THE frontman of a York band which lit up the city centre in two 30th anniversary gigs has spoken about the band’s non-stop year - and says there's more to come.
Shed Seven’s homecoming shows took place last weekend (July 19 and 20) in Museum Gardens, a place where lead singer Rick Witter, recalls riding his bike and carrying a ghetto blaster in his younger days.
As if the weekend performances themselves weren’t enough, on Monday (July 22) the band dropped a video onto its Facebook and You Tube pages capturing the essence of the weekend celebrations, Rick replete with a trick 1980s Raleigh BMX, touring York city centre with cameos from the support acts and fans.
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Speaking to The Press this week, the artist said if the teenage version of himself could ask a question today, it would probably be: "What are you doing at 51, still doing this?"
Rick said: “But then you discover people like Mick Jagger who are proving to everybody that everything’s possible at any time.
“I think he’s about 81, so that just goes to show that yes, in 30 years’ time we’ll do this again to celebrate our 60th anniversary.”
Residents in areas such as Holgate and Clifton Green were able to pick out the arc of the York band’s hits, plus tracks from support acts including Serotones, Lottery Winners and Pete Doherty, during the Friday and Saturday night gigs.
Pete Doherty on stage in Museum Gardens at the weekend (Image: David Harrison)
Rick said: “We like to include and make people feel part of the family and that’s half the reason this is all happening, so to release a video last night, that says everything.
“We spent the weekend, whilst doing two quite big shows and lots to think about, also making a video and to get it edited and out there so quick, talk about striking while the iron’s hot.
“There is so much more coming this year which people aren’t aware of yet.
“It’s really exciting, and time seems to fly the older you get.
“I wanted to slow down so we could appreciate what’s going on here as well.”
The band released its first number one album 'A Matter of Time' in January and Rick said he was looking forward to playing songs he was feeling 'a little bit guilty' about overlooking, on their upcoming UK tour in November and December.
He said: "We had a number one album in January and that seems to have been shelved weirdly because usually, with a number one album you’d dine out on it for a couple of years.
"But because we have another brand-new album coming out in September, we’re pushing that as much as we possibly can.
"With the winter tour, we will look back to our last album and start concentrating on playing some songs off that, because it is literally a baby still.
"We need to be playing songs off that which we really haven’t had the opportunity to do yet.
"We’ve really enjoyed writing and recording these new songs so I feel a little bit guilty that I’m ignoring them so yes, we can mix and match on this big tour in the winter, and fingers crossed we’ll do OK in the charts in September and take it from there, see what happens after that."
The band have more outdoor gigs in the summer, playing the main stage at Radio 2 in the park in Preston and accompanying Blossoms at their Manchester show at the end of August.
Then there’s a couple of TV performances lined up and another round of record-store signing sessions to accompany the new album release.
The singer/songwriter spoke of his affection for his home city of York and how the band would enjoy times back here whether they’d just been away in the studio or coming home after a world tour.
Shed Seven performing at York Barbican in 2013 (Image: Dave Harrison)
Despite what he called a little frisson, a weird feeling sometimes in the air when being out with friends in York pubs in the 1990s heydays, the Shed Seven lead singer said now everything’s flipped on its head.
Rick said: “Wherever I might go in York there’s always somebody there in front of me turning round just to say ‘well done, you lot are really great'.
“So it’s proper, it’s an age thing, things come with age.
“We formed in York in 1990, so that’s 34 years ago, we’ve proven that we’ve done alright so whatever happens going forwards, we don’t have that pressure anymore of having to prove ourselves.
“I think that’s what’s coming out in us now, that’s 'just what we do’ and we don’t need to try any harder to work people round.”
Shed Seven release Liquid Gold on September 27 and start a 23-date tour of the UK on November 14.
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