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
- 19/01/2025
15:00-21:00
Family Friendly Activities
Free
BYO Vinyl
Bag your 30 minutes of fame! Spin your tunes at our BYO Vinyl Sundays.
- 23/01/2025
6-9pm
Exhibition
Free
Art Preview: The Other Collective
The Other Collective features artwork by artists Lu Mason, Ric Liptrot, Rob Burton, Liz Foster and Jill Tattersall. Join us from 6-9pm for the exhibition preview and be among the first to see the new works and meet the artists.
- 24/01/2025
6-11pm
DJ Nights
Free
Reminisce
Come & join us for a night of 90s R&B
- 26/01/2025
15:00-21:00
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! A celebration of poetry
RISE UP! Join us as we welcome Caroline Bird, Oliver Carmichael & Minal Sukumar. Caroline Bird is a poet and playwright. Her selected poems, Rookie (2022) and The Air Year (2020) are two of Carcanet’s most popular books of the present decade. She won the Forward Prize for Best Collection in 2020, and has been shortlisted for a number of prizes including the TS Eliot Prize, the Costa Book Awards, the Ted Hughes Award, the Polari Prize and the Dylan Thomas Prize. A two-time winner of the Foyle Young Poets Award, her first collection Looking Through Letterboxes was published in 2002 when she was fifteen. She won a Cholmondeley Award in 2023. Her seventh collection, Ambush at Still Lake, was published in June. Oliver Carmichael is from County Durham. He studied English Literature & Creative Writing at Lancaster University. In 2024 he was shortlisted for the Aurora Prize and won the Winchester Poetry Prize. He is the recipient of the Michael Donaghy Award which supports a poet to attend the first Arvon Advanced Writing Programme. Minal Sukumar is a fiction writer and poet from Bangalore, India. Her work has been featured in The Bombay Review, Gulmohur Quarterly and the Hyderabad Literary Festival's publication, Khabar. She co-founded the spoken word collective, Mouth of Word and has performed original poetry in India, Ireland and the UK. Currently, Minal is a PhD researcher and Wolfson Scholar at the Centre for Women's Studies, University of York.
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PLUS a workshop with Caroline Bird!
Join us for an afternoon poetry workshop with Caroline Bird! 3.30pm-5.30pm on Wednesday 25th January at Friargate Theatre, York Your mind wants to move, and the best thing a work of art can do is take your mind with it, moving somewhere you never expected to move’ - Anne Carson If a poem is the movement of a mind across a page, can we train our minds to move in specific directions and speeds? Can we write galloping-thought poems, circling-thought poems; poems that sprint between disconnected images, or stop for a long lunch half way through? Poems that multi-task or deflect with a joke? In this brand new workshop, we will (enjoyably) force our minds to move in surprising ways. Expect to write an almost criminal amount of poems. Tickets on sale now - £30 (which includes entry to the evening readings)
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Infernal Delights - a winter evening's storytelling
Let us tempt you to a winter evening's storytelling and music from the award-winning Tim Ralphs and York alt-folk storytellers Adderstone. It's a double bill of dark delights:
SONGS TO MEET THE DARKNESS - Adderstone (Cath Heinemeyer and Gemma McDermott) lead you down the steps to the underworld with story-songs from wild places. "Harmonies like butter"
BEELZEBUB REBRANDED - Stand-up storytelling by Tim Ralphs. In this wild reimagining of folktale, fairytale and urban legend, Tim exhumes the bones of ancient Devil stories and stitches them into new skins for fresh consumption. "A five star story" - The Times **** Fringe Guru - 01/02/2025
18:00 - 23:00
DJ Nights
Free
Dusko
Join us for Dusko — a night 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.
- 02/02/2025
15:00-21:00
Family Friendly Activities
Free
BYO Vinyl
Bag your 30 minutes of fame! Spin your tunes at our BYO Vinyl Sundays.
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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 - 08/02/2025
18:00:00
DJ Nights
Free
Resurrection - Indie Revival
Playing the best Indie tunes from the 80's & 90's.
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Cole Stacey ‘Postcards From Lost Places’ Album Launch Show
‘POSTCARDS FROM LOST PLACES’
ALBUM LAUNCH SHOW
“Soft, pop-aware voice describing a life alive with motion” – The Independent
Cole Stacey is a visceral and lyrical songwriter, singer and musician who has roamed the highest diverse echelons of British folk, 80s pop, spoken word and ambient electronics. From The Royal Albert Hall to The Westfalenhalle Arena, from 700-year-old castles in Gdansk to Glastonbury Festival.
With explorations into traditional songwriting and verse in his blood, Cole will be releasing his extraordinarily honest debut album ‘Postcards From Lost Places’ in early 2025 to audiences far beyond his Dartmoorian horizons. Offering regeneration as its theme while being rooted in tradition, at its heart is a symbiosis of ‘lost’ places and forgotten words, stretching as far back as the 13th century, paired with Cole’s distinctive lyrical songwriting and soft pop vocals mixed with singular field recordings. Collaborations include traditional Lithuanian Kanklės virtuoso Emilija Karaliute, BBC Radio 2 Folk Award Nominee Jack Cookson and electronic producer and composer Guy Andrews. Each track, or postcard, is imaginatively and lovingly recorded on location in spaces that to the outside world are easily overlooked, yet continue to endure.
As one half of alt-folk duo India Electric Company alongside Joseph O’Keefe, Cole has recently been found on prime-time live sessions for BBC Radio 2 and BBC 6 Music with KLOF declaring them “one of the truly pioneering acts in folk music” and BBC Radio 1 describing them as “A full musical odyssey”.
Since 2015 Cole has been accompanying legendary pop icon Midge Ure on everything from mandolin to bass Guitar, analogue synthesizers to vocals, across sold-out tours of Australia, New Zealand, UK, Scandinavia and Germany. Shows with the Human League at Hammersmith Apollo and headline concerts at the likes of The Royal Albert Hall have been plentiful in recent years.
Cole will be performing this debut album live in full for the first time at these handpicked unique live shows in the UK in Spring 2025, each venue selected for its resonance with lost and regenerated places and personal connection to him.
“Cole’s soaring vocals were a highlight of an electrifying performance, nothing short of mesmerizing” – Scottish Music Network
Website www.colestacey.net - 14/02/2025
18:00:00
DJ Nights
Free
Into The Groove Valentines Special
Love is in the air! Our usual eighties vinyl extravaganza with a Valentines twist!
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DBC3 Live
Welcoming Dbc3!!!
A true gem in the city's live scene...
Original Electro Dub Rockers bringing synthy, bone shaking bass infused vibes everytime.
Dbc3 have played live sets through many U.K sound systems, Reggae nights & Festivals including Equinox, Eden, Northern Green Gathering + many more…
Dbc3 have collaborated & had support with their releases from Simma @ Dub Junction Records, Dub Defenders, DJI (Digi), Pinus Mungo, King Shiloh,' Jah love Sound System, Roots Yard Radio, Reel Roots Radio, Roots Train Radio, Reggae Be, Soundmag.club, Culture Dub, to name but a few.......
The Collective are Geeky (Bass, sitar, production), CJ Chi, (Percussion, dubbing, production) & Dandy Dizzle (Lyrical hitman) + they are inviting special guest Nikki H for this date adding extra vocal magic. - 16/02/2025
15:00-21:00
Family Friendly Activities
Free
BYO Vinyl
Bag your 30 minutes of fame! Spin your tunes at our BYO Vinyl Sundays.
- 23/02/2025
15:00-21:00
Family Friendly Activities
Free
BYO Vinyl
Bag your 30 minutes of fame! Spin your tunes at our BYO Vinyl Sundays.
- 01/03/2025
18:00-23:00
DJ Nights
Free
Elvis!
A DJ session celebrating 90 years of the king of Rock n Roll
- 02/03/2025
15:00-21:00
Family Friendly Activities
Free
BYO Vinyl
Bag your 30 minutes of fame! Spin your tunes at our BYO Vinyl Sundays.
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Gary Stewart
Gary Stewart is a singer/songwriter from Perthshire who cut his teeth performing on the Leeds Music Scene for 15 years before moving to York where he currently resides. Stewart writes songs in the Folk/Pop vein and is influenced by the Folk Artists of the '60's and '70's (Paul Simon/James Taylor/The Eagles/Joni Mitchell/Carole King).
The Scottish Songsmith has released 4 albums to date, his latest, 'Lost, Now Found',self-recorded, produced and released in June 2021. The debut single, 'Leopard' received steady A-List radio play on YO1 Radio, BBC Radio Scotland and Amazing Radio and the second single, 'Hot To Trot', features backing vocals from Rosie Doonan (Birdy/Peter Gabriel). His debut record, 'Boy Cries Wolf', garnered much praise from Janice Long and was played on Radio 2 courtesy of Steve Lamacq. The left-hander is also no stranger to the festival circuit, having played Kendal Calling, Green Man, Shrewsbury, Towersey, Wickham and Beardy Folk Festival to name but a few.
When not performing his own music, the multi-instrumentalist busies himself playing drums for Hope & Social and bass for Leeds-based Fleetwood Mac Tribute, Weetwood Mac(ex-Ellen & The Escapades). He also fronts his own reworking of Paul Simon's Classic Album, 'Graceland', with a seven-piece band who have played many a Theatre and Festival, including Shrewsbury, Towersey, Costa Del Folk, Moonbeams and Underneath the Stars.
'That's Pop with Pizzaz' - For Folks Sake
'Reminiscent of a 1960's bedsit-era Paul Simon' - Northern Sky
'Definitely onto a winner' - This Is Fake D.I.Y - 09/03/2025
15:00-21:00
Family Friendly Activities
Free
BYO Vinyl
Bag your 30 minutes of fame! Spin your tunes at our BYO Vinyl Sundays.
- 14/03/2025
18:00:00
DJ Nights
Free
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!
- 16/03/2025
15:00-21:00
Family Friendly Activities
Free
BYO Vinyl
Bag your 30 minutes of fame! Spin your tunes at our BYO Vinyl Sundays.
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Jazz @ Rise: Jamie Taylor and Jamil Sheriff
The musical association and friendship between Jamil and Jamil goes back over twenty years, and they have performed together in settings ranging from intimate small groups, through to large ensembles such as Jamil’s own big band. Performing here as a duo, they hope to channel some of this shared history and musical empathy, taking inspiration in the process from great jazz piano/guitar collaborations such as those of Bill Evans with Jim Hall and Fred Hersch with Bill Frisell.
One of the UK’s most respected jazz guitarists, Jamie Taylor's swinging, lyrical playing has seen him perform at legendary London venues such as Ronnie Scott’s, The Vortex, and The Troubadour, along with many other jazz clubs across the country and beyond. He has worked with a long list of top-flight jazz musicians from Europe and the US, amongst them Wayne Escoffery, Sebastiaan DeKrom, John Goldsby, John Stowell, and Baptiste Herbin. Jamie is also very active as a teacher, and is a Principal Lecturer in Jazz Guitar at Leeds Conservatoire.
“Appreciate him, guys. He's world class.” Two-time DownBeat award winning US guitarist John Stowell
Jamil Sheriff is a celebrated jazz pianist, composer, and educator based in Leeds. Over the past two decades, he has established himself as a significant figure in the British jazz scene, known for his innovative compositions and skilful, expressive playing. Jamil’s career is marked by a diverse range of projects, from leading his own ensembles, such as the Jamil Sheriff Octet and Big Band, to collaborating with prominent British jazz musicians. His discography showcases his versatility, with acclaimed albums like Daydreams and Places Like This receiving praise for their melodic sophistication and compositional depth.
“Excellent northern pianist who brings together a range of classic , contemporary and urban approaches.” The Times - 23/03/2025
15:00-21:00
Family Friendly Activities
Free
BYO Vinyl
Bag your 30 minutes of fame! Spin your tunes at our BYO Vinyl Sundays.
- 30/03/2025
15:00-21:00
Family Friendly Activities
Free
BYO Vinyl
Bag your 30 minutes of fame! Spin your tunes at our BYO Vinyl Sundays.
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York International Shakespeare Festival: Macbeth (solo)
Presented by award winning theatre company The Shakespeare Edit
This thrilling monodrama has played to sold out venues in Italy, Latvia, London, and at United Solo Theatre Festival in NYC where the production won the award for Best International Show.
Performed by Artistic Director Paul Goodwin, and created in collaboration with Ukrainian composer Dmitriy Saratsky, this 50 minute dramatic monologue is storytelling at its best; with psychological depth, superb verse speaking, dynamic physicality and a brilliant soundscape bringing Shakespeare's tale of ambition, murder, and madness fully alive for contemporary audiences.
"Paul Goodwin's astonishing performance condenses and crystallises the tragedy of Macbeth into a non-stop stream of consciousness roller coaster...utterly compelling." - LondonTheatre1 More events coming soon!