This Is Not a Rehearsal : Performances with a pulse and a point.
La Violette Società 55 artwork by Pascal Blua
A low-lit evening for the listeners. Stray songs, sideways stories, strange charm, off-centre, well-considered and exactly as it should be. La Violette Società rolls back into town…
Olivier Rocabois
Olivier Rocabois is a Paris-based songmaker from Brittany. Oscillating between post-Sgt Pepper mazy song structures and Hunky/Ziggy flamboyance, the French tunesmith sings hymns celebrating domestic bliss and existential angst. Emboldened by the critical acclaim of his latest LP "The Afternoon of our Lives", he's touring France and UK this spring.
Saint Vespaluus
Reading Stephen Porter's Saint Vespaluus column (in the much-missed fanzine When Skies Are Grey) became a regular feature of the Everton match-day experience from 2001 onwards. Saint V wrote about being an Evertonian, but actual football talk was forbidden - why write about ‘Moysey’ andReading Stephen Porter's Saint Vespaluus column (in the much-missed fanzine When Skies Are Grey) became a regular feature of the Everton match-day experience from 2001 onwards. Saint V wrote about being an Evertonian, but actual football talk was forbidden. Why write about 'Moysey' and his tactics when you could share stories about hitching home from Wolves away? Or perhaps recount copping off with a woman who looked like Ian Gillan?
Stephen returned to performance poetry at Violette's Word event at the Everyman back in 2020 after a long hiatus. Since then, he has made up for lost time by setting up The New Mersey Poets, an arts group that has held over sixty events during the past four years. The group will be working with fellow artistic travellers Unusual Art Sourcing to run three outdoor Spoken Word festivals across Liverpool this summer.
In May 2025, Stephen will support New York singer/songwriter Rachael Sage at her Liverpool show. He will also perform his one-person show The Girl Who Could Fly at various Fringe festivals throughout July and August.
Despite these accomplishments, Stephen considers his greatest achievement to be having the finest hair of any man in the UK who qualifies for a bus pass.
Matthew Edwards
Birmingham-based poet and musician whose performances blend words with crafted musical arrangements. Edwards creates immersive experiences where poetry and instrumentation intertwine. His work explores the textures and rhythms of life, drawing from both literary traditions and musical influences. Edwards' performances transform conventional venues into intimate spaces of contemplation, inviting audiences to experience language as both sound and meaning.
Brown Fang
Brown Fang is a Nottingham-based instrumental duo forging a singular path where American minimalism meets dub basslines, Tangerine Dream-inspired synths, and expansive guitar work. Composers John Thompson (JIM, Bent, Crazy P) and Henry Claude Scott craft intricate soundscapes that demand focused attention rather than serving as mere ambient backdrops, with their latest double album "Netherfield Lagoons" exploring forgotten waterlogged corners of the Nottinghamshire landscape. Live, the pair generates surprisingly rich, multi-layered performances that shift from clockwork precision to soaring, transformative passages - creating what might be the closest contemporary approximation to the legendary Kosmische Musik of Conny's Studio.
Event Details:
Date: Thursday 27th May 2025
Venue: Ten Streets Social, 37 Regent Road, Liverpool L3 7BN
Doors: 7:00pm (first act on stage at 7.30pm)
Tickets: £15
Limited capacity. Advance booking essential.