Urban Strawberry Lunch at the Dukes, Lancaster
Press Release
An exciting and exuberant musical show is coming to the Dukes on Saturday 2nd June 2001 at 7.30pm. The world’s finest scrap instrumentalists, Urban Strawberry Lunch are bringing their new show, Sonic, to the Dukes stage as part of their tour of Europe and the UK!
USL have had many television and radio appearances including Top of the Pops, This Morning, The Arts Show and Pick of the Week, and their show is bound to appeal to fans of stage spectaculars like Stomp! and Blast!, and everyone who likes their music fresh, innovative and upbeat.
The band began playing music on junk when a fire destroyed all of their conventional instruments. They are influenced by many different types of music from John Cage to Johnny Rotten and Bootsy Collins to Beethoven. Urban Strawberry Lunch’s main influence is, however, traditional African rhythms which run right through the group’s sound giving the performance vibrancy and an infectious beat.
Liz Carlisle, Karl John, Andy Escott and Ambrose Reynolds make up the band playing a variety of instruments between them. Instruments include the urban gamelan - made from a selection of old car wheels, the geisha bass which is a two string electric bass guitar made from an old speaker magnet and a broom handle, and the batphone made from plastic tubing! There are many more instruments used with equally innovative uses for old junk!
Also touring with USL is Levi Tafari. Levi is a rhythmic, poetic consciousness raiser and urban griot and his work has a high profile both nationally and internationally.
USL promise a truly special evening with music that crosses cultural boundaries and leaves the audience uplifted and feeling good!
For those people who not only want to see the show but would like to have a go with USL’s weird instruments, there is a two hour workshop in the afternoon for ages 15 upwards at 2pm.