Sheffield blog

Why the tournament needs to stay in the city

As the annual snooker world championship in Sheffield continues, speculation rumbles on over whether the event will remain here after the 2010 tournament.

Sir Rodney Walker, the head of snooker’s governing body, was quoted earlier this month saying that he is hopeful discussions with the council will result in ‘a positive outcome that will see the event stay at Sheffield’.

That sounds quite promising, but it is anybody’s guess what will happen. While it is likely that China or Dubai would outbid us, moving the event overseas would be a controversial move, upsetting both fans and players alike.

It would also obviously be a massive blow to Sheffield. Financially, the tournament brings in £2.5m to the city economy, not to mention the value of the spin-off exposure and coverage that is also generated.

What’s more, it would be heartbreaking to lose the tournament so soon after the Crucible’s £15.3m renovation is completed. The redevelopment work will further enhance facilities at the theatre, improving its reputation as the natural home of snooker and an iconic venue that is recognised all over the world.

Seven times champion Stephen Hendry has suggested the compromise of rotating the tournament host city so that it returns to Sheffield every few years. But as the Yorkshire Post points out, as well as stopping many UK fans from attending the matches, taking the game abroad would also cause problems for people watching from home on television due to the eight-hour time difference in China.

And even if commercial pressures force the tournament to move from the intimate Crucible theatre there is still the option of further exploring the idea of a purpose-built Billiardrome in Sheffield, first mooted back in 2005 as one way of keeping the snooker in the city.

While we wait to find out the outcome of the discussions, there is still another week of the 2009 tournament to enjoy, as well as the various snooker-related events around the city. The part-redeveloped Tudor square is once again playing host to the Cue zone marquee and there are snooker-themed exhibitions from Pete McKee (in the foyer of the St Paul’s hotel) and Tom Walker (in the Winter garden).

Welcome to The Cue Zone by zawtowers on Flickr, used under the Creative Commons license

World Snooker Championship 2009 – full set on Flickr

Last weekend’s flash mob/fitness event in Sheffield

On Saturday people gathered in Barker’s pool for another flash mob-style event, this time with aim of getting the people of Sheffield moving.

It was the unofficial follow-up to The day Sheffield stood still, where over 1,000 people stood motionless in the Peace gardens for five minutes back in January.

Inspired by the success of this and also a flash mob in Lincoln, the organisers of Saturday’s event did their best to galvanise support with Facebook promotion, a Twitter account and coverage in the local media.

This video shows how the action unfolded:

Judging by the number of people that turned up (about 100), it seems that the public didn’t take to this event quite as well as the previous flash mob in the Peace gardens – possibly because of the extra effort required to participate.

The video shows an instructor with a microphone calling the moves from the front, which doesn’t make it look very spontaneous. In fact, it looks less like a flash mob and more like a public fitness event, and having looked again at the Facebook page, it turns out that The day Sheffield moved was indeed organised by Sheffield International Venues.

Perhaps using this type of event as a publicity stunt isn’t in the true spirit of flash mobbing, but you have to admit that events organised by marketing teams and PR firms can still look impressive, as demonstrated by T-mobile with their dance in Liverpool Street train station:

There is more coverage of The day Sheffield moved in The Star, on the Real Radio website and also a set of photos on Flickr.

Channel 4 documentary of the 1995 event

Do you remember the infamous pyjama jump?

For one night during November, students from the university would embark on an almighty pub crawl cross-dressed only in nightwear. On the advice of the police and with the safety of students in mind, it was bought to an end in the academic year 1996-1997.

I’m a bit young to properly remember the pyjama jump but I stumbled across a documentary the other day that I think was filmed during 1995 rag week. I’m guessing it was made on a shoestring and shown late at night on Channel 4.

It certainly gives an insight into the experience and includes students being taken away in an ambulance, which of course illustrates why it was stopped.

There are more memories of the pyjama jump on Sheffield forum.

Videos from inside the Arundel Gate venue in the 1980s

When walking past the live music venue yesterday I noticed that the O2 academy livery is going up on the outside of the building. O2 will be sponsoring the venue for the next five years, so it is likely that the name will now stay the same for a while.

It is good to see the building back in use following its £3m renovation. It reopened in April 2008 as the Carling academy, and prior to that it had stood empty for years after a brief spell being used by St Thomas’ church around 2000.

The architecture of the venue is nothing remarkable – some would say that it is downright ugly – but at least there is a bit of history attached to the building. It opened in 1967 as the 2,500 capacity Top rank suite and over the years played host to many bands and artists including David Bowie, the Clash, the Cure and the Jam.

It became Steely’s at some point in the late 70s – and also perhaps the Fiesta (or was that next door?) – before becoming the Roxy.

Reading back through forum threads, it seems that Sheffielders have vivid memories of the club, especially as it being the place to go if you wanted to be sure of pulling, were underage or too drunk to get in anywhere else.

ITV show The hitman and her visited the Roxy in 1988 and these videos give a glimpse of how it was back then. The clothes, hair, dancing, music and lighting are obviously all pretty entertaining, as well as the great chat-up lines and moves from the clubbers interviewed at 7:18 in this clip:

And the highlight of this video is Madonna’s Like a prayer being destroyed in a karaoke contest at 6:28:

April 2009 update

Here are this month’s additions to the list of Sheffield people and organisations of interest on the microblogging site Twitter. The full directory can be found on the Sheffield Twitter users page.

Pete McKee – much-loved Sheffield artist
http://twitter.com/PeteMcKee

Sensoria – annual festival of music and film
http://twitter.com/SensoriaFest

Capture my life – photographer
http://twitter.com/capturemylife

Weekend@last – outdoor live charity music weekend
http://twitter.com/weekendatlast

The Star – local daily newspaper
http://twitter.com/sheffieldstar

Hallam FM – local commercial radio station
http://twitter.com/hallamfm

Ralph Razor – music promoter and DJ
http://twitter.com/Ralph_Razor

Ed Nell – Hallam FM drive time DJ
http://twitter.com/EdNell

‘Big’ John Harrison – Hallam FM breakfast DJ
http://twitter.com/BigJohnHallamFM

I monster – band
http://twitter.com/IMONSTERBAND

Rolo Tomassi – young Sheffield band
http://twitter.com/rolotomassiband

Iris associates – marketing agency
http://twitter.com/IrisAssociates/

Quick feet productions – video, film and web content provider
http://twitter.com/philparkin78

Universal everything – design/art studio
http://twitter.com/universalevery

Soyo – bar in town that opened in March 2009
http://twitter.com/SOYO_SHEFFIELD

Sheffield international venues – company that runs city sport, leisure and entertainment venues
http://twitter.com/sivltd

Sheffield arena – entertainment venue
http://twitter.com/SheffieldArena

Ponds forge – leisure centre
http://twitter.com/PondsForge

Orchard square – shopping centre
http://twitter.com/OrchardSquare

Boxmusique – website featuring music news and criticism
http://twitter.com/boxmusique

University of Sheffield – landscape architecture
http://twitter.com/LandscapeSheff

LFE progression – initiative for football apprentices’ successful exit from the apprenticeship in sporting excellence programme
http://twitter.com/LFEProgression

If you want to be listed on it then follow @sheffieldblog, get in touch or comment below.

Three more what’s on sites for the city

Last October I did a round-up of general what’s on event sites for Sheffield and now there are a further three music listings websites to add to the list:

Off the beaten track features gigs and events that you might not know about. It also tries to give a sample of the music so you know what to expect. The site is RSS-friendly and you can filter the feeds so you just get information for venues you are interested in.

Boxmusique doesn’t appear to just cover Sheffield, but the music news and criticism it includes does have a healthy local bias. You can also subscribe just to the RSS feeds relating to your favourite genres of music. It is also on Twitter at @boxmusique.

Thelist includes listings for ‘independent and forward-thinking music events, radio shows, art showcases, artists and websites’. It has been around since last summer, though updates are quite sporadic and you can’t organise the information that easily.

The Drum by ToneRay on Flickr (used under Creative Commons license)

The UK’s festival of film and music returns for a second year

You may have seen the flyers appearing in venues around town for the Sensoria festival which takes place from 24-30 April.

Looking through the programme there looks to be some really good stuff on, including a preview screening of part one of Eve Wood’s new film, The beat is the law. This sequel to Made in Sheffield looks at music in 1980s Sheffield and includes interviews with Jarvis Cocker, Richard Hawley and more.

There is also an underwater event combining sound and visuals at Ponds forge, a walk around the city to view films projected onto walls that explore changes in the urban landscape, a new Pete McKee exhibition and the much-anticipated Comsat angels reunion. Quite a few of the events are free.

To keep up-to-date you can follow the festival on Twitter (@SensoriaFest), view the full festival listing online or download a PDF of the programme (1.93MB).

Sensoria - the UK's festival of film and music