The Choir With No Name, an organisation set up for people who have experienced rough concert took place in front of an audience of hundreds of people at Sheffield Cathedral, which has hosted weekly rehearsals since the choir started in January."We have a diverse choir, some are still going through a really tough time but we know that being part of this community is a huge support for them on a deep level," said choir director Oli Kluczewski. The choir performed a number of crowd-pleasing anthems including Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) by The Eurythmics and One Day Like This by Choir With No Name national charity has seven choirs around the UK, with others in London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Brighton, Cardiff and of the Sheffield choir have received support from the Cathedral Archer Project on Campo Lane, including Joyce Cook. Ms Cook, who found herself homeless after a family dispute, said she wore her favourite Disney glasses and her nan's "lucky necklace" to give her confidence on stage."She gave me a motto to keep on smiling - that's my favourite motto," she said."I love this, belting out classics, singing makes me feel good." Last year, Sheffield City Council confirmed the number of people registered as being homeless within the city had reached an all-time Whitham-Lees, a choir member who joined four weeks ago, said the group already had made "an impact" on him. "I've spent the last six years in and out of hostels, tents, street homeless," he said."You learn to deal with it and put up a front."Mr Whitham-Lees said the choir had helped to introduce him to "safe people"."They understand me, it's so nice they get me," he seven UK choirs meet once a week "for a cuppa and a catch up", sing for 90 minutes then share a free hot meal cooked by the success of their first concert, Mr Kluczewski believes the members are now ready for more."We know being a part of this choir is a huge support for our members," he said."I think music can affect social change, as long as people come and bring a sense of fun and community." Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
From near-disaster to a 'life-affirming' moment: This is the story of Co-Op Live so far
On this day exactly 12 months ago, the crowd at Co-op Live was turned into the most beautiful choir. The song of choice? One Day Like This, by the Bury band Elbow. The group were the first to play the UK's largest indoor arena as it finally opened its doors following a string of delays and setbacks. It was life-affirming stuff. A spine-tingling moment that saw frontman Guy Garvey cover his microphone and direct the 23,000-strong crowd in a rendition of the song as they delivered an electrifying harmony. READ MORE: Drummer gets up to play with tribute band – then people realise who he is READ MORE: Bruce Springsteen at Co-op Live - full list of banned items and rules for Manchester shows A beautiful moment that I feel lucky to have captured on my phone that night. Until Elbow had walked out on stage though, I, like many others, wondered if the UK's largest live entertainment venue would ever open its doors. Mired in technical issues which resulted in delay after delay, cancelled and rescheduled shows, and many fans out of pocket for their travel and accommodation, it was not the strongest of starts. Located at Etihad Campus, the 23,500-capacity venue came to fruition out of a partnership between American commercial real estate company Oak View Group (OVG), beloved popstar Harry Styles, City Football Group and Co-op. Three years were spent building the indoor venue next to the Manchester City ground, but it took four attempts to open it. Peter Kay was due to launch the venue but a test event headlined by Rick Astley days before highlighted just how far they were from being able to welcome fans - and even the Bolton comedian started to have a sense of humour failure. As it turned out, a snag list longer than your arm and ticketing issues would turn out to be just the start of a three-week saga. Other acts including The Black Keys and Olivia Rodrigo had to push back their gigs and Take That even moved some of theirs to the AO Arena in the interim as OVG battled with delays to the build and ensuring the stringent safety requirements for the venue were met. Hopes were raised when queues started to form outside for American rapper A Boogie Wit da Hoodie in early May, but then part of the ventilation system crashed to the floor, and fans were turned away at the eleventh hour. You can imagine the relief when Elbow took the stage a couple of weeks later, as days on end of chaos and despair were turned into jubilation and euphoria, as the state-of-the-art building finally got its long overdue moment in the spotlight. Since then, Co-op Live has played host to 105 live shows, playing to some 1.5m people in the process with artists like Liam Gallagher, the Eagles, Paul McCartney, Sabrina Carpenter and Burna Boy all playing sold out gigs. Economically, its impact has been huge - a major vote of confidence for the region's economy and Manchester's entertainment industry. The independent economic analysis says the arena has delivered a £785.5M boost to the UK economy, with a total turnover of £1.3 billion since first breaking ground next to the Etihad Stadium in Manchester in 2021. In its first year of operations alone, the new report says Co-op Live has achieved £852.2M in turnover and £455.5M in "Gross Value Added" (GVA) - a measure that reflects the additional value added to the economy, including hospitality and tourism spend at Manchester' hotels, bars, restaurants and transport network too. A year ago, the perimeter of the venue was a sea of high-vis jackets, building equipment and stewards racing hurriedly around the exits. Today, it's a much different picture as one of the greatest performers of all times prepares for the first of three sellout shows at the venue. Fans from all across the world are queued up outside in anticipation of the Bruce Springsteen's first gig, while around 1,000 staff are working to make sure it is one of the best experiences of the year for them. And, rather than talking about what could go wrong, we're talking about major milestones for the venue. For example, tonight will be the first time the arena is used with a 360-degree stage since opening. Now that it has had time to breathe, time for music fans to experience it, and opportunities to make the necessary tweaks, it's far easier to see what it represents. It is a reflection of Manchester's ambition. The city is now home to the UK's two biggest arenas in terms of capacity and that fact shouldn't be overlooked. It means more scope for booking the biggest musicians, hosting international award ceremonies and sports events, and putting Manchester on the map as one of - if not the best - cities for live entertainment. It means UK-exclusive gigs and events will be held right here in Manchester, bringing more visitors, more investment and more money to the region. We're not shy about shouting about what we do well here, but venues like Co-op Live, the AO Arena and Aviva Studios, despite their critics, are important for boosting our cultural currency, and showcasing both local and international talent. We demonstrated with the Chanel fashion show at the back end of 2023 that we have not only possess the ambition but also the means to host events that would typically be held in the capital. Now, we're building momentum with these flagship buildings and event programming at the heart of it. The live experience within Co-op Live is impressive. Having reported from the venue several times over the last 12 months, I can say that with each visit it does in fact get better. Stewards are approachable and helpful, there's very little confusion about which gate to head to anymore, and the bars and food outlets - albeit very pricey as you might expect - run seamlessly. Then there's the gigs. The space feels both vast and intimate, which I'm sure for both performers and guests is the best of both worlds. For me, it feels truly electric when you're in there. But having grown up saving up pocket money and wage slips going to gigs in Manchester and further afield, I just really hope it can be accessible. Though not set by the venue, gig ticket prices have frankly become outrageous in recent years. I remember going to see Katy Perry at the AO Arena around 15 years ago for around £25, now we're looking at fans shelling out hundreds of pounds for these experiences, which I believe for younger people is just not feasible. The artists may well set the prices, but I would like to see venues such as Co-op continue to be part of the wider conversation about how this is tackled going forward. What's the point in these blockbuster shows if the real fans can't event attend? We also shouldn't look past the issues some fans have about availability around parking, and time spent exiting the venue. I usually opt to walk back to Manchester Piccadilly rather than wait in the long queues for the tram. But at least there is a signposted and safe walking route back to the station. All that being said, I think we're moving in the right direction. I love seeing fans heading into the venue and experiencing it for the first time and I hope tonight, when Bruce Springsteen walks out onto stage with the E Street band, that just like a year ago, we're delivered the spine-tingling moment as the room swells with the sound of 23,5000 singing in harmony along with The Boss himself.
BBC News
18-04-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Music, painting and yoga: 'How I recovered from a 5,000ft fall'
A paragliding instructor who fell 1,500m (5,000ft) has opened an exhibition of his paintings that he describes as a "love letter to being alive".Jonny Fox from Brighton had been competing in the British Paragliding Championships in September 2023 when he had his accident. The display at The Crypt Gallery in Seaford is entitled Back Story and showcases the 50-year-old's determination to stand for long enough to create landscape oil paintings, which he says aided his recovery. "After my accident my world shrank immeasurably," he said. "My thoughts were not more than five minutes into the future, and painting has just opened up everything again to me." Jonny was paragliding in northern Spain when he ran into trouble, falling to the foothills of the Pyrenees mountains. He lay on the forest floor unable to move."I don't know if it was the amount of adrenaline that had just been pumped into my body, but I knew that life, nature, the mountain and the forest had me, and that my friends and other pilots were going to be looking for me," he added. The RAF civil servant recalls having a "really good start" in the race, gaining height alongside two vultures."I was enjoying flying with the birds, then all of a sudden I experienced the most violent air I've ever been in," he said. "The paraglider just folded up like a bag of washing," sending him into an "accelerating spiral dive".He deployed his reserve parachute before experiencing another area of turbulent wind. "That was the first moment I was a bit scared," he through trees, which only broke his fall for a "microsecond" he fell the final 15m (49ft) to the ground, fracturing his lower spine.A fragment of bone was also pushed into his spinal canal. Within a few hours he was airlifted out of the forest by Spain's Guardia Civil mountain rescue team, which was documented on Spanish his time in hospital in Spain he said music helped him deal with the trauma of the accident, as well as the operation to attach rods and screws onto his spine. "I listened to the same two albums every morning in hospital," he said, including Elbow's Live at Jodrell Bank."Every time Elbow played One Day Like This the tears would just start, and I would cry throughout the entire song."It was better than any of the painkiller drugs they were giving me," he added. On his return to the UK, and with a long wait for NHS physiotherapy, friends, colleagues and the "close knit" paragliding community got in touch to give advice, he physiotherapists as well as craniosacral therapy and everything from yoga, acupuncture and hydrotherapy were all transformative, he Charity for Civil Servants also helped fund a series of counselling sessions which helped with post-traumatic episodes, he said."The RAF has also been incredibly supportive in giving me the time off for my rehab as well as supporting my return to work," he added. But it was his love of landscape painting that had given him an "extra sense of purpose".He had been introduced to the practice by professional Brighton artist Tony Parsons, who Jonny said was "an amazing support and mentor". Eighteen months after his accident he said he can now stand for up to an hour in order to capture landscapes."I love the excuse of being able to stare at a view without someone thinking you're just crazy," he added. Despite his injuries there had been "so many silver linings" to his accident, said Jonny, "although I wouldn't want to put my friends and family through it again, of course.""I heard a saying that we've all got two lives, and our second life starts when we realise we've actually only got one," he said."It has been a gift in so many ways and made me realise how precious life Back Story can be seen at the Crypt Gallery, Seaford, until Sunday 20 April.
