Hippotraktor and Cobra The Impaler

Future Yard are delighted to welcome two Belgian prog-metal titans to Birkenhead as they unite for the Serpent And Colossus tour.

April 2025 will mark an electrifying chapter for progressive metal fans as two of Belgium’s most prominent heavy music acts, Hippotraktor and Cobra The Impaler, join forces for the highly anticipated Serpent And Colossus UK Tour. This dynamic co-headlining tour promises a sonic experience of crushing riffs, intricate melodies, and visceral energy that will captivate audiences across the United Kingdom.

Hippotraktor have established themselves as a force to be reckoned with, blending technical prowess with an emotive depth that resonates deeply with fans of modern progressive music. Their live performances are a tour de force, delivering complex compositions with precision and raw power. In addition, they have performed at the prestigious Arctangent Festival for two consecutive years, further solidifying their reputation as a premier act in the progressive metal scene.

Cobra The Impaler, known for their high-energy shows and unique blend of thrash-inspired riffs and epic vocal arrangements, continue to ascend in the global metal scene. Following the success of their 2024 tour supporting Katatonia, and ballbreaking performances at Arctangent and Bloodstock, Cobra The Impaler are set to solidify their status as one of Europe’s rising stars in heavy music.

The Serpent And Colossus tour represents a significant milestone for both bands, showcasing the depth and innovation within Belgium’s vibrant progressive metal scene. Fans can expect a seamless blend of styles, where the distinctive sounds of each band complement and amplify the other’s intensity.

Girls of the Internet

Girls of the Internet’s manifesto is clear; to create dance music that calls back to how it was made at its inception, but with the knowledge and experience of the past 50 years of the genre. Joining the dots that have not been joined for a long time, the collective takes on people of all sexualities, gender expressions and body types. “We are very proud to bring this music back to its inclusive roots. Let’s forget the disjointed and cliquey scene we live in, and bring back what once united us.”

Finding their musical home in revered label Classic Music Company, set up by Luke Solomon and Derrick Carter, releasing alongside the likes of Honey Dijon, Floorplan, Seven Davis Jr., Isolée, and the mythical Spencer Kincy aka. Gemini; Girls of the Internet released their latest album ‘When I Lost, I Found Myself‘ in July 2024. With Tom bringing together acclaimed British vocalists and songwriters, previous singles from the project ‘Affirmations’ written by Sophie Faith, and ‘Never Ever Ever’ featuring shiv and Oscar Jerome, demonstrate the innate musicality of the project, with the intention, “to create beautiful songs within a ‘dance’ or ‘house’ framework.”

Crafting songs with real musicians, the group’s name was inspired by Ladies of the 80’s by Eighties Ladies, the album from a girl group produced by Roy Ayers, “I just loved the whole concept, and I wanted to do the same thing with Girls of the Internet,” explains the group’s founding member Tom Kerridge. “I wanted a name that played with gender, and people’s subconscious misogyny. Girls of the Internet is abstract – it means nothing, and it means everything.”

James Alexander Bright supports.

The D.A.M. Trilogy

The D.A.M. Trio—Dennis Davis, Carlos Alomar, and George Murray—played a crucial role in shaping David Bowie’s most experimental works. Alomar, a teenage guitar prodigy, began performing at Harlem’s Apollo Theater, collaborating with legends like Chuck Berry and James Brown. His life changed in 1974 when he met Bowie, leading to co-writing the hit “Fame” alongside John Lennon and establishing a creative partnership that spanned from ‘Young Americans’ to the ‘Berlin Trilogy’ and even 2003’s ‘Reality’.

Francisco, El Hombre

Future Yard are thrilled to team up with Luma Creations to bring Francisco, El Hombre to Birkenhead on Friday 25th April.

Known for their genre-blending style that mixes Brazilian traditions, Afro-Latin rhythms, psychedelic punk-rock, and electro-punk, Francisco, el Hombre’s performances are an explosive spectacle.

Taking their name from a character in Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude, Francisco, el Hombre is celebrated for their dynamic fusion of Mexican and Brazilian influences. The band, featuring Mexicans Mateo and Sebastián Piracés-Ugarte and Brazilians Juliana Strassacapa, Andrei Kozyreff, and Helena Papini, delivers socially charged music, addressing issues like gender violence in their Grammy-nominated anthem, “Triste, louca ou má.”

They join us in April as part of their Hasta el Final tour, celebrating their tenth anniversary on the road with us before an anticipated hiatus.

Asian Poets Corner

Join the group for an evening celebrating the beauty of Asian poetry! A performance evening with poets Jennifer Lee Tsai and Kit Fan. They will read selected work followed by a discussion of their work. The chair, Dr Sarah MacIennan of Liverpool John Moores’ Creative Writing programme, will then discuss with Jennifer and Kit Fan about their work, career and pathways to writing.

Kit Fan, born in Hong Kong in 1979 and now based in the UK, is an acclaimed poet, novelist, and critic. His debut poetry collection, Paper Scissors Stone (2011), won the Hong Kong University International Poetry Prize, while his subsequent collections, including The Ink Cloud Reader (2023), have earned significant accolades such as nominations for the Forward and T.S. Eliot Prizes. His novel Diamond Hill (2021) explores 1980s Hong Kong and has been widely praised. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, Fan’s work examines themes of identity, history, and transformation.

Jennifer Lee Tsai is a British-Chinese poet, editor, and critic whose work explores memory, migration, and identity. A fellow of The Complete Works and Ledbury Poetry Critics programs, her poetry has appeared in leading journals and anthologies like Poetry London and Ten: Poets of the New Generation (2017). Her pamphlets include Kismet (2019) and La Mystérique (2022).

DDFI40: Storytime with Natalie Denny

Join deaf author Natalie Denny for a special DaDaFest International 40 Storytime where Natalie will share her much loved ‘Keisha Jones’ series, telling the story of a young girl finding her activist voice.

This family event will inspire listeners young and young at heart to spot and speak out against injustice, finding that ‘quiet riot’ our festival theme alludes to.

About DDFI40

DaDaFest International returns 8th-31st March 2025 to celebrate DaDa’s 40th Anniversary and this time they are coming with ‘RAGE: A Quiet Riot’.

Event

DDFI40 will showcase work by disabled artists that captures all shapes and sides of rage. From the internal quiet frustrations and righteous rage, to overt injustice and activism, DDFI40 will explore disability rights, disability arts, access, ableism and ‘Rage’ in an explosion of creativity.

DDFI40: Eat Me

DaDa is excited to collaborate with Liverpool’s original Drag Dinner Cabaret and Club Night Collective ‘Eat Me and Preach’, who will be inviting disabled, Deaf and Neurodivergent artists to be part of a raucous evening of ‘Not Safe For Work’ performance and protest that gives ‘more than a nod’ to the long-standing intersections of queer and crip identities, offers a safe space for shared grief, rage and healing and offers joy and community in dark times.

Access: there will be BSL interpretation and Audio Description.

Age Guidance: 18+ Adult themes, strong language throughout and nudity highly likely

About DDFI40:

DaDaFest International returns 8th-31st March 2025 to celebrate DaDa’s 40th Anniversary and this time they are coming with ‘RAGE: A Quiet Riot’.

Event

DDFI40 will showcase work by disabled artists that captures all shapes and sides of rage. From the internal quiet frustrations and righteous rage, to overt injustice and activism, DDFI40 will explore disability rights, disability arts, access, ableism and ‘Rage’ in an explosion of creativity.

DDFI40: Would You Like A Seat?

Want to Join the Elite? The National Bureau For Sitting is Assessing You!

Head to the Bluecoat and be assessed by Sitting Experts the National Bureau For Sitting (NBFS)

Have you ever wondered if you have what it takes to join the NBFS? Now’s your chance to find out!

The National Bureau For Sitting (NBFS) is coming to the Bluecoat to assess your sitting prowess. Join the ranks of esteemed members like Prince Andrew, Jacob Rees Mogg, and Maggie Thatcher.

Experience:

Expert Assessment: Be evaluated by professional seat-sitting assessors.

Luxurious Comfort: Indulge in the unparalleled comfort of a Chesterfield chair.

Exclusive Club: Potentially gain entry into the elite club of exceptional sitters.

Let’s Regulate Sitting, One Cheek at a Time!

About DDFI40:

DaDaFest International returns 8th-31st March 2025 to celebrate DaDa’s 40th Anniversary and this time they are coming with ‘RAGE: A Quiet Riot’.

Event

DDFI40 will showcase work by disabled artists that captures all shapes and sides of rage. From the internal quiet frustrations and righteous rage, to overt injustice and activism, DDFI40 will explore disability rights, disability arts, access, ableism and ‘Rage’ in an explosion of creativity.

DDFI40: Rage Reactor

‘Rage Reactor’ sees artist Zack Mennell working with their archive of NHS and DWP letters in (para)site, working more with the estranged archive of collective family photos.

The performance will entangle poetic explorations of personal childhood trauma with the trauma that the civil nuclear industry enacts on the land – considering lineage and generational cycles of trauma. Asking broad questions such as: What does this leave us with? Where does this leave us? Where can we go from here? The installation will be altered after each activation. Audiences are invited to move around the installation, stay a while, leave and return freely during the installation and activations.

About DDFI40:

DaDaFest International returns 8th-31st March 2025 to celebrate DaDa’s 40th Anniversary and this time they are coming with ‘RAGE: A Quiet Riot’.

Event

DDFI40 will showcase work by disabled artists that captures all shapes and sides of rage. From the internal quiet frustrations and righteous rage, to overt injustice and activism, DDFI40 will explore disability rights, disability arts, access, ableism and ‘Rage’ in an explosion of creativity.

DDFI40: Pop up Poetry with Amina Atiq

Join local poet Amina Atiq for performances of her work, developed especially for DaDaFest International 40 reflecting on the theme of ‘Rage’, along with some of her existing poems.

About DDFI40:

DaDaFest International returns 8th-31st March 2025 to celebrate DaDa’s 40th Anniversary and this time we are coming with ‘RAGE: A Quiet Riot’.

Event

DDFI40 will showcase work by disabled artists that captures all shapes and sides of rage. From the internal quiet frustrations and righteous rage, to overt injustice and activism, DDFI40 will explore disability rights, disability arts, access, ableism and ‘Rage’ in an explosion of creativity.