York’s wildest gig of the year is coming – with a circus, inside a church!

Brace yourselves for one of the wildest musical nights the city of York has ever seen when Curtis Eller’s American Circus band come to town in June.

Eller’s band tops the bill in an extraordinary gig inside the medieval All Saints Church on North Street, next month.

The show is the latest in a series of innovative events curated by Young Thugs, the recording studio and record label that is the beating heart of York’s burgeoning alternative music scene.

As they say on their Facebook event:

• We will be transforming All Saints Church on North Street into a circus tent (without the animal cruelty) – expect fire juggling, lions doing tricks and of course, expect some very talented and entertaining music.

Unorthodox folk-rock

Eller is a New York-based songwriter, and has toured extensively in the States and Europe. His five-piece band features upright bass, drums, accordion, pedal steel, tuba, violin and lots of three-part harmony.

Together they deliver a highly unorthodox form of folk-rock, and their live gigs are always something special. But this will be a one off.

We’ll let event organiser Kai West explain. He told YorkMix:

• Curtis is an amazing artist. It’s a high-intensity show and there will be circus performers there to add to the atmosphere.

  It’s wild. We’ve joined forces with our friends at The Crescent venue to put the night together. But we felt Curtis and the others needed a different venue to be seen at their best.

  All Saints is an iconic site – perfect for what we have in mind.
  

Music and movement

Eller’s influences are drawn from blues, country, Fifties’ rock ‘n’ roll, with an irreverent punk undertone.

Music fans will notice lyrical and musical flavours of Johnny Cash, Neil Young and Bob Dylan too. Eller’s work with choreographer Stacy Wolfson has become a distinctive element of the band’s legendary shows.

They devised a compositional approach that combines movement, music and lyrics to create a compelling hybrid of dance and song.

The event, at the North Street church, will see support performances from York’s own Charlie Swainston, who will be giving a full band performance of his critically acclaimed Sweet Berry Elixir album.

YorkMix was lucky enough to catch Charlie’s album launch show last year and it is strongly recommended.

Further support comes from Old Time Rags. They are one-man band Laurence Marshall, and tap dancer Phoebe Ophelia Douthwaite, festival favourites who bring a touch of old-time vaudeville to Appalachian, skiffle, jug band and blues musical forms.