This gig is a fundraiser for the Star and Shadow's English Language Conversation Group. A weekly not-for-profit, volunteer run workshop, aiming to help asylum seekers and non-english speaking people learn English, socialise and become a part of the local community. The event is organised by the Star and Shadow Cinema, with help from Leave Me Here Presents, Blank Studios and Nitelites.

Tickets: http://www.wegottickets.com/event/192574

Donations to the English Conversation Group: http://www.wegottickets.com/event/192577

You can also donate via Star and Shadow Paypal, but please mark the donation to the language group. Look for the donation sign on the bottom left of the side navigation bar. 

Spokes

Spokes are an alt-indie band based in Manchester, UK, brought together in 2006 in Preston by a combination of boyhood friendships, family ties and a relentless love of recording and touring. Critics have praised them for their grand sound, buoyed by bittersweet joy and devastating lows. While sounding like a band with much more than 5 members they go from euphoric noise to moments of intense stillness. While drawing upon folk, shoegaze, slowcore and post-rock their music is always distilled down into something distinctly their own.

http://www.facebook.com/Spokesband/app_178091127385

Richard Dawson

Dawson’s music is a collision of opposites, his hoarsely cracking voice suddenly rising to a magical soar that’s been compared to Tim Buckley, John Martyn and Richard Youngs, while his battered acoustic guitar veers from stumble to sublime in a way that can recall Sir Richard Bishop or Captain Beefheart. Add this to his snaring way with words and Dawson’s got you pinned – stories like the one relayed in Black Dog In the Sky typify his by turns heartbreaking and hilarious self-deprecation and skill in painting a story with both words and guitar.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/RICHARD-DAWSON/112144648806094

Grandfather Birds

Grandfather Birds are a Newcastle based band. Having been on an extended haitus over the past year, they make their gigging return here. Their music skirts the boarders of a few genres; heavy post-rost influences sit under creative indie sensibilities, with often ethereal, harmonically rich guitars and vocals. These guys will no doubt appeal to fans of bands like Grizzly Bear, Radiohead and Spokes.   

http://www.facebook.com/grandfatherbirds

Blank Maps

"Newcastle-based Blank Maps are a band perfectly suited to soundtracking late nights and watching the sun rise in the warm Mediterranean climate, possibly after a couple of sherbet dips. Their debut EP is a heady blend of beats, guitars and melody, ambience, tunes and glitter."-

http://thesoundofconfusionblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/blank-maps-blank-maps-ep.html