Thursday, December 15th, 2011
“He’s Been!”
We asked guests at our Winter Warmer what family traditions they would be keeping alive this Christmas.
We had optimistically hoped that creating and sharing this collection might provide inspiration for some new family traditions, or at least give a much needed shot of yuletide adrenalin to any flat lining Christmas spirits.
But what we didn’t expect was that it would make such compelling reading. A number of unexpected and quite moving themes run throughout.
Who would have thought that family stuffing recipes were so important, or that one of you gets an enormous pack of Jaffa Cakes from Sandra Bullock every year!
If you are feeling in the least bit jaded this festive season, we urge you to take the time to read through this collection of very personal and cherished Christmas traditions, guaranteed to make you finally feel Christmasy, and possibly in a new and lovely way.
Warning: These images contain the long lost human tradition of hand writing.
Enjoy.
“He’s been!”
Merry Christmas!
H&S xxx
To see all the traditions either view the gallery below or directly in the flickr set…
Friday, November 25th, 2011
Hope and Social Winter Warmer
Hello!
[doffs christmas cap]
On Friday the 2nd December we’re going to be having our nearest excuse this year to a christmas party. The Hope and Social Winter Warmer
The Winter Warmer is going to be about the music.
We’ve done some many wonderful big things this year. So many big, ridiculous, outward facing, entertaining things, that doing something small and intimate in a tiny venue really appealed. In fact it felt almost necessary. In the last half of these year some of the gigs have been such an explosion of fun it’s almost been overpowering. So it felt right to do something different…
We’ve been rehearsing with glockenspiels and melodicas and strings and ukuleles. We’ve been doing more choral singing. We’ve been thinking about the Flying Pickets. We’ve all been picking up instruments we don’t play and just trying to make something beautiful. We’ve been stealing musical toys from small children so we can just for one night remake the songs we’ve played so many times into something delicate and new.
Playing in Hope and Social is an absolute joy at the moment; there is a real energy in the band. Much of the idea behind this special gig came from a desire to allow the music to breath a little, and to create some space for us to just enjoy playing music together. Plain and simple. Selfish or what! We also wanted you to be able to enjoy in close quarters the musicianship of some of the more *cough* talented members of the band.
The venue is a key part of this night… The Georgian Theatre is so so small, so so old and so so gorgeous. (see the view from the stage below) There will be hopefully around 200 people in the audience, but because of the design of this beautiful listed theatre the furtherest anyone will be from us will be about 7 metres. It should be Christmasy, pin drop, laugh inducingly intimate. It’s going to feel like everyone in the room will be sharing the same big Christmas jumper.
As always we’ve got some lovely little surprises up our slightly smelly blue sleeves. And as always it will probably turn into a party, but it’s just a little chance to say thankyou for a wonderful year… So many good gigs, so many laughs, so many new friends. It just feels right to say thankyou quietly this time.
We are so looking forward to this.
So you can enjoy a festive sherry we will be running a coach from Leeds City Centreto Richmond and back and you can find out more and book a place here.
You can buy tickets from the venue by phoning the box office here:
01748 825252
Monday – Thursday: 10am – 5pm
Friday & Saturday: 10am – 7.30pm
Sunday: 12 noon – 7.30pm
It may be useful to have the seating plan up on screen as you phone as due to the unique nature of this tiny jewel like venue there a number of different seating options.
You can also buy tickets online.
(There is a more limited choice of available seats when buying online, still good seats though!)
Friday, November 11th, 2011
The Hope and Social Winter Warmer!
This Hope and Social Christmas gig will take place on the 2nd of December at the amazing Georgian Theatre in Richmond.
Tickets are on sale for this event NOW but due to problems beyond our control not online yet… (this is because everything at this venue is made of wood!) If you wish to purchase a ticket please contact the Box Office directly on:
01748 825252
Monday – Thursday: 10am – 5pm
Friday & Saturday: 10am – 7.30pm
Sunday: 12 noon – 7.30pm
It may be useful to have the seating plan up on screen as you phone as due to the unique nature of this tiny jewel like venue there a number of different seating options.
Please note that there is some more very vague information below but it should be noted that although this is our Christmas event and it is going to be gorgeous and as packed with Christmas fun as we can make it it is not going to be a Christmas event with the scale of the Snowball. The intimacy and acoustics of this venue are quite astonishing and our set will reflect that with all kinds of lovely surprises and amazing ear candy.
(Saying that.. it’s still early days for us in terms of planning and anything could and probably will occur. Does anyone have 6 Yorkshire Pudding costumes? And a canon?)
Although Richmond is closer than you think (just over an hour by car from Leeds town centre) we may be running a coach from Leeds town centre. Please let us know if this would be useful for you!
Hope to see you there…
Ho-ho-ho-ho-H&S xxx
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Hello you wonderful people! How are you doing? Embracing the decay of Autumn? Tucking yourselves in to another long and damp winter with the whiff of Scotch and the safe cuddle of prime-time TV? As the clocks roll back (and your iPhone resets itself in the middle of the night and you wake up an hour late for a plane) and you come to terms with three months of darkness it can sometimes seem a little bleak. A little Taggart. But fear not, Hope and Social are a public service and serve you we will…crack open the mulled wine, defrost the mince pies and don your best winter cardigan as we announce The Hope and Social Winter Warmer!
Friday 2nd December will see us hit the stage at the beautiful Georgian Theatre in Richmond, North Yorkshire (well actually the front of the stage as we’re not allowed to move the Panto set…hang on I’ve had an idea…). We’ve yet to finalise our plans for this extravaganza but we will attempt to take this one seriously. James will not be entering the venue on a Chopper dressed as Elvis and we will not be evicting ticket holders from the premises on a whim. Maybe. Anyway, there will be gentle music, early-Christmas merriment and seasonal joy as we kick off your yuletide celebrations in style. The Georgian Theatre is an incredible venue – “the most complete Georgian Theatre in the UK” – and we’re so excited about playing there. Wonderful acoustics, an intimate space and a Widow Twanky costume within spitting distance, Perfect.
We’ll have more details soon but get your tickets booked and get your Bad Santa costume out.
x
Thursday, October 13th, 2011
Viva Sh*t Vegas, Yorkshire
Hello all…a quick word from my trundling Eastcoast mainline train to shed a little light on the upcoming nonsense we’ve got planned for the Brudenell Social Club gig on the 23rd October…a week on Sunday, my goodness doesn’t time fly?
It seems like the prospect of an easy-to-organise-turn-up-and-play-take-the-money-and-run show in lovely Leeds was just too much to bear and the powers that be in camp H&S have been burning the midnight oil, dusting off VHS copies of the ’68 comeback special, sending the sequined jumpsuit out to Johnson’s for a quick airing and perfecting the recipe for the King’s own peanut butter and banana fritter…it’s showtime down at Leeds’ own International Hotel as we turn The Faded Glory of the Brudnell Social Club and The Cabernet Cabaret of Hope and Social into Sh*t Vegas, Yorkshire. Yep, we’re summoning the spirit of the King for one more waltz around the merry-go-round…
So what to expect? Well our resident Handy Andy Ben Denison has been hard at work delving deep into the man draw and nailing the best part of £100′s worth of MDf together to make the The Hand of Hope and Social Spinny Near Death Roolette Wheel of Infinite Misfortune and Disappointment!…or WOF for short. We won’t spoil the magic but just know that there will be goody bags, public humiliation and ill-advised cover versions.
WOF in progress from Ben Denison on Vimeo.
Any requests for Elvis inspired items should be sent through to contact@hopeandsocial.com. Any requests for us to stop this stupidity and just play the songs should be sent to isecretlyadorecoldplay@hopeandsocial.com
Don’t let the prospect of another crushing Monday morning put you off…rage rage against the dying of the light…or as the King might say…a little less conversation, a little more action baby…tickets £7 from http://www.leedsgigtickets.co.uk/tickets/6090/
PS – Dressing is up is not only encouraged but will be rewarded with showerings of affection beyond your wildest dreams/nightmares.
PPS – We promise to take at least 10% of the evening seriously for anyone fearing that we might not be a credible band anymore. (Anymore?)
Monday, October 10th, 2011
Hope and Social Autumn Tour!
It’s that time again…. We’re hitting the road! Come see! Come play out… We’ve got some little crackers in here… We’ve had some amazing gigs this year already and it’s only getting better. And more tired. Much more tired. But we’ll forget the tiredness for somewhere between 45 minutes and 2 hours on each of these nights in October.
Bring it. Bring ROCKTOBER.
12/10/2011 Mello Mello (Free in) Liverpool http://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/mello-mello-liverpool
14/10/2011 Hartlepool Town Hall Theatre, Hartlepool - http://www.hartlepool.gov.uk/events/event/1462/
15/10/2011 Skipton Youth and Community Centre Skipton - headlining the Skip Songs youth festival – Contact Claire for more info claire.thompson@northyorks.gov.uk 0845 034 9538
We’re also being awesomely supported by Rosie. Amazing.
16/10/2011 Fibbers York http://www.seetickets.com/Event/HOPE-SOCIAL/Fibbers/583516
… With Rosie again!
20/10/2011 Hare and Hounds Birmingham http://hareandhoundskingsheath.co.uk/2011/08/01/hope-and-social/
22/10/2011 Bull and Gate London http://www.clubfandango.co.uk/bg_gig.php?id=2046
23/10/2011 Brudenell Social Club Leeds http://www.leedsgigtickets.co.uk/tickets/6090/
12/10/2011 Mello Mello, Liverpool
Mello Mello is a lovely tiny vegetarian cafe bar in Liverpool. Free in, we’ve had a number of awesomely chaotic gigs here in the past. Really really worth coming to if you live round that way…
14/10/2011 Hartlepool Town Hall Theatre
We’re so looking forward to this… The Town Hall Theatre in Hartlepool is an amazing venue – a classic Victorian Theatre which is rumoured TO BE HAUNTED. Haunted by ROCK maybe…. This gig also features the amazing Gina Dootson. Tickets are available here from the venue (warning – tickets not available online, YOU HAVE TO SPEAK TO A PERSON OR TURN UP ON THE DOOR). We love playing Hartlepool. A bunch of lunatics. Some of the very best… This will be grand.
15/10/2011 Skip Songs Festival Skipton
A festival of youth music from North Yorkshire. We’re headlining but there are some other great and much younger bands playing including the awesome Rosie who are just amazing (and whose album “Moustache” was mixed at our lovely crypt). Contact Claire for more info claire.thompson@northyorks.gov.uk 0845 034 9538
16/10/2011 Fibbers York
I reckon we’ve played Fibbers in York more times than Gary Barlow has sneakily had a pie sandwich and a half pint of double cream. Support from some lovely folks People in Airports (feat members of our secret and guilty crushes Shed 7)and the awesome Rosie again…
Hope and Social’s Big Hit in Bishop’s Stortford
Here’s all you need to know: http://abighit-eorg.eventbrite.com/
22/10/2011 Bull and Gate London
The Bull and Gate is a classic London venue. One of the only true independents left and possibly the only London venue that still has music 7 nights a week. Ace line up including our very own Gary Stewart, and the awesome awesome Emily Baker – http://www.clubfandango.co.uk/bg_gig.php?id=2046
23/10/2011 Brudenell Social Club Leeds
This is the last date of the tour. The big daddy. We got big plans. Big secrets. We can’t say too much. We can say this:
Peanut Butter
Bacon
The excitement/the show/the tacky glamour
SHIT VEGAS
All will become clear. Dress for Vegas baby… DRESS FOR VEGAS.
Thursday, September 29th, 2011
Bring The Happy
The Bring the Happy Room is readying
Tonight Hope and Social are at the Northern Ballet, Leeds, with interactive arts trio Invisible Flock. Tonight’s performance of Bring The Happy is the culmination of months of work for the Invisible Flock team. It’s a gorgeous project, and they’re a proper lovely bunch to boot.
In autumn 2010, Bring the Happy took over 3 disused shop spaces in Leeds city cent, visited 10 local schools to collect, and collate the happy memories of the people of Leeds, mapping these memories to a giant interactive map. The map currently includes over 1,300 memories.
The Grand Piano at Northern Ballet
Some of the memories are just beautiful. They range from the poignant and heartwarming, through funny, to tear-jerking. Hope and Social are (appropriately) very happy to be involved. It’s a privilege to be invited into these people’s memories.
We’ve been working up some songs to accompany the memories and be part of the story-telling this evening, so there is brand new Hope and Social material to be heard this evening.
The Ballad of Leeds
Tickets are still available from Northern Ballet. If you can make it, it’s going to be a lovely evening. Highly recommended… and it’s not just coz we’re in it. ;)
Hope to see you tonight.
The "Bring The Happy" Map
Monday, July 25th, 2011
Sleep Sound, where you lay
When Malcolm and I were asked to help out with preparations for the #hsgardenparty, we jumped at the chance. We’re both creatives; making and designing for a living, but the Hope and Social projects we have worked on in the past haven’t just produced some of the work we are most proud of; we’ve had proper good fun doing it at the same time.
The brief was characteristically loose. Make a beautiful hammock where people could lie back, listen to music and stories and relax. Oh, and H&S-themed too please (if possible). Different ideas swirled back and forth in emails and Skype chats, but eventually the penny dropped when Ben recalled the opening line of the album, which was right under our nose the whole time.
“Sleep Sound where you lay…”
Sleep Sound hammock – First stage complete…
Friday, July 22nd, 2011
Garden Party – Hammock Stage Music
Acoustic music and hanging seating, a match made in heaven…
OK, so you’ve heard all about the rather magnificent music line up on the garden party main stage but you know what’s missing? Hammocks, that’s what. Scientific studies have shown that a full day of string bands, swing, dancing, mahoosive choirs and overly-excited Butlins escapees can cause potentially lethal inflammation of the giddiness gland and increased risk of Denison Syndrome.
Sleep Sound baby…
Now, if I could be bothered to locate and ask a Doctor I’m pretty sure that he’d prescribe several doses of Hammock throughout the day to allow your bodies to recover. Somewhere where you can lay back, take a break, have a drink and possibly plot the best way to steal goodies from the bake-off without Heather spotting you and having to use her teacher voice and/or whistle.
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