rise @ bluebird is our Acomb evening arts venue.
The space regularly plays host to live music, spoken word, art exhibitions, theatre, comedy, family- friendly nights and much more.
Rise aims to be a vibrant and independently-run creative hub, driven by love and support from the local community - and an ardent sense of adventure.
Pop down and check us out - we’re looking forward to you helping shape this place just as much as we do.
Gallery
What's on
- 20/09/2024
18:00
DJ Nights
Free
Under the Influence - Massive Attack
A journey into the musical output of Massive Attack, the scene they emerged from, their influences as a band and the sounds they influenced.
DJ set curated by Mat Lazenby & Ed Heaton -
Steve Wynn
Steve Wynn's first UK solo tour in over ten years with new album and book Steve Wynn, leader and founder of the Dream Syndicate, will be touring the UK this September in support of I Wouldn’t Say It If It Wasn’t True, his debut book, a memoir for Jawbone Press as well as “Make It Right,” his first solo album since 2010, to be released on Fire Records. Both the book and new record will come out on August 30, just a few weeks ahead of the tour.The book details the winding path from growing up a music fan and pre-teen bandleader in Los Angeles through the formation and ultimate dissolution of the Dream Syndicate at the end of their first era in 1988. There are stops along the way for tales of cross-country greyhound trips to track down Alex Chilton to wild, off-the-rails tours with U2 and R.E.M. and the epic heart-of-darkness making of the band’s controversial second album Medicine Show and plenty more. The album is a similarly, reflective and intimately revealing collection, written and recorded in tandem with the writing of I Wouldn’t Say It If It Wasn’t True.Wynn promises a one-man show blending songs from and inspired by the book along with a narrative structure of readings from the book and storytelling, adjunctly extrapolated from those passages. Fans can expect a selection of evergreens and rarities from the Dream Syndicate’s 80’s catalogue along with illuminating covers and reflective numbers from the new album as well, all adding up to one tall tale of a past revisited. Steve says, “I don’t see this show as a stodgy reading or as a random selection of songs but rather a tiny play of sorts, a way of giving a flesh and blood companion to the book. I’m looking for that magic place where, say, Lenny Bruce and Spaulding Grey and Ray Davies and Bob Dylan and maybe Hedwig might meet in a dimly lit cabernet on the back streets of Hollywood. I’ve never done this kind of show before but if I can hit all those markers, I’ll be happy.”Steve Wynn will be selling and signing copies of I Wouldn’t Say It If It Wasn’t True (book) and “Make It Right” (CD/LP) after every show.
- 22/09/2024
15:00:00
Family Friendly Activities
Free
BYO Vinyl
Bag your 30 minutes of fame! Spin your tunes at our BYO Vinyl Sundays.
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Rise Up!
RISE UP! - with Malika Booker, Lillian Akampurira Aujo & Rachel Bower! Malika Booker, a British poet of Guyanese and Grenadian Parentage, lectures at Manchester Metropolitan University, and co-founded Malika’s Poetry Kitchen (A writer’s collective). She is published with the Poets Sharon Olds and Warsan Shire in The Penguin Modern Poet Series 3 (2017). A Cave Canem Fellow, A Complete Works fellow, inaugural Poet in Residence at The Royal Shakespeare Company, awarded the Cholmondeley Award (2019) for outstanding contribution to poetry and elected a Royal Society of Literature Fellow (2022). She is the first woman to win the Forward Prize for Best Single poem twice: The Little Miracles (2020) and Libation (2023).
Lillian Akampurira Aujo is a poet and fiction writer from Uganda, currently based in Leeds. She is the recipient of the Jalada Prize for Literature. She was shortlisted for the 2019 Gerald Kraak Award and the 2018 Brittle Paper Anniversary Award, and longlisted for the 2018 Nommo Award. Her writing has been published by Adda (the Commonwealth writers website), HarperVia, New Internationalist, Prairie Schooner, Transition Magazine, Jalada Africa, Jacana Literary Foundation, among others
Rachel Bower is a poet and fiction writer based in Sheffield. Her debut novel, It Comes from the River will be published by Bloomsbury in January 2025. She is also the author of two poetry collections and an academic book on literary letters. Rachel's poems and stories have been widely published in literary magazines, including The London Magazine, The White Review, Magma and Stand. Her work is represented by Curtis Brown.
- 26/09/2024
20:00
Live Music
Free Entry
The Rattlers Live @ rise
A dynamic folk trio made up of bouzouki, fiddle and double bass. They'll be playing a lively mixture of North and South American, Irish, English and Eastern European instrumental tunes.
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Baps and Buns Burlesque
We are thrilled to announce that York’s Burlesque Queen, Freida Nipples, is back at Rise this September.
Freida is an internationally award-winning burlesque artiste who will seduce you with astounding aesthetics and enthral you with her captivating stage presence.
Alongside her will be a selection of sensational cabaret artists. From drag queens to acrobats, you always know you will be in for a fun night at Freida’s shows which have been sell-out successes across York for the past six years, at venues such as York Theatre Royal, The Basement, Impossible and more.
So - prepare yourselves for an evening of debauchery & glamour in Acomb. The big question is, are you ready for it?!
Tickets include a welcome drink on arrival. (Non-alcoholic option available).
- 28/09/2024
17:00:00
DJ Nights
Free (optional donation to charity)
Dusko!
Join us for Dusko — an early-nighter of house music through the decades in a chilled-out café setting. These nights will bring talented DJs to transport you right back to the old-skool clubbing scene - with classic uplifters, retro anthems and dirty beats. Pop down, grab a beer, catch up with mates and - when the music takes over - get yourselves on the dance floor. All with the promise of a full eight-hours of beauty sleep.* *any after-party activity is entirely at your own risk.
- 29/09/2024
15:00:00
Family Friendly Activities
Free
BYO Vinyl
Bag your 30 minutes of fame! Spin your tunes at our BYO Vinyl Sundays.
- 04/10/2024
18:00:00
DJ Nights
Free
Resurrection - Indie Revival
Playing the best Indie tunes from the 80's & 90's.
- 05/10/2024
18:00:00
DJ Nights
Free
Jammin' @ rise - with guests
Sweet reggae music is back with our brilliant residents Alli Lou & Tinkermuffin.
- 06/10/2024
15:00:00
Family Friendly Activities
Free
BYO Vinyl
Bag your 30 minutes of fame! Spin your tunes at our BYO Vinyl Sundays.
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Reg Meuross
A true modern troubadour.
‘The remarkable singer-songwriter that is Reg Meuross’ – BBC Radio 3
Award-winning Reg Meuross was introduced onto the stage of the Albert Hall by Mike Harding as ‘one of this country’s finest’ and is a true modern troubadour, representing contemporary English folk writing at its best. Captivating audiences with his beautiful tenor voice, and with breadth and depth of material that is unparalleled, Reg has toured extensively for decades across the UK, Europe, North America and the Antipodes.
Masterfully accompanying himself on his ‘44 Martin six-string guitar, harmonica, tenor guitar, banjo and dulcimer, witnessing a Reg Meuross performance is to experience a journey into the heart, soul and songs of one of England’s most celebrated writers. Stories that need to be told; struggles that need to be known; injustice that needs to be uncovered; social conscience that needs to be celebrated – his music has an unrivalled power to reach and move the listener. After 15 critically-acclaimed albums, Reg continues to prove how highly relevant his songs are, whilst reaching new audiences with consistently spellbinding performances.
Reg is currently touring with song cycle Stolen From God, focusing on the transatlantic slave trade – uncovering its’ hidden history from a South West England perspective.
Reg has also recorded Fire & Dust, due for release Spring 2025, a song cycle that delves into the life story of Woody Guthrie. A journey into the heart and soul of one of America’s finest folk musicians. Highlighting racism, bigotry, corruption and inequality.
“When you have 2000 people singing along, you’re doing something right.” - Great British Folk Festival
“There’s something special about the way he writes and delivers a song” - Townes Van Zandt
'assured a place in the pantheon of great folk songwriters’ – The Living Tradition
‘classic, with echoes of early Dylan, Tom Paxton and Leonard Cohen’ – The Guardian
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Ren and Romeo
Please Please You presents
Ren Harvieu & Romeo Stodart
rise @ Bluebird, York
Wednesday 9th October, 7.30pm
£18adv
https://www.seetickets.com/event/romeo-stodart-ren-harvieu/rise-bluebird/3127375
Ren & Romeo are playing some unique duo shows together.
They will be playing much loved songs from their respective catalogues, new songs yet to be heard, perhaps a cheeky cover or two and are open to wherever the night takes them. If you’d like to experience the intimacy of songwriting, story telling and what it feels like to have found kindred spirits, you won’t want to miss this special show.
Romeo Stodart
Romeo Stodart is the lead singer/songwriter in the much loved London based rock n roll harmony group The Magic Numbers. The band comprising of two pairs of brothers and sisters have released five critically acclaimed albums to date including their self-titled Mercury Music Prize nominated, million selling debut.
Outside of The Magic Numbers, Romeo has collaborated with a vast array of artists including writing songs for & with the late Jane Birkin, Edwyn Collins, Natalie Imbruglia, Kathryn Williams, Amadou & Mariam and The Chemical Brothers. He has contributed his unique guitar playing style to various projects, from Damon Albarn’s Africa Express collective since its inception, touring with Jimmy Webb & The Webb Brothers, to playing banjo, guitar & harmonies Spiritualized’s Sweet Heart Sweet Light album.
Ren Harvieu
Anyone who believes there are no second chances needs to be re-introduced to Ren Harvieu. Seven years after Through The Night, her Top Five debut album, having overcome a life-threatening injury on the eve of it’s release, the darkly enigmatic Salford-born singer-songwriter returned with the critically acclaimed Revel In The Drama (Bella Union) a brilliant, bolder and broader take on her unique pop classicism, a compelling diary of struggle, a release of pent-up tension and a celebration of liberation and survival. It should’ve been a celebration but as luck would again have it, the world went into a global pandemic on the week of release. Timing is everything but Ren Harvieu is timeless as she is inspirational.
Now in the production chair alongside her writing partner Romeo she is creating her most brave and compelling music yet, a new album is scheduled for release in early 2025. - 11/10/2024
18:00:00
DJ Nights
On My Way
Our Northern Soul residency with Michael Toy & Dan Guest (Brighton Beach). Expect Northern soul classics along with some upbeat Motown to get you moving. Don't forget your talcum powder!
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Thomas Truax Live @ rise
Thomas Truax, an inventive American songwriter, crafts music that takes you on a whimsical and unpredictable sonic journey. His live performances are immersive, captivating audiences with a delightful blend of homemade instruments, live guitar looping, and enchanting storytelling.
His unique self-made ‘band mates’ include a motorized drum machine made of bike wheels, spoons and other found items called 'Mother Superior' and a souped up Gramophone called 'The Hornicator’
But don’t let the novelty fool you. He is also a talented guitar player, storyteller, and performer who crafts rich, poetically evocative songs about insects, trees, technology, love, and a lifelong fascination with the Moon. His music evades easy pigeonholing as his songs flit between art rock, post-punk, touches of 50s rockabilly and a distinctive brand of surreal Americana.
Ten studio LPs include highly-rated covers album 'Songs From The Films Of David Lynch'.
His most recent album 'Dream Catching Songs,' features renowned drummer Budgie (Siouxsie & the Banshees, the Slits, The Creatures) thundering along with Truax’s self-made mechanical drummer Mother Superior. It’s garnered rave reviews and plays on BBC radio 6.
A string of new singles are in the pipeline for release starting 20th September. - 19/10/2024
18:00:00
DJ Nights
Free
Uptown Funk
Uptown Funk - (Acomb’s uptown isn’t it?!) - our funky monthly residency taking place on the third Saturday of the month. Expect funk and soul classics along with some great new tunes and edits.
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Helios
From ‘Masters of Storytelling’ (FOURTH WALL) Wright&Grainger, HELIOS is the award-winning follow up to the internationally acclaimed ORPHEUS, EURYDICE, and THE GODS THE GODS THE GODS. Join them in a little room with a tape player-and a delicate tale to tell.
A lad lives half way up a historic hill. A teenager is on a road trip to the city in a stolen car. A boy is driving a chariot, pulling the sun across the sky. A story about the son of the god of the sun, HELIOS transplants the Ancient Greek tale into a modern-day myth wound round the winding roads of rural England-and into the everyday living of a towering city. It’s a story about life, the invisible monuments we build to it, and the little things that leave big marks.
‘Quiet Intimacy & Boyhood Wonder’ - THE GUARDIAN -
Mayshe Mayshe and Elsa Hewitt
Please Please You presents Mayshe Mayshe and Elsa Hewitt
Yorkshire based Mayshe-Mayshe blends dreamy art-pop and electronica with rich storytelling, skittering percussion and infectious melodies. Her unique brand of experimental electro-pop incorporates choral vocals and vintage synths, organic elements woven into all aspects of her music.
Mayshe-Mayshe’s live performance is a spellbinding live-looped performance of soft, spare rhythms and intimate vocal harmonies that build into deep oceans of sound. This October Mayshe-Mayshe returns for a handful of live shows to showcase a new collection of songs, inspired by the idiosyncratic world of Tove Jansson’s Moomin stories.
'A unique and inventive talent’ - Louder Than War
'Immaculately minimal DIY gems'
Narc Magazine
'A one-woman pop machine'
Under The Radar
'Yorkshire’s dreamy electro-pop alchemist'
Every Day Is A Rhythm
For fans of: Lorde, Grimes, The XX, Björk, Clairo, Imogen Heap, Young Marble Giants, Tune Yards, Let’s Eat Grandma, Yeule, Stealing Sheep
https://mayshe-mayshe.bandcamp.com/album/indigo
Elsa Hewitt is a multi-faceted artist, a self-taught songwriter, producer and composer who began her personal music-making journey c. 2003. Experimental, organic and mystical in approach, with soulful, captivating and surprising results. Combining various worlds and genres, electronic, modern classical, art pop, ambient, lo-fi, even folk, her style is versatile but distinctive and refined, and always evolving.
She builds her sounds from scratch, often using guitar, her first instrument, synthesisers, vocals, spontaneous recordings and found sounds, delicately weaving elements with a singular and poetic sensibility for songwriting. Since winning the Lynsey de Paul prize in 2016 she has released eight albums, working mainly independently but sometimes teaming up with record labels to put out LPs. Her new album Dominant Heartstrings is set to start appearing in autumn 2024…
https://elsahewitt.bandcamp.com/album/chaos-emeralds -
Groovetone + The Unknown Stuntman
We'll be welcoming the five piece powerhouse Groovetone + The Unknown Stuntman onto the bakery stage! They will be shaking the room with jazz, blues, latin, funk and ska tunes. So don your dancing shoes and come hit the floor.
- 26/10/2024
17:00:00
DJ Nights
Free (optional donation to charity)
Dusko!
Join us for Dusko — an early-nighter of house music through the decades in a chilled-out café setting. These nights will bring talented DJs to transport you right back to the old-skool clubbing scene - with classic uplifters, retro anthems and dirty beats. Pop down, grab a beer, catch up with mates and - when the music takes over - get yourselves on the dance floor. All with the promise of a full eight-hours of beauty sleep.* *any after-party activity is entirely at your own risk.
- 27/10/2024
15:00:00
DJ Nights
Free
BYOV Meets Milkcrate Sessions
An easy Sunday session of 100% vinyl - Old Soul, Downbeat Hip-Hop, Folk and Jazz. 3-5pm Bring your own vinyl. 5-9pm Ed Heaton & Mat.
- 01/11/2024
18:00:00
DJ Nights
Resurrection - Indie Revival
Playing the best Indie tunes from the 80's & 90's.
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Wildflowers
Wildflowers marry stunning cello melodies with haunting vocals and beautifully lyrical songs. Join us for a night of intimate originals celebrating the release of their single Oklahoma.
- 08/11/2024
18:00:00
DJ Nights
On My Way
Our Northern Soul residency with Michael Toy & Dan Guest (Brighton Beach). Expect Northern soul classics along with some upbeat Motown to get you moving. Don't forget your talcum powder!
- 29/11/2024
19:00:00
DJ Nights
£6.00
Last Disco on Earth
Ed Heaton and Mat Lazenby present the greatest songs to dance to from all genres and eras. Dancing shoes required.
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Edwina Hayes live @ rise
One of the finest female singer/songwriters this country has produced in years. Edwina brings together English folk, Americana and the rich Northern singer/songwriter tradition to create a sound that’s truly her own.
Highly accomplished she’s toured with such notable performers as Jools Holland, Van Morrison, Nanci Griffith and Loudon Wainwright III to name just a few.
Edwina numbers Michael Parkinson and Mike Harding among her fans and the title track of her album Pour Me A Drink was covered by Nanci Griffith who calls her 'the sweetest voice in England'.
Her cover of the Randy Newman song Feels Like Home was featured in the Cameron Diaz film My Sister's Keeper and has since had over twenty million plays on Spotify and over fifty million plays on You Tube.
Edwina's 4th album Ruby Rose was released in 2022.
'The sweetest voice in England. A wonderful young woman, so gifted and full of song.' Nanci Griffith
'Haunting, honeyed, solo songwriter.' The Guardian More events coming soon!