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Urban Strawberry Lunch
URBAN
Strawberry Lunch were formed in 1987. They say:- "We began
making music on anything we could find after all our instruments
were destroyed in a fire at our rehearsal rooms." This
includes a large amount of plastic barrels, pipes and hollow tubes,
broom handles, a kitchen sink and even a shop dummies leg!
This weekend, they took the opportunity
to open the 1941 bombed out remains of St Luke's Church, Leece
Street, to the public as a very apt extension to the Chinese New
Year festivities. Thus they were able to spread their message to a
very wide audience and to raise some welcome cash from donations.
Their offering proved extremely popular; folk having been attracted
either by the chance to see inside this iconic building or became
intrigued by the fervent drumming from within. Queues extended well
back along Berry Street. After signing a disclaimer, visitors were
able avail themselves of a chance to make music from the array of
unusual instruments, all fashioned from waste materials. Many
children and a significant number of adults did just that, obviously
enjoying themselves enormously. Guidance and encouragement were also
provided. Other visitors chose to inspect the ruins and to read up
on the history on the explanatory boards.
St Luke's Church, built in the early 19C
was largely destroyed during the dreadful May blitz of 1941. Its
ruins were kept as a memorial but it remained unused until 2001,
when the group Urban Strawberry Lunch began the idea of reusing it
as a venue for Artists in Residence. In 2003, they undertook a
project of interviewing survivors of the May blitz, providing
material which is now available to inform shows and events at the
site. Building upon its success, from 2007, they are open at lunch
time, between May and October, with a variety of gigs on offer. All
shows are free but donations are very welcome. It is hoped to form a
conservation trust, better placed to raising funds to look after
this unique site.
For more details on this and other
aspects of the group log on to:-
www.usl.org.uk. |
DANCING ON ICE – THE TOUR 2008 IN LIVERPOOL!
ICE beauty
Suzanne Shaw, pop heart throb Gareth Gates and reigning ice champion
Kyran Bracken to join Torvill & Dean for Second UK Tour
Glamorous ice beauty Suzanne Shaw and pop heart throb Gareth Gates
today announce they will both join skating legends
Torvill and Dean when they take Dancing On Ice on Tour this April,
appearing at the Echo Arena Liverpool on 2 May 2008 to 3 May 2008.
Other
celebrities to announce their involvement in the 2008 Tour,
are reigning Dancing on Ice champion, Kyran Bracken and actress
Clare Buckfield - who narrowly missed out on being crowned ice queen
last year.
Bonnie Langford will also join the celebrity entourage following her
huge success on the 2007 ice tour last year when she was regularly
voted winner by arena audiences up and down the country.
Footballing
legend David Seaman who starred in the first series of the hit ITV 1
show was the first name to announce his involvement in the live ice
dancing show.
Andi Peters will return as compere of the live show; this time
around he will present to live audiences without the help of
crutches having steered clear of the ice since his ankle break last
year which he sustained during practice. He went on to present the
show regardless of his injury.
All of the celebrities will be trained and choreographed by mentors
Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean (who will perform several of
their favourite routines at each show) all over the UK.
The Tour
travels to Liverpool for the first time this year and Torvill and
Dean are especially excited. “We're really pleased to be playing
Liverpool again. We've performed in the city many times over the
years and we always get a very warm reception from the audiences.”
The judging panel will be rink-side at each show to critique the
celebrity routines. Olympic gold medal winner Robin Cousins will
head the panel of ice judges, which includes Karen Barber, Nicky
Slater and Jason Gardiner.
In addition, the Arena audiences will have a chance to vote.
Replicating the format of the TV show, they will be able to use
their mobile phones to text in their favourite celebrity dancing
couple.
The audience votes will then be added to the scores from the
panel of ice judges to decide the winner.
Once the votes have been
counted, the winning celebrity will join their skating partner to
perform a magical finale.
As per last year, all profits from text
voting
will go to charity.
More celebrity names will be announced in the coming weeks.
To book tickets log on to
www.accliverpool.com or
call the Echo Arena Box Office on 0844 8000 400. |
