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The Fish and Chip Van Tour
Alan Tomlinson - trombone
An original art event by, and
copyright of, Simon Thackray. All rights reserved. Photo ©
Simon Thackray.
The Fish
and Chip van tour | Timetable | Press
Release | Photos | Links
Yorkshire Post 12.11.03
Serenade for a chip van queue
by John Woodcock,
LORD Haskins wasn't the only
one sounding off yesterday on behalf of the countryside.
Admittedly, events outside the
village hall in Brawby, North Yorkshire, involved somewhat smaller
fry, but the message was much the same as that of the Government
adviser. Effective integration of services.
Take a rural impresario, trombonist,
fish and chip van and a queue, and what have you got improvised
entertainment for an isolated audience hungry for live entertainment
as well as Steve Tate's haddock and cod, plus mushy peas.
It was the idea of Simon Thackray, a community arts promoter
who has previously given the remoter corners of Ryedale poetry
readings, shows to knit by and spectacles such as the Great Yorkshire
Pudding Boat Race, and Mrs Boyes' Bingo.
He takes umbrage when it is suggested that some of his offerings
are, to put it kindly, quirky.
"Don't like the word. Without wishing to be pretentious
I regard what we do as an artistic experience."
It must be. His supporters include the Arts Council. However
you describe what he does, Thackray thinks big.
His latest production was billed as the world premiere of The
Fish and Chip Van Tour.
In this case it's a very small world, starting in Brawby, then
hitting the lanes for performances at some other rustic venues
where Tate's mobile frying range has customers - hip joints such
as Barton-le-Street, Great Barugh, Slingsby, Kirkbymisperton,
Amotherby and Great Habton.
Through this land of manured fields, Rose Cottages and names
like The Granary and Wildsmith Farm, wafts the aroma of vinegar
and curry sauce, accompanied last night by a professional musician
called Alan Tomlinson, all the way from Battersea.
He's taught in schools, played concert halls and jazz clubs,
even at the Reichstag complex in Berlin, but he'd never worked
with fish before.
As such, scales were out. He even avoided conventional chords
and melodies on his 30-year-old tenor trombone.
He's an improviser at the best of times.
"It's all about fish and chips so somehow I've got to translate
them into an appropriate noise on the instrument.
"What does a haddock sound like? Beats me but we'll have
a go." Then he puffed out his cheeks and blew. "What
do you think? Cod-like or too salty? If you didn't like that,
what about this? My translation of a chip butty."
Okay, hardly mainstream, but to Simon Thackray it's another way
of communicating something innovative from unlikely settings.
He's hitting the right note, too. His tiny venue, The Shed, in
Brawby, is often a sell-out, and in his case that means an audience
of 70.
The idea of the Fish and Chip Van Tour was to catch a captive
audience outside and provide a free show for those waiting for
their one of each.
"It's different, I'll say that for it," said dairy
farmer Steve Stonehouse. "And yon lad's got enterprise.
He's put Brawby on the map right enough." When you farm
though, the harsh real world is never far away.
After the show Stonehouse was into his car and away, heading
for a rendezvous with colleagues planning to blockade a supermarket
distribution centre in protest over milk prices.
If they'd thought, they could have hired a trombonist to blow
a raspberry or two on their behalf.
© John Woodcock / Yorkshire
Post
Yorkshire
Evening Press review by
Charles Hutchinson
Guardian story by Martin Wainwright
The Fish
and Chip van tour | Timetable | Press
Release | Photos | Links
Review: Yorkshire Evening Press - The
Shed's Greatest Hits 
The Fish and Chip van tour
Concept: Simon
Thackray Produced by The
Shed
Original tour sponsored by Sirdar
Original tour supported by Arts
and Business
The Shed is supported by Arts
Council England, Yorkshire and Ryedale District Council
The Shed is a Registered Trade Mark of Simon Thackray ©
Simon Thackray 1992 - 2008
| MEDIA ENQUIRIES |
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The Fish and Chip van tour attracts
considerable interest from media and PR companies and radio and
TV programme makers. Features have appeared on Minster FM, Classic
FM, LBC Radio, BBC Radio York and BBC Radio Leeds, Yorkshire
Television, Tyne Tees Television, Guardian, Richard and Judy
Show, BBC Music Magazine, Yorkshire Post, Yorkshire Evening Press,
Gazette & Herald, Ryedale Mercury, Scarborough Evening News,
The Journal, Artscene and the websites worldwide. Special thanks
to Steve Tate's Mobile Fish and Chips for collaborating on this
project.
The Fish and Chip van tour is
an original art event by, and copyright of, Simon Thackray. All
rights reserved.
'For the past 15 years, The
Shed, near the market town of Malton, has been responsible for
some of the smallest and most inspired art events in the country.' Alfred Hickling Guardian
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