Queer Arrivals is a deeply personal, music-filled journey by Irish singer-songwriter Gráinne Hunt, exploring what it means to come into queerness – and into oneself – later in life.
With original songs and intimate storytelling, Gráinne shares her experience of falling in love with a woman in her 40s and how that has transformed her understanding of identity, artistry and belonging.
Incorporating Gráinne’s partner Jules Stewart on drums and vocals, Queer Arrivals is a tender, honest, and powerful celebration of love, growth, and self-acceptance debuting at the Liverpool Irish Festival.
Joining them is HUSK – a Gaeilge-English electrofolk musician, blending traditional Irish music, folk and electronica, with 80’s synths, weaving between English and Gaeilge alongside púca punk queer magick energy. HUSK offers contemporary electronic music production and works with international talent across the Irish diaspora and beyond.
This is a unique collaboration, presented in partnership with The Unity with support from Culture Ireland. For more info, read a fuller description, here.
Amazing Grace – Music from three continentsThe Mark Julius Memorial Concert
Hope Metropolitan Singers, Richard Lea, Director
Programme to include:
Trad. – Amazing GraceGarcia – Ave Maris Stella, Garcia – Alleluia, Angelus DominiA Coleridge Taylor sequence: Viking Song, O, The Summer Music, The Lord is My Strength and piano solos Trad. South African – Thuma Mina, Siph’ AmandlaTrad. Zulu arr. Moseley – LullabyTrad. South African – We shall not give up the fightParry – My soul, there is a country and other choral and piano works.
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This concert is a memorial to one of the most long-standing members of the Hope Metropolitan Concert Society, Mark Julius. Mark was very eager to promote Black History Month which is why this memorial concert is being presented now. Last year Hope Metropolitan Orchestra performed two symphonies by French composer Joseph Bologne. Now it is the turn of our singers to present a wide-ranging concert with music spanning three continents. The piano pieces are by the well-established Black British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, much admired by Elgar. The concert also includes some evocative and poignant melodies from South Africa together with choral music from the European tradition.
Our co-founder David Ward (as David Greygoose) has written the lyrics for Crystal Jacqueline and Icarus Peel’s album ‘SMOKE ROAD’ which will be performed at Rough Trade on THURSDAY 16 OCTOBER!
Crystal Jacqueline and Icarus Peel of The Honey Pot Collective celebrate the release of double album SMOKE ROAD (Fruit de Mer records) with lyrics by poet David Greygoose.
‘Darkly pastoral, gothic folk-psych and ominous cautionary tales. This is one road worth following to the end.’ – Shindig!
Tickets priced at £13.60
To book, click here – https://link.dice.fm/If1dcb4b55c4
To read the lyrics to the songs, visit https://www.davidwardpoet.co.uk/projects/lyrics—smoke-road
We hope to see many of you at this event! 
This is a 14+ event
Second-hand September alert: Real-life Vinted Without The Fees on Lark Lane
Slowdown Sundays returns to Lark Lane with affordable autumn wardrobes, live music, and more.
Where: Lark Lane Old Police Station
When: 21st September 2025, 11:00–15:00
Affordable pre-loved fashion pop-up Slowdown Sundays is back Sunday 21st September in Lark Lane, for one day only (and entry is free!). With emphasis on autumn and winter wear, you can get a full wardrobe refresh without the Vinted fees!
Organisers Life in Colour UK and Zero Fashion UK created Slowdown Sundays with three clear aims: building a slow fashion community whilst making fashion affordable to all and reducing the environmental impact of fast fashion. Buyers will be helping reduce the staggering 92 million tonnes of textile waste each year and the resulting 10% contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions.
Following the success of the July pop-up, and high demand for a return, Lark Lane Old Police Station visitors can expect:
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Up to 30 personally curated stalls with fashion for all bodies
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Live music from the Penny Lane Jazz
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Mindful textile crafts
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A chance to try circus skills with Sarah Han Creatives
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A chance to win a personalised colour analysis with any purchase
One July visitor wrote in: “It was so relaxed and easy to look around compared to regular shops. I felt brave and tried on pieces I wouldn’t have and left with 4 items I love for less than £30 (shoutout to my new favourite Levi’s for £5)!”
‘We can’t wait to build on the success of the first event and help even more people find joy and creativity in pre-loved treasures’ say organisers Life in Colour and Zero Fashion UK
Entry is free, and no booking is required.
Follow the journey on Instagram: @lifeincolouruk and @zerofashionuk.
Liverpool John Moores University is leading an exciting new partnership with Malaysian-based music promotor Black Label Productions. Dr Nedim Hassan has developed this collaboration through his industry collective Metal in Merseyside. On 3rd and 4th October Black Label Productions will be bringing extreme metal band Black Fire to play in Liverpool as the first stop in their UK tour. The tour is supported by the Malaysian government with the backing of LJMU which also chairs the UK Malaysia University Consortium. An academic symposium will be hosted at LJMU on the Friday, exploring the impact of metal music bringing together metal music industry practitioners and academics. On Saturday 4th an evening showcasing some of the rising stars of heavy rock and metal music will take place at Liverpool city centre venue EBGBS on Seel Street. Free tickets are available at ticket website
Brian Bilston is one of the UK’s most popular poets. Having started out by sharing his poems online, Brian now has over half a million followers on social media and a raft of bestselling books.
The Catenary Wires are a group comprising Amelia Fletcher, Rob Pursey and Ian Button. Their critically acclaimed third album Birling Gap was released in 2021.
A couple of years ago, word reached Rob and Amelia that Brian was a big fan of their music. Given that they, in turn, were fans of Brian’s poetry, introductions were made, friendships were formed, and Sounds Made By Humans took shape.
The album isn’t a set of readings with musical backdrops: it’s a collection of songs, where words and music have become completely intertwined. There are verses, and there are choruses. There is no ‘riffing’, no improvisation. In many ways, Brian’s poems are already like pop songs: brief, direct, and witty; sometimes poignant or political; but always economical and accessible.
Boccherini/Berio Ritirata notturna di MadridBernstein Chichester Psalms*Copland Clarinet ConcertoEinojuhani Rautavaara Cantus ArcticusSibelius Symphony No.5Geoffrey Paterson conductorJulian Bliss clarinetAgustin Pennino countertenor*Royal Liverpool Philharmonic ChoirMatthew Hamilton Director of Choirs and Singing
“What beauty!” exclaimed Jean Sibelius, as he saw a flight of swans in the northern sky. They inspired his magnificent Fifth Symphony, and that radiant piece is tonight seamlessly introduced by Finnish composer Rautavaara’s haunting ‘Concerto for Birds and Orchestra’. But conductor Geoffrey Paterson begins with midnight in Madrid, honouring Berio’s 100th birthday with a work that received its UK premiere here in Liverpool from our Orchestra. It’s a wonderful contrast to Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms and the all-American sunshine of Copland’s Clarinet Concerto, played by Julian Bliss.
Arcangelo Corelli Sonata in F, Op.5 No.4 for violin and cello Stravinsky Suite Italienne, for violin and piano: Introduction, Gavotte and two variations Berio Sequenza XIV, for cello Timothy Jackson Continuo, for violin solo with cello and pianoArcangelo Corelli Sonata in F, Op.5 No.4 for violin and pianoStravinsky Suite Italienne, for cello and piano: Introduction, SerenataBerio Sequenza VIII, for violinTimothy Jackson Continuo, for cello solo with violin and piano
Pixels Ensemble:Sophie Rosa violinAlex Holladay celloIan Buckle piano
Music that changes shape beguilingly: Pixels presents two mirrored versions of pieces by Corelli and Timothy Jackson, revealing them in different lights. Two of Berio’s groundbreaking Sequenzas lie at the heart of an intriguing evening, with nuggets of Stravinsky enriching the Italian theme.
Liadov Baba-YagaVictoria Borisova-Ollas Oh Giselle, remember me… (UK premiere / RLPS co-commission with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra)Shostakovich Symphony No.7, ‘Leningrad’Vasily Petrenko conductorVictor Julien-Laferrière cello
A great city is under siege, and as the bullets fly, the defenders of Leningrad use loudspeakers to blast Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony, defiant and colossal, at the Nazi forces. Everything about the Leningrad Symphony is supersized, and trust us: when Vasily Petrenko conducts it, you’ll feel the air shake. This is music that’s larger than life, and we’ve paired it with an emotional and much-anticipated new concerto by Victoria Borisova-Ollas, co-commissioned by Liverpool Philharmonic and performed for the first time in the UK.
Schubert Piano Trio No.1 in B-flat major, D898Schubert Piano Trio No.2 in E-flat major, D929Imogen Cooper pianoHenning Kraggerud violinAdrian Brendel cello‘Three distinguished players carving out an oasis of warm but focused performances … the ensemble was magical.’ – The StradWhen you bring together the great British pianist Imogen Cooper, inspirational Norwegian violinist Henning Kraggerud and cellist Adrian Brendel, you might call the result a classical supergroup. But with these three, it’s only ever about the joy of making music, and chamber music doesn’t get more lyrical or poetic than Schubert’s two gloriously tuneful piano trios.
