Outsideleft Night Out

A Brief History of the Outsideleft Night Out

It seems very weird to think back to the Outsideleft Night Out in 2019, at the beginning. We were so young then. At the outset Warren aka Woodenhand, Jay Lewis and I wanted to put on events because in Bearwood, located in one of the UK’s poorest boroughs, where we live, there is very little happening. Not nothing. Some unimpeachable jazz at Corks on a weekly basis. For me it was unaffordable though. 

It was never our intention to just have any old bands or singers because someone knew someone, that type of thing. We wanted to stage something slightly more unique and interesting in Bearwood. We wanted to invest in the community we are part of. Where the people who came along were just as important as the performers. More than half a decade later, the momentum may have built, that ol’ feeling is the same. Along the way we’ve had great help and support in making this happen from designers, sound engineers, venue managers and staff, musicians - of course but mainly the massive support from people in Bearwood who want this to happen.

But first a playlist of some of the artists we've seen...

THE OPENER

Warren aka Woodenhand and I drove through the rush hour, to Warwick University to see David Benjamin Blower. We’d been told he was good. No one had said though, he was actually great. We got lost on the way, of course, trying to shortcut a way around the traffic led to dead ends and doublebacks, somewhere near the airport.

David’s show was a wholly new experience for us. Staged in what might be an ecumenical university chapel with as much pizza and coca-cola as a person could need. DBB played to a small circle of divinity students. Perhaps they were. They were certainly hushed and devoted. It was a seamless performance—each song segued into the next, we knew straight away that we wanted David Benjamin Blower to be the star of the very first Outsideleft Night Out. All we needed was a venue.

Back in Bearwood, the Why Not Café was viewed as a great leap forward. Suddenly we had our own café with exposed brickwork, industrial design cues. Bearwood coffee shop interiors leapt forward to the early 2000s.  The manager Nina, was highly engaged and the most creative. Open to ideas and with the incredible work ethic to make things happen. 

::: David Benjamin Blower

Straight after telling me he’d never sang through a microphone before as he generally played in people’s sitting rooms, David Benjamin Blower opened our first show to about, I can’t remember, but enough people for sure. It was viscerally thrilling. He played his epic and beautiful album We Really Existed and We Really Did This from beginning to end. The audience was rapt. Jason was our MC, Warren ‘Jukebox’ Malkin played soul records, people danced. 

“Welcome strangers to your table
As though they were angels…” 
David Benjamin Blower, Soil

I was looking beyond David, out through the windows into Bearwood High Street. In the moment it was easy for me to imagine I was in some less love New York sidestreet, people passing by and with surprised faces, staring in, some even daring to come inside. New friendships were forged. It was an amazing night. At the very end there were hugs of joy, “We’ve done it.” Nina said.

MILLICENT CHAPANDA

Mbira musician, Millicent Chapanda just exudes presence and confidence, she is a great entertainer and that's no mean feat. From the get go, or from the very first lengthy Mhururu, Millicent had the packed audience in the palm of her hand. I haven't heard or seen anything like it since... Never. That’s what I wrote back then about the second Outsideleft Night Out with Millicent Chapanda and the Germa Adan trio. The crowd at Why Not café was so huge at one point I think I was outfront and was in danger of not getting back in. It was splendid. Amazing even. I think it was Christine’s birthday and all of her friends came.

::: Millicent Chapanda

We didn’t know the COVID storm was coming. But it did. You know that. An event that the punk band The Devils prepared an acoustic set for got canned. We quite before we were told to. The Night Out is about friends having a good time, in the time of shit. Not friends risking their lives in a time that was about to get seriously shittier.

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THE OUTSIDELEFT QUIET NIGHT OUT

After The Great Pause, our events team (h!) leapt back quietly into action with the Outsideleft Quite Night Out at the Bearwood Bookshop readings from fiction and poetry. We were lucky to get four leading lights from the Black Country lit scene, poets RM Francis and Jay Lewis, alongside novelist/storytellers, Wayne Dean-Richards and Kerry Hadley Pryce. Woodenhand provided ambient sounds in between the turns. 

::: A Quiet Night Out

We also put on some live music in the Bear bookshop with Soho and Ancient Champion, and a cavalcade of literary stars reading their work on National Book Day.  I'm going to list them because they were all so amazing and your should read their books and other posts. Charlie Hill, Al Hutchins, Meave Haughey, Glyn Phillips, Jay Lewis, Wayne Dean-Richards, Gracey Bee and Duncan Jones

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OUTSIDELEFT’S STUDIO67 at CORKS!

::: 'Jukebox' Malkin is our musical director

Finally in July 2023, with a little inspiration from Tim London, we got live music underway again with Wolverhampton Ukulele player, Meg Omen at Corks club in Bearwood. We loved the Lounge at Cork's and people loved going there. Corks had a perfect retro vibe to complement our cool classic sounds. And from what I can tell retro beer prices too.

We kept Cork’s in the money for about a year with a string of epic great nights out each month. Soho, the hippychick hitmakers came, there were tears of joy in the crowd. Millicent Chapanda came back as did David Benjamin Blower, both amazing. David had a post-lockdown merch first, tea towels! There was reggae with Kioko who I think featured members of one of the UB40’s, I could be right. Might not be. I am not going to list everyone here but it was amazing all told. Until it wasn’t. 

LIZ BERRY

OMG! Superstar Liz Berry came and did an event to raise money for Black Country Women's Aid. Probably the most we've made at an show. Not us, all Liz, Hannah Swingler and Nafeesa Hamid.

WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?

Cork’s called me one Tuesday afternoon to say they were done, despite declaring their legal indicators were to the contrary, and I had 45 minutes to retrieve our PA or the auditors, I think, were taking it. Two kids with laptops in the front office looked at me like I was thieving. It had taken me six months to get them to store the PA in the first place.

THE OUTSIDELEFT NIGHT OUT at 1000 TRADES

The PRS and ARTS Council had just approved our application for support from their Early Career Promoters Fund when Cork’s went down. There was one great last night out with Soho coming up from their new London base. We were unsure where to go.

Matt from the brilliant Bearwood Shuffle recommended we contact 1000 Trades on the Park and things have all  worked out. John and everyone over there have been incredible with the support they offer. In making everything very cool. At first it took a little figuring out.

PETE WILLIAMS

::: The Pete and Andy show

The Pete Williams, a founding member of Dexy’s, starred on our return. Pete's so encouraging. Oh what a night! Amazing. As close to sold out as a free gig could be. 

Me and Thee arrived from Wolverhampton on New Year's Eve. Woodenhand and Prehistoric Man had everyone in the room dancing right into the New Year. It was joyous.

Jackdaw with Crowbar are legendary Peel favorites and it’s reported that that was the show that put the Outsideleft Night Out on the radar of a widely respected national broadcaster, “Interesting” I believe they said and sounded like they meant it.

Ancient Champion drew a huge crowd from I don't know how... On a hot night. Maybe the weather? They kept their promise to provide easy listening for difficult people, or was it the other way round? Difficult listening for easy going people? 

We’ve featured an amazing array of musicians in 2025, and as I write we’ve reached our Season Finale, on July 5th with Layla Tutt - one of the acts we couldn’t feature because of Covid and LaserBun, which is Tim from Jackdaw with Crowbar. Even if it cools down the night is going to be red hot fun. Then we’re taking a break until September which kicks off an uninterrupted run through New Years Eve.

Our ethos remains, the desire remains, to keep our events free to attend. For the acts that come and play to be interesting. We’re more interested in making friends and everyone making new friends than making money. We are well aware of the economics for our friends, for the musicians, sound guys and and actually for us. We are getting better at asking for money. And maybe understand at last we can do this without it. Even though the budget remains a shoestring. Bearwood continues to be generous. We often ask people to book a tickets in advance through Ticketsource where they can make a donation. All of the money goes to the artists, the DJ’s and the team.

This is the Outsideleft Night Out story. But only so far.